A Spectacular Day!

Yesterday was spectacular here on the farm. The weather was sparkling and not too humid, we got a ton of work done, and we are closing in our next big project.

Kai thinks pigz look delicious - dat ham!

The Big Man took Kai into the pig yard with him. She thinks the pigz look delicious. She is doing a great job of learning "keep them back."  Kai and my Dog#1 get the pigz moved over into their first yard so I can easily move around in the rest of the pig yard without being stampeded by oinkers.  The dogs stand in the gateway to keep the hogs in one place. Kai is very cute - she has her "mean face" and gives a low growl. We only see her as our princess but she's all 'hell yeah.'

Then we had some dueling mowers and got a few other things done around here.... including digging some potatoes.

But the big news is that we strung up the fence to move the pigz into the next yard. I'm completely overjoyed at moving the pigz into their new place. I will close off their first two yards and then start planting in these pig-tilled yards. I'm very excited. I'll have more on this project later and also my plan for that dastardly ground hog.

The Good Land Gin and Tonic. Sublime.

At the end of the day I had what is sure to be the signature drink of The Good Land of the summer.... a basil and mint gin and tonic. Three kinds of fragrant, spicy basil muddled with a hint of mint from the garden, a splash of gin, a big glug of tonic, and then finished with sparkling water. So refreshing!

Happy Thursday everyone! Are you getting things done?

The biggest onion yet AND pork and greens

Finally! I grew an onion! I real onion!

 Look at it! Just look at it!

After years of working on this bad soil I am thrilled to present the first real onion that I have ever grown....

With my shoe for scale! It's a huge success! Don't worry I didn't step on it.

 Soon.

I was also thinking about a friend who mentioned traditional style Southern greens the other day... here is our version of pork 'n greens. Thanks pigz!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

You don't even want to know.....

You don't even want to know what these two have been up to.....

But that face says it all.

Happy Tuesday everyone! What is your dog into?

Macro Monday

I'm getting a late start and I gotta get outside... weather is coming in later today. So here is a quick macro Monday.

Happy Monday everyone!

Tomato #5

As you know, I had my first garden tomato the other day. It was just like heaven. Since then I've been regaling some of my pals with every detail of the tomatoes since then.... the tomato in my salad, the one I ate entirely with salt and olive oil, the first tomato and fried egg sandwich.... and since they asked..... this...

Tomato #5...

I got up even before the sun crested the trees this morning and ran right out to get Tomato #5 out of the garden. I didn't even let the dogs go down and check out the ground hog hole... nope... I scooted everyone in, grabbed my fry pan and an egg, and got down to business.

I love fried egg sandwiches. I have never been able to make them as good as my mom - even tho I have her coveted egg pan. It's just never the same.

And I'm not a purist - I add a slice of swiss cheese. Yep. I can't help it. I grew up behind the counter of my grandfather's old timey country store. He always had a huge 50 pound block of swiss cheese sitting out.  I was allowed to use one of the razor sharp knives to get a slice of cheese. You guessed it - that's where I learned to cut the cheese. Of course the health department now would pee their pants at cheese sitting out but back then no one even thought twice about it.

At lunch my grandma would get an egg from the basket (also sitting out on the counter) and fry it up for me. Me and my grandpa would sit there passing the time eating egg sandwiches. It was a great way to grow up.

Happy Sunday everyone! Are you making an egg sandwich?

Editors note: What's that flaked stuff on my sammi? It's my new favorite thing - Trader Joe's Cypriot Pyramid Salt. I grabbed it the last time I was in TJ's and it's just terrific. Even tho the flakes are kind of big - it's not over salty. It was a lovely crunch and really brings out the tomato-y goodness of this Black Krim. And yep this is an affiliate link but someone is going to ask so this is the easiest way for me to show you this terrific new find. If you don't have a Trader Joe's nearby you can get a lot of their products on Amazon. You should check it out and in the mean time... if you already need something from Amazon just go there by clicking one of these links. Remember this gets me a tiny percentage of the sale. If you like this blog, or if I've helped you at all in your farming efforts, just make a purchase from Amazon from one of the links, my store, or the black Amazon search box on the right side of this page.

Ground hogs, dogs, and hogs

We had a very active morning already.... Zander and Kai found a ground hog hole in the field where I'm about to move the pigz. They thought it was amazing.

Hey, is that one dog or two?

The pigz wondered what the fuss was all about. 

Zander wants that ground hog.... and the pigz for that matter. Someone was asking if he is still bigger than the pigz. He's taller but the pigz probably weigh about the same.  Isn't he so smiley?

Kai just loves digging. Don't you love her curly tail? Ha! We call her Wiggles. And Digger.

The wind changed and our heat and humidity blew off.... we are having a stunning day. I think I'm on 2nd breakfast... or 1st lunch... but either way I need to hurry up and get back out there.

Happy Thursday everyone! Are your dogs on the hunt? Are your hogs wondering who their new neighbor is?

It's Finally Summer!

Yesterday was THE day... the first "real" summer day... it was achingly hot... totally swampy...and completely glorious!  I'll complain about the heat for the rest of the summer but yesterday was the perfect summer day. 

Visitor to the bee balm.

First, guess what I saw yesterday morning? Check it out!

Does anyone know the variety? I think maybe a green headed hummingbird?

The hummingbirds love our property. We have a lot of blooms for the beez - which also brings in the hummingbirds. They are always around the hosta and they also really love the bee balm.

Then... oh then.... it was the Best Day Ever! My first tomato!  Look at this lovely!

I've been waiting all season for this.

This is either one of the black krims or a Cherokee Purple but it was fabulous and I ran right in the house and ate most of it with olive oil and sea salt.

Seriously the salad bucket is my new favorite thing.

I put the rest in with my treasures from my salad bucket.

Today is going to be another hotsy-totsy... but the humidity is already way down thanks to the storms we had last nite. Thankfully it was not a tornadic storm or too dangerous... so it was nice to fall asleep to the rain and thunder and not have to worry about running into the basement for cover.

Happy Wednesday everyone! Do you have tomatoes yet? Have you seen a hummingbird?