Beauty Farming Life

Save Kitchen Waste for Hens, vintage image courtesy of the UK Imperial Museum Sorry for delay in posting.  I thought I had this on automatic and then went to the farm and realized it didn't post when I got back. This one is another fun one.  I have posted a couple of similar posters with this same theme, but both of them related to saving scraps for pigs.  This one asks people to save scraps for hens (but mentions pigs in the caption).  It dates to WWII, the 1940's of course, and comes to us from the UK. The hens look excited don't they?  LOL. Residents could get a pail or bucket from the Council and just put food scraps and related waste in there and it would be picked up weekly.  Of course, it was for food waste only, as it says on the poster, keeping it dry and free of glass, metal, bones and paper. As you may have seen from yesterday's post, it's been record breaking heat here, so most of my activities have been limited to indoors...

Here is a quick something we threw together and it couldn't have been easier.  Apologies ahead of the time for the photos, the flash on my camera was acting up and so some photos were sharp others were blurry. We had some butternut squash, peppers, pears and sausage. First up, we diced the squash, peppers and pears and put them on a baking sheet. Then we diced up some Andouille sausage into about the same sized pieces as the veggies.  We tossed it all in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and popped it in the oven. We roasted them all at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the squash was tender and everything had a nice color to it. While that was roasting, we made a pot of mushroom soup rice.  Just white rice, some vegetable broth and some cream of mushroom soup.  We had a few fresh mushrooms leftover that we added after it was cooked. Roasted Squash and Sausage with rice Then we just put some rice in a bowl and top...

Many of you will remember in May when I gave up the garden, temporarily . I stopped watering and just let it go while I focused on other things such as planning the drip irrigation system, deciding on the layout of future beds, and figuring out how to kill the grass inside the garden.  There has been no watering and we haven't had rain in almost three weeks. Well this weekend, I was checking things out and against all odds, two tomato plants are still alive, in fact they are growing and putting on blooms!  And in the herb bed, there are two basil plants that are also doing well. NATURE FINDS A WAY! This is a "Marglobe Tomato".  It's bright green, has blooms and has grown a foot or so, without watering and in the blazing heat.  It's an heirloom from 1917, and in my research I found out it is heat and drought tolerant.  I guess this proves that!  I watered it well and pulled its branches inside the   tomato cage. The other on...

I've been looking for some projects for our upcoming Winter.  Of course, I could go back through any of my Inspiration Thursday posts and find lots (and I am doing that too).  But last night, I was commenting on another blog about window boxes and that reminded me that I've wanted them for the windows on our farmhouse as well. So I did some googling and found these images as examples.  I just love how much they can dress up a house.  This is something I can do this Winter, and have them ready for next Spring.  I've got to find a style we like and then figure out how I'm going to install them on the side of the house. Image courtesy of Southernliving.com Hope you are having a great week.  We've made it to Thursday!  Be inspired!

Yard in Spring What a difference in seasons...the above picture was taken in Spring, when things were lush and green, around mid-April or so.  The picture below was taken this past weekend.  Things are drying up fast in this weather.  It's been over 100 for several days in a row and we have not had any measurable rain in almost three weeks now. It looks like my time on the Big Green Zen Machine will be limited for a while. I hope you are staying cool wherever you are.  There is rain in our forecast, but only 40%.  To me, that means a 60% chance it WON'T rain. Summer has arrived with a vengeance. Yard in Summer

Flexible cat Oh to have the flexibility of a cat. I might get some more yard work done, LOL . This is Sydney, the old one, sleeping in some sort of "L position".  Of course, this was a few years ago when he was a bit more flexible. Now he spends most of his days curled up.   I swear they are part slinky.   It's a cold Friday here, hope you are warm wherever you are. More this afternoon.

Fourth of July Porch decorating, image courtesy of SouthernLiving.com Here is something that I can honestly say I've ALWAYS wanted to do.  I think a porch, with red white and blue flowers and flags and decoration is just such an iconic image of Americana.  Of course, not having an actual porch like this made it impossible but it didn't stop me from saving the picture "just in case".  Now we have a porch in the country!   Naturally, it's not ready, it's not painted white, the stairs are still raw wood, the house isn't painted, and there is no landscaping yet...so decorating it will have to wait.  That's why I post these though, to share what inspires us and to hear from you if you do something similar to get even more inspiration. Hope you are having a great 4th of July Holiday! Be safe, have fun, and be inspired! H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y   A M E R I C A !

What you say?  Chile?  Chocolate?  Yuck?   AU CONTRAIRE! This came from one of our grocery store chains in town, "Central Market" which is owned by HEB.  They go Hatch Chile crazy every season and this year they came out with this chocolate bar.  It's wonderful! Hatch Chile Chocolate Bar This one is dark chocolate.  It's smooth and creamy.  When you eat it, the first taste is sweet and rich and then as it melts in your mouth, the heat comes.  Kind of a spicy, smokey heat that lingers for a bit and then fades away.  Utterly delicious!  Great way to start the weekend!

Texas land and sky This is across the road from our property. It's nice Texas blue sky and green land spreading out.  It's such a nice change of scenery every weekend and my blood pressure goes down the moment we get there.  We're o ff to the farm today to see if I need to mow, and if not, we've still got some good inside projects we're working on that I'll share as soon as they are done.  I've also got another tree to plant, even though it's hot, I really need to get it planted.  We have some pictures to hang up, and I have a really cool project to finish. However,  change is in the air...or to be more specific, in the Gulf of Mexico.   A tropical disturbance is coming up from Mexico and will collide with an area of moisture that is moving from Florida toward this direction. We are at the intersection of those two arrows. They are saying we could have very heavy rains Sunday and Monday.  We need the rain, it's been almost a mon...

For the first time in months, we aren't going to the farm at least one day this weekend.  It's cold, rainy and wet. There is certainly nothing I could do outside and inside it would be cold as well.  You see, we don't have heat in the farmhouse.  We have had a couple of small heaters we've used a few times, but it really wasn't until this year that the house was fully livable inside (just got hot water last Spring).  So we had air conditioning via window units and that got us through the heat. Now the cold has arrived and t herein lies the quandary. What type of space heater to get? I know there are all types, propane, wood, gas, and of course electric.  In reality, at this point in the farm progress, we can't do anything permanent like central heat or a piped gas system.  Can't really do anything that requires any sort of venting out the wall or roof (need a new roof first).  So that really limits us to electric heat ...

Vintage Save Fats for Explosives poster, image courtesy of US National Archives During WWII, they somehow used waste fats in the creation of explosives, something I'm not going to "Google" for obvious reasons, ha. It was a great thing to do to help the troops and war effort.  Since they were already reusing as many things as possible at home, people were urged in this poster to take waste fats in to their meat dealer. The artwork on this one is definitely eye catching. Enjoy the trip down memory lane. We've been spending the weekend getting some projects done at the farm, yesterday, and today we are awaiting what they call "tropical downpours".  We'll see... Hope you are having a great weekend!

Vintage Plan For Winter Now poster, image courtesy of NY Public Library Well, with my post yesterday , and the cold weather encompassing much of the U.S., this one seems appropriate today.  It's a poster from WWII and urged people to conserve fuel that was needed for the war effort by winterizing their homes, and checking their heating systems. Wise words this Winter 2013 as well! Stay warm!

We call it the "Julia Wall". In fact, we have since we bought the farmhouse.  It was this big, blank wall as you walk into the kitchen from the living room.  It was too shallow for a piece of furniture, which would stick out into the path of the doorway.  Shelves would also have to be very shallow and thus not very practical.  The obvious use would be pictures but in a small house, where space is valuable, that just seemed frivolous.  But once the house was painted on the inside and we saw the empty, white kitchen for the first time, we just KNEW we had to have our very own Julia Child inspired wall.   2nd Man and I were huge fans of the late, great, Julia Child .  We've both read her biography and both watched her on television for years while growing up and then into adulthood.  She inspired both of us to cook, create and enjoy time in the kitchen.  And one thing we always noticed in the background of all of her kitchens was her ...

It's the holiday season and time for giving, so we're going to have a giveaway! A couple of weeks back, I blogged HERE about starting our composting adventure for the farm.  I found this book the other day at lunch and since it's geared toward beginners, I bought two so that we could give one away. This is the GREEN GUIDES edition of COMPOST by Rachel Strauss.   It covers 'how to use', 'how to make', 'everyday tips', 'why we should compost', 'what you can and can't put on your heap', 'different types of bins', and more. It's 256 pages long and full of information. So who wants to join us on a composting adventure? As always, and for those new to the blog, the rules are as follows : You need to be a "friend of the farm" (follower) and then leave a comment here on this thread letting me know that you want to be entered, because after all, it might be a book you already have. T...

I read this somewhat disturbing article about 'city folk' that want chickens only to end up dropping them off at shelters in their towns. The numbers have been rapidly increasing in urban cities as those who get hens, change their minds. Chickens in the yard, image courtesy of davesgarden.com Apparently, they raise them with visions of baskets full of fresh eggs every day, only to quickly realize that they require more work than they imagined.  Feed, water, letting them free range for a bit, keeping them safe from predators, warm in Winter, dealing with their occasional health problems, cleaning out the coop, and then as they age and stop laying, they still live for years. Then they just throw in the towel and drop off their hens at nearby shelters.   It's definitely a side of a popular trend that is often unreported.  I know that in our neighborhood in town, there have been people who have just let chickens go in the street when they tired of them a...

A couple of weeks back, I blogged HERE about something eating/scratching/chewing on some of our fruit trees.  Well, our recent wet weather was a bit of a blessing, because it allowed me to find THESE : Deer tracks These are, I believe from my research anyway, deer tracks.  I didn't have anything to put down for scale but they were smallish, so I'm guessing, just as several of you commented about, that young deer rubbing on the trees, were the culprits.  I have seen some rabbits around too, so it could even be some sort of combination of the two. Whatever the creature is/was, I came up with this solution.  Hopefully it's a bit better than the strong smelling basil. Fruit trees with foam pipe protectors These are the foam pipe protectors used in Winter to cover pipes to keep them from freezing.  Since they're already slit on one side, I just wrapped them around the trunks. They have been keeping them safe for the last week until I can get som...

Here is a great find.  I was at a garage sale in town and found this old galvanized metal carrier.  I'm guessing maybe it was originally for milk bottles? Anyway, as soon as I saw it, I KNEW I just HAD to have it for the farm. I also knew immediately how we'd use it... ...as a wine bottle carrier!  So when we have friends over for dinner, inside or outside on the property, we can load up a few bottles of wine and carry them to the table.  It somehow seems appropriate for the country. Got Wine?

What in the heck are these? Closeup of compost turner and how it works No, they are not the latest in zombie killing tools from an upcoming episode of  The Walking Dead TV show.  No, they are a pair of "Compost Turners" that I bought when we got our bins last month.  They were out at the time and I went ahead and bought them and just picked them up the other day. Here is how they work: Compost Turner by Orbis You push it down into the compost pile, and as it goes in, the hinged end closes so it travels downward into the compost.  Then when you pull up on it, the hinged head opens up and creates resistance so that it mixes the compost, or turns it, as you pull up.  You simply do this several times up and down.  We bought two because we figured we might spend half our time walking back and forth to each compost bin as we forget the turner...plus if one fails, we'll at least have a backup. Compost Turners at Amazon These...

Little White Potting Shed, photo courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens Sigh.  When I saw this a couple years back, I just had to stare for a bit.  I could so envision this on the property somewhere. I love the color, the picket fence (naturally) the flowers, and the bright yellow water pump. I also gaze inside and imagine all the fun things that I could create and do.  It doesn't have to be JUST a potting shed, right? In fact, there is a clearing I've been working on that this would be perfect for.  Of course, there is just SO much more to work on at the farm, this will definitely move to the future bucket list of projects. Enjoy your day! Be inspired!

Vintage Thanksgiving postcard It's still cold, we had our first freeze, a low in the upper 20's last night, but that somehow seems appropriate for this time of year. 2nd Man and I would like to wish all of you a wonderful and, as the card above states, a joyful Thanksgiving.  We appreciate each of you and we are thankful to consider all of you our friends, friends we just haven't met in person! We're going to take a few days off from the blog and just enjoy the long weekend.  It's a bit cold but we're going to see what we can get done. We love these old postcard images.  I used to have a large collection of old postcards but sadly, I lost them in a break in at an apartment once upon a time.  Now I just have to enjoy seeing them online.  Over the next few days, I've got some posts ready with quick updates and I'll share some Thanksgiving themed postcard images that I found online. DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE BOOK GIVEAWAY. CLICK HE...

Mesquite Tree sap Barnabas is leaking.  Last weekend, I noticed these puddles on the ground (below) that looked like oil or something had spilled onto the ground.  Then I wondered if I left the Zen Machine parked there and it was leaking oil?   But then I had visions of the Beverly Hillbillies, you know, "...up through the ground came a bubbling crude...Black Gold, Texas Tea..." No such luck...then I looked up (above) and this is what I saw.  It is where a branch was cut last year and now it's dripping sap onto the ground. Everything I've read says other than making a mess, it's ok, and it will stop.  It's just the new growth coming on and the hot weather causing it.  Still, it's kind of gross and messy and not very pleasant looking.  Anyone ever seen this? Never a dull moment! And speaking of, I'll be back out there today working on some more projects, most likely inside where it's cool, so posting will be sporadic but I'll...