Updates From the Farm

It's been a while since I've blogged. It seems like this time of year is crazy busy.....especially when my husband is gone. Between the feeding, the mowing, the fence repair, the spraying weeds, the hay hauling (and this was just in the past two weeks while he was gone!) it leaves little time for sitting down at the computer.
But, he will be home tonight! (Insert happy dance!)
So, I thought that, before I go outside and mow the yard, I'd give a quick update on a few things I blogged about a while back.
1. Buddy, the baby bull, is doing GREAT! He's no longer being supplemented with a bottle. He's been with his mom, full time, for almost three months and is fat and happy!
2. The potatoes that I planted in the burlap bags are NOT happy. In fact, they look pretty pitiful. I won't be trying that again (but I did plant a straw bale garden, which I failed to blog about, and it is thriving! That'll have to be the subject of my next blog!)
3. The new Charolais bull that I bought is enjoying his harem of Angus cows. He's been in the pasture with them since May 1st. He gets to have his fun until August 1st, then he's back in the pen.
4. And last, but not least, Bumpy the pot-bellied pig is spoiled rotten and sweet as ever!

Rainy Day Banana Nut Muffins

These muffins are like a tiny slice of heaven. They're so easy to make and so good! Plus, they freeze well too! Here's the link to my YouTube video, showing you how to make them!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzLmFEvsIME

Taking a Birthday Break

I have a milestone birthday coming up.....the big 50....half a century. Yikes!
But this farmwife is going to step out of her comfort zone a bit. We are going to New York City to celebrate! Myself, my husband, his parents, our oldest daughter and her husband, and our youngest daughter. We leave Saturday morning and return next Wednesday night. We have dinner reservations at some outstanding restaurants, tickets to a Broadway play, a carriage ride through central park, tickets to the 911 Museum, tickets to Live with Kelly and Michael, and many other fun things planned. And we are staying at the Waldorf Astoria hotel. This country girl / farm wife is going to the city!! Something tells me that, as much fun as I'm going to have, I'm going to be ready to get back to the farm when it's over. I'll get back to you next week and let you know all about my adventures in NYC.......

The Old Farm House

If you remember my blog from sometime back, about the scrap iron, you know that I mentioned my parents' old farmhouse and that someday I'd tell the story of it. Well, today is the day. I finally took the time to locate some old pictures and scan them in, so that I could illustrate the story. This is not an easy story to write, but a story that goes along with our farm, and needs to be told.
First off, let me say that I love this old house. It's not the house that I grew up in though. My parents didn't buy the farm until 1984, my senior year of high school. However, I remember driving by this house my whole life and always saying, "I want to live in the green house!" (It used to be green as you'll see in the pictures.) I did live in this house for several years because I lived at home throughout college and commuted back and forth daily. I think that if my parents would not have bought this house, I would have moved away for college. But, I just had to live in it for a while, after all, it had been a life-long dream.
When my parents bought the farm, that my husband and I now own and operate, the lots, barns, fences, etc... were in great shape. The house was not. The old two-story farmhouse had been built in the late 1800's and sat right smack on the ground. No foundation whatsoever. And when you stood inside, you could see an obvious slope in the floors. The downstairs had lots of small rooms.....a small back room that was sort of a mudroom, a kitchen, a dining room, a small bedroom, a living room, another bedroom with a bathroom, and a small room that held two small closets. Upstairs there were two bedrooms and a bathroom. The old fireplace in the living room had some issues and was not safe to use. The only downstairs heat came from gas heaters. There was no upstairs heat. Window units provided the air conditioning. The washer and dryer were in the garage, which was not attached to the house. The old original wood-paned windows were still in place. Most rooms were lit with lamps rather than ceiling light fixtures. There was no dishwasher in the kitchen. The old original cabinets, that had many coats of paint and varnish on them, still stood in the kitchen. And, I'm sure there were other issues, but these things are what I remember.

A lot of people would have torn this house down, but my parents tackled the project with love and patience. And seven months later, we moved in. The outside wasn't finished, but the inside was.
The first order of business, was to hire a house-jack company to come in and lift the house off the ground so that a pier and beam foundation could be built. Then the house was lowered onto the new foundation, insulation was added and the brick was delivered for the new exterior.

Meanwhile, the remodeling of the inside was taking place. And I wish I could find pictures of the remodel stages inside the house, but I can't. If I ever do, that'll be a story for another day. But I will tell you that the fireplace was rebuilt so that it could be used. The washer and dryer were moved into the mudroom. New kitchen cabinets were built. A dishwasher was added. Walls were torn down and the small bedroom, dining room and living room all became one large open area. Beams were placed on the ceiling to run electrical wiring through for ceiling light fixtures and ceiling fans. (Window units remained as the only AC and gas heaters and the fireplace as the only heat.) All the windows were replaced with storm windows. Both bathrooms were remodeled. All rooms were repainted. And, to my sorrow, new carpet covered all the original hardwood floors. New linoleum covered the kitchen and mudroom floors. The new fireplace was rocked and my father made the mantle himself. It was made from a bodark limb from a tree on the land that he grew up on. 

The original wooden screen door on the front was re-screened, re-stained, and rehung. 

The outside was bricked and arches were added to the front porch.

The first Christmas in the house was amazing. I talked my mother into buying a lot of Christmas decorations! All my life, we'd only had a tree and a string of outside lights on the roof. I told her that we finally had a big old farmhouse to decorate and we needed to do it up right! We had decorations in every room! And, for the first time ever, we cut down a real tree, on our own farm, and brought it to the house and strung popcorn and cranberries and decorated it! And, to top it off, we had snow!

The hard part of this story is that eleven years later, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. She lived for 14 months after the diagnosis. She passed away in this house. My dad lived for 14 years without her. He passed away in a hospital, but all he wanted was to get back to his home. We were trying to set up hospice care at home, but he just wasn't strong enough to make the move. The house has been vacant for the last few years. It's not in good shape at all. The roof leaks, the ceiling is cracking and falling in. The well has gone dry and there's no water to the house. The floors are uneven again. The trim around the windows is cracking. Eventually, we will tear it down. But, before we do, we are going to get that mantle that my dad made, we are going to salvage all the hardwood floors that we can, we will take that old screen door, and any shiplap we find and we will incorporate all these things into the new farmhouse that we will build on the property. It'll be a new "old" farmhouse......

in honor of my mom and dad. 

Super Easy Peach Pie

Here's a delicious and easy peach pie recipe that I made for my husband when he came home from working out of state for two weeks. He was one happy husband!!
I used a couple of shortcuts on this one, frozen peaches and ready-made crusts. In a pinch, they'll both save you some time.
I poured 6 cups of frozen peaches in a bowl and added the following: 1 1/4 cups sugar, 1/4 cups quick-cooking tapioca, 1/4 tsp cornstarch, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, and 2 T lemon juice. Combine and let this sit for at least 15 minutes, gently stirring every once in a while. Go ahead and preheat your oven to 425 degrees now.

Next, I sprayed my pie plate with Pam with flour,  unrolled one of the crusts and placed it in the pie plate. Now you're ready to spoon the delicious mixture into the pie plate and place the second crust on top, sealing the edges. You'll want to cut several slits in the top for ventilation. And sprinkle with sugar (I used sugar crystals).  I placed a baking ring on my pie to prevent the edges from over browning. If you don't have one of these, you should really get one.....but you can always make your own out of aluminum foil.

Bake at 425 degrees for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until golden brown. Cool at least 2 hours before slicing. I know, it's very difficult to resist. Maybe just leave your house for two hours. 

Enjoy!!

Saving Buddy the Baby Bull

So, I know it's been over a week since I've blogged.....and I never go that long without posting some little something.....but it's been a very stressful and busy week.
To start at the beginning, our youngest daughter has an old cow named Sugar Plum. She raised her on a bottle when she was a little girl. Sugar Plum is getting pretty old but, oh my goodness, she's the sweetest cow ever. We have quite a lot of money invested in our Angus herd, but, in my opinion, Sugar Plum has the most value of all.....sentimental value, that is.
So, as luck would have it, she calved while my husband was out of town for work. She's never had a problem before. But, like I said, she's getting old. This birth was hard on her, but, thankfully, she's doing fine now. She had a pretty little bull calf. Emphasis on "little."
He was tiny and weak. He couldn't even stand to nurse. And, bless her heart, Sugar Plum is so gentle, she let me get her milk started and put the baby on her right out in the middle of the pasture. But, I think she was stressed from the birth and she just wasn't giving much milk. And the baby couldn't stand on his own to nurse.
So, fast forward to that evening, about 20 minutes before Tractor Supply Company closed, I decided I needed colostrum. Following a very fast drive to town, along with a phone call to TSC and a helpful employee gathering what I needed and bringing it to the front register, I got a bottle of colostrum down the baby and had both mama and baby in the lot.
The following morning the baby again sucked the bottle well. I was feeling confident that he would live but not excited at the prospect of having a bottle baby. However, that evening he didn't nurse the bottle well at all, and appeared weaker. The following morning, he was even weaker and wouldn't suck the bottle PLUS the mama wasn't feeling well.
So, both mama and baby took a trip to the vet. While there, the vet milked the mama out and used a tube to get it down the baby. That evening, I saw the baby up and nursing so I didn't give him a bottle. Same thing the following morning and evening. Whew....all was well.
Nope! The next morning, which was Sunday, the baby was panting and acting dehydrated. So, back to the bottle. This time, I began using milk replacer instead of colostrum. I also started adding gatorade and liquid vitamin B12 and yogurt.
Well , guess what??!! Finally he's doing better! He will be one week old tomorrow and my husband comes home from work tomorrow. Thank the Lord!
Oh, did I mention, that Sunday morning, before I discovered that the calf was dehydrated, I had to take my dog to the emergency vet for stitches?? Somehow, I have no idea how, he sliced his chest open while playing in the backyard.
Needless to say, it's been a rough few days.
As far as the name....our youngest daughter attends the University of Oklahoma and she's a huge fan of Buddy Hield, who plays for the men's basketball team. The baby calf is named Buddy, after him. Buddy Hield is a fighter and has overcome a lot. I think the calf will follow in his footsteps.

Chicken Piccata

I decided to try a new recipe yesterday, Chicken Piccata, to deliver to our youngest daughter who is in college. This was my first time to try making this. I looked at several different recipe versions,  and then combined some ideas to make it my own. It actually turned out great! It was super easy too. Here's my YouTube video for how to make my Chicken Piccata......and yes, I'm cooking in my old sloppy sweat pants....I like to be comfortable when I cook!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAMxlnrHfZs

I froze the chicken in individual serving containers to take to my daughter. Here's the finished product, minus the pasta.

The Old Pressure Cooker

When I was growing up, my parents always had a huge vegetable garden. In fact, most summers they had two.....one at our house and one at, what we called "the homeplace," which was where my dad grew up (he leased the place from my grandmother and farmed it, ran cows on it, and had  the second garden).
I remember that the garden at the homeplace had the LONGEST rows! I hated picking beans or peas there. It seemed like the rows were endless!
And all summer long, my mother would can vegetables in mason jars using the old pressure cooker that her mother had used. I never learned how to can vegetables. I never paid attention. Now I wish I would have. I only know how to freeze or preserve in a hot water bath.
Maybe one of the reasons that I never wanted to learn back then, was the fact that the pressure cooker that my mother used SCARED ME TO DEATH! You have to understand, this thing was old....her mother had used it all of her life, then it was passed down to my mother. I remember something about a pair of pliers and some pot holders on the top to "fix" something that didn't work right. But, my greatest memories are of the NUMEROUS times, as a kid, that my mother would yell, "The pressure is too high! RUN!!!" And we'd take off out of the house and look back, praying that there wasn't an explosion. This happened AT LEAST once every summer. Of course, it never did explode, but the fear was always there.
So a few days ago, while rummaging around in my parents old garage, I found it....the old pressure cooker!

The lid says, "Automatic Hot-Shot Master Cooker" and it weighs a ton! Several of my friends told me that it would be so neat if I used it to can vegetables like my grandmother and mother did. Ummmmmm......NO. First of all, I don't know how (but I'd love to learn with my own pressure cooker someday). And second of all, this thing scares me! 

So, I cleaned it up and found a nice home for it above my cookstove. It makes me smile every time I look at it.

Spring Cattle Working

Yesterday was my husband's last day home before heading out of state for work again. We had a long "to-do" list while he was here, and managed to cross off most of the items. Last, but certainly not least, was our spring cattle working.
My husband and I sorted the cows (Angus cows in one pen, calves in another, the new bull in his own pen, and the longhorns in a separate pen).  A few months ago we had an alleyway built with dual swinging gates and this has made ALL the difference in the world when the two of us sort cattle. It's actually easy now!
The college boy who helps us out, part time, came over to help with the actual cattle working.
First, we ran all the calves through the chute and wormed them, branded any that were too small to brand the last time we worked cattle, and gave shots to any babies born after the last cattle working day.

Next, we ran all of the Angus cows through the chute. Each one was wormed and given a shot of Multi-Min.

We wormed all the longhorns by crowding them in a small pen and using the pour-on wormer (their horns won't fit in this working chute). 

Then we worked our new bull. He was so well behaved! It was impressive! We wormed him, branded him, and gave him a brand new ear tag.

It was a successful day on the farm! Next cattle working will be in July.

Crock Pot Mustard Pork Chops & Taters

During my husband's two weeks off, we've been super busy on the farm. Still cleaning up (you may recall my Scrap Iron post). This time, we've been trimming limbs and hauling them to the burn pile. I see a "Bon Fire" blog in my future.....
Yesterday morning, I knew we would have a long day, so I decided to put supper on to cook in the crock pot. The crock pot is probably my best friend. Ever. It's so nice to walk in, from working on the farm all day, and smell your delicious, and fully cooked, meal.
Here's what I did:
First, I heated about 2 Tablespoons of oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.

Next, I browned the pork chops on both sides.

Then drained them on a paper-towel lined plate.

Then, I combined one can of cream of mushroom soup (which is super cheap at Aldi),

1/4 cup of chicken broth (this is my homemade broth),

1/4 cup Dijon mustard,

2 cloves of garlic, minced,

1/2 tsp dried thyme (which was a little strong, so I might just use a pinch next time),

and 1/4 tsp black pepper.

Next, wash and thinly slice 5 red potatoes and 1 onion.

Combine the sauce mixture with the potatoes and onions and place in your crock pot. I used a crock pot liner. Another one of my best friends. Seriously. It makes clean up a breeze.

Arrange your pork chops on top of the potatoes and onions. 

Then, cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or high for 4 to 5 hours.

I intended to cook mine on low for 8 hours. However, after walking back in the house about 4 hours later, I noticed that I didn't smell the delicious aroma of my supper cooking. 

So here's a BIG TIP.......actually remember to PLUG THE CROCK POT IN! 

Yep, I did all that......but forgot to plug it in. 

So my pork chops cooked on high for 5 hours. 

They were delicious.

Planting Potatoes in Burlap Bags

If you've been following my blog, you know that, at this time, I have container gardens. Eventually, when we get moved out to our farm, I will have a BIG garden! But, in the meantime, I have to be creative. I've been using repurposed galvanized water troughs, from the farm, for my containers. However, this year, I decided to try something new and plant potatoes. I really didn't have enough room to give up in any of my containers (I also will have onions, tomatoes, okra, and herbs) so I decided to try something new......burlap bags!
All you need are some seed potatoes, burlap bags, garden soil, and a wooden pallet!

I went to our local farm and ranch store, Russell Feeds, to purchase my seed potatoes. http://www.russellfeedandsupply.com/
Next, I did a process called "chiting" my potatoes. To "chit" the potatoes, you simply cut your seed potatoes into pieces, making sure each piece has at least one "eye" (sprout). Then you place the cut pieces in an egg carton and keep them in a warm dry room for 2 to 3 days. This helps them dry out, or cure, and prevents rotting. It can also help them sprout.

When you're ready to plant, you will take your burlap bags and roll them down to about 10 inches tall. Fill them with garden soil, about 6 inches deep. Place 3 or 4 potato pieces in each bag, with the sprouted eye facing up.

Cover with another 2 inches of garden soil and water well. Keep your burlap bags on a wooden pallet to help the air circulate and prevent rotting. 

Right after I planted my potatoes, we had several days of rain here. I was afraid they were getting too much water and would begin to rot, even though I had done the chiting process. What's handy about this method of planting, is that I simply moved everything inside until the downpour stopped!

After the rainy days, I moved my pallet back outside into the sunshine. When I checked yesterday, I have some small potato plants coming up!

When these plants are 6 to 8 inches tall, I will roll the burlap bags up, fill in more garden soil up to 4 inches, and leave about 2 to 4 inches of plant. I'll continue this process until the plants start to flower. This should be sometime in July. By the end of summer, my potato vines should appear to wither and die. That will signal harvest time!! 

I'll keep you updated on the potato progress!!