~ On the Second Day of Spring ~

On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth.I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar.–Helen Hayes (1900–93)

~ Spring Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

*~* On the first day of Spring *~*

On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth.I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar.–Helen Hayes (1900–93)

With Spring begining today , my thoughts have been on wild foods/herbs. I want to try cooking dandelions this year , so I did a goggle search for recipes and this one caught my eye ~ http://southernfood.about.com/od/collardgreens/r/bl30319f.htm , although the dandelions aren't quite ready to harvest in my neck of the woods. I'm looking forward to trying this recipe , very simple and garlic makes everything taste good.

~ Spring Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

* Asparagus *~* Strawberries *

I bought my asparagus and strawberries last week , they arrived yesterday. I'm looking forward to get my asparagus bed started. My Dad always had a small patch of asparagus , basically enough for him and my Mom , we kids didn't like it. Over the years I've developed a taste for asparagus and love it. So , I decided it was time to get my own asparagus bed started. I'll be planting 15 Mary Washington asparagus crowns , as soon as I get my raised beds ready. Here's a great link with info about asparagus if you're interested ~ http://urbanext.illinois.edu/veggies/asparagus1.html.

My paternal Grandmother raised strawberries and sold them. We lived across the road from her , sometimes we helped pick the berries. They were small and delicious , nothing like you get at the grocery store or at the strawberry farms these days. She sold them for .50 a quart , already picked , her business was brisk during the season. She loved working with her berries , she would be out there everyday with her sun hat and hoe , weeding that patch. I hope my strawberries grow as well as hers , it'll be great to have homegrown berries again. I've got 25 Red Chief Strawberries to start my strawberry bed with. I bought my plants from http://cgi.ebay.com/15-Red-Chief-Strawberry-Plants-Free-Ship_W0QQitemZ300295845929QQihZ020QQcategoryZ20536QQcmdZViewItem they have great prices when you consider the quantity, you may want to check them out.

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~~ Curious J Spends the Night ~~

Last Saturday , Curious J ( my oldest grandson ) spent the night. We played the new game I created , called " Help Hop Hop Bunny find the Egg Basket ", he won the first game ..... sooo it was a fun game ( lol ).
Sunday morning we made homemade blueberry muffins , he loves to cook. That evening we braved the rain and made our way to the chicken coop. He choose the barred rock as his hen. Her name will be " Little Toya (Victoria ) , he named her after a friend at pre-school. He can't say Victoria well , so he calls her Toya ...... so cute. He fed the chicks and watched them awhile.

I had Little Missy , Little Froggy and Baby T for awhile on Saturday , so I got to spend time with all the grands this past weekend , they bring so much ........ joy with their little smiles.

~ Joyful Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Happy St. Patrick's Day ~

May Blessings of Happiness Be Yours Today !!

JoyceAnn

~ Herbal Folkart ~

~~ Wild Ginger ~~

~ Mishaps ~

Thursday , I smashed my pinky finger with a piece of wood. It was very sore and bruised , so I soaked a piece of gauze in pine oil and wrapped it overnight , most of the soreness was gone yesterday. I'm so pleased with the pine oil I made , it has wonderful healing properties. I use it to polish furniture with , great to have a non-toxic product around with dual purposes.

Another mishap took place on Thursday , Lily Bell the new cat , decided to make a bed on my seedlings. I guess it's warm under the lights , she destroyed the lettuce seedlings. The broccoli , brussel sprouts and cabbage are o.k. , need to find a better place to put them.It's suppose to rain all weekend , so gloomy , but I'm thankful. The garlic has grown alot this week , with the rainfall , it should continue to grow at a good rate.

Curious J will be spending the night , looking forward to spending time with him. I created a new game for us to play , will let you know if he likes it. He loves the " Help Santa find Rudolph " but it's almost time for Easter , time to put Christmas away , he has to play it ever time he comes over (lol). I plan to let him pick one of the hens as his own and name her , it will be his hen at Nana's house.

~ Hope Your weekend is Blessed ~

JoyceAnn

~ Garden Journal & Raised Beds ~

Last week during the snow I decided to collage my Garden Journal , since it is a simple 1 subject composition notebook , thought it needed a little sprucing up. I try to keep notes about the garden , names of plants , date planted , notes about growth , when to fertilize , how well they produce and many other things about the garden. Last year I didn't well with my journaling , this year I plan to do better. I did jot notes on the calendar last year , so that was helpful , just never entered that info in my journal as planned.

Yesterday , Dh & I worked on the raised beds. I put cardboard down in the bottom , added mulched leaves on top of the cardboard , then added the compost. I planted mixed leaf lettuce and spinach. We have some old windows my brother gave us , Dh helped dig one out and wash it off , we put it over the raised bed to act as a cold frame.

The weather has been so nice , but it's suppose to get cooler starting tomorrow. The little chicks have been venturing out into the fenced area the last few days and the guineas have been roosting in the trees again.

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ What a Difference ~

~ Marsh Blue Violet ~
~ Common Elderberry ~


~ Deer Skull ~

~ Cleavers aka Goosegrass ~

Wow ~ What a difference a week makes , last Monday it was cold and snowing. By Friday the temps were in the 70's , signs of plant life beginning to emerge everywhere. Today the high was 84 degrees , almost to warm , but I enjoyed it.

Yesterday , Shadow and I hiked through the woods , he loves exploring as much as I do. I was looking for herbs , he was looking for something to chase (lol). Shadow and I both spotted this little deer skull , he got to it before I did , I thought he was going to take off with it , but he didn't. I plan to hang it up on the outside building.

I spotted many herbs starting to peep through the dead leaves , chickweed , cleavers , elderberry , violets and wild onions. There were also some plants that I couldn't identify. When I take my next hike , I plan to take my herb guides and see if I can i.d. them. This year I plan to make some violet jelly , also want to learn more about cleavers and elderberries.

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Weekend Happenings ~

The weather has been wonderful this weekend , I had Little Froggy yesterday so I didn't get much done , just enjoyed sharing life through his eyes. He climbed up in a chair and found Pa's cap , boy .... did he think he was grown (lol). We spent time in the chicken coop , watching the pullets. One of the black chicks found a worm and a fight was on , all six fighting over the one worm , it was a cute sight. I tried to get a pic , but they all were blurry because of so much movement.

DH and SIL cut more firewood , hopefully this will see us through the cold weather for this year , and supply our hot water for the summer months.

The seedlings look good , need to thin them next week . I'm ready to get the garden started , but know I need to be patient , to early yet. I do plan to get some leaf lettuce and spinach planted in my raised beds this week. The garlic is growing and looking great.

So , what's everyone else doing this weekend ?

~ Simple Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Alfalfa Sprouts ~

I ordered some alfalfa seeds , when I ordered my garden seeds. We love sprouts in our salads and on the occasional sandwich , so thought I would give sprouting a try. They are really easy to sprout by the method I found on Simple - Green - Frugal - Co- Op , check-out this link http://simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com/2009/02/winter-greens-alternative.html if you're interested in growing your own alfalfa sprouts.

Happy I found the link and sprouted my own , since there was another salmonella scare with alfalfa sprouts this week.

Hope everyone is having a Grrreat Weekend !!

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ March Issue of Herbal Roots ~

Tansy's March issue of Herbal Roots is available for purchase. This months issue is about chickweed , she has a great chickweed pesto recipe in this issue. I can't wait to try it , it sounds delicious.

Your kids or grandkids will enjoy helping the bunny find the chickweed , singing the chickweed song , or a word search for the older kids. Little Froggy enjoyed the chickweed song , he gave me a big smile when I sang it.

These are just a few of the fun activities in this month's issue , if you're interested in buying it , click here ~ http://fieldoftansy.blogspot.com/2009/03/herbal-roots-march-2009-issue.html .

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~~~ Help Me Identify the Chicks ~~~

Black Australorp & Rhode Island Red ?

Buff Orpington ?

Plymouth Barred Rock ?

Rhode Island Red ?

My Dear Hubby picked up my chicks a week ago this past Saturday. I had ordered , 2 Black Australorps , 2 Plymouth Barred Rock and 2 Rhode Island Reds. My Dh didn't know what I ordered , I thought the farm I ordered from would have my chickens ready , but he had no idea what I ordered either , so these are the chicks Hubby brought home.

Thought I would post some pics and see if you can help positively identify them. I believe I have 3 Black Australorps , 1 Plymouth Barred Rock , 1 Rhode Island Red and a Buff Orpington , but not sure. I originally ordered 2 Buff Orpingtons , but he e-mailed me and said he wouldn't have any , they were all sold. He said he had Black Australorps available , so I e-mailed him and told him I would take 2 of those , since he didn't have Buffs available.

I have a cheap camera , these are these best pics I could get. So , what do you think are ? I know a couple of readers have experience with chickens , hope you can help.

~ Be Blessed ~

JoyceAnn

~ Homemade Bread & Vegetable Beef Soup ~

Yesterday was a very raw day , cold , rainy and the snow started coming down last night. We awoke to a couple of inches of snow this morning , it's beautiful to see everything snow covered again , but I'm ready for Springgggggg .............. the garlic still peeks through , letting me know that Springggg ............ is almost here.

Other than checking on the chicks and guineas , feeding them , the rabbit and dogs , I stayed inside. I was going to the grocery store , but changed my mind and decided to make do with what I had on hand. I gathered up 5 quarts of canned veggies and browned some ground chuck with garlic , threw everything in a large pot and let it simmer. Then I tried making french bread again , my first attempt was a complete failure , a few weeks ago. The bread didn't rise and was sooo heavy , not sure what I did wrong . I thought maybe the water wasn't warm enough to make the yeast work or maybe I didn't give it enough time to start working. So I made sure the water was warmer and let it sit longer , until it was bubbling well. The dough did rise and the bread was good with the soup.

I plan to make this bread soon , found the recipe on Mother Earth News at this link ,http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx?utm_source=iPost&utm_medium=email&page=4. I've seen on a few blogs , were the bloggers had great success with this bread , and love being able to keep it on hand , to make quickly.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

*** Sprouts and Snow ???

All of the seeds I started on Thursday , have began to sprout. I checked on them yesterday and could see the little sprouts pushing through the soil. Today I plan to take the plastic wrap off and place them by a sunny window , but we will not see any sun for the next couple of days , it's suppose to Snow ........ I can't believe we're getting more snow , it's unusual to see snow this late in the season. It has snowed as late as April , but it's been many moons ago. They're calling for a major winter storm , 2 to 6 inches in some areas.

We had rain all day yesterday , the guinea gang decided they wanted to return to the coop , so they're locked in were it's nice and dry. I hope they'll start returning to the coop at night again.

Well , I'm off the computer , need to feed up and head to the grocery store.

~ Winter Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Seed Starting ~

Yipee ~~ I finally received my seeds Monday , so today I started all the cold weather crops. I have been saving egg cartons for awhile , I was saving them for my future eggs , but remembered when I was in elementary school , how we used them to start seeds , so I' m starting some of my seeds in them this year , better for the environment and the plants.

I saved the egg shells , washed them , let them dry , placed the shells back in the cardboard holder and punched holes in the bottom of each shell. I put potting soil in each shell , planted the seeds , then I used a spray bottle to dampen the soil. I covered them with plastic wrap ( the last box of wrap I intend to buy ~ hate the stuff ) to help keep them moist , then I put the cardboard sleeve over them to keep them dark. I'll keep them in my spare bedroom until they sprout , then I'll move them to basement and put them under lights.

I did an internet search about starting seeds in egg shells , found this article , http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=1052. The wonderful thing about this process is you can plant the egg shells or card board holders and not worry about root damage , plus the shells add nutrients.

I started 2 types of cabbages , Early Round Dutch Cabbage and Red Acre Cabbage , Di Cicco Broccoli , Catskill Brussel Sprouts , Iceberg Lettuce and Paris White Cas Lettuce (Romaine Lettuce ). I've never started these type seeds , hope they do well.

The weather has been wonderful today , did a load of wash and hung it out to dry. DH and K Gray moved my raised beds to their permanent location , plan to work on those the weekend. The chicks are doing well , they've adjusted to the coop. The guineas decided to become totally free range yesterday , they didn't stay in the coop last night , found them a nice roosting spot , high up in the trees . I would prefer they stay in the coop overnight , but not much you can do , if they want come down from the trees.

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Six Little Chicks ~

Saturday , Dh picked up our laying hens. I didn't get to make the trip as planned , Little Froggy and Curious J were staying with me , so their Dad could attend a funeral.

The chicks were smaller than I thought they would be , but oh ...... sooo cute. Curious J loved them , he wanted to hold one. He helped put food in their tray and enjoyed watching them. Little Froggy just stood back and watched big brother.

I think we have 3 Black Australorps , 1 Rhode Island Red , 1 Buff Orpington and a Plymouth Barred Rock. It will be awhile before they start laying eggs , maybe July although I hope sooner. I will be giving them names , but I think I'll wait and see what their personalities reveal.

After we came out of the chicken coop , Pa challenged Curious J to try to catch a guinea and the chase was on , but Nana had to put a halt to that. Little Froggy got brave later and decided he wanted to catch a guinea too , so cute (LOL).

We had a wonderful time with the Grands Saturday , they always bring a smile to our faces. Curious J saw my gardening beds that Pa had made and decided he needed one for a sandbox , so Pa has new project to work on (LOL) , between Curious J and I , we keep him busy.

Hope everyone has a good day , need to get off the computer , let the guineas out , feed the chicks , bunny and dogs. I'm trying to get my Spring cleaning done before the nice weather comes , because I'll want to be outside then.

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn