To “SEEDS OF NUTRITION” where the SEEDS of gardening, organic foods, daily life and Gods Word are planted together.
“To Everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
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   Nourishing Traditions by Dr. Mary Enig and Sally Fallon Nourishing Traditions will take you from an unhealthy eating lifestyle to one that is rich in nutrients and back to cooking like our ancestors did before industrialized food came into being.  The Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Morash Takes you through every vegetable - planting to harvest to preparing each in a variety of ways. I highly recommend this book!  Putting Food By by Janet Greene, Beatrice Vaughn, and Ruth Hertzburg Another book I highly recommend for garden harvesting. Canning to Freezing of vegetables, fruits, meats, etc.. It's one of the oldest and best canning books out there. I've had my copy since 1975 and it cost me only $8.95 at that time.  More-with-Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre Another book I purchased years ago when it first was published. Well worn and seen years of use. Never disappointed with the recipes.  Ominvore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan  Real Food by Nina Planck  Eat Fat Lose Fat by Dr. Mary Enig and Sally Fallon  Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman  Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz  Mastering the Art of French Cooking 2 Volume Set by Julia Child  American Farmstead Cheese by Paul Kindstedt This book is on my list to purchase. Have it out of the library right now. Excellent - reference book, no recipes but much to learn in the science of cheese making. |
After one of the worst winters we’ve seen, this past Friday March the 5th is the earliest we have ever done any gardening. If this warm weather continues come St. Patty’s we will be planting seed potatoes; dubbed the traditional potato planting day for our area for years.
We got started late afternoon on the 5th after a day of errands in town. Sun was shining, birds were singing, 50 plus temps with a light cool breeze. A very nice time working outdoors, leaving behind being locked up inside all winter.
As it was getting close to sundown we got only onions in that day. _________________________________________ Monday March 7th:
Above…….First row to the left is the one planted on Friday with onions. The next 2 rows I planted 1/3 with more red onions. Then finished that row and the next one off with peas. While my hubby headed over to the north garden to get it tilled. Where after a few rounds the tiller got all bogged down with heavy wet soil caking the tines to the point they came to a stop. Tiller is now back in the shed all cleaned up for the next day out.
As I mentioned in my previous post that the deer were back and “Casing the Joint”. Proof was even more stronger yesterday when I was out walking all over the garden. Tracks every where, even right through the onions. I had to recover and smooth over some spots. Though no onions went missing. This last picture shows our days work done and a photo of our spare hog panels that we have decided to use for pea trellis. Spare as in we aren’t raising hogs this year so they’re available for other uses. With regards to how we did pea trellis last year, it was good but extremely time consuming in construction and a big bother at clean up time and needing to roto till the area afterwards. The hog panels will go up quickly and come down the same. Just needs some T posts driven in / wire the panels in place and walla! Because rain was in the forecast Monday we chose not to put the carrot seed in. Not knowing how heavily it might rain we didn’t want to chance all those tiny seeds floating away. And rain it did for several hours that evening and a good portion today. So they’re next up in the early spring planting. See previous posting of the Carrot Seed Planter my husband made last year. It worked pretty well….beat individually placing those tiny gray seeds evenly and avoid heavy thinning. Though it’s this year we hope to avoid the thinning. Like I said we did’t plant the carrots yesterday because of the rain. Last year after planting a whole row with the Carrot Seed Planter we got rain. Not just rain but torrential rains. The seeds floated all over the place, either drowning or congregating heavily in odd areas.
It’s planting time and those itty bitty carrot seeds that are grayish and are not all that much fun to plant can be planted easier now with the Carrot Seed Planter my hubby designed and made for us last summer. Planting the seeds evenly at 1 1/2 inch intervals. He drew up the design the other day on CAD and asked me to post it on my blog. It’s free to everyone to print off and make for yourselves. My only advice in using it is be sure the day your planting carrots that there is no rain in the forecast. Just plant and do what you need to do watering wise to get them germinating. A heavy rain to soon after planting and before they get a chance to germinate isn’t a good time. Timing the planting with the weather should result in evenly spaced carrots with no need to thin out. TO PRINT THIS: ***NOTE*** I just test ran the printing. The social print icon isn’t not working something on their end. But my Print Post is. Also please note the size isn’t great. If at some point we can figure out how to do a jpeg link to have the carrot seeder plans come up larger size it will be put on here. Till then this is the best but is readable.
Close up photo of the Carrot Seed Planter made & used last summer.
This past Friday March 5th we started our 2010 organic garden. This afternoon I went out to tend to the onions we had put in. My husband is out in the shop doing some minor tinkering on the roto tiller, then heading out to the garden shortly to start going over more ground so we can get peas and carrots put in. Hoping to get the seed in before dark. If not today, then early Monday morning. ____________________________________________ JULY 2nd, 2009 posting: Had my daily morning walk through the vegetable garden today. I’ve started pickings of cherry tomatoes, some zucchini, onions for stir frying so far. I also walk the perimeter and look up and down the rows for hoof tracks of deer. We planted our corn in two week intervals. Not a large plot of corn – 10 rows / 40 ft. each. Plenty of fresh eating for two people. Corns tasseling out nicely and the first 2 rows have cobs – not ready for picking yet. Today I found this below – one stalk broken to the ground and the cob munched on. I did a lot of looking around and definitely not deer damage, no tracks anywhere of deer.
So it’s either this culprit – The Oppossum!
Or this culprit – The Raccoon!
I saw some foot prints in the soil but couldn’t make them out being they did not show the typical finger markings. The soil was rather soft so didn’t leave a good enough print. I’ve never seen a raccoon in our vicinity all the years we’ve lived here. Seen them dead on the road during corn harvest time when the big farms are busy bringing the crops in. And the raccoons are very busy crossing the roads going field to field. But never on our property. And if it was a raccoon I’m sure it could have smelled it from a long ways away! Raccoons are awfully cute even grown but they can be a menace to your garden. Now the Oppossum is another story………..we have a nightly visitor. Got the best fed possum round these parts. We have to be sure we give our outdoor cat Millie the exact amount of food we know she will finish off….if there is any left Mr. Oppossum will surely finish it off and any other scraps we may have given Millie. We’ve seen our share of nightly visits of oppossums over the years. They sure are funny critters. They are very cute when young but when adult I have to say I think they aren’t all that cute looking. Look more like a giant rat to me, just move slower. Though I have seen them book out a time or two. ____________________________________ Possum stories: Our second oldest son found a baby oppossum down at the creek years ago that had gotten separated from it’s mama. It was the cutest thing ever. Fit in the palm of your hand. We happened to be heading into our Wednesday potluck fellowship dinner at church and he brought it with him. Tucked the little guy ( have no idea if it was a girl or boy possum) into his shirt pocket and it stayed there snug as a bug in a rug as we drove to church. I believe it actually went to sleep. When we got to church he pulled it out to show the little kids at church. It got a lot of attention. I don’t recall if that evening when we got back home or next day he released it back at the creek in hopes it would reunite. It was fun while it lasted. Another time we had a very interesting happening with a possum. Their natural defense mechanism when they are frightened is to hold their breath and play dead. Then when danger is gone they scurry off. I had ( or maybe it was another family member – can’t recall been so long ) opened the front door and there was this huge oppossum right out front. It was frightened and then played dead. We closed the front door to let it be and then scrurry off. Well about an hour or so later we went to see if it was gone. The Possum was still there …….. DEAD……and I mean DEAD. It held it’s breath to long and died right there out our front door….it was the saddest thing and hubby had to go out and haul it away. ______________________________ This walk through the garden and discovery of corn damage told me it was time I posted my Deer Deter recipe that not only works to keep deer out, but works for rabbits and other critters. I missed a spraying so not surprising I found some damage…..and whether it be raccoon or oppossum that started the damage – THEY’LL BE BACK FOR SURE. _____________________________ There are many versions to this – any will work. This is the concoction I came up looking at the various combinations you can go with. You can use less or more of any ingredient. What it needs to be is HOT & STINKY. But what I ended up with has worked so well. SAFE -HOT PEPPER GARDEN PEST SPRAY – to deter deer, rabbits, etc…( it also seems to work against bug pests that can do damage, at least that is what I have observed so far). This recipe is for a mixture to add to a 2 gallon garden sprayer - [ this is one similar to what we have - although we got ours at yard sales.....there are many types on the market and price ranges ] they say to use the fine tip for spraying but I found for how large a garden we have, the next size tip was far better to cover all the area I need to do. You can buy a decent garden sprayer at Home Depot / Lowe’s or any other store that carry’s garden supplies.
Put the above ingredients into a blender. Set on high / Frappe’ if you have that. Let swirl for at least 3 – 5 minutes. Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. This will keep any specks of egg that did not liquidfy out of the mix. I found that running the blender on the settings I suggest it never leaves any egg behind in the strainer. I still continue to strain just in case…you don’t want your sprayer nozzle to clog up. Add:
Stir all the above together well. Next: Pour 1 gallon of cold water into the sprayer container. Then add the hot pepper spray mixture. Now add more water until it is almost filled. Be sure to leave enough head room for the sprayer pumper to be inserted without overflow as you screw the cover on securely. WHEN TO SPRAY: There seems to be all kinds of views as when to spray – evening or early morning. Some also say spray every day, some day every 2-3 days. WHAT I DO and my variations as to when:
WHERE DO I SPRAY:
Another method I use in the fight against deer is Irish Spring Soap. Purchase the Green Original Irish Spring Soap. Drill a center hole and tie a piece of jute through it and hang around the perimeter of your garden. I have around 22 bars hanging around the garden. You can also put them into little muslin bags and hang. I’ll on occasion if we’ve had no rain take a jug of water out with me and pour a bit on each bar to freshen it up scentwise. The purpose of the soap is it’s been proven that deer do not like the fragrance of most soaps….Irish Spring seems to be the more effective of them. I learned this on a gardening program I’ve watched in the past. It not only works for your vegetable garden but around newly planted trees and other trees that you maybe be getting deer rubbing activity on, flower beds. The Hot Pepper spray serves its purpose in that it will not only taste bad and not harm the critter…….but it smells really bad once the eggs rot and the soap adds stink um to it also. I tend to vary the above recipe accordingly. I have upped the dish soap and the oil at times. And if the deer are really showing up morning and evening I’ve upped the Hot sauce also. So you can be very flexible with this recipe and others out there. Though I am sticking to this one because it has worked so well. With this new found damage from either a oppossum or raccoon has made us decide to add more wire to our electric fence we have around the garden. The fencing has worked for the deer. And we’ve had only one strand at about the 4 ft. level. Were going to add lower ones for the raccoons and oppossums now. One other idea that was out there that I tried and won’t do ever again - Is clipping clothes dryer fabric sheets – buying the most purfumy ones you can get. They don’t last…one rain and all the sunshine removes the smell really fast. I’ve left mine up though and when I sray I give each a shot of the hot pepper spray. Additional ideas……….are Sprinklers on a sensor system. My brother in law did this and it worked great. The deer left as soon as the sprinklers came on. Flood lights aimed at your garden are suppose to work also and we’ve thought of that as another possibility but have it so they are on sensor also. AND………one last note. RINSE out the sprayer and clean parts after each use. Hope this has been helpful information.
I’m looking forward to this movie coming out on DVD just as Food, Inc. did. Are you? Here’s the trailer for FRESH and link to their site (see below). Check out to see if it’ showing anywhere in your area. Like FOOD, INC. its not hitting the major movie theaters. I saw Food, Inc in town at a very small theater that shows documentaries and other movies you’d never find in the big theaters. @ the FRESH site you can search for a showing near you as I mentioned. Or you can host it in your home or town.
A few weeks ago I got notice that there would be a baby shower for our soon to be “Grandson”. I had little time to prepare for it since it had been known to us that there would not be one and so I figured I had a wee bit more time on my hands to get a gift ready before the babies birth.
My time spent knitting didn’t go well. It turned into one of those times when you wonder why you even began any projects at all. Everything was going along nicely with the pattern of moss stitches and 3 different cables. Anyone else have knitting or other hand craft projects just not go as planned? Talking about grandchildren / children in general any mom would get a kick out of the you tube video I posted earlier today
Whether your deep in the trenches of raising little ones or your an empty nester; every mom will love this rendition of the “William Tell Overture” Shared today by a friend on Facebook.
EGGNOG
For several months now we have been making fresh homemade eggnog daily. Started out with just my husband doing it to gain weight back after having been sick and hospitalized. We have a very wise Dr. who prescribed a daily or more homemade eggnog over anything else to put the weight back on and not be hard on the digestive tract. He told us that a raw egg has 4.50 grams of protein. The gram amount is dependent upon the egg size – a little less or a little more. A little research about raw eggs revealed the following info I found online, at several different sites.
It is perfectly safe to eat raw eggs……….
I eventually followed suit in making myself an eggnog nearly daily and now it’s daily. A typical recipe for eggnog is as follows - egg / sugar / milk / vanilla. Over time my recipe has changed to what it is now and I am doing this every single morning as my breakfast. I drink a large glass along with taking Fermented Cod Liver Oil ( separate mind you) at the same time. Recipe I make follows at the end of this posting.
Above - Farm Fresh Eggs that had their bloom left on. Below - blender with ingredients shown above / Raw Milk in gallon glass jar and in measure cup / Nutiva organic extra virgin coconut oil. To read about the health benefits of Coconut Oil
Below – We purchase our Green Pasture’s Cod Liver Oil and Butter Oil from Dr. Ron’s Ultra Pure. Also see the direct links for Green Pastures Brand listed in the recipe below. “Dr. Price ( Weston A. Price Foundation ) presented evidence in Nutrition and Physical Degeneration that a fat-soluble substance he called “Activator X” played an essential role in immunity and the utilization of minerals. He measured the amount in dairy products, and found that the substance was only found in the milk fat from cows eating rapidly growing green grass.” from Dr. Ron’s site After using cod liver oil from the natural food store we turned to Fermented Blue Ice Cod liver Oil for the following reason explained here from Dr. Ron’s site -
Below – A Delicious glass of ” Raw” Eggnog.
“Healthy Start to your day Eggnog” Taking your basic eggnog recipe and RAMPING it up to a higher level in nutrition.
I had been using honey as a sweetener and adding vanilla extract. Though recently I began omitting both and actually enjoy the eggnog without either of them. I am currently not using any sweeteners of any kind in anything I eat. I place all the above either in my blender or into a bowl and use the stick blender. Of course using the stick blender means less cleaning especially if you put the ingredients directly into the glass you’ll drink from or a quart jar works great for this…and blend it. Which method I use is all dependent upon what mood Blend till frothy. * in place of the banana you can use any other fresh / frozen fruit you enjoy. Strawberries, peaches, blackberries to name a few. Drink up and enjoy a nutritionally delicious start to your day! This is the Stick Blender I own. Cuisinart has many different models. This particular one we bought for half the price of amazon.com at Costco. We have but don’t use much at all anymore is a Hamilton Beach brand – all plastic and some attachments already broke under normal usage. The Cuisinart is stainless! The only downside for the attachment is that it is not dishwasher safe as I thought it would be. But it is very easy to hand wash…keeping the end that attaches downward while washing and rinsing to keep water from entering the inside.
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"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord who has compassion on you. Isaiah 55:10  "Earth is crammed with heaven And every bush aflame with God But only those who see take off their shoes" poet - Elizabeth Barrett Browning A favorite quoted by an elderly gentleman we know each time he gave an illustration of creation & our Creator.    |
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