Beauty Farming Life

Garden plots, photo courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens, BHG.com This might be too organized to last, but wow, how pretty is this?  There is just something so neat and orderly about it and I'm drawn to it. Perhaps it's the clean lines?  The fence?  The barn?  Our veggie gardens will be away from our future barn site, but I'm thinking, since these appear to be flowers anyway, wouldn't this make a great cutting garden next to our barn?  Hmm, it could also give me that picket fence I've always wanted too! Hey, it never hurts to  dream  plan ahead, right? Be inspired!

Have you seen this? Ah so relaxing...a chicken coop, birdhouse, a nice wicker chair to sit in, the tools  you can use laying around, nestled amongst the trees... Photo owned by and courtesy of: The Mini Garden Guru No, this isn't an inspiration Thursday picture of some garden I'd like that have.  Well I take that back, I would love to have a garden like this...but only because it's not a real garden but it IS a TINY garden!   That's right, it's a miniature garden.  This is bonsai on a whole other level.  Here it is below, from further out, so you can see the scale. Photo owned by and courtesy of: The Mini Garden Guru Isn't that amazing??  Click on  THIS LINK  to visit the wondrous blog with some incredible pictures.  She creates miniature outdoor scenes, using real plants, and small chairs and statues and even ponds...almost like you would do for a large dollhouse.  Just incredible, and so detailed. SOMEDAY , when I have more free time

The Northeastern United States, and soon the parts of Canada to the North of there, is experiencing what could be one of the worst Winter storms  blizzards in decades.  We can't imagine what you are all experiencing. (we were in the 70's today!) Stay safe and stay warm! As they tell us down here during Hurricanes and Tropical Storms,  "hunker down"!

I am in the final planning of the garden area at the farm and guess what?  Today starts the construction!  As this post appears, I'll be at the farm building raised garden beds. There are numerous reasons for raised beds, not the least of which is the poor soil condition in the only real area we have right now to put the garden.  Sure we have 10 acres, but about 7 of those are still undeveloped (other than my big green zen machine trails), so that only leaves the immediate area already cleared around the house. Several more factors came into play; they have to be close enough to the house to let the water hoses reach them, they can’t be in the low parts of the yard that flood during heavy rains, and of course they have to be where they get the most sun.  I’ve already marked off one site that meets those criteria as the future barn area, so I can’t put the gardens there.  That left me the one area I’ve been making ready the last few months by clearing the small trees out and k

Don't Waste Food, Ladies Home Journal from WWII Here is an image from Ladies Home Journal, circa WWII.  The government said, once again, not to waste food.  This was of course for the war effort where the push was to save food and make sure it all was used.  This is fascinating as they pushed saving bread and using it as a bread pudding, crumb pie, a crunchy coating for fish and as a 'meat extender'. They also touted the benefits of "skinless" hot dogs because you don't have to peel them (not sure I ever  did that) and that kids love them for that reason. A window into another time, that's for sure! Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

This tree died in the drought of 2011, but because it was hidden among other trees, I didn’t realize it was dead until a recent storm snapped it in half. Dear Tree; I’m sorry for your loss but I will replace you and the others that were lost, with two dozen more. With Regret, 1 st   Man Here is one of several empty birds’ nests, around the property.  Once covered and protected by leaves, hidden from predators, they are now empty and their occupants, hopefully, flying somewhere South for Winter. Dear Birds; Please come back this year, I promise to have a birdbath for you to use and some feeders full of wonderful food. Thank you, 1 st  Man The grass is all brown and dormant for Winter, nothing much to do with it now. Dear Big Green Zen Machine; I hope you have a nice rest this Winter since all the grass is not growing, but get ready for a fun filled season of mowing next Spring when everything is growing once again. Ever Yours, 1 st  Man.

First, I loaded the Jeep (these were NOT fitting in my Fiat , LOL) with the boards.  I went with 2x12's that were 8 feet long.  Other than the two longer beds, they could all be 4 feet so I had the store cut them in half for me.  That saved me lots of work, not to mention, 4 foot long boards are much easier to carry. These are some awesome things I found online last year.  They are corner brackets/braces that made it  so much easier to put them together.  I bought them on sale last year in the Summer when I guess people weren't buying them.  At the time, hey were $16 for a set of 4, which is $4/corner.  Definitely worth it. You just position two boards in an "L shape" and then this fits right on the corner with a little groove that goes down over the top.  After that, you simply screw them in.  I used galvanized decking screws so that the screws will not rust.  Again, a bit pricier initially than just regular screws, but I'll pay a b

Seeds of the Month for February 2013 It's that time again!  My Mike the Gardener Seeds of the Month  arrived (and early this month, that was a surprise). For this month they are: Thyme, (no variety) Leek, "Large American Flag" Squash, "Round Zucchini" Watermelon, "Black Diamond" I always ask for comments from anyone who has grown these varieties.  As I plan the plantings, for Spring, Summer and Fall, I will look back on the blog for tips and advice that any of you have left.  Thyme I know about, I've never been around growing leeks in any garden so I'm not sure about that one.  I've grown zucchini and helped my grandfather grow it, but this is a round variety.  Lastly, I've heard of black diamond watermelon but not sure about it either. Thanks ahead of time! Seeds rule!!!

This is one of our favorite ways to cook chicken.  Have you ever had "beer can chicken"?  It's delicious. We got ours via  Amazon:   Beer can ChickCAN Rack There are others out there, we had another brand but the metal bent on it so we bought these.  Very sturdy. Here they are finished, about 45 minutes at 375 degrees.  Golden and brown and ready to eat.  We use beer most of the time.  In this case we used Tecate, which is a Mexican beer brand and we put a few sprigs of fresh rosemary in each beer can as well.   We found it was easiest to just cut the back bone out of the chicken while it was still on the rack which acts as support.  That lets you cut the chicken completely in half and make it easier for serving.   And here is how we served it.  Half a chicken (these were pretty small) alongside some homemade stuffing and some fresh baked yeast rolls.  Sure, no vegetables, but as you can see, we ran out of room.  Both on the plate A