A Success...

It worked!

My rotten soybeans sprouted. Just a handful so far but I'm hopeful of my second (intentional) sprouting of cannelini beans and great northern beans, and maybe some more soybeans.

The birthday boys are headed off to a breakfast and movie with their grandparents and the rest of us are spending the cooler morning hours getting some of the plants in our garden. The plan is to have the entire plot planted by next weekend. And after that...

0ur new sandbox

... we are heading to the beach!

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The party? Oh, it was a HUGE success also. I will be putting together a post with lots of pictures for you to see this week. Thanks for all the hopeful comments about getting prepared for it. I think I'm still dizzy from such lack of sleep, but boy was it worth it.

A Year Ago and Now

Wade Richard Klouda

One year. 

"There's nothing like a newborn baby to renew your spirit - and to buttress your resolve to make the world a better place."  - Virginia Kelley

I can hardly believe a year has past. I look back at the pictures of my baby son and I try to remember the days. I have to fight back happy tears. I remember years of loving on each one of Jackie's children and how much they mean to me. Holding several of them just hours after their birth. I remember little Seth holding my finger as we walked into a Target store and him asking me when I would have children that he would play with. I know he meant playmate. Now Seth could be babysitter. On one visit this winter Seth, Cade and Jude (Jackie's gentlemen) had fun doing the math of "how old they would be when Wade turned ___".  I am just focusing on year 1 for today and looking forward to year 2. 

Funny how life works out. Happy Birthday Dear Ones.

Welcome to the Family / Party Progress

Say hello to the newest addition to our farm family...

This adorable little girl was born one week ago today and has been shy with pictures until this morning.

At first her mother and aunts surrounded her...

And then they shoved her out of their protective circle to let us see!

Here is her sister. No longer the cute baby, a gawky teen, but still pretty in her own right. She turns one this weekend. Her birth (the first on this farm in a very very long time) was a huge surprise the afternoon we returned from a visit to Kentucky!

This is the beginning of our own little herd: the mother, the bull, two aunts, her older sister and baby makes six.

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Still drowning in party preparations here. Does anyone else go all out and then at the last few days before the party regret undertaking so many new projects for themselves? Yep, that would be me. But go big or go home, right? It wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't making everything from scratch. Good thing I have my own little party elves over here painting, sewing and in general making me NOT lose my mind! Thank you dear dear friends...

Just a few peeks at the upcoming festivities... these lovely things make me smile and will be seen at the dessert table.

I can't wait to show you the rest. I may not sleep for the next two days but this party is going to be worth it.

Chores with a Baby

Many times farm chores are things I want to rush through to get to the relaxing part of my day. (Did I just say that?!?!) With a bunch of active kids there never is a dull moment here. While there is no relaxing on a mini farm, sometimes chores can become adventures. Like chickens for example. Throw in a 20 month old, a teeny tiny pair of mud boots and a patient mommy and this is what you get...

Seriously, aren't her boots cute!

Her favorite part of the whole experience is unloading the basket one by one and placing them in the egg carton. Some of the hens lay huge round eggs occasionally and she tries to fit the giant egg into the tiny well and we get some of these...

A small price to pay for eager hands. But all in all she gets excited and grabs the chicken shaped egg basket when she sees me putting on my boots and I just can't resist. The enthusiasm wears off as the child gets older... say 10! (My oldest turned ten this week.) So I don't mind taking her. Eden was the same way with the chickens. Jude grew up in the barn watching me milk a goat twice a day from his walker. I love that my kids are growing up with animals that contribute to our family's food supply.

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Today I am shoveling mountains of topsoil and mulch to get the yard looking its best for a double birthday party at this rural blue house this weekend. The girls are coming over to help get together some fun carnival themed games and decorations. There will be lots of happy party pictures to come next week. My to-do party list has a couple dozen unchecked items that desperately need immediate attention. I think today I will tackle the perfect gluten free onion ring and see if I can turn an adult daiquiri mix into kiddie sno-cones?!?! Wish me luck!

Oops turned Agricultural Experiment

I accidentally left soybeans soak way too long and by the time I found them they were sprouting. This is not what you want for making soy milk. I drained the water off and this is what I saw.

It reminded me a bit of potato eyes growing those creepy white arms and legs. Bummer. Then I remembered an article Lauren sent me about using store bought dried beans to plant and grow instead of seed stock. Lauren and I fill each other's inboxes daily with interesting articles and links to pretty things and this one stuck in my mind (definitely not pretty but on the interesting side). I remember skimming it and then filling it away in my mind as a must try. Little did I know that it would come in handy so soon. Even though it was raining I headed outside to do a trial plot. Please do not allow this one occurrence of immediate action fool you into thinking I'm incredibly ambitious. Nope, I'm only half dedication to growing my own food and half convinced that if I didn't plant right away the stinky beans would end up in the compost and I cannot waste anything. The guilt from throwing out a cup of moldy beans would surely send me into a guilt spiral. Okay, so maybe not that bad... anyway...

I had about a foot in my greens bed between kale and spinach that made a ideal place to try three rows of edamame.

The article said to plant them one inch apart possibly two in a hole, just to make sure something comes up since sprouting and planting is just a good idea not really a guarantee. But since it was raining, I rushed and ran a trowel through the soil and sprinkled a heavy layer of sprouted beans.

Guess you can see that my planting style is a lot like my cooking style, really no measurements and no fear of absolute failure. I also planted some by my peas, not wanting any beans to go to waste in case this experiment actually pans out.

I'm really hoping this style of planting works. It is so much cheaper to buy dried beans at the store instead of ordering the seed stock alternative. The price of edemame seed is crazy per ounce (I think I paid $2.29) and I got my organic soybeans for $0.99/lb. Oh, pretty pretty please work because I'm dying to have some of these dried beans growing in my garden this year.

Cannelini beans are the stuff that traditional Italian meals are made of. These were expired at the store so they were FREE! I think I feel round 2 of bean seed sprouting happening very soon.

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Also so very exciting news from the new raised beds...

I am dedicating these beds to called my kitchen garden. They will be growing the things that can be planted early (greens and peas) or are perennial (asparagus, herbs and strawberries). These plants grow fast and will be included in meals several times daily. So instead of heading out the the big garden and wandering through row after row of vines and late season crops all of these will be right out my kitchen door.