Animals
- Life In The Gonad-free Zone
It's late afternoon. The afternoon feeding is done and the sun is setting in the west... sending its last rays upward from the horizon like searchlights. It's been a little over a week since the fainting goat bucks were castrated,and...
- When All Else Fails....
Yesterday was a marathon gardening day.The garden is (re)planted.The end. Ok, well, not really the end, because of course I have to tell you what is planted! And...I have come to the conclusion that Mother Nature is schizophrenic.Sorry Mother... but...
- Lots Of Dogs, Lots Of Spuds!
No, we still have the same crew of dogs.But for the rest of this week, our dogs have guests. Their uncle and aunt have come to stay at the farm this week.Actually, Hubbs' parents are here for a farm visit with their two labs, (Uncle) Ferdinand ...
-
Outdoor work is difficult these days.The heat is oppressive, the humidity high.I spend my early mornings getting the animal chores done.My evenings are spent in the garden.By seven, the sun is behind the woods and the garden is in shade. Watering and...
- Spuds
Last year's garden boxes yielded an impressive harvest of sweet potatoes.Considered a "super food", this yummy root packed with beta carotene is one of my family's favorites.This is just a small sampling of our yield. Planting our garden...
Animals
New Discoveries
Sunday brought a welcome relief from the bitter cold of the previous week.
You know it's been cold when 32 degrees feels balmy!
(Saturday evening when we were outside, it was 3 degrees.)
This sunrise was the first sign that Sunday would be a warmer day...
What looked like a blazing fire on the horizon was the beginning of a warming trend.
(these photos are not enhanced!)
Breathtakingly beautiful!
Of course the horses missed the sunrise, with their noses buried in piles of hay.
After several days of being locked in their pen,
(to keep them close to their heat lamp)
the turkeys once again enjoyed a day of freedom.
Feeling a bit freer, ourselves, we took advantage of the warmer weather and hiked with the dogs.
Taking the trail cameras down to the area around the creek...
to see what critters frequent this area.
Do you remember months ago when I caught that 12 point buck on the camera?
We decided to return one of the cameras to that location, also.
And, in front of the camera we put a solid block of deer feed to attract them.
Is that cheating?
Maybe...but it will be fun to see all that are attracted as a result!
I spent a little time on Sunday working on wedding favors.
I printed out these seed packets...
which will be assembled and filled with seeds for the wedding guests.
I found this recipe, which Amanda agreed to make.
It is a Gonzo cake .... or a purple sweet potato cake.
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| www.sweetapolita.com |
It just so happened that I had purple sweet potatoes in my pantry.
The recipe calls for sweet potato powder that is reconstituted.
To the batter the recipe calls for red and blue food coloring to complete the purple color.
We decided to go the "all natural" route and use our own organic sweet potatoes.
Instead of cake, we decided upon cupcakes and agreed that adding mini chocolate chips
might make them delicious.
What we didn't count on is this...
when you add baking soda to purple sweet potatoes, the batter then turns blue...
and after baking, the cake is green!
So, our Gonzo cupcakes turned into Oscar the Grouch cupcakes!
For those of you who love science:
Purple sweet potatoes get their color from a substance called "anthocyanin."
When anthocyanin is exposed to acidic conditions, it turns red.
Alkaline conditions turn it blue or green.
So....when she added the baking soda (sodium bicarbonate...an alkali)...
the batter turned blue, then green.
So, the substance that is responsible for making purple sweet potatoes purple
is, in essence, a litmus test!
(Many thanks to our resident dietician, Amanda, for sharing this trivia with us!)
(Many thanks to our resident dietician, Amanda, for sharing this trivia with us!)
You've got to admit... this world is a fascinating place!
Yesterday we washed eggs and packaged them for customers.
Every week there are one or two surprises amongst the eggs.
I pity the hen that laid this one!
More wintry mix is predicted for today...with temperatures remaining in the low 30's.
It sounds like a heat wave!
- Life In The Gonad-free Zone
It's late afternoon. The afternoon feeding is done and the sun is setting in the west... sending its last rays upward from the horizon like searchlights. It's been a little over a week since the fainting goat bucks were castrated,and...
- When All Else Fails....
Yesterday was a marathon gardening day.The garden is (re)planted.The end. Ok, well, not really the end, because of course I have to tell you what is planted! And...I have come to the conclusion that Mother Nature is schizophrenic.Sorry Mother... but...
- Lots Of Dogs, Lots Of Spuds!
No, we still have the same crew of dogs.But for the rest of this week, our dogs have guests. Their uncle and aunt have come to stay at the farm this week.Actually, Hubbs' parents are here for a farm visit with their two labs, (Uncle) Ferdinand ...
-
Outdoor work is difficult these days.The heat is oppressive, the humidity high.I spend my early mornings getting the animal chores done.My evenings are spent in the garden.By seven, the sun is behind the woods and the garden is in shade. Watering and...
- Spuds
Last year's garden boxes yielded an impressive harvest of sweet potatoes.Considered a "super food", this yummy root packed with beta carotene is one of my family's favorites.This is just a small sampling of our yield. Planting our garden...