~ Fresh Veggies for the Grandbabies ~

The grandbabies have been sick this week , some kind of virus. They've been coughing , runny noses , ill and clingy. Since I couldn't get outside yesterday , I made baby food. I cooked carrots , greenbeans and squash and pureed them. I burnt the greenbeans , so I'm cooking some more today. My SIL came yesterday to go swimming , we were talking and I forgot about the greenbeans until I smelled them. I've been recycling their baby food jars , I put part of the food in the jars , to be used in a day or two. The remainder was put in ice trays to be frozen for later use.

Little Bob White is trying to crawl and sitting up by himself now. Little Missy sits up well , but can't do it by herself. She has no interest in crawling , she's trying to pull up on things and wants to walk.

I went to my Mom's for supper lastnight , she cooked a pot of chicken & dumplings ~~~ um um good , so were the peas , cooked cabbage and squash. My sister made blueberry and strawberry cobblers , they were delicious too.

~ Blessings to Everyone , Hope your weekend is Wonderful ~

JoyceAnn

* Deer Leaf Lettuce *

I pulled up the leaf lettuce bed on Monday. We had 2 weeks of hot weather and it's starting to look bad , so I decided I would pull it up.

I'm going to replant some of the lettuce and put it down in my basement under grow lights and see if continues growing .

I sorted through the lettuce , kept some to replant , and some for the bunny , all the dead leaves and roots will be composted. It's a great feeling to use every last piece and not waste any. I planted some in a plastic storage box , that had seen its better days ~ was cracked and destined to be threw away. I watered and put them under lights in my basement. I hope they will continue producing , it's cool in the basement and has windows , they will receive some sunlight . Will keep you updated on the progress.

This was the first year I have grown lettuce and I was pleased with the results , next year I will start it earlier and try more types of lettuce.

I had another visitor early this morning , a doe was munching on some honeysuckles outside the house. I slipped quietly out to the back porch and captured this photo , my batteries are getting weak , the charge doesn't last very long , time for new batteries. I read a tip somewhere , that said to use the weak batteries for your clock , that they would last a long time. I guess a clock doesn't pull as much energy as the camera. I plan to try that , hope it works.

* Hope your day is Blessed with some of Nature's Beauty *

~ JoyceAnn ~

*~* 100 Foot Diet Challenge *~*

06 ~ 18 ~ 08

(Marinated Chicken)

Chicken ~ Locally Grown

Italian Dressing/ Marinate ~ Store Bought

(Stir ~ Fry Veggies)

Broccoli * Homegrown

Garlic * Homegrown

Green Onions * Homegrown

Yellow Squash * Homegrown

Olive Oil ~ Local Owned Grocery Store

Banana Peppers * Homegrown

~ How Does My Garden Grow ? ~

The garden looks so much better since we were ~ Blessed ~ with rain this past weekend. The greenbeans are starting to produce. I have small bell peppers and picked a few banana peppers yesterday. The squash vines look better and those little squash are growing. The spaghetti squash are starting to bloom. I have two kinds of tomatoes growing , beefsteak and homesteads , they're blooming. I grew my tomatoes from seed for the first time this year. The watermelon vine is a volunteer from seeds I planted last year , but due to the drought , they never sprouted. I have about 4 watermelon vines and a couple of sunflowers that have come up from last years seed.

~ Garden Blessings ~ JoyceAnn

~ Beautiful Morning ~

Wow ~ What a Beautiful morning , Oh what a Glorious Day !

I had my coffee on the back porch this morning , the sun was coming up and rays were shining through the trees. A cute little red bird was perched on a torch , they have a nest in the dogwood near the pool. I don't have the best camera but if you click on the photo , it should enlarge it. He was chirping and warning the cats to stay away .

We got the pool opened Friday , Curious J had a wonderful time swimming and the grand babies loved the water. I enjoyed coming from the garden this morning after weeding , and taking a quick dip.

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday , we had a cookout for DH for Father's Day. The girls and I cooked an almost local meal , local grown grilled bbq chicken , salad with some local veggies and corn on the cob ~ frozen from last year. I made a garlic butter to put on the corn ~ it was so gooood ! We really enjoyed celebrating the day ~ My Dad died a couple of years ago. I miss him , he was an avid gardener and I miss seeing him plowing and planting his tomatoes. He loved his tomatoes ~~~ and gardening , I definitely inherited that gene (LOL).

RAIN ~ We were blessed with rain this weekend and the garden looks great. Some of the cabbage are ready to cut , the squash need to be picked and the banana peppers are hanging. I guess I'll be busy this week. The grass and weeds need harvesting too (LOL).

~ Green Blessings ~ JoyceAnn

* ~ * Dream Catcher Inn * ~ *

I finally finished a project I started 5 years ago (LOL) . I saw an idea for making a birdhouse from a teapot a few years ago and wanted to make one. I got DH to drill a hole for the perch and cutout the entry hole. For some reason I never got around to finishing it. It ended up in the storage building and has been sitting there waiting on me. I spotted it awhile back when I was getting canning jars out of the building. So , I brought it back to the house and sit it on the back porch.

Yesterday I finally got inspired to finish the birdhouse , wanted it to be natural looking . I plugged the spout with a cork and added a twig for the perch. I found some moss from my yard for the trim and a spiked vine. But it needed something more , so I looked through my recycled junk and found this small ~ Dream Catcher ~ and a feather I had collected. I made a small sign to complete the birdhouse. I love it , It will hang on my front porch , maybe the wrens will use it.

I have another birdhouse that I plan to mosaic , hope it doesn't take 5 years (LOL). Have a Great weekend !

~ Creative Blessings to Everyone ~ JoyceAnn

~ Mini Herb Garden ~

I decided to pot up my herbs and put them near my ~ Mini Herb Garden ~. I'm not going to get the larger herb garden made this season , so I needed to get them put in larger pots. Last year I started a mini herb garden near the wellhouse. I planted some echinacea and cilantro there. I didn't think it was a good place for my echinacea , so I moved it last Fall. But it came back again this year in the same place , I guess it reseeded.

Anyway , awhile back I bought some basil , pineapple sage , tri - color sage and thyme. I potted them up and put them near my ~ Mini Herb Garden ~. I planted the tri-color sage with my rosemary I planted awhile back , they're suppose to compliment each other. The basil and thyme are planted together. I put the pineapple sage in a pot of it's own.

I've never grown many cooking herbs , always used store bought. Last year I grew cilantro and fell in LOVE with the fresh flavor. So I'm ready to try them all now. Can't wait to cook some ~ Rosemary & Garlic Potatoes ~ all fresh from my garden.

~ Hope You have a Blessed weekend ~ JoyceAnn

~ * ~ Common Plantain ~ * ~

Yesterday I spent sometime gathering plantain ( Plantago major ) , a wild herb . Plantain is a great plant to get to know , it grows almost everywhere. It can be used for bee stings , bug bites and some spider bites. Last year my son-in -law got stung on the foot , he has severe swelling when he is stung. I went and gathered some from the yard and pounded it with a pestle to get the enzymes flowing , laid the plantain on the sting and wrapped it with a ace bandage. I changed it after a few hours , the plantain had dried out , almost looked like it was cooked , it draws the poisons out. I laid more plantain on his foot and wrapped it again , he kept it on overnight. The next day the swelling was down , it worked great. If you're outdoors and need a quick fix , you can chew the leaves of plantain and make what is called a spit poultice , apply it directly to bug bites , cuts & scrapes , bee stings. My GrandDaddy practiced the spit poultice method with his tobacco snuff , if we got stung by the honeybees , we got smeared with snuff ~~ yucky , but it worked.

Plantain has been found to be effective in treating many internal problems as well , gastritis , peptic ulcers , diarrhea , irritable bowel syndrome and hemorrhoids to name a few.

I have also read it's great for diaper rash. I'm going to make some salve and try it. I'm going to chop the plantain up and cover with olive oil , let it sit for six weeks. I will strain it after 6 weeks and heat it up and add some beeswax to make the salve.

The grands haven't had any problems with diaper rash yet , but once they start eating more and drinking juices , I'm sure they will. Would love to have a natural remedy for it.

~ Green Blessings ~ JoyceAnn

~ * ~ Garlic , Garlic , and more Garlic ~ * ~

Are you tired of hearing about ~ * ~ Garlic ~ * ~ yet ? It seems like I've been waiting for this moment forever , so I'm excited about this harvest. I love cooking with garlic , I used my fresh garlic from the first harvest Monday night when I made a chicken & broccoli stir fry. It tasted so fresh and wonderful.

My Hubby , Mom ( pictured above ) and I finished digging it up late yesterday afternoon. My Mom and I tied it into bundles and hung it up in what is , going to be the chicken coop to dry out. It'll take about a month to dry , then we will take it down , cut the stems off , clean it and store it. I plan to save the largest cloves , to plant in the Fall.

The squash are starting to produce , should be eating some this weekend. It's getting dry here again , praying we get rain this week.

It's been to HOT to work on the chicken coop , so it's been a slow project. I may have to wait to next year for chickens unless the weather gets cooler and hubby gets in gear (LOL).

On a serious note , PLEASE PRAY for Judie , http://littleartroom.blogspot.com/ , she lost her daughter in an accident last month. You're in my thoughts and prayers each day Judie.

Peggy over at , http://hiddenhavenhomestead.blogspot.com/ is also suffering a loss . Please say a Prayer for her., you're in my thoughts and prayers too , Peggy.

~ Blessings and Love to Judie & Peggy ~ JoyceAnn

~ Harvesting the Garlic & A Visitor ~

I went to the garden early this morning to harvest the garlic. I was getting ready to take a picture of my spaghetti squash when I heard something coming out the woods , a buck came strolling out and just stood there while I took his pic ( click on pic to enlarge ). He had four points , so I guess that means he's four years old. I wonder if he thought I was a scarecrow , with my gardening hat on , I looked like one I'm sure. He stayed for a few minutes , until I started walking away , he then made a quick dash back the way he came .

We live in a rural area and our garden borders the woods. Last week while I was out weeding one evening , there were 2 wild bunnies grazing in the field , they stayed out there the whole time I was weeding. I looked up once and thought they were hopping away but they were chasing each other in a circle.

Yesterday , while I was gathering some leaf lettuce , I heard some kind of baby wildlife crying out. I'm not sure what it was , last year I saw some baby foxes in the area that the cries were coming from , maybe baby kits or could be bobcats.

Finding a balance with the animals can be challenging , so far they've stayed out of the garden. I enjoy seeing them , but don't want them in the garden. I'm going to make another garden chime to hang were I saw that buck , I hope it'll scare him away. While I was digging the garlic , the other chime started CLANGING , it made me jump (LOL).

I dug up two kinds of garlic this morning , the first kind was a hardneck variety called " Georgia Crystal ". They are kinda small , not sure if they get large. I 'm going to read up about them and find out.

The softneck variety has big bulbs , it's called " Early Italian Red ". I still have one section to dig , they're softnecks too. I hope to get them out this afternoon , it got to hot and I had to get out of the garden. I've still got to bundle them up and hang to dry.

~ Green Blessings ~ JoyceAnn

* Garden Harvest *

Back in the fall when I planted my seed garlic , I also planted some garlic cloves that I had bought at the grocery store. I harvested my store bought garlic a few weeks ago , the stems turned completely brown , so I dug them up and let them dry out. I cleaned the garlic up Saturday morning , they're small but they look good. As you can see some have separated cloves , some have tight cloves and some are just 1 big clove.

The seed garlic is ready to dig now , the heatwave we've had has caused the stems to die back sooner than I thought they would . I couldn't resist digging some up , to see how well it did ~ they're big and sooo .. beautiful. I plan to harvest the ~ Garlic ~ tomorrow.

~ 100 Ft Diet Challenge ~

I starting a new blog of my weekly homegrown meals. So , if you're interested in the challenge , check it out.

I guess every garden has it disappointments. My youngest daughter bought the broccoli plants this year , she got an early harvest type and some regular plants. I am disappointed with the early producing type , they didn't head. These are the flowerettes I harvested from about eight plants , altogether it might make 1 nice head. Tonight I will make chicken & broccoli ~ Yum , everything will taste so fresh.

~ Hope You're Blessed with a Bountiful Harvest ~

JoyceAnn

* ~ Recycled Garden Art Chime ~ *

I've been saving everything since I'm trying to recycle more. We get take-out from our favorite Mexican or Chinese restaurant once a week. I've been saving the aluminum pans to hang around the garden.

I decided to get creative with them and turn them into some garden art , that is useful as well. This is what I came up with , simple but effective.

When the wind blows , they will make noise and reflect the sun as it shines on them , the noise and reflections help to keep critters away. It was easy to make , so I'll be making more to hang around.

~ Creative Blessings to Everyone ~ JoyceAnn

~ Blessings ~

We've been blessed , my oldest daughter is having another baby. She had the pregnancy confirmed yesterday , they said she would be due Jan. 6th.

She and her husband have said they want 5 kids , so they are well on their way. Little Missy just turned 6 months and is so independent , I told them awhile back she was moving out the way for another , guess it was true. She'll be walking in the next couple of months , she doesn't even try to crawl , wants to stand up and go .......My oldest daughter was an early walker too , she was making steps at seven months and all over the place at eight months.

It's amazing how time flies , the photo above was taken back in Nov. , Little Missy and Little Bob White were just a few days old , Little Betty (nickname for my niece ) was 4 months old. They've all grown so much and each has developed their own personality , it's a joyful experience to watch them grow.

I was joking with the girls a few years ago and told them I wanted at least 10 grandkids , I'll soon be halfway there.

~ Hope Your Weekend is Blessed ~ JoyceAnn

~ Gathering Red Clover ~

Yesterday , I gathered some red clover . I 'm going to dry these buds for making red clover tea.

I posted this pic on my Create Everyday 2008 blog , Thur the Pink Curtains ask about the red clover rice. So I'm posting the recipe again.

Red Clover Rice

2 cups rice ~ brown or wild

2 cups red clover ~ Just the pink flower , separated into petals

1/2 cup of butter

1 tsp sea salt

Cook rice in 6 cups of water until done. Add butter , red clover petals and salt while rice is hot ~ Ready to serve.

~ Delicious ~

~ Green Blessings ~ JoyceAnn

~ Old Apple Trees ~

Back in early spring , DH and I had talked about cutting our ~ Old Apple Trees ~ down. I don't know how old they are , they were here when we bought our home. I've never got any apples off them , they've just been there and produced apples for the wildlife.Most of the time , a late frost kills most of the blooms and there aren't many apples anyway.

So we thought it might be a good idea to cut them down and plant some new ones. We never got around to cutting them and Well ...... it seems the ~ Old Apple Trees ~ didn't want to die , they're full of little green apples this year. I plan to can some apples , make applesauce and apple crisp ~ Yummy. Sometimes I guess it pays to procrastinate (LOL).

I also found a nice size volunteer peach tree blooming this Spring in the edge of the woods. It has a couple of peaches on it , but I don't think it will produce much in this area. I plan to move it in the Fall , it will be planted along the fence line of our property , with the blueberries and a pear tree I planted earlier this Spring.

I hope to produce most of our food within the next few years , seems Mother Earth is eager to help.

~ Green Blessings ~ JoyceAnn

~ * ~ Blueberry Bushes ~ * ~

My uncle brought me two blueberry bushes Sunday. It's really late in the season to plant them , but I did Monday evening. I dug the holes , added compost and some rabbit manure and planted a 2 liter drink bottle with them , so I can water them at the roots. I mulched them with pine needles. The bushes are huge , they're at least 6 ft tall and actually had berries on them. I wonder if I should have cut them back before planting. The temps are suppose to be in the 90's this week , it's going to be a challenge to keep them living.

Late yesterday evening , I strolled out there to look at them. They hadn't wilted at all. I will keep them watered well ~~~~ maybe they will live.

~ Garden Blessings ~ JoyceAnn

* Garlic Scapes *

So , I've been talking about my garlic since last Fall , it should be ready to harvest by the end of this month or the 1st of July. This is the first time I've grown garlic and I've been really excited about it. Yesterday I cut the scapes from my hardneck garlic , they smelled wonderful. The scapes are edible too , tonight I plan to saute some in olive oil and add them to our rice for that yummy garlic flavor.

Then I will chop up the rest and freeze them to use for that garlic flavor , until I harvest and cure the garlic cloves.

Later tonight ...Update~~The Scapes were delicious with our rice ~~

~ Green Blessings ~ JoyceAnn

~ Rainbow Garden ~

Yesterday while I was cooking breakfast , Curious J did a Painting. I walked over to look at it and he told me it was his garden. I told him it was beautiful and I loved the colors , he then said it was his ~ Rainbow Garden ~. I plan to frame it for him and let him hang it in his room.

* 100 Ft Diet Challenge *

06 ~ 01 ~ 08

Sausage ~ Local Homemade

Eggs ~ Store Bought

100 % WholeWheat Toast ~ Store Bought

Strawberry Jam ~ Homemade

Dh has got a start on the chicken coop , fresh eggs will be a blessing.