What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

A few years ago we bought grapes - Syrah grapes.  We planted them and walked away.  We mowed and weed whipped around them, but that was it.  Last year we finally put up the trellises.  We should have been harvesting grapes.  Homesteading got in the way.

That's the thing about homesteading.  There's always something to do.  There's always something that changes your priority list.  The grapes kept sliding down the list.  We were building chicken barns, goat barns, high tunnels, raised beds...the list just goes on and on.  This year we moved them up on the list ...

Did you know....Packed with essential nutrients, beetroots are a great source of fiber, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, potassium, iron, and vitamin C. Beetroots and beetroot juice have been associated with numerous health benefits, including improved blood flow, lower blood pressure, and increased exercise performance.  (This was taken from HealthOnline.)  They even contain moderate amounts of protein.

You know how there are foods that as a kid you just couldn't eat, and then as an adult you love them?  I have always loved pickled beets - even as a kid.  Growing beets is pretty much a given around here.  I ...

We got a nice little rain last night, so there was no need to water the garden.  Today, I just got to stroll.  A garden, whether flower or vegetable, always looks beautiful after a nice rain.  

For Father's Day we had a cookout to celebrate the Hubs.  Three of the six kids were able to come over.  I am very passionate about birthdays, Mother's Day and Father's Day.  Hubs does so much for us and has done so much for us that it is pretty important to me to make sure that he knows how much we ...

Remember the song from the 70s....Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme??  We can't grow Rosemary here as a perennial, but I've got the rest.  I harvested some sage, oregano and thyme to dehydrate.

I have some Amish friends in Berlin, Ohio.  When the kids were younger, we used to take a weekend and camp on their farm.  There were 3 farm ponds for them to play in and it was a great getaway for us.  Sometimes my sister and her 3 kids would go with us.  Sometimes my almost brother and his 3 kids would go with us.  Sometimes it was both.  (Alvin even asked us once when it was ALL of us if my almost brother was Mormon to have 3 wives and 9 kids.  LOL)  We were awakened in the mornings ...

We try to take Sunday as a day of rest.  Grandpa & Granny never let us work in the garden on Sunday - especially planting.  They said "nothing good wood come of it".  So, we try not to.  It's hard for us.  Yesterday we kept talking about all the things we needed to do.  I knew we would fall into the trap of working, so I suggested we take a little drive.  I was antsy to get some work done and knew I didn't have the willpower to hold back.  I always feel that way after I have had a ...

Bear with me, I have a LOT of photos today, but the sun was shining during my little morning walk.

As I was pulling the pics off, these were still on from Monday.  Two of the grands came to see the baby bunnies - Stella and Luciano.  Visitation is done in the garage on a moving blanket to keep them from escaping and becoming wild bunnies.  LOL

I was patient.  I waited.  I was chomping at the bit to get the garden planted.  I am, however, so glad I waited because of this crazy weather we have had.  I would like to start off by saying how thankful and grateful I am that Hubs built me all these raised beds.  Had he not, we wouldn't be planting until June!  Our yard is still like a wet sponge.  There are still ponds everywhere and we still can't even mow.  It stresses me out to see how tall the grass is....but I digress.

Flats of flowers ...

I would be fibbing if I said we don't think about the grandkids when we consider adding new animals to the farm.  That is why I want some of these:

Thank you Google for the pic

Friday night we got a call from Army Son.  There was a bee swarm by his pond.  He called to see if the Hubs wanted to try to come and get it.  It was nearly dusk so time was of the essence.  Of course Hubs wanted to give it a try.  We lost both of our swarms during a warm snap in January.  They packed their bags and left.

We rushed to pack up the beekeeping supplies and off he went.  Army Son has a run off culvert from his pond, and of course the swarm was on the tree ...

C'mon.....walk through the garden gate with me.  I'll show you what we have going on.  All the soil has been amended.  These raised beds are just waiting for Mother's Day.  Mother's Day is traditionally when I can start planting without danger of frost.

A month ago none of us would have known that we were going to be where we are today.  If you had known, what would YOU have done differently (besides stock up on toilet paper...LOL)?  How are you doing right now?  My prayer is that you are all doing well.  I have watched the sometimes funny social media memes depicting everything from how parents are handling new-to-them homeschooling to concerns about grocery shortages.  Would you have lived your life the same way?

I never knew how to 100% explain the rationale why Hubs and I live the way we ...

(Now I can't get that song out of my head!)

I told you I was going to need an intervention, but you didn't believe me.  The thing about being a gardener is you sit all winter and wish it was spring/summer.  You plan for all the things you will grow.  You plan for all the new things you have never tried.  You think about past successes and failures.  Then those seed catalogs start coming.  You envision your garden somewhat like this:

They are calling for frost/freeze tonight.  One of my goals for the day was to harvest anything I wanted just in case.  As I pulled up plants, I thought about the joy my garden finally brought me this year.  While I didn't get quite the 'haul' I wanted (tomatoes!!!), it was generally somewhat successful.  At least I tried!  I made mental notes of what I was going to grow and not going to grow next year.  Now that we have the raised beds and can get in there sooner, I'm sure it will be even better!

Something ...