Amaranthus (pigweed family)?

I'm working with a park expert and a master gardener, to identify flowers and weeds on my property.  However, we are still unsure of this red colored one.  I think the chickens are the reason we have it all over this year.  I'm not exactly sure what it is.  Unless I hear back from the experts, I may have to keep looking in books and on-line.
 

Woot Woot!

You know you are a farmgirl, when you find wild chicory growing on your very own property!  And you get really excited about it.  He he he!  My kids, and my husband, just think I'm plain nuts.

I need to find out what that red weed is.  I'll have to look in my books and on-line to find out what it is.  I'm just tickled pink to find wild chicory on the property - chemical free.  Woo hoo!  It's only one plant, but one is better than none.  

Now I just need to research how to make the coffee from it.

Oh...he he...that photo was taken today in a garden that had zucchini and melons.  We had so much rain that it killed the zucchini and rotted almost all of the melons.  That garden now looks like a weed patch.

Change In Priorities ~ Seasons Change

The tomato season has now come to an end.  The mass amounts of rain have killed off almost all of our tomato plants.  I am sure, that without the rain, we would still be getting more tomatoes.

Every time we struggle with the loss of anything in our garden, I remember the pioneers, and how they struggled.  I remember watching a Little House DVD, where the family is sitting at the table eating dinner.  Their dinner consisted of berries.  Plain berries.  No sugar, no coffee, just berries.  I remember how cheerful Charles was, and how he was counting his blessings of just having those berries to eat.

Last night I asked my husband if he thought he could go a week without any processed or pre-made foods at all, including store bread.  He said he wouldn't have time to make all that food from scratch.  Isn't it amazing how much people rely on convenience when it comes to food?

I think I may challenge the family to this challenge.  We'd be giving up store bought pretzels, bread, butter, cooking oils, and things like that.  We'd have to make bread from scratch, and I know how long a loaf of that lasts around here  (ha ha ha!).  I'll have to ask the kids if they would be up to this.

Now that the tomatoes have ended their season, my priorities have changed.  I have replaced my time with a large "to-do" list.  Yesterday I already started working on it, such as install a new toilet seat, and clean off one porch.   So much work was neglected, but with the changing of seasons, I think we can get it all done.

Newest Addition To The Farm

Meet Bombshell Blondie.  She's being boarded very close to home, but will soon be here after the fencing is ready.

Picture Post

Meet Sparta.  He's very protective of his ladies.  When he crows, he sounds like he is gargling.  It's so funny to listen to him.  He crows all day long, and has "crow offs" with our other rooster, Mazda.  Sparta takes care of Lola and 3 other barred rocks.  Mazda takes care of 6 Reds.  Sparta was crowing away when I snapped this photo.

Knitting Update ~ Dishcloths

I finally did it!  After all these years of buying these knitted dishcloths, I knitted not one, but two myself. 

The first one was a basic square, and I put it up for sale in my on-line store.  The second pattern involved a diagonal garter stitch.

I do not have size 7 needles, so I made it with size 8, but it ended up 2 inches smaller than the pattern stated.  I am also concerned, because my starting point and the ending point do not look the same.  You can't really see in this photo, but to me it appeared different.


I found another pattern on-line this morning, and the woman had the same feelings about the starting and ending points.  I will try her pattern also, and make sure to keep measuring as I knit.  


I'm excited to finally do this.  I am still crocheting, tatting and making other crafts, it's just been one day at a time.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup With Homemade Noodles

It started raining before I pulled the carrots for our soup.  I darted out there and pulled the last of them (I think).  After that I realized I forgot the swiss chard.  Then it started raining harder.

I have to think like pioneers, so I thought I'll just use what I have.  I diced a green bell pepper in place of celery.

I roasted two of our chickens (meat chickens raised by us) and pulled off the meat, added it to organic broth (I try to make my own, but had a box heading toward the expiration date, so I used that).  

Prior to that I diced onion, carrots and sauteed those in olive oil, then added the green pepper, broth and water, chicken, and half of the homemade egg noodles I made a few days ago.  The other half will create another meal.

I, of course, added herbs from my herb garden.  Yummy! 

I also baked 2 loaves of pumpkin bread.  I am just now getting ripe baking pumpkins, so I used a can of canned pumpkin.  However, my goal is to start canning baking pumpkin for recipes such as this.  I also did not have enough cooking oil.  I made up the difference with my homemade pear butter, and it turned out moist and delicious.  You can also adjust the amount of sugar to your preference.


Pumpkin Bread
3 cups of sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs, beaten
1 can of canned pumpkin - 16 oz.
3 1/2 cups sifted flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
2/3 cup water


Cream sugar and oil.  Add eggs and pumpkin. Mix well.  Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and cloves.  Add to pumpkin mixture alternately with water.  Mix well.  Pour into 2 - 9x5 in. loaf pans, greased and floured.  Bake at 350° for 80-90 minutes, or until completely done.  Let stand 10 minutes before removing from pans to cool.


Enjoy!  Those loaves didn't last long around here.  I had to hurry up and get slices in school lunches before it was all gone.