Strawberry Lemonade

 

Although slightly cold, the sunny weather and clear skies that we've been getting off and on lately is making me think of the warmer weather and days spent in the sun. Because of this, I thought I'd share a recipe for a hot weather drink: Strawberry Lemonade.

 

Really, it's extremely simple. The only tools you need are a lemon/lime squeezer (like the one pictured below), a knife, and a quart sized mason jar. Your ingredients will include 2 lemons, a handful of strawberries, sugar, water, and about a cupful of ice.

 

 

So first, you just need to prepare the fruit by cutting the lemons in half and rinsing the strawberries and removing their stems and leaves. Then you simply juice each lemon half into the mason jar with the lemon squeezer, followed by the strawberries. Yes, I actually juiced the strawberries this way, and it seemed to work really well. You can then drop the flattened strawberries into the jar with the juice, and it seems to add extra flavor. Next, add the ice to the jar, and then fill the jar with water, until there is about an inch and a half left room the top of the jar. After this, you add sugar to taste, and shake the sealed jar to mix everything up. You may end up using about a 1/4 cup of sugar, but some people like their lemonade a little sweeter, and it really just depends on your preference.

 

Enjoy!

Just Around the Corner...

 

Although only mid February, there definitely seems to be a noticable change in the air. Tulips and daffodils are sprouting up everywhere, the weather is getting warmer, the sun has been peeking out more often, the frogs in the field are croaking at night... I'd say it's starting to feel a lot like Spring! This change in the weather is really getting me in the mood to start planting, and I've been trying to look through my seed catalogues to decide what to plant this year.

There's a problem though....there are too many choices to choose from!!!!

I never had any idea there could be so many varieties of beans or other vegetables, and it's making it extremely hard to really decide on anything! I know I want beans for both eating fresh and drying, and definitely some greens and tomatoes, and that I'll have to get seeds that do wel in containers or in small spaces, as I won't have much room to work with, but I am having the hardest time deciding what I want. Of course, I'm sure part of it is my own fault, as I did order several different seed catologues, which makes it that much harder, as each one makes it that much harder, and now I have to deal with the consequences. Oh darn. ;)

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to figure it out, and in the mean time, at least I've got some interesting reading to keep me busy. Do any of you have the same problem this time of year? If so, how do you narrow down your choices?

Magazine Offer

Thought I would share this offer I found over at One Hundred Dollars a Month! Discount Mags is offering a year's subscription to Urban Farm Magazine for only $4.50, with the coupon code 2479, as opposed to it's listed price of $15! Hurry though! This offer expires tonight at 12:00am EST!

Online Courses

Just thought I'd share a new site I came across! It's called Coursera and offers free online courses from Universities all over the world! There are a few related to agricultural topics, as well as some in business planning, computer sciences, etc. I just signed up for a 5 week Equine Nutrition course that's taught through the University of Edinburgh, which will hopefully be helpful in the future when I eventually have horses again. Anyways, enjoy!

A Good Start

Well I'd say that I have gotten a good start on my resolution to improve my crocheting skills. I finally learned how to crochet at the end of last year, and honestly I can't figure out why it took me so long to start! It's so gosh darn easy! So far I've made a scarf for each of my twins (although I still have to finish weaving the loose ends in), and I just taught myself how to make a popcorn stitch, and started to crochet an afghan. Unfortunately though, I've run out of yarn and both times I've gone to the fabric store since, they haven't had any in. Oh well, I'll get it soon enough!

Here are pictures of my projects so far!

Farmageddon

I recently got around to watching a few documentaries that I'd been meaning to watch, and I thought I would share reviews of them, in a series of posts. The documentary that I definitely had the biggest reaction to, was Farmageddon.

 

 

Farmageddon, delves into the corruption within the food industry, and the unjust way in which government officials have treated small farms and co-ops, many times without just cause, while hiding behind their claims to be working in the interest of public health. The events related in this documentary were definitely eye opening, and caused me at least to really become enraged with the way in which these people, and people like them are treated. No one, whether a government official or not, should have the right to go into a person's home or business and seize animals or products that make up their livelihood, without a dang good reason! And what makes me sick is the fact that the people who they attack are normal, hardworking people, who are trying to make an honest living, and end up having everything taken from them, without even a valid explanation. I am really amazed sometimes that people can be so heartless. It's almost as if the power that these officials have desensitizes them, and makes them able to separate themselves from the people whose lives they are destroying. What is the point of spending millions of dollars on building cases on innocent people, or removing and killing their healthy, disease-free animals? Small farms should not be punished just because the USDA doesn't do their job monitoring or inspecting foods from factory or industrial farms.

I would consider this documentary a must see, and would recommend it to anyone, whether they are interested in farming and food, or not. It is an excellent film and does a very good job of getting the point across.

New Year "Resolutions"

Happy New Year Everyone!

 

Now, I realize that this is a couple days late, but I wanted to publish a post with New Years resolutions, and decided to think things over a few days. I don't often make resolutions at the beginning of each new year, but I've decided to start doing it, so that I have something specific to work on for the year and have a specific amount of time to complete goals in. New Years resolutions always seem to center around things like losing weight or getting rid of debt, and while I do have goals like this, they are on going and I'm not going to make resolutions like that. Sure, this year I definitely want to make sure that I stay healthy and definitely get rid of any debt I have (and more importantly not incur more), but these won't be my resolutions for the new year, they're ongoing.

 

Nope. This year, I am making goals that include skills to become more self-sufficient, knowledgable, and just to improve my overall quality of life. Some of them may seem small compared to others, but I find them all equally important, and I'm sure I'll end up adding more as I think of them, but here's a starting list:

 

Improve my sewing, knitting, and crocheting skills

Learn to use power tools (besides just a drill)

 

Expand my vegan cooking abilities

 

WRITE MORE

Learn to can

Expand my gardening knowledge

Build or buy a dehydrator

Grow and preserve as much of our food needs as possible for the year, and especially next winter

Shop local as much as possible

...and that's it so far...

Do any of you have resolutions for the new year that you'd like to share?
 

Reflections and Dreams

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself." 

- Harvey Fierstein 

Life is beautiful, there is no doubt about it. Sure, we have the bad parts, the anger, the heartbreak, but we can't let ourselves focus on those parts of it. There are so many other things in this life that are worth living for. Sure, maybe you didn't get the job you wanted, or maybe you lost a loved one, but you can't dwell on things like that. Everyone hits a bump in the road every now and then, or makes a mistake, but those things make us stronger people; we can't let them take over how we live our lives. We get too caught up in our daily lives, and sometimes it's easier to focus on what we don't have, rather than the blessings we have already. I feel like people, as a whole, seem to be somewhat negative in their thoughts, because it's EASIER.

Personally though, I would much rather spend my energy thinking positively and being happy. I am a dreamer, always have been, always will be, but for some reason I always tend to be attracted towards people who try and crush that. I have always been told to "get my head out of the clouds", or to "be realistic", or that "life doesn't work that way", and I am tired of it. I'm always getting myself into relationships in which MY dreams are set aside and the focus ends up on the other person, because I am too compassionate and always feel like I need to fix everyone else's problems. I put my goals and dreams on hold, and then they slowly tend to drift away, but no more.

For instance, I've been told that, while having my own farm is a great goal, right now I just need to focus on school and getting a career; a farm is something I can get "later on", after I've established myself in a career and made a living. Well, why can't I do both at the same time? I have no plans of sacrificing my dream for a short term goal. Yes, I still have every intention of going to school and getting a degree, but there isn't any reason why I can't work on getting a farm at the same time. I am going to make my dream a reality, no matter what it takes, because every fiber of my being craves it. I want nothing more than to be able to wake up every morning on my own farm and spend the day with my hands deep in the earth, the sun on my back, knowing that I am doing what I love, that my dream has finally become a reality.

Every dream you have belongs to you, and you alone. No one can take your dreams away from you, and no one can make them happen but you. So make your dream happen. Imagine that it's real, write about it, draw a picture of it, and most importantly, don't let anyone tell you that it's not possible, because anything is possible if you just believe in it.

Potatoes!

So I have mixed feelings on the potato bag that I bought this last spring. The leaves on my plants started to yellow a week or two ago and have withered and died, with me still watering them on a regular basis, so today I decided to harvest any potatoes that may have grown. Unfortunately, most of the potatoes weren't full size yet. I did find two full size potatoes, but one of them was rotting and obviously isn't usable. I also noticed that the soil in the tops twothirds of the bag was relatively dry, but the soil on the bottom was extremely damp, and that the water wasn't draining out of the holes in the bottom of the bag. I'm not sure if I should somehow elevate the bag next time so that it has air circulating underneath, but I guess I'll just have to experiment. I've replanted the bag with a different variety of potato, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to get better results this next time. I can't really complain though, since I did still get some potatoes out of it.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

After making jam I still had several pints left, so I ad libbed a strawberry rhubarb crumble, and I thought I'd share the recipe.

Ingredients:

5 rhubarb stalks

2 pints of strawberries

 1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon clove

For the crumble:

3/4 cup flour

1/3 cup butter, lukewarm

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

a dash each of nutmeg and clove

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut both the strawberries and rhubarb into bite sized pieces and combine both in a medium size bowl.

Mix in the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.

Place mixture into a 9x9 ungreased baking dish.

For the crumble  combine the flour, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove in a small mixing bowl, and mix until it has a crumbly texture.

Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the strawberry and rhubarb.

Bake the crumble for 40 to 50 minutes, until the topping has become golden brown and the juices are bubbling.

It's that time of year again!

Time to make jam!

They're Ba-ack

Every summer I end up getting just about eaten alive by mosquitoes. I'm not sure why, but they've always seemed to prefer me to anyone else I may be around. My mom always used to tease me, saying that it was because I had "sweet blood". I highly doubt that, but they're obviously attracted to something about me. So far, it's not even June and the tally reads Mosquitoes-3, Hannah-0. I have a feeling this is going to be a long, and itchy, summer.

Bring it on bugs, I can take you.

Golden Sweet Cornbread

I found this recipe earlier today on allrecipes.com and I absolutely love the end result and had to share it! You can see the original recipe here if you'd like, but I thought I'd write it down as well.

Golden Sweet Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2/3 cup sugar (I used half white and half brown)

1 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 C), and grease one 9 inch round cake pan.

2. Combine flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder in medium bowl. Stir in egg, milk, and vegetable oil until well combined. Pour in prepared pan.

3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

I actually used a 13 x 9 inch cake pan and baked it at 350 degrees and it turned out perfectly.

Easy Sun Tea

Every year when the weather starts to get warmer and the sun stays out for longer periods of time, I make sun tea. Sun tea is extremely easy to make and, apart from the time left in the sun, only takes a few minutes to prepare.

What you need:

A pitcher or container of some kind for holding the tea

Several tea bags of your choice, preferably with attached strings.

( I used 6 black tea bags for 2.75 quarts/2600 mL of water.)

Water

First, fill the container with water.

Then, unwrap the tea bags and put them in the container, with the strings hanging out.

Screw the lid onto the container so that the strings stay hanging on the outside of the container.

Set out in a sunny spot in the yard for several hours.

Here the tea is after a half hour out in the sun.

I tend to keep the tea outside for a longer period of time, because I like mine strong, but it depends on your preference. When the tea is strong enough, bring it inside, take out the tea bags, add sugar (again this is based on your personal preference), and either put in the refrigerator or pour into a glass over glass.

And there you have it, easy sun tea to enjoy on a hot summer day.

Happy Earth Day!

Like My New Boots?

Spring Planting

Spring weather has finally arrived, and I am so glad that I can finally plant things outside without having to worry about another snow... at least, I'm hoping there won't be anymore freak snowfalls this spring (fingers crossed). We are still getting heavier rains off and on, but it's springtime in the Pacific Northwest, and we've also had some nicer sunny days the last couple of weeks, which have been nice. I love when the weather gets warmer and we have light sprinklings of warm rain. 

Anyways.... this springtime weather has been getting me in the mood to garden and I have been slowly amassing the makings of a container garden for my back patio. For some reason, buying seeds seems to be somewhat addicting, and there always seems to be a new variety of heirloom vegetable that I've never heard of before and have to get, and it definitely doesn't help that a packet of seeds only costs a couple of dollars. I wonder if they have Seedaholics Anonymous meetings I could attend, or maybe a Plantaholics Anonymous, since I seem to buy a lot of plants too, like this miniature lemon tree:

and this tea plant

and I finally bought a female kiwi vine!!!

 ........aaannd back to my original topic.

So the weather has been nicer lately and yesterday I took the twins out in the backyard for a couple of hours to play and plant seeds. So far I have planted: Trionfo Violetto and Christmas Lima Beans, Snap Peas, Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, a Mesculin Mix of lettuce Ragged Jack Kale, Russet Potatoes, and Lemon Balm, and I have lots more to plant!

 Of course, some of the seeds I won't be able to plant this year, things like pumpkins and melons, but I can always save them and use them sometime in the next few years. Being outside and getting my hands in the soil was nice though, and I think that Bella and London enjoyed shoveling the dirt and planting seeds, although they seem to have gotten more soil on the patio than in the pots, but at least they had fun. And I'm pretty sure they wore themselves out.....

I love my babies. :)

Nap Time

This is Joey, a cat that my mom is currently taking care of for a family member. He is a complete cuddle bug, and at the moment, seems to really be enjoying the electric blanket that he is laying on.
Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be a cat, or any other animal, for that matter? Wouldn't it be great to be able to plop down anywhere and take a nap, whenever it struck your fancy? I know I wouldn't mind it.

Spring - a poem

 

The song bird wakes me in the morn’

Chirps and trills bursting forth from his chest

His song expresses the joy of the season

Spring is here! Spring is finally here!

No more bitter cold or wind

The snow and ice have left for a time

Finally the bulbs and buds can sprout,

Without the fear of deadly frost.

Muted grays and browns of winter’s melancholy mood

Are replaced by the cheerful colors of new life

Yellows, pinks, purples, greens

Erase away the winter blues

The windows are thrown open,

Letting in fresh air in light

The sun has been away too long,

The air was turning stale

But thankfully the Spring has come

To save me from my ails

Mattocks and Lemon Balm

The last couple of days have been beautiful and I've been taking advantage of the nice weather and helping my mom and step dad with outdoor projects at their house. Wednesday was spent clipping raspberry and loganberry canes and burning debris, and Thursday I spent moving small logs and wood pieces, cutting back peony bushes, pulling and dumping weeds, and learning how to use a mattock. For those you that don't know, a mattock is much like a large pickaxe and is often used for digging into hard soil, as well as removing tree trunks. I got to learn how to use one by spending a good amount of time hacking away at the roots of a small oak  trunk. I finally was able to remove the trunk, but, needless to say, my whole body is going to be sore for the next day or two, since repeatedly swinging one of those over your shoulder is definitely a full body workout. I am perfectly fine with being sore tomorrow though, because I know that I'll have a reason to. Whenever I am sore as a result of doing some physical activity I actually almost enjoy it, because I feel like I've earned it and I know that I'm building muscle. That may make me a masochist, but oh well. On another note, I found a perfect little lemon balm plant that had started to grow right in the middle of my mom's strawberry patch, and since my mom considers thinks of these plants more as weeds than herbs, since they always sprout up and spread everywhere, I'm taking this one home to use in my container garden.
 Below are some pictures I took Thursday. For some reason they ended up kind of wonky looking though. I guess next time I should try using an actual camera instead of my phone.

The mattock
(aka my new favorite tool)

The hole that the stump had been in.
It looks smaller in this photo than it was
 (probably 3 and a half feet).

The offending stump.
(again it looks a lot smaller than it was :P )

A terrible picture of Bumpers the cat. I'll get a better one soon.

My new Lemon Balm plant :)