Your food is trying to kill you, people are insane, and I-told-you-so about pigz.

It has been an incredible news cycle this morning... where do I even begin?

First up, we see how commercially produced food is doing a terrific job of keeping us all safe. Did everyone see this big recall? Here is the list from the CDC. It was weird to me that some of this is organic food and you'd think it would be better. But, as I understand it, once you get listeria in your production facility it is extremely difficult to get out.

After I saw the news I was out there willing my lettuce to grow - with my mind power.

If you are a small farmer and you want to sell your products to friends and neighbors or maybe at the local farm market you will soon be subject to hellacious food safety regulation. To be fair they do have some exceptions for smaller businesses -  but some of the farmers I know are shaking their heads. This may put a lot of farms out of business or at least dissuade them from even starting. This seems ridiculous when they hold up commercial production as the shining beacon of safety. I have to admit that I'm surprised that frozen foods are now kinda of hinky.
*scratches "buy frozen food" off my list...*

Hurry up, celery!!!

Personally, I can't wait for my garden to hurry up and start producing. I had to buy some celery the other day and I looked at it very suspiciously. At this point I'd rather take my chances from food grown in my dirt and that has very possibly been peed on by dogs than some of the big processors.

Mouse-poison-free onions.

Next, if the listeria from your frozen peas isn't gonna try and kill you.... there is this guy. Honestly what kind of world are we living in that produces this kind of behavior. One of the few 'salad bar' types of set ups that I like to go to is the one at Whole Foods. Now I'm going to be looking at it - and the other customers - kinda funny. It really makes me mad because the near-ish Whole Foods has a really nice Indian food buffet.
*scratches "go to Whole Foods" off my list...*

Potatoes are actually coming along pretty well. Hurry up.

So what are you going to do? Grow your own? Sure! But first a note of caution... your food on the hoof might be trying to kill you also. Violently. A couple of points about this story ...but first I feel like I can give the naysayers a told-you-so... I frequently get angry folks telling me that pigs are gentle loving creatures that just need snuggles.

Yeah.

Here is the hard truth: Pigs can be big, mean, and dangerous and all the snuggling is the world is not going to change the fact that any animal can have a bad day. When you couple that with a powerful animal... well.. things can go badly.

So before you run right out to get your pigz this summer carefully evaluate your facilities and your abilities to handle a large and possibly mean creature. 

Back to my points.....aside from the obvious that I hope these folks recover quickly and I'm very sorry to hear this happened.

1. I take great comfort in the fact that if I was attacked by a mean pig the very first thing my husband would do when we got home would be to walk directly out there and shoot that pig until it was completely dead. Be assured that pig would die a hard death.

2. These folks need better dogs. I'm always glad that I have my Brute Squad with me - even if we don't actually get into the pen with the pigz.  My crew have saved me from being buffaloed by big pigz many times.

3. The funny thing about this report is that they wonder why a pig would do that? Oh honey, pigz don't need a reason. Maybe it was sick or hurt but don't make the mistake of thinking that big, mean, and dangerous animals are reasonable or need a reason to do anything. 

As I said, whenever I talk about this I generally get berated by well meaning people with a "nah-UH!" and then am told I'm just ridiculous or that I'm "afraid of pig." Friends, I assure you that I have zero fear of pigz. I do, however, know what they are capable of so I never put my self in a position where I can be cornered and I always have the dogs with me.

I don't know about you but all of the food news today is crazy. Sometimes I think we should just forget all this work, move to the city, get a condo, and be regular people. But then I see stuff like this and I resolve that we are just going to keep producing our own food.

Good luck, everyone, it's crazy out there!

Ribs and beans

We made ribs and beans this weekend - they were terrific! Last year I was making it my goal to be sure and use our ribs earlier rather than later... so we are going for earlier.

We smoke them to perfection. My hubs did a terrific job.

You can find the recipe here - this is a terrific way to get started with ribs. Plus the recipe has butter and bourbon in it. Seriously! What's not to love! Don't have those exact ingredients? That's fine - just use what you have. I think the rub was mostly an off the shelf spice mix and the mop sauce was honey, butter, bourbon, and who knows what else....but I kinda wanted to drink it because it smelled so good.

Yum.....

I also really like to make quick and smokey beans - here is the how to link. I didn't have the "right ingredients for this either. I just used what I had. For instance I didn't have Worcestershire sauce so I used soy sauce - and I used sorghum molasses instead of sugar. I also added a handful of frozen corn. Just heat up the beans on the stove, then move to the smoker while the ribs are going. They are absolutely perfect and they make your cast iron skillet smell like a campfire.

These ribs were so good that I might be digging around in the freezer for more ribs for next weekend.

Happy Monday everyone! Are you grilling like it's summer?

How to make salad bowl planters

We are still a little too wet for me to get all my planting done.. so yesterday I went around and started a bunch of salad bowl planters.

Instead of growing lettuce in the garden I'll plant all the fixings I need for salads in pots or planters. This way I can get started earlier and be that much closer to an over flowing lettuce bucket.

Start with some good potting soil and start adding your fixin's....

 First the celery...

Then some tiny basil that I started in trays...

These onions sets do great!

Green onions do great in planters - just pop a few in where ever you have room. I start these sets and can use them as "green onions" - even tho these are the red varieties.... or let them bulb out. This was one of my easiest and best strategies last year.  You can also just cut the tops off the onions and let the bulbs get bigger - that works too.

I started these seeds in the planter because I just got them the other day.

And why not add some radishes! Have you seen this variety - Easter Egg Blend? They are absolutely lovely. I had in my notes from last year to get some - so I did.

Done! It doesn't look like much but once they are full they are beautiful. And tasty.

So why don't I just start seeds in the planters?  A couple reasons... and all of them meow and hunt rats. Cats. I'm talking about cats. The barn cats think my planters are fantastic .... their own handy little litter boxes! Yep. And ew!  So this early in the season I start everything in trays that I can cover and keep the barn cats out. As it was, yesterday our Shine, King of Barncats, was out there sitting on my trays. I gave him a scolding and sent him on his way.

Also if I start seeds in trays it's just that much easier to bring them inside if it gets too cold or too rainy - and if I need a bit of heat I can more effectively cover the trays then all my planters which are scattered around.

Here is one that I started last week - see how the onions are taking off and the lettuce is moving right along?

But does it work? Yep! Not only are they delicious they are absolutely beautiful have to have the garden.   And no, it's not like everything is done at the same time - the radishes may or may not be ready when the lettuce is ready to be cut.... but it's fun to have everything in one place. I just go around to the different salad planters and get what I need. 

 

Beautiful and tasty! And everything you need for a salad.

Having these little salad planters is really fun and handy. Sometimes it's quicker just to step outside into the kitchen garden to grab a handful of herbs or lettuce then to trudge all the way up to the upper garden where I'll have a bigger salad garden going soon. Anything to make it easier, right?

During the summer I'll just keep these salad planters going. I'll pop out the lettuce after several cuttings and start new ones... and then I'll make sure the basil doesn't go to flower. I just restart whatever I need. I think I had in my notes to get more onion sets to get some started for later towards the fall. I should get some today.

Happy Friday everyone - are you starting your kitchen gardens? Do you make salad bowl planters?

Potatoes peepin'!

I just love growing potatoes! Check it out....

Potatoes peeping up already.

These are the potatoes I planted on March 27th. I had these taters left over from last fall - I just kept them in the a basket in the basement. When the ground was ready I planted them. I love "free" potatoes. They should be ready about at the end of June  - just in time for potato salad season!

Happy Monday everyone - are you about ready to run right out there and get some work done? I am! Have a great day!

Seed notes and plantings

Is everyone scrambling to get their seeds in? We are moving fast here. Yesterday I waited for it to rain the whole day and nothing..... Drat. So I ended up mowing the grass and it just made me mad. I did not kill the mower so I'm calling it a win.

How about this variety? I bet it tastes like victory. 

New and different varieties... has anyone tried the Polish Lingursas?

Someone asked what seeds I direct sow and which ones I start in trays. Mostly I start just about everything in trays. We have horrific soil and our chickens are worse..... and then add in the regular bird loss. Starting seeds in trays is just easier for me.

I start potatoes, onion sets, and beans directly in the ground and then most everything else - including herbs and lettuce - in trays.  Half the time the stupid jays pillage the beans tho so I'm careful to cover the rows with half rounds of field fence covered with netting or row covers. This also defeats the chickens.

The only problem with the netting is that the snakes will get caught up in them.... and last year I found one of the tweety birds caught in it. It was very sad. So I try to stay away from the finer netting.

But once the seeds get started - or are transplanted - they take off.  I'm not sure what inhibits the sprouting but I've never had that trouble before. I continue to improve the soil but the going is slow.

I think I might have caught a glimpse of one of potatoes peeping up thru the straw yesterday. I'm pretty excited to see things growing.

Someone remind me that beside the potatoes I have a row of "rotten beans." They really aren't rotten. I kept them from last year but didn't do a good job of over wintering them. I just let them dry out, tossed them in a basket, and kept them downstairs. I put them, pods and all, directly in the ground. They are either going to grow or not. We'll see. I have high hopes.

Next to the rotten bean row I planted some dwarf horticulture beans. Maybe. I'm not sure. I should probably learn to label things better. Hey, surprise beans! Why not!?

Today we'll keep up with the garden prep. I did a ton of tilling over the last couple days. I mowed off and then tilled under the winter wheat/ground cover. I'm leaving a patch of turnips planted last year tho because they have gone to bolt and the flowers are making the beez happy.

Happy Saturday everyone! Are you getting your seeds going?

Woe to you, Varmint!

The Dread Commander Zander Hannibal BoneCrusher. The Black Death. The Foe Hammer. 

The Night Fears Him.

A Psalm to The War Hounds of These Good Lands.

Woe to you, Varmint! Woe to you!
Did you think you would come here to these Good Lands and steal from us?
Did you think you would bring your malevolent putrescence here?
Woe to you! I say again, Woe to you!

My Most Excellent Good Sir Titan did spy your filthy form.
My Fighting Uruk-hai did run you down.

And then, like a storm, The Black Death did thunder across the field on flashing feet
and did wrest your miserable soul from your now stinking corpse.

Did you think you would test these Good Dogs?
Did you think you would try these Good Lands?
Nay, Varmint, Nay!

Feel you now the full weight of my VengeanceBringer!
Feel the grip of My Right Hand!
Learn ye now the full measure of the name BoneCrusher!

Get thee hence to your miserable death, Varmint, and trouble these Good Lands no more.

So say we all.

Sunny, 84*, and seed planting!

Yesterday was just like summer. The dogs and I worked outside all day doing garden prep and seed planting. It was glorious. Everyone was happy...... except for Zander who got hot and wanted to go back inside.

Today is more of the same.  I can't wait to get out there! Look at these cheap seeds!

If you think getting a garden going is expensive then, friend, you aren't living right. Cheap and easy - that's how we do it around here.

First, make your own seed starting mix. Toss together peat moss, compost, and a soil lightener like vermiculite. I've used perlite in the past so I'll letcha know how this goes.

I found this huge bag of vermiculite at Meynards. I've never seen it in a big bag before. It was $16.

Next, get a bunch of freebies from Lowes. Do you know you can just walk into the back of the Lowes Garden Center and get free nursery pots and trays? These are really great - they are nice and deep. Perfect for starting seeds.

Then get your seeds! I actually really love the $0.20 ones... or for just $0.59.... or these nice ones from Burpee that I got on sale from Meynards's. Tractor Supply usually has them on sale also. For $2 or $3 you can grow all the tomatoes you can carry.

Then get growing!

I'm heading out again this morning. Happy Tuesday everyone!