Autumn

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."

George Eliot

I love Autumn…the wonderful daytime temps, the colors, the crunch of the leaves as your walking, the smell of smoke from burning leaves or someone’s wood stove, the fog that hides the mountains in the morning…a long with early Spring it has to be as close to heaven as I would like to get for some time.

It makes it much nicer to do autumn chores. Earlier in the summer the man stopped at a yard sale on his way home from work.  He came home and said you have to come with me.  So back to the yard sale we went.  His excitement was a 9 tray Excaliber dehydrator for $25.  Well I have had it running recently earning its keep.

I never picked all my garlic last year and this year each clove on the head produced its own head so I had lots of garlic but all small cloves.  By rubbing them between my hands while running water over them I could easily remove their skins, run them through the food processor and lay out trays of minced garlic for drying.  All vampires in town went on vacation, it was very odorous!  I also dried multiple trays of oregano, thyme, sage and basil which was much easier to handle. 

We still have not received frost but a short drive up the mountain they have.  The river running through the valley will continue to protect us for a short time, which is good because the beans are still producing about 6 pints every two days.  The green tomatoes that were pulled are now relish, the reds salsa.  Still lots more out there so I may try my hand at ketchup.  Oh and the raspberries are still producing so I may get enough for another batch!!! {insert happy dance}.

I knit Baby O a candy corn hat.  

I hate candy corn but it is symbolic of Halloween and I was informed this year’s hats had to be different.  He had a pumpkin hat last year.  I also finished a Saroyan with Caron Natural merino/acrylic blend that I was trying to use up.  #1 daughter bought me the tatting shuttles in the last post but I haven’t had time to use them.

The yearly test to see how long we can go without turning on the heat continues although it is a little chilly when taking a morning shower!  This means instead of sitting with a second cup of coffee you need to get right to work to stay warm!  Tomorrows top chore is to can the sauerkraut.  If there isn’t enough to last the year I still have time to pick up some nice heads of cabbage at the farmers market.

Berry Bash

“Your best shot at happiness, self-worth and personal satisfaction – the things that constitute real success – is not earning as much as you can but in performing as well as you can something that you consider worthwhile.” ~ William Raspberry

What a coincidence to find a quote like that, written by Raspberry when that is exactly what today is all about.

Let’s start at the very beginning.  A very good place to start. (Sorry I have the Do Re Mi song stuck in my head)

I LOVE RASPBERRIES!  When I was pregnant with #2 daughter raspberry anything was consumed along with butterscotch candies.  For some reason they did not give me heartburn where everything else did.  Although the very thought of eating anything butterscotch now makes me gag my love of all things raspberry still burns strong.

So several years ago Cyndy was thinning out her canes and gave me several.  I thought I was planting them in a decent location but in following years they were run over by kids on lawn mowers, snowmobiles and a truck.  I got lots of runners growing up in the lawn but very few berries.  The children on their way to their grandmother’s house would nibble along with every other beast known to man.  If I ate a dozen berries in all those years I was lucky.

So three years ago I decided to salvage what was left by planting them in the garden.  The first year they put down roots but didn’t put out any berries.  The second year they sent out runners, which I shared with others.  They did produce some berries but they were few and far between.  When I noticed berries forming this year I tried not to get my hopes up.  When a couple ripened, I ate one and froze the rest hoping against hope to get enough to make jam. The beans and tomatoes kept me busy in the kitchen but when I could I would go out, pick several raspberries and freeze them.  The kids were under strict orders and threats of losing fingers (I would have started with the pinkie which is basically an unused appendage) to not touch them unless they were bringing them in to freeze.

This morning I went out to the garden and picked the balance needed to make raspberry jam.  The green beans I picked were put on hold while jars were sterilized, fruit mashed, sugar measured and lids put on the ready.  The smell was divine.  I started to drool while I stirred.  I had to run and get one of grandson’s bibs because a puddle  was starting to form at my feet.  The jars were filled and put in their hot water bath and then I was free.  Free to wash the pan ….with my tongue.  OMG I am going to hide every single jar as soon as they cool down.

Bird Brain

Use the talents you possess - for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best.

~Henry Van Dyke

I have birds on my mind.  I guess it starts with the new chickens which should start laying soon.  Then it moves on to the turkeys we are raising for Thanksgiving & Christmas dinner; are they big enough yet or should we let them go another couple of weeks.

Then it meanders like a flooding stream to this little bird. 

#2 son nicely paid for him after he broke my last knitting bowl three weeks after I bought it.  I acquired him this past weekend at the Endless Mountain Sheep & Wool festival.   He is still just a passing acquaintance as I have yet to sit down and have a conversation with him. 

The garden is being a very domineering child, demanding my full attention.  I had been dealing with approximately 100+ of tomatoes and two grocery bags of beans that we picked late last week so I felt confident that ignoring the garden over the weekend would not be a problem. 

But like a spurn lover jealous of no longer having my attention it went crazy, inundating me with three more bags of beans and 50+ pounds of tomatoes. 

Not willing to give into these jealous fits, I said to hell with it and I went out Tuesday night in pursuit of yet another fiber hobby, tatting.   

 It is one of those things that is beautiful and I have wanted  to learn but didn’t pursue further.  When the chance was given to me to have hands on demonstrations (read HELLLLPPP!!!)  I jumped.  

So far I have only learned the double stitch.  I attempted a picot (yes that small thing that looks like a pimple) before we had to call it a night.  I still need a ton more practice to get the stitches more even and my picots more defined but this is a very portable craft.  My socks were evicted from the sock bag so it could carry my cotton, scissors and shuttle.  And check out these Handmade tatting shuttles…beautiful!  I think they would love to come live in my sock bag! 

So Wednesday morning I woke to nightmares of being buried under tomatoes.  I sent the man to work and the kids to school.  I entered the kitchen determined to beat the tomatoes into submission only to find I no longer have any empty pint jars!  But I was not to be beaten by that minor detail, salsa tastes just as good in a quart jar as it does a pint, so does V8 and tomato sauce. 

Today finds me still at the tomatoes, I would say I was making some headway but I did sneak a peak into the garden while walking by.  The jealous fits continue, but in a weaker form.  I will not be defeated, I will not give in, I will emerge ready to knit, spin, or tat again. 

It would happen sooner if for once the kids did NOT listen to me and left the garden gate open!  

August is gone.

"August rushes by like desert rainfall,
A flood of frenzied upheaval,
Expected,
But still catching me unprepared.
Like a match flame
Bursting on the scene,
Heat and haze of crimson sunsets.
Like a dream
Of moon and dark barely recalled,
A moment,
Shadows caught in a blink.
Like a quick kiss;
One wishes for more
But it suddenly turns to leave,
Dragging summer away."
-  Elizabeth Maua Taylor 

Ahhhh the last weekend of summer or more rightly summer vacation is now done and over with.  We had a pig roast to celebrate #1 daughter and Sir T’s birthdays, Labor Day and the end of summer all rolled up in one big shebang. Got some alone time with Baby O while his mom and dad went yard sale hopping and fishing respectively and then went to dinner.  Wish I could harness just a small drop of his energy!

And regardless of the school shopping, the temperatures cooling, spiders and mice trying the su casa es mi casa trick and the leaves falling, I am still shocked that “summer” is over and school will be starting tomorrow.

As much as we accomplished this summer the to-do list is racing through my mind with a million things I want to get done before the snow flies.  I realize it will be some time before that truly happens but I don’t want it to catch me as shockingly unaware as school starting has!

When the night temps started dipping I went to work on socks for #2 daughter.  They had been long promised and kept being put on the back burner.  One is done and the second is on the needles along with a scarf.  There is the inevitable list of things I would like to knit if I only had more hands and time.

The garden is producing.  The squash are doing great which is amazing since I ignored that part of the garden.  The canning continues; green beans and carrots yesterday with tomatoes getting done tomorrow.  The pigs are getting big and will be leaving in about a month.  We bought ¼ share in a 4H steer so the freezers and shelves will be packed full soon.

The man and I went for a walk yesterday to check for elderberries near one of his old fishing spots.  

The birds had long taken the bounty but it was nice to just relax , talk about the weekend, the summer and what else needs to be done.   In some respects summer flew by and in others it has been soooooo long.  

With the change of the calender page #1 daughter is looking forward to cuddling up with hot cocoa but #2 daughter is starting her senior year so is bouncing between sadness and joy.   Ironic how we long for things and then when they arrive we barely have time to enjoy them before they are gone.  She better hold on tight this school year is going to have wings.

Good Old Summertime

"There's a time each year 

That we always hold dear,

Good old summer time;

With the birds and the trees'es

And sweet scented breezes,

Good old summer time;

When you day's work is over

Then you are in clover

And life is one beautiful rhyme,

No trouble annoying,

Each one is enjoying,

That good old summer time"

In The Good Old Summertime ~Lyrics by Ron Shields 

It always happens at this time of year…  While hanging out laundry I saw a leaf fall.  As I followed its path to the ground I was amazed to find several more lying there.  As usual it sends me running to try to fit as much in as possible.

Early last week I took the kids fishing.  While they fished I gathered some elderberries.  The birds and I are in a race to see who can get to them first…sadly they are winning.  I returned later in the week and gathered some more.  I also found a crab apple tree which I hope to beat the birds too.  I did get enough berries so far to make one batch of elderberry/blackberry syrup, and two batches of elderberry jelly.

I got a great price on mangos and I wanted to make chutney but they were very ripe so I made mango jam instead.  After another jaunt to the farmers market, I canned  9 quarts of crushed tomatoes,  10 pints of carrots, and froze 10 pounds of broccoli and 16 pints of corn.

The kids got the day off work on Thursday to go to the Jake Owens concert at the county fair.  It started at 7:30.  The man and I strolled through the exhibits and when we came out of the building the sky was rolling big black clouds. 

The man bought his sausage and peppers and we headed to the other end of the fairgrounds to buy my blooming onion.  

Our appetite sufficiently sated we went to check out the sheep and goats.  We did not get half way down the first aisle of the barn when the skies opened up and delivered a deluge of rain.  

We had told the kids to meet us at the front gate when the show was over so we had to dash through the down pour because we figured he would cancel the concert.  But Jake Owens said that if they were willing to sit in the rain he was willing to sing in the rain.  So the show continued until the thunder and lightning started and then they called it.  They missed out on half of the concert but they were so happy they didn’t care.  Since we were all completely wet we just headed for the parking lot.  Then we sat and watched the lightning for an hour while we waited to exit the fair grounds, the kids chattering away the whole time.

 Yesterday while visiting with grandson we went to Produce Junction.  I picked up some mushrooms to can cream of mushroom soup, sweet cherries,  green mango’s for chutney,  strawberries to freeze,  kiwi, lemons and some peaches.  We dropped #2 daughter off to spend the week with #1 daughter while Sir T goes out of town for work.  We will be going back down next weekend to pick her up and visit with Baby O again.  He is getting so big. 

Today I made black cherry pie filling and strawberry kiwi jam.  Tomorrow I will make the cream of mushroom soup and mango chutney.  The peaches need some time to ripen and might become peach salsa.

My garden finally produced two ripe tomatoes.  I continue to pick side shoots of broccoli and freeze them.  I have picked a handful of beans and they are loaded with blossom.  I hope #2 daughter is back to help by the time they all come in.   I pulled the zucchini.  The red raspberry bushes are going to bloom soon and so far the grapes look good…both will be a race with the birds.

So the canning season is going full force.  The school shopping will continue when #2 gets back home.  Being a creature of habit I am looking forward to our old routine and all of us sitting down to dinner together each night….only three weeks.

Forgiveness Day

To err is human; to forgive, divine.~ Alexander Pope

I was out picking blackberries, both wild and my thornless.  Marveling at the size difference reminded me that the last real conversation I had with my sister was about that very thing.

This was right after my mother died and before we realized what an malicious domineering b*tch she was.  I was asking for the canning supplies and when I went to go into my mother’s home to retrieve the squeezo I found all the locks had been changed.  She inherited the house but everything else was to be split.  She and her boyfriend of three months went through all of my mother’s things together instead of us all sitting down as a family.  My brother and I got the scraps.  We had to get a lawyer involved  just to get copies of family recipes!!!!  We never saw the inside of my mother’s house again while she owned it.

Ironically after picking berries I came in and read that tomorrow is Forgiveness Day.  Can I forgive her cruelty?  I started remembering going through photos with my brother and making copies so we would each have certain pictures. 

Oddly I had always thought of myself as the black sheep in the family, the inevitable angst of the middle child. 

While looking through the pictures my brother and I  noticed that my sister was never part of them unless  it was a staged photo.  In most candid shots it is the family together and she sits in the background reading a book. 

My memories really don’t include her except when she smacked me so hard she left a welt of her hand print on my back.  I don’t remember laughing with her or going places with her as a kid.  She was seven years older, always thought of herself as my mother.  She left for college when I was ten.  She moved back home three months before mom died.  I was extremely happy and hoped for the adult sister relationship.  Quickly I realized we were but a stepping stone place to stay to get out of the old relationship and start the new one.

As soon as she could she sold my mother’s house  and was gone.  The woman who bought it is a fantastic neighbor.  My oldest son went to school with her oldest son and my younger son played football with her younger son.  The kids are free to play in the fields again, something that my sister denied them.  The house had beautiful new siding and windows installed, the inside had a complete make over and no longer looks like the same place which actually makes it easier to be in there.  My mother would have loved  the changes.

So will I be forgiving her tomorrow?  No, I will leave that up to God to do as he is a much better person than I.  Forgiving her won’t erase the unnecessary pain she caused.  Do I miss her in my life? I don’t know where she is or even if she is still alive.  But no I don’t miss her because she was never really a part of it.  For all intents and purposes my life has become better with her out of it.  My children are free to roam what use to be their grandmothers property without being yelled at.   The neighbor has given us back items that she left there that we had given our mother.  I am quite at peace with the way things are.

School of Patience

"Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days."~ Henri Alain

It is pretty well known that patience is not one of my finer virtues.  And I have stated how the garden got off to a late start.  So if you put those two together you will know that I succumbed to the lure of the farmer’s market and purchased some produce.

Prices have indeed gone up in one year.  I bought 25# of tomatoes last year for $8 and they are $12 this year.  I better have a bumper crop otherwise there will not be much salsa or V8.  So along with one case of tomatoes, I did pick up some green beans, little cucumbers and hot peppers.  I got 13 pints of green beans canned as a start on this winters vittles. My green bean plants are just starting to flower and they are looking good.

With the hot peppers, I saw a recipe for “bottled hell” and knew the man would love it.  Well not only does the man like it but the guys at his job do too so I made a second batch.  I tend to stick to canning things that we would use on a regular basis.  This is not one of those things but is something that I would throw in a basket of goodies for someone who liked hot food.  It is just something different to tickle the taste buds or in this instance burn them off.

The cucumbers are in a small crock fermenting to be come horseradish pickles.  Why?  Because the man wants them.

And since I had something to occupy my canning itch, I was given some rhubarb, prime example of when it rains it pours.   I made 10 quarts of rhubarb pie filling.  OMG it is so good, why did I not know you could can this before?  I have canned apple and peach so I should have known I could do rhubarb.  Live and learn.

The zucchini is coming in.  I have enough frozen for zucchini bread and I have some fried zucchini frozen (what didn’t get eaten by the children).  I want to make up some zucchini crab cakes and freeze them.  Let us hope the cucumber beetles don’t kill the plants before my plans are finalized.

I made four batches of salsa but still have some hot peppers left so I will make the man a batch of cowboy candy – sweet pickled hot pepper rings.

The blackberries are still coming in and I have juice enough for two more batches of jelly and the rest of the harvest I will freeze whole to throw in pancakes, yogurt, cereal, muffins etc.

I am knitting a scarf, namely the +SSS  albeit with wool and not stainless steel yarn. 

We are still visited daily by the deer.  There are now 2 eight point bucks, a four point buck, a doe and two fawns. 

They are eating like crazy and things they have never touched before like my forsythia and every tree branch that dropped during the various storms was quickly stripped of it's leaves.  Hope that is not foretelling a early bad winter, I have too much to do still! 

So far they are leaving this alone....

Officially my first hazelnut!  Someday maybe there will be enough to make my own Nutella.

The garden is getting a natural watering quite frequently.The humidity is still high but the temperature has cooled down considerably. This all works in my favor.  I had found two reversible cast iron griddles and an 8 in frying pan in my grandmothers and the man was able to sand blast them at work.  I have to season them now and did not feel up to using the oven during the heat....I am too cheap to pay for the AC!  Hey I guess in this instance I did show some patience!  

Rain!!!

Let the rain kiss you.  Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.  Let the rain sing you a lullaby.  ~Langston Hughes

I woke at 5 to the wonderful sound of raindrops and they did quickly lull me back to sleep with a smile on my face, until the alarm went off.  It is a wonderful 62 degrees right now.  What a wonderful way to start the weekend.

I took #2 daughter on a start school shopping spree while the rain gave my garden its life saving transfusion!  The rain had s topped by the time we got back but we received 1.25 inches!  

Tomorrow is suppose to be below 80 so I took the last turkey out of the freezer to make room for anything the garden wants to produce!  The whole week looks awesome with high 70’s to low 80’s. and more rain due next weekend.  I am crossing my fingers the weatherman isn’t messing with me and pinching myself to make sure I am not dreaming!  


And from the sounds of it I am going to go to sleep tonight to the sound of a gentle rainfall!  


I will leave you with some photo's since I have very lax posting any. 

Random flower pictures

Saw this guy and that song started running through my head.  The littlest worm, the littlest worm, you ever saw, you ever saw was stuck inside,  was stuck inside, my soda straw.  Yeah you sang it!  Now it will be stuck inside your head because it was mine!

We have two buck that visit every day.  The man calls this four pointer Bullwinkle after the show because his antlers go straight out to the side.  

This eight pointer he just calls Dinner...we will see come December.

Now I am going to go listen to the rain.

Low profile

Predators make it much more difficult to find consensus. It's a lot easier to agree about birds and plants than about animals that endanger people and livestock. ~ Gale Norton

Rooster ... "Shhhhhhhhhhh  I have been keeping a low profile.  Saving my neck is what I've been doing.  I will let my scratch dealer tell you our story."

Farmer....Earlier in the summer we bought some baby turkeys, geese, ducks and chickens.  They got big but not big enough to go in the coop and pasture with the adults.  We made a temporary shelter for them using a dog crate with a sheet of plywood thrown over the top and their own fenced yard inside the fenced pasture.  They were locked in the dog crate every night which was in a 6 foot locked fenced area.   But something came and killed 3 turkeys and 4 chickens, by grabbing threw the openings and decapitating them.  Then it completely gutted one.   

So we put the crate into the coop, letting the remaining small ones into their own area during the day and putting them safely away in the pen inside the coop at night.  And we put up the trail cam to see what our problem was.  We didn't have long to wait.

It was a raccoon.  Now the coop has a full size front door and a small door on the side that slides up.  Part of our barn was an old school house and the coal shed is what my parents converted into a chicken coop.  A week later the raccoon slid the wooden side door up, got inside the coop and killed a baby duckling that my larger duck hatched and killed four of my larger chickens which were roosting in the rafters.  Again only one was gutted the rest were left with their heads bit off.  I probably would not be as upset if they were all eaten.  

Needless to say Mrs. Raccoon has now gone on to that happy hunting ground in the sky.  Add to this a fox which has been picking off the adult ducks and I was almost out of the chicken/egg business.  My animals are free range within a couple of acres of fenced pasture.  At first it was the sheep/goat fencing the fox could slip through.  When smaller fencing was added around the bottom they dug under and if a trap was set there they dug somewhere else.  The fox will soon go visit the raccoon, it is just a matter of time. I grew up on a dairy farm and while young my parents raised several fawns.  I have a great appreciation for wildlife but when no deterrent works than it is me/mine or them.  Luckily for Rooster I like him.

Rooster... "And now that I can stick my head up again with out fear of getting it bit off I will let them continue to crow about their other doings...."

Farmer... In other farm news, we used hog panels and sectioned off a 1/4 acre of additional pasture for the pigs.  We have everything needed to build a new chicken coop…now we just need the time.  You know that old saying "be careful what you wish for"?  Well the man may have extra time as his job is thinking of laying off workers and cutting hours of others.  A decision was suppose to be made today but nothing was said so we wait and worry.

It has just been disgustingly hot and we are in desperate need of rain.  Last night it rained  1/4 inch...not much but I am not complaining.  Some rain is better than none.  I have resorted to watering my garden to the risk of my well.  But the heat and lack of rain is taking a toll.  After a late start my tomatoes are just getting tomatoes.  My beans have yet to flower but I have been harvesting broccoli.  The blackberries are ripening so I have been picking and freezing until I feel like making jam.

The knitting bug has bit me again.  I finished the Afternoon Tea shawl.  I also finished four hats and a fifth is on the needles.  And I finished off a bobbin of the cotswold.  Hey if the winter is as cold as the summer is hot we will need all this!

They are growing up

“Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well.” ― George R.R. Martin

#2 son is 16.  Having just received his learner’s permit he is more than willing to go anywhere with me now!  Grocery shopping is no longer mundane, it is an adventure. 

Before school let out for the summer he signed up for the Army  (I haven’t signed yet but this is what he wants).  If all goes as planned, next summer he will do his basic training and then his advanced training right after graduation.  So this is his last summer of “childhood.”  He says he wants to really enjoy this summer. 

He was talking to a friend’s husband about gardening/beekeeping.  Tobacco was mentioned so he researched different kinds, their uses and curing process needed.  He finally settled on an heirloom variety, bought it, sowed them, transplanted them into larger pots and has now transplanted them into the garden.  Not wild about his choice of what to grow since we can’t eat it.   I am glad that it has sparked and interest in gardening and that he is out there with me a lot more so I can’t complain.  He has been helping more at the barn and the house (dormers are finally being added) along with working his summer job.   I am hoping to bribe him and his friends into painting the milk house this summer! 

#2 daughter is starting her senior year of high school in September.  She babysits several days/nights per week.  Her one customer is taking her along on their summer vacation to North Carolina.  She is going to Florida on her class trip in November.  When not working she has been helping control the weeds.  Of course she is the first to suggest taking a break and going for a swim too!  

But lest you say all work and no play…we have been fishing/swimming.  Jake Owens is playing at the fair in the next county so the kids have tickets for that.  And Jason Aldean with Luke Bryan are playing at the old Woodstock site.  Plans are being discussed for another charter fishing trip…salmon would be nice, just in case they want some input!  One of the man’s co workers went clamming and brought us home some which turned into New England clam chowder. I could get into some clam digging and I want to go to the Corning Museum but scheduling everyone to have the same day off is getting crazy.  For the first time in the twelve years the man and I have been together we have been eating dinner alone!  I am going to have to learn to cook smaller portions or eat the same thing for a couple of days!

So we are only 1 ½ weeks out of the school year.  The garden after a late start has taken off, unfortunately the weeds have too.  Blackberries look abundant if I can keep the birds from them.  #2 son’s boss has property with blueberries which he said we can pick so we are waiting on them.

The weather continues its erratic behavior.  It was in the 90’s last week, 70 yesterday and will be 90 before Friday.  It was 49 this morning.  Some knitting (in front of the fan) is being done when it is too hot to do anything else.  It is the Afternoon Tea shawl.  I have also been carding and spinning some Cotswold.  I have a ton of roving so why am I working on something that needs more work?  I have no clue.

The animals are getting bigger.  I let the duck hatch out some eggs so we have four little ducklings running around.  I truly love this time of year regardless of the weather.  I love the new animals, eating out of the garden, eating outside, fireflies, curtains blowing in the breeze…not so much love going out to the mosquito’s, ticks and snakes. 

So time is wasting so I better go do the barn chores.  Hope everyone is enjoying their summer...before it's gone.

IMHO

"This too shall pass."

Usually I am mild mannered and while something might bother me today it won’t tomorrow so I tend not to give it much attention....this too shall pass.  However, once in a while things tend to stick in my craw.  To some it might be mundane but this time it is the definition of farmer. 

 

Last Wednesday, I was reading an article which stated that they (writer and family) could not afford to eat their lamb or eggs as doing so meant less to sell which took monies away from the hay and feed bill.  I guess the farm was for production and not consumption.  The writer spoke in a tone of disgust on the very nerve of  just anyone with a garden and a couple of chickens thinking of themselves as a farmer.  Nose in the air about the whole “know your farmer and where your food comes from” movement with stupid questions, and hobby farmers who don’t require a profit to stay in business and even worse are those whom buy starter flocks from them only to become competitors.

Well damn where to start…

Wikipedia  defines a farmer as a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including including livestock, husbandry, and growing crops, such as produce and grain.  But some will argue that Wikipedia is not a reliable source so moving on....

Merriam Webster defines a farmer as a person who cultivates land or crops or raises animals (as livestock or fish)

Business Dictionany defines a farmer as an individual whose primary job function involves livestock and/or agriculture.

Not one single definition mentions how much land has to be cultivated or how many animals one has to raise in order to have this esteemed title.  And I didn’t see a thing where it said you weren’t a farmer unless you made a profit.

So far as the “know your farmer”, “know where your food comes from”, locavore movement, it has saved many a farm.  Instead of condemning the very people they market too they should pull the pitchfork out of their sanctimonious ass and find out exactly what those annoying buyers want to buy and then they might be able to eat one of their own eggs.  Many businesses have gone south not because of a poor product but because of the owner’s themselves being small minded and arrogant.  Being bitchy about people coming to your farm and asking “stupid questions” is not a marketing technique I ever heard of.  I was always told there was no stupid question and it was better to ask than be ignorant.

If Mr. Lives down the road wants to buy a starter flock, the writer does not need to sell to them but can market the lambs for meat.  Mr. Lives down the road will buy from someone else and will still be their competitor.  If their product is as good as they think it is than it will speak for its self and any customer lost will return. However, if Mr. Lives down the road makes their flock/product better, markets it the right way and doesn’t talk about their clients like dirt bags than they will eventually shut the writer down.  The writer forgets that they became a competitor to whomever they bought their starter flock from also.

My family is a bunch of farmers.  We lay new/mend/replace fence lines, haul grain/hay/water, are there when lambs are born/chicks & ducks hatch, we give shots, shear, trim hooves, shovel shit, collect eggs, kill, pluck, skin and eviscerate animals.  We till, plant, weed, harvest and can/dehydrate/freeze a large garden.  The man works “off the farm” to provide the insurance and monies needed to operate the farm. There are very few farms around here on which both the husband and wife are able to stay home.  My farm is not profitable because I don’t choose to make it so.  My farm is for my consumption.  If I have extra I sell it.  However I think it is asinine to have chickens that lay eggs only to sell them and then take that money and go buy an inferior product. 

IMHO a farmer was just someone who raised animals/food for their own consumption and sold the extra.  I guess while I was busy shoveling shit I missed the post it that said one had to be self sacrificing in order to be a “farmer”.  

Busy as a bee

"Steady as a clock, busy as a bee and cheerful as a cricket" ~Martha Washington

The past couple of days have been noisy and busy with the house full to capacity.  The kids came home from school last Thursday and didn’t return until Wednesday.  #1, Sir T and Baby O (love being a Grandma!)  arrived Friday evening and didn’t leave until Wednesday night and the man had a three day weekend.

The weather was disgustingly hot and humid but thankfully is back to normal.

A couple of things got checked off the To Do List… The lawn was mowed, a shed came down and was hauled to the burn pile, about 1/3 of the garden was weeded and tilled and a storage trailer completely cleaned out.  But since all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, there were three separate fishing trips to the river, some swimming, some gallivanting with friends, and a family baseball game.

And if that wasn’t enough to tuck into one weekend there was some other excitement.  In the wizard of Oz it goes, lions and tigers and bears Oh My!  Well around these parts it has been… turtles, snakes and bears Oh My!

A box turtle seems to have made my lawn his/her home.  We have carried it up into the woods and yet it returns each time.  So we have to be careful when mowing so as not to run him over.  Snakes on the other hand I don’t mind running over.  And snake skins abounded this weekend, several in the yards and a big one by the river.  But I would prefer to see the skins instead of the live water snakes while fishing or the rattle snake on the road below the barn.

And yet all of these are tame compared to the bear.  #1 daughter was outside with Baby O on her hip when she saw our cat scrunched down as if stalking something.  She walked over to see what he was getting ready to pounce on and less than 100 feet away was a bear.  She came running in and we went to make sure the bear would

leave the baby chicks, ducks, turkeys and geese alone and not make a meal of them.  

WHAT?!?!?

Mr. Bear calmly walked up the hill into the woods behind the house.  He was a big bear, on all fours he would have measured hip high on me.   

So things are slowly returning to as “normal” as things can be around here.  #2 son starts his new job tonight, #2 daughter is continuing to babysit several days/nights each week.  They only have eight days left before summer vacation and “normal” will take on a whole new meaning.

But it is 45 degrees now and rain is due so I am heading to the garden to get something constructive done.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Caveat Emptor

Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. ~Will Rogers

#1 daughter always tells me to read the reviews.  For the most I have been following her advice.  But on occasion I just plow ahead.  Recently I used bad judgment and had a bad experience.

My son recently celebrated his 27^th birthday.  As him and A are landscaping their yard I decided to buy a $100 gift certificate from Jackson & Perkins.  They have some amazing roses.  My mother had bought plants from them once and I had used them once before for a gift certificate. 

So I ordered an email gift certificate to be emailed to me to put in the birthday card.  I printed off the receipt and I waited for the certificate to come in the mail.  We had plans for dinner at their house on the 5/9 but thankfully they were cancelled because by this time all I had received was an email that day stating the order was being processed. 

On Mother’s Day I was forced to give him his card with the receipt/email and a promise to call the company to straighten it out. 

So Monday finds me on the phone explaining I haven’t received the gift certificate and was told they had done a   “huge computer change over and we are finding not everything went through”.  I asked if my order was lost for good and should I reorder.  I was told that was a good question and one she couldn’t answer but she would have a manager contact me.  I waited because I am a very patient person.

I waited until Thursday and then I called back.  I explained I had been waiting on a manager to call and explained why.  Jennifer transferred me to Alicia, the manager.  After explaining everything she asked for my order number and put me on hold to check.  While on hold I checked to see of the monies had been taken from my account.  Alicia came back on to say the order had gone through so there was no need to re-order.  I said the money hadn’t been taken from my account and was told that it would be and to expect the email gift certificate within 24-48 hours.  So I waited because I am a very patient person.

 I waited until Tuesday at which time the money had not been taken and no gift certificate received.   I called and spoke to Alfia.  After explaining everything (again) and asking same question I was told that Alicia was not in but she would have her call me.  I asked to speak to another manager but was told there is no other manager, nobody above her!?!!?!?!?!?  I told her that I would not hold my breath waiting on a call because I had waited days for a manager to call me back before.  And don’t ya know I am lucky I didn’t because I had to call them back at 5:09 PM. 

April answered the phone and I asked to speak to Alicia.  April asked for my name, which I only gave it to her.  She then asked if Alicia was expecting my call.  I must say that by this time I was no longer patient.  This company was reminding me of an ex-boyfriend and his excuse du jour(s).  So I told April that no she was not expecting my call but I had been expecting a call from her and explained the whole episode again.  She said “well let me see if she is still here” which made me say that she better be because otherwise she worked better hours than bankers.

So I was put on hold to listen to sounds of nature purportedly used to calm one’s nerves.  Wasn’t working! 

Alicia, unlike Elvis, had not left the building and finally picked up the phone.  I explained who I was and her part in this whole scheme.  I told her I need to know if the order went through, was still lost in their computer somewhere with access to my monies, or if I should order another gift certificate thereby giving them access to $200 of mine.  She said “Would you like to cancel the order” upon which I replied “Woman that is the most intelligent thing your company has said to me.  Yes cancel the order”

So Alicia, Alfia, April, Jennifer and Jackson & Perkins are now gone never to return again just like the ex-boyfriend!

I called son, apologized and explained everything.  Him and the man work together so I just wrote out a check, sent it into work with the man and he can go to a local garden center.

But this got me thinking that I can’t be the only idiot that this happened to and decided to check reviews.  I can hear #1 daughter in my ear “You should have done it to begin with.”  Here is what I found…

http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/33/#b

and you can read some of their experiences here http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/comments.php?compid=33&type=3#b

http://www.yelp.com/biz/jackson-and-perkins-company-greenwood

And then I checked the Better Business Bureau because after reading this I knew they had to have heard of them and they did!  They have an F rating.

http://www.bbb.org/nw-south-carolina/business-reviews/plants-retail/jackson-perkins-in-hodges-sc-11005417/

So I am putting this out there so that maybe someone else will benefit from it.  Also know that the conglomerate includes

Park Seed Company

Wayside Gardens

Harry & David

This is why they say shop local.  You know them, they know you.  And it proves that you are never too old to learn some very valuable lessons.   Caveat Emptor and check reviews!