Gettin' Ready for Strawberries

J. is a strawberry lover. I have to confess that I've never grown strawberries before, but I'm willing to try. We had some parts and pieces left over from the two big raised beds that we put in this Spring, so we spent the beautiful day today (65 degrees in mid-November!) cobbling together a Franken-bed.

First, the pieces. These are part of a vinyl fence that was cut up as part of our initial raised bed project. Since we only had 4 pieces, this one was going to be 1/2 the size of the others at about 4' x 4'.

Next we took the 4" x 4" vinyl fence post and cut it into 17 3/4" pieces and then cut out a slot for the panels to fit into.  These panels just happened to be 3/4" thick and 12" tall.  This is pretty easy to do with a Sonicrafter, which is what we used, or you could use a drill and a jigsaw.  Here's J. cleaning up the plastic burrs with a pocket knife.  He would make a great hand model, don'tcha think?

Next, put everything together and square it up.  Two panels should run long all the way through the corner posts and the other two side panels will butt up against them (see the pic below to see what I'm talking about).  Our yard has a slight slope to it, so we had to dig down one side to get everything level.  Once it's where you want it, cut some rebar and hammer it into the inside corner.  This will keep everything together.

When you're done, it will look like this:

And then all that's left is to fill it with dirt. 

It took 3/4 of a pallet of 40 lb bags of top soil and 15 bags of MooNure to fill this bed.  We mixed it all in together, so it should be a great place to transplant my strawberry plants to.  Right now, they're living where the watermelons were.

By the way, I had to giggle over the MooNure bags.   Not only does it prominently features a cow's *ss, but it also states "We are Number 1 in the Number 2 business".  I've known some people in my life that might challenge them for the title of "King of Bullshit".  LOL. 

This post is part of the Homestead Barn Hop.  Click on the button below to check out what other homesteadin' folks are up to!

     

Remembering our Veterans

This is a beautiful poem that a friend emailed to me.  It's made its rounds on the Internet so , unfortunately, I'm not sure who to attribute it to.  I found myself thinking of my grandfather, who fought in World War II and is long since gone, as I read this.  There are so many families whose loved ones didn't return from the battlefield and so I count myself lucky that I was able to know him.

We can't begin to repay the debt that is owed to our veterans.  But we can spend today and every day honoring the sacrifices that they and their families have made since the birth of this great country.   Freedom is not free - don't waste it.

A Soldier's Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear..
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.."

" So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Happy Birthday to the Devil Dogs!

And a second happy birthday to my honey, who served in the first Gulf War.

New Composters

Another auction this weekend and this one was a score!  We met the owner and he had a 5,000 square foot house that he and his wife had turned into a nursery\landscaping business and they were selling everything including a 14' x 18' greenhouse.  I wish I had a place to put that, because it only went for $1600.

J and I. picked up a ton of stuff for rock bottom prices at this sale but the reason I went was these Earth Machine composting bins.  I'd been debating whether to build some out of the pallets we had from all the bagged dirt and manure we'd been hauling.  But, ultimately, that wouldn't be very pretty.  Of course, it's very important that your urban farm be pretty.  (Oh, gosh, I can hear the snickering now.) Okay, it doesn't have to be pretty but does it hurt that it's aesthetically pleasing to the eye.  (Same thing. *snicker*)

I did alot of research on these before we went to the sale.  These are pretty cool, actually, and there are tons of rave reviews.  You can control the amount of air going into them, you can keep mice and other rodents out of them, they're made from heavy duty and durable plastic, and you can move them around if needed.  We got two of them for $20 each.  Probably would have gotten them cheaper if I hadn't been so enthusiastic and let the auctioneer drop the opening bid down.  Despite alot of people looking at them, nobody bid against me. 

The only problem is that I'm going to have to resist decorating these things.  For some reason, they remind me of the Daleks on the Dr. Who show.  Anybody else see the resemblance?



Trick or Treat?

Hen House and their World Record Apple Pie

I'm not sure if I mentioned on thsi blog that I'm an extreme couponer - yes, one of those crazy people that you see on that show "Extreme Couponing" on TLC.  One of my favorite stores (and one of the only ones here in Kansas City that doubles coupons) is Hen House.  So I couldn't pass up the chance to go to their annual Holiday Celebration.  They were handing out coupon books for a free grocery item every week + some other great manufacturer coupons.  So J, my friend Paula and I headed out to check out all the excitement.

Before we even got in the door, we saw this adorable little guy from Good Natured Family Farms.  He's just 3 days old!  And he didn't seem to mind all the folks wanting to get their picture taken with him.  By the way, if you're not familiar with Good Natured, they're a local consortium of small family farmers that are bringing their organic milk and other products to the Kansas City market.  They had several samples of their products, including their white and chocolate milk, at the Celebration and they are all delish! 

I'm really glad they had dessert ready for me when I got there:

You're looking at an attempt at the world's largest French Apple Crumb Pie by the chefs at Tippins (now owned by Hen House).   They're not quite done in this picture - in fact, they're putting the crumb topping on with a squeegee!   Couldn't you just dive right in?  But seriously, this is one monster pie.  Check out these stats:

• The Pie—8’ round by 2’ deep (752 gallons) weighing a total of 5,787 lbs
  (not including the pan)
• Graham Cracker Shell—300 gallons or 1650 lbs
• Apple Pie Filling—400 gallons or 3600 lbs
• French Crumb Topping—52 gallons or 312 lbs
• Vanilla Whipped Topping—225 lbs

The really cool thing about this is that they said they were going to donate the entire thing to Harvesters once the record was confirmed. 

The Celebration is setup like your traditional home show or IT vendor show in that there are booths and you can visit the ones you're interested in and pick up free food samples, coupons, and information.  The $5 ticket was more than worth it because we all left their stuffed to the gills, with a free rose bush, and reusable bags stuffed with fresh fruit and food.  Oh, and we got to see the Purina Incredible Dog Team in action and posed in front of the 25 foot tall Roberts Dairy milk cow.   If we could have gotten that out of the convention center, it would be gracing my backyard right now.  ;-)

But  THE best part of the entire thing?  The Louisburg Cider Mill had slushes made from their apple cider.  Paula and I kept going back for more of those, stomach ache be darned.  Ohhhhh, so good!

Pumpkins: To Eat or Decorate?

This was my first year growing pumpkins and, even with a late start in the garden, I was still blessed with 6 beautiful pie pumpkins.  The seed that I used was from Gurney's and they're called "Spooky" pumpkins.  With a name like that, and with Halloween just around the corner, I thought it was fitting that they go on the front porch railing.  They're way too small to carve at around 5 lbs each, but I still think they look good there.

Seriously, though...I'm drooling over the thought of homemade pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie.  Each one of these should give me about 1 1/2 cups of mashed pumpkin, which is almost enough for the recipe I use.  I always love to try everyone's recipes, so here's mine if you want to try it:

Pumpkin Pie Bread
Makes 2 loaves (1 for you and 1 for a friend!)

Prep Time: 15 minutes   Cook Time:  1 hour
Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups white sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce (or 1 cup vegetable oil)
• 4 eggs
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. If you are using fresh pumpkin, it will need to be prepared and cooked.  See the instructions below.
3. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, beat together sugar, oil, eggs, and pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture alternately with water. Divide batter evenly into two 9x5 inch loaf pans.
5. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. For best flavor, store wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for a full day before serving.

Preparing Fresh Pumpkins

1. Wash the exterior of the pumpkin (do not use soap!)
2. Cut the pumpking in half.  A serrated knife with a sawing motion works best.
3. Scoop out the seeds and scrape the insides until the stringy stuff is cleaned out.  I recommend saving the seeds to either roast or to plant pumpkins next year! Just place them in a bowl or water and rub them between your fingers until clean.  Then spread them out on a clean paper towel to dry.
4. Cook the pumpkin.  There are several ways to do this:  stove, microwave, pressure cooker or oven.  I like to use a double steamer on the stove because it's quicker.  You may need to cut it into smaller pieces to get it to fit in the steamer.  It's ready when it's soft enough to scoop the insides out (about 20 to 30 minutes).
5. Use a tablespoon to gently scoop the cooked pumpkin out of its skin. Mix it gently (I use a hand blender affectionately known as the "boat motor") and you should have pumpkin puree.  It's that simple! 

Tips: 

• If it seems to watery, you can use a coffee filter to strain out the water before using the puree for baking. 
• You can freeze the puree and use it later.  It should last a year or more in the freezer.  However, do NOT can it!   Click here for reasons why you shouldn't can pumpkin puree.

Girl's Night Out

The girls had a great time tonight playing in the leaves and gobbling up mealworms from my hand.   Fiona even decided to hop up on my knee to say hello.

New Milestone: 6 Eggs Today!

It's Food Day 2011!

"...too many Americans are eating diets composed of salty, overly processed packaged foods clad in cardboard and plastic; high-calorie sugary drinks that pack on pounds and rot teeth, but have no nutritional benefit; and fast food meals made of white bread, fatty grain-fed factory-farmed meat, French fries and more soda still."

Amen!  I'm by no means a food nazi (I do love my double cheeseburgers), but I did come to the realization last year that what I was eating really wasn't all that great-tasting and one of the big reasons why I am overweight.  I used to love Chicken McNuggets and french fries from McDonalds.  But, when I stopped to *really* think about it, I think it was more in love a childhood memory of them.  When I really thought about it, the chicken had the consistency of cardboard and even less taste and the fries are so salty that they're inedible.  It was that epiphany (and a healthy fear of what's going on with the economy) that got me started on the urban farm path and a desire to eat healthier.

There are a couple of different events going on today in Kansas City to celebrate Food Day - here's the link to the biggest one.  If you're not in the Kansas City area and would like to find a Food Day closer to home, check the official Food Day page.  You can search on the map or by zip code.  Or you can celebrate on your own through simple choices:  trade the soda for water or a cheeseburger for a salad. 

Happy Food Day, everyone!

Brrrrrrrr!

Well, after a beautifully perfect and sunny 70-degree weekend, we got our first taste of fall today.  It was rainy and chilly with a high of just 55 degrees!  Tomorrow night is supposed to bring our first frost, although we usually don't see those low temps since we so close to the heatsink of the downtown concrete and steel.  I suppose that's one advantage of being in an urban setting.

I closed one of the windows in the coop and lowered the sash on the other one to keep the girls nice and toasty in this cool weather.  They rewarded me today with 3 eggs *in the nesting box*.  Seems like they are getting in the groove with where to lay those eggs. 

We're still getting a ton of tomatoes and I grabbed two pockets full this evening after I put the girls "to bed".  I think I may go ahead and cover the plants tomorrow night just in case it does get cold enough to frost. 

Shivering,

Caterpillar says...

...another bad winter?!?! 

While raking leaves today, we found a couple of these little guys.  In the picture, he's all curled up in his "I am spiky and not good to eat" pose.  Or maybe he just doesn't like to have his picture taken.

Folklore around these here parts says that these "wooly bear" caterpillars are predictors of the weather.  No, it's not whether they see their shadow or not.   They're supposed to have an orange band in their middle - the more orange hairs they have, the milder the winter.  The more black hairs they have, the rougher winter will be.  Some folks even say that each of their thirteen segments represent the 13 weeks of winter, and you can tell how many bad weeks we'll have just by counting the black segments.

As you can see, this guy is all black.  That's just like last winter, which was a bear and a half with all the cold and non-stop snow.  Despite his bad prediction, we sent him on his way.

By the way, J. says this is a "woolly peter", but I think he's pulling my leg.  I, however, am not pulling your leg and you can read more about these interesting little critters here.

Itty Bitty Baby Tomato

Now what the hell am I supposed to do with a beefsteak tomato that's the size of a marble?

Follow the Flagstone Road?

Now that's it cooler, J. and I decided to spend the day tackling the flagstone path that I wanted to put between the two garden beds and leading up to the coop.  We picked up the flagstone earlier in the summer when it was 98 degrees and quickly decided that it was way too hot to work on laying it down.

The path had grown up with some grass and weeds, despite the fact that I had laid down thin plywood over most of it.  So we spent some time shoveling that up and trying to level the space.  If the path looks tilted in the picture, that's because it is.  The whole backyard has a slight slope toward the street and we decided to keep that to help with run off.  I certainly don't want puddles or ice accumulating on the path!

Even with all our prep work, we still had to hand-level each and every stone.  We discovered half-way through that we only had enough stone to finish about half of the path, so we headed off to pick up some bigger stones.  It took about an hour to get all of these laid (in between conversations with interested neighbors).  Then we put new dirt between them and planted some new grass.

I think the colors in this stone are really beautiful and complement the color of the coop.  What do you think?

Happy World Egg Day!

It's the second Friday in October, and that means it's World Egg Day.  And we're just clucking with excitement here at CrankyPuppy Farm.  In fact, we celebrated the occasion by having 3-egg omelets with Sargento extra sharp Vermont white cheddar cheese and Bob Evans sausage.  Deeeeeelish!

How will your family be celebrating this important holiday?

Milestone: 4 eggs today!

Mother Nature Has a Wicked Sense of Humor

My friend Paula and I were skulking around at Hen House market today during our lunch break and picking through the adorable little bin of pumpkins that they had for just 50 cents.  I was thinking I would spruce up the office with a little autumn cheer.  And that's when I found Mick.

You see it, right?  That pumpkin seems to be.....well.....smiling at us!  Here, let me fix it for you:

I think he's definitely alot cuter than his namesake, Mick Jagger, don't you?

Fakin' It

I wish the ladies would recognize all the hard effort that J. and I put into building those b-yootiful nest boxes by actually laying their eggs in them and not on the floor.  I thought maybe they might need a hint, so I bought a fake wooden egg from MyPetChicken and placed it lovingly in the box.  It looks unbelievably realistic, including little speckles just like a real egg.

Guess what?  It actually works.  We only had one egg on the floor this week and the rest have been in the box.  I guess the power of suggestion does work.

Egg on a Soft Shell

Sometimes things just don't go right.  And that's no different for chickens when it comes to egg-layin'.  I went out this morning to gather up some tomatoes and eggs and that's when I found it - my first soft shelled egg!  I'd read about such egg fart oddities on the Backyard Chicken forums, of course, but nothing prepared me for what it felt like when I picked it up.  Think of a completely formed egg with a ziploc bag as the shell.  It was all mushy and weird.  I had to be careful to not break it.

Picture provided by A Half Past Life

I brought it in the house and sat it on the counter, fully intending to take a picture of the darn thing.  Well, life happens and I got busy and didn't make it back to take the picture until just now.  And guess what?  The egg had collapsed in on itself and was hard as a rock!

Fall is Here

My Spookie organic pumpkins (grown from seed) are almost ready!

Even though the temps here are in the 70's, the pumpkins are turning orange and the leaves are starting to fall.  I guess that means fall is officially here.  This is my favorite part of the year, so I'm happy that we finally made it.  But I'm sad to see the garden go and I have so much to do to get ready for next year ... order seeds, plan next year's garden, get the beds cleaned up, etc.  No rest for the wicked, they say.  But it's such a beautiful day that I think all that can wait one more day.

Finally! A Perfect Egg

Okay, so this one was in the corner of the coop and not in the nesting box but we're all trying to work out the kinks with this egg-layin' thing, aren't we?

With a big grin on my face,

A Cozy Place to Nest

Finding the first egg meant I needed to get my butt in gear and stop procrastinating over finishing out the nesting boxes.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I'd come up with the idea of using plastic bins as inserts in the boxes.  The idea is that they will make it easier to grab the eggs and clean the boxes, since the bins can just slide out the back.  I filled the bottom of the bins with shredded junk mail, so it's a great way to recycle also!

Gosh darn, these chooks are so useful....

First egg!

After J. and I finished canning up a batch of taco sauce from the Romas that we got for free from Hy-vee (with coupons), I headed out to check on the girls.  They were almost out of water and food, so I filled both.  When I went back in with the filled food container, I felt this weird crunch under my foot and thought "what the heck could that be" and then realized exactly what it was.  It was a tiny, perfect little brown egg - just a little over an inch long with a bright yellow yolk.  It had been covered by shavings, so I didn't see it when I was in there the first time.

One of my babies finally laid their much-anticipated first egg and I broke it!  *sigh*  I still can't believe it.

Dejected,

Awesome Auction Deals

It's a misty, ugly day today so J. and I headed to a huge building materials auction to see if we could find any good deals:  he's always looking for tools and I'm planning for the house we're going to build on our 40 acres.  Too bad we don't have a warehouse, because they couldn't give away huge pallets of beautiful wide-plank Brazilian Cherry flooring.  I think it ended up going for just $1.50 per foot.  You can't even buy oak at that price!

We did get some pretty good deals, though.  The last time they had this auction last year, I was lusting over these beautiful turned, fluted oak spindles but I had to stop bidding when they went over $5.00 each.  So I was happy to have a second chance at 72 of them.  The same guy that bid against me at the last auction was there and sitting next to them ALL DAY, so I was certain he would bid it up again. Turns out he only needed 24 of them and he dropped out early, so I got them for just $1.40 each.  These retail for over $10!

We also picked up the really cool lawn cart in the pic above.  It's 12 cu. ft and that puppy retails for $261.99 at Sears right now.  We were happy to get it for just $75 even if it did require assembly.   Plus we got a huge stainless steel cabinet for just $10 (J.'s planning on putting it in the shed), some wrenches for 1/2 price, and an entire box full of cords for our generator for just $8.00.

Score!   What goodies have you found at auctions lately?

Miserable Day? No Way!

Well, I've just come inside from what some folks might call a miserable rainy, cool fall day.  Our plans to pickup the new countertop from Lowes for our laundry room is on hold since it's raining outside.  So I have spent the morning listening to a cacophony of snoring dogs while reading the latest edition of Mother Earth News that showed up in my email and looking at online heirloom\organic seed stores.  The only thing that is missing is a hot cup of cocoa.  And maybe some cinnamon muffins. 

Anyways....my perusing was interrupted by some very excited noises coming from the hen house, so hubby Jim and I put on tennies and hooded rain gear and headed out there thinking we were about to find our very first egg.  But we were only to be disappointed, as there were no eggs to be found.  Good grief...I feel like an expectant grandparent!

While we were out there, I grabbed the plastic bins that I'm going to put in the nesting boxes.  (I'll do another post on that project tomorrow).  I need to cut them down because they're a little too long to fit.  And they turned out to be a convenient box to put some jalapenos, red peppers and tomatoes in - while were out there, we noticed that we had a ton of stuff that could be harvested.  Harvest in the middle of a downpour?  Not gonna stop us.  And a neighbor even stopped by to ask what the heck we were doing out there looking like demented monks with our hoodies up, so we gave him some tomatoes for braving the rain. 

I hope all this rain is drowning those d*mn squash bugs on my pumpkin vines.

Swimmingly yours,

Knock Knock

"Who's there?"
"Fiona and my peeps.  Do you have any treats for us today?"

In case you weren't aware, chickens are nosy creatures.  If I'm in the yard doing something, they want to know what it is.  If I'm filling their food or water, they want to come with me and help.  Or, if I'm cleaning the coop, they want to supervise.  Everybody's a critic...