It is thanks, in large part, to my habit of starting a project (and dragging everyone else around here along with me) that we have come as far as we have.  We have learned so much this year while carrying out one or another of my…compulsions…

Our gardens did unbelievably fantastic.  Way better than we had hoped.  We were overrun with cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, zuchinni…I pickled and canned and froze until I couldn’t take anymore.  Then, I discovered the dehydrator.   Oh, if only I had made that purchase in April!  Now, I am eagerly awaiting the first day of firearm hunting.  I can almost taste the deer jerky now.  I wonder…can you dehydrate chicken…?

Of course, all of our gardens would have never been possible without the immense amount of help we have from Dan and Tina.  Yes, Tina, you are officially a gardener now!  Speaking of Dan and gardening…I gave him some heirloom Black Spanish Radish seeds and he planted them and you gotta see these things!  This is so not your ordinary ping-pong ball sizes radish.  Not even close.  Its…well…look at this thing!!!

Black Spanish Radish

This one was still white, so we probably could have let it go a bit longer, but really…! Do you see the size of that thing???  And heat…let me tell you.  It is H-O-T!  Like, set-your-lips-on-fire hot!  I added it to a vegetable soup last night and it was pretty darn good.

And, it’s once again time to get the winter gardens in full swing.  Actually, I’m kinda late.  That’s the story of my life. We do have quite a bit already coming up, though, and only a handful of space that hasn’t been planted.  Spinach, lettuce, broccoli, peas, turnips, beets and carrots are already making their appearance, and a few are giving us a cold-weather harvest that we hope continues through the rest of the season. Possibly with a bit extra to sell in a veggie-box or two.  Who doesn’t love fresh-from-the-garden veggies in the middle of January, right?  They always sell so quick, too, so if you want to get in line for a box when it’s ready, now is the time to let us know!

And, speaking of the greenhouse…here are some things we learned…

1) Use CPVC.  The kind you use to run HOT water lines.  I would have never ever ever believed that it could max out at over 200 degrees in there in the summertime.  Let me assure you that it does.  During the height of summer when outside temps were hitting 100 F and above, you could stand 5′ from the front of the greenhouse and feel the heat radiating out the open window and doors.  So, standard PVC was not a good choice.  It wilted like a limp noodle and we had to remove and replace it. This job sucked and I don’t recommend it.

2) Plastic zip-ties are not a good option either, for the same reason.  We decided to go with white, thick cotton twine.

3) We purchased 6 mil greenhouse plastic when we built our greenhouse and it was one of my best decisions to date.  It survived ice storms, hail storms, kamikaze birds and insects, heat, cold and just about every other weather condition you can imagine.  However, it did take some damage.  The hail storm left behind some small punctures and near-punctures, as did the kamikaze wildlife.  Fortunately, I also purchased some special UV plastic tape at the same time and it has really saved our asses!

4) Buy extra plastic.  You can use it for other things.  Like our greenhouse wasn’t enough, I’ve now turned my front porch into a make-shift greenhouse.  Really.  See…

My Porch Greenhouse

Its a little cold at night, but daytime temps are quite warm.  I’m thinking a small space heater and some duct tape will warm it up just fine.  Don’t laugh.  Duct tape fixes everything, including drafty make-shift greenhouses.

Why the extra greenhouse, you might wonder?  Well, my big greenhouse is great for growing food and I just can’t bring myself to give up food space, but I really want some flowers and other plants.  So, viola!  I had extra UV plastic, after all…

In our spare time, we have been converting a huge metal shed into a house.  This project was really more of a necessity than a choice, but we are having a blast with it…usually.  See, the house we live in is really cool.  It was built in the early 1870′s.  Unfortunately, it was built in the early 1870′s.  Can you say drafty?  Old? Falling apart?   Yep, that’s about the size of it.  Our dilemma is that we want to incorporate much of the farmhouse into the new house.  The floor and ceiling boards are so cool!  You can still see the tool marks from when someone hewed the boards by hand way back when.  So, we have to move into the new house while we dismantle the old house.  It should be interesting living for a few months.  I’m sure glad my kids are used to our…um…bohemian lifestyle!

My Bathroom

This is my bathroom.  It’s huge.  My girls are jealous. The view is unbelievable.  I have a whole village of cardinals that call that corner home, as well as a few blue jays and other birds.  There’s a web of deer and turkey trails out that window, too, so I have hopes of catching sight of a few other animals while I lounge in my bathtub!  The truth is, I don’t really care about the rest of the house.  I just want my bathroom done.

And, did I mention that I’ve developed a fondness for making rag rugs?  I don’t know why they fascinate me suddenly, but they do.  I made this loom-thing out of a 1″x6″ and some nails and I’m gathering up all the scraps of material that I’ve stashed away because I like their color and I’m weaving and tying and…well…I just can’t seem to help myself.  It is really taking a lot of time away from my school work, but there isn’t much to be done about that.

About my school work…I have this one assignment left to do.  I’ve put it off as long as I can, but now I’m down to the wire.  Go figure.  See, I have to take  5 people on a nature walk and point out a few medicinal plants and tell them something about the plants.  Then, the people have to write a short critique.  Do these instructors not care that I failed Public Speaking in college?  That my hands get all sweaty and my knees get all week and I want to cry and puke all at the same time?  No, they don’t care even a little bit.  So, I have to do this.  Anyone interested in a natural walk before winter kills off the last of the good medicinal plants for the season?

I don’t suppose someone wants to come and sort my receipts and gather tax papers?  Anyone?  I can pay you in lettuce and broccoli!

I think I’m beginning to understand why my husband gets that look on his face when he hears me say, “Hey, I had this great idea…”!

You’d think that, after all this time, we would be sick of tomatoes around here.  I’ll admit, we are all getting close, but we aren’t quite there. We’ve sold many.  We’ve passed them out to friends and neighbors.  We’ve made sauces and soups and stews and fried green tomatoes and…you get the idea, right? The real challenge wasn’t in using the fresh ones.  It was in preserving some of them to get us through the period of time between outdoor crops and greenhouse crops.

Yeah, I know…can them.  Whatever!  It’s been, like, 300 degrees all summer long.  After canning all my pickles, I’ve learned that I have to wait till the sun goes down, crank the A/C and keep a cold rag on my head just to keep from having heat stroke! Once I turn on that stove and water gets to boiling, my kitchen turns into a sauna. Call me a sissy.  I don’t care.  I’m eagerly anticipating our first snowfall just thinking about it!

So, I decided to try sun-dried tomatoes.  Let me just save you some time, should you decide to follow this course for yourself.  Don’t.  Not if you live in the Midwest.  Or the East.  Or the North.  Not unless you have a really good solar food dehydrator or the equivalent thereof.  You really do have to have steady temps of 90 degrees or above.  No, a greenhouse doesn’t work.  Too humid.  Funny things start to grow on them and, while the colors are quite lovely, even our chickens bypassed them as a snack.

Much to my own sadness, I had to admit defeat on the whole sun-dried tomato thing and settle for second best~ or so I thought.

Oven drying.  I have to tell you that I’ve never been a big fan of dried tomatoes.  When I’ve bought them at the grocery store a few times, I was always disappointed with the flavor, the texture and the color.  Still, I figured that, since other people liked them so much, I could always sell them or give them away later, right?

Ha!  Not gonna happen folks.  Even if I were willing to part with a few of these, you would still have to get past Jim.  He’s eating them about as fast as I can make them!  It’s fine with me, really, but I still like to give him a hard time about his new tomato-filching habit.

Since I can’t, in good conscience, offer you any of mine, I can tell you how I made them.  It’s super-simple.

I use about 6 medium-sized to large tomatoes per batch. I’ve found that any type of tomato works, including cherry tomatoes.  I’ve read that you have to use Roma’s or some other type of paste tomato, but that’s a lie.  My personal favorites are the Black Prince tomatoes. Tomatoes that have split or have small bad spots work just as well as perfect tomatoes for this.  Just cut off the bad spots.  I don’t worry about cutting away the splits unless they have broken open.

Slice the tomatoes into 1/2″ – 3/4″ slices.  If you slice them any thinner they dehydrate into near-nothingness. Lay them on a paper towel and leave them while you prepare your seasoning.

I used 1/4  Cup of sea salt, 3 large garlic cloves(pressed is best, but diced works, too) and 4 fresh basil leaves(chopped).  Mix them all together.  That’s it. You won’t use all of this.  Save whatever is left over to add to a soup or sauce, or your next batch of tomatoes, because I promise you’ll be making more. Of course, other herbs might be just as delicious on these.  I’m thinking of trying sage and lemon balm and oregano and thyme.  Not all together, of course.  Well, maybe…

Set your oven to the lowest possible setting.  Mind goes from warm to 200 degrees, so I put it right between the two. Now, if you are exceptionally cool, you have a nice non-aluminum cooling rack that you can lay these out on.  I am not that cool. I improvised.  And, because I’m a little paranoid, I laid a bit of cloth on the rack to separate it from the tomato, just in case the tomato might pick up some metal taste.

Sprinkle your salt and herb blend over the tomatoes, lightly coating the entire surface.  Set them in the oven and leave them alone for several hours. They will shrink quite a bit as they dry. After 4-5 hours, turn them, then leave them alone.  Repeat this process until the tomatoes are thoroughly dry.

Thoroughly dry, in the case of dried tomatoes, does not mean crispy.  Although, those are kinda good, too.  What you are going for is a slice that is in no way gooey or mushy, but is still flexible.  Almost rubbery to the touch.  That makes them sound really gross, I know, but they don’t have a rubbery feel in your mouth.  Trust me, okay? Anyway, they should still have close to the same color as when they were fresh ~ just a bit darker.

They don't look so appetizing at this stage, but give them a few more hours...

Once they are dry, set them out to cool completely, then store them in freezer bags or vacuum packs.  I’ve read that they will keep for up to 6 months in freezer bags that are air-tight and up to a year in vacuum-sealed bags, but I can’t really say for sure.  We haven’t been able to keep enough around to even get them off the cooling racks!

Divinely delicious dried tomatoes...Oh, the bliss!

I have managed to stash a few that I can use in during the winter months. Please don’t tell my husband.  He’s not above using unethical means to gain vital information, like where I might be hiding this secret stash of oven-dried tomatoes. I’m gonna try re-hydrating them in olive oil, I think, and maybe a few in vinegar for salad dressings.  Perhaps I’ll add a few to a stir fry?  He’ll be really glad when I finally break out that secret stash later on…

Cucumbers abound and we have already canned, brined and pickled more than we intended.  Still, they keep coming and we keep picking!  We have two varieties to choose from, neither of which is your standard green cucumber.  Instead, we chose to grow a couple of the more uncommon varieties, and are we ever glad we did!

Our favorite cucumber for the season is the Lemon Cuke.  These tasty treats don’t taste lemon-y.  They are called Lemon Cukes because they resemble a lemon in appearance.  They are about the size of the palm of your hand and their skins are yellow-white.  They have a sweet, mild flavor that blends well with salads, sandwiches or all by themselves.  They also make fantastic sliced pickles that are the perfect size for adding to burgers!  If you think you don’t like cucumbers, give these cute little fellas a try and you just might change your mind!

Our second variety is the White Wonder cucumber.  These are a bit more like your standard cucumber in flavor, size and appearance, but they have a thinner skin and are a bit milder and sweeter.  And white.  These are great when added to your pickles and they give a lovely color-contrast in your pickle jar!

Both varieties of cukes are $2.25 per lb.  If you prefer slightly immature fruits for canning and pickling, just let us know and we’ll grab them off the vine a little early for you!

We also have an abundance of wild blackberries this year and we are so excited!  They came in right on schedule and they are plump, juicy and delicious!  Of course, we are keeping the first harvest.  Blackberry jam, blackberry cobbler, blackberry salad…we love our blackberries!  But, we have more than enough to go around, so we are offering them to our customers.  No pesticides, no chemicals…nothing but healthy soil and sunshine!   We also have the best prices in town on blackberries.  We are seeing the organically grown varieties sell for up to $16 per gallon.  Tranquil Haven Hollow Farm is offering them for $11.00 per gallon!  Limit 3 gallons per customer, please.

Let’s not forget zucchini!  Tina has done a fantastic job raising these Black Beauties, but we just can’t eat them all.  So, we are offering them for sale to our customers in limited quantities.  These make an excellent addition to any table and we even threw a few in with our pickles this year.   Tender, juicy and huge, they are delicious stuffed, steamed, fried or raw!  They are $2.00 per lb.

Our herbs are going a little crazy, too.  We have fresh basil, oregano, thyme, peppermint, sage and nasturtium.  All our herbs are $1.50 per bundle.

Fresh baby garlic is ready to go to, but only in a limited amount.  Sweeter than your standard variety and just a bit milder, these are a wonderful addition to any meal, cooked or raw.  $2.50 per bundle.

Don’t forget to order your farm fresh, free-range brown eggs!  $2.00 per dozen.

Within the next week we expect to have an abundance of other fruits and veggies, too, so check back often.  What can you expect to see?  Cantaloupe, beans, watermelon, squash, tomatoes, peppers, corn….we have a little bit of everything coming ripe and it is all organically grown, heirloom varieties.

Give us a call to place your order (573-612-9276) or check us out at the Rolla Farmer’s Market in the Big Lot/K-Mart parking lot on Saturday morning from 7 am til it’s all gone.  We still offer free delivery any time to Licking and Edgar Springs.  We deliver free to Rolla, too, but only on certain days.  Otherwise, there is a small delivery fee to Rolla, Salem & Houston.

First, what is an Heirloom plant?  There is a bit of debate on that subject, but around our farm it is only considered to be ‘Heirloom’ if it was around before 1940, but some folks insist that it must have been around at least 100 years ago.  Whatever the age, the general principal is the same.  Heirloom varieties are  open-pollinated, non-hybridized, genetically un-modified plants.  They are propagated through grafts, cuttings or seeds and put out off-spring that are true to their parent plant.  In other words, the Country Gentleman corn seed that I planted this year is the exact same as the Country Gentleman corn my great-great-great grandfather would have planted way back when, and when I dry some of the kernels from this crop of Country Gentleman corn and plant it next year (or the year after, or the year after that) it will still be exactly the same. The seed will produce a healthy, viable plant that looks, smells and tastes just the same, every year for generations uncountable.

You would think that was the case in all plant seeds, right?  You would be so very wrong!  That packet of corn seeds you bought at the local discount store will probably grow just fine this year.  And, if you save the seeds from that corn to replant next year, you might have a fine crop from them.  Then you are done.  You can save every kernel from every ear of corn that grows off that crop, but the chances of you having a healthy, or even edible, ear of corn that is anything close to what it started out as are slim to none.

Besides the age and bloodline, what sets Heirloom plants apart from other plants?  Several things, actually.  Flavor, growth habits, hardiness….

Let’s start with growth habits.  I cannot count the number of farmers that made a comment like, “Heirloom varieties are just too difficult and unpredictable to grow.”  It makes me laugh every time.  Not just a giggle, either, but an all-out, laugh til I cry belly  laugh.  My first instinct is to ask if they have had a lobotomy at some point in the past.  I usually control my mirth and sarcasm, though, and nod my head understandingly, thinking, “these people really have no business growing things”.   I know, it sounds horrible and makes me seem quite mean and petty.  I’ll let you in on a little secret, though…I’m not really that great of a gardener, either.  Sometimes, I plant at the wrong time, in the wrong place with the wrong tools.  I forget to water.  I over-water.  I get lazy.  By all rights, my gardens should be a dead, decaying mess.  Actually, it has been on a number of different years.  Before I started using Heirloom seeds.

Let me give you a personal example~

Everyone knows I finally got my dream greenhouse last fall, right?  What most of you don’t realize is that the entire thing was one big experiment.  Different soil mixes in different raised beds for different plants in different light/heat zones.  It was kind of a mess.  Ever optimistic, though, I set about planting anything I could get my hands on.  Beans, peas, beets, carrots, tomatoes, peppers…..

Along the way, I sometimes got confused.  Was I supposed to plant that pepper in the Northeast corner in the sandy soil or was it supposed to go in the Southwest with the heavier, richer soil?  Turns out, it didn’t really matter.  Everything I planted sprouted.  Then bloomed.  Then set out fruit.  I was eating fresh summertime veggies in Missouri in January, for Pete’s sake!

It could have been a fluke, though.  A terrific stroke of luck.  So, I was determined to be more careful when I started plants for my outside gardens.  It all would have worked out just fine, too…if Mother Nature hadn’t decided to let loose her temper and give us torrential downpours, gale-force winds and a drought ~ all in May, mind you!  But, she did.  So, there my poor little plants all sat, ready and waiting for me to transplant them into their permanent outdoor homes.  Then, they waited.  And waited.  And as they waited, they drooped and sagged, then they started turning brown.

When the weather finally broke, we hurried to put them in the garden, hoping like crazy we hadn’t lost everything.  I was so desperate at one point that I even planted a sorry little bean stalk that was nothing more than 1″ green stem that was leafless and mostly-brown.  It was an Heirloom bean, though~ a Dragon’s Tongue bean.

Two days ago, I pulled enough beans off of that plant to make a wonderful addition to our dinner salad and it has several more just about ready.

So far this year our gardens have survived Mother Nature’s wrath not once, or even twice, but several times.  While many of the farmers around us have lost two and three crops already, we are pulling fresh veggies off the plant daily and are eagerly awaiting the ripening of many more.  Floods, tornado-force winds, excessive heat and 3 dogs have not been able to defeat my Heirloom plants.  I guess the ‘difficult to grow’ excuse is…well…kind of silly.

As for unpredictable, I’ll give them that one.  Not every seed I planted popped up at exactly the same time.  In fact, just when I was sure only half the seeds I had planted were going to germinate, another few would magically appear.  Before it was over, I had (roughly) an over-all germination rate of 90%.  I suppose if you are set on having a garden where everything germinates, ripens and is ready for harvest at exactly the same time, Heirloom varieties are not for you.  However, if you enjoy a staggered series of ripening vegetables throughout the entire growing season (and sometimes beyond), these are awesome!

Where Heirlooms really shine, though, is in the flavor department.  Let’s face it…there is a reason that people don’t eat grass.  It has plenty of nutrition, but the taste sucks.  Honestly, when I steered my diet more toward raw foods I was more than a little disheartened to realize that most veggies don’t have much flavor to brag about.  So, I focused more on the organic produce, which helped quite a bit, but still left much to be desired.  Then, I tasted some Heirloom veggies.  Did you know that Bull’s Blood beets are so sweet that my kids think I put sugar on them when I cook them?  I don’t.   Did you know that Blue Lake green beans are so moist and flavorful that you can eat them right off the plant and it will temporarily alleviate your thirst?  Did you know that a Brandywine tomato has a firm, almost crisp flesh that is so full of flavor you can smell it before you taste it?  To my way of thinking, if I am going to put forth the time and effort involved in growing a garden, I want the get best possible results in terms of output, taste and nutrition.  That can only be found in an Heirloom variety.

Finally, we have the cost issue.  Sure, Heirloom varieties are a little more expensive, but not really enough to make it a valid argument.  The Dollar Store has all their seeds for $1.  Lowe’s has all of their organic seeds for $2-$3.  Baker Creek has nothing but Heirloom variety seeds and I think I saw one that was $4, but I haven’t paid more than $3.50 for any seed from them, and most were $1.75 – $2.50.  When you factor in other issues like germination rates, productivity of the plants, and  their ability to be saved and sown generation after generation, Heirlooms are clearly the best value for your money.  For $3.50, I can pass on an entire bank of seeds to my great-grandchildren.

So, when we pridefully boast that we only grow and sell Heirlooms, we feel pretty justified. We will happily and without hesitation put our plants and produce in competition with any other variety.  We are completely confident that we are passing on a product that is good for the body, good for the environment and good for the future.

This is our future and our future looks awesome!

Whenever the subject of the weather comes up (and it always does when you run a farm), so does the effect that it has had on crops and livestock.   While I can’t say much about livestock overall, I can tell you that it has been a blessing for our chickens.  At last count we had 28 hens and 2 roosters.  There was a time when I would have thought that was a good-sized flock, but now I know better.  See, getting off track already!

What I was going to say is that our chickens completely adored all that rainy weather.  They strutted about in the downpour, day after day, happily picking fat, juicy worms and other insects from the puddles and garden beds.  They have become downright plump and they are pushing out eggs faster than all those ‘how-to-raise-chickens’ books said they would.  I’m not talking puny little eggs with no color or flavor.  I’m talking brown eggs the size of my palm with a rich, orange yolk that stands tall and tastes absolutely amazing.  For those of you that have never had a fresh-from-the-free-range-chicken’s-butt egg, you’ve never had a real egg!

So, now we have eggs.  Lots of eggs.  Okay, lots of eggs by our standards.  And, we finally got our license to sell them!  Look out Farmer’s Market!

As if the wacky weather wasn’t enough to set this year apart from a nature standpoint, its the year for cicadas.  Of course, you probably knew that, but do you really know what that means?  It means a mechanical-like noise so loud you can’t even hear yourself think.  It means being dive-bombed by those ugly critters while trying to enjoy a moment outdoors.  It means no walking barefoot because you are almost certain to step on a crunchy brown insect skeleton, or – even grosser – a newly-emerging bug.  It means a gazillion holes in your yard and garden, and constantly checking your plants to make sure they haven’t been overtaken by swarms of bugs that look like the evil spawn of satanic flies.  It means that I am intensely ecstatic to have a flock of chickens.

Don’t laugh when I tell you this, okay.  Our mid-morning entertainment often includes a bit of time spent cheering on chickens as they chase after cicadas.  It’s quite a show actually.  It’s free entertainment.  Don’t judge!  There is nothing as relaxing as lounging in the pool in the mid-morning heat, watching chickens snatch up those nasty little creatures and then run like crazy for a safe spot to eat it without getting attacked by the others and mugged of their snack.  While I refuse to consider the biology of the process, I’ll admit that both the chickens and their eggs have grown considerably since the invasion of cicadas.

Fortunately, our chickens like to stay near our gardens.  It also helps that we have magic gardens, but the chickens have done their fair share of keeping our lovely vegetables safe from the cicada plague.  Miracle of miracles, our gardens have survived two different week-long rain storms that wiped out more than one poor farmer’s hard work and time, and we have only found a handful of empty cicada shells anywhere near the gardens.  Our plants are thriving and beginning to produce the loveliest little veggies ever.  If all continues to go well, we should have  a whole bunch of fresh, heirloom veggies to sell alongside our eggs and other goodies at the Farmer’s Market by mid-June.  We are all pretty excited!

Speaking of excited, I am so tickled to be able to tell you that Tina is officially a gardener!  She’s been working so hard in these gardens and she (and Dan!) have done an awesome job, but I gotta brag on her first official success.  Zucchini.  The prettiest zucchini plants ever.  She prepared the bed, planted the seed and made these babies grow!  Congrats, Tina!

Our other new experiment…fish emulsion.  Using it, making it.  I use it.  Dan is making it.   I’d show you a picture of the whole process, but I haven’t yet worked up the nerve to stand over the bucket long enough the get snapshots.  It kinda smells.  It’s an awesome fertilizer, though!   Just make sure you tie up the dogs before you apply it.  Really.  They can’t help themselves.  They are willing to risk near-death experiences for the chance to dig up any dirt or plant that you put it on.  Yes, I speak from experience.

Anyway, I bought some at Baker’s Creek after reading about what a great fertilizer it was.  I thought about ordering some online, but it cost more to ship than to buy, so I kept putting it off.  I wish I would have had some for my winter greenhouse cause this stuff is pretty amazing.  Fertilizing is always a bit intimidating for me because I’m always afraid of over-fertilizing.  With the fish emulsion, that’s not likely to happen.  The plants love it.  Not as much as the dogs love it, but pretty close.

So, Dan and I, being the adventurous souls that we are, knew we had to try and make our own.  Let me just say, Dan – thanks so much for not making me do the actual physical labor.   I really didn’t want to have to open that bucket and stir every day!  Which is what you have to do.  And Adam and Paige, Thanks for catching the fish to donate to our experiment!

Here’s the basic process….

Throw some straw, grass clippings, leaves, etc. in a 5 gallon bucket until it is half-full.  Add some fish (guts or whole) and add water.  Put a lid on the bucket.  Open it daily and stir well.  Do this for 1-2 weeks.  Strain and use the liquid on your plants.  Sounds simple enough, right?  I’ll let you know how it goes…

So, at the first hint of warmer, drier weather, we were out the door and enjoying the sunshine!  We started by cleaning up around an old corn crib that had been overtaken by blackberry bushes and various other weeds, shrubs and junk.  Lots of junk.  And, did I mention….junk??

It took all four of us a full day, but we finally got all the junk hauled away and all the brush cut down.  We got our first glimpse of the old corn crib since 2007 and we were thrilled to discover that it was still totally usable, even if it was in need of a little TLC.

Luckily, all the rain left the ground and underbrush damp enough for us to safely have a couple of burn days.  Dan was so excited!  He was like kid with a new toy when we handed him a lighter and a rake!  After two days of intense labor that left us all moaning and groaning in pain, we figured he deserved his reward…

The end result was soooo worth the effort!

Tina and I have big plans for a sweet little garden on the far side of the shed and we are all looking forward to planting sunflowers around the perimeter.  We left a small patch of blackberries and some trees that we are having the darndest time identifying.

When this was done, we moved on to bigger projects.  We got some cool-weather seeds planted and started working the ground for our summer vegetable crops.  A friend loaned us the use of his tiller ~ thanks, Jerry! ~ and we turned up several large plots of ground, then threw on some well-composted manure.  By the time we finished, we had rich, fertile dirt that is just waiting to be planted.  There is something magical about working the land and walking barefoot in the dirt.  I highly recommend it.  Even the chickens got in on the fun!

Speaking of chickens…did you know they quit laying in the winter?  Okay, so I kinda thought they would slow down egg production, but I didn’t realize they’d take a full vacation!  I was just beginning to think that it was time to throw them in the soup pot when they redeemed themselves by resuming egg production.  With overtime.  Anyone looking for some free-range, naturally raised chicken eggs?

I was so excited that I decided to increase our flock.  Thanks to the Licking High School FFA teacher, we increased it by 4 last night, and they are the cutest things you ever did see!

We have them all set up in a comfy new box with a heat lamp, food and some chick starter.  They are happy little things and they make the sweetest little noises!  I have absolutely no clue what kind of chickens they are, but they sure are cute!

We did have some extra help around the place for a few days, too.  Dan and Tina’s granddaughter came to stay and she is the best egg-gatherer/mud-pie maker ever!

So, now we are just waiting for that last spring frost so we can get all of our seedlings in the ground.  Farmer’s Market is just around the corner and I think we just might be ready in time…

The benefits of pre-ordering don’t just mean that you are weeks ahead of everyone else, but it also gets you a 15% discount.  Unfortunately, we are not shipping plants outside of Missouri, but we offer several local pick-up locations, as well as delivery to St. Louis, Springfield, Jefferson City and Columbia for a small surcharge when you place a minimum order of $150, which will also earn you an extra 5% discount.

All of our plants are grown from Heirloom seeds using completely natural, chemical-free methods that ensure strong, healthy plants that will continue to produce for generations to come!

When pre-ordering, we require a 5 plant minimum order.   You can mix and match or order 5 of the same ~ we don’t mind either way!  Don’t see the plant or variety you were hoping to see?  Don’t hesitate to ask.  Chances are we can find any Heirloom seed you desire!  We also require a non-refundable deposit equaling 25% of your order total.

We guarantee your plants will be delivered to you happy, healthy and ready to plant.  Should something prevent us from being able to deliver your order in a timely manner, we will completely refund your money.

The last expected frost for 2011 is expected April 13th.  It is our intention to begin deliveries on April 15th, barring any unexpected weather catastrophes.

If you have questions, or would like a list of available plants and a price list, feel free to e-mail or call us at 573-435-0163.

Live plants currently available  for Pre-ordering:

I’m grateful, too, though.  My beautiful tomato plants taught me so much and they helped me prove that it is possible to have perfect, delicious, chemical-free tomatoes in the middle of February.  Oh, yeah…and I have enough tomatoes to last me through the rest of the month and, if I’m really frugal with them, possibly into March.

So, I only feel a twinge of guilt at being a little bit happy that they died.  I have to admit that the all-nighters in the greenhouse were getting quite tedious.  Lack of sleep and a crazy, mixed-up schedule were beginning to take their toll.  Coincidentally,  this was the downfall of my poor tomatoes.

It was one of the coldest nights of the year.  Isn’t that how it always goes?  Ice and snow lay several inches deep on the ground and the wind was snot-freezing cold.  I knew giving in to the lure of my nice, comfy, heated waterbed was dangerous, but I couldn’t resist.  Itruly intended to wake up at 3:30 am to go over and feed the fire.  I clearly remember thinking, “I’ll set my phone right here next to my ear so it will wake me up when it goes off’ as I was drifting off to sleep.   It was my last coherent thought.

It is possible that I turned my alarm off, but I’m going to stick with this ~ it never went off.  For some reason, 3:30 am came and went, me sleeping peacefully and far deeper than I had in months.  My next memory is of waking up at 7:30 am thinking, “Damn!”

I knew in my heart it was too late, but I rushed to the greenhouse anyway.  As soon as I stepped inside, any hope I might have been holding onto disappeared.  I could smell it immediately.  It reminded me of overcooked spinach and rotten tomatoes.  My beautiful plants were nothing but leaf-sickles.

Here’s the cool part, though ~  I saved about 90% of the tomatoes!  I put all of the ones that were starting to show color in one paper bag, and all the still-green ones in another.  I put an apple in each bag and closed them up tight. Why an apple?  Because it produces ethylene gas, which helps the tomatoes continue to ripen.  I was a bit afraid that they were a lost cause ~ that the flavor would be ruined and they would be mushy inside, but there were so many of them that I had to try!

I’m so glad I did!  The ones with color continued to ripen over the next week, producing tomatoes that faded from black on top into purple, then to red.  The skins remained firm and crisp, as did the flesh.  The flavor was unbelievable, too!  Full and robust, just a tiny bit sweet with a hint of tartness.

Post-Freeze Tomatoes

Even now, a week later, I still have quite a few green tomatoes left.  So, I made a mess of fried green tomatoes to take with us to dinner at Dan and Tina’s, and I held onto enough to make up one more batch when the craving strikes!

My Sweet Million Cherry tomatoes were just as tasty and just as lovely, but they were eaten long before we could photograph them!

Unfortunately, we lost the green beans and sweet peas.  I was just days away from harvesting a tidy little haul, too.  Heartbreaking!  Just heartbreaking!

So, what does that leave us with?  Quite a bit, actually.  A couple monstrously large heads of red cabbage, a ton of brussel sprouts, lettuce, carrots and beets.  While my basil plant took one for the team, my oregano, mint, sage and calendula are all holding up spectacularly.

My basil before the freeze

Where do we go from here?  On to seed planting, of course.  We have Baker Creek to get ready for, after all. We are so excited about attending this event and being able to share our hard work with others.  We hope to have a full booth for Tamara’s Herbes and one for Tranquil Haven Hollow, and we would love to see all of you there!

Greenhouse in Winter

I like to be different.  I usually succeed, much to the mortification of my teen-aged children.  Even they have to admit that, this time, being different is awesome!  In fact, they are quite enjoying it.  Everyone vies for the chance to load the fire and hang out in the peace of the warm greenhouse.  Who’d have thought…

When I started my greenhouse, everyone told me that the most I could expect out of it was to extend my growing season.  They said I might get a few cold-weather crops, if I was very vigilant and careful.  When I stated my intention to grow tomatoes, beans and peppers, in addition to the standard winter crop of lettuce, broccoli and cabbage, they laughed at me and told me it was a waste of time.

After several weeks of below-freezing temps, snow and hail storms and long nights in the greenhouse keeping the fire going, I can only say to them…ha!  It is January 8th and I have three tomato plants that are drooping beneath the weight of several dozen beautiful heirloom tomatoes and today I harvested the first fruits (well, okay…veggies) of my labor!  While the rest of Missouri is shivering in the cold and wishing for the taste of fresh-picked veggies, I have them.  And, man, are they delicious!

If you have never tasted heirloom veggies, you have no idea what you are missing.  The unimaginable sweetness of the broccoli, the crisp, earthy taste of the lettuce, green beans so juicy they drip when you snap them in half.   Even the color of them is different.  Brighter.  More vivid.  Now, I finally get it.

I was a little scared, at first.  I had heard from so many gardeners that growing heirloom veggies was difficult.  I heard how temperamental they could be.  How much extra time and care they required.  They lied.  I planted nothing but heirlooms in my greenhouse and they have been unstoppable.  Cold, heat, lack of moisture, too much moisture…what started out as a season of experimentation has turned into a winter’s worth of taste-bud bliss.  These veggies take abuse like a prize-fighter and produce an abundance of fruit.  Seeds have (and continue to) sprout.

I guess I can’t really take ALL the credit, though.  I have to give Dan’s worm casting efforts their proper due.  Within hours of watering my plants with the worm casting tea we made, my tomatoes added dozens of blossoms and fruit to their branches.  My beans grew more than 1/2″ overnight and my broccoli sprouted more heads than I expected to see all season.  Thanks, Dan!  (By the way, I’m still waiting on that blog post about your worm casting experience!)

So, what did we do with this first harvest?  Well, duh…we ate it!  While Jim was off playing in the bar, Dan and Tina were in the city and two of the kids were gone, Paige and I created our own personal feast!  Lime-chipotle shrimp over lime-drenched angel hair pasta and fresh veggies.  It was phenomenal!  It was so good, in fact, that I’ve decided to share our recipe.

So, there you have it.  Our experiment was a raging success.  And now, I hear my tomatoes ripening, so I’m off to the greenhouse.  Again.

It’s also really freakin’ cold! And, did I mention windy? We aren’t talking gentle autumn breezes. No, these winds are more like hurricane force winds that whip up the hillside, picking up anything that isn’t tied down ~ and sometimes even the things that are. If that happens to be your roof, well…

It isn’t all bad, though. The arrival of winter brings a new kind of beauty to this little corner of the world. The air gets crisper. Cleaner. The sky gets a little bit blacker and the stars a little bit brighter. The howl of coyote babies and the honking of ducks replace the croaking of bullfrogs and the call of the whipporwhills. Cozy fires in the woodstove take the place of barbecue grills and the pile of firewood that you were sure would be sufficient suddenly looks a little smaller.

Which is what prompted us to have a firewood-gathering party/photo shoot at this awesome tree that got hit by lightning and burned out. Not only is it providing a ton of firewood, but several art projects as well. Oddly enough, not all of the art projects are mine for a change. Jim has his eye on an interesting piece or two.

Dan and Tina have been busy getting their home set up and helping out around the farm. With everything going on, the greenhouse has gotten less attention and things have started to get a little messy and neglected. So, Dan and Tina dove in and cleaned up the place! Before I show you the pics, let me just say this…Tina has suddenly turned into Wonder Woman! She really had us all believing that she wasn’t the outdoors type. Let me just say that this is not the case. Check out what she did!

Then, Dan added this handy little walkway using some of the mulch the tree-trimmers left for us after they cleared the power easement. He even lined it with a few of the solar lights we had laying around. Making the short trek from the house to the greenhouse is much more pleasant and much less hazardous now, not to mention prettier! Thanks so much, guys, for all your help!

Speaking of the greenhouse…you gotta see this place! I have to admit that I was more than a little nervous when we started out on this adventure. You wouldn’t believe how many people told me I couldn’t pull this off…growing warm and cool season crops together in a greenhouse with no electric or running water. Who knows ~ time may prove them right. At this particular point in time, though, I would thoroughly disagree.

My tomatoes are growing at unbelievable speeds and producing large, lovely flowers and the prettiest little cherry tomatoes I ever saw.

My Brandywine is doing quite well,too. It is covered with flowers and has just put out this little beauty in the last few days.

My green beans, which I was almost certain were to far away from the heat zone to do well, are actually doing great! It is putting out several beans already and grows a few inches and a few blooms a day.

I could go on and on about how great all of my plants are doing. I won’t do that to you, though. I’ll just say that the first couple harvests of lettuce and spinach were quite delicious, and the carrot I pulled and ate the other day was sweet, crisp and awesome!

It hasn’t been easy, though. The woodstove we have in here is the perfect side, but the learning curve nearly did us in! The downside of wood heat is that we have to feed the fire every couple of hours if it drops below 50 degrees, but I really don’t mind that so much. It has provided the perfect opportunity for me to catch up on some things. Yes, I really have set up shop there. If its a cold night, you’ll find me over there with my laptop, my book or my sewing. Or, you might catch me napping, snuggled up in an old fleece blanket in my zero-gravity chair (thanks Tina!) next to the fire.

I’m rambling, aren’t I? Sorry. What I was saying is that, so far, things are going well with the greenhouse. We had a hard time keeping the whole thing above 55 degrees on the really cold nights, so we solved the problem by forming a barrier around the warm-weather plants using row covers.

We did break down and run an extension cord over there. We needed to run a light for the tomatoes and we started out using solar, but we just weren’t getting as much time out of it as we needed. Hopefully, we can solve the lighting issues by next season.

For now, though…on to building the house!