My Life On The Farm

Wild Asparagus

2008-05-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my friend, Lou and I went wild asparagus picking at a huge open meadow that belongs to the Washington State Game Department. In this field, everyone does not have to ask permission to hunt for asparagus. In just over an hour we each got about ten pounds of fresh asparagus. This vegetable is not only a gourmet�??s delight, but very healthful food loaded with health benefits. It is rich in carotene, selenium and vitamins. Hunting and picking asparagus take a lot walking and bending which is also a good exercise for the body. To lengthen shelf life stand asparagus in a bowl of water, cover with plastic and refrigerate right away. If you want to eat asparagus all year round, blanch them immediately, and wrap them in air tight plastic bag. They can be frozen for one year. Soon as I got home yesterday, I mixed sliced asparagus with cornmeal and flour and fry them in a few spoonfuls of olive oil. We had them for supper and they were very delightful to eat: crispy, juicy and tasty. I shared some to my friend, Ana, and the rest I will pickle for later use.

Lambsquarters

2008-05-12T13:33:00.000-07:00

This plant is a relative of the pigweed. Both are edible. Lambsquarters like to grow in abandoned feedlots where the soil is very fertile. They grow quite tall, and they have large odd shape leaves. Pick the leaves when they are light green and tender, and prepare them just like spinach.

Raising Rabbits

2008-05-07T09:28:00.000-07:00

Whether you want rabbits for pets or food, they are very easy to raise. They are a good source of cheap food. Their meat is very lean. They are inexpensive to raise as they are vegetarian. Rabbits eat alfalfa, clovers, and grass. They also like carrots, apples, lettuce, and any grain. In the summer time, you can find plenty of green feed for them just about anywhere. In the winter, you can feed them dry hay. To begin with, you need a doe and a buck. A single doe rabbit should have at least a hutch of three feet square. The buck rabbit must be kept separate from the doe at all times except only during breeding time which might only take five minutes. Rabbit�??s pregnancy lasts only 30 days. You need to provide a nest box for the doe to have her young ones in it. Make sure it is an enclosed box with a hole on one end. Normally, a doe rabbit will have average of eight babies per litter. A doe can have two to three litters a year. Once the baby rabbits are big enough to eat food on their own, you can start weaning them. Put them all together in one big hutch. They are ready to butcher when they dress out three pounds.

Reward

2008-05-05T06:06:00.000-07:00

After Mass yesterday, me and my fellow religious education teachers were awarded each with this bowl of beautiful flowers. It was the religious education coordinator�??s way of saying thank you to us for our time and effort in teaching the children about the Catholic Faith and the Gospel. We did this every Wednesday night from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. from November to May. It is a very rewarding job. What a wonderful way to start the children�??s lives knowing about God and what God wants us to be.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

2008-05-04T07:07:00.000-07:00

Last night Hubby and I attended a fund raising event. Three groups from our small town joined together to prepare and serve spaghetti meals. Donations of bake goods and other items were also brought for the auction. Money raised will go to help a family in need to pay medical expenses. The benefit dinner was well attended. About two hundred people came. They had the auction going while we were eating our meal. I noticed the people were very generous as most of the pies and cakes were sold from $40 to $50 dollars. There was a rocking horse I thought I might want to buy for my nephew, but that was sold for $350.00. A pellet of fireworks brought $450.00. There were many more items. I donated two homemade cherry pies from our home grown cherries. They look delicious and I thought, �??these should bring a good price at the auction.�?? I was hoping that each would bring at least $20 a pie. Those two cherry pies were sold for $95.00. I was so happy knowing I also done my share to help my neighbor in need. Am sure they were able to raise thousands of dollars and that was great for a small town like ours considering were having a depressed economy.

Dandelions

2008-05-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

These weedy composite plants having edible leaves and buds are very nutritious and delicious vegetables. Look for these wild plants around your yard especially in the spring time. Pick the very young plants when the buds are just starting to form, and you will enjoy their tender leaves and excellent tasting buds. Mix them with your salad greens or you can make the so called wilted dandelion. Wash dandelions thoroughly. Cut them up into bite size pieces. Put them in a large bowl. Fry some chopped bacons until they are crispy. Set aside. Discard some grease. Add few tablespoon of vinegar, few tablespoon brown sugar, salt and pepper to taste to the frying pan where you fried the bacon. Bring to a boil. Pour vinegar mixture while still hot into the bowl of dandelions; toss, then sprinkle with chopped hard boil eggs. Enjoy this super delicious dandelion salad.

Cherry Trees

2008-04-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

Here in Okanogan Valley,Washington, cherry trees are blooming. This area; predominantly, was an apple country. So many acres are now being converted into cherry orchards. There are several different varieties that are being planted: bings, lamberts, lapins, sweethearts, rainiers, etc. The bing is one of the oldest variety, but it is still very popular. Today�??s cherry trees are much smaller in size compared to cherry trees of the past. It makes it much easier for workers to pick the fruits. Also, trees are planted much closer and many more trees per acre. Cherries are sold locally and the rest are shipped overseas. This industry definitely helps our area as it provides jobs and add more revenues to our local economy.

How did we do fishing?

2008-04-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

Fishing was fabulous. Fish were really biting at two times when we were at the same lake. It did not take us long to get our limit, but the fish were smaller. Apparently, the fish and wild life department restock the lake last year, as the longest we caught were only 12 inches. Normally, we get them up to 20 inches. The freshly caught trout were very tasty. Made sinigang (fish stew) on some with fresh asparagus and the rest we fried. They were yummy.

Fishing Season Opens Tomorrow

2008-04-25T10:09:00.000-07:00

After work and while i was still in town this morning, I renewed my fishing license and bought some assorted trout artificial flies. Getting things ready as tomorrow we're leaving early to go fishing. Am excited. It's always fun the first few days. I enjoy being in the lake. It is very quiet and i read a book while fishing. So its not really a waste of time. I get to relax, while at the same time having fun. Hope we'll catch some big ones.

World Wide Link Love

2008-04-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you very much for this tag, Geng.

start copying here ~
Join the Worldwide Link Love!
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Worldwide Link Love! Participants:
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I�??m tagging jbongo, Joy, and Jana

Peaches

2008-04-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

Have you ever eaten peaches fresh from the tree? They are no comparison to the ones you buy in the store. They are a lot sweeter, juicier and flavorful. This is the reason why we grow our own peach trees. We have two types: early and late varieties. They are now in full bloom. Peaches are excellent to eat fresh as dessert, snack or breakfast with your cereals. They can also be baked as pies, cobbler, and make into great jams and marmalades. Left over peaches can be canned for future use. Peaches are good source of carotene, fiber, and vitamins. When peaches color have turned to yellow or yellow orange, and slightly softer when touch, that means they are ripe and ready to eat. To refrigerate, it is best to spread them in one layer to prevent bruising. This will give you another week of freshness and flavor.

Fish Pond

2008-04-23T10:03:00.001-07:00

This fishpond is in our backyard. My husband made it. It measures 50 by 80 feet. When full of water, it�??s eight feet deep. We had been raising different fish in it for 10 years. Hubby is having so much enjoyment raising the fish as when its feeding time the fish go on a fishing frenzy and goes wild. This year the hatchery delivered us 80 fish about seven inches long: Rainbows and German Browns. We buy the fish food in a local feed store. It�??s a high protein diet in a round pellet form. By October, they�??ll be about 12 inches long and ready for harvest. In the past, we have some two year old trout that weighed about four pounds.

Fishing Aeneas Lake

2008-04-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

Fishing season on lakes opens this coming Saturday April 26 here in Eastern Washington. Traditionally, we go to Aeneas Lake---a fly fishing lake on the opening day. Catch limit is only one fish per person daily, but the fish is usually quite big. The trout measure from18 to over 20 inches long. They are really fun to catch as they put up a fight coming out of the water several times. We troll a fly and this seems to work in this particular lake.
These trout are excellent to eat.

Alfalfa Hay Field

2008-04-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

Here in our farm, alfalfa hay field is turning green. First crop is on its way. Normally we harvest three cuttings every year. First harvest will be about first week of June, second by the first week of August, and third cutting in September. Our 55 acres can yield a maximum of about 200 tons of hay. Hay is mostly used for cow feed. In this part of the country, hay is becoming quite expensive as the cost of growing has increased dramatically. Prices are from $120 to $150 a ton. Hay are baled in big round bales. Each bale weighs up to a thousand pounds a bale.

Garden Potatoes

2008-04-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

Potatoes is another source of cheap food. What we raise in our garden supply us for nine months. Here�??s how to grow potatoes. Rototill a plot of about 12 feet square. Go to the store and select seed potatoes of your choice. Pick six potatoes with the most eyes. Cut them in pieces and make sure every piece has an eye. Without an eye it won�??t grow. The eye is where it sprouts. Out of this six potatoes, we can make 50 pieces. With a hoe, dig three trenches about 6 to 7 inches deep. Place the potato pieces with the eyes up about a foot apart. Cover with dirt and slightly pack. Depending on the weather, they should come up in 10 to 14 days. Water occasionally and keep free of weeds. Every plant will average about four pounds of potatoes. Start using fresh potatoes in September. Dig the rest before frost. Store in a dry cool place, and you will have excellent tasting potatoes for months to come. Our supply lasts till May.

Uses of Walnuts

2008-04-15T06:25:00.001-07:00

In the fall, after the walnuts have fallen on the ground, they are gathered and stored in a dry cool place for future use. Once they are dry, open or crack them and eat them as they are. They are very tasty. I use walnuts for baking cookies, cakes, brownies and bread. Sprinkle chopped walnuts in your choice of breakfast food or salads and they are flavorful. Candied walnuts are good holiday gifts for friends and family. So there you have it, besides walnuts�?? unique taste, they have many health benefits. They have significant amount of Omega 3 fatty acids--the good fats that have shown to lower LDL cholesterol and reduce the risk of coronary heart diseases. Studies have shown that walnuts are also good source of protein, fiber, B vitamins, and antioxidants.

Growing Walnut Trees

2008-04-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

Squirrels unknowingly propagate walnut trees. They bore a hole in the ground and store walnuts for future food. Unconsumed walnuts sometimes sprout and grow into young trees. Several years ago, we dug few of these young walnut trees and planted them in our new location. They are called English walnut variety. We watered them occasionally and now they are 20 feet high and producing abundantly. If you want to grow walnut trees, they are very easy to raise. Besides the walnuts that it produce, the trees are also good for shade.

Hash Browns

2008-04-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

Potato is overlooked as an excellent nutritious and cheap food. It can be fixed in many ways. One of our favorite is hash browns. We eat hash browns twice a week for breakfast. They are very easy to make. Peel and boil till you can stick the fork in it. Cool with running cold tap water. Shred then fry in a small amount of oil till crisp golden brown while seasoning it with salt and pepper. Hash browns goes well with fried slices of bacon and eggs or sausages. There you have an inexpensive delicious breakfast.

Cold Spring

2008-04-09T08:58:00.000-07:00

Freezing morning temperatures are the kind of weather we�??re having here in North Central Washington this spring time. It has been unusually cold almost everyday. In the orchards, wind machines are running early in the morning to protect fruit buds from frost damage. We had a large wood pile last fall and we figured we would not burn them all, but we�??re totally out of firewood. When the weather turned warmer this March, we planted the early varieties of garden seeds. Nothing is coming up. Today, we have a mixture of snow and rain. More showers and 50 degrees day time temperatures are in the forecast for the rest of the week.

Life Uncertainty

2008-04-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

I�??m feeling down today. The sudden death of my co employee makes me really sad. This person is someone you would like to work with everyday. He was kind, friendly, thoughtful, and generous. Buddy, you will be in my prayers and I will definitely miss you.

My Disclosure Policy

2008-04-06T16:02:00.000-07:00

This policy is valid from 04 April 2008This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

Look Out! There's A Deer!

2008-04-06T07:18:00.000-07:00

Here in the state of Washington, there is a 30 mile stretch of highway that has a high road kill of deer. At one time, there was a count of about 450 deer killed on this stretch in one year alone excluding the injured ones who managed to get off the road and died later of their injuries. Years ago, the car we�??re driving hit a deer and cost $1,100.00 to repair the damage. Today it costs so much more. This is an awful waste of wildlife and expense for vehicle owners. I seldom drive this road without seeing at least one dead deer. Driving on this road yesterday morning, my husband and I saw one dead mule deer and several live ones crossing the road. Deer are on the move early in the morning and after dusk; so, drivers be extra careful driving this time of the day, especially in poor driving condition. It pays to slow down. Hitting a deer with your vehicle can be costly and ruin your trip.

Spring Break

2008-04-03T08:37:00.000-07:00

Hello! my readers. It's our spring break; so, hubby and i took off for Seattle the last two days. It was sure a cold morning when we left-- 24 degrees F, but as we drove west, temperature turned warmer with the sun shining brightly. The view over Stevens Pass was spectacular. At the summit the snow was still deep and some of the trees were still covered with sparkling snow. We stopped at Monroe's Fairgrounds Inn to spend the night. Nothing like having a room that was cozy and meticulously clean. Early in the morning we ate an excellent breakfast at Denny's Restaurant. Then drove on to Seattle and stopped at the world's famous Pike Place Market where we bought a wide selection of fresh sea food. While in the area, at Pier 59, we went inside the Seattle Aquarium to see over 200 species of different fish and some animals. There were all kinds of tiny to large size colorful fish, starfish, sea urchins, octopus, etc. The most fascinating were the huge seals and various otters. Our trip culminated touring the Woodland Park Zoo. Inside we watched over 300 species of birds and animals. The gorillas were the most interesting. Zoo was quite large which required a lot of walking. We got home feeling exhausted, but we had a wonderful time.

Frustration

2008-03-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

To all my fellow bloggers. I have been visiting your site and tried leaving comments on some of your postings i found very interesting, but for days i just have been wasting my time. I have not been able to post any of my comments. I followed directions: typed the code, entered my username and password, but it always says incorrect password, or incorrect username. Can someone help me? Am disappointed with this blogging business and frustrated.

Wildlife Experience

2008-03-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! After work this morning, my faithful friend Maggi and I went for our usual walk. The route we normally take is the trail along the edge of our hayfield situated at the base of a high mountain. East of our farm, we border the United States Forest Service, why we see many wild animals: deer, big horn sheep, coyotes, Chinese pheasants, flocks of quail, grouse, and turkey, chip monks and groundhogs. This morning, suddenly out of nowhere, three white tail deer took off running ahead of us proudly waving their long beautiful white tail. Somehow my day is not complete without doing this physical fitness. Walking helps relieve my stress from driving school bus twice a day and everyday of the workweek. I believe it's also an inexpensive way to maintain my normal weight while strengthening my bones and muscles. Walking improves my ability to think of new ideas to write on my blog for the day. Right after i walk, i feel so energized and focused that it makes me want to do more tasks. Besides all these benefits, i walk because i see fascinating wild life along the way. It was a great experience this morning. Every time we walk, there is always a different story.