Garden '13

I know I know it is only January 11th but I can't help it! I am so not a winter girl! Now the little farmer and baby farmer feel very different about winter! They love it! Anyway back on topic haha! I put my seed order in at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, great company and love the idea of being able to keep the seeds and reuse them agian the following years! Another step closer to our self sufficiency! I am drawin up what I have in mind for our garden this year. We will be growing some same old same old things and trying some new things we have never tryed growing before. So I am excited to see how it all grows this summer! Okay we are growing: Big Boston lettuce Red romaine Lettuce Snowball self- blanching cauliflower Boston Pickling cucumbers Little finger Carrots Golden Jenny Melons- first time growing these. Didn't have much luck last year with watermelon so I thought I would try cantaloupe. Fingers crossed. Stuttgarter Onions Money Maker Tomatoes Cherokee Purple tomatoes - Love these! Early Golden Summer cookneck squash Purple Beauty Peppers California Wonder peppers Little Marvel Peas Leeks Green beans Mustard lettuce yellow Pear tomatoes Zuchinni Herbs: Basil Dill thyme oregano- will be coming up from last year chives parsley I am really excited and also nervous about this years garden. Last year we had our small garden at home and a BIG garden at a friends house. This year we just have our garden at home and lots of containers. So we will see what we can grown on our 0.06 acre lot! I am up for the challenge! So what are you growing this year? Anything new or any favorites that you have as a must have in your garden every year? I would love to hear about it and any tips you may have for anything I am growing! ( any help/ tips are always appreciated!) Leave a comment and feel free to share my blog with friends and family! ~ Katie

Bread Review

As I told many on facebook I was trying out a new wheat bread recipe. This recipe is still a honey wheat bread , but it doesn't use any sugar and has far less ingredients then the one I was using before. One more perk it makes two loaves instead of just the one loaf my other recipe made. I am really liking this recipe alot! The family gives it great reviews as well! ( that is always a plus!) I got this recipe out of the Treausred Amish and Mennonite Recipes cook book. by the Mennonite Central Commitee. I would highly suggest making this really delicious bread. The only thing I changed about this bread is that it calls for white and wheat flour. I did all wheat flour and it came out fine but the choice is yours. So here is the recipe: Honey Wheat Bread 2 packages active dry yeast 1/2 cup warm water ( 105 degrees- 115 degrees) 1/3 cup honey 1/4 cup shortening 1 tablespoon salt 1 3/4 cups warm water 3 cups whole wheat flour 3-4 cups white flour Dissolve yeast in the 1/2 cup warm water in a large mixing bowl. Stir in honey, shortening, salt, the 1 3/4 cup warm water, and the whole wheat flour. Beat until smooth. mix in enough flour to make a dough that's easy to handle. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Kenead about 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size ( about 1 hour) Punch down and divide dough in half. Form into 2 loaves and place in a greased baking pans. Let rise until doubled ( about 1 hour) Bake at 375 degrees F. for 40-45 mins or until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans and cool. Makes 2 loaves. Judy Buller (Mennonite Central Committee cookbook 2011) Enjoy! ~ Katie

Dehydrating

I know this is a short post but had some questions and wanted to see if any of you had any answers! I have become intrigued with dehydrating foods. I have been watching youtube videos and love the idea of not using the electricity of a freezer and dehydrating fruits, veggies, ect! I also like the idea of my kids having healthier snacks like those fruits and veggies that I have dehydrated. Do any of you dehydrate?? What are your experiences with it? What kind of dehydrator do you have? Any certain one you would recommend?? On other news we are looking for a boyfriend for Happy our rabbit. :) We are going to breed her and start a meat rabbit operation. We are excited but also nervous! We are trying to do what we can with where we live and this is one thing we can do. Do any of you have rabbit operations? Any advice? Well I hope you all have a great day! ~ Katie

2013 Goals

Wow is it really already Jan. 2013! I don't know about you but 2012 really flew by for us. The little farmer turned 5 and started kindergarten, Baby farmer turned 2 and is talking more then ever. We introduced Happy to our family. This end of the year has been very hectic. The Farmer started a new position at his job, which he is excited to be doing! Little Farmer has become very intellectual and wanted to read a lot this year and being able to read a few books on his own. (still talks a lot about wanting show sheep and now a lot about beef, can't wait till he can!!!) Baby Farmer was having digestive issues and we found out there was a bad bacteria in his stomach/ intestinal track. Then on top of that he had a double ear infection. Ugh. But everyone is healthy for the new year!( lets hope it stays that way! Haha okay now on the the main reason for this post. I have a lot of goals that I would like to do this coming year with Homesteading. I accomplished some of the tasks I wanted last year, but I wanted to do some different things this year. * Learn to Pressure can- just got my pressure canner today!!!!! * Get another blueberry bush to go in patch- Last one the dog ate it! * Save all my seeds for next years planting- put my seed order in at Baker seeds . If you haven't ordered your yet I would definitely say to order from this company. They sell GMO free heirloom seeds. Also recommend reading his book The Heirloom Gardner. * Build a cold frame * Grow enough/ preserve enough to feed us through the winter. ( this may be one goal I won't be able to reach but still will be motivation) * learn to crochet dish clothes * Learn to make soap *Learn to cook with different grains * Sell produce/ baked goods at local farmers market * Have lower water usage * continue to line dry clothes *Write on blog at least once a week Well there you have it! I would love to hear any homesteading goals you have or if any of you have any tips for any of my goals. Hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas ( and remembered the true meaning) and a Very Happy New Year! ~ Katie