FIGS, figs, let me count the ways:

Salad with Feta Stuffed Figs

First there is ripe and sun warmed right off the tree, maybe as a treat while doing morning garden chores.

Next there is lunch- crackers spread with warm brie and a dollop of Fig Jam.

For after lunch desert, cold and fresh from the fridge - ripe whole figs.

Later there is the afternoon snack- Oatmeal Fig Bars, crispy and fine with a cup of tea.

For dinner, a salad with feta Stuffed Figs, pistachios, fresh garden greens with nasturtiums, a lemon-olive oil dressing with a swirl of honey.

End the evening with a dessert of warm Maple Syrup Stewed Figs with a spoon of organic vanilla ice cream!

No! Wait! Make that Broiled Figs in Peach Sauce.

Or how about Walnut Stuffed Figs cooked in a cinnamon cream sauce?

 

Don't forget a little something for a midnight kitchen raid....Dried Stuffed Figs rolled in coconut!!! 

Aah....FIGS.

Time Flys!

Summer is almost over and we are in the middle of harvest activities.  We pulled all the popcorn and the Pungo Creek dent corn just before the big rains that came because of Hurricane Irene.  Yesterday we pulled back the husks to check on bug damage and the amount of drying yet to be done. Today we strung up the ears and hung them over the rafters in our main room. Crazy. Yes.  But the popcorn was almost ready and the Indian corn so beautiful, that we could not think of hanging them in the shed to face the same fate as our poor sunflowers - to be picked over and disseminated by the mice that our rotten cat, Ollie has been to sleepy this summer to catch!  So now we have long strings of corn hanging over the dinning room table and kitchen island.  If they don't scare me half to death in the middle of the night, I might get used to them.  I am wishing that I had braided the garlic instead of drying it on racks and then trimming the tops and storing them in baskets.  The guest room...aka...the root cellar, in starting to overflow with baskets of squash and potatoes.  Watermelons are lined up in front of the closet door and boxes are stacked with jars of canned beans, salsa, relish, and pickles.  We have been busy!!!
And I am not even talking about the 26 new chicks, their new house, the seedlings killed by the potting soil which was contaminated by herbicides, the mushrooms that just won't stop flushing, the beer making stinking up my kitchen or the figs that have finally come into full production. Yet.
All that and more to come.

Eggs Gone Bad

Update on Trying to Hatch Eggs in an Incubator

When I used a high intensity flash light to candle the eggs in our incubator, I could see a nice dark blob in most of the eggs, but something didn't seem right. There was too much open space for eggs that should have been about ready to pip, or start chipping away at the inside of the egg, to free themselves. We checked regularly on day 20, then on day 21, on day 22, I knew we had a bad batch, but I waited till day 23, just to be sure. No chicks this time. We think the heat must have had some spikes or other uneven temperature problems. This is the third round of eggs that have spoiled, so I have decided to order a straight run of day old mixed breed chicks. We are looking forward to raising another good mother hen like our old broody Hope. She really knew how to set on eggs. She also was good at caring for the chicks and teaching them how to fend for themselves out in the yard!

 

Sweet Potato Dreaming

 

Over 40 years ago, I left home for the first time and lived in a tiny one room walk up apartment. It was cramped and dreary. My mother showed me a inexpensive way to have green house plants to brighten up my kitchenette.  Little did I know that fast forward into the FUTURE (that's where I live now, .you may call it the present) and I would be still making sweet potato houseplants! Only now I call them "Slips" and as soon as the weather is warm and their roots are developed I send them out into my organic raised beds to live for the summer. Come early fall, I get to reap the harvest of the best tasting most nutritious food I know. Not only do they store well, lasting  into the next harvest, they provide the base materials for starting all over again!

We have kept this same variety alive for several
years, but this has definitely been the best season.

One Half of 2010 Harvest

We made pies, desserts, breads, rolls, main dishes and many casseroles. Usually by late winter  we have to stop eating and save a few to make plants for the coming spring. Ah...but this year we are rich in the way of the potato!

We had such a bumper crop last season that we still have a bushel of sweet potatoes. A few have started to have tiny little sprouts. Those are the ones I want to restart my garden. It is such a simple procedure, I am surprised that I ever bought sweet potato slips.
 
 As I got out the jars, it occurred to me that I was preparing to make many more starts than I could ever use.  I decided to do just that. The extras will be nice gifts to friends and neighbors and if I have the timing right, will be my first item to sell at our Farmer's Market !

The time to start the slips is 30 - 40 days before the last spring frost. Where I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains that would be about now.


Here are the directions to get you started:

All you have to do is fill a glass jar with water, cut off the ends of a nice healthy sweet potato (one from the grocery store will do fine). Stick in a few toothpicks to help it balance. Keep the bottom of the potato covered with water.

When the plants are about 4 inches tall and there has been a week or two of frost free weather, it is time to prepare the slips for planting.  One potato at a time, gently twist off the shoots, rinse out the jar and emerge the bottom half of the plants in fresh water.  They will be ready to plant in a few days when the roots are inch or two long. The left over piece of potato and old roots can be cooked up for dog food or go into the compost!

Don't worry about the garden plot yet, because you still have a month to get it ready, and if you don't have a garden, a container will work just fine, and even left to grow in the jar, you may be surprise to learn that the leaves can be prepared and eaten just like other greens!  So let's get GROWING!

Hatching chicken eggs in an Incubator

It's time to start spring eggs to hatching!

• 
  
  Collect Eggs

Safety near Big Metal Brother

We have two laying hens, a Rhode Island Red and a Plymouth Rock, and a wonderful RIR rooster, who have survived the winter, the BD (Bad Dog) and the hungry teenage Hawks.

After counting back on the calendar to assure proper hatching day to coincide with when it will be warm enough to clean out the chicken tractor and turn it into a “chicks only” residence, we began saving up eggs.

According to Patti Lou and Billy our great friends and mentors at  Tall Cotton Farm,  fertilized eggs can be up to a week old before you turn up the heat and begin to incubate. The important thing is to do not refrigerate and keep them covered so they don’t get too dry.

• Set up Incubator

Chris got the incubator out of the shed, checked that it had been cleaned and disinfected before storage and then just to be sure gave it a quick spray down with a mild bleach solution to kill any surviving germs. He set it up in our usual spot,on a chair in a small out or the way hallway. We plugged it in and allowed it to sit and warm up for two days. It is important to have the heat set at 99.5 degrees.

We bought this incubator from a local man who bought it many years ago form Sears to hatch ducks. It is very similar to a model still being sold. The thermometer was missing and we had to look around to find one that would fit. The first year we used a fancy electronic meter that Chris had in the shop, it was not as reliable as this little round gauge we found at the Dollar store! Many people use a electronic fever thermometer that you can find at any drugstore.

The newer 'Baters have a humidity meter. The humidity should be kept around 50%. We keep a little water in the bowl to provide moisture. This needs to be checked daily and refilled as needed. Later when it's near time for the hatch, we replace the water with a wet cloth to prevent the peeps from accidentally drowning.

• Prepare eggs

On February 22 we had 11 eggs - I checked for dirt and wiped them to clean up any little spots. It is important to not wash off the eggs protective coating. Using a pencil, I numbered the eggs in the order they were laid (to track the viability according to age), and I put an X on each one (to help me keep track of the daily turnings.) The newer incubators have auto turners which is handy, because we have to remember to turn 3 times a day. Many backyard chicken keepers prefer this because it does increase your involvement and bonding with the chicks to be. MHM (my help mate) Chris loves this job, just ask him! Well at least it is convenient, since he has to walk past the incubator to get to his home office.

We put down a few paper napkins, being careful not to block the heat flow and arraigned the eggs around the bowl. That night, egg number 12 was brought in from the coup and we had our even dozen!

The dogs came round to sniff and after a few minutes decided it was not yet worth the bother.

 

JUST WAIT!

  

It takes 21 days for the eggs to be ready to hatch. Keep checking in, hatch date around March 16.

FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ON ALL THINGS CHICKEN, TRY

 THE WEB SITE: Backyard Chickens

Hello

Our Front Yard Summer of 2010

        Encouraged by friends who have been blogging and determined to keep my mind moving into the future I am attempting to start and maintain this site, My most wonderful mother-in-law, Nancy Sonne game me a Garden Journal years ago, but I made the mistake of thinking it was too beautiful to write in it with my scratchy handwriting and horrible spelling. Now, I could use some of my own wisdom and advise that I would have been gathering.
       In keeping this record or journal of sorts I will be able to answer those yearly questions that haunt me, like- did I start the sweet potatoes in February or in March, and how many rows of swiss chard caused that overabundance and eventual waste? No, If I can learn to do this, I will have it as a resource to aid my failing memory and perhaps you too can have a few questions answered and get a glimpse at what it is like to try and live off the land.