We have experienced some beautiful and rather warm lately and that has brought on the rhubarb and asparagus!
These 'first fruits' of the spring are so welcomed. Rhubarb can be wonderful, it just needs a bit of sweetener. We have had some stewed, which just means that I cooked it in a pan with some sugar and a bit of water until it was runny. So good, warm or cold. I make Rhubarb Crisp this evening for dessert. This is one of my favorites. It is easy to put together and has some nutmeg in it, which I am becoming convinced has addictive properties, especially when it's warm. Put some ice cream on top and you have a wonderful dessert, or snack.
The asparagus is just chock full of vitamins. It has been called a perfect food. We like it steamed, or baked covered with olive oil. I like mine covered in butter. I'm looking forward to filling the freezer with this yummy stuff soon. It is a delight to have this in the winter. It just screams "Spring"!!
It won't be long until I get some other goodies planted in the garden. I need to get my broccoli and spinich in soon.
The old, large apple trees that my husband pruned, are in blossom! I guess that means we didn't kill them! Apple blossoms are just beautiful! (All the blooming trees seem just spectacular this year.) I was able to find a Cortland apple tree to add to our little orchard! Our two smaller apple trees appear to be doing well. I am anxious to see if we get any apples this year from our newbies. We've decided that each of the little apple trees will be in honor of the grandkids. I hope to plant a tree, preferably a fruit tree of some kind, for each of them. We want them to grow and bear fruit for the Kingdom, just like their trees.
The grass has been cut. With the rainfall, no doubt I'll be back at it again this weekend. I'm already sporting my farmer tan.
I am so thankful for the warmer days and nights. The sunshine is so welcomed after this winter. The warmth of the sun feels good all the way to my bones.
I trust that you, too, are enjoying the wonderful spring weather and the changes that it brings.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Pop? Coke? Soda?
How often have you had the "pop vs. soda" argument??
This is a fun map and a great look at our country in a different way.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/74/Sodavspopvscoke.png
This was posted on a friend's site...I just thought it was very interesting!--thanks, Dan.
This is a fun map and a great look at our country in a different way.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/74/Sodavspopvscoke.png
This was posted on a friend's site...I just thought it was very interesting!--thanks, Dan.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Dirt Work
When the seeds I ordered arrived, I became anxious to plant something, anything. It was just not time yet, to cold for anything. I was hoping to get my peas planted by March 17, but didn't quite make it. But the sunny day that I was able to get out and run our little tiller enough to work up a spot in the garden for the peas was a good day. Three rows of peas are in--one more than last year. Last year, I said that I wouldn't plant peas again. They were everywhere! I tried running a string for them to climb; they broke the string and ended up a tangled mess. It was hard to get into the rows to pick without stepping on the vines. But, eating our own peas during the winter changed my mind. I'll try and deal with them for the taste of our own baby peas.
The smell of the freshly turned soil was a welcomed fragrance on a brisk, but sunny day. I also found a use for some of the CDs that I was given from my time on the pulpit seach committee--they are hanging from a string on a stake between the rows rotating and flashing sunlight to keep the birds away. We'll see how they work.
It won't be long before we are able to enjoy some fresh rhubarb. Our three plants have already shown themselves.
Hubby spent an entire day pruning our ancient apple trees. I'm anxious to see if they come back and bear better fruit. This also opens up the entire orchard area and our little apple tree should get more light, which was greatly needed. We desire to get some cherry trees and at least one more apple tree. My hope is to get a Cortland tree this spring.
We are hosting the family for Easter here, so I really need to clean!
The smell of the freshly turned soil was a welcomed fragrance on a brisk, but sunny day. I also found a use for some of the CDs that I was given from my time on the pulpit seach committee--they are hanging from a string on a stake between the rows rotating and flashing sunlight to keep the birds away. We'll see how they work.
It won't be long before we are able to enjoy some fresh rhubarb. Our three plants have already shown themselves.
Hubby spent an entire day pruning our ancient apple trees. I'm anxious to see if they come back and bear better fruit. This also opens up the entire orchard area and our little apple tree should get more light, which was greatly needed. We desire to get some cherry trees and at least one more apple tree. My hope is to get a Cortland tree this spring.
We are hosting the family for Easter here, so I really need to clean!
Feed Mill Memories
I'm sure you've heard about how Spring is a time for renewal, growth and new life, and it is. This year, spring has been a time of nostalgia.
One of the delights of the spring planting season for me is a trip to the Bowser's Feed Store. It may sound like I have no life when a trip to the feed store is a big event, but it brings back fond memories.
The feed store has two areas. One is the "inside" part of the store where one can purchase some horse tack and dog collars and toys and other smaller items. The main part of the store is accessed by a large garage door entrance; about the only light to the dark, wooden interior. Here, the scent of the grains and fresh ground feeds is the first thing that takes me back in time. There is the sound of boots walking on worn, wide plank flooring; neat stacks of bags of dog food, rabbit and chicken feed stacked higher than I could reach on every side. As I walk to the back of the store is the area where the bulk seeds are kept, my eyes adjust from the brightness of the outdoors to the darkness of the old building. No big, bright, colorful display here. Just a well-worn shelf brightened only by a small light hanging above. Sitting on the shelf are plastic containers that are reminicent of canning jars full of smaller seeds with a worn seed label taped to it. Among the choices are carrots, zucchini, lettuce, turnips, radishes. peas and beets. An old, metal scale also sits on the shelf for weighing out the purchase. Underneath this shelf are two rows of bins that contain several varieties of sweet corn and green beans. Each bin has it's own small, handwritten label. There are sacks of onion sets open with the variety written on the side. I'm told the seed potatoes have just arrived.
When I was younger, I would often go with my dad to Roth's Feed Mill in Prospect to get cracked corn and other feeds. Roth's Mill had the old mill workings where you could see them, the wood floors the creaked and moaned under the weight of sacks of flour and grain. The scents were always what I noticed first. Mills seem to have a distinct, sweet aroma. We would walk up the wooden stairs onto the main floor and wait until a worker took our request and filled it. If I was alone, the gentleman always offered to carry it to the trunk of the car for me. To pay for your purchase, you sent up a small set of steep stairs to the office. There, you received a written receipt for your purchase, no matter how small. Growing up, going inside with my dad was never a problem. But going inside alone, was a bit scary. Sometimes it was so loud and the one or two workers there didn't always notice a scared, skinny girl waiting at the door to get some flour or feed. Only one other time did I see another female there. This seemed to me a hard core manly farmer place that women were not excluded, but just rarely darkened the door.
Roth's had a separate building for seeds and farm and garden items. Shovels, buckets and dog food lined the shelves of what was an old grocery store. Much of what I remember about this store building is fading in my memory. I remember the Mill best. My trips to our Feed Mill in Worthington brings back the sights and sounds of my trips to Roth's with dad. He passed away going on nine years this month. He taught me everything about gardening, pitching and stacking hay bales and the cleaning of barn stalls (oh yeah, loved doing that in January-NOT).
Going to the Bowser's Feed Store is not only a trip down memory lane, but a delightful experience when shopping for my seeds. It is hard to leave and I find myself trying to look for excuses to hang around and drink in the scents and sounds. I still need to buy my seed potatoes. Looks like another trip to Bowser's is in the future. Now, what else can I find to buy there??
"Suffer me not to forget that I look for yet greater blessings--
a hope beyond the grave,
the earnest and foretastes of immortality,
holiness, wisdom, strength, peace, joy;
all these thou hast provided for me in Christ.
I grieve to think how insensible I have been
of the claims of thy authority, and the endearments of thy love;
how little I have credited thy truth,
trusted thy promises,
feared thy threats,
obeyed thy commands,
improved my advantages,
welcomed thy warnings,
responded to thy grace;
but nothwithstanding my desert I yet live.
May thy goodness always lead me to repentance,
and thy longsuffering prove my salvation."
--excerpts from a portion of Caring Love a Puritan prayer written in The Valley of Vision
One of the delights of the spring planting season for me is a trip to the Bowser's Feed Store. It may sound like I have no life when a trip to the feed store is a big event, but it brings back fond memories.
The feed store has two areas. One is the "inside" part of the store where one can purchase some horse tack and dog collars and toys and other smaller items. The main part of the store is accessed by a large garage door entrance; about the only light to the dark, wooden interior. Here, the scent of the grains and fresh ground feeds is the first thing that takes me back in time. There is the sound of boots walking on worn, wide plank flooring; neat stacks of bags of dog food, rabbit and chicken feed stacked higher than I could reach on every side. As I walk to the back of the store is the area where the bulk seeds are kept, my eyes adjust from the brightness of the outdoors to the darkness of the old building. No big, bright, colorful display here. Just a well-worn shelf brightened only by a small light hanging above. Sitting on the shelf are plastic containers that are reminicent of canning jars full of smaller seeds with a worn seed label taped to it. Among the choices are carrots, zucchini, lettuce, turnips, radishes. peas and beets. An old, metal scale also sits on the shelf for weighing out the purchase. Underneath this shelf are two rows of bins that contain several varieties of sweet corn and green beans. Each bin has it's own small, handwritten label. There are sacks of onion sets open with the variety written on the side. I'm told the seed potatoes have just arrived.
When I was younger, I would often go with my dad to Roth's Feed Mill in Prospect to get cracked corn and other feeds. Roth's Mill had the old mill workings where you could see them, the wood floors the creaked and moaned under the weight of sacks of flour and grain. The scents were always what I noticed first. Mills seem to have a distinct, sweet aroma. We would walk up the wooden stairs onto the main floor and wait until a worker took our request and filled it. If I was alone, the gentleman always offered to carry it to the trunk of the car for me. To pay for your purchase, you sent up a small set of steep stairs to the office. There, you received a written receipt for your purchase, no matter how small. Growing up, going inside with my dad was never a problem. But going inside alone, was a bit scary. Sometimes it was so loud and the one or two workers there didn't always notice a scared, skinny girl waiting at the door to get some flour or feed. Only one other time did I see another female there. This seemed to me a hard core manly farmer place that women were not excluded, but just rarely darkened the door.
Roth's had a separate building for seeds and farm and garden items. Shovels, buckets and dog food lined the shelves of what was an old grocery store. Much of what I remember about this store building is fading in my memory. I remember the Mill best. My trips to our Feed Mill in Worthington brings back the sights and sounds of my trips to Roth's with dad. He passed away going on nine years this month. He taught me everything about gardening, pitching and stacking hay bales and the cleaning of barn stalls (oh yeah, loved doing that in January-NOT).
Going to the Bowser's Feed Store is not only a trip down memory lane, but a delightful experience when shopping for my seeds. It is hard to leave and I find myself trying to look for excuses to hang around and drink in the scents and sounds. I still need to buy my seed potatoes. Looks like another trip to Bowser's is in the future. Now, what else can I find to buy there??
"Suffer me not to forget that I look for yet greater blessings--
a hope beyond the grave,
the earnest and foretastes of immortality,
holiness, wisdom, strength, peace, joy;
all these thou hast provided for me in Christ.
I grieve to think how insensible I have been
of the claims of thy authority, and the endearments of thy love;
how little I have credited thy truth,
trusted thy promises,
feared thy threats,
obeyed thy commands,
improved my advantages,
welcomed thy warnings,
responded to thy grace;
but nothwithstanding my desert I yet live.
May thy goodness always lead me to repentance,
and thy longsuffering prove my salvation."
--excerpts from a portion of Caring Love a Puritan prayer written in The Valley of Vision
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