Bounty

This week we've been enjoying the fruits of the season. The girls and I went to Perryhill Farms to pick blue berries. It seemed possible that I could pick about 30 pounds, but my reality was much less. The berries were beautiful and the girls did very well. Emma picked diligently. She was proud of her 1 lb. 

Mandy had a bowl too and picked and picked and ate and ate. It was hilarious to watch her pick a blue berry and try to decide whether to put it in her mouth or in the bowl. Her mouth won out at the end of the morning.

At one point there was actually something in Mandy's bowl, but she stole the berries from me.

I made 2 cobblers, one sugar free (made with agave nectar and stevia) and the other to share that was "real". We ate lots of berries just for snacks. I also froze a gallon sized bag and will be picking more. I love frozen blue berries!

Yesterday a good friend brought me a crate of cherries she picked in Hood River. She even pitted them for me with her handy-dandy pitter and helped me can 7 jars! I don't deserve this kindness, but it was so wonderful.

Thanks Jenni, for your time and your friendship. It was lots of fun!

Cherries are a beautiful fruit. Pitting them causes what looks like a massacre in the kitchen, but that is okay. I froze the other half of the cherries that Jeff pitted for me last night. It kinda sounds like I got out of a lot of work... and I did. 

And we must not forget this inevitable summer bounty...

Zucchini and Yellow Squash. The girls and I made zucchini pancakes last night -- so yummy. We are huge fans, but the man of the family is not. I make them like this:

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 cups shredded cheese

1 cups of pancake mix or bisquick

1 egg

enough water to make a batter

Lowry's seasoning salt (sprinkle on while cooking)

Cook the batter on a greased skillet longer and lower than you would regular pancakes to make sure they cook through. Serve with melted butter.

I made 2 chocolate zucchini cakes last night. Chocolate zucchini cake taste just like a moist cake. I didn't sample it, but Jeff said it was delicious and took some to work this morning to share. I puree the zucchini and then my father-in-law has no idea it is in there and gobbles it up. He really, really dislikes zucchini, but loves my cake. It warms my heart to trick the people I love.

Here is the recipe:

mix together:

2 1/2 cups flour

6 TBS cocoa

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

mix wet ingredients separately:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup oil

1 3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups pureed zucchini

1/2 cup milk

Add wet ingredients slowly to dry ingredients and mix just till blended. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup chocolate chips. Bake at 325 for 40-45 minutes. 

I like to top the cake with peanut butter frosting. That was back in the day when I consumed sugar.... now it is only a sweet memory.

Staying clean on the farm

I've heard there are some kids who don't love dirt. They cry "icky" and run looking for a Wet Nap at the mere sight of dirt. There are also mothers out there who can't handle their children getting dirty. A 2 year old munching on a dirt clod would probably send them into the psych ward. While those mothers have blessedly clean hand-me-down clothes from their pristine children, they would also not last on the farm.

From infancy, both the girls have loved playing in dirt. I could probably say that playing in dirt is a favorite past time. It used to sort of bother me, watching my baby crawl to the muddiest spot and plop down to dig tiny fingers into the grime....

Now I have come to terms with the reality and the laundry. 

It is a blessed time of evening for me. I just put the girls in bed after bath #2 of the day. I usually don't bother with more than one bath, or a change of clothes, but they got into a fight and were throwing dirt at each other before lunch. Such sweet little princesses. It was too cold for the hose, so it was a bath or allow the grime to seep into more crevasses of my house. I am amazed at the dirt in the bottom of the tub!

Eek! What are they doing? Are they actually foraging for dirt?

Emma went in search for the perfect dirt clod to throw into the river. We were helping take the pump out of the river after irrigating last week. I road on the pipe trailer through the field and my phone bounced out of my pocket. We went on a long search for it and I was dreaming of a new iPhone, when we miraculously found my regular old Razor in the clover. It was singing, "She thinks my tractor's sexy.... it really turns her on... she's always smiling at me while I'm chugging along" as Jeff called my phone over and over again during the search. You have to love personalized ringtones. I have yet to find another one that is so perfect for my husband's calls. I'm even kinda crazy 'bout his farmer's tan.

The girls love nothing better than dirt, but a close second could be yelling into pipes. Maturity must take the glee out of the activity, because I don't see the allure. What I did see was some fantastic pipe to use depth of field on.

Yep, yelling into pipes and climbing on pipes is pretty fun.

Running through the field is also a good activity.

And riding on the tractor with daddy.

Just another load of laundry.... I mean, day in paradise.

Labor Day = Labor

My husband doesn't take holidays off. He even works on Thanksgiving and Christmas -- the cows don't take holidays from eating unfortunately. So, we've all been working and having a little fun on the side. Jeff went 3/4 wheeling with friends (some have 3 wheelers and others have 4 wheelers) on Sunday and took the girls for a ride at the end. I don't know how I ended up with 2 dare devil girls, but I blame it all on their father's genes. Emma yells "faster, faster" the whole time and Mandy swings her legs and bounces with excitement with the biggest grin on her face.

We had a lot of work to do on the yard. My husband can't help but fertilize his already lush, green lawn. Every summer he fertilizes the yard and then wishes the grass wouldn't grow so fast. He got some free fertilizer from his brother and then it rained. The grass was too long to bag in the mower, so we had to rake it. These are things you should consider before you think about having an acre of lawn. I complained that he should pull a hay rake around with the 3 wheeler and then we could bale it. Just trying to be creative.

Emma was quite a good helper for about 2.5 minutes. She made a pile about the size of a dinner plate and then put it in the wheelbarrow. Then she was off to more fun things like going boating with the Barbies. A few days ago, we stopped at our neighbor's house to see if she had any extra zucchini and we came home with a surplus of veggies and toys that the neighbor wanted to get rid of. We got a dump truck and a backhoe (in perfect condition)  and 2 of the toys were boats that fit Barbie perfectly. What a cool find. The toys have already given us hours of entertainment. I love free toys. I also love free zucchini. My plants did not make it, so we are forced to beg for it. Thankfully, everyone is so happy to give it away and we've had plenty to enjoy. My favorite (and Mandy's) is zucchini cakes. 

I was wondering around with my camera, trying to get out of raking the yard and I took some pictures of my flowers. I am really happy with a flower bed I have behind the garage. I planted a seed packet in the raised bed that was just a mix of wildflowers. I also planted sunflowers in the back. I only weeded it a couple times and watered it sporadically, but it grew beautifully -- that is my kind of gardening. It gets morning sun or I would have more pictures of it, especially as a backdrop. It is too bright to take pictures there in the morning and too dark in the afternoon. All the colors are so intense and lovely.

Hey, there's some hay!

I don't have pictures right now to show you the difference between hay and straw, but I can give you some pointers so you can tell for yourself and protect you from any "hay" blunders. Generally speaking, hay bales are green. The grass is cut green and is very nutritious for the live-stock to eat. Straw on the other hand is a very blond/yellow color. Also, the time of year you see the bales will help you differentiate. Hay is cut earlier than straw, in May and June. Straw is taken and baled after the harvest, so you will see it in all its *blond beauty in July and August. Of course hay and straw are hauled all year on trucks, so you will need to look closely if you are out of season. It can be tricky, but I hope this helps!

*My farmer husband was completely opposed to me using the word "blond" to describe the color of straw. I'm just trying to be descriptive. I am not a farmer, I just work here.

How's farmin?

People ask me a lot how farmin' is going. I suppose they would ask a similar question if my husband was a dentist. It would just be, "How's the dentistin' in going." Maybe not. Anyway, since you are all wondering, here is an update on the farmin' operation.

We just finished combining the grass seed. If you are in the NW, you may have noticed fields full of cut something-or-other in nice neat rows. That is some type of grass in one of its many varieties. A swather cuts the grass and then it sits on the ground for awhile and the combine comes along (the big green thing in the pictures) and takes the seed. The chaff is discarded and thrown out the back of the combine. Later, it is raked again into neat piles (now minus the seed) to wait for a baler. The bails of straw have to be hauled off the field for storage for the winter. Most likely, if you've been behind a straw truck you were spattered with little bits of straw and you were irritated. Straw is all over the roads here.

I need to stop for a moment and briefly explain the difference between straw and hay. It took me about 4 years of marriage to a farmer before I knew the difference. I would make jokes like, "Hey, look at that hay." Giggle, giggle. And my husband would say, "That's straw." It was deflating that I had no idea what the difference was between the two. It is actually quite a big deal and not hard to tell them apart with a little knowledge. Hay has the seed still attached and it used for feed and straw is the chaff, the waste that is bailed usually for bedding for animals and can be mixed in for feed. Straw to a cow is like parsley to humans: sure we'll eat it, but come one, give us some real food (i.e., hay).

All of the above swathing, combining, raking, bailing, and hauling requires many, many man hours. I don't contribute by helping with heavy machinery that is worth more than my home, but I do feed the men who work the heavy machinery that is worth more than my home. Our lives revolve completely around food these days. The hard working farmer leaves the house after we eat breakfast and we see him again at lunch after I have made food, packed it, and drove to where he is. We also see him for dinner. This system works good for us at this time of year. Seeing Jeff gives me a break from my other wise extremely long day and it gives the hard working farmer a break from his sometimes monotonous (when everything is working) and sometimes frustrating (when everything is breaking) day. The girls also enjoy it and they enjoy being with daddy doing whatever he is doing. He's home by 10pm, much later than their bed time.

There is no end in site. Next up are wheat and oats. Those don't have to be swathed first, so a step is saved. They are just combined (with the big green machine pictured). The straw is still taken off the field though, but sometimes not. There are times when they disk it in to the ground, but I have no clue why. That will be for another informative post. So now I bet you are sorry you asked about farmin'. You didn't really care did you? You were making conversation? Oh! You were looking for, "Fine," or "You know, we have to make hay while the sun shines" (non-farmers love that one). But see how much you learned, now you won't be embarrassed when you make the "Hey, there's some hay" joke.

Purple Sweat Shirts and Working Hard

I have a new favorite picture. I love those blue eyes.

I bought Mandy this purple sweat shirt at a consignment shop for $2.50. She has plenty of clothes (especially warm clothes in her size from Emma's first year), but I could not resist. I think it is my 80's upbringing, but I saw the purple and teal and felt like this sweat shirt needed to belong in my family, on my baby. And it has a hood. My baby and her daddy in their hoods. Ahhh! I love these guys.

What are these 3 up too? I've found that old boxes are often used to protect the farmer's pristine work clothes from the dirty ground. Every little bit helps. I still don't know what they are doing under there. 

Here we go. This is a better look. It is a windrower they are working on. Actually, I think only one is trying to work, the others are trying to get dirty... it is what they do best.

The girls love to be with their dad. I am going to try and bring my camera with me more. I will be the farm-wife version of the pioneer woman and someday chronicle my gourmet kitchen being professionally built. It will be great fun.

On to other things... Yesterday, I was at a meeting all day for MOPS. I am on the steering team as the publicity coordinator. We spent a lot of time brainstorming ideas for our group's meetings next year, starting in September.

It is a fun group of ladies and I feel privileged to be in the group, providing a vital ministry to moms of young children. It is a hard, draining job to be a mom and MOPS (Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers) provides a place, twice a month, where we can all get charged up with informative speakers and time with our friends (without the kids!). The best part is that every mom is taught about Jesus, the greatest strength and comfort we need. 

I recently re-did the site that I coordinate for MOPS. Check it out: Dallas MOPS