Canning Tomatoes

What do you do when you receive a gift of a bag of beautifully ripe summer tomatoes? Why, you get out your canner and jars and go to work! I'm sure it's weird, but excessive amounts of gorgeous summer produce gets me so excited. I immediately start making plans about how to preserve it and what to do with it later on. Peas and butterbeans are always blanched, packaged, and frozen. But when I have an abundance of tomatoes I almost always can them. I just think canning is the best way to capture that fresh summer taste. Plus, they look so nice on my pantry shelves.This winter when it's cold, rainy, or icy, I'll open a jar of these summer tomatoes and make a soup that will warm us from our heads to our toes. I can hardly wait!

Chicken Eggs Fresh For You And Yours

Chicken eggs come from chickens. That wasn't so hard was it? You're going to be an expert in chicken eggs in no time. And, I should point out that the chicken came before the egg, because without the chicken there would be no animal to produce the egg. Also, there would be no animal to hatch the egg and care for the young. So far so good? Now for something a bit more difficult. Young female chickens are called pullets. As a pullet ages and begins laying eggs, we refer to them as a hen. Hens will lay eggs irrespective of the presence of a rooster, the adult male chicken. If you want fertile eggs, then get young male chickens called cockerels along with your pullets. Otherwise, the hens lay infertile eggs that are exactly like fertile eggs in every respect except they can't produce a baby chick. Roosters fertilize the hens, not the eggs. The rooster will stand on the back of the hen while she lifts her tail. It's the same mating technique used by turkeys, hawks and other birds. Enough biology for today. 

Ways to Get More Z's
If you can't seem to get a good night's sleep, you're not alone. More than 70 million Americans suffer from sleep problems, according to the National Institutes of Health. The good news is many of these issues can be solved by simply changing your daily routine and creating a better sleep environment.
Dedicate the bedroom to sleeping. Bedrooms should be for sex and sleep only. Make the bed more comfortable. Invest in a new mattress, updating the sheets, or replacing that 10 year old pillow. Take a relaxing bath. Warm baths have been shown to lower blood pressure. Go to bed at the same time each night. This will send the signal to your brain and your body that it's time for sleep. Happy dreams!

Juicing for Life

Juicing veggies is a great way to reach the required quota of veggies and fruit. IT'S an acquired taste, though yoiu might want to take it easy at first. The juice that will come out of the juicer will taste nothing like juice bought in the store. But it is so much better for you. Above I have juiced tomatoes, carrots and garlic for soup stock this winter. I am looking forward to making carrot and apple juice in the fall.   

All I Need to Know About Life I Learned from a Honeybee 

Grooming is important.
Home is where your family is.
A good buzz is, at times, helpful.
There's no such think as a weed.
Don't flap your wings unnecessarily.
Drones are important, so is NOT droning.
God gave you lots of eyes; use all of them.
Cleansing flights: good for the body and the soul.
Take care of the one in charge, but have a back up cell.
Stop and smell the roses. And the daisies, and the marigolds, and...
When you figure out your role, do it to the best of your ability.
Working together yields awesome results.
Horizontal stripes can make you look fat.
Only sting if absolutely necessary.
Make a beeline to your work.
A plant based diet is smart.
Bee all you can bee.
DANCE!

Landen Gets To See The Reds Play

This past weekend  we visited Brad and Meagan. We took along Landen. He has really showed an interest in the Redleggers. Saturday night Brad and Landen attended a game. Wow! They won and Landen, and of course Brad were in seventh heaven. Landen said his right arm hurt from cheering. And his left arm from playing games on the computer. It was a fun time for all of us, as Meagan and I watched Gone with the Wind Saturday night, and we did some antiquing while we were there.
No trip is complete without a visit to Frisch's. But 3 big boys. Can you believe it? Yes Landen ate 3. Have a great Monday!  

Bee Bearding

In extremely hot weather, when the hive's internal temperatures can rise to excessive levels and the hive population is so great, bees make their way out and cluster outside the hive in a huge numbers, here they can try to escape from the heat and remain cool. honeybees do this mostly to keep the inside of the hive from overheating and killing the brood and to help regulate the brood nest temperature. Brood and too many busy bees in the hive increase heat output. It is a simple way to regulate the internal hive temperature.
Often bees beard because the temperture outside is high, lack of ventilation and overcrowding. During lack of honey flow in summer the field bees don't have any work to do, therefore if the hive is hot, they will crowd together out on the front of the hive out of the way of the busy house bees.
On hot and humid evenings, many bees will loiter through the night and even during the day outside the hive clinging to the front of the hive or on the landing board doing nothing. Looks like my bees above are hot, and doing some bee bearding.  

Surprise! Surprise!

David and I went out this morning to buy him a pair of penny loafers. We did that, and he mentioned lets go look at the nook. I am all for that. As you know, I wanted one for Christmas I said. Off to Barnes and Noble for a quick look, and out the door with a nook tablet. I wish all purchase's could be this easy.

My First Two Dozen Eggs

Lets look at the business of chickens laying eggs. It really isn't difficult to do, because the chicken does it. Brown is the most common color of egg from a chicken. Above are my eggs to feast your eyes upon. Aren't they beautiful?
Now we can have fried eggs, scrambled eggs, omelets, quiche and just about anything else you can imagine.

Junk Food Junkies Dying For A Fix

Junk food is over processed and too easy to digest. Junk food requires very little processing by the body because it is mostly sugar and empty fillers like hydrolyzed starches. The more junk food a junky eats, the more junk food you want. Have you noticed that? When I eat a piece of cake, or pie, or french fries. I want more. Its additive. The fix is a lifestyle change and a commitment to your body for life. It's not easy, but it's easier than a slow death by junk food and disease!

 

 Five Ways To Find Joy In Tough Times

These are tough times getting tougher. We all should know by now that stress may be the number one catalyst for bad health. But denial is not the answer. We need to understand more about the reality of our times in order to survive. The trick is to do so while retaining a level of equanimity and compassionate detachment, not merely forced cold indifference. Through equanimity, the spark of joy can ignite happiness no matter what the environment is forcing on us. True happiness comes from within. What we all need to do is curb anger and rage, keep good company, practice real kindness, be in the moment, and get involved more in nature. Now you are talking my number. Take walks in nature and observe trees, birds,sky and clouds with interest. If you can, try some gardening. Many,as I do, find they relax while getting connected and centered that way, while getting less anxious about the future.    

Why Did My Hen Lay An Egg With No Shell?

Usually when hens first start laying, there body is working out the KINKS so to speak. The hen is still learning when to expel the egg. Like the two I found in the chicken yard. The egg duct is still on an abnormal cycle. They sometimes lay a very small egg, smaller than peewee size. Then there are those hens that sit on the nest, and sit on the nest, and sit on the nest. Get up and no egg. I have even seen roosters sitting beside the hen. What is the deal I say? They are trying to help? Or are they protecting their girls. Maybe they are gay! No, I don't think so. Anyway, I am going to enjoy my backyard eggs!  

 A Disease of Modern Living

Cancer found in mummies is very rare. Investigations of hundreds of Egyptian mummies found only one case of cancer. Searching for evidence of cancer in fossils and ancient medical texts, they uncovered only five cases of tumors, mostly benign. Conclusion being cancer among ancient people was extremely rare. There is nothing in the natural environment that can cause cancer. So it has to be a man made disease, conclusion is our diet and lifestyle. That's my opinion. Take it for what it is worth.

Every Day Is An Adventure

Hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July. Ours was chalk full. We decided one day to go to Nashville to see the new Opry Mills and stop at Rainforest Cafe for lunch. At Rainforest Cafe we met the whole gang. Tuki, Nile, Bamba, Maya, Rio, Loggy and Qzzie. Part adventure, part restaurant and wholly entertaining for the whole family. The rainforest re-creates a tropical rainforest with waterfalls, lush vegetation and indigenous creatures. Peeking out on the left is our son. A good time was had by all.

Laying Hens

A few laying hens can provide ample eggs for the average family-plenty for breakfast, baking and even the occasional quiche. Even if your family doesn't eat many eggs each week currently, you may find that changes when you are raising laying hens and have a fresh, steady egg supply from your own little flock. I have 20 laying hens, and today I collected my very first egg. I was so excited. What a thrill to go into the hen house and pick up that first real egg. Maybe now these girls will start paying their way. I have to buy food which is expensive, but my girls are worth it.   

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope you have a relaxing upcoming weekend as we celebrate the victory of our country from the sacrifice of those over 200 years ago-and we celebrate our Independence Day. I would also like to again remember and thank our military personnel and their families for their sacrifices and efforts. Happy 4th everyone!

Rain, Rain, Rain

The weather man said that yesterday we had a 30% chance of rain. I thought to myself, if it would only rain, maybe it would save the farmers crops and mine too. The wind started blowing. It started to thunder. The sky became black and down came the rain.  What a wonderful sight. It rained here for 2 hours and it was a steady rain. Everything this morning looks bright and green.
David shelled all of the peas you see in these two quart jars. I will use them next year for seed, or I could put them in soup.  Isn't he sweet. The sunflower by the screened in porch is just gorgeous. I wish you could see it. The finch's are just waiting for their chance for those yummy seeds. Have a blessed day!

 My bees are dying from all this heat

 Bees are looking for water

 Rebecca of Sunny Brook Farm is also looking for a little shade

I had to feed my bees

Heat,Heat And More Heat

Grab the ice water if you are going outside over the next few days. Temperatures are supposed to hover around 100 degrees or higher in the coming days. We are in a drought. A SEVERE drought. We have no rain in site. This is six weeks with no rain.