Wintertime Dreaming.

I got a new heirloom seed catalog and two new poultry catalogs in the last week.  Now is the time to start planning and dreaming about springtime. 

I have some Speckled Sussex, Americanas and Cuckoo Morans picked out to raise for eggs.  Then we will order twenty-five for the freezer as well. 

Once we get the twenty-five fed out and in the freezer I want to order 25 more to grow out and get in the freezer before next fall.  That should give us enough chicken for a while.  I will cut the chickens in half and we will have more than enough for a meal.

I may put some of the chickens in the freezer and learn to can the others.  That's been on my bucket list for a while.  Since I'm not getting any younger it's time to tick this one off the bucket list.  LOL

I've joined a homesteading group that is located here in Mississippi.  I'm learning a lot from them.   

I've been gardening for years but I have learned some new tricks of the trade from the Mississippi people.  Maybe,  it's because we are in the same area and we've learned how to do things here that won't work in another area.

I hope to save seed this year so we will have our own heirloom seed for planting.  We will have to plant the seeds I plan to save away from the regular garden and protect them from cross pollinations. 

At this time, I'm doing research on how to keep the seeds pure.   I'm looking forward to doing this and learning more about gardening.

The seed catalog I got this week is one for heirloom seeds.  Those seed aren't cheap so I will have to save our seeds because it would get expensive to order from this company every year.

It's pretty cold out there today.  Thirty-two degrees and it's ten o'clock.  According to the weather guy today will feel like a heat wave compared to in the morning when it's supposed to be nine degrees.

Oh well, gives me more time to plan and dream.  Nothing like it other than the actual doing!!!

Winter Time Quiet.

It's winter time here at Hunny Bunny Haven.  We still have our greens in the raised beds.  They are doing pretty good being covered with the row cover....At least so far. 

We are having fresh greens every so often.  Much better than store bought greens.  We know what is on them and that makes us feel more secure in eating them.

We still don't have any animals other than the three cats and two dogs.  We planned to get started back with the chickens this year but we haven't been able to do that. 

William is going to have a complete knee replacement soon and he has promised after his rehab from that we will start adding to our homestead. 

First I want to get some laying hens and some baby chicks.  Then rabbits....a buck and two does.....after that a calf and a pig.  We need to refill our freezer with safer meats. 

I also want a few goats.  Two or three would make me happy.  I'm looking for a Nubian doe and a Pygmy buck so I can breed them for Kinders.   

I wouldn't mind having a trio of Boars for selling to help pay for the other goats. 

I'd also like to have some ducks and guineas.  Maybe, some turkeys too. 
I have missed our birds.  I love the sounds of happy hens and crowing roosters, quacking ducks, honking geese, gobbling turkeys and potracking  guineas.  

I don't care to have as many birds as we had at one time but enough for eggs for us and family members and for meat. 

I'd like to learn to can meats.  Heck, I'd just like to learn to can.  I have to get rid of my fear of the pressure canner first. 

Winter time is pretty quiet around here.  I enjoy the quiet time but I'm really looking forward to being a homesteader again.  Homesteading is the life I love.

They're Up!!!!!!!

I went outside to make some pictures of a chest of drawers William had refinished so I could list it on a local buy, sell or trade site.  While I was outside I checked on the garden.

The kale and Swiss chard was planted on Wednesday of last week (9-16) and I'm happy to say it seems every seed planted has popped out of the ground.  When the plants are little larger I will need to thin them so they'll have space to grow.

The turnip greens were planted on 9-18 and they are up thicker than hairs on a dog's back!   If we can just keep the henbit and chickweed from overtaking them we'll be alright.

The collard greens are beginning to grow and that's a good thing.  I hope they get a good growing spurt before the weather gets cold. 

Just had to report on the progress of the garden.  Thankful the seeds have come up and pray they will continue to grow and produce plenty of fresh food for us this fall and some good frozen food for us this winter. 

Nothing like garden grown veggies.  Don't you agree?

Happy To Say:

We have the collard greens transplanted.  William picked up a dozen plants at our local county co-op on Tuesday.  He also bought some turnip green seeds (2 varieties) and mustard seed (2 varieties). 

We got the collard greens in the ground on Wednesday and planted the turnip greens and mustard greens yesterday afternoon (Thursday).  Right after we tamped the soiled down over the seeds a good rain came.

The kale and chard are coming up already.  Good! 

I received the row covers one day this week.  Now we need to make a frame for it over the beds.  We'll use PVC pipe to do this.

William also bought a pack of long red radishes.  These I am going to put in two large pots we bought roses in.  Then if there's a frost in the forecast I can set them inside and put them back out the next morning.  I could keep a pot of radishes going for most of the winter unless we have a winter such as we had last year and then everything will probably freeze including the kale and collards.

Nothing much is going on around here.  Just wounding down the summer and waiting for fall like temps to come visit us.  Thankful we finally have our fall garden planted and hope to harvest plenty of greens for winter from them.

Thanks for dropping in and please come back again.

Finally!!!!!

We finally put the kale and Swiss chard in the ground.  We should have gotten this done a couple of weeks ago.  Now, we will wait and hope that these greens will have time to grow some before a cold snap comes along.

We have to cover the beds with chicken wire to keep the cats from using the bathroom in them.  Also, to keep the cats from scratching the dirt and getting all the seeds mixed together. 

I did order some row cover for both this bed and the bed we will put collard greens in.  According to the advertisement for the row cover it is supposed to protect crops from frost and keep the temps up a few more degrees than the outside temp.  Maybe, just maybe we will pull this off.  The kale will be o.k. because it survives our winter but the Swiss chard won't  survive the cold.

The row cover will keep the cabbage moths from laying eggs on the greens or any other kind of bug from dining on the greens while they're growing.

I think I will put out a dozen collard plants and then in front of them plant a row of turnip greens and mustard greens mixed. 

With the kale, collards, chard, turnip greens and mustard greens we should be fixed up for greens this fall and winter. 

I am thinking of canning or freezing as many greens are possible because William and I both like greens and the fresh ones are expensive in the grocery stores.  If we can get them out of our garden that is money in our pockets.  And that my friends makes me HAPPY!

I have noticed more hummingbirds coming to the feeder so they must be either on their way south or getting ready to move southward.  I am trying to keep fresh food in the feeder for them.  I so enjoy watching the birds every spring and summer.   If the feeder isn't up there's one hummingbird that buzzes the window to let us know "I'm BACCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!".   

Time to get up and get something accomplished.  Thanks for coming by and I hope to see where you have dropped by again very soon.

Sometimes Life Gets In The Way!

Yesterday we had a death in our community.  The woman who died was one of our neighbors when I was growing up.  I remember helping her get cows back into the pasture when they'd escape and helping her pick pears (later on after I was grown she gave me pears to preserve off those same trees).  I loved to visit with her and we could talk for hours even though I was about ten or eleven years old. 

When I was grown and had a family of my own she lived across the road from me.  I remember her coming to my house when I was making hamburger patties.  She ate lunch with me and gave me the nicest compliment.  She was an excellent cook herself but she told me that hamburger was the best she'd ever eaten.  I don't know what I did differently to the burger but she enjoyed it.  Maybe it was that she didn't have to cook it herself.

Over the years I moved around to different areas of the state and we drifted apart.  I had not seen her in quite a while.  I kept saying I was going to see her but I waited too long.  So, if you have someone who means or has meant a lot to you, don't put off going to see them or at least give them a call.  Tomorrow may be too late!

We have been planning to get the collard greens bed ready for two weeks.  It's finally ready as well as the Kale/Swiss Chard bed.  Now, I hope we can still find some collard green plants.  I have seeds but we need to put in plants since it's getting later in the summer time.

Every time we thought we'd get to work on the bed it either rained or something came up and we had to go somewhere.  Or we had company (which is the nicest kind of hindrance). 


I made a lemon pound cake to carry to the children of my friend.  I have made this cake time and again without any hint of problems until today.   For some reason the cake stuck to the pan around the tube, the pan and on the bottom of the pan.  It tore all to pieces when I tried to get it out of the pan. Sooooo.....Hubby has a lemon pound cake all his own.    Disheartening is the only word I can think of to describe the experience. 

I guess that's enough rambling for today.  I need to ramble over to the love seat and fold that basket full of towels to put away.


I do appreciate you all stopping by and hope you will come back again. 

More Canning And More To Do

I've canned more watermelon preserves and pickled some peppers since my last post.  I hope to make one more batch of the preserves before the watermelons are too ripe and there's plenty more peppers that will be ready for pickling in a few days.

The pickled peppers that I canned one day last week.  The slice jalapenos are for a friend and the rest are for us.  The chopped chilies will be used with our greens this winter.  I'm looking forward to that.


Enough heat in these four jars to warm the whole country.  LOL

I have another picture I want to share just because I think it's unique and pretty.  We had a hard rain one day last week and I made this picture of the rain running off our roof.

 

 

We could use some of this about now.  It is hot and dry here.  According to the weather forecast we were predicted to get rain today but so far all I've seen has been sunshine and lots of it with intense heat.

The rain will come when it's time!

 

That's about all the news from here at Hunny Bunny Haven for now.  We do have a wedding coming up on September 13th.  Our grandson, Jonathan and his fiancé, Alexandria will be getting married in Fayette, Alabama that afternoon.  Jonathan is our first grandchild to get married.  We are looking forward to being there to see the beautiful ceremony and to wish Jonathan and Alex a lifetime of love and happiness. 

 

It's time to start dinner for my Hunny Bunny so I'll say "So long."  for now and I hope to see you all soon.