Around the Homestead

A new kid was born last week.

The Marine got the goat in the bed visit as usual.  

 Daughter made a beautiful, yummy cake for my passover birthday.






The Marine and Papa Bear gave me these roses in a canning jar....How cute! 

Do you think if I wear the bucket on my head, my people will notice all the mineral block is gone?

 Hello...Is anyone paying attention?

Maybe I'm gonna need a little help getting out of this thing.

 We had a crazy Tom sitting on eggs for a few days.  Can animals have gender issues?  bahahahah

 See?....The eggs later disappeared... Papa Bear thinks he ate them.  I wonder what would have happened if he'd actually hatched them?

I've canned a few jars of jalapenos.  I used to love these things with fried chicken.  Either my taste buds are changing or these things are getting hotter each year.  I need mild, mild I tell you.  These were so hot they made me cry!

Next to green beans, yellow quash is my summer favorite.  Sauteed with onion in a splash or two of olive oil with a little salt and lots and lots of black pepper.  I could eat them everyday and I just about do!. 12 quarts are in the freezer, lots have been given to family and friends and I only have 4 plants in the Back to Eden garden.  I picked almost a bucketful today that will need blanched and put in the freezer tomorrow.

Hope everyone is having a good week.

RIP L.Cpl. Jared W. Brown

A local young man was laid to rest today.   He took a bullet protecting another.  

Semper Fi Jared

L.Cpl. Jared W. Brown, USMC, age 20, passed away on June 16, 2013, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was a 2011 graduate of Bozeman High School and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps prior to his completing high school. Jared was loving and will be remembered best for his charismatic smile, twinkling eyes and great sense of humor. For this family, part of us is gone and he will be missed forever.

L.Cpl. Brown was predeceased by his great-grandmother, Katie B. Richmond, and grandfather, Carl Collins. He is survived by his mother, Susan L. Hughen; father, William J. Brown (Crystal); siblings, Stephanie Hughen, Suehannah Brown, Garrett Brown, Jasmine Ward and Colby Enfinger; grandparents, Burl & Katherine Shealy and Dianne Collins; aunts, Katie Evans (Gary), Carley Davis (Chuck), Eva L. Shealy, Sue Lucas and Jenny Firestone; uncles, Burl Shealy (Michelle) and Robert Brown (Jeanine); cousins, Brittany Steven, Kimberly Evans, Hilary & Zachary Wallace, Lance Shealy, Carley Shealy, Elaina Perez, Robbie & Carlee Brown, and Clint & Shane Firestone; and many special friends including the Majors family.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, June 26, 2013, at 11 a.m. at Kent Forest Lawn Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Brandon Warr officiating. Interment will follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends and visitors from 10-11 a.m. at the funeral home on Wednesday just prior to the funeral service.

Expressions of sympathy may be submitted or viewed on line at www.kentforestlawn.com.

This and That

We took an afternoon off to fish some of the Bluegill out of the pond.  They are way to many in there and they are not growing.  We kept the bigger ones and had them for supper.  The Marine said he was so hungry he could eat them raw.  Sushi!...I bought Papa Bear a small castnet.  We will get more of them out with the net and take them to the good neighbors pond.

A few days after we got the Marines Rat Terrier this little guy showed up at our house.  He has been neutered but had no collar.  I put an ad on Craigs List trying to find his owner.  It's been over 4 weeks and no one has claimed him.  He is such a good little dog I haven't had the heart to call Animal Control.  I picked thorns out of his chest and stomach for over an hour, gave him a flea and tick bath, clipped his nails and gave him a rabies shot.  He now piles up in bed with Baby and the Marine.  I think he is an Italian Greyhound.

Good neighbor trimmed some of his trees that were hanging over his roof and brought us the trimmings for the Eden Garden.

 Speaking of the Eden Garden project.  I designed a couple of signs on Vistaprint and Mom purchased them for my passover birthday.  I told her I didn't want anything I had to wash, feed or dust so the signs are perfect.  (you can click on the pictures to enlarge)

This is the another garden I have just begun to work on.  I have strawberries, pineapple, banana's, blueberries, watermelon and cantaloupe planted in this area.  I will get paper, manure and chips into this area a little at a time.

Papa Bear and I took turns this morning running the little Mantis between the rows of the garden not done Eden style.  The weeds are fast taking over.

The first 3 rows next to the corn are the peanuts I planted from the nuts I saved out of the peanut hay we gave the goats this past fall.

I think almost all of the peanut seed sprouted.  I understand you can purchase a bag of unshelled raw peanuts from the store, shell and plant those as well and get good results.

 Grandson and I foraged for blackberries.

Made a yummy cobbler

and gained five pounds...bahahaha

I'll work it off weeding...My peas and bean garden is the garden of weeding...not the Garden of Eden.

 The Million Bells are blooming in the deck box outside the Marines bedroom window.  They will bloom nonstop until winter.  We have the pink

and purple.  A friend from NY sent me these years ago and they are faithful to come back.  I would like to get more colors but can't find them locally.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Back to Eden Garden Project Update

I am continually amazed with the Back to Eden Garden Project.  This is a photo of the garden taken exactly 3 weeks ago.

 This is a photo I took yesterday.  Although I planted the last row of onions 4 feet from the squash,  the squash is running over into the onion row!

The tomatoes are laughing at the 4 foot baskets I placed around them.  You can no longer see them.

The tomato plants are loaded with tomatoes.  I would venture to say there are over 30 tomatoes or more on each plant.

I am harvesting yellow squash daily.  The plants are loaded with blooms and vegetables.

 I will need to start picking and canning the jalapenos soon.

I enclosed a small area with cinder blocks, lined it with newspaper and dumped goat poop and broken down hay in it for my experiments with reclaimed onions and garlic. 

It's working.  I found my first onion sprout yesterday.

I haven't did the pineapple in Eden style yet but I at least have 3 pineapple that have started forming and growing.



Although I was a month late with everything, I am pleased with my results so far.  I hope everyone who planted is having a successful garden season!