Shrooms

All that talk about Vietnam and thinking about left handed cigarettes must have put me in the mood for something else!  Thought we could talk Shrooms instead.

NOT!  How about mushrooms then?  The edible kind!

Every Fall, our neighbor walks the woods that line our properties and hunts these down:

Pint jar for scale.

I have never seen anything like it!  It's a Sheepshead.  In some parts- Hen of the Woods.  Isn't it amazing?

Never having seen one and knowing nothing about it, I hit the web and found that this is one exception to the rule...you have to soak it for one hour. 

So I knocked the dirt off, broke it up and soaked it.  In both sides of my sink!  Then I rinsed it real good and layed it out on a bath towel on my kitchen counter to dry enough for packaging.

From everything I read, Sheepshead is best preserved frozen or dehydrated as a secondary method.  So I did both.  I had 12 pounds of mushroom afterall!  That is way more than I would buy in a year, so I was very thankful for our neighbor thinking of us!

I bagged about 3/4 of it up and froze.  When you cook these, apparently you do NOT thaw first.  You just throw the frozen mushrooms into your hot saute pan (yes, preheated). 

After dehydrating, I filled 1 Qt and 1 Pint with dried shroom.  They smell great!

We did have steak with sauteed Sheepshead and onion too...YUM!

And for those of you who speculate on wild mushrooms (as you should!), if you don't hear from me for a while...well now ya know!

;)

The Great Bean Debacle ~ Give Away

Green Beans are my veggie of choice.  You saw the size of the rows in my Garden Walk, probably gave it away.  Pig Pen is the carrot freak.

I love green beans fried with bacon, onion, butter and potatoes best, I love them steamed, I love them cold, I love them in soups, I love them in casseroles, fresh, frozen or canned.  I love green beans.

We always plant pole beans.  They are very productive and in my book, idiot proof.  We planted both bush and pole beans one year and quickly realized that the poles out produced the bush; however bush came on earlier.  So we stopped planting bush and stuck with poles.  We've had two rows of poles in most years past.  Last year we only planted one row -  I have a few jars of their buttery goodness left.

This year we went back to two rows.  I wanted green beans coming out my ears.  I'd rather give them away than run short.  (who am I kidding, we eat them all)

So imagine my horrific shock when the beans I planted turned up woody, stringy and beanie!  I've never met a green bean I didn't like...until this year.  And to make matters worse, I shared seed with two friends and they don't like them either!

We always plant Blue Lake.  This year my genius self planted something else.  The catalogs I ordered from didn't have Blue Lake so I just read all the flowery descriptions and picked one.  (at least that's how I recall it)

What kills me is that most of you plant the variety I used this year.  Either bush or pole, many of you rave about them!  Isn't that funny?

So my green beans this years will be left to dry. Either for soups etc. or seed. NOT seed for me.

Luckily we managed to find several seed packs in late July for Blue Lake Bush. If I don't get any green beans this year, it will be the first time in 4 years that I've had to buy them. Debacle, indeed.

Idiot

Ahhh...there it is!

So I have Kentucky Wonder Pole seeds.  Only one and a half packages (maybe 60 seeds), but they are no good to me.

Who wants'em?

Since yesterday's post was a real head scratcher and inquiring minds want to know -

Leave me a comment by Sunday, Sept. 4th at 9pm and tell me the following:

1)  Which Blog Buddy am I visiting soon?

2)  Which Blog Buddies did I refer to wanting to visit next year in the following sentence:

 

"I need bottled-boy energy, a hunt with a redneck girl, a belly-up to the bar with a fowl mom, to do anything and everything legume-ish, and should anyone decide to move their garden, now that would be great!"

I will give you a hint for item 2...the first two go together and in total, I referred to FOUR other Bloggers. 

So you need to give me FIVE names altogether.  Whoever gets ALL FIVE names right will win!  If more than one person gets it right, I will draw from the bowl!  If no one gets them right, I will pick who got closest and do the bowl again if necessary.  Clear as mud?

And because I realize bean seeds aren't the most exciting give away, I will sweeten the pot and throw in some honey! 

Ok...GO!

Garden Walk

Lucky for you, I walk fast.  (in effort to blur the images of the weeds ;)  Master Gardener, I am not.  I can't rock a garden thru a hurricane like Ms. Erin!

Side Note:  I tried three times to upload this video last night.  Once directly thru Blogger to no avail.  Then I thought I'd get smart and try youtube.  Pft!  When you live in the styx apparently it takes darn near 4.5 hours during high traffic times and only 1.5 during non-peak.  Both failed.  So I actually took my laptop to my MILs and uploaded on her cable internet.  Errrrr....  She said I only want her for her speed.  :o)

Remember the pumpkin/PA Crookneck the chickens got to in the corn patch?

Found it!  I keep looking, no sign of pumpkin...getting a little too late most likely.  Lazy bees!

The sweet corn never made a full comeback. 

Very small ears too.  A little while back, I accidentally picked some of the corn I planted for drying/corn meal.  I chatted with MamaPea about this, took her advice and cooked some up regardless.  It wasn't that great.  The chickens loved it.  Then I went and picked a few more of the "real" sweet corn ears for dinner another night.  Mystery solved...duh...they cross pollinated.  So I will leave it all go to dry.  If I can keep the coons out that is. 

We also picked a bunch of beans for drying a few weeks ago. 

Not many, but there are lots more out there.  I actually enjoyed shelling these by hand.  Something about the mundane, I suppose.  The dried sweet corn on right was just a tag along.  The next jar is a "riddle me this":  do you call yours lima beans or butterbeans?  Then we have yellow-eyed which I know I will want more of next year.  And last, black beans.  I suspect I will have far more than we will eat in a year (hopefully two!).

All the bell pepper varieties are diseased and dropping leaves, but they do have peppers!  So I will take what I can get and just forget the jalapenos!

The onions all got pulled yesterday = 35 lbs.  Not nearly enough to get us thru to next year.  Many were very small.  Next year they need to go in the north part of the garden where the ground is softer.  The south end has only been worked for a second year.  Jane, here is my scientific scale method.  Start lookin'!

Lastly, you know you are "that type" when you look down after your walk and see this:

And it no longer freaks you out!  Chickens!

Grand Champion!

Folks, it's been a very rough couple'o weeks here.  I do believe my computer/internet issues are fixed.  There goes another jinx!  It's really hard to catch up with you all when you fall so far behind!  Maybe that is why I have been in such a "Funk".  I haven't had my daily fixes of blogland laughter. 

But funk it is.  Yesterday I realized that canning 2 Qts. of Green Beans is every bit as exhausting as canning 20 in a day.  Why?  Because you still have to go thru all the motions, make all the mess, consume nearly the same amount of time...for next to nothing.  It's very depressing.  Dare I say...joyless?  This applies to all the other things I have been canning up so far this year as well.  Which is about a 10th of last years harvest.  No joke.  It's really getting to me.

There are a few good things going on that should make me happy, such as cracking open our first eggs!  I thought I would tap lightly on them as I was pretty sure the shells might be weaker than what I was used to.  Boy was I wrong!  They were solid as a rock!  Can you see the difference? 

I didn't even get it cracked thru all the way.  I am sure there is a technical word for that membrane thingee, but frankly, I'm just not feelin' it right now.   :o}

They really are like a round little orb of sunshine.  Not at all yellow like the ones in the store.  Definitely orange.  And they do cook up differently.  No bouncing of rubber or watered down goo.  Nope, nice and firm yet with light body.  Total oxymoron, I know.

We are up to about 6 eggs per day.  All of which are small (about 2 to equal 1).  Not complaining!  It's a treat every day to see how many are in the boxes.

With 31 layers out there, it could get busy around here!  Maybe.  ???  Well I don't propose that my chickens are Grand Champions but look who is!

This is my second cousin, Kyle.  He's the cute two-legged one of course!  Isn't that a great looking hog?!

And the dynamic duo won the Kankakee County Fair Overall Grand Champion!  And it gets better...the IL State Fair Grand Champion in his class!

Very impressive!  We went to the State Fair this week and I can tell you there are alot of hogs all nudging in on this, so it is not an honor that is easy to earn!  I sure didn't count all the hogs, but there had to of been well over 100 on one day alone!  Or at least close.  And I wasn't even there on the day Kyle and the barrows showed.  I was there for the gilts.

Ask me how I know these things.  I don't really.  My Aunt Bena and Uncle Wally told me.  I could learn alot from Kyle too apparently.  Darn Punk Kids  - I'll show you!

Here's my hog:

Top that Kyle!  Ok, ok...yours tastes better.

Well in any case ~ Congratulations, Kyle! 

This is a huge accomplishment and your entire family is proud of you! 

Keep up the good work!

Snickers

We had wicked storms move through last night.  Why can't we get rain without all the storm damage?

They are out to get me.  I don't know who they are, but I think I hear them sneaking around at night snickering. 

I think I need to subscribe to Erin's approach and just "live".  I really want to sew something!

The year is taking me down for the count.

Sorta like my corn for the third time:

We shall see if it bounces back this time or not.

Shhh...I think I hear them!  Snicker, Snicker

No Laughing Matter

So the other day Jane (who is also having a horrible year) and Robin (who is having an awesome year) both requested pictures of the garden.  Here's the ugly truth...

Every day, I find a few of these:

Although others seem fine:

The green beans are puny this year.  They don't fill out the trellis as beautifully as usual:

Then again, these are Kentucky Wonder.  I may switch back to Blue Lake next year.  If I live to tell:

My peppers are coming in very slowly.  These are the only Jalapenos I've spied thus far:

Other varieties are coming in, but some look like this:

Then there is was my wonderful head of cabbage!  Before the rain.  After Sunday and Monday, it now looks like this:

My beets came out of the rain like this:

And my Giant Eckdorfs aren't much better:

 My yellow eyed drying beans are dying before their time:

And my Orangeglo suddenly looks like this:

The corn tasseled:

 

And has signs of ears:

 

But the underlying problem is this:

And they killed the pumpkins.

Something is gnawing off the taters and maters to nubbins:

I think it's grasshoppers.  I have never had a problem with them before.  Suggestions???  Please?  Pretty??  I've only seen a few Japanese Beetles.

Last night, I pulled the beets, picked a few green beans, one cucumber, a few potatoes that met an early demise and yanked out the crummy lettuce.  I also DE'd everything.  e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.  I looked like the abominable snow man when I was thru.  Or someone with an addiction gone terribly wrong.  :-{

So there you have it folks.  By far...my worst garden EVER.

I suppose I have grocery lines and grocery bills to look forward to this year. 

And here I was hoping to share!

Keeping Chickens Cool and What Garden???

Like most of the country, it's been too dang hot!  Today we are having a slight reprieve, but then the mercury is rising again.  Keeping our chickens cool has been a priority.  The 'how to' may be a bit haphazard, but...it's working.

The Big Girls have plenty of room to roam and find shady spots as the sun travels.  They have their holes dug and chill out in them regularly.  We keep their waterers full and feed them treats when we have them on hand.  They particularly love watermelon.  It's cool and full of water. 

I now have to keep a small waterer on the other side of the fence for the Convicts (escapees) as well.  I don't want them to get overheated and not have water to cool their little throats down!

Caught in the act!

Now the Peeps are another story.  They aren't full feathered yet and technically shouldn't be out and about.  However, rather than a heat lamp, we needed to install a window A/C unit!  So, out of the brooder they came and into the completed Chicken Tractor they went!

We put them up by the house first so that I could monitor them closely.

At 80 degrees when we first put them out, they did very well.  At first they were of course scared, but within an hour, they found out that grass and such is fun and the chicken antics commenced.

Exactly what I was hoping for as I am monitoring their behavior as well.  Based on all your comments and thoughts from my Chicken Pickin' post of course.  (Thank you!)

I tried to get a shot of the two breeds side by side so that you could see the growth difference.  This was the best one I came up with:

Cornish X on Left - Freedom Ranger on Right
3 Weeks Old

It wasn't long after we moved them out that the temperatures sky rocketed.  So we had to "Ghetto Up" our pretty little Chicken Tractor fast!

We moved it to a spot that is shaded thru out most the day, covered the run with an old blanket and started using frozen gallon jugs of water.  We simply emptied a bit of the water and froze them.

Eight frozen jugs seems to be the magic number in keeping them rotated in/out and allowing enough time for the re-freeze.  I put one in the coop itself and one outside -in front of a box fan. 

Yes...I felt so sorry for those little panting buggers that we got them a box fan.  The air is so thick you can cut it with a knife!  We even had fog/haze cutting visibility at night! 

They especially appreciate the one inside the coop.  I think it actually stayed cooler inside than out.  Just remember to keep things as dry as possible too.  The jugs sweat.

Above you can see that they liked sitting near the jugs.  Maybe you can also see the difference in the size of the two breeds legs?  It's pretty notable when you see them up close actually.

So, that is how we are trying to help the Chickens make it thru this hot, hot summer!  What are you doing for yours and any other livestock you have?

I'm all ears!

Even if these aren't...after being knocked down for the second dang time!  But at least we had a little bit of rain.  An inch.  Just north of us...8" in one hour.  It now goes down for them as the wettest July on record.  For us...it's now the 3rd hottest on record.  And dry...

I can now up my garden harvest to the .25 oz of peas picked last week and a handful of green beans the other day.  Seriously.  Not even photo worthy.  :o(

Convicts, Crops and Coincidence?

The Chicken Convicts are on the loose daily now.  Every.Stinkin.Day.  At least they don't go far.  They run the fence and talk to each other instead.  I don't understand why they can't figure out how to get back in if they were smart enough to get out. 

Remember when I said all that rain we had last month would hit us on the opposite end of the spectrum?  Yup.  Dry as the bone out there.  We went from 15" one month to .11" this month and I am having to water. 

Last month:

This month:

I have spotted grasshoppers here and there but not too many other pesky critters.  And although the Japanese Beetles haven't been bad this year, they are terrorizing my raspberries.  If they keep it up, I am going to sick The Convicts on them.

After what seems like a very long 'forever' this year, we had our first whopping garden harvest:

A whole .25 oz.!  I think I should leave the peas to the professionals.  Planting on both sides of the trellis didn't even overcome a bad year here!  Bummer.  Debating if I should plant a Fall crop of peas or not.  I will say this, Lincoln did better than the Little Marvel for me.  Worth the learning curve.

We pulled all the garlic too.  It was a bit disappointing also, but I will take what I can get.  I was lucky to have found the marker stakes because for the life of me, I could not remember what varieties we planted.

This is the Little River Giant:

They are the closest to size one may be accustomed to.  So I will try these again next year based on best production in our ground.

This is the Inchdium:

Like the Chesnok Red and Ailsa Craig, they are very small.  I suppose in the end and all things considered how this season has gone, I am pleased enough.  We harvested several hundred bulbs.

The weather has given us a few beautiful days at least.  It got so hot that I managed a few sewing days even:

I have a few other projects to work on when this next heat wave hits as well.  Seeing as how the weeds are relatively under control at least.  Last year by this time, I picked blueberries on July 9th.  They aren't even ready yet.  Next thing you know, it will frost.  Errrrr

And how do you like this for a coincidence? 

Look familiar?  It's not the same one that crashed Greek Easter.  Yup.  The plant behind the last plant that blew had a fire yesterday.  This was a big'un.  No evacuations as it is a rendering plant.  Good thing the wind wasn't blowing in our direction.  Do you think they will send a gift certificate or free lard?

This is why people move to Minnie-soda. 

Did I get that right?  ;-}

Worth Crowing About

Since it has been a very trying garden season for all of us out there,  I thought maybe I'd show off a few good things going on here for a change!

Black Turtle Soup Beans Blossoming

 

Yellow Eyed Beans..."Beaning"
As my friend Tricia would say!

PEAS!!



We officially celebrated my nephews HS Graduation over the weekend.  Here are four generations of the boys:

Front and center is my brothers Grampa.  He turns 100 this October!  Still spry and sharp as a tack! 

Can you imagine the things he's seen? 

And what this little guy might see someday?

We got to visit our newest nephew yesterday!  We even had a brief glimpse of his eyes!

Happy Momma

Proud Grama

And for your further viewing pleasure, Julee and Gardener (no, really that's his name) brought the kids by today.

Don't you wish you could still sit like this?  And not pay for it dearly?

You may or may not find this pretty darn cute:

I know you might not believe me when I swear this...YES, I asked the questions.  I did NOT coach the answers.  She's just a little farm girl in the makings!  :o)

See anything wrong with this picture?

Why are there chickens on both sides of the fence?  Dunno, but it took me 10 minutes and a pound of sweat to wrangle her back in!

See, I told ya there were some things worth crowing about! 

Huh...well, isn't he just the star of the show?  I wonder if he realizes he only has two tail feathers?

Men