In the Ozarks 2 years!

  Hard to believe we've been here just over 2 years now.  The time has flown by for me.  I'm often asked if I still like it. Yes, I love it here.  I have yet to grow tired of the beautiful views God has created.  I love looking out the front window at the green hills and the life they contain.  I love sitting in my living room looking at my wood stove and seeing the fire twinkling as it warms our house. 
I am truly blessed! 

But, while blessed I am we have had trials and those trials have made us stronger.  With each new improvement and advance I am thankful for the accomplishment. 
One such improvement is that after 2 years I no longer sleep on the floor!  Yes we always has a mattress so really it wasn't that bad. But that mattress was just on the floor. 

Both in the fifth wheel trailer. Like above and you couldn't stand up in the space. So we crawled into bed literally for the first year and a half. 
Then we moved and had a real room but no furniture so we were still on the floor. 
But no longer!

Super D built this amazing bed for us.  I hesitated sharing it as it is still unfinished but couldn't wait any longer.  Now we have to climb into bed but it is in progress.  Still needs stained and some more additions.  It is amazing though and I am happy to be up off the floor!

While we are on beds I'll share the girls beds too.  These have been built quite a while.  They got up off the floor much sooner. :)

Super D calls these floating bunk beds.  He plans to build a desk under each one for them.  But we'll see if that happens.  It opened up their room quite a bit so they have some space. 

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms.  (I know I'm a day late)  Thank you to my family for showing me a wonderful day even though I had to work. 

Fun in the Sun!

Wear sunscreen!  I got the first big sunburn of the season. For the record mom I attempted to put on sunscreen but should have had the kids help me.  Hence it fades from white to red.  And the tag on my tank top was up so I got a lovely square in the middle of my back.  *rolling eyes*

These are our new summer toys! Super D and the girls have gotten to take them out a couple times.  I got out with them once.  They are so much fun and relaxing.  I envision many trips on them.

I staked out our humming bird feeder to get you all a picture.  But when I got the camera out they got shy.  Couldn't get a picture of them at the feeder go figure.  This guy landed on the volleyball net. 

Here's my attempt at a picture.  See the tail? Sugar bug has taken to filling up this feeder and keeping it full for our Hummers.  I love sitting out on our deck and watching them buzz by. 

That's the start of our warm season.  We are looking forward to more fishing, hiking, kayaking, and even bike riding.  Taking time to do the fun stuff is essential to my sanity but is hard to do with us working and keeping the farm running. 

Have any good plans?

800!

That is the beginning of almost 800 plants for the garden.  Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cabbage, tomatillos and more.  Sugar bug helped me one day and we got these all started.
  Why so many?? Well, one we plan a big garden, two not all of them will survive, and three I like being able to share and trade when we have extra of something. 

 I'm loading up our trays with soil to plant in.  Normally I would use seed starter that you buy but we couldn't find any around here so I made my own using potting soil and soil that we had delivered for the cold frames. (below)

Now I'm sure one of you with more plant expertise can tell me why this was a bad idea.  I must say I don't think it's worked as well but sometimes you work with what you have.  I started all these a couple weeks ago and now I have several small spouts coming up.

Aw there so cute :)
 Now that it's warming up I have all the plants outside sitting in the cold frames we finally finished.

Got the dirt in and a few things planted.  Lots to do still!  I'm starting feel a bit overwhelmed to get it all in and planted. We still need to work on our garden plot.  We wanted it at the old spot we had last year but don't think we can get a way to water it so we'll need to put it closer.  I'm sure we'll get it figured out.  Every little bit counts.  
Things are always coming along around here.
How's your garden growing?

Goodbye...

Rest in Peace Sweet Pea....

 Yes we lost Sweet Pea.  We woke one morning to Sweet Pea mooing incessantly and pacing the fence line, this happens once every month or so.  We thought she was in heat and immediately arranged for a "play date" with a bull.  We loaded her up and took her to the dairy farm down the road. (extended families dairy) We dropped her off in a field with cows and bulls and she looked happy as she went to meet them. 
  Well, we left her for 3 days and couldn't find her when we went to pick her up.  Super D's cousin found her a week and a half later and she was dead.  (sorry to be so blunt but that's life on a farm sometimes)  We don't know how she died as she was half eaten by scavengers when found.  There are several possibilities, but most likely she was sick and we didn't know it. Her bellowing that we interpreted as her being in heat may have been pain.  Only God knows. 
At the end of the day we are out of a milk cow but Thor is doing good.  We plan to sell him soon and will put that money to another cow.

Seeds Galore!

So I think I have all the seeds I need for this years garden.  Most of these seeds I bought this year, some are from last year, and some are from a seed swap. 
In working to plan the garden I found I wanted a way to see what I had with out digging out all these seeds every time. As you see I out grew my little box that holds my seeds.  So I had to come up with a different method. 
I made a spread sheet with all the seeds listed on one side, a column for how many seeds/Packets, when I got them, and where they came from. 

I made a second spread sheet with the same list of seeds that is labeled Plants to keep track of what I plant.  (I didn't take a picture of the plant list)

This has been invaluable in keeping track of what I have and need.  I saved it and used pencil so I can easily update it as needed.  Each year I can revise my list and add any varieties I acquire.

Now for where I got seeds.  If you check out this post you'll remember our trip to Baker Creek. I bought a majority of our seeds from them again this year.  We are striving to plant only heirloom, organic seeds and they are a great source. 

Next we did pick up some seeds from the company White Harvest.  They had them at a local store we were in and they too deal only in heirloom seeds.  They are a bit smaller than Baker Creek so they don't have the selection on variety but I found they tend to me a little cheaper on what they do have. They do have all the basics and are a great place to start. 

Lastly, we attended a seed swap.  That was a neat event where area gardeners who all grow heirloom seeds got together and shared what they had.  The just brought in seeds they had packaged up and put them on a table and everyone walked around chatting and picking up what they needed. No money involved!  Not even really a trade as it was just a take what you need and leave what you have.  We didn't have much being our first year to this event and it didn't matter.  We were encouraged to take what we needed and to bring in seeds next year.  What a way to help each other out. And it was a room packed with those who knew.  They were all willing to answer and share their knowledge. It is sure to become a yearly event for us.

Each year I will collect seeds from our own garden and buy less.  Eventually, we hope to not need to buy seeds but be able to plant from what we grow.

So we have seeds now to get planting. Many we will be starting somewhat indoors. Many will be going into the cold frames that are almost done.....  So stay tuned :) 
 How's your garden planning going??

Spring Yet?

I desperately want spring to be here.  We get a few nice days then some cold and rainy days.  The rain wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so cold.
So here's what we've been up too.

We built cold frames/hot boxes for plants.  They will be filled with soil and topped with glass.  This is in process obviously.

 We recruited some help to paint them. 

 

Didn't show up well in this picture but Sugar Bug got a little carried away and got just as much paint on her legs, arms, hair, ect.. :)  Like her annoyed look because we wanted a picture of it.

Sure sign of spring and warming temps.  The turtles are coming out. Sugar bug is finding several by our pond.  What an awesome place for a kid to explore!

Lastly, Super D has been working on getting our solar panels set up. 

 

 We are slowly getting things accomplished.  I'm anxious to start planting and will be starting seeds indoors or rather in the cold frames soon.  I will fill you in on my garden work more this season.  We still have a list a mile in a half long but are all feeling a bit more energized as the sun comes out more.  I hope to get outdoors more for some R&R in the woods exploring a bit too.

Looking forward to green and spring flowers! 

 

Canning Applesauce...

I am not a master canner by any means!  I am still learning so please learn with me but double check times for your area.  Do your research.  I can't be responsible for anyone getting sick from improperly canned food.  That said it's not as hard as you think.  I find it no difficult than cooking just takes a bit of time.  I have both a Kerr and Ball cookbook (the canning giants) that I reference.  Alright enough of that on to the main attraction. :)

As you may be learning I'm not good at measuring :)  But applesauce is easy! I had bought a bussel (a big box) of Granny smith apples and needed to use them.  I peeled and cut them up and threw them in a big pot.  I just got out the biggest pot I have and filled it about 3/4 with apples.  Filled with water just to cover the apples. Much like making mashed potatoes.  Then I dumped in some sugar totally guessing at the amount.  Gave it a stir and turned it on about Med. 

When the apples started to soften I added cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.  All optional.  I like these flavorings so I just added to taste.  When I tasted it I figured I needed more sugar and added it.  My Granny smiths were very tart and it needed quite a bit of sugar!  If you use a different apple you may not need as much.  I cooked it until the apples were soft and started to fall apart a bit when you stir it.  It looks like applesauce.  If it is too thick add a little water.  Mine made a chunky style sauce if you want it more like store bought you can mash it or put it through a food mill.

It is ready now!  You can eat it right away and can the rest if you want :)  Of course you need clean jars and another big pot for water.  Apples go through a boiling water bath.  That's pretty much all I use this big black pot for...

 

I used quart jars.  Fill them and put lids on and into the big black pot they go...

 

They go into the boiling water bath for 20 minutes.  By the way the applesauce should be hot when packed into jar. I was so happy to add this to my pantry!  One day I hope we have our own apple trees. 

 

 

Here's my pantry. We are slowly working to have more home canned foods and less store bought. So far I have peaches, applesauce (jars in front), pickled peppers, and relish.  Most of this will be gone by summer and I'll be working to put up our harvest.  We are trying to steer away from freezing foods to save freezer space so we will be canning much of what we get.  I keep an eye out for deals on fresh fruit and buy in bulk to can.  That's where the peaches came from.  I like canning over commercial as then I know what's going in it and can adjust amounts for what works for us.  

 

Happy canning... I'll keep you posted on what I do can. And try to remember to take pictures.