Snow Peas are Planted

The garden tilled up great. All the grass clippings, leaves, composted manure and wood ashes keep the soil going strong. On March 3rd, we tilled the garden, installed a trellis and dropped twenty-four snow pea seeds in the ground. Last year I planted the peas too late, the temps warmed, and harvest was low.

Snow peas are a must have in our garden every year. They taste good and have great health benefits. We can walk out to the garden and snack on them, serve them as a vegetable during mealtime or freeze them in small quantities for later use in stir fry.

Skunks!

Not the greatest picture, I know. Given the subject, you can understand why I photographed through a closed window. Earlier this summer, these seven stinky omnivores took up residency under a concrete slab that leads to our basement. They eventually found and consumed the cat’s food and started sheltering under our outbuildings. One skunk even came from under a shed and stared me down as I attempted to open the shed door. Cute as they were when they were little, they hung around too long, eventually leaving sometime after Thanksgiving. We now have a live trap, suited for such critters, should this happen again.

Venison for the pantry

Don dropped a buck this firearm season. After all the trimming and deboning, we stored 19 quart jars in the pantry and 10 one gallon bags in the freezer. I’m estimating this to be about 120 single servings of deer meat. Even more if you add those single servings to soups or stews.

Canning venison is our most common way to store it. It makes for a quick and easy meal to pop the jar lid, heat up with some tossed on barbeque sauce, then serve on a hoagie roll. Another advantage is that freezer space is saved for other items. Side note: I just remembered that I have some pork bones in the freezer that need to be boiled for ham and bean broth.

Fall is now replacing Summer

Our annual Fall rituals have begun. Firewood is being moved out of the elements and stored in its designated shed, and we continue to prep food to be stored in the pantry. As I type, apples are being dehydrated for future uses. Our home smells delicious.

The attached image shows the wood I have brought from the back of the shed to the front. It’s rare that we burn every stick of wood in a season, so every few years I rearrange the wood ricks so older wood is used up. True this is extra work, however, with this lifestyle no gym membership is needed.

The garden is overgrowing

This year’s garden is abundantly providing for our family, neighbors and the community garden. I’m not sure if the compost nutrients have kicked in, the seeds we started were exceptional or watering from the pond instead of rural water is the benefit, but this year’s plants have overgrown their spaces and spread into, and over, each other.

Blueberries at the peak of ripeness

For several years now, a family friend has arranged for blueberries to be shipped to her mid-Missouri home. A few weeks ahead of time, she contacts friends and takes our orders. The berries arrive at the peak of ripeness in 10 pound boxes. Blueberries delivered in this way are incredibly easy to process and store.

Don and I prefer to snack on the blueberries as the year goes by. Just pour a few berries in a container to thaw. Home-made muffins are good as well. And they are my go-to medicine should I feel a sickness coming on.

The easy steps for storing our immune-boosting blueberries are… Rinse the berries and spread them on a towel to dry. I personally like to do a lot of taste testing during this step. Place dry berries, in a single layer, on a sheet pan, and place the pan in the freezer until the berries are completely frozen. Transfer the frozen berries into long term storage containers or plastic freezer bags. Then back into the freezer until we are ready to enjoy.

Thank you, Shelby, for coordinating the blueberry delivery. This is all part of our yearly food storage plan.

Starting plants with coffee filters

This year I’m trying a different way of starting our garden plants. My usual way, for years, has been dumping a trowel full of starter into a small pot and poking the plant seed in. As a result, some to the soil runs out the bottom of the pot when watered. This isn’t a big deal. That soil collects in the starter trays and is brushed out, into the garden, after all the transplanting is complete. This year though, I put used coffee filters, grounds and all, into the bottom of my starter pots. Excess water drains out, but the soil stays in. To take the idea further, I’m hoping to get the plants out of the pots by gently pulling them out by the coffee filter edges – potentially disrupting the soil and root system less during transplant.

Toward the end of January Brenda Black, author and speaker, contacted us for an interview about our cattle production model. We appreciate her telling our story in such a positive light, and we hope that same positive light will be ignited by others in the livestock industry. Brenda’s article, titled Grass Focused At Bryan Red Angus, can be found in the February 2023 issue of The Midwest Cattleman magazine or on The Midwest Cattleman’s web page.

I admit that I looked into Brenda’s story as well. I encourage you to visit her web page, appropriately named The Words Out, and get acquainted with the diversity of services that she can offer you. From speaking and writing to advertising and publishing, Brenda offers many talents.

A shout out is also owed to The Midwest Cattleman. This publication contains relevant articles about the cattle industry and product and livestock advertising, all with producers needs in mind.

Thank you, Brenda, and keep getting the word out.

Though we raise cattle, its not our only protein source. For several years now, we have purchased a hog from a local producer and have done the butchering ourselves. As I type, this butchering season is wrapping up. The meat is packaged, the broth is made, and the fat is ready to render. Pictured here is the bacon during the curing process. After smoking, it will be ready for us to eat throughout the year.
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