Old Belt - New Use

As you know if you've read much of this blog, we try to live sustainably and we recycle and repurpose many things.   As a result, we like to frequent our local Habitat ReStore store.  Tom bought used shower doors and storm windows there to use as lids on our cold frames.  And, we've found a lot of used flower pots there.  I even found a nice oil painting one time!

One of the most useful items that Tom found there was a used cooler.  It is a nice size and does a great job of keeping our produce cool while we are at the Farmers' Market on Saturdays.  Here is a picture of it.

Notice that the hinge on the left looks a little funny.  Turns out there was only one thing wrong with the cooler when Tom bought it.....the left hinge was broken.   Well, Tom didn't let that deter him from buying the otherwise perfectly good cooler.  He figured he could find a way to fix it.

He brought it home and ended up cutting one of his old leather belts into strips to use as hinges and attaching them with screws like this.

We've used this cooler for several years and this hinge works just fine!  It is too bad that we live in such a "throw away" society where if something is broken, we are all too willing to throw it way before we see if it can be fixed.  Obviously, in some circles, we would be laughed at for our frugalness in using a "broken" cooler like this.  But, I am proud of Tom's creativeness in solving this problem and enjoy showing off his handiwork!

Radish Sorter

It is radish season and we have several three varieties of radishes we are growing.....Cherry Bell, French Breakfast and White Icicle.  Tom does not like to mix them up, but sorts them out into the different varieties.  This past Friday he had some help from one of our granddaughters.

They had a system worked out in doing this.  Tom would take a radish and use his clippers to clip off the leaves.

The granddaughter would then decide which pan to put it in, like this.

The ones on the right are the Cherry Bells.  The ones on the left are the French Breakfast Radishes.

Windy Acres Wildflowers

I am enjoying the wildflowers that are blooming on our acreage and have had fun trying to identify them.  I had the idea of writing a blog about them.  So, took my camera out and started taking pictures.  Before I knew it I had too many to put in a blog.  So, I have just picked some of my favorites to tell you about.

First is the Winecup Poppy.  It is a beautiful deep red/pink flower. We don't have many of these, but I wish we did.

Next, is Buffalo Burr.  Unfortunately, while the plant has these pretty yellow flowers, it also has murderous stickers and is not a desirable plant to have around.  So, I usually pull up the plants when I find them.  Interestingly enough, Buffalo Burr is a member of the "nightshade" family which is the same family potatoes are in and the flowers are similar, except potatoes have a white flower of the same size and shape.

Next, we have a type of Mallow.  Mallows are in the family Malvaceae and there are many, many different types of plants under this category.  It took me a long time scouring the internet to figure out exactly what this one was.  It has a strange name, Flower-of-an-Hour.  The flower itself looks like a small hibiscus.

Next, is yellow clover.  The flowers themselves are small, but there are a lot of them on one plant.  So, when there are several together, you see a beautiful display of yellow like that below.

Finally, we have Yarrow.  These have tiny white flowers that grow together on long stems to form what looks like one flower from a distance.  But, when you look at them closely, you can see the individual flowers.

The first year we lived here, I didn't take much notice of the wildflowers around here.  I was much too busy being overwhelmed with moving, re-establishing my herb garden, and trying to figure out how we were going to mow and take care of 5 acres. 

However, now that we have lived here over 2 years, I have learned that we don't have to keep the yard mowed and in pristine condition, like we did in town.  In fact, we have not mowed the large front area where our geothermal lines are buried (see Geothermal - Part 2, May 5, 2010) or the area to the west of our driveway this year.  And, I love the way it looks with wildflowers in some areas and patches of tall waving grass in others. In the areas that we do mow, I intentionally mow around the wildflowers.  I guess you could say I have learned to take time to "smell the wildflowers".

A cat and his Nip

I am allergic to cats.  Therefore, I never had one as a pet.  However, since we have lived out here at the farm, we have had 2 "outside" cats.  And, we have discovered what fascinating creatures they can be.  I have also discovered that I can tolerate them pretty well as long as I wash my hands after petting them.

The current cat is named Marmaduke.  He is a big old tom cat that patrols the place and keeps us entertained.  We had him neutered and take him to the vet each year to get his vaccinations.  Other than that, he is fairly "maintenance free".   We bought a self-feeder for him and Tom built a little house for him to sleep in when it is cold.  We put it up next to the house under the back patio cover.  Last winter we stuffed lots of old blankets in there and Marmaduke stayed toasty warm.

He comes and goes, but mostly stays close by.  You never know where you will find him.  Sometimes he seems to appear out of thin air.  This afternoon I caught him sleeping on top of one of our trash cans.

Since I had heard that cats like catnip, I bought a plant of it last year and set it out in my herb garden.  Here is a picture of it earlier this spring.  It is now twice this big!

Catnip is a perennial herb of the mint family. It is native to Europe and was imported to the United States.  It now grows wild and is sometimes considered a weed.

As it turns out Marmaduke is only mildly interested in it.  Here he is in February giving it a "smelling over".

So, I got to wondering why some cats are reported to go nuts over it and others don't.  Here is what I found out.  Catnip contains a chemical called nepetalactone that triggers the catnip response.  Some cats are sensitive to the chemical and exhibit the stereotypical reaction.  As it turns out, the catnip reaction is inherited, and some cats are totally unaffected by it.  Apparently, Marmaduke is one of these.  Large cats, like tigers, can be sensitive to it as well.

Farm Tour

Several weeks ago I was asked by Sustainable Stillwater if we would be willing to host a tour of our farm.   Sustainable Stillwater is an environmental organization in Stillwater which grew  out of the Stillwater Recycling Coalition in the fall of 2001.   You can read more about them on their web page at:   http://www.oksustainability.org/sstw/about-sustainable-stillwater.php

We love talking to people about what we grow and how we do it.  And, I've been on the Sustainable Stillwater email list for several years and enjoy getting their emails about the community garden,  workshops and other upcoming events.  So, I immediately said yes and then decided I'd better tell Tom what I had gotten us into.

It wasn't until I actually saw the notice about our farm tour come through their listserver that I began to panic.  The list coordinator said not to worry, they were a pretty laid back group and that she figured only a dozen or so people might come.  Whew!  I figured we could handle a dozen or so.   So, Tom and I have been hoeing, pulling weeds and edging for several days now getting things to where they looked presentable.  I even made a sign to put out by the road to show people where to turn and developed a "tour guide" to use to guide us around the farm and point out items of interest.

Then, last night the coordinator sent me an email with a final count of people who would be here . . . . .   20 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yikes!  Thank goodness I didn't read the email until this morning or I might not have slept.  No, really, I was not THAT nervous and I have taught college classes before.  So, I wasn't that tense about speaking in front of a group.  I guess I was just worried that people would be disappointed in our small farm.

But, it turned out to be a delightful group.  A lot of questions were asked and everyone seemed very interested.   Here is a picture of Tom talking about our blackberries.  He is the one in the hat and gray sweatshirt who is pointing.

Notice there are a couple of children in the group.  It delighted me that people wanted to bring their children along to show them where food comes from and that it does not grow in the supermarket.   Next, is a picture of me talking about our hoophouse.

I'm the one in the hat and red shirt.

After the tour, we had sun tea and ice water flavored with mint leaves from my herb garden.   We even made some chamomile tea, like in my previous post.  It was a fun afternoon and I really enjoyed meeting the people that came out.  Maybe we'll do it again next year.

Chamomile Tea

No doubt at some time in your life you have probably tried chamomile tea.   Chamomile has a pleasant, slightly sweet flavor similar to apples.  It is legendary in herbal lore as being good for helping one relax and sleep.  I certainly believe this to be true!  There is nothing more relaxing than a warm cup of chamomile tea sweetened with honey at bedtime. 

You can buy chamomile tea bags at the grocery store, but it is easy to grow at home.  I grow it in large pots on the patio.  Here is this year's crop of chamomile.

Chamomile is a pretty bedding plant.  Notice the fern-like foliage and the tiny flowers.  It is the flowers that are used to make the tea.  You can pick them and dry them for later use.  Or, you can use them fresh.  It is this last method that I use most of the time. 

Just pick the flowers and put them in your cup.  Then pour boiling water over them.  Like this:

Let the tea steep for a few minutes.  Then, using a spoon, scoop out the flowers and throw them in your compost bucket.  Add some honey and enjoy.  Chamomile tea is a wonderful way to end your day.

Friday Afternoon Preparation

Friday afternoons are usually pretty busy getting things ready for the Market on Saturday.  At this time of year, we have a lot of cool season greens.  These take a lot more time to harvest and prepare for the Market, than most other produce.   So, during the spring, I often take off from work early to come home and help. Here is what it looked like on our back patio this past Friday afternoon.

Tom picks the greens and puts them in tubs of cool water.  We call this "hydro-cooling" and it helps keep them cool and fresh while they are waiting to be bagged.   It is by no means a substitute for washing the greens.  You should always wash greens once you get them home.

The greens are taken out of the water and allowed to "drip dry" on a  framed screen that Tom built out of 2X4s.  It is HEAVY.  I set it on large plastic containers that have been turned upside-down and dump the greens onto it.  In this picture, you see a pile of arugula that is draining on the screen, while a pan of Swiss chard and a pan of beet greens are waiting.

After the greens have drained for a while, I put them in plastic tubs that have towels in the bottom to catch the excess water.  Then, they are taken inside to be bagged or bundled.

Last weekend, my son and daughter-in-law from Dallas were here for Easter.  My little Chinese granddaughter helped me for a while by taking the greens out of the water and putting them on the screen.  Kids always like to play in water, so this was fun for her and helped me out too!

Isn't she adorable!