Visiting our feathered neighbors

For the third year in a row, Mrs. Blue Jay has blessed us with the honor of her nest in the tree next to our house. Each year we watch with anticipation as she returns, does repairs and begins to sit. All to quickly though, her little ones have fledged. For a brief moment each spring we get the chance to watch them "grow up."  Sometimes we have to grab them and return them to the safety of our fenced in backyard so they don't get run over or attacked by stray cats after they have fledged and Mrs. Blue Jay always chatters at us to either help them or put them down, sometimes I am not sure which! LOL

This year, right on schedule Mrs. Blue Jay returned. But word must have gotten out about our "labor and delivery floor" or our superb child care because we have nests all over the backyard this year! Above our garage door, right by our duck pen a mother Cardinal is sitting on her little nest. And our birdhouse by the sandbox finally has a family of Sparrows that moved in, despite the loud downstairs neighbor (aka the oldest country kid playing.)

I can not wait to hear the flitter flatter (get it, pitter patter) of little wings this summer! I hope our new mamas will learn what Mrs. Blue Jay already knows...... We enjoy being spectators of the little miracles that are happening in our yard and mean no harm with our peeking. And that they learn we will care for and protect their babies as if they were are own. And that at the end of the summer, when they have raised their young, packed their bags, and checked out of our yard till next year, I hope they tell their friends about us!




It is nice to know we are doing something right for nature, even if only in our yard.. We are a certified "Backyard Habitat" which means we go out of our way to provide food, shelter, and water. How do we do this? We plant native plants in our yard, we have a brush pile in the back corner of our yard, we have a little pond with a sandy area for birds and butterflies. The list goes on and on. It means our yard is not "photo perfect" but to the critters who call our yard home, it is beautiful. And to the children who spend time here, it is a magical place with discoveries around each corner. And for me? It just makes me smile to watch it all.

So here is to visiting our feathered neighbors this year.... I can not wait to meat natures next generation!

Alaskan Sourdough Pancakes

One of the best parts of making your own sourdough starter is the wide variety of things you can make with it, like bread and pancakes. Yes, I said pancakes!

When I posted on my Facebook page that I was making a sourdough starter, one of my followers, Wendla, offered to share with me her Alaskan sourdough pancake recipe. My husband, who had been a Alaskan fisherman for a spell before we met, was so excited. I am soooooooo thankful Wendla shared her recipe because it was beyond amazing! Like no other pancake I have ever had and my husband got to enjoy a long lost favorite food.

Ingredients
2 Cups Sourdough starter
1 1/2 Cups Flour
2 Cups very warm water

The night before take 2 cups of your sourdough starter and add 1 and 1/2 cups of flour and 2 cups of very warm water to "feed" the starter. Let it sit over night in a warm place. In the morning before you start making your pancakes, divide the mix in half and put one half back in your starter container. To the remain half add:

1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
2 t. sugar 
A pinch of salt

At this point Wendla told me "an interesting reaction will occur." Boy did it! There was a little bit of chemical reaction going on in that bowl!!! Once that little event occurs, it is time to mix in 2 beaten eggs and 4 T. of melted butter.

Now that the batter is ready it is time to cook those bad boys up in a hot greased pan, we use cast iron. She had warned up that "some of the time they may be flat and thin and sometimes they may be fluffy but they'll always be good." And she was soooooo right. We feasted like royalty on these sourdough pancakes, with our homemade butter and homemade maple syrup. I am already thinking of what else we can top them with (like blueberries or powdered sugar and lemon juice) because sourdough pancakes are now permanently on the menu around here!!

 

Sourdough Bread

Do you like sourdough bread but don't like paying for it? Then stop buying it and make your own! Here is the recipe I use and my sourdough loving hubby likes it very much, so it has to be sort of good right!?!?! So here we go.....

The tale of Nicky Nuttkin

“Mom, mom, mom….. come see what dad and I found, come quick!” Those were the words that brought a little squirrel into our lives. He had been tangle and stuck in the ivy growing on the old maple in our backyard, for how long we did not now, be now he was free. We marveled at how beautiful and adorable this little friend was and we did what any responsible person would, we placed him on a branch and let him go.

But this little red squirrel, who was only around 42 days old, did not want to be on that branch! He scampered down the tree and up my husband’s leg! Obviously he knew who his rescuer had been! Again we put him on a branch….. Down he scampered and this time up my oldest son’s leg! Of course this prompted the “can we keep him” question from my nature and animal loving child.

Dandelions, Weed or Wonder Plant!?!?

Every spring those bright yellow flowers poke forth from the lawn and many people groan, but why? Why does everyone hate the dandelion? They are bright, cheerful and if you are a mom, they are one of the first bouquets of flowers your children will ever give you.

Instead of trying to banish them with chemicals, why not embrace them and do something with them. And let me tell you you, with a quick Goggle search you can find dozens of things you can do with dandelions, like bread, wine, salves and more. So, what is so special about a dandelion? Well you can pretty much use the whole darn thing!

• Roots: The roots of the dandelion have long been used for medicinal purposes for everything from liver disease to gall bladder issues. It has been know to help with headaches and can be used as a mild laxative.
• Leaf: The leaf of the dandelion is rich in vitamins and minerals.
• Stem: The stem of the dandelion contains "sap" that is said to get rid of warts (when used for many weeks.)
• Flower: The flower of the dandelion is said to have pain-relieving properties and be good for dry skin when made into an infusion or salve.

Now I am no herbal healer, but both my hubby and littlest country kid have some eczema. We have noticed using homemade soaps are much gentler on their skin, so I figured, we have lots of dandelions, why not try my hand out at infusing some oil to see if it will help them with their skin issues. Sometimes simpler is better. Who needs all those harsh chemicals of commercial product anyway!

Something special from Lally Broch Farms

Sonja from Lally Broch Farm

During your journey through life, sometimes you get the chance to cross paths with truly amazing people. For me, one of those people is Sonja from Lally Broch Farm. She is a kind hearted soul who is on a mission to provide sustainable food and handmade products for her family and yours.

She is a mother from Maine who uses what she has from her farm to make wonderful things like soaps and jewelry. Yes, I said jewelry from a farm. Lally Broch Farm is home to some very special hens. You see those hens lay eggs, which Sonja turns into works of art, eggshell art, like this beautiful butterfly necklace that I now call my very own.

When Sonja sent me the necklace, she had no idea just how much it meant to me. You see over 8 years ago we were expecting our first child, a little boy we named Andrew. Sadly Andrew was born silently into this world at 38 weeks. Instead of sending out birth announcements, we sent out memorials with a poem about a butterfly. Since then butterflies have a special place in my heart. But you see, Sonja didn't know any of this when she sent me the piece as a  gift, she just knew I REALLY like it, a lot!

And for me, to know that each piece of eggshell was lovingly hand placed on my new necklace instilled in it the care that makes it such a special item. Oh sure, I could have bought a butterfly necklace anywhere, but the handmade quality and beauty in Sonja’s pieces spoke to me. This butterfly necklace was the right butterfly for me and a truly special way to remember my son.

So why am I telling you all of this. Not to make you sad, not for your heart to ache for me, but to point out in this world there are still special people and special things, made with love and care. That from something as simple as an egg, beautiful pieces of art can be crafted. With those same hands she milks her goats and turns it into soaps. Sonja is one of those people who does what she does and does it well and deserves to be recognized for it. So take a minute to pop over to her etsy shop and marvel at the wonderful items this humble lady makes. Stop by her Facebook page and follow her journey. Or read her blog to learn more about the magical Lally Broch Farm!

 
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From The Farm

Make a sourdough starter

I was never a fan of sourdough till I met my husband, he really likes it. So being the good wife I am, I gave it a second chance and you know what? I like it too! What I don't like is buying it and why should I have to when I can make my own. The key to good sourdough bread is a good sourdough starter.

Yes you could go online and buy a starter but you don't have to. Believe it our not you have everything you need to make a sourdough starter right in your house. It is such an easy process too! So if you like a nice sourdough bread, then you have to make you own starter.

So how does one go about making a sourdough started? Well I am glad you asked! Go to your kitchen, get a large jar, some flour and some water..... Go on, I'll wait. I used distilled water because we are on city water and you know they have to put all kinds of microbe killing things in there and with sourdough you want, no you need microorganisms (aka bacteria and yeasts.) Whisk together 3 Tablespoons of water and 1/4 cup flour and put it in your jar. Now I covered my jar with cheesecloth so it could gather bacteria and yeast when I set it outside but not allow bugs and such in. I put mine outside because I really wanted to catch the wonderful wild yeasts that blow on the wind.

Darling ducklings or dirty little buggers?

When people think about or see ducklings, they usually go “awwwww.” I was no different then the rest of you. For some strange, unknown reason this spring I was bit by the “I want a duck” bug. I made a few trips to the various farm stores and looked at them, but each time I left without a duck. That is until our family went out for dinner one night and mama had a strawberry daiquiri. Let me just say this, I rarely drink and I am a LIGHT weight.

So in my one drink drunken stupor I say to my husband, I want a duck. So what does he do? He drives me to the store, HELPS me pick out two, grabs the food and pays for it all. What a sweet guy. Somewhere in the backseat of our car, I had left my better thinking passed out next to my “girl you know better“ subconscious. He enabled me to do what I wanted but knew I shouldn’t. The ducks are all his fault!

When I woke the next morning, there in my dinning room where two darling little ducklings. Maybe this was a good idea after all. I mean come on, look at them, they are darling! Days turned into a week and the duckling took their first swim in the tub. Awwww, they were so cute splashing in the water. How could this be a bad thing? One week turned into two and all of the sudden, may darling little ducklings had quadrupled in size and had become messy, STINKY, little buggers!

They splashed water everywhere, they stank to high heaven and back. I was constantly cleaning their pen, CONSTANTLY!!! Ughhhh. I began putting them in the bath to splash for what seemed like hours just so they would stop smelling so bad, but by night fall, it was back to being dirty little buggers. Thankfully we had a nice day here and there and could take them outside for some play time. When they were outside, pooping in the lawn and not my dinning room, they were once again darling duckling.

Meal worm farming, so was it a success!?!?!?

So about three months ago, I decided I no longer wanted to pay high prices to buy meal worms for our hens. So what was I to do? Start a meal worm farm of course. I gathered all the supplies and set to work starting my meal worm farm.

Things went along wonderfully as the meal worms began to pupate and then turn into Darkling beetles. The beetles then did what any good group of beetles do, they mated like crazy..... and we waited, and we waited...... And finally we got our first meal worm!!!! Success!!!!


But wait, days passed. Days turned into a week. And yet we still only have one new meal worm!?!?!? What happened? Honestly, I do not know! So I will continue to care for my beetles and one lonely meal worm and hope that we see more babies, but I am not holding my breath. Sadly it looks like I will be buying more meal worm for my hens for some time to come. Hmmmm maybe that's why meal worms cost so darn much!

To read about our whole meal worm farming adventure from the beginning, click here.

How does celery "drink"

Knowing where your food comes from is important. It is also important to know how your food grows. It is one of those interesting mysteries of life. I believe there is no better way for children to learn about the world around them then by being hands on. For his 6^th birthday, my son got a science kit and one of the experiments was about how plants get their liquids. We had so much fun with this experiment, that I thought I would share it with you so you can do it too!
 

First you need celery (preferably with leaves.) Cut off the bottoms of the stalks and place a few in water with food color. We used red food color because that is my son’s favorite color (and it showed up very well) but feel free to use which ever color your kid loves. Leave the celery sit over night (or longer if you get busy.)