On the Farm

I harvested my first herbs yesterday: basil and oregano, which went into homemade meatballs. They were so good that between me and H, about a third of them didn’t actually make it to the dinner table. Mmmmm! I can’t wait to get some seeds in the ground to supplement the plants that mom & hubby originally provided. I’m also looking forward to planting the leftover onion sets; hopefully they’ll make us some green onions. And then there are the tomato transplants, patiently waiting in the corner of the porch. And the beet seeds. *happy sigh*

I took about 5 minutes to do some weeding in the veggie garden before picking up the girls this afternoon, and discovered some tiny little bell peppers and yellow squash! I literally jumped up and down squealing. I'm such a dork! LOL

In other news, we found out yesterday that there are at least 100 pigs running wild in the woods behind mom & dad’s house; they’re rapidly making their way towards the families’ gardens, and they’ve already destroyed the neighbors’. Add them to the rabbits, raccoon, wild turkeys and deer that already call our land home. I’m really astounded at the amount of wildlife still in our area/on our property, and to be perfectly honest, I’m looking forward to EATING some of them, before they eat us out of house and home. I do find it … wyrd … that the wild hog population seems to have exploded in the two years since we moved into our home. We've made many offerings to Frey over the years and I can't help but feel that he's making his presence known.

It has rained everyday for at least the last week to 10 days, and yesterday the high was nearly 30 degrees below normal. Mom says she’s only see the weather here do that once before, about 40 years ago. Rain is in the forecast every day for at least another 10 days; I think the river might come back out of its bank again if we don’t get a break soon, and this does NOT bode well for the annual mosquito battle. I heard a few weeks ago that in the central part of the state, the mosquito population is 8000 times greater than this time last year. That just makes me want to curl up in a ball – under some netting – and hide!

IDC Quickie Monday & Tuesday:
Plant – nothing today, but I did do some weeding
Harvest – basil & oregano
Preserve – nothing
Waste not – nothing
Preparation/storage – discussed quantities of various home-canned items we’re aiming for, so as to better judge how much u-pick produce we need to buy; discussed foraging with mom (I’m so glad she doesn’t think I’m nuts anymore)
Community Food System – nothing
Eat the food – basil, oregano, pasta from storage, jarred sauce from storage; muffins made earlier in the week; homemade bread w/ homemade jam