Saturday, April 27, 2013

Thinning seedlings

The radishes now have two weeks growth and it was time to thin the seedlings so they weren't too close.

I couldn't help but feel sad as I pulled these little beginnings from the ground. But it had to be done so the others would have enough space to thrive.

I thought I would cut the extras close to the ground but when I gave a gentle tug they pulled out roots and all. I will say that the pulled radish seedlings did not go to waste as the chickens ate them happily.







Friday, April 26, 2013

Yard Work

Overnight it seems, the leaves unfurled on all the trees.  The grass has thickened into a carpet of tall green.  And there is a dusting of powdery yellow covering the cars.  Everything is green. 

Tonight I came home after work and visiting a sick friend to mow the lawn.  I mowed until it was too dark to see anymore.  How can it be that I have forgotten how to mow in the yard?  Tonight I kept thinking this though!  Which was the best way to mow so that I don't keep going over areas I have already done?  I ran the rider out of gas and then pushed some more, but I still didn't finish the job. 

One thing is for certain, there are many tree limbs that need to be trimmed.  One privet needs to go; it is definitely in the way.  There are still many areas of the yard littered with storm debris that I had to go around.  I have to laugh a little because going through my head in a Dory sounding voice (you know the little blue tang fish from Finding Nemo) was just keep reclaiming, just keep reclaiming.  That is what we are doing one small section at a time.

Thank goodness for fair weather this weekend.  Maybe we will get some more accomplished.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Remembering Hurricane Sandy Part 1

People have told me repeatedly that I need to record what my family experience last fall, October 29, 2012.  I feel as if this storm changed our lives in so many ways.  My family lives next door to my parents and our lives are very dependent on one another.

It was my father's 66th birthday!  There was crab meat in the refrigerator waiting to be made into crab cakes.  A cake sat on the counter.  The winds were strong, but not that bad yet.  We had decided to stay home to weather the storm.

For the last hurricane, authorities had issued evacuation notices for our area (a low lying one to be sure!), but his time there was no notice given.  For that last storm we had left, stayed with my uncle further inland, and returned home to find everything the same.  I say we, meaning my family and my mother.  My father had stayed as if he were the ship captain.

We had been in this very location my whole life, a grand sum of 41 years.  There had been times the bay had risen, but like a true friend it always returned to its own place without bringing any pain or destruction to ours  So, this time, we, everyone (parents, husband, children, and animals) stayed!

And then hell was unleashed...

Monday, April 22, 2013

Quick Chicken Noodle Soup

My husband makes the best Chicken Noodle soup.  Even my mother, who doesn't like chicken noodle soup, likes this soup!  It is quick, healthy, and delicious.  Here is the recipe -

Chicken Noodle Soup
1 store bought rotisserie chicken
1 large bag of frozen mixed vegetables
1 onion chopped
8, 14.5 oz cans of chicken broth
1 bag of medium egg noodles
2 Tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of black pepper

1.  Chop an onion and saute in a pan with 2 tablespoons of butter until the onion is transparent.
2.  Pour the broth, vegetables, onion, pepper, and garlic into a stockpot.  Stir and begin cooking over medium heat.
3.  Skin the chicken and cut into bite sized chunks.  Add to the stockpot.
4.  Continue cooking and stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender and the soup is boiling. If it seems too thick add a little water.
5.  Add the egg noodles and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes. 



Sunday, April 21, 2013

5 Immune Boosting Foods

After this nasty bout with the Norovirus, my family needs a boost to its immune systems.  So, this afternoon I set out to find 5 foods that we could include over the next week to give us a boost and make us a little less likely to come down with something else.  I read Prevention, Web MD, Livestrong.com, and several health magazines.  I put together a list of 5 foods that appeared on multiple lists and were foods that my family would enjoy eating.  Here is the list -
  1. Yogurt
  2. Chicken Soup
  3. Broccoli
  4. Yams
  5. Berries

The Chickens have Finally Started Laying!


Here are our 7 chickens.  In the top middle of the picture you can see an egg that has been layed today.  We seem to be getting 1 egg each day.  What is up with that?

The first time we had chickens, years back, the babies started laying eggs when they were only 19 weeks old.  So of course we assumed this time things would happen about the same. Wrong!  The chickens are 44 weeks old.  all of them except M&M who is the one on the bottom right.  She is from the first flock and is about 5 years old.

I have been very concerned about this.  Yes, we have enjoyed raising chicks.  Yes, we like watching the chickens.  BUT, where are the eggs?  I researched and came up with a plethora of reasons.  Here they are -
  1. If a chicken would normally begin egg production during a time of year that is not conducive to egg laying they will often wait till the next spring to begin.  (This was us.)
  2. Lack of water can cause chickens not to lay.  (We have a hanging waterer that hold 3 gallons of water.)
  3. Lack of food or right type.  (We provide layer crumbles in the continuous hanger feeder.  They eat a lot.)
  4. Lack of space in the coop.  (I don't think this is our problem as when we had the original flock their were 13 chickens using the coop.)
  5. Stress.  (We do have a four year old son, a go kart, cats, and a dog.  Could this be a problem?)
  6. Worms.  (I saw at the feed store wormer for chickens.  I never wormed our old crew, but maybe this group could use a dose.)
One thing I do know is that they need to start laying more and soon!  They are eating me broke and not giving eggs in return.  Our current food costs $15 for a 50 pound bag.  They go through 2 bags per month.  Wow, I could buy 7 cartons of eggs at the store for this.  Current egg count this week is 7eggs.  Please lay, chickens, please.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Norovirus Blahs

I have been sick with the Norovirus since Thursday.  A trip to the ER, 2 bags of IV to combat the dehydration, some pain and nausea medication, and I returned home.  I don't think I have experienced that much pain ever, not even the C-sections I had with my children could compare.  This afternoon my head has begun to clear.  But now, my daughter is sick!  The doctor at the ER said it would probably take the whole family out before the weekend was done.  I am hoping not!  I looked up recommendations on the internet to help ease this burden of crappy symptoms.  Here is what I found -

1.  Drink, drink, drink (water, gatorade, pedialyte, etc.)
2.  Take a pain reliever such as acetominophren for aches.
3.  Drink a warm cup of peppermint tea to help ease the nausea.
4.  When you begin to feel hunger again, foods that are easy on the digestive system such as apples, bananas, crackers, and in my house -homemade chicken noodle soup.  My husband makes the best!
5.  Spray areas the infected person has touched with Lysol.



Thursday, April 18, 2013

Pole Beans vs. Bush Beans

Which to plant?  Pole beans or bush beans

The debate for my family was easy to solve.  We went with pole beans because they will certainly be the most fun for the kids.  We planted them around a teepee that we constructed using bamboo.  When the heat of summer comes the vines will have covered the teepee making a nice shady spot on the inside to rest and cool off after play.  I love to read about plants, and maybe we will plant bush beans another year. 

Here is what I found about beans -

Pole Beans
  • Grow tall and need support
  • Beans are produced throughout the summer on the same vines.
  • 63 days to maturity
Bush Bean
  • Grow about 2 feet tall 
  • Beans are harvested within a short time of one another, so they need multiple, staggered plantings
  • 58 days to maturity

Sunday, April 14, 2013

The Geese have ate the garden again!

Frustration, frustration, frustration!  After the geese ate the lettuce, collards, and broccoli last time I thought I had solved the problem.  We used rat wire and made a tunnel over the top of the new lettuce plants.  A week went by and we were doing well.  However, this morning, if you had been my neighbor, you would have seen a crazy woman (me) running across the yard in only my shirttail. The white goose honked hysterically as I chased it, pointing my finger,  and commanding it to leave my garden alone!

We are going to attempt once again to make the garden off limits.  My husband was going to build a 2 foot high fence using 1x4x8's but it was out of our budget.  A 10 foot by 14 foot fence would have cost $75 in materials alone.  So, we are improvising!  Using the bamboo which grows in our back yard and a roll of twine that I had on hand we created a 2 foot tall fence for free.  Now the real question is, will it work to keep those pesky varmints out?

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

It is definitely spring!

On my way home tonight I stopped the car and just smiled.  Why?  There just leaving the ditch in my front yard was a snapping turtle.  This was not just any snapping turtle; it was our snapping turtle.  No, we have never owned a turtle, but we do seem to share the same home address with this particular one.  For several years now in the fall we have watched as this turtle (I think I will call him Hermon) has crawled into our muddy ditch next to the road to hibernate through the winter months.  Somehow either my husband or myself spot him as he makes his first appearance in the spring.  AND this year I was the lucky one.  Hello Herman and hello spring!

Buying Used or Getting Free

I don't think before Hurricane Sandy I would have actively searched for used things to buy or even to get for free.  This spring when we needed a riding lawn mower I turned to Craigslist instead of Lowes or Walmart.  It was a risk I know.  We were counting on people to be honest in their descriptions.  We were able to buy a riding mower and push mower for $300  We did have to purchase a battery for the rider, but the man told us that himself.   They may not look brand spanking new, but how long would they have looked that way anyway?

This weekend we will be going to get a fort for the children for free.  The only thing we will be out is elbow grease.  We will have to take it apart, haul it home, and remake the fort.  BUT it is FREE!  I had no idea you could get things this way. 

With Earth Day being this month, I think it is a valuable lesson for my family to try to not only reuse,  repurpose, or recycle our own things but also the things that once belonged to others.


Monday, April 8, 2013

Science Fair Experiment - Cookies! - Yum 1

For the science fair this year my daughter decided to do something really useful.  The first time we made snickerdoodles they stayed as rounded balls and were soft days after.  The next time I made the cookies using the same recipe they turned out flat and more crispy.  I have made the cookies since then and they remain flat cookies.  So, she decided to see if she could replicate the mistake that must have been made the first time. 

We researched possible ingredients that could make a difference.   Chemistry in the kitchen!  The reactions created by the ingredients contributes to the final product.  These were all possibilities we came up with for the mistake -

1.  More flour than called for
2.  Used bread flour instead of all purpose
3.  One egg instead of two
4.  Salted or unsalted butter
5.  Used a different amount of baking soda/ cream of tartar

We have tried using more flour and indeed the cookies were taller, but they were still not round like the first batch.  They measured 3/4 inches in height.   On to more experimentation - Yum!

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Raised Garden Bed Finished


We finished the raised garden bed this weekend.  It is 8 feet by 4 feet.  I then sectioned it off with string into 1 feet squares.  We are going to use the Square Foot Gardening method to grow as much food as possible in this area.  I am now ready to sow some carrot and radish seeds.  Plus there are some lettuce and celery plants that need to be transplanted.  I still need to do some reading about the spacing of the different types of vegetables we want to grow.

Friday, April 5, 2013

New Garden Bed

Today it is raining!  On this last official day of spring break we are going to go get the materials needed to build a new garden bed.  I have seen ones made with cinder blocks on the internet.  They look really neat when planted with strawberries in the holes.  So I decided to compare the price between building a garden bed from blocks versus the traditional landscape timber.  Here is what I found -

8' x 4' garden bed

-  requires18 cinder blocks.  Total cost $35.46 at Lowes.
-  requires 6 landscape timbers, stacked two high.  Total cost  $9.42 at Lowes.

Well, decision made - we will definitely be picking up the landscape timbers.  We could almost make 4 garden beds from landscape timbers for the price of just 1 from cinder blocks.


Thursday, April 4, 2013

Homemade Muffins

This morning, before the spring break cleaning begins again, I made a hearty family breakfast.  We had bacon, scrapple, eggs, and muffins.  I didn't have any box mixes of muffins in the cupboard, so I made my own.  I was pleased how they turned out; they weren't too sweet.  The kids kept asking for more!  So I would say my muffin experiment was a success.  Here is my recipe -

Basic Muffins

2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 egg
1 c. milk
1/2 c. butter softened

2 T. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 325 degree F for a dark muffin pan.  Spray muffin pan with non stick cooking spray or line with muffin cups.
2.   Beat the egg, milk, sugar, and butter until creamy.
3.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Then pour into the egg mixture and beat until blended together.
4.  Pour mixture into the muffin pan.  Mix 2T sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon together and sprinkle over the muffins.  Bake for 18 minutes.  This makes 12 muffins.







Homemade Cinnamon Nutmeg Muffins

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Spring Break Cleaning - Day 2

It has taken us eight hours, but the front yard mountain high pile of trees is gone. We have walked and dragged all of it into our back woods where nature will see that it decays in time. I would have loved to rent a chipper, but one was definitely out of our price range. I had forgotten what the front yard even looked like.



Spring Break Cleaning Day 1

Yesterday my husband and I were able to clear away the debris of a cedar and a willow tree from my parent's yard.  Yes, we are now finally getting to cleaning the yards better after Hurricane Sandy, last fall.  We then used the truck to pull the two cars the floods killed off the hill in front of our shed and into my parents driveway.  The salvage yard should be able to hook on to them easily from this new position.

We ended the day feeling good.  Today we are debating an even larger mountain of trees that hides a big portion of our front yard.  This is where we get the most amount of sunlight and therefore it will be the best spot in our yard for a big raised bed garden.  Or maybe we should bag up the contents of our shed so we can reclaim it and put it to use this year.  We have been steadily replacing our lost items with used ones that I have been finding on Craigslist.  They need a home with a roof instead of just the tarp that is covering them now.  I think we will make the final decision after breakfast.