I went to the M.E.N fair & all you get is...

What? Did you really think I would forget about all of you while I was away? Not only did I bring back gifts for my little ones and a few friends, I got 1 lucky winner this:

No. Not the one our model is wearing. You get your very own Anvil Organic cotton Mother Earth News Fair t-shirt! (in a Mens large size) with a matching M.E.N fair Bandanna you can wipe that garden sweat off with or share with someone else. You will also receive a packet each Organic Sugar baby watermelon & Baby Bam Pie pumpkin seeds from High Mowing Organic seeds.
A Second winner will receive a Mother Earth News fair bandanna & their Practical DIY projects Volume 2 CD-Rom
No worries. The above is for the grand prizes, but EVERYONE (O.K more like 2o of you) will receive your very own packets of Sugar baby watermelon & Baby Bam pie pumpkin seeds from High Mowing Organic Seeds!

And if you are placing an order with them BEFORE 11/1/10, I can hook you up with free shipping. Valid for 1 free shipping only per household. Coupon code is good for 1 time use. Will not be permitted for public site sharing.
The M.E.N Fair items were made possible by our very good friends over at Mother Earth News magazine/Ogden Publications. The seeds were made possible by Storey Publications (books for Country living since 1983) via Mowing High seeds. A Major Thank you goes out to all these great people who made this giveaway possible.

While at the event, I was rather intrigued by the top bar hives at the Bees landing booth. Although beautiful, I knew there was no way I could talk the Captain into a home for bees that would cost about $400. But, it did have me searching out top bar beehive plans on the net. I found this great and easy how to that I know someone I may recruit to help with the project in late Fall. (cough..cough..Chris..cough) We may just have our very own bees in the Spring!

So lets have a look at just a few other interesting finds from our initial tour of the big event on Saturday:

An outdoor brick oven built by Squirreltailoven.org

They build new or repair, "save" old brick style ovens. Check out their gallery, at link above, for more pictures.

These beautiful massive Draft horses were visiting with their handlers from

Firth Maple Products. They are utilized in the method of Horse logging. You can read more of the less soil impact logging on their site, linked above. They also do occasional demo's. Contact them for more information.

And check out this rain barrel! The owner painted the plastic barrel a neutral creme tan. Laid large fern fronds on it, then spray painted the dark green, leaving the barrel with perfect fern outlines. Great & inspiring idea for those of us who have those bright blue barrels and would like a way to make them not so much of an eye sore.

More of the weekends event coming soon. I am still going through all the footage...and still more to download.

To enter the giveaway above, leave a comment to this post BUT you are only eligible if there is a way to contact you through your profile/blog. Sorry guys. Gotta have a way to contact if ya win. You have until 9 am on October 04, 2010 to enter. Stay tuned for an upcoming (in October) Artisan bread video segment. Want a teaser? There will be a giveaway in the video, which will have 2 winners of a very cool prize like the item I use in the segment!

Best of luck to all who enter tonight's giveaway.

Sweet Dreams,

~Tammie

Back Home & Hi Honey, we have a problem...

What a weekend. The Mother Earth News Fair was a hit! Over 5,000 people attended the first day. Self reliance/sufficiency were the hot topics and M.E.N gave it well. The workshops & lectures brought a wealth of information to all who attended. No worries, I will be sharing what oats they have sown, affording us the ability reap a portion of their skill. From cover crops to bread baking. From fermented foods to Natural First aid kits & how to begin your own backyard medicine cabinet.

We arrived at the Laurel Hill campgrounds just after 7pm. Enough time to get the tent up and build the fire. "White willow", my camera girl, was my accomplice for the weekend.

This was our first ever ski "chair lift" ride. Both of us are not fans of height, but I made her promise if she has to puke, do it below her towards the BMX riders and not at me or the camera.

Her knuckles were white from the gripping but she was a trooper.

All endured for sharing with you, this amazing shot of the Seven Springs Mountain Ski resort:

Back to our first night ....

The weather was great for tent sleeping, minus the rain which fell, making for a slight chill the next morning. That is when the weekend took an ugly turn.
Lets begin with the emergency phone call to The Captain about 10am on Saturday. The number I called him from did not provide caller information on the caller i.d.

Hubs: Hello?
me: Hi Honey, ummm... we have a problem.
Hubs: What problem? whats wrong?
me: Ummm. well, I'm sitting here in jail...

Hubs: What!? wait. What?!
me: laughing...no just kidding honey calm down. I'm at this auto parts store and my battery is dead. as in no way it will work kind of dead. But I do not have enough for returning home and a battery. What can we do?

Hubs: sighs... will they take the debit over the phone?

So the great mngr of the auto parts (local owned) shop spoke with my husband and hooked us up.

Before he hung up, "B" the mngr asked me : "Do you want to talk to him before I hang up? "
me: Just tell him I love him.
"B": i'm not telling him I love you....
and hands me the phone as were both laughing.

BUT that is not the whole story. It starts at 8:30 am when we woke to start the car. We hear "click click" and nothing. Crap! So I went looking for a jump. A camp site not far from us had a few people awake & I did hate having to ask, especially as I could hear & smell breakfast was being prepared. The men from the site willingly came over to have a look. (poor guys had no clue what was in store for them). They brought their truck over to give us a jump. They tried for a good 15 minutes before checking out my starter. Doing the "hitting with a wrench" technique. Take in mind, these guys have no clue to who we are and came to lend a few gals in distress a hand, as their wives were back at camp preparing their warm breakfast. I did not even have coffee to offer them.

They spent a good 1/2 hour to 45 minutes with us. After figuring out my battery was dead & in no way taking a charge, they...hold on to your seat people... LENT us THEIR battery! From one of their vehicles! Just so we could get to the auto parts store and to the event. How freaking awesome is that?! That is just not something that happens anymore. Not only did they go back to a cold breakfast, they did all they could, to ensure we would be O.K. We had their battery all day plus they did not blink an eye when they found out the new battery had to be put in (with their tools since we had none) in order to get theirs back.

I found out they have a site and I would like to shout out to the world how awesome these 2 were. No questions. Nothing asked in return. Just helping out their fellow (wo)man with an open heart and now dirty grimed hands in return for their kindness. Speaks alot for a person with their actions. If I have a successful hunt this year, you know whose business I will support!

I had nothing to offer but some "special V.I.P" tomato seeds from our news press media grab bags. (But Hey! Only V.I.P's got those, so they were special seed dagonnit! LOL. )
So if you have a moment, give these wonderful gentlemen some support and hop on over to their site, ( http://www.killitandgrillit.info/ ) Tell them Those Unusual Farm Chicks sent ya...And thanks for the battery! Have a look around their site and if you are in the market, check out the information & recipes. Some goods for hunting & cooking they carry too. Not to mention some cool gun & hunting info.

I have some more unpacking to do and a few "toys" I can not wait to play with (Thanks to some awesome vendors/owners I met during our time away). I will share soon, some more weekend events and our "put a big N on our foreheads for newbie press gals" excitement.

Sweetest Dreams,

~Tammie

Before I leave for Mother Earth News Fair....

Before I head out of town for the Mother Earth News fair this weekend, I have been perusing some great sites for adding to our very big living room. It seems so empty being twice what we previously had. I am contemplating a few rugs or maybe one of the unique coffee tables CSN stores has to offer.

If the name sounds familiar, it would be due to the fact my (infamous many times mentioned) meat grinder/tomato strainer I love so much, comes from them. Which, by the way, was awesome canning tomatoes with this year.

Once I get back from our little trip out to Pennsylvania, I will be having another giveaway which will again have more then 1 winner. A little tease? Well, it will be in relation to one of the workshops we are attending and if things work out, there will be a few more after that.

You will not want to miss out, so be sure to come back soon and see pictures from the big fair & of course the mystery items in the giveaway!

Now I best finish up these apple pie breads and raviolis for the freezer. Homemade raviolis are also what's for dinner, since I have made so many today.

I have been baking before the sun even rose. Not to mention I have packing to do and notes to prepare for video segments. Happy first official FULL day of Fall!

Sweetest Dreams,

~Tammie

Review & whats new at the cottage farm

I hope everyone is having a great canning season! Farmers almanac is predicting a good amount of snow for us but not as cold as some years.
Get that firewood ready & have that chimney cleaned if it has been awhile. FYI, ours is set for cleaning in a few weeks and the company we are using charges $84.50 per chimney.
I sure wish I knew someone who does this stuff being we have 2 fireplaces in
this new house.

As you may recall, our garden was put in late due to the big move this last July.
(We have gone from owning to renting. So in love with our 3 acre cottage
farm. The best landlords ever! We even have an Ohio wildlife reserve archery area just feet from the back property line.) We have been splitting firewood like crazy and still have more coming our way. (thank you buddy!)

Not much was put up due to some mishaps of plants but anything is better then
nothing. So far I have: 6 quarts & 4 pints wedge dill pickles
2 quarts & 2 pints garlic dill slice pickles
7 various jars Blackberry Jam
1 quart & 2 pints dill pickled yellow wax beans
3 gallons blackberry wine
1 1/2 gallons freezer bag yellow wax beans
2 meat rabbits freezer
1 gallon strawberry vinaigrette
20 lbs pears waiting for canning into a red wine sauce
35 quarts & 1 pint tomato sauce
8 pints salsa
5 gallons cider still fermenting in the carboy, plus lots of herbs hanging
to dry in the basement. Lots of apple pies being frozen, apple chunks being
dried and so on.
I have a wood working project for the fall/Winter I am very excited to get under way. We are putting in a grape arbor out by the garden/bon fire area. Under that arbor, I dream of a long farm table for friends to sit around during our get togethers. Future "chili/food cook off's" plus the "Pick N smash" apple harvest bonfires. I am on the lookout for old barnwood or newer hardwood for the making of one like this:

I have my mojo back & began planning the homestead spring/summer series of our videos. This last year has been a great starting and learning curve. The budget without paying sponsors made for a few distant homesteads not being filmed. (I am hoping for a nicer budget next summer). A lot of disappointment has been thrown in due to my outreaching, brushed off. I have found not many homesteaders and Artisans wish to be "put out there". I am not one to give up easily and have come up with homestead adventures that rely more on ME then others.
I also have some great companies working with me on the needed products, I feel, are great additions to the small homestead. Perfect for the budget minded. If you see one you like in our videos and have any questions you want honestly answered on them (that I may not cover in the video), you are welcome to email me. I am not paid by these companies. I research before I hand pick who I feel would be the best to fit my requirements. I feel that is the ONLY honest way to do what I do. Here is a sneak peek on what is to come:

**For our seed to harvest segments-after showing
HOW to grow enough cereal grains for personal use on small homesteads
(think 1/8 to 1/4 of an acre size grain plot) we will then show how to take it from field to table-using a grain mill for making it into flour. We will be using hulless oats & wheat. We will also show how easy it is to harvest small plots like this with a scythe and then to put through a manual(under $20) meat grinder to separate the loose hull-(hence the hulless) easily from the oat/wheat. FYI 1/4 acre of hulless oats will provide 496 pounds of oats!! 1/8 of an acre is sufficient for a small families 1 year usage.
Not to mention the stems make great straw for the animals. Double bonus!

**A manual OIL Press for our segment on providing your family with their
cooking oil needs. We show how to grow Black oil sunflowers in small space
(think 100x60 ft), how to harvest, cure then how to make enough oil
(about 15-20 lbs)for a small family needs/use that should last about 1 year.
I found an Inexpensive (under $150) manual oil press used for edible oils or for use with making bio diesel. How to use it, plus how to store your seeds and oil will be included.

**I found a great company who makes pea shellers- I hate shelling beans. This
sheller does beans & peas!And is a nice budget friendly under $35 price
tag.(These are all products I feel are one of those must haves for the
homesteader without breaking the bank).I will cover in one video growing beans,how to make comfrey compost tea for feeding the garden, and how to smartly incorporate the different bean varieties in the garden, how to know when to harvest/how to dry and discuss a few heirloom varieties I highly recommend for the family garden. I will also discuss how if you are an urban family without much garden space, then to seek out community gardens and get a plot to grow things like a big crop of beans, corn, etc. Many community gardens have way too many plots go unused. A shame really.

This is just a few of the upcoming videos. All will be shot on location at our
little stone cottage farm with a few travels away from home to visit some
artisans with useful mad skill and check out a few other homesteads.

We are planning to raise a few turkeys this fall. Rabbits are just not doing well with us but I refuse to give up. At least their droppings make keep them as a useful animal.
We will be buying from an actual breeder so we get great quality this time
around. The hens? Well having 1 attacked by a falcon did not help in the laying department. Once I disturbed his meal the other day, HE flew at my head & the surviving hens were ushered into their coop for few days. We are down to 6 hens and have only been getting 2 eggs. Its been that way with an occasional 4 or 5 appearing all summer. I am ready to just wipe the slate clean in the barnyard and start from chicks again.

Frog is now in preschool- the first in 11 years of having daily free time
to do as I want without a kid on my hip or baby in my arms- and have found it
has given me some kind of flu bug. Has not deterred me. I just get computer
things/phone calls done- despite the congested head nasal voice.
We are planting a few cover crops this year. Mostly Rye in the gardens.
Looks like I may have some rye flour in the spring. The Captain loves his rye bread.

Ming the Peke is doing great. She will be a year old this month. Still having issues of her barking growling at EVERYONE who dares step foot near the property or us. I know pekingese are VERY protective and hearts of lions but this has been one trait I do not know how to train her away from. Where is the dog whisperer when you need one! Gosh forbid the kids have friends over and she hears their laughing squeals. She is fierce protecting her family and I so hate shutting in her a room to only hear hours of barking when she hears outsider voices. It breaks my heart.

Due to some interactions & conversations of late, I want to share a bit of Farm Chick knowledge of the heart:

I encourage all of you to not fear reaching out to a like mind or even to one
who is intrigued/striving to homestead.
Friendships can arise from something so small and benefit both of your families.Remember, doing nothing brings nothing. Reach out and do not let fear get in the way. Have no expectations, just a kind heart.You will be surprised what little things can bring some of the best your way.

Sweetest Dreams,
~Tammie

Giveaway winners!

All right random numerizer has spoken and the winners are........

Marxwell & Jane!

You win 2 tickets each to the Mother Earth News fair!

You have until this Friday morning (before 9 am Eastern time) to contact me if there is not a way to contact you via your blog. After that time, I will numerize a new winner in that persons place.
Please email me for more information and the weekends schedule of events (sneak peek)! You will be able to plan out the speakers/workshops you wish to attend, before arriving, long before the other attendees.

Be sure to bring some rain gear for the weekend. Farmers Almanac is predicting rain. Best be safe then sorry.

Congratulations to you both! You are in for a fantastic fun filled & informative weekend. Do not forget, there is to be a seed swap! Be sure to get those seeds ready for some trading and get yourself some new varieties for the next year's garden!

Sweet Dreams,

~Tammie

Cider press pomace uses, pie bread & Tractor talk.

The Captain and I have been discussing what resourceful way to use up all this apple pomace left over from pressing. Of course our chickens are so sick of apples, they refuse to even go near the stuff.

I have a 1 gallon zippy bag full from pressing this morning with my friend Jeannie.
The two of us came up with a few ideas after tasting a little of the pomace. We realized the great apple taste was still there! So experimenting has begun.

The first recipe up is this *Apple pie bread * I clipped from a BHG mag last year. This bread was such a hit, I was receiving oRdERs for it from the bus drivers at the kids school. I had given a loaf to the bus driver one morning- Yes, I am one of those moms who bake up stuff and send it with the kids for those other adults in their daily lives- and when she brought the kids home that afternoon, begged me to bake up more. She had shared some with the other drivers and I had a weekly order of 5 loaves up into the winter season break!

There was not any difference in taste using the pomace. Having the apples chopped into little pieces from the food processor made every bite explode with that great fresh apple taste.

I did do a few different things then what is listed in the recipe directions. For one, I mixed everything up in the food processor. I just kept turning it on between ingredients. When i added the apple pomace, I added about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the fresh cider. Plus, I buttered the pan with real butter.

The kids would not wait for the loaf to cool and devoured half of this very large loaf in one sitting. Along with a glass of fresh pressed cider despite my protests they drink milk instead. the bread is moist, airy and full of wonderful Fall flavor.

These loaves do freeze well as long as they are wrapped in wax/butcher paper before putting in a zippy bag. We let them defrost at room temp and pop in a preheated oven of 350 Degrees (F) for 10 minutes before eating.

I am still working on my fence project and am pulling out over half the garden in preparation of the winter Rye cover crop. We have also been busy with getting/splitting firewood and making racks for them to sit on. As always, staying busy before the wind down season of cold hits.

I am also heading out this week to look over a TRACTOR for purchase. It is a Ford 2N (1947), which will not win any beauty contests due to a age taking it's wear. But works good like a tractor should. It may not be until the Spring when I can bring home the future pink beast, but either way, shopping around has begun.

If you have not done so, have a look at *the current giveaway* I am hosting for 2 pairs of tickets to the Mother Earth News Fest coming up the weekend of September 25-26, 2010. It is in Seven springs Pennsylvania. I am attending on a journalist pass for sharing with those of you who are not able to make it. Having the sneak peek for the scheduled workshops & speakers has me all pumped up. Already mapping out what is a must see & which tent it is held in. So much to choose from. So much to experience & learn. Many videos will be inspired by the weekends events. So no worries if you miss it. You will not miss out. Just watch for future videos I share in credited with this premier Homesteading party!

P.s Iam trying to work with a certain company in hopes of using one of their 8X6 greenhouses for some cold weather gardening videos and to show the durability of this inexpensive piece. Cross your fingers with me for a positive outcome.

Sweet Dreams,

~Tammie

Giveaway! ~Mother Earth News Fair tickets! ~

Dive into green living – for free! – at the Mother Earth News Fair on Sept. 25-26(A Saturday & Sunday). I'm giving away two pairs of tickets to the Mother Earth News Fair, a $50 value per set!

A weekend of fun and learning awaits at the beautiful Seven Springs Mountain Resort outside of Pittsburgh, Pa. You can choose from more than 200 hands-on and practical sessions on real food; organic gardening; green building; natural health; homesteading; country crafts like quilting, knitting and fiber arts; green cars and so much more. While you’re there, take part in our artisan food tastings, local and organic food offerings, seed swap, children’s activities and musical entertainment. For more information, go to http://www.MotherEarthNews.com/fair

I will be attending this great event myself along with a my good friend "White willow". We are covering many of the workshops for future subjects of video segments to be posted here.

I have looked over the workshop schedule & WOW! There is so much to see & do.

Please only enter this contest if you will be able to attend the event. it would be unfortunate for these tickets to go unused. The lodge is sold out but there are campgrounds and other lodging available close by.

How do you enter? Just leave a comment suggesting a subject you would like to know/learn more about via our Homesteading Adventure videos. See? Easy Peasy.

The 2 Winners will be picked by random number generator. Contest deadline for entry is

September 14,2010 at Midnight. Winner will be announced on the 15th of September.

I would love to meet up over the campfire if you attend. Its always nice to chat by a fire with like minds and great company.

So get that entry in fast!

Sweet Dreams,

~Tammie

~ My homemade Apple cider press video ~

Video is after information about the parts below~*~

I have mentioned our homemade cider press that was put together with the help & support of my friend Chris from the 1 acre homestead. We brainstormed together on how to make it work for the homesteader, just as well as those big expensive models. We wanted the project to be possible for those with little skill in carpentry & on a low budget. Under $120 and that goal was met. So a big Thanks goes to him for all the hard work he put into this.

The shop press we used is a 12 ton shop press from harborfreight.com , which can purchased in your local store. Watch for those coupons and sales- better yet, sign up for the mailings & e-news coupons for their great savings in addition to their low prices. We bought the press w/ coupon for $89 which normal price would have it at $139. Cutting boards can be bought from any kitchen department store for under $10 each. Buy the good thick food grade plastic like the ones in my videos. They are very durable for the press & have proven to be perfect for cutting down to size plus withstanding the screw holes we pre drilled for assembly.
The food grade silicone was purchased from the paint dept. in the local hardware store. Its application is used for repairing items such as tea cups and plates. Price was under $6.
My mesh bag used for pressing was purchased from http://www.abruzzos.com/ , my local wine brew & cheese making shop in town. Love those guys. Patient, informative & friendly. The best place with great prices. I highly recommend them if you do not have a favorite shop by you. (They are not listed as supporters but their service and guarantee of products are enough to make this chick's list.)

As always, I must apologize for a few spots which did not come out as I desired in editing. You know by now, my computer is not made for making videos which has proven to be a frustration point for me. Please do forgive me for the lack of a better computer to use in the editing of our videos. I have spent numerous hours on just a few spots trying to re edit and split at the right second. once it is published, it plays different then what I have redone in the program. After hours of frustration, I have decided to publish the video as is.
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt2AY5ZrnIY


Gotta love the few choices youtube gives for main picture used in embedding a video. I look rather frightening in this one. :)

Thank you to our supporters whom, without, our little videos would not be possible:
Overstock.com ~The place for great savings & Quality
Lehmans.com ~ non electric Farm Homestead supply store & catalog
Honorary supporter Farm Boy & Farm Girl brand clothing

Coming soon! Up next we will delve into some Fresh from the Farm gift giving ideas and how to's. The holidays are fast approaching and harvest time is upon us. Now is the time to think ahead for inexpensive, thoughtful & handmade "Fresh from the farm" gift baskets.

So stay tuned for more Homesteading adventures with The Unusual FarmChick ~ Fall Season.

Sweet dreams,

~Tammie

On a kitchen roll and spoiled by this life....

Of the many things I have in the kitchen gadget department, I am lacking a good quality ravioli tray. I have searched all over. Then....I stopped in at Deviti's. Which is now in my top 2 favorites kitchen/market stores. They have an amazing variety of Olive oils, balsamic vinegars, pastas, etc. And the deli...Ohhh my. The smells greeting you as the door is opened makes one close their eyes inhaling the delightful scent of great cooking.

They are the kind of store where you are more then just a customer. You are family and friend. The friendly smiles on every face and the only store (I have discovered) where they even chat about interesting things with you at the checkout while a gentleman bags your groceries and then... He carries them out to your car! I was not sure how to react or what to do. There was no asking. He just stood there waiting with my bags in hand, smiling.
He placed them in the truck and I tried to tip him but he refused and wished me a good day. I am still in shock and am now a big fan of our local Italian Market.

While there, besides the hard to find pasta & pizza flours plus a few other hard to find items, I picked up a ravioli pan for around $20. Being the children are back in school, their first week is filled with homemade special dinners to begin our new no processed food diets. The goal is to eliminate all the processed junk someone else keeps buying when they do the shopping. The kids love raviolis and I loved making them. Did not take very long, maybe 45 minutes total of my time.




The other great thing about making my own raviolis? I was able to use deer sausage with fresh grated asiago & mozzarella cheese. Fresh picked Garden basil & parsley. A little bread crumbs & 1 egg to hold it together. The kids never knew it was deer meat! They even begged me to make them again next week and for some of their school lunches. I am amazed each time I make something new from scratch how my children beg me to make more. Raving how they love my cooking and how better it tastes then the store stuff. I do believe this diet switch over will flow much easier then I previously thought.

Last week, I did begin a gallon jug of Pear hard cider, also known as Perry. I had left the juice out too long in the dining room to which it began fermenting. No biggie. There just will not be any pear juice for the kids this year. Just for mommy. And maybe a few friends.



On the barn yard front, I brought home 4 one year old hens. A woman on craigs list was giving them away due to an upcoming change in their family situation. The 5 we have had were not laying except for 1 hen. I gave 2 hens back to Chris at the 1 acre homestead, leaving us with 7 chickens, so as not to over stress the chicken pen free range ratio. How nice it is to go out and find 5 eggs in the nest box each afternoon. Poor Mr. & Mrs. J were in withdrawals from their weekly gift of our eggs. I got them hooked then the ladies slow down with production. The big smile I received was a wonderful Thank you when I showed up with a dozen eggs from the new ladies. I have not had enough to share in 2 weeks and resorted to buying a dozen before the new ladies were found. The store eggs have been reserved for baking and for the recent batch of ravioli dough. I can not bring myself to eat them any other way. I too have been spoiled by our home grown chicken eggs.

The canning pantry is looking a bit pathetic to me. Around 20 quarts of tomato sauce and 13 quarts pickles plus a few of pickled yellow beans. This years garden was horrible at production. The late start and of course the memorial day weekend massacre of my seedlings hurt all production. I will never again attempt to can cherry tomatoes or any other tomato not a paste tomato for sauce. It takes forever to boil those watery tomatoes down to proper thickness, wasting precious energy and not to mention the heating up of the house. I set a low goal after making our first batch and seeing the waste of using the different tomatoes. I had hoped for 50 quarts. I may not make it past 30. That just means I will have to go pick tomatoes at the local U pick farm. Still better then paying for over processed chemical raised ones.

I have masses of basil to ready for the dehydrator and apples to ready for pressing cider in the morning. My friend Jeannie brought me another 5 gallon carboy so before I head out in the week for our grape picking, I need to get that Cider going. And of course a few gallon jugs started for apple cider vinegar.

Sweet dreams,
~Tammie