Farm Update
I have been out to the farm and re-planting sunflowers. The germination was poor so I am trying to fill in the spots where nothing has germinated. The sunflowers that have germinated are really starting to grow!
This morning I purchased a canopy, table and weights (to keep the canopy from flying away) to use at the Farmer’s Market. This was quite an investment…hoping to break even now…LOL
| Can you tell which one is NOT a sunflower? The plant on the bottom is a pigweed. I studied 10 different species of pigweed for my Master’s thesis. |
Garden Update
My oregano overwintered really nicely and just took off this spring. So, I went out and chopped a bunch of it off and hung it up to dry. I may be taking some of this to sell at the Farmer’s Market this summer…
| Oregano drying |
Speaking of Farmer’s Market, when I was there last week, I saw somebody selling the mushrooms that we have growing in our front yard! Now, I know what they are called…
I decided to try and dry some of the mushrooms. We have so many and I didn’t want them to go to waste. It has been a VERY good year for mushrooms here. I used my oven to dry them.
| Fresh mushrooms ready to be dried – I started with 2 pans full. (I would cut the larger pieces smaller next time.) |
| After one hour of drying… |
| After about 3 hours of drying (this is both pans of mushrooms condensed down to one pan after drying). |
| Dried mushrooms can keep for months and are easy to add to soups and other dishes. |
Around the Homestead
A couple of months ago, I went through my garden shed to look for small pots to start my sets. I found a birdhouse and so I put it up in the lilac tree/bush. I was mostly just wanting to get it out of my way. I was surprised to see that a wren has made a nest in the house…
| It is hard to see but the wren is sitting at the opening of the birdhouse. |
My hubby got me a chicken magazine for our Anniversary yesterday! It doesn’t take much to get me excited! Actually, we just purchased tickets to see Shania Twain in September so I think that is our real Anniversary gift that will be just a little delayed…

