tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83825554152881446192024-03-13T08:31:31.579-05:00Windy Acres DiaryStarted in January, 2010, this blog documents our eco-friendly and sustainable gardening practices. Along with our dogs, cats and wild critters that live on our small farm, we try to leave as small a human footprint as possible.Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923159674665009563noreply@blogger.comBlogger471125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-73978848287386816382020-08-23T18:13:00.000-05:002020-08-23T18:13:03.445-05:00Stray Kitten - Happy Ending<p><span style="font-family: arial;">A couple of weeks ago, our 14 year old granddaughter came over to ask if we had seen a small kitten. She had seen it beside their house (next door to us), but it ran away when she approached it. She was concerned and asked us to keep an eye out for it. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">After she left, I retrieved the SD card from the game camera we have set up in our pole barn. We feed a couple of stray cats over there and like to keep an eye on what comes and goes. Here are some pictures from the camera.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgql99GUFJGhKmDFnT3DligayeXLbjX5bhe6TXrhJSG9j91WCVjJzkfJ4lVDWxTHk9GpUAGSyPBQfwwfhdCQ0Pg-wBjpidFfakqe29VqyezYglfgS54pO8Mdiqg_kL4tinjKv_8jNzVG3U/s4608/Kitten3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="4608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgql99GUFJGhKmDFnT3DligayeXLbjX5bhe6TXrhJSG9j91WCVjJzkfJ4lVDWxTHk9GpUAGSyPBQfwwfhdCQ0Pg-wBjpidFfakqe29VqyezYglfgS54pO8Mdiqg_kL4tinjKv_8jNzVG3U/s640/Kitten3.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fG4e2NaHUUsdVFr6CoOsEeVn2kuNnevJChAc_FZZzwu3xe4E5r6oVNX3b-YMJqpNpFEfsGEcuR7K25GN9GcnTjhYOGx7YUmfS74FzxVqlpB2fuQzJcco3-lj36IdgOVjeklHtlskw40/s4608/MFDC0021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="4608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fG4e2NaHUUsdVFr6CoOsEeVn2kuNnevJChAc_FZZzwu3xe4E5r6oVNX3b-YMJqpNpFEfsGEcuR7K25GN9GcnTjhYOGx7YUmfS74FzxVqlpB2fuQzJcco3-lj36IdgOVjeklHtlskw40/s640/MFDC0021.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The poor little thing was having to run in and grab a little bit of food whenever the adult cats weren't looking. We set a trap that night and caught it. However it must have been a scary night for the little thing because of the other critters that come in there looking to clean up what the cats left behind.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9XpBmS6lZV6P7TXzO7hNN_BxjOP55JoxAZ7IJgwQmbCmVRuQq-3efX4cHwZ9AJ2VDkUMYWXeOMt3CqDYNt39-grH1ymA1kLlN8aqCO6EyqTXeCOWX0dK5UtpKnyXCyoItoiQpUBsxDL4/s4608/MFDC0141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="4608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9XpBmS6lZV6P7TXzO7hNN_BxjOP55JoxAZ7IJgwQmbCmVRuQq-3efX4cHwZ9AJ2VDkUMYWXeOMt3CqDYNt39-grH1ymA1kLlN8aqCO6EyqTXeCOWX0dK5UtpKnyXCyoItoiQpUBsxDL4/s640/MFDC0141.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNaeNUSOJOmOThnV8_QYXPque6f86bAoqQXVAT5DHAZ0EnC0Sc0WKHJVA9fRO6iApVX3vB0ir4jgqxFyeT5SVGOz9Y3S2ifNwPOK31jdP0PhDkKGToZz9VUTgjloqi5EXo-uOn5oXGHHo/s4608/MFDC0144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="4608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNaeNUSOJOmOThnV8_QYXPque6f86bAoqQXVAT5DHAZ0EnC0Sc0WKHJVA9fRO6iApVX3vB0ir4jgqxFyeT5SVGOz9Y3S2ifNwPOK31jdP0PhDkKGToZz9VUTgjloqi5EXo-uOn5oXGHHo/s640/MFDC0144.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfqxnTcuw6LIpaFrHv8zorRxbYJPPxpWn3o2XciBy6cTsRpDTCktKKBhowboCb-60QyfUCp_mkoG4_yTTfvpBW-kVGs9Cxjd11Gi4vs2l_w5dJliMwBJVK1bQJfz5dEESoqlQ-IhnI3ks/s4608/MFDC0152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="4608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfqxnTcuw6LIpaFrHv8zorRxbYJPPxpWn3o2XciBy6cTsRpDTCktKKBhowboCb-60QyfUCp_mkoG4_yTTfvpBW-kVGs9Cxjd11Gi4vs2l_w5dJliMwBJVK1bQJfz5dEESoqlQ-IhnI3ks/s640/MFDC0152.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><p>I wouldn't be surprised if the large black cat was not a relative. It is a tom cat that is a frequent visitor.</p><p>We transferred the kitten to a carrier and took it to the vet.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdBAZOzDBPsZWnrRc4G5kr3bkbb8sv6R_CSRDe5A2ThXVtgeUEKsGSP_gfBKDEcyIlw0iljYOwhQ6pLh17WtglKXFfTWa5QUeluEM-0-GWd4jB7kwWgn3axm-nxmBZ__1FwJo0Am9MasA/s2048/IMG_0028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdBAZOzDBPsZWnrRc4G5kr3bkbb8sv6R_CSRDe5A2ThXVtgeUEKsGSP_gfBKDEcyIlw0iljYOwhQ6pLh17WtglKXFfTWa5QUeluEM-0-GWd4jB7kwWgn3axm-nxmBZ__1FwJo0Am9MasA/s640/IMG_0028.jpg" /></a></div><p>She is a little female weighing 2.5 lbs. The vet estimated her to be about 4 weeks old. She is FIV negative which is wonderful news. FIV is the feline equivalent to HIV in humans. After being treated for fleas and worms and having the first round of immunizations, we brought her home. </p><p>I visited with a couple of people involved in animal rescue about how to "tame" her. I was told that if you can capture a kitten before 6 weeks of age, then there is a much better chance it can be tamed and make a good pet. I was also told that you should handle the kitten several times a day, particularly before you feed it. If it seems it might scratch or bite, then handle it with a towel. Slip your hand under the towel and stroke it. It will associate being handled with getting fed.</p><p>This approach worked exceptionally well. After just a couple of days, she would come to the door of her crate and obviously enjoyed human contact. My granddaughter came over to check on her once or twice a day. She asked if her parents would let her have the kitten, would it be okay with me. I said sure. She was elated and immediately named the kitten Luna.</p><p>Meet Luna and her happy new owner.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuccoL3y8YxD3IEewLcmw-vzI-kL9YJ7dsQ8SNX3Cvvsn0JAdgLcUzNuELK0F9LZ7P1Gj41ISIvjmyQWRQYxi2AJ5-AQPTrKBQ3ALDCtdF-WFLl7s2hyphenhypheniax-wyCkFBupZ8WJsklUCP6eQ/s2048/IMG_0031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuccoL3y8YxD3IEewLcmw-vzI-kL9YJ7dsQ8SNX3Cvvsn0JAdgLcUzNuELK0F9LZ7P1Gj41ISIvjmyQWRQYxi2AJ5-AQPTrKBQ3ALDCtdF-WFLl7s2hyphenhypheniax-wyCkFBupZ8WJsklUCP6eQ/s640/IMG_0031.jpg" /></a></div> <p></p><p><br /></p></span><p></p>Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280146846983854700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-7338818388724891802020-07-20T16:42:00.002-05:002020-07-20T16:42:11.224-05:00Vegetable Broth<span style="color: #050505; font-family: Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">While cooking a meal, I normally have a bunch of veggie "scraps". Examples are carrot peelings, </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">celery leaves, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">beet stems, parsley stems and onion peels. Of course, you can put the celery leaves in a salad or </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">chop beet stems and saute them. But, I decided to make vegetable broth from these simple ingredients, plus some garlic cloves. It was easy!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #050505; font-family: Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I tossed everything into a large pot, filled it with water and set it over low heat to cook for a couple of hours. I also added some roasted green pepper that I froze last year in snack bags (an excellent way to preserve any pepper).</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It looked like this when finished.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At this point, I just needed to strain out the vegetable remains. These went into my compost. I didn't need the broth right then, so I froze it. These are the tools I used. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It turned out beautifully and is in the freezer waiting for my next pot of vegetable soup.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You don't have to use the same ingredients I did. Use your imagination. Why buy vegetable broth when you can make it free!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280146846983854700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-19614041640841597372020-05-28T12:30:00.001-05:002020-05-28T12:30:44.438-05:00Baby Birds<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This spring we were honored to have a pair of Eastern Phoebes select our front porch as a nesting site. Phoebes are </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.2779px;">small flycatchers. They have short, thin bills used for catching insects. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-size: 17.2779px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Their calls seem to say their name "Fee Bee". I love these little birds!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Photo courtesy of Epi Shemming and Cornell Lab of Ornithology)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.2779px;">We frequently</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.2779px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.2779px;">see them</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.2779px;"> perched o</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.2779px;">n a fence post or other low perch from which they make </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: helvetica neue, Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17.2779px;">short flights to capture insects, often returning to the same perch. They like to use a shepherd's crook </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.2779px;">plant hanger near the porch where the nest is.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYMADNoISEveiu0_EJTHOk7JEAAaCHT0dtM53RUIrTdB77vcxPxreQ4ucd-fYubkje-v7Db4GOcOxzr5sgCMxDFMltJcWxCnnpAQFmnWz-W-VpnckACHYLmm0lCaa_417JYbqAiWJJQo/s1600/IMG_9588.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYMADNoISEveiu0_EJTHOk7JEAAaCHT0dtM53RUIrTdB77vcxPxreQ4ucd-fYubkje-v7Db4GOcOxzr5sgCMxDFMltJcWxCnnpAQFmnWz-W-VpnckACHYLmm0lCaa_417JYbqAiWJJQo/s640/IMG_9588.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.2779px;">The nest is made of mud, straw and grass. It is an amazing feat of engineering which was built in about 2 days time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The female laid 4 eggs in the nest. There were five, but apparently one of them got broken. You can see shell remnants clinging to one of the other eggs. This picture makes the eggs look much larger than they actually are. In fact, they are only about half an inch long.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZM-fsQBiDQJ3UK6e3hV0LIJnjTRcC3lM2BFurVJpfWx5G9h5w48zHZUk2BYd4__hJcAimONifZEIHDEzo-mbgskHcA58u-ruVNh_0RqZWqmqezXawf7bf7NEl8Y5jwUdHTAkUUy1IA1Q/s1600/IMG_9586.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZM-fsQBiDQJ3UK6e3hV0LIJnjTRcC3lM2BFurVJpfWx5G9h5w48zHZUk2BYd4__hJcAimONifZEIHDEzo-mbgskHcA58u-ruVNh_0RqZWqmqezXawf7bf7NEl8Y5jwUdHTAkUUy1IA1Q/s640/IMG_9586.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.2779px;">After a couple of weeks, four chicks hatched.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The parents were kept busy feeding them and they grew quickly. After 3-4 days, they looked like this.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Mu7hfOcGhyphenhyphenpuu2bkRyTNp7zgPHIJQ4H5EAXNLFj_mc96N8e-OCI6Hk3HIjKPF3-QtPj37VHwT7i0AOJxdgZnNgvXaIgQLp5rFVHYm2_1LExygnJamo4gNJa9KDt1EKqnBH_eY7ckqTk/s1600/IMG_9352.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Mu7hfOcGhyphenhyphenpuu2bkRyTNp7zgPHIJQ4H5EAXNLFj_mc96N8e-OCI6Hk3HIjKPF3-QtPj37VHwT7i0AOJxdgZnNgvXaIgQLp5rFVHYm2_1LExygnJamo4gNJa9KDt1EKqnBH_eY7ckqTk/s640/IMG_9352.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.2779px;">Before long, they outgrew the nest and were sitting on the edge.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrtau08Cbbn2Vl2VoG6rnVb5vrXzt_peiIdNVBOlXKNO5xPVHqlxq16wR0MHWfRA1CyPpAelbA79BwoG2juxkR5RJ2y29MYVyzyhkEX8w_cxVVl24mZUSlU630Zo-eN8TTXDmsTEv11ZU/s1600/IMG_9410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrtau08Cbbn2Vl2VoG6rnVb5vrXzt_peiIdNVBOlXKNO5xPVHqlxq16wR0MHWfRA1CyPpAelbA79BwoG2juxkR5RJ2y29MYVyzyhkEX8w_cxVVl24mZUSlU630Zo-eN8TTXDmsTEv11ZU/s640/IMG_9410.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then early one morning they fledged. I was able to get this picture of two of them before they were gone.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQmxnfjyIbZTj13QMa7afcnqQ0SrTn0bfPGTgpAmJmdhV25MD6HDl9r_nrfrhCN-WHGiDgsn9txkCRHaPmtpMWmBq8-uB65oCwEHgQz-0-x8tntqqOSwcs9_lHeoZrLUtBa-e7cseZFDQ/s1600/IMG_9449.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQmxnfjyIbZTj13QMa7afcnqQ0SrTn0bfPGTgpAmJmdhV25MD6HDl9r_nrfrhCN-WHGiDgsn9txkCRHaPmtpMWmBq8-uB65oCwEHgQz-0-x8tntqqOSwcs9_lHeoZrLUtBa-e7cseZFDQ/s640/IMG_9449.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.2779px;">It was an amazing experience to watch this cycle of life unfold right in front of our eyes. It has been about three weeks since this brood left the nest for the big wide world. Today, I noticed the female phoebe was back on the nest. So, looks like we are in for another brood to hatch in a couple of weeks. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.2779px;">Cornell's All About Birds website is a great resource for identifying and reading about birds.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.2779px;"><a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/" target="_blank">All About Birds</a></span></div>
Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280146846983854700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-49757997938603787922020-04-12T18:23:00.002-05:002020-04-12T18:23:45.294-05:00Spring Things<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back in March I wrote about the way we are starting seeds this spring. After we downsized and moved to our new house, we lost our little green house and are using our garage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2020/03/gearing-up-for-gardening.html" target="_blank">https://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2020/03/gearing-up-for-gardening.html</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This has worked well for our smaller garden. Most of the plants you saw in that post have been transplanted into larger pots and moved to another area.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week I selected a few small sweet potatoes from last fall's harvest and put them in jars of water. In a few days they will begin to grow roots and send up leafy shoots called "slips". When the ground is warmer, these will be transplanted directly into the soil where they will grow into mature plants and form sweet potatoes.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtlo0eQVJOCt_5cBApu1LGMskauq4z9dOnCJqVs6Ht7rY0ADTBFOahyphenhyphenIhAUTRvh8tcStJ9bGF977o9lY1J8sEnGf7StNnnKvPJV8xDDiRPKzu5FsZddBI87k6T7SGBaKkWZFSCH2HHJes/s1600/sweet+potatoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtlo0eQVJOCt_5cBApu1LGMskauq4z9dOnCJqVs6Ht7rY0ADTBFOahyphenhyphenIhAUTRvh8tcStJ9bGF977o9lY1J8sEnGf7StNnnKvPJV8xDDiRPKzu5FsZddBI87k6T7SGBaKkWZFSCH2HHJes/s640/sweet+potatoes.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The parsley that I grew in our cattle supplement tubs last year is beginning to send up flower spikes. <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #050505; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">Parsley is a biennial plant. It grows the first year it is planted producing the leaves we love so much. The second year it makes flowers and seeds. This plant is from last year. I will let this plant make seeds which I will harvest and plant next year. By the way, native pollinators love the flowers.
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQB4LzZx1cLFe_MpqB0FX4e515qVn1ZSxrmM7zTyMt3alD_PCL78kCj3sPk1jv69lG4N19JNrSb5FK31yEsz_PIAq-9MOzXLgJ0cni5e8LiHOWMpu6iB_yjxSmIOkwg1jxCRmVCEgRJs/s1600/Parsley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQB4LzZx1cLFe_MpqB0FX4e515qVn1ZSxrmM7zTyMt3alD_PCL78kCj3sPk1jv69lG4N19JNrSb5FK31yEsz_PIAq-9MOzXLgJ0cni5e8LiHOWMpu6iB_yjxSmIOkwg1jxCRmVCEgRJs/s640/Parsley.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></div>
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A Phoebe built a mud nest on our front porch.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi57GnYJLrAJUopIj0kSwqE-hPViwKpi-NSkYKFEO0FO6r0Jscc92DZxsw7p3LvaNm6mE2TKfCLNkHaM8PwIkn0a3Im-tSay-E2E5yazhzgd2W6TC23MQ14IeDTHBVOmmnpF9NuQQQUhWM/s1600/bird+next.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi57GnYJLrAJUopIj0kSwqE-hPViwKpi-NSkYKFEO0FO6r0Jscc92DZxsw7p3LvaNm6mE2TKfCLNkHaM8PwIkn0a3Im-tSay-E2E5yazhzgd2W6TC23MQ14IeDTHBVOmmnpF9NuQQQUhWM/s640/bird+next.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
Phoebes are in a class of birds called "fly catchers". In Oklahoma, we are all familiar with our state bird, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. Well, there are other less showy birds in this same category. We had a pair of Phoebes at our old house. They returned year after year to build a nest above a light on one of our outbuildings. Many times I watched one of these little birds sit on top of a post or some other structure on the lookout for bugs. Suddenly it would take off and catch some unfortunate insect in mid-flight. I've not been able to get a good picture of one of these birds, so I copied this one from allaboutbirds.org.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEive-GYcPDA69nYcDlD3iXGSKImv5J8kKPM_yD-nGFtvS5V4WcxiEt40I3vIU31cjBARhcnOCsPPlzSyaIZBCrUbGpfvRyZWZXFAMgHctEgXdjqH5X0TRZuYiRF3Xp45Wn-ww-YLwjNCyQ/s1600/Phoebe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEive-GYcPDA69nYcDlD3iXGSKImv5J8kKPM_yD-nGFtvS5V4WcxiEt40I3vIU31cjBARhcnOCsPPlzSyaIZBCrUbGpfvRyZWZXFAMgHctEgXdjqH5X0TRZuYiRF3Xp45Wn-ww-YLwjNCyQ/s640/Phoebe.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, we are beginning to get some early produce from the garden. A couple of days ago I pulled these radishes out of the ground. They are a little small, but I just couldn</span>'<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">t wait!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDmKWlTtRKtj5MhoJaB1wACIoAQ9AMYsQ0ke3QDKJg6yRLiGtQaX2gETbKq3ezBAyKYU88XrCW8dvgjHKNjUsScC-U1V1jDusSx8l_RBmg5pp7nsapujaiLSIG02VfgxJP2WrlJ8KLhPY/s1600/radishes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDmKWlTtRKtj5MhoJaB1wACIoAQ9AMYsQ0ke3QDKJg6yRLiGtQaX2gETbKq3ezBAyKYU88XrCW8dvgjHKNjUsScC-U1V1jDusSx8l_RBmg5pp7nsapujaiLSIG02VfgxJP2WrlJ8KLhPY/s640/radishes.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy springtime everyone!</span></div>
Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280146846983854700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-24330983447979662332020-03-22T15:10:00.002-05:002020-03-22T15:10:42.613-05:00Gearing Up for Gardening<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We gave up our small greenhouse when we moved to our smaller place. However, that doesn't mean we cannot continue our gardening activities on a smaller scale. In my last post, I showed the new raised beds we were working on. These will be easier to maintain. If you missed it, here's a link:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2020/03/new-raised-bed-garden.html" target="_blank">New Raised Beds</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this post, I'll talk about how we are starting seed in our garage. First, here's a picture of our "mini" greenhouse.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRsH24ZtXdVQbCw6Wn_c8Typ1qogRoSxeUXs3r11qowXm3qkXvq8jRaqeLLYoSu1zGEpzkHPriTuy73OsDfhq3PeZh0E28n4Kez2UlQ1xnpiqrM3q9eNhsBFZTRnxwzLRHHi4vpY2GdTM/s1600/IMG_9028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRsH24ZtXdVQbCw6Wn_c8Typ1qogRoSxeUXs3r11qowXm3qkXvq8jRaqeLLYoSu1zGEpzkHPriTuy73OsDfhq3PeZh0E28n4Kez2UlQ1xnpiqrM3q9eNhsBFZTRnxwzLRHHi4vpY2GdTM/s640/IMG_9028.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know it isn't much to look at and is a far cry from the basement in our old house that we used for seed starting. But, it works very well. Curious about what's inside?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We started with these little discs that we ordered online.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvsHhfEkbre_Ssf8mJuirtWVIDisdfKRarsXKduNEuwqCR_9N7VMzi5smgva2piwLsiij9gzqFSNX5hQ1LAmPH90vGIFWBNXX_gVbBPHWpUHJkcg938nGG7JBr6e_vQ4XdBvybDZu_zHk/s1600/Pot+disc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvsHhfEkbre_Ssf8mJuirtWVIDisdfKRarsXKduNEuwqCR_9N7VMzi5smgva2piwLsiij9gzqFSNX5hQ1LAmPH90vGIFWBNXX_gVbBPHWpUHJkcg938nGG7JBr6e_vQ4XdBvybDZu_zHk/s640/Pot+disc.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you soak these in water they absorb a huge amount and pop up like this. There is<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> a shallow indentation in the middle that makes a small hole when hydrated where you can place your seed.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwS10ZOA9JAWebOS-9ahlEhdIvnhDjeOU9hhhwwwah3UCF5MbSOKcbSv5XD99Yin1s_V23O1cWVEsTqBF6mJBlsR_RxB2fXHgEjs1OUibPf6qvc7nle1NEyuFjDJ2YgPhY0hPEoJUpow/s1600/potting+plug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwS10ZOA9JAWebOS-9ahlEhdIvnhDjeOU9hhhwwwah3UCF5MbSOKcbSv5XD99Yin1s_V23O1cWVEsTqBF6mJBlsR_RxB2fXHgEjs1OUibPf6qvc7nle1NEyuFjDJ2YgPhY0hPEoJUpow/s640/potting+plug.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If needed, I use a toothpick to make the hole bigger, place the seed in it and cover with a little of the surrounding soil. I then set them in containers on heat mats inside the mini-greenhouse.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGvKmC0R6RnbMzvC3ODKUeMde1PsrZSLJkgIq_-NX5XrpfEndc36YJXCfIfAQGZ6vnF1u5iPkFDPhoIEBvrNM3B0Hmilydhu5ixnUhxj0fLbLXw_WgECxpwXEd79ntRqpKSCQbc149IUw/s1600/IMG_9029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGvKmC0R6RnbMzvC3ODKUeMde1PsrZSLJkgIq_-NX5XrpfEndc36YJXCfIfAQGZ6vnF1u5iPkFDPhoIEBvrNM3B0Hmilydhu5ixnUhxj0fLbLXw_WgECxpwXEd79ntRqpKSCQbc149IUw/s640/IMG_9029.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I put a different variety in each container. After a few days, tomato seedlings will begin appearing. It takes a few days longer for peppers.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1e1gRmWZoluq47LBhNqBXIm3ZRF4dC5jK6ar0iwJ1oY5Wz-116oOM8ZhqXjmBhXlRVA9M2iPpcYwZ_PTtEoeyhyjNJLAmTPoThtgiFVfQS9QzzNnqM1BA2FvMG4Rv3ZhA5tL6JIn-5A/s1600/IMG_9039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1e1gRmWZoluq47LBhNqBXIm3ZRF4dC5jK6ar0iwJ1oY5Wz-116oOM8ZhqXjmBhXlRVA9M2iPpcYwZ_PTtEoeyhyjNJLAmTPoThtgiFVfQS9QzzNnqM1BA2FvMG4Rv3ZhA5tL6JIn-5A/s640/IMG_9039.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a week or so, they will begin to grow their second set of leaves. In the picture below, the 2 Early Girls in back of this container are at this stage. Actually, there are 3 plants. If the seed is old, I usually put 2 seeds in each plug. Tomato seed is viable for several years if stored in a refrigerator. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg30qtBFMW3qKLWKIORW9z2T0UNgLIXp-SDLVC9BmjzBt89mZdDSpCyswfUAXP1tNisbiZ1hkNp-0_ivdxMuN3q87hnDXpBWxFONVfMMIEqFJhmC2qUEJ2oIxxF7TOfPsXLXqcmKc9Ex88/s1600/Seedlings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg30qtBFMW3qKLWKIORW9z2T0UNgLIXp-SDLVC9BmjzBt89mZdDSpCyswfUAXP1tNisbiZ1hkNp-0_ivdxMuN3q87hnDXpBWxFONVfMMIEqFJhmC2qUEJ2oIxxF7TOfPsXLXqcmKc9Ex88/s640/Seedlings.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, they can be transplanted into larger pots. I like to remove the outer fabric even though the roots are supposed to grow through it into the surrounding soil.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdBp8eqqNC9RRd5Npq7ZtcUrh_SKf1N9TLWWeknk8Z6QZV6r2ZhnymLK9ww8GzMqWYt1r6_jgKikS0IQHKQ6bfY6ypqyt6CBiRC5zHd0hocpqeoG2vYCZoafm9f1yF6tTXRxpFi3d32to/s1600/Potted+plants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdBp8eqqNC9RRd5Npq7ZtcUrh_SKf1N9TLWWeknk8Z6QZV6r2ZhnymLK9ww8GzMqWYt1r6_jgKikS0IQHKQ6bfY6ypqyt6CBiRC5zHd0hocpqeoG2vYCZoafm9f1yF6tTXRxpFi3d32to/s640/Potted+plants.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In our old "life", when we were growing for the farmers' market, we would have had 10-12 flats of tomatos and peppers. But, this one is plenty for now! More later.</span>Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280146846983854700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-8423672526377478582020-03-13T20:29:00.002-05:002020-03-13T20:29:09.438-05:00New Raised Bed Garden<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2019 was a dismal gardening year here. The reason: too much rain! The ground stayed saturated for weeks at a time and, because our main garden is on the lowest part of our land, we had to plant most crops at least twice and sometimes 3-4 times before they came up. Several of our tomato plants died and the ones that survived were stunted and never produced much fruit. The only exception were plants that were in a couple of raised beds we built before we moved to the new house.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For this reason, we have built additional raised beds on higher ground and closer to the house. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have spend a lot of time working on these beds. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgclBft20DOnhNojlIdW2-IcknwgqJ0t6od7-FgxN_0R6Hz8whaiVjaXACBxWwdybFNqWY8DWNbtymHDJ1_yjQ2WUVjchbQiL4TWOSFen7_sL_sAQs1aEiyw3Dx2ZhUQyJ8QL2HV1I5i70/s1600/IMG_8984.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgclBft20DOnhNojlIdW2-IcknwgqJ0t6od7-FgxN_0R6Hz8whaiVjaXACBxWwdybFNqWY8DWNbtymHDJ1_yjQ2WUVjchbQiL4TWOSFen7_sL_sAQs1aEiyw3Dx2ZhUQyJ8QL2HV1I5i70/s640/IMG_8984.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's a view from the opposite direction.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSFsrAbEsqlLPTcQaTDrgVx_vDWTuXiANs-OKnyG2n7k6QEeR8q0f9meG47cVH7gZoit4I-nYPvZZBOKNUoKydVCe9lMvQQVC9NheuB9AqIKvlu3Mbg7ik2mfb7mGS4bmWWISvcLpe0k/s1600/IMG_8976.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSFsrAbEsqlLPTcQaTDrgVx_vDWTuXiANs-OKnyG2n7k6QEeR8q0f9meG47cVH7gZoit4I-nYPvZZBOKNUoKydVCe9lMvQQVC9NheuB9AqIKvlu3Mbg7ik2mfb7mGS4bmWWISvcLpe0k/s640/IMG_8976.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On this day, the head gardener was filling the black tubs with soil and planting blueberry bushes. If you are not familiar with blueberries, they need a more acidic soil than most other garden plants. So, we decided to grow them in these tubs where we could control the soil acidity better. Most Oklahoma soils are too alkaline for blueberries.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He works so hard! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1wmOhNDsh3m6XFY-FBcn2hXu-IZ93eWQM8ZcnpCQWdPplCAHUMtv5Tcleh81iIqJjLc8dIA49BJ9u3gmG2Znwtho7UxRH7cAfB5NjnltQ0t4pBQDI3p4qveeSY2pasEcY9gCxrITe64M/s1600/IMG_8983.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1wmOhNDsh3m6XFY-FBcn2hXu-IZ93eWQM8ZcnpCQWdPplCAHUMtv5Tcleh81iIqJjLc8dIA49BJ9u3gmG2Znwtho7UxRH7cAfB5NjnltQ0t4pBQDI3p4qveeSY2pasEcY9gCxrITe64M/s640/IMG_8983.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's one of the bushes. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQa-bzecSsnxuyY6zCJ4CNNBZnxlQ8ITZSZQpBpGz_cMKkLNozWSDFtFJ9I5s_w-N0IjDVZAl9Ddt2k0KGor4OloUilotqJbckml-76qiRa_3kzrkAIFuD9g-FG4xJ2pb4tHxF0x6G998/s1600/IMG_8981.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQa-bzecSsnxuyY6zCJ4CNNBZnxlQ8ITZSZQpBpGz_cMKkLNozWSDFtFJ9I5s_w-N0IjDVZAl9Ddt2k0KGor4OloUilotqJbckml-76qiRa_3kzrkAIFuD9g-FG4xJ2pb4tHxF0x6G998/s320/IMG_8981.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The bed below contains asparagus. Not much to see yet. You normally do not plant asparagus from seed, but from "crowns". Basically, these are <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">one-year-old roots of<span style="background-color: transparent;"> asparagus plants. As the season progresses, the crowns will send up "spears" from which the foliage of the plant grows. You normally cut and eat the spears when they are about 8 inches long, but you shouldn't harvest them the first year because the plant needs time to get established, produce foliage and grow strong. The foliage takes sunlight and provides photosynthesis to feed the roots helping them store nutruients to produce next year's plant.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7p7eI_PbkhRwKgvATDtJGRNKJhPNaMEc275vWwkuE8lC9yn-JyVCbh-lq8vYKpIniUx7HevRwBVfT-xpwF9tpHWo6ZHS8I3BovYre9BGsco4bzI521tWjepbt08POdQ7reEkmlTeYv9o/s1600/IMG_8979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><b></b><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7p7eI_PbkhRwKgvATDtJGRNKJhPNaMEc275vWwkuE8lC9yn-JyVCbh-lq8vYKpIniUx7HevRwBVfT-xpwF9tpHWo6ZHS8I3BovYre9BGsco4bzI521tWjepbt08POdQ7reEkmlTeYv9o/s640/IMG_8979.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may have noticed in the first picture that we put cattle panels down the middle of several of the beds.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAq3uYNDLdl_262A_GCpvFYvvc0c45N7KXrdqHhOgs7UbQ3CfVHhci7y56XhfKP1Rf71Bb9cgweNKMjBvDehQD8CQYFgSS5v0mw6548iLlChlXajRHVnI3Q2Tz9Bav-Voqz8d08DzwRE8/s1600/IMG_8980.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAq3uYNDLdl_262A_GCpvFYvvc0c45N7KXrdqHhOgs7UbQ3CfVHhci7y56XhfKP1Rf71Bb9cgweNKMjBvDehQD8CQYFgSS5v0mw6548iLlChlXajRHVnI3Q2Tz9Bav-Voqz8d08DzwRE8/s640/IMG_8980.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will use these as trellises to support tomato plants and for vining plants. It is still very early in the season and lots of work ahead. But,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I'll keep you posted on our progress. I like to say that gardening is an "ongoing creative endeavor". You learn from your mistakes and, if something doesn't work out this year, then you can try again next year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Gardening!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></span>Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280146846983854700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-84906562158469551712020-02-18T16:37:00.000-06:002020-02-18T16:37:47.003-06:00Cats and Raccoon<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last fall we started feeding a couple of stray cats in the pole barn. I have hopes of getting them tame enough that we can catch them and get them spayed/neutered and vaccinated. But, in the mean time, we are hoping they will help to keep the rodent population down around the chicken pen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some pictures of them. I call the first one Smokey because he/she is gray and white. This cat usually comes during the day. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9hWV5QKdawrMTFuVbxGj8EhyphenhyphenFxN26Zschzmy6pOiW6pC0-p80WxuWuYukiRcMc3hq1jOZvHvl7q25PFj8BEwdS_9Dpv9xYXMtjR7Mzu2OULqAdMXmW3j_aDiPB8YDeyZxTMrV3SjpbM/s1600/Smoky.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9hWV5QKdawrMTFuVbxGj8EhyphenhyphenFxN26Zschzmy6pOiW6pC0-p80WxuWuYukiRcMc3hq1jOZvHvl7q25PFj8BEwdS_9Dpv9xYXMtjR7Mzu2OULqAdMXmW3j_aDiPB8YDeyZxTMrV3SjpbM/s640/Smoky.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there is Pretty Boy (or Girl). This one comes to eat both in the daylight and at night and usually comes around several times each day. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEkCulJ_hpL08mt5RxcdKMx1Ivu9EREIA073u6EhraNnKhGZ3VOsy3tNB4z86exuLxQRND_hch2NUjHDddEDVhuirNbvuhbmeQaDpEO1EaV1YjBfj51Brzk-iwx16gMDH7fmweu2MX3-c/s1600/Pretty+Boy+cat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEkCulJ_hpL08mt5RxcdKMx1Ivu9EREIA073u6EhraNnKhGZ3VOsy3tNB4z86exuLxQRND_hch2NUjHDddEDVhuirNbvuhbmeQaDpEO1EaV1YjBfj51Brzk-iwx16gMDH7fmweu2MX3-c/s640/Pretty+Boy+cat.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here we have Monster Cat. At first glance, he looks a lot like Pretty Boy, except he has shorter ears and a LOT more hair. This cat only comes around at night and usually only shows up once.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHfvcdvSgkERzFFHsoCrAlB62_zRGoMt5QRYWJjBPjWhohyphenhyphenXb660Bp_CAD0KAHfcZzdoiJvtWWGjXRcGgFqex4a54CNsOTaVSW1sB6jzFGsY-UpY3l4uG1j_mX_GOrrigUY_ksbo8xD6c/s1600/Monster+cat+side+view.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHfvcdvSgkERzFFHsoCrAlB62_zRGoMt5QRYWJjBPjWhohyphenhyphenXb660Bp_CAD0KAHfcZzdoiJvtWWGjXRcGgFqex4a54CNsOTaVSW1sB6jzFGsY-UpY3l4uG1j_mX_GOrrigUY_ksbo8xD6c/s640/Monster+cat+side+view.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As expected, other wildlife eventually found the cat food. Not sure you can see it, but there is a little mouse by the big food bowl. Where are the cats????</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9czIONZg74DTDNWDgp950k_WPeDPtPCwDvmLojQRJdCP_2maxLZ9cxCt6IkbE0gK2Gv6s1ZIgTvZEbtYsFSialZuRn50Q3QybDawdWp8fOhv6vzfhnVky7GUWyPvX0XoGa3eoLqKzv2Y/s1600/Mouse.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9czIONZg74DTDNWDgp950k_WPeDPtPCwDvmLojQRJdCP_2maxLZ9cxCt6IkbE0gK2Gv6s1ZIgTvZEbtYsFSialZuRn50Q3QybDawdWp8fOhv6vzfhnVky7GUWyPvX0XoGa3eoLqKzv2Y/s640/Mouse.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The raccoons found the food last week and have turned out to be pretty entertaining. This guy looks like he is posing for the camera.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijgjV02SfpVibbUy3p-VBm0rHr7H20lNfEEZBs5plkGdeIC9rYT440JYs3QMC0MZHk4gtj5YqRZGYiEaPGqts3aFMafzq8REAN_m0hTJFqXF1H344OMOzwUJkOQFtvOVox5b4mEhbbjpI/s1600/Raccoon+sitting.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijgjV02SfpVibbUy3p-VBm0rHr7H20lNfEEZBs5plkGdeIC9rYT440JYs3QMC0MZHk4gtj5YqRZGYiEaPGqts3aFMafzq8REAN_m0hTJFqXF1H344OMOzwUJkOQFtvOVox5b4mEhbbjpI/s640/Raccoon+sitting.JPG" width="640" /></a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the following two pics he seems to be taking it easy, just lolling around after eating.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZKw1nY6UCCn0P8AfBnaT8yx0OPW6G1P-1_KIzIi2gzqxCH2qStJwVC9FzThZWQDoZWs69e7N1flZrWOQz0uSlJkDg6-tM_VLkEZt99mdiJ2VyJMWaWpEHQ1c2zFdppK5hkLZcGMDt-G0/s1600/Raccoon+reclining.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZKw1nY6UCCn0P8AfBnaT8yx0OPW6G1P-1_KIzIi2gzqxCH2qStJwVC9FzThZWQDoZWs69e7N1flZrWOQz0uSlJkDg6-tM_VLkEZt99mdiJ2VyJMWaWpEHQ1c2zFdppK5hkLZcGMDt-G0/s640/Raccoon+reclining.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZboe0IH7wA5-AuvjG4liH6PfCas-WD5Pnq-L5VdtJUxl5jjauh1fkUq67M0OWMgxsrLeuzNJn3931cQ-X7AEI19P60aDmj2y9qBHfa7NIKfhZl59W1kd_nIQ4q9IA0BHrKYinxBoevE/s1600/Raccoon+laying+down.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZboe0IH7wA5-AuvjG4liH6PfCas-WD5Pnq-L5VdtJUxl5jjauh1fkUq67M0OWMgxsrLeuzNJn3931cQ-X7AEI19P60aDmj2y9qBHfa7NIKfhZl59W1kd_nIQ4q9IA0BHrKYinxBoevE/s640/Raccoon+laying+down.JPG" width="640" /></a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He's acting like he is a meercat here. I've never seen one stand up like this!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEietARI2P-Ks3sRkj17EEWNvbZ7qEb0FfWqQEBHTmHkwqULqeiRr9cTTV3v84ui7YyGdgDErHBNpITunNtRcMfNPXidS9xtajhMIWmwKosRxI7csoIzM4coNH0n_KegOufteKAbW6kGQv4/s1600/raccoon+standing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEietARI2P-Ks3sRkj17EEWNvbZ7qEb0FfWqQEBHTmHkwqULqeiRr9cTTV3v84ui7YyGdgDErHBNpITunNtRcMfNPXidS9xtajhMIWmwKosRxI7csoIzM4coNH0n_KegOufteKAbW6kGQv4/s640/raccoon+standing.JPG" width="640" /></a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He seems to have decided to climb the wooden frame (which happens to be a wooden frame that forms a pen used on warm days to put young chicks in to get them used to being outside and scratching in the grass). </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-tTChpJT9mJZp5uJJGxFs42CZXDunLZnXr4q-vBV7W9gweVRF4FMIX0t49bV2bW4-0DXRO2cwwqnRZ1k_-Y_VQ04-1k9IJmw0SucM6Bxl3Mx35vET-kEBQWSGTkIGZseAHt4h-kYalU/s1600/Raccoon+climbing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-tTChpJT9mJZp5uJJGxFs42CZXDunLZnXr4q-vBV7W9gweVRF4FMIX0t49bV2bW4-0DXRO2cwwqnRZ1k_-Y_VQ04-1k9IJmw0SucM6Bxl3Mx35vET-kEBQWSGTkIGZseAHt4h-kYalU/s640/Raccoon+climbing.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I guess he decided he needed company because he showed up with a buddy one night.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0P07ZLKOvDBFNAbbzIOamqheyq_9WRflTEzenqu2aCcjM9hvKa9gSqbhEXFpD53KogvZLweZp0LPfsxSrQ9jPGpW5POy0vwpEddyxgYk2Hn8Mtysskt9aYYRtH8VRTv-r4_xdRhR0VQ/s1600/Raccoon+with+buddy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0P07ZLKOvDBFNAbbzIOamqheyq_9WRflTEzenqu2aCcjM9hvKa9gSqbhEXFpD53KogvZLweZp0LPfsxSrQ9jPGpW5POy0vwpEddyxgYk2Hn8Mtysskt9aYYRtH8VRTv-r4_xdRhR0VQ/s640/Raccoon+with+buddy.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We don't want to waste cat food on raccoons, so we only put the cat food out in the morning. The cats are starting to learn that they need to come during the day or early in the evening and usually there isn't a lot left by the time the raccoons show up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280146846983854700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-68350171980419336832019-12-26T17:52:00.001-06:002019-12-26T17:52:05.790-06:00Chicken Update<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After we moved to our new house, I posted this about our new chicken coop and pen:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2018/12/new-chicken-pen.html" target="_blank">New Chicken Pen</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All was well at first. But after a while, chickens started disappearing. We would let them out to free-range in the morning, but when we went out to shut them up in the coop that evening one would be missing. After losing a couple of chickens, we quit letting them out of the pen. They were NOT happy about this and would try to get out every time we opened the gate to the pen. The pen was built with 6 foot dog fence panels and, since we always shut them up in the coop, we thought they would be safe. After all, most critters that prey on chickens are nocturnal (or so we thought). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One day we came home from a 4 hour trip to Oklahoma City to find 4 dead chickens in the pen and another one missing. Whatever killed them got over the 6 foot fence in broad daylight. This left us with only 2 chickens. After reviewing our wildlife camera, the mystery was solved. There was a picture of a bobcat that was taken during the day. <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Obviously, we had to put wire over the top of the pen. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This spring we basically had to start our flock over from scratch and decided on 2 breeds of chickens, Australorp and Americauna. We got six of each. Here's a picture of them for comparison.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmLGMX_ORFu_FYhFMMpXmFdA3l5tUtOALyphgyMR9fdXQjLG4d4UKScQPfBIcBBkETM0Qpj29ZWCAEl1PeQgaM8VYIPW-rq211XJO5ZopInFKaQ7ueiGEMfa-OqpN07GJC7WyOKirip8/s1600/chickens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="718" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmLGMX_ORFu_FYhFMMpXmFdA3l5tUtOALyphgyMR9fdXQjLG4d4UKScQPfBIcBBkETM0Qpj29ZWCAEl1PeQgaM8VYIPW-rq211XJO5ZopInFKaQ7ueiGEMfa-OqpN07GJC7WyOKirip8/s640/chickens.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Australorps are solid black and lay brown eggs. Americaunas are tan/gold/black colored and lay bluish, greenish eggs. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhtLZvC4Hk58wjOjZHXDUTjqWlRkCXNk4gzsF5I6KqNtPKMIJd8UbKM6kHPhLkbXS0qegfIQ6iuqz1owyyGJ4KMqWvkIN9TyRrizpW7lYh6jbIAKQxh_00nq_SgnUKZ22j1ZJ2KmdDZY/s1600/eggs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhtLZvC4Hk58wjOjZHXDUTjqWlRkCXNk4gzsF5I6KqNtPKMIJd8UbKM6kHPhLkbXS0qegfIQ6iuqz1owyyGJ4KMqWvkIN9TyRrizpW7lYh6jbIAKQxh_00nq_SgnUKZ22j1ZJ2KmdDZY/s640/eggs.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Americaunas are interesting chickens because they have "whiskers".</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-gFTnQomt1H5KZVWB4GEXX7WlJqR5dF9wx7CqFY2ILSKblIBSH5cfNqv2OAdRdCbMvFqBVIC1ovfrsrAuBadhwR4Qn_cK_6DRyUY5Anu5-_QMIRzy9bbUwFbm_qMkibcb5jNuxLwl7E/s1600/americauna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-gFTnQomt1H5KZVWB4GEXX7WlJqR5dF9wx7CqFY2ILSKblIBSH5cfNqv2OAdRdCbMvFqBVIC1ovfrsrAuBadhwR4Qn_cK_6DRyUY5Anu5-_QMIRzy9bbUwFbm_qMkibcb5jNuxLwl7E/s640/americauna.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have begun letting them out for part of the day, usually in the afternoon. So far, we've not lost any. Hopefully, the bobcat has moved on. </span></div>
Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280146846983854700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-52365608175929444192019-11-07T11:24:00.000-06:002019-11-07T11:24:30.285-06:00Fall is Here<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've had crazy weather this fall. It stayed really warm into October, a couple of light frosts, but not enough to kill most of our garden. The tree leaves were not even beginning to turn color. Then, suddenly we had a hard freeze. Leaves just turned brown overnight. <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Consequently, we had no fall color to speak of. </span> It was sort of sad. Then, it warmed up again. Then another hard freeze followed by a warm up. However, I believe fall has finally arrived. It is rainy today with a north wind blowing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before the first frost, I started bringing my outside plants inside. I put most of them in our garage. It is insulate and stays above freezing. I'm hoping to sell most of the aloe vera plants this winter at the farmers market. The market moves indoors during the winter and is only open Saturdays from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit74HsU9jEamOFeZTiKW1TmdS2W-LOVypncYY8NbfCql4Fbyypx7LFwaKQxn2JXm0WmWmkywZbumVmztOP9tE4pVHLOT4OhyphenhyphenC94bipQXj-LbztgswJ3usbNjSqm6XfcmBO9vUR1CPsZUI/s1600/garage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit74HsU9jEamOFeZTiKW1TmdS2W-LOVypncYY8NbfCql4Fbyypx7LFwaKQxn2JXm0WmWmkywZbumVmztOP9tE4pVHLOT4OhyphenhyphenC94bipQXj-LbztgswJ3usbNjSqm6XfcmBO9vUR1CPsZUI/s640/garage.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have lemon grass in large cattle supplement tubs. That we also brought into the garage.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo4myONYmFe50iJMP9pcgZvJ-Id6PfVOdZUlYAOI6Uv5xDCL6HZaqbYHykJ9DYHKUwL5i3nhQysKg_o2Gpw7yedHjSqe2th5S81Xd81kxr1ymXgIXQB413pg9xBMG3C6ZIFPh_X9tUWPQ/s1600/lemon+grass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo4myONYmFe50iJMP9pcgZvJ-Id6PfVOdZUlYAOI6Uv5xDCL6HZaqbYHykJ9DYHKUwL5i3nhQysKg_o2Gpw7yedHjSqe2th5S81Xd81kxr1ymXgIXQB413pg9xBMG3C6ZIFPh_X9tUWPQ/s640/lemon+grass.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the freeze, we tilled under all the dead plants in the garden and planted cover crops.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqObnUJFblHyN_ZE0gHjwX3pie59WnGo3NsDqxXF_QEBkqLvOvuHqQb_b-LLUQ2uhyphenhyphencyvpkjNTySVRMYhYjfQz3P2Cy0JxqK6qGiiD7zvH4t_6FAxSrfeK05r1rSjY51dyKxPirgEUUJE/s1600/garden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqObnUJFblHyN_ZE0gHjwX3pie59WnGo3NsDqxXF_QEBkqLvOvuHqQb_b-LLUQ2uhyphenhyphencyvpkjNTySVRMYhYjfQz3P2Cy0JxqK6qGiiD7zvH4t_6FAxSrfeK05r1rSjY51dyKxPirgEUUJE/s640/garden.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280146846983854700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-9976934115350934312019-10-22T11:41:00.001-05:002020-03-13T20:46:25.521-05:00It's been a long year<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've not posted anything here in almost a year. So much has happened. It's been a whirlwind of a year. Here's a short list: </span><br />
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<li>We moved to a new house that will accommodate our aging knees and other body parts. This entailed the following:</li>
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<li> Moving our furniture and other belongings</li>
<li> Building a new chicken pen and moving them</li>
<li> Building new garden beds </li>
<li> Down sizing and getting rid of stuff</li>
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<li> Surgery which took a while from which to recover</li>
<li> A death in the family</li>
<li> A bobcat got into the chicken pen and decimated our flock. We had to get new chicks this spring. Basically had to start over from scratch.</li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I hope you can see why I have not posted anything in a good while. I have posted to our Facebook page because I can post comments and pictures easily from my phone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We no longer attend our farmers' market regularly. However, we were able to grow a lot of veggies for ourselves, family and neighbors. We are still devoted to using organic methods in our garden.</span></div>
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For this post, I have copied some of the pictures and comments from our Facebook page.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">My new favorite way to freeze peppers is to roast them first. Then slip skins off, de-seed and put in snack bags. I was able to fit 5 of these in a quart storage bag. When bell peppers are called for in a recipe, just open one of the snack bags and use a knife to hack off some and use in the recipe.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLMeYqEkRvTdG45VOvrixZcLBlOAACaASqCT8DB32TtV4fxBRTyJOdaYj5v4reja3fs6KbsbsdVSBeMJRQZ_BWqo6W0kWlQ3Ovhwvjc9V6mkOWUcamvTJ86pef8anAZSA6kNDtxi445g/s1600/roast+peppers1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLMeYqEkRvTdG45VOvrixZcLBlOAACaASqCT8DB32TtV4fxBRTyJOdaYj5v4reja3fs6KbsbsdVSBeMJRQZ_BWqo6W0kWlQ3Ovhwvjc9V6mkOWUcamvTJ86pef8anAZSA6kNDtxi445g/s640/roast+peppers1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi45lbFwhIPsG7FiKGDbEhJFXjEA-03VHdHiS411lTwH8tC2_A4Nc4PvvNfZV3aahyT43P7qln9LVD5-G2Wvfmhfhq6NRjNLfisP38PuI-KGPEFF04lHGI1uyGFTQ3dLBxo7KpKPgVegQ/s1600/roast++peppers2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi45lbFwhIPsG7FiKGDbEhJFXjEA-03VHdHiS411lTwH8tC2_A4Nc4PvvNfZV3aahyT43P7qln9LVD5-G2Wvfmhfhq6NRjNLfisP38PuI-KGPEFF04lHGI1uyGFTQ3dLBxo7KpKPgVegQ/s640/roast++peppers2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzqUs66TGknHorUtv0b23qWPesz6cCKgcUxy_lT8GHkOSvh43FqIWro303TaJXE5s8hi_Fx6LsPRFA4sbpJsKW3rjFvuDgNJivNDKchAf-1xrmhZzKXk8e07V52GNvQ8EVZ2m5pgUOqc/s1600/roast+peppers+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzqUs66TGknHorUtv0b23qWPesz6cCKgcUxy_lT8GHkOSvh43FqIWro303TaJXE5s8hi_Fx6LsPRFA4sbpJsKW3rjFvuDgNJivNDKchAf-1xrmhZzKXk8e07V52GNvQ8EVZ2m5pgUOqc/s640/roast+peppers+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here are some of the first eggs from our new flock of chickens. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKDHC6gi9s_enrqEyL8oyrLjMYHk_n8kTdhghK0mMM-KZ_nWqEryFqRq8VP5bZyMWJgFfrviyT6moCsgegp1R2plC95XZpGBwI0R_oP_2XJCKzIcZZl2be0AwlzVvHbeGWeH6D0hkIeQ/s1600/eggs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKDHC6gi9s_enrqEyL8oyrLjMYHk_n8kTdhghK0mMM-KZ_nWqEryFqRq8VP5bZyMWJgFfrviyT6moCsgegp1R2plC95XZpGBwI0R_oP_2XJCKzIcZZl2be0AwlzVvHbeGWeH6D0hkIeQ/s640/eggs.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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The brown ones are from the Australorps, a breed of Australian origin that is solid black. The blue/green one is from an Americauna, an <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">American breed of domestic chicken</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"> <span style="color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">developed in the United States in the 1970s, and derives from Araucana chickens</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> brought from Chile. I caught this picture of our new flock on one of our game cameras. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNnzEVhcIBIiGNZKhfSWIuwsGO9yVOce-elH3DeSRTcWLm1cFasXpqswe-J00IOr6dwllF1qLqJ7xZ_plWgcQ0J_ONbC2YIbVCfMBqtXe4uB_XGMPBVqS2vVDVL4CxUbd2IlZw6ZDyDbM/s1600/Chicken+Brigade.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNnzEVhcIBIiGNZKhfSWIuwsGO9yVOce-elH3DeSRTcWLm1cFasXpqswe-J00IOr6dwllF1qLqJ7xZ_plWgcQ0J_ONbC2YIbVCfMBqtXe4uB_XGMPBVqS2vVDVL4CxUbd2IlZw6ZDyDbM/s640/Chicken+Brigade.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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</span>Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280146846983854700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-7066140621019332018-12-16T14:54:00.000-06:002018-12-16T14:54:55.263-06:00New Chicken Pen<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When we moved to our new house, not only did we have to move ourselves, but we also had to move the chickens. It was difficult to decide where to set up their new digs. In the end, we built a pen around an old bodark tree with their coop serving as part of the fence on the north side.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bF6aItr4mcMsxDpxTvN4QtY_37oqr6bW13A1u2zHbxoiwyJhGly1H7Vt4XB69UBKUkHXruIcVa0YgxCXPTtmk_gRmsW9qEB0moI0VADbG8G1iMLXWHwYLk7bA_wRQeeMsrStJGkcHEk/s1600/IMG_6829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bF6aItr4mcMsxDpxTvN4QtY_37oqr6bW13A1u2zHbxoiwyJhGly1H7Vt4XB69UBKUkHXruIcVa0YgxCXPTtmk_gRmsW9qEB0moI0VADbG8G1iMLXWHwYLk7bA_wRQeeMsrStJGkcHEk/s640/IMG_6829.JPG" width="480" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We used our old peacock shed as the coop and used sections of old dog fencing for the pen. Only one of the hens, the Americauna, has figured out she can fly over it. She is half wild, anyway, so I'm not surprised. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a look at it from the other side.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8X7SOfXa15SXDP-1aVpHWvSqT4zXQQm-K4Rr2RpCAnRNEbDT3sgdcr0qzgInQnpuWjN2s1ll8PY_XT0yos5ODho3FxTrtjYiscWVydNeNTmK7OkZfs8Lz9Q4mUI9vVhH_3nCelolrcw/s1600/IMG_6812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8X7SOfXa15SXDP-1aVpHWvSqT4zXQQm-K4Rr2RpCAnRNEbDT3sgdcr0qzgInQnpuWjN2s1ll8PY_XT0yos5ODho3FxTrtjYiscWVydNeNTmK7OkZfs8Lz9Q4mUI9vVhH_3nCelolrcw/s640/IMG_6812.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We didn't have quite enough dog fence to completely surround the tree, so we filled in with 6-foot woven wire. The nice thing about the dog fence is the panels have built-in gates, like this.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKjN7A-dGuKyQECPo364gAfjJH1lrYWeFgNbT2CKY-aub74wXRoLbNarwr3gCcS0A1zRZ2eI85YO054YhyphenhyphenCZgc205iPbUUtGF7jauPCvmSmfcGsI_dZJ9UJrBt8KeM5MyCvR2liIG1Lw0/s1600/IMG_6811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKjN7A-dGuKyQECPo364gAfjJH1lrYWeFgNbT2CKY-aub74wXRoLbNarwr3gCcS0A1zRZ2eI85YO054YhyphenhyphenCZgc205iPbUUtGF7jauPCvmSmfcGsI_dZJ9UJrBt8KeM5MyCvR2liIG1Lw0/s640/IMG_6811.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The peacock shed has plenty of room for the hens.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We used 2X4s for the roosts. These work better than round roosts because it allows them to sit down and cover their feet with their feathers to prevent frost damage to their toes. We built shelves inside to store various things.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We store their food in metal trash cans in the corner and put up some hooks to hang rakes, etc. that are used to clean their coop.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZFOSbTW3PkKumZST3f9lYped_6DM0y_8gFtlsqDUNoqcnTVu4xr-a7hyphenhyphenK1XyCgqbjd9moeREa61JUHgtiqp1msYGQ84hoYH5X1-1Bd7yUtNhfYxekLvMNagbawJle3c-R6Hc1LDmhyphenhyphenjM/s1600/IMG_6818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZFOSbTW3PkKumZST3f9lYped_6DM0y_8gFtlsqDUNoqcnTVu4xr-a7hyphenhyphenK1XyCgqbjd9moeREa61JUHgtiqp1msYGQ84hoYH5X1-1Bd7yUtNhfYxekLvMNagbawJle3c-R6Hc1LDmhyphenhyphenjM/s640/IMG_6818.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">We installed their nest boxes on the opposite side from the shelves.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Annie, the Americauna hen, has decided a nest on the floor is much better than the man-made nest boxes. We discovered this nest over behind one of the trash cans after Tom observed her going behind the can several times.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJAldSzhyphenhyphenpP1tAak4VmAltHct7XqRUaK7GE4CRQ_84BOhW3nFosj3FoL4hg0nuUOkD0YEgUpX7Vndc53CxAiGuJDRVox262Ehv7v1Gj2oU_LJngOdCZJiN5z7BcE0CYUWj8Cpayzgkg8E/s1600/IMG_6825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJAldSzhyphenhyphenpP1tAak4VmAltHct7XqRUaK7GE4CRQ_84BOhW3nFosj3FoL4hg0nuUOkD0YEgUpX7Vndc53CxAiGuJDRVox262Ehv7v1Gj2oU_LJngOdCZJiN5z7BcE0CYUWj8Cpayzgkg8E/s640/IMG_6825.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was difficult to get a good picture of it, but she had collected nesting material from the nest boxes, along with feathers, and built her own nest on the floor. We have to check there for eggs everyday. Quite often, there are one or two.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We put a bale of straw for them outside every couple of weeks. It doesn't take long for them to tear it apart and keeps them occupied for several days. It also serves the purpose of covering the bare ground with mulch and keeps it from getting muddy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">All in all, we must have done a good job of building the new pen because a wild turkey hen has taken up residence there, as well. She roosts in the bodark tree, but spends a great deal of time in the pen with the chickens. They don't seem to mind her company.</span></div>
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Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280146846983854700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-21060419140633515262018-12-02T13:30:00.000-06:002018-12-02T13:30:06.992-06:00Jerusalem Artichokes aka Sunchokes<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before I begin, let me say that Jerusalem Artichokes are not artichokes at all, but are tubers produced by plants similar to sunflowers. The name, in fact, comes from the Italian word "girasole" which is the Italian word for sunflower. Here's what they look like while in flower.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin-kevtpXGu4U7BKw4lT2b-qyVqJSAvSHMLL_MxlaKVtjOu3LHtVcM2NSpUMUtVCxgz6yBDuXoWxS9P8fhCiOVG1RNMQX6enO4fdU8i2MAKOABWLV4FEEnitpJ8rf7ZonLtax9wTFx7Ko/s1600/Flowers.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="338" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin-kevtpXGu4U7BKw4lT2b-qyVqJSAvSHMLL_MxlaKVtjOu3LHtVcM2NSpUMUtVCxgz6yBDuXoWxS9P8fhCiOVG1RNMQX6enO4fdU8i2MAKOABWLV4FEEnitpJ8rf7ZonLtax9wTFx7Ko/s640/Flowers.jpg.jpg" width="428" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This past month we had some for Thanksgiving dinner. The chokes are best if you wait until after frost before you dig them. In fact, you can just leave them in the ground all winter, digging them as needed. As you can see below, we had a bumper crop this year and this is just part of them.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjDL9-I9f24g6sicR99a2dpP2cE1wkR-7Y5A6VuThk-qbFkDBWHaNiSy50E3KrKWnqyUwEZIXEXx0rFtj8xbMcweG_e_sWijj_rPPeNQvqHq2PaLUC3h4iEKZR93exYhIcTK_KlKXRm6M/s1600/IMG_5111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjDL9-I9f24g6sicR99a2dpP2cE1wkR-7Y5A6VuThk-qbFkDBWHaNiSy50E3KrKWnqyUwEZIXEXx0rFtj8xbMcweG_e_sWijj_rPPeNQvqHq2PaLUC3h4iEKZR93exYhIcTK_KlKXRm6M/s640/IMG_5111.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tubers are knotty and require quite a bit of cleaning to get the dirt out of all the grooves. Tom had his work cut out for him, but it was a nice day, so he got some fresh air and sunshine.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBiyjBA4WkHqJOA_VXl6yn6g4f19l1_MBOcjjrtHHaCLepdJjj8-s_UuPp1WuhymmNNLeCNZBcYtSe2ZrX9G8OHpOQnOjZ8dOLVU85HBGjQJZzAhlQN2BVndC2-3u7TKCufqWr-jLi5Tg/s1600/Cleaning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBiyjBA4WkHqJOA_VXl6yn6g4f19l1_MBOcjjrtHHaCLepdJjj8-s_UuPp1WuhymmNNLeCNZBcYtSe2ZrX9G8OHpOQnOjZ8dOLVU85HBGjQJZzAhlQN2BVndC2-3u7TKCufqWr-jLi5Tg/s640/Cleaning.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When finished he had a large bucket almost full.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5TTVyT4YlP2qYsG3I-z4R5WkKvGIK6_RGf47i1gfX80V3BGvhYBMbF3r8qEdk9LasLKVbqydsgJ728nNidKNBqQgPc2ZJhetjWEH6kgvVTKdYBw-PugthxHw9SlSsiPEMJZ2jMVlzM5s/s1600/In+bucket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5TTVyT4YlP2qYsG3I-z4R5WkKvGIK6_RGf47i1gfX80V3BGvhYBMbF3r8qEdk9LasLKVbqydsgJ728nNidKNBqQgPc2ZJhetjWEH6kgvVTKdYBw-PugthxHw9SlSsiPEMJZ2jMVlzM5s/s640/In+bucket.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I roasted them in the oven using a very simple recipe. I cut the larger ones in two so they were all about the same size. Doused them with olive oil. Added salt and pepper and cooked at 375 degrees until soft. I stirred them a couple of times during cooking. Here's a before picture.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjMp5peeo26NoNPopsV_fuqoeLDOwpWZUdh7b82ihE7BIT2OnTE4LqSExUBMSC1KmEgoattAE_P9S3NtDG6jm5eM8coCeRPopJR0ogrpL5X9IhrwNr6LQGhzpImzctvqb_c206K0bo_U8/s1600/IMG_5113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjMp5peeo26NoNPopsV_fuqoeLDOwpWZUdh7b82ihE7BIT2OnTE4LqSExUBMSC1KmEgoattAE_P9S3NtDG6jm5eM8coCeRPopJR0ogrpL5X9IhrwNr6LQGhzpImzctvqb_c206K0bo_U8/s640/IMG_5113.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's after they were cooked.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsH0Ae5hFEV2G6P7SpcZWIa9duvIhxqHp0rwjJHXm_XYVU5BB7dQU8r2eizQV9mpMUI7iu2oJbti58lT4zJHQQK360o_uTx9SdX8_rmKMy7sv-mykHSuReVcEN9VLi9mRHPICnrulymGI/s1600/IMG_5114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsH0Ae5hFEV2G6P7SpcZWIa9duvIhxqHp0rwjJHXm_XYVU5BB7dQU8r2eizQV9mpMUI7iu2oJbti58lT4zJHQQK360o_uTx9SdX8_rmKMy7sv-mykHSuReVcEN9VLi9mRHPICnrulymGI/s640/IMG_5114.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They are quite tasty, having a somewhat nutty flavor. I have a friend who made "chips" from them by slicing them thin and cooking them in the oven at 450 degrees. I've not tried this, but that is on my to-do list. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280146846983854700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-75177414910364651072018-11-30T16:27:00.000-06:002018-11-30T16:27:45.829-06:00New Garden Spot<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I ended last my post about our new house with the following picture and a promise to update you on our new garden.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjU5Wp2pl6QFwKSPn33m-LMnS8m-eQzqlwJ3OcNlVXMfNPQJDAXk9uatvdNwIIiF_BSBXDTZzsyPDwnFeXFPjKzP0v5kL2nqYMwLHPfqDmuNsL53O4tX8g7A5vNnpdx9sc51RT4iC2uo8/s1600/IMG_6699.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjU5Wp2pl6QFwKSPn33m-LMnS8m-eQzqlwJ3OcNlVXMfNPQJDAXk9uatvdNwIIiF_BSBXDTZzsyPDwnFeXFPjKzP0v5kL2nqYMwLHPfqDmuNsL53O4tX8g7A5vNnpdx9sc51RT4iC2uo8/s640/IMG_6699.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the things I love are the paved walkways between the beds. We had enough paving stones for a couple of walkways.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevkM0lQV-q8PpRnJ-UgqqAS6mPGFwe4eMhlT0UM-K6JVrprDv9anFdXCJJ2X7QcsRd0dBAYbwhlp-hjAQk6xvQTywWfqyWTuLDT8eaDmoNoemkBQhhr80xVKkq5OOjPYynltss4BtArc/s1600/IMG_6718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevkM0lQV-q8PpRnJ-UgqqAS6mPGFwe4eMhlT0UM-K6JVrprDv9anFdXCJJ2X7QcsRd0dBAYbwhlp-hjAQk6xvQTywWfqyWTuLDT8eaDmoNoemkBQhhr80xVKkq5OOjPYynltss4BtArc/s640/IMG_6718.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, we used bricks left over from the house for others.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcd2jYQ6GhU8Cez4A-HVJEJiw0aA30Kh7PTAQQgJIDaWC20gtwBvGtINpchUodqN9NekBnd9jGc-_LXxv31iPU7mkiAtTjBnMCFtuomEjxN5_bttmFFy7gWng1quQVcWmwtm9DJ8wVhJo/s1600/IMG_6726.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcd2jYQ6GhU8Cez4A-HVJEJiw0aA30Kh7PTAQQgJIDaWC20gtwBvGtINpchUodqN9NekBnd9jGc-_LXxv31iPU7mkiAtTjBnMCFtuomEjxN5_bttmFFy7gWng1quQVcWmwtm9DJ8wVhJo/s640/IMG_6726.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The raised beds we built are taller than the ones we had before. These make weeding so much easier. This one contains carrots which have done very well this fall. We've had several nights with temperatures in the teens, but the carrots have not been hurt.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1IfwLsDFbAtVRv-YfY4eacVE__qcJGFpl9WxiPbhbe8-131PvaBMq5BGVMXtnYYKIO_QNY5SRoAuqTf4CkvXld1dv9EOu0AuDaZo0wTplpN0FdhdZBSxYf3c792ZO9t5P-tF0EcwCX8/s1600/IMG_6697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1IfwLsDFbAtVRv-YfY4eacVE__qcJGFpl9WxiPbhbe8-131PvaBMq5BGVMXtnYYKIO_QNY5SRoAuqTf4CkvXld1dv9EOu0AuDaZo0wTplpN0FdhdZBSxYf3c792ZO9t5P-tF0EcwCX8/s640/IMG_6697.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another of these beds contains lettuce which has done great. The tops of some of the plants did get nipped by the cold weather, but not too badly.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5So9S361X-gju7Y1QOYJH7vAr2ATXBPx0ZXeRrGxIu9_h3aO8012VvPr5XpCuskq1Jsi7Q_17gDgcy9PabCTkOowGpnVTzocRHdQx2uNX9TZtuq3SfQbcwlX2txG5pqesz5ivXxuZss/s1600/IMG_6717.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5So9S361X-gju7Y1QOYJH7vAr2ATXBPx0ZXeRrGxIu9_h3aO8012VvPr5XpCuskq1Jsi7Q_17gDgcy9PabCTkOowGpnVTzocRHdQx2uNX9TZtuq3SfQbcwlX2txG5pqesz5ivXxuZss/s640/IMG_6717.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This bed is only 2 concrete blocks tall. Nothing was planted (intentionally) in it, but we used some of soil from the garden at the old house in this bed and we have a bumper crop of cilantro! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB0rnPq_P3Y_AI-mIC72jfuzuDJtG4-j0PEGJOleFCmFUUBvvO0Km21T6Eo1eWFJb63izGCGRhtPnvNVGflcYTKXPcLWT5vDMnTvyBQFVuYA3AZOwoHo4rufxawrkPSfXgRM96DhwtyjQ/s1600/IMG_6701.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB0rnPq_P3Y_AI-mIC72jfuzuDJtG4-j0PEGJOleFCmFUUBvvO0Km21T6Eo1eWFJb63izGCGRhtPnvNVGflcYTKXPcLWT5vDMnTvyBQFVuYA3AZOwoHo4rufxawrkPSfXgRM96DhwtyjQ/s640/IMG_6701.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We moved our cattle supplement tubs from our old house and will be using them this spring. You may remember in the past, I wrote a couple of posts about using them in our backyard garden.</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2017/05/cattle-tub-garden-update.html">Cattle Tub Garden</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDE-CjFsFKN2hD0ivFfhtwKPrJasBVTSPmZN25Tq7jBzKNZA-WuB0_Fe-nXCK4-H4rKvJJoTf36w-a9GDMN_Zs7p0t9M8vzkL0b_3Hb7JafsHHYAUu02nJptMcKjXDxkOvPOEUCyW2Wp4/s1600/IMG_6700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDE-CjFsFKN2hD0ivFfhtwKPrJasBVTSPmZN25Tq7jBzKNZA-WuB0_Fe-nXCK4-H4rKvJJoTf36w-a9GDMN_Zs7p0t9M8vzkL0b_3Hb7JafsHHYAUu02nJptMcKjXDxkOvPOEUCyW2Wp4/s640/IMG_6700.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We took down our large hoop house (high tunnel) when we moved and have yet to decide whether we want to put it back up. We are looking at the possibility of selling it. However, we have built a small one.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc4X1fddr66MWq-8LfxcFzX8wKDxuoDM6WI8LDlcde1PZ_uXRnziuLjQrgMDSSZWXq_WSgQg-V5lWMx-jkcuby95SFznvEsGIW6wBPZnAFAbPRm0vJCex2I7Ix-8ki46nWxT9TtW4MUPk/s1600/IMG_6703.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc4X1fddr66MWq-8LfxcFzX8wKDxuoDM6WI8LDlcde1PZ_uXRnziuLjQrgMDSSZWXq_WSgQg-V5lWMx-jkcuby95SFznvEsGIW6wBPZnAFAbPRm0vJCex2I7Ix-8ki46nWxT9TtW4MUPk/s640/IMG_6703.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We planted peas in it, along with a few onions and a couple of rows of lettuce.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicovta0934BHNa2AkSAL27lYNA6whvcO7XnfA_jHt8a1p0Lh2yzA1dAWamB7r4ZZBbMEaXzKwwVIUUGOxD93xTBcde-X-eSt-bI_TKn3u6JkawBih0aNAhu-LnNqbgZEuGAi8p7gqBlE/s1600/IMG_6729.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicovta0934BHNa2AkSAL27lYNA6whvcO7XnfA_jHt8a1p0Lh2yzA1dAWamB7r4ZZBbMEaXzKwwVIUUGOxD93xTBcde-X-eSt-bI_TKn3u6JkawBih0aNAhu-LnNqbgZEuGAi8p7gqBlE/s640/IMG_6729.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are experimenting with how we can make the most of gardening in this small area. I'm sure we have a learning curve ahead of us. But, I think this is going to be just right for our new "down-sized" life. We still have a larger "in-ground" area for things like corn, tomatoes, okra and peppers. However, we do not plan to continue gardening on a large farmers market scale, like we used to. </span>Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280146846983854700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-67494614137133177682018-11-17T17:18:00.000-06:002018-11-17T17:18:47.386-06:00New House and Garden<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been several months since I updated this blog. In March, we divided 2 acres off from our property and started building a house. We were getting to the age where navigating the stairs in the old house just didn't feel safe anymore. The house plan we chose was a small one-story 1500 sq ft plan. We asked the builder to make it handicapped accessible. This included wide doorways and a walk-in shower. We had a lot of rain this spring and summer, so it took longer than expected to build it. However, it was worth the wait. We are now moved in and settled. Here's a picture of the house.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ8awAcqID2Pn9HJ4I76AiyVd_d8ryr-FctWal5ddO6xbYoHiXuOf0cObq7txjZ3QlQx7OS30QOgBaWaSm3BEGHB9jxDgzJHz387kgTACtbj4EBqOl69PM3q00DWZSySpufP68Kmce_xg/s1600/IMG_6710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ8awAcqID2Pn9HJ4I76AiyVd_d8ryr-FctWal5ddO6xbYoHiXuOf0cObq7txjZ3QlQx7OS30QOgBaWaSm3BEGHB9jxDgzJHz387kgTACtbj4EBqOl69PM3q00DWZSySpufP68Kmce_xg/s640/IMG_6710.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the features I love about this house is the breezeway which separates the attached garage from the living part of the house. We have moved our recycling containers and a potting bench into the breezeway. We also park the Gator there. The garage is over-sized, so there is room for both vehicles, along with an extra refrigerator and a workbench for whatever farm projects we have.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may be wondering what we did with the rest of the farm. We sold it along with the house and outbuildings to our daughter and son-in-law. It puts him much closer to his work. So, it worked out well for all of us. The two acres we kept has plenty of room for a big garden, our chickens and raised beds. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The biggest reason I didn't write anything for the blog during this period of time is we lived in an RV for 4 months while the house was being built. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3UlLDS7D3kFC8urVXTTu1BdoX37izLdQnQSJfPL-pz7tXNgwOtXxTtu-SqyDM-HKNwZCsoOQpDvCRN4EGioJURogHJwXWk73tIJyL6rDswMBdFjW_ViQX20W3AhGM48zprUaBlf3SE_g/s1600/RV.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3UlLDS7D3kFC8urVXTTu1BdoX37izLdQnQSJfPL-pz7tXNgwOtXxTtu-SqyDM-HKNwZCsoOQpDvCRN4EGioJURogHJwXWk73tIJyL6rDswMBdFjW_ViQX20W3AhGM48zprUaBlf3SE_g/s640/RV.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It wasn't easy with the two of us, a dog and cat, but we survived. The RV is 20 something years old, but is in good shape and we got a really good deal on it. The best thing about the experience was we parked it in the back yard and could check on the new house progress everyday. We got to know most of the workers and gave them extra produce and tomato plants. In turn, they built us a deck for the RV out of scrap lumber. We do not plan to use the RV anymore. It runs well, but we are not comfortable with driving it. So, we are looking for a buyer. If you know of anyone who would be interested, please contact us via the blog. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I spent most of the summer inside the RV trying to keep up with the garden produce in the small kitchen, Hubby was busy getting the chickens moved and building some new raised beds. I'll write more on these topics later, but I want to share a little about the raised beds he built. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_5J1jThqwJdj1nxnuNd9zF2Dmkjeloesl3_ilbmFN6MqGgCnEgNNGLjxEJ6LMrM0LMXtYxUpnFxWCXM_Ruas362il-p7kNdQweFyjGHEVtrMP-J6uGnXnvmn2FnVSFNPgJ8XWf1IMwE/s1600/IMG_6699.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_5J1jThqwJdj1nxnuNd9zF2Dmkjeloesl3_ilbmFN6MqGgCnEgNNGLjxEJ6LMrM0LMXtYxUpnFxWCXM_Ruas362il-p7kNdQweFyjGHEVtrMP-J6uGnXnvmn2FnVSFNPgJ8XWf1IMwE/s640/IMG_6699.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you can see, he made them 3 concrete blocks tall. It was amazing how many concrete blocks we had when he disassembled the old beds and collected others we had laying around here and there! He also put paving stones around them to help keep Bermuda grass out and it is nice to have paved walkways between them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also have plenty of room for an in-ground garden, as well.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7oxGrFhHh-ib6cuTCd_LbU_ConW7M0N4jSM8RnAwID9iBtC6ND8YrWBxdCRgHILOXzfpZtl7NjOQo1yDvvsR7ho8q4sdhZ4lG3BnzU-F3TPw7YMrqCO_SXI0G5F9_eSw32GEkaPJsmM/s1600/IMG_6708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7oxGrFhHh-ib6cuTCd_LbU_ConW7M0N4jSM8RnAwID9iBtC6ND8YrWBxdCRgHILOXzfpZtl7NjOQo1yDvvsR7ho8q4sdhZ4lG3BnzU-F3TPw7YMrqCO_SXI0G5F9_eSw32GEkaPJsmM/s640/IMG_6708.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll write more in the next few weeks about our new scaled-down life. But, for the time being, I just wanted to give you a summary of the last few months and to let you know we are still alive! </span></div>
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Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280146846983854700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-45544171298944428832018-04-15T16:53:00.001-05:002018-04-27T23:34:07.257-05:00Tomato Varieties for 2018<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "comic sans ms"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Windy Acres Tomato Varieties for 2018</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: comic sans ms;">$2 each at Farm, $3 each at Market</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Homestead
(Red)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Heirloom. </span><span style="color: #504c4b; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">80 days. Open Pollinated. Produces good yields of 8 to 9 oz red
tomatoes. They are very sweet, meaty, juicy, and flavorful. Good foliage that
protects tomatoes from sun scald. Does extremely well in hot and humid regions.
Known for its reliability to set fruit at high temperatures. Heat tolerant.
Plant requires support, either staking or cages. Developed by the University of
Florida in 1954. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: #504c4b; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Disease
Resistant: F, A. Semi-Determinate.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Rutgers
(Red)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Heirloom. 73
days. Open Pollinated. Early maturing. Produces
high yields of 6 to 12 oz bright red tomatoes. Sweet and flavorful. A cross
between a J.T.D. (an old New Jersey variety from the Campbell Soup Company) and
a Marglobe. Crack resistant. Heirloom variety developed in 1934 by the New
Jersey Experimental Station, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Disease Resistant: V, F, A, St. Determinate.</span><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Cherokee
Purple (Purplish-pink)</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Heirloom. </span><span style="color: #504c4b; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">85 days. Open Pollinated. Plant produces high yields of 8 to 12
oz purplish-pink beefsteak tomatoes. Rich old-fashioned tomato flavor. Consistently
ranks very high in taste tests. One of
the best tasting heirloom tomatoes. To maximize yield potential, either stake
or use cages. Grown over 100 years ago by the Cherokee Indians. Indeterminate. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Arkansas
Traveler (Pink)</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Heirloom. 8</span><span style="color: #504c4b; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">5 days. Open Pollinated. Produces good yields of 6 to 8 oz deep
pink tomatoes. Grows well everywhere. Rich
old-fashioned tomato flavor and is considered to be one of the best tasting
tomato around. Tolerant to heat and humidity. Crack resistant. Heirloom variety dating back to the late
1800's from the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. Indeterminate.</span><span style="color: #504c4b; font-family: "proxima-nova" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Virginia
Sweet (Bi-colored yellow/red)</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Heirloom. </span><span style="color: #504c4b; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">80
days. Open Pollinated. Plant produces
high yields of 1 to 2 lb bi-colored golden yellow beefsteak tomatoes with red
stripes that turn into a ruby blush on top. It has the rich full tomato flavor.
One of the best tasting, most beautiful, and best producing bi-colored
tomatoes. Excellent choice for home gardens. Heirloom variety from Virginia.
Indeterminate.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Black
Krim (Dark mahogany, blackish-red)</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Heirloom. </span><span style="color: #504c4b; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">80 days. Open Pollinated. Produces high
yields of 10 to 16 oz dark mahogany, blackish-red beefsteak tomatoes. Has rich
old-fashioned tomato flavor. Very sweet, juicy, and flavorful. Heat tolerant.
Suitable for containers and patio gardening. Heirloom from the Black Sea region
of Russia. Indeterminate.</span><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Kellogg
Breakfast (Yellow/Orange)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Heirloom. </span><span style="color: #504c4b; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">85 days.
Open Pollinated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Produces excellent
yields of 1 to 2 lb bright orange beefsteak tomatoes. Very sweet, meaty, juicy,
and flavorful. Heirloom variety from Darrell Kellogg and originating from West
Virginia. Indeterminate.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923159674665009563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-15146792408814814832018-04-09T21:33:00.002-05:002018-04-09T21:33:34.033-05:00Planting Strawberries<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you follow my blog, you know that last year I tried growing strawberries in some cattle supplement tubs we obtained from a friend. They flourished in the tubs and this spring I thinned them rather drastically. I wrote about that in my blog last month. Today, I want to show you what I did with the plants I that I thinned.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my raised bed garden, I had a empty bed in which I had grown cilantro last spring. The cilantro went to seed and died during the summer. And, I didn't get around to planting anything else in the bed. I thought this would make a good bed for strawberries, so a couple of weeks ago I cleaned it out and worked the ground up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had quite a few strawberry plants from thinning the cattle tubs, more than I could plant in this one bed.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The important thing to remember when planting strawberries is to <u>not</u> plant the crown of the plant too deeply. In the picture below, the part of the plant above my thumb should be above the soil level. This is the crown of the plant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It didn't take long to dig a few holes and get the plants in the ground. I spaced the plants about 12-16 inches apart. As they become established, they will send out runners which will root and make new plants. So, you want to leave enough room for the runners.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn't remember until afterwards that I had to do something to keep the chickens from getting in the bed and digging the plants up! It is funny, but they will be completely uninterested in a garden bed until they notice me digging in it. This acts as a magnet for them and they can't resist scratching in a bed where they see the soil has been recently disturbed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See what I mean. Fortunately, I found a cattle panel that fit over the bed just before this hen came to investigate. The grid is too small for her to scratch much. Plus, it is not evident from this picture, but the panel is raised about an inch off the ground.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That didn't stop her from walking across the bed trying to figure out how she could manage to scratch between those wires in that nice soil.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI1nlu2TirR48KLIjLpyR0PqQ4bTZDUFERumJjVjAMV9UqSzFYFvIuEvu5BWP8ATp6qj55q3HZID6lsTVGBhnDiesHXDjR6cKbV52EmEzCSmFIknMQ4nedq4nLCnQo9EqJFRw7o9l9cmI/s1600/IMG_5212.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI1nlu2TirR48KLIjLpyR0PqQ4bTZDUFERumJjVjAMV9UqSzFYFvIuEvu5BWP8ATp6qj55q3HZID6lsTVGBhnDiesHXDjR6cKbV52EmEzCSmFIknMQ4nedq4nLCnQo9EqJFRw7o9l9cmI/s400/IMG_5212.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKzWnLbfV_StSxsTU1CW2_ZK_bLexEL282IXgGf3QFWkuwGY5vPpIemwq-RF7r7gi3OTXdmn9GQxONZcwcjX-4S-JbXTl_HYDoOHb2lIrK17Opi5k027Vw0fveJPOfv3PGQEwQ2ACgYRk/s1600/IMG_5213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKzWnLbfV_StSxsTU1CW2_ZK_bLexEL282IXgGf3QFWkuwGY5vPpIemwq-RF7r7gi3OTXdmn9GQxONZcwcjX-4S-JbXTl_HYDoOHb2lIrK17Opi5k027Vw0fveJPOfv3PGQEwQ2ACgYRk/s400/IMG_5213.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the end, she lost interest and went elsewhere. However, when these strawberries bloom and set fruit, I will have to come up with a better way to keep them out of the bed because this will definitely not keep them from eating those nice red berries. </span></div>
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Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923159674665009563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-80762127810235157032018-03-17T17:42:00.002-05:002018-03-17T17:42:44.190-05:00Thinning Strawberries<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last year I planted some strawberries in three of the cattle supplement tubs that we got from a friend. The following link contains a picture of one tub of strawberries in May of last year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2017/05/cattle-tub-garden-update.html" target="_blank">Cattle Tub Container Garden</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After that picture was taken, the strawberry plants in these containers went crazy, sending out runners which made lots of new plants. I was actually quite surprised by this. The tubs are black and collect a lot of heat during sunny summer days. I thought they would be too hot for strawberries, but I was wrong.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winter is almost over and we are beginning to have quite a few warm days and I decided it was time to clean out and thin my strawberries. Here's one of the strawberry tubs before I started.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK_gzonXuqgr5pQW8ME2JYJgAqWzmyKsUVzpR3ucZxxFWL0SyJIRpffru97ixSYyToo0UtB2rNWbvFXpe-IuJBnhZ9OnPjC_Qy2jaB0LfduNCgkeIcQfkgDep4gNN63rgxSiZzXDJWIUw/s1600/IMG_5192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK_gzonXuqgr5pQW8ME2JYJgAqWzmyKsUVzpR3ucZxxFWL0SyJIRpffru97ixSYyToo0UtB2rNWbvFXpe-IuJBnhZ9OnPjC_Qy2jaB0LfduNCgkeIcQfkgDep4gNN63rgxSiZzXDJWIUw/s640/IMG_5192.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you can see there are a lot of dead leaves, so I had to remove those before I could see where the strawberry plants were. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlIgPaK_KiCg48xJsypoMYSD_OkF9nybNQfNRYTwgfv49oE1CimRBoSGiAfs07rXrny48nmJ2v1w3bH97uNX96W2bq_i3MtSPydd9QVMHHx_zzC4uDqD3v8H2Hgwt0TZANvU2XQ3QYyWY/s1600/IMG_5193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlIgPaK_KiCg48xJsypoMYSD_OkF9nybNQfNRYTwgfv49oE1CimRBoSGiAfs07rXrny48nmJ2v1w3bH97uNX96W2bq_i3MtSPydd9QVMHHx_zzC4uDqD3v8H2Hgwt0TZANvU2XQ3QYyWY/s640/IMG_5193.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next, I selected certain plants that I dug up. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You have to practice "tough love" when thinning strawberries. Sometimes that means getting pretty rough with them. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I removed the big clump in the middle. It took some digging and hard pulling to get it out.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCBFHbFKl2gKGLmIMQn3bWhZ5hnrKWsBcX75A8LkjGTm2WgKu64EQQVfbGniFaSTY1MUpHVeiGTwQ-UG8wnuYRzbbpy20edxEICvQMFAJygPXnQZJnGJaM9i-ig3HOUrKvx77p_XuEHRI/s1600/IMG_5194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCBFHbFKl2gKGLmIMQn3bWhZ5hnrKWsBcX75A8LkjGTm2WgKu64EQQVfbGniFaSTY1MUpHVeiGTwQ-UG8wnuYRzbbpy20edxEICvQMFAJygPXnQZJnGJaM9i-ig3HOUrKvx77p_XuEHRI/s640/IMG_5194.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It consisted of several plants crowded close together. I saved these to plant somewhere else.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZaAqPftaPTnFzquHOGJm8ftzjbzfr3S8BOY2B48WKwRsprCnKygluIQyf6HqdGEJBWANEbqbO_0VfcmVieeKT7bPqKqXF9OanCXmitof9vuE5EIuzbjPKZCscT1fp1bSRsdctaHjO6o/s1600/IMG_5195.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZaAqPftaPTnFzquHOGJm8ftzjbzfr3S8BOY2B48WKwRsprCnKygluIQyf6HqdGEJBWANEbqbO_0VfcmVieeKT7bPqKqXF9OanCXmitof9vuE5EIuzbjPKZCscT1fp1bSRsdctaHjO6o/s320/IMG_5195.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I tried to leave plenty of room between the remaining plants in order for them to have room to grow. Here's the tub after I finished.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF5yw7EbxZHv4mbbuMpGiq83oyhkygSwhPTS6_kfW7ZelXJnl7Z5Aa6NSnP9JTOKCgDx55TA1tCWQMb-q6dl_OskXhcaoXHmHAH48RcmS15KUQ-7gz7qI_cS_rUVQ4IDVdjR2LTc3rFdA/s1600/IMG_5197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF5yw7EbxZHv4mbbuMpGiq83oyhkygSwhPTS6_kfW7ZelXJnl7Z5Aa6NSnP9JTOKCgDx55TA1tCWQMb-q6dl_OskXhcaoXHmHAH48RcmS15KUQ-7gz7qI_cS_rUVQ4IDVdjR2LTc3rFdA/s640/IMG_5197.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After I thinning all three tubs, I had almost a whole Walmart bag full of plants that I will give away or plant elsewhere. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My work was made a lot easier by this garden bench. It is just the right height to use with the tubs. You can also turn it over and use it to kneel on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, one spring chore is completed, but I have a lot more to go. Wish me luck!</span>Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923159674665009563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-88962639176613267842018-03-09T21:26:00.000-06:002018-03-09T21:26:30.137-06:00Spring Planting<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's still rather early to plant summer yielding vegetables, but for cool season crops, like onions and potatoes, it is the perfect time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last week Tom planted onions. He usually buys onion plants. These come in bundles and can be obtained at many grocery stores, although he bought these from our local farm store. He bought 5 bundles that included sweet onions and red onions. He also bought 3 kinds of seed potatoes: Kennebec, Yukon Gold and Red LaSota. He spent an afternoon planting these. They sure look tiny in the field, but they will grow big and round in our compost enhanced soil.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I was down there taking pictures of the onions, I checked out the garlic we planted last fall. In Oklahoma, you plant garlic in the fall and harvest it in June. We mulch it with leaves for winter protection. It's looking good. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kbtI0tR9YhOkpn881qGXgigZlmtUH9M0rmv3h1JiZGkTxnB359tc5KGEj3jPJC7DPJl7N9qof7iJ0akjSpocjiVpNFs3NSOI1cWAm50w88WhLB_Uh3F8vdoFPQdSOleqs7fIwsnabiU/s1600/IMG_5165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kbtI0tR9YhOkpn881qGXgigZlmtUH9M0rmv3h1JiZGkTxnB359tc5KGEj3jPJC7DPJl7N9qof7iJ0akjSpocjiVpNFs3NSOI1cWAm50w88WhLB_Uh3F8vdoFPQdSOleqs7fIwsnabiU/s640/IMG_5165.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tom had just finished planting potatoes when I was out there taking pictures. Here he is mulching them with leaves. Note the black trash bags full of leaves in the background. These are some of the ones he rescued from the trash trucks in town last fall. We use them for mulching the garden, as well as adding them to our compost piles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our chickens saw him out in the field and thought they would come see if they could help. Actually, they were looking for bugs and whatever goodies they could find in the freshly tilled soil.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After they grew tired of that, they checked out the new compost pile and found that much more interesting.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj040PBeWKGppHo0L0zFSMiqwVxf3mw_hJ8dLIMfDjYxPtD5z418wizk_x-V505TyR-4SygkFIY4jjJ_PD0WrZcHCRjrtLD1urjBuuuVX65yPfoKbDo80oPFjCzFB1CGVk1FVDzzDczjd4/s1600/IMG_5167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj040PBeWKGppHo0L0zFSMiqwVxf3mw_hJ8dLIMfDjYxPtD5z418wizk_x-V505TyR-4SygkFIY4jjJ_PD0WrZcHCRjrtLD1urjBuuuVX65yPfoKbDo80oPFjCzFB1CGVk1FVDzzDczjd4/s640/IMG_5167.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The chicken in the foreground is scratching around in the remains of a pile of finished compost. It was several feet tall before Tom spread most of it on the onion and potato patches. There are still several buckets of compost here. I plan to use that for some of my raised beds near the house.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will not be doing as much gardening this year as we have in the past. I am having some back problems and Tom is going to have to have eye surgery. Getting older is NOT fun! Never the less, I always see us having a small garden, if only to grow herbs and a few tomatoes. </span>Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923159674665009563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-84679337853930361062018-02-04T18:20:00.001-06:002018-02-04T18:20:39.359-06:00Winter Wildlife<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I seem to have gotten lazy this winter about writing my blog articles, but there just has not been a lot to report. The winter has been much colder than last winter, so there have been very few days when we felt like going out in the cold to prepare for the coming season. Plus, it has been a very dry winter and I am very concerned that we may be headed for a repeat of 2012. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows our part of Oklahoma at the "severe drought" level. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If this weather pattern keeps up, I may dwell on this topic again in the coming months, but for now I want to share with you some of the wildlife we've captured on our wildlife cameras this winter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, we have lots of deer to report. We have the nice fellow below. Also, notice the raccoon over by the tree. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These 2 guys seem to hang out together. The one on the right has already lost one of his antlers. The one on the left has only a spike.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The younger bucks sometimes practice butting heads.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, of course, there are lots of does and yearlings that come. Many of them even come during daylight hours.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tom built the feeders attached to the tree out of PVC pipe. The deer don't mind having to stick their noses down into the opening to get at the corn.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheHXn7R6RaxONAFUev5B08VBML4V49_iOURYlB1mMv7otSCegjH8FQXqXLBsuTznpDErvbF1HB1hpOn2pjKNpAjKISCCwQ4eQURMKjdZcFepUk1t_HvUueWxms6FtN9uYceodtPAvLUGo/s1600/nose+in+feeder.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="973" data-original-width="1600" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheHXn7R6RaxONAFUev5B08VBML4V49_iOURYlB1mMv7otSCegjH8FQXqXLBsuTznpDErvbF1HB1hpOn2pjKNpAjKISCCwQ4eQURMKjdZcFepUk1t_HvUueWxms6FtN9uYceodtPAvLUGo/s640/nose+in+feeder.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Occasionally, we get a close-up view. I wonder if he was trying for a "selfie".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Squirrels are ever-present and probably eat a good deal of the deer corn, but we don't mind. They are hungry, too. There are 4 in the picture below. Can you find them all?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've been delighted this winter to have a flock of wild turkeys frequenting our place. They enjoy pecking around the deer feeder and are not shy about coming up close to the house where our bird feeders are located. They clean up whatever seed falls out of the feeders. One day a car startled them when they were in the large grassy field in front of the house. They all took flight and flew right over the house. I was amazed such large birds could fly so well. They flew quite a ways, too, over to the neighbor's property where there are more trees and brush.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgVKqhJPYEIC3cWC7LU5LjiZ-oBvsdGMxFmkrC0_6aQkX4MYT2YGfc12z_i1_yhCKFSecQxrDabbEty7dH94lyDld89oOPBZ-a18W4nSPINkIoE5WC8TlGZ3r60daq-HyOCrja6KKeLrQ/s1600/turkeys2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="973" data-original-width="1600" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgVKqhJPYEIC3cWC7LU5LjiZ-oBvsdGMxFmkrC0_6aQkX4MYT2YGfc12z_i1_yhCKFSecQxrDabbEty7dH94lyDld89oOPBZ-a18W4nSPINkIoE5WC8TlGZ3r60daq-HyOCrja6KKeLrQ/s640/turkeys2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, one of the most exciting animals we have seen has been a bobcat. He strolled right down the driveway in front of the house. We've lived here 9 years and have never seen one of these.</span></div>
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Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923159674665009563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-12627219563151769622018-01-15T15:19:00.000-06:002018-01-15T15:19:47.730-06:00Homemade Soft Butter<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my last blog entry, I showed how I make my own strawberry cream cheese. The stuff you buy at the store may contain all kinds of artificial ingredients, such as food coloring and thickening agents. If you missed it, here it is again:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2017/12/easy-strawberry-cream-cheese.html" target="_blank">Strawberry Cream Cheese</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week I'm sharing how to make your own soft butter. Here's what I used to buy at the grocery story. Unlike the strawberry cream cheese mentioned above, this only contains butter, canola oil and salt. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to use this kind of butter for several reasons. First, it spreads easier than plain butter and, second, half</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the butter fat is replaced by canola oil which is healthier. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is rather expensive, though, and I wondered if I could make the same thing at home cheaper. Searching the internet I found several recipes and, with a little experimentation, came up with what I think is just as good. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You need one stick of butter and a half cup of canola oil. You can double these amounts to make a larger quantity. You can also use olive oil instead of canola oil</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Soften the butter and chunk it up in a container of some sort. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add the oil and mix it up with a hand mixer or an immersion blender, like this. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scoop this into a small bowl, cover tightly and store in your refrigerator. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you initially finish mixing the butter and oil, you may think it is too thin, but trust me, it will thicken up after it has been in the frig for an hour or so. Then you'll have a product that is every bit as good at the store-bought kind. See how nicely it turns out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've refined my method since if took these pictures. I realized that I could avoid messing up the mixing container by mixing the butter and oil in the container I planned to store it in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The container just needs to be deep enough to avoid having your mixer splatter it all over the kitchen! I haven't put a pencil to paper to calculate how much I am saving by making my own. But, I believe I can make this for about half of what I can buy it for. Plus, if you live in a small community that does not have recycling facilities, there is no store-bought container to send to the landfill.</span></div>
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Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923159674665009563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-4159956995729035532017-12-23T16:56:00.002-06:002017-12-23T16:56:48.869-06:00Easy Strawberry Cream Cheese<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've been a label reader for years. I normally check the ingredients on everything before I buy it. I never worried about the strawberry cream cheese because all it should contain is cream cheese and strawberries, right? </span><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nope. </span><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Silly me to trust multinational food conglomerates to have my best interests in mind. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Notice all the extra ingredients in this store-bought brand..... Xanthan gum, guar cum, carob bean gum, whey protein concentrate, whey. Then you also have color added and "natural" flavor. Good Grief!</span></h4>
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<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">I checked a block of plain cream cheese. Many fewer ingredients. I think I can probably live with Carob Bean Gum. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, I asked myself.....Why not make my own strawberry cream cheese? Here's how I did it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Put 4-5 frozen strawberries in a food processor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Give them a whirl. You may want to let them thaw just a little bit.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Add a block of softened cream cheese that has been cut into 4 pieces. You may also want to add 2-3 </span><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">tablespoons of powdered sugar, depending on the sweetness of the strawberries.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Process it until it is the consistency you like.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKM5Hcz8c1MO49CbE8GXn8og4-dZM9kfHzbnzYi6sVW1iyjX2gWzfjBXOBXvp7ku8hp3b9i67u98QvhK_axHbysRM7RA9tCfSMWQf5nqwlhpRF3QkcWX9aVn5QMOgxYAVzQOoMzrMmot0/s1600/IMG_E4898.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKM5Hcz8c1MO49CbE8GXn8og4-dZM9kfHzbnzYi6sVW1iyjX2gWzfjBXOBXvp7ku8hp3b9i67u98QvhK_axHbysRM7RA9tCfSMWQf5nqwlhpRF3QkcWX9aVn5QMOgxYAVzQOoMzrMmot0/s640/IMG_E4898.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvlEqUNmhYG28DTglYCr5pYiuGZw3s7MW2Wm4D0VkHJ4hnHtUhk5OEMGNzNrrvzcMF0YgVB4Uc5vh1j_07Nyn_Y-fI97L6fYg-96401YSiaJGVtyRzDVr0UHFaPpkTKt0dJui87Jq2utE/s1600/IMG_E4899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvlEqUNmhYG28DTglYCr5pYiuGZw3s7MW2Wm4D0VkHJ4hnHtUhk5OEMGNzNrrvzcMF0YgVB4Uc5vh1j_07Nyn_Y-fI97L6fYg-96401YSiaJGVtyRzDVr0UHFaPpkTKt0dJui87Jq2utE/s640/IMG_E4899.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is so much better tasting than the store-bought kind. One bag of frozen strawberries makes several batches. Come to think about it, I have never checked the ingredients on frozen strawberries. Surely they only contain strawberries? Sigh. I better go check.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923159674665009563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-2716329707836647752017-12-08T12:35:00.000-06:002017-12-08T12:35:39.246-06:00Winter Walk and Frost Flowers<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winter has finally arrived. Last night it was in the teens and today the high temp is supposed to be in the 40s. However, that did not keep Sally and I from going on our morning walk. This is Sally.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsoHNNtK72bM90Tp8quJuNj97v3j6D9t3K1pDGbKqSjivqKzgw1TT2jX0WvAy0tIlKpuYOpmlepSRcyd162GzFMjUSA-CpBVdwau817HcdqSurzH3dccNIkGzb_fBJkPdidJ5UDEG65Q/s1600/IMG_4598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsoHNNtK72bM90Tp8quJuNj97v3j6D9t3K1pDGbKqSjivqKzgw1TT2jX0WvAy0tIlKpuYOpmlepSRcyd162GzFMjUSA-CpBVdwau817HcdqSurzH3dccNIkGzb_fBJkPdidJ5UDEG65Q/s640/IMG_4598.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She is patiently waiting for me to get my shoes on. Once that is accomplished, we are off. We usually head out to the road through our front meadow. We mow this 2-3 times a year, but always leave clumps of grasses to add interest in the fall and winter when the wildflowers are not in bloom.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsjfmzsavHLW25w7tVLPB98irv5vsOgcJgz3Dr-YP9rPSQZhOEEOOmI4sIhhTwft0SF_qFD0Q2LUwRvxgczRIjJxVbeeqOeT8otI2E0h95pvNSo7LdKb1GksbG3SoOUQr3lyj-PcFc0uI/s1600/IMG_4698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsjfmzsavHLW25w7tVLPB98irv5vsOgcJgz3Dr-YP9rPSQZhOEEOOmI4sIhhTwft0SF_qFD0Q2LUwRvxgczRIjJxVbeeqOeT8otI2E0h95pvNSo7LdKb1GksbG3SoOUQr3lyj-PcFc0uI/s640/IMG_4698.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cat usually tags along, as well.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMTy71XZwOuAp8wFXyL8RJk-ZEuAw-3jvZn53JDgzpaULlAthosaSRwX2k_U5wumTh5JRpSrrWWIc39ICvNUQRi76Ch-6Ng2Ovo8BC-UEOrLYD3HQLg2MLASZZ7er-DbKJt2NMILLk-vI/s1600/IMG_4780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMTy71XZwOuAp8wFXyL8RJk-ZEuAw-3jvZn53JDgzpaULlAthosaSRwX2k_U5wumTh5JRpSrrWWIc39ICvNUQRi76Ch-6Ng2Ovo8BC-UEOrLYD3HQLg2MLASZZ7er-DbKJt2NMILLk-vI/s640/IMG_4780.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This morning the grass was frosty and we could see some deer trails through the frost.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ZLV1E9SHh7CafxBFfpe1p1XztS28g_XWdSCLh_GA90OdSdSg_RQyQtbatZd377oKFQBtRPkjWBSBYwxTUEwvnnKS91T0qoY2SKZ7CAoLsqk2JQ8d5F7RaGrLnbpGXvSRVrl98RjQRhU/s1600/IMG_4784.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ZLV1E9SHh7CafxBFfpe1p1XztS28g_XWdSCLh_GA90OdSdSg_RQyQtbatZd377oKFQBtRPkjWBSBYwxTUEwvnnKS91T0qoY2SKZ7CAoLsqk2JQ8d5F7RaGrLnbpGXvSRVrl98RjQRhU/s640/IMG_4784.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also noticed some small icy clumps in the grass. I've learned these are called "frost flowers".</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvVZUxdQR8deMDmg2g_d0NUAXBLDl88G_A1Aa-rygmirWrB3dd2yOBrF_4ovRENrJNalprMMgUHNTvMLJ_YQQv3nzU8ppuCqvhhVQDu3XnDbuyItajLhomRo8hXClq_wxJP8dIXy80Iw/s1600/IMG_4790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvVZUxdQR8deMDmg2g_d0NUAXBLDl88G_A1Aa-rygmirWrB3dd2yOBrF_4ovRENrJNalprMMgUHNTvMLJ_YQQv3nzU8ppuCqvhhVQDu3XnDbuyItajLhomRo8hXClq_wxJP8dIXy80Iw/s640/IMG_4790.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a closer look at one.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbzzE3FPOhD7S-VOpuGOQwnkZIEeVwN7s_LeocLhPirdKFErluFH_U3Kj2Ia3XB8clhwmX9OaP27KLK7iO5kO45jMzG3zAMky5CKVp3Hr5i-zcFUzCVv14sfzh5FRKXGmv_EOTxB-Hxs/s1600/IMG_4783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbzzE3FPOhD7S-VOpuGOQwnkZIEeVwN7s_LeocLhPirdKFErluFH_U3Kj2Ia3XB8clhwmX9OaP27KLK7iO5kO45jMzG3zAMky5CKVp3Hr5i-zcFUzCVv14sfzh5FRKXGmv_EOTxB-Hxs/s640/IMG_4783.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes these form into "ribbons" and are really beautiful, like this one.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zoPuv7L_Ttxs0sIIa9s-JXf5mXNdzaPVief_pXEpyn0DwqkzHkW2daz9xl3S-PRnNAW5-PfmKuOElEwKPQ8lrh00i77Doo0Eu71KlFgKXRLA75ysXqybC-iaJ_K-bNzQtVEbGizO7nU/s1600/frost+ribbon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zoPuv7L_Ttxs0sIIa9s-JXf5mXNdzaPVief_pXEpyn0DwqkzHkW2daz9xl3S-PRnNAW5-PfmKuOElEwKPQ8lrh00i77Doo0Eu71KlFgKXRLA75ysXqybC-iaJ_K-bNzQtVEbGizO7nU/s640/frost+ribbon.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a row of cedar trees across the road from us. The female trees have berries, like those below, which are a dusty blue color. Beautiful!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoSVj8H0DOXQHIeOJOS_p1o65Uof47uUilMVkP95EJVj5YzkblmbDUxBftU4lqstwCcN_QxFBKRuvapv50sdwxfYgalCJiO7V1Y-bif2bSjZdUCzK9ad3w5ZGMsHvCc0p6Vow9o3Mvd8/s1600/IMG_4788.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoSVj8H0DOXQHIeOJOS_p1o65Uof47uUilMVkP95EJVj5YzkblmbDUxBftU4lqstwCcN_QxFBKRuvapv50sdwxfYgalCJiO7V1Y-bif2bSjZdUCzK9ad3w5ZGMsHvCc0p6Vow9o3Mvd8/s640/IMG_4788.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, I love this picture I took a while back of the road that goes by our place.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5tk-wPC5FGyDAKuzOLKjnrPAGcW_-DaLBWe8HkNVviJDgF3YcBDcE4AifbxXjmKB1vZGKBAJ0FxskC7D5eSZc55rQAaeT6Rx3dw24X6zX1wqWU73dYao1ZBfnTCoddYUTQcet9HQRt1g/s1600/IMG_4700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5tk-wPC5FGyDAKuzOLKjnrPAGcW_-DaLBWe8HkNVviJDgF3YcBDcE4AifbxXjmKB1vZGKBAJ0FxskC7D5eSZc55rQAaeT6Rx3dw24X6zX1wqWU73dYao1ZBfnTCoddYUTQcet9HQRt1g/s640/IMG_4700.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It reminds me of the old John Denver song, <i>Take me Home Country Road.</i> </span>Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923159674665009563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-85345521474179244232017-11-06T14:36:00.002-06:002017-11-06T14:36:35.710-06:00After the Frost<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had our first killing frost about a week ago. That doesn't mean all plants were killed. There are plenty of things that are still going strong. The pictures below show some of them.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3yVZCVfWxIh68xYVtSLtipCzoC1JyMjY2GTNCWYYZeXu42bRGFnYm1Nv9M0a7rilm2v8Lpii0D6CzzaLzDqZ8xO5aUULdEAZZSPK3Fzrpq_RJdfNM8Db97VDy1oM5Mkx-DwBTQYRGd0c/s1600/IMG_4677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3yVZCVfWxIh68xYVtSLtipCzoC1JyMjY2GTNCWYYZeXu42bRGFnYm1Nv9M0a7rilm2v8Lpii0D6CzzaLzDqZ8xO5aUULdEAZZSPK3Fzrpq_RJdfNM8Db97VDy1oM5Mkx-DwBTQYRGd0c/s640/IMG_4677.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sage (back) and rosemary (front) that I planted in the cattle tubs did fabulously this summer and were not damaged by the frost. (See my blogs on our cattle tub garden: <a href="http://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2016/08/cattle-tub-container-garden.html" target="_blank">Cattle Tub Container Garden</a> and <a href="http://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2017/05/cattle-tub-garden-update.html" target="_blank">Cattle Tub Update</a> )</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2a_7VUJh99U3iiNPDfOK4Y9D_vY6x0BqR1uTAAIu_IZlAW1k6oD79LOoETlL0_gfOuRIkrsp53jtBNjTHOegV4rewaZ8YDetn7Af5t5KCZ4-rJJ3QvFSlNmvN6L0b0zB4L3a4RkvE0I/s1600/IMG_4666.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2a_7VUJh99U3iiNPDfOK4Y9D_vY6x0BqR1uTAAIu_IZlAW1k6oD79LOoETlL0_gfOuRIkrsp53jtBNjTHOegV4rewaZ8YDetn7Af5t5KCZ4-rJJ3QvFSlNmvN6L0b0zB4L3a4RkvE0I/s640/IMG_4666.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The pots of plants on our south porch are still looking good. In the foreground are tarragon and parsley. I grew these in fabric bags made especially for plants. I bought these several years ago and they work really well. I may move these into the greenhouse when the temperatures get really cold. Behind these are some petunias that are still happy. On a the colder nights, I move them close to the wall of the house and, so far, they have yet to freeze.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPe30LKA9mLcwBQlhIiTAJdX99bx4Ub9Ka02gFXrWQ5Oqg-QqhRyK5Y-gWeB2vAfqhE0UYSRwT132O022dmpaX-70fjFzf44zO3GRdRq1c344d1e5_rp2-E1bQ2DdtnT8mxw4YFbUrbHs/s1600/IMG_4668.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPe30LKA9mLcwBQlhIiTAJdX99bx4Ub9Ka02gFXrWQ5Oqg-QqhRyK5Y-gWeB2vAfqhE0UYSRwT132O022dmpaX-70fjFzf44zO3GRdRq1c344d1e5_rp2-E1bQ2DdtnT8mxw4YFbUrbHs/s640/IMG_4668.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These containers are at the corner of the greenhouse. The large one in back is a pot of thyme that I have had for several years. The pots in front used to contain petunias and basil. The petunias got too much sun this summer and didn't survive, and the basil began looking sick when the nights got cool. I pulled them out and the small fern-like plants that were left are chamomile seedlings that come up volunteer every year from the previous year's plants. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRK6Wo-SwKhPxfanNyVCV19qmLGiu1cbpKo0I9JBnXQAtBLGCZoHG1rAW4xC2nB5v9wxINqVXr32iIgqFlQXT9wxKRQ7pejUcet12bUMeaGK3TUqaiRocrkxYzK3Ts5OLmUVq_iFgMcr8/s1600/IMG_4675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRK6Wo-SwKhPxfanNyVCV19qmLGiu1cbpKo0I9JBnXQAtBLGCZoHG1rAW4xC2nB5v9wxINqVXr32iIgqFlQXT9wxKRQ7pejUcet12bUMeaGK3TUqaiRocrkxYzK3Ts5OLmUVq_iFgMcr8/s640/IMG_4675.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the garden, the comfrey looks great. Comfrey is an herb that is suppose to have medicinal properties that make it good for bruises, sprains and broken bones. I've never used it for any of those ailments, but it has beautiful flowers in the spring which makes it well worth growing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Out in the field, we've planted Austrian winter peas and oats for a cover crop. These will be tilled in next spring to provide organic matter to the soil and the peas will provide nitrogen. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The chickens have been scratching in the compost pile and have scattered it out. We need to get the tractor, scoop it back into a pile and turn it. Always something to do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">T</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he bees are settling in for the winter. The bee-keeper has been over a couple of times to check on them and make sure they have enough honey to get them through the winter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've saved the best for last. Last spring we were given some raspberry plants by some friends</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. They did well this summer and grew like mad. We are hoping to have lots of raspberries next summer. They tend to be somewhat aggressive and will root where ever they touch the ground. So, we may have twice this many by the end of next summer!</span></div>
Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923159674665009563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-67712267284851411062017-09-24T15:26:00.002-05:002017-09-24T15:26:59.648-05:00Butterfly Metamorphisis <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I enjoy growing leaf fennel because it is a beautiful plant with yellow flowers and fragrant foliage can be used in recipes. It also produces fennel seeds that I gather and use in cooking and tea during the winter. It is winter hardy and drought resistant. A great plant for flower and herb gardens.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSK-o5xZ6qr8lOrUEl0Z7EhHYXm83GOkCt6hn4s2fljN7uxqdvrkv8cfAzRTCWgEBi6bIc6uxkj1wtWZOROssJkiYqQf8R3PeQ0V9SdbNjPg-TVHD55RLwBEtq0Hm96_Hfi4Ny3BW6h4Q/s1600/fennel.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSK-o5xZ6qr8lOrUEl0Z7EhHYXm83GOkCt6hn4s2fljN7uxqdvrkv8cfAzRTCWgEBi6bIc6uxkj1wtWZOROssJkiYqQf8R3PeQ0V9SdbNjPg-TVHD55RLwBEtq0Hm96_Hfi4Ny3BW6h4Q/s640/fennel.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">A side advantage of fennel is that it attracts Black Swallowtail butterflies like this one.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyFkow_-mN6IINIiPFFrjwQqMHVfs9QyzSAsI8nrbe6wgqy0-B2cAXvf7WFCvSQF7yuIyusYmurHKgLwGnIFH604sbBGV3MBS3sXBV1gynLZpl9NkPQ1U7iHfNF_6sbnwj20JvwoRB-WU/s1600/butterfly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyFkow_-mN6IINIiPFFrjwQqMHVfs9QyzSAsI8nrbe6wgqy0-B2cAXvf7WFCvSQF7yuIyusYmurHKgLwGnIFH604sbBGV3MBS3sXBV1gynLZpl9NkPQ1U7iHfNF_6sbnwj20JvwoRB-WU/s640/butterfly.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The butterflies lay eggs on the fennel and caterpillars, like this one, hatch. They chow down on the leaves, stems and flowers, but do very little damage to the plant.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhwaBcOZdLgbGG30xOhfP2CJSmeKk322tvQ7yKj6mRlCnSb-kRDV6PQXkLtriqVuvm_O_FIdoZ1xsv4nYdBr_9MkPicKomhR2ToVi9HSsxdlXJPsKU41MOd7Xmyw22EeTtzES9LIWNOaQ/s1600/Fennel-Caterpillar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhwaBcOZdLgbGG30xOhfP2CJSmeKk322tvQ7yKj6mRlCnSb-kRDV6PQXkLtriqVuvm_O_FIdoZ1xsv4nYdBr_9MkPicKomhR2ToVi9HSsxdlXJPsKU41MOd7Xmyw22EeTtzES9LIWNOaQ/s640/Fennel-Caterpillar.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I've seen the chrysalises produced by these caterpillars, but have never caught a butterfly emerging from one of these. So, a couple of weeks ago, when I found one of these I put it in a jar where I could watch it every day and hopefully see the butterfly emerge.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVkf5S_DEfPD_PWAyuEoXFJ7IShXAIHVgx_jei49IIMoGLpoV7l-P95ZJUjSFUBWvoQjjAoEWpC32L0CqiDxF1MXhIGAA2iCcj0bhw5b9M0Xu80Ykgg0QcMNk_wnUKo30jmaZ470zcQUE/s1600/IMG_4386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVkf5S_DEfPD_PWAyuEoXFJ7IShXAIHVgx_jei49IIMoGLpoV7l-P95ZJUjSFUBWvoQjjAoEWpC32L0CqiDxF1MXhIGAA2iCcj0bhw5b9M0Xu80Ykgg0QcMNk_wnUKo30jmaZ470zcQUE/s640/IMG_4386.JPG" width="480" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is difficult to believe a butterfly could come from such a strange object! Anyway, I put this in a jar and put it on our front porch.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_NmCeovcYn8uQfsaCSKqaPX_km1NgZX82vwnzhVV3JqX21IvxXpHhepglT-Lncx7JpOoE1kVCbtaKGMv9ca_u50GZ4cwpq-kmLUYVcE7qbQtwefQJrgCmXHq03QyQ7KNBz0_Ix9zOSY4/s1600/IMG_4388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_NmCeovcYn8uQfsaCSKqaPX_km1NgZX82vwnzhVV3JqX21IvxXpHhepglT-Lncx7JpOoE1kVCbtaKGMv9ca_u50GZ4cwpq-kmLUYVcE7qbQtwefQJrgCmXHq03QyQ7KNBz0_Ix9zOSY4/s640/IMG_4388.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About a week later, I noticed the chrysalis began to darken.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi1zYUS4CiWWkUH17TjecKMsi3rMdJe9UKYM7GDLJdDsouNuTFKxua-syZByAr2eJY2h1uO5Fa5WNeu31o9zvawCPxWW0_xYkkA2O6zbo8tkvj_b5cdz688a5AuQOSwOBPrVjEMqYAK-M/s1600/IMG_4392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi1zYUS4CiWWkUH17TjecKMsi3rMdJe9UKYM7GDLJdDsouNuTFKxua-syZByAr2eJY2h1uO5Fa5WNeu31o9zvawCPxWW0_xYkkA2O6zbo8tkvj_b5cdz688a5AuQOSwOBPrVjEMqYAK-M/s640/IMG_4392.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The next day it looked like this. You can actually see the wings of the butterfly inside.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ZLRrFcqva2mYQQ2w0YDEwTOXTiCK1jgR2ISp4kFWcZ6a2j15dml-eEopw3sjxwPpvmJLkGvX9YfR0vfpC3h5PyiH1MVl5AS6JU1FI6xTbZnRfZVFBS2ZXgBjW8oPpbWthuKlyVZZpSs/s1600/IMG_4373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ZLRrFcqva2mYQQ2w0YDEwTOXTiCK1jgR2ISp4kFWcZ6a2j15dml-eEopw3sjxwPpvmJLkGvX9YfR0vfpC3h5PyiH1MVl5AS6JU1FI6xTbZnRfZVFBS2ZXgBjW8oPpbWthuKlyVZZpSs/s640/IMG_4373.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I watched if for a while, but had to go to town on an errand. About 45 minutes later when I got back, here's what I found.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVSOTDLDmWqSXX2zuVG8hO5WDzAjjzvltK0oQH11U1gHvUeoi5OO8i0widXYTA_ncR34VBQxO1tddN4_ocaAg3XFPGHhV3QvNieRLCnWYK4pzFCRkx9-bOl5G8_Tvco6iAbGKz6Ll7Oyc/s1600/IMG_4397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVSOTDLDmWqSXX2zuVG8hO5WDzAjjzvltK0oQH11U1gHvUeoi5OO8i0widXYTA_ncR34VBQxO1tddN4_ocaAg3XFPGHhV3QvNieRLCnWYK4pzFCRkx9-bOl5G8_Tvco6iAbGKz6Ll7Oyc/s640/IMG_4397.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought it would take the butterfly longer to emerge from the chrysalis than it did. I may have to try this again. I may have to carry the jar around with me if I want to witness the event! However, it is too late in the season to redo my "experiment" this year. I've not seen any of these butterflies in several days. It is the last part of September at this point and the forecast calls for much cooler weather in the next 24 hours. I'll try it again next summer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280146846983854700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382555415288144619.post-9743848343161469972017-09-07T16:48:00.000-05:002017-09-07T16:48:03.476-05:00Native Orchid<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I enjoy walking through our native prairie landscape that we have allowed to grow in an area between between our house and the road.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFMZGMsCs86T5EUJWaVkcWTV0y1uxzqjkkW3EPy0cid9714l_U-2NnlYH34VnHa3QKNhCXhLZAInC5IPoZygIUbIXQYBMwMVtmMNbeBnomrpjYZ-NPahClBNkPvxpDhXblf4NJCaNQuV0/s1600/Native+prairie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFMZGMsCs86T5EUJWaVkcWTV0y1uxzqjkkW3EPy0cid9714l_U-2NnlYH34VnHa3QKNhCXhLZAInC5IPoZygIUbIXQYBMwMVtmMNbeBnomrpjYZ-NPahClBNkPvxpDhXblf4NJCaNQuV0/s640/Native+prairie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are hundreds varieties of flowers and grasses out there. Pictured above are clumps of bluestem grass and a variety of goldenrod called "Rigid Goldenrod". But, those are not what this post is about.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of days ago I noticed these small white flowers as I was walking out there. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXdM5IZpUn53JCe3Gqyeo1cFBV1ZFW_1OPypyHIHk6HqM66srECaWBzaqaWpVaQBn9ut1nCnFm962VS2CpTQedXuRrsnQxfYSNUvPaVtG0IvkWottaiA6-GvKYd__5N8kq5J5h-Y0b3Zk/s1600/IMG_4353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXdM5IZpUn53JCe3Gqyeo1cFBV1ZFW_1OPypyHIHk6HqM66srECaWBzaqaWpVaQBn9ut1nCnFm962VS2CpTQedXuRrsnQxfYSNUvPaVtG0IvkWottaiA6-GvKYd__5N8kq5J5h-Y0b3Zk/s640/IMG_4353.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The flowers grew in a spiral design around the stem. I fell in love with the little plant and immediately started trying to identify it. I didn't have much luck on my own, so I posted a picture of it on a Facebook group called Oklahoma Native Plant Society. Someone there quickly identified it as </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a native orchid called Ladies Tresses. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a picture that shows how the flowers spiral around the stem.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ekMJcJ6SLpKpjRdwVgaRZJ7-esAG8r7oVhbEZjhMMcniCaWYgr47zs_HtPhZtnk8gt_WzkNJBLZ6VLNR4osidDpHyH-6jvkQM_C5lvH-IQd1uY1MhkWHI6akXnxmvV10d7D2Y1ZGxCE/s1600/IMG_4352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ekMJcJ6SLpKpjRdwVgaRZJ7-esAG8r7oVhbEZjhMMcniCaWYgr47zs_HtPhZtnk8gt_WzkNJBLZ6VLNR4osidDpHyH-6jvkQM_C5lvH-IQd1uY1MhkWHI6akXnxmvV10d7D2Y1ZGxCE/s640/IMG_4352.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And a closer one of the delicate little flowers.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirF-rYkFDI8__YhyphenhyphenaTl0pyejjFVJ6E1VbNi2PrjDf2wA_8b5h3fpNhiM6WZJwFUvoOGIHQVtmXR8HajDddjvguqCsPlKIj8b4lQKMJ5eZef1Biu-CXKGAY7zJ4gvG7DiC4F3jkgE1ycvY/s1600/IMG_4351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirF-rYkFDI8__YhyphenhyphenaTl0pyejjFVJ6E1VbNi2PrjDf2wA_8b5h3fpNhiM6WZJwFUvoOGIHQVtmXR8HajDddjvguqCsPlKIj8b4lQKMJ5eZef1Biu-CXKGAY7zJ4gvG7DiC4F3jkgE1ycvY/s640/IMG_4351.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The stem appears to grow right out of the ground without any leaves.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcRXU-bDr8kguoDaHA39HGylxBIQpOvUOUIY7EGyL9E1MGJtPG7Lol4n0luSN6gn7wRooM-iNJfE12tqhzNG8QnonR8kL6g71TaHBpoQ5YAZxEtxe9puALCMruxV1vdOldj9e5QZ_hh-s/s1600/IMG_4342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcRXU-bDr8kguoDaHA39HGylxBIQpOvUOUIY7EGyL9E1MGJtPG7Lol4n0luSN6gn7wRooM-iNJfE12tqhzNG8QnonR8kL6g71TaHBpoQ5YAZxEtxe9puALCMruxV1vdOldj9e5QZ_hh-s/s640/IMG_4342.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I've learned from the web is that the leaves of some varieties die before the plant flowers. So, it must have had leaves at some point. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This variety is </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Spiranthes lacera gracilis.</i> I found a lot of good information about orchids on this site: <a href="http://goorchids.northamericanorchidcenter.org/species/spiranthes/lacera/" target="_blank">North American Orchids</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm delighted to know that orchids are not limited to the ones you see in greenhouses and that I have them growing in my own yard! And to think that I've probably walked right by these little beauties many times and never noticed them! The moral of this story is "Take time to go outside everyday and notice the wonderful plants and animals all around you". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes you just need to look down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Windy Acreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00923159674665009563noreply@blogger.com0