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.

Some Of This And A Little Of That!

Well, the dog days of summer are in full swing here in Mississippi.  We have had temps up to a hundred with heat indexes from a hundred and five up close to a hundred and ten.  I can't believe I'm saying this after the winter we had last year but I'm ready for MUCH cooler weather. 

So far, I have canned five pints of watermelon preserves and four pints of watermelon jelly. 

I have the rind of one more melon in the refrigerator to peel and cook out this week.  I may have a boiler full of watermelon when it's sliced but it cooks down to a small amount when it's finished.  I hope to can at least a dozen jars of the preserves but it will take at least another three melons and maybe more.

Here's what the watermelon preserves and jelly look like: 


The garden has plenty of peppers and a few ripe tomatoes in it.  There's also some herbs that are still producing. 

We have several tomato plants that are still growing but not producing as of yet. 

 We did have a tomato plant come up volunteer and is loaded with tomatoes.  I have no idea what type of tomato this is but the tomatoes are about the size of a fifty cent piece. 



The plant is a good size plant and is healthy.  We're looking forward to our "free" tomatoes.  :)

Now is the time for us to get started on our fall garden.  This is the week we plan to clean out the beds and get them ready for collard greens, cabbage, kale, turnip greens, mustard and Swiss chard. 

Here in our area the collard greens and kale will survive the winter.  The other greens will be gone after the first freeze. 

I want to have a nice size area for the greens so I can freeze some of them for later in the winter.

Also, I want to plant a pot of lettuces and keep it in the kitchen window so we can have fresh lettuce for salad this winter.  I've never tried this before but am hoping that it's successful since lettuce prices are going up every day here in our area.

That's about all of the goings on here at Hunny Bunny Haven.  I hope you will come back again. 

When we get the beds of greens going I will post more pictures.  Fingers crossed there will be greens to photograph.

See you all down the road a bit!

Sweets For The Sweetie.

It's jelly making time here at Hunny Bunny Haven.  I've canned seventeen pints and two half-pints of apple jelly this week. 

 

 



 

Along with the jelly I have eleven quart bags of apples in our freezer.  I see fried apple pies later on in the fall and winter. 

Our daughter, Sandi gave us two watermelons from their garden.  After we ate what we wanted, I peeled and sliced one of them.  It's setting overnight in the refrigerator.  After letting it set overnight with sugar on it, I will make watermelon preserves out of it tomorrow. 

Tomorrow I will peel and slice (I may try cubing the next one) the other one to make more preserves from.

My sister told me I could get some pears from the trees they have to make pear preserves and pear jelly, also.

I have some figs in the freezer and four bags (gallon size) of blueberries in the freezer to make fig preserves and blueberry jelly out of as soon as I get the other fruits canned.

It's been several years since I've had any fruits available to me.  I'm excited to be canning and preserving some for my family this year. 

William likes to have jellies, jams or preserves with his breakfast every morning.  He should be a happy camper with what we are being given or have been able to harvest from our blueberry bushes this summer.

That's all that's going on at Hunny Bunny Haven.  I'm a little tired but it's a happy kind of tired.  One that makes me feel as if I've accomplished something.

Thanks for stopping by and do come back again.

Garden Pictures

Squash bed. Yellow summer squash and zucchini.

 Tomatoes

 Cucumbers

 Basil and Sage in used tires.

Peppers:  Jalapeno & Cayenne

 Blueberry bushes loaded with berries!

Our garden is looking good.  We have had a few days of rain so everything is all perked up and doing great. 

William gathered some yellow squash, a few zucchinis and cucumbers yesterday.  We will have stewed squash and cucumbers for dinner tonight to go with our frozen green beans and turkey cutlets.

Today is the day to choose a breed of chicken to raise for eggs.  We will order them and twenty-five Cornish to go in the freezer. 

I hope you all enjoy looking at our garden pictures and will stop by to visit us again soon.  God bless you all.

Spring Has Sprung And Summer Is Knocking On My Door!!!!

Here it is June 1st and I haven't posted in over two months....Almost three months.  A lot has been going on here.  We do have our beds planted. 

This year we planted yellow summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes (twelve plants with six set two weeks after the first six were set out), Jalapeno, Cayenne, and Sweet Bell peppers, cucumbers, lettuces, radishes, and Swiss Chard. 

We have gathered a few of the yellow squash.  I'm looking forward to adding several bags of squash to the freezer for the winter.

The lettuces and radishes have already been harvested.  The heat doesn't take long to do tender plants in and it's been in the nineties here several days.  The lettuce and radishes just can't take those temps.

We have some Thai Basil and Sweet Basil to put out along with Common Sage and Pineapple Sage.  I was hoping to get them in the ground this afternoon but the rain came again.  I'm looking forward to a fresh ripe tomato sandwich loaded with Sweet Basil.  Yummy to the tummy!!!!

We had some unusually cold weather this last winter.  I think it has helped the flowers as our roses, azaleas, snowball tree, and other perennials have been beautiful this spring. 

We plan to plant some more tomatoes into the ground for late fall eating.  I have some cherry tomatoes that I want to plant.  I think we have room for six or eight more plants. 

We still don't have any chickens or rabbits.  William and I are going on a trip with all four of children and their spouses in a few days.  When we get back home I plan to order some chickens to go to "Freezer Camp"  a little later on and about a dozen pullets for eggers.  I hope we can get a couple of does and a buck to be able to raise young rabbits for the freezer also. 

Our son-in-law harvested a good size buck last deer season.  We have it in our freezer so I'm thinking maybe fifty chickens and ten or twelve rabbits and we'll be pretty much set for the winter.  I would love to have a wild hog but my hubby doesn't hunt so I'm figuring there won't be any pork in the freezer.  That is unless I can get a friend to get me one.  That will be later on in the season though.

I plan to post some pictures in a few days.  I hope you all will enjoy them.  Thank you for coming by and please come again.

Spring Is Coming! Isn't It?

Spring will be here on March 20th or that is the day it's supposed to be here.  The days are wild around here right now.  For two or three days we'll have freezing temps at night and in the forties during the days.  Then the sun shines and we have temps in the seventies up near eighty. 

I should be used to the fluctuation in the temps here in Mississippi but for some reason it's getting harder to deal with.  Maybe, it's age.  :)

I wanted to plant some English peas this year but so far we don't have them in the ground because of the rain we have been getting and the soil being so wet.  If the peas aren't in the ground soon it will be too late because the temps will be in the eighties.

I'm looking forward to gardening this year.  I am feeling healthier and more like working outside.   Also, I'm looking forward to the fresh vegetables we will be able to grow in that garden. 

We will be planting more tomatoes, peppers, squash, zucchini, cucumbers and green beans this year.  I also want to add to the herb bed. 

William and I are talking about purchasing some baby chicks to raise for the freezer.  We'll start with twenty-five and get them to the age for processing.  Then we will do the same with another twenty-five. 

We are planning to purchase some chicks for layers.  We haven't come up with the number yet.  We're thinking six or twelve and a rooster just in case we want to raise some here. 

We won't use twelve eggs every day but we have children who love the "homegrown" eggs.  They've mentioned several times that the eggs from our chickens were so much more tasty than the store bought ones.  I'm inclined to agree.

I have missed hearing the hens singing and the roosters crowing.  It will be nice to have that again.

It seems William and I have a lot to look forward to this spring.  Makes me smile.

Thank you for dropping by and please come again.  I'm going to try to be more diligent in keeping the blog updated and  to post some pictures of what is going on here at Hunny Bunny Haven!