Your Mama

UPDATE: NANCY ADCOCK WINS THE ALMANAC. WOOHOO!

“Your Mama wears combat boots to church.”

Rebekah, as a 6^th grader

The combat boots.

“Your Mama wears combat boots to church.”

See back when I was a child, we KNEW how to insult one another. That quote is one of the things we used a lot in the little town I grew up in.

One of my presents for my 50^th birthday was this pair of green combat boots.

One of my other gifts was the freedom to wear them whenever and where-ever I want to. That freedom was a gift I gave myself; it comes with turning 50. So I wore them to church under a black long skirt. I told my daughter that if someone said to her, “Your Mama wears combat boots to church” that they’d be exactly right. She told me that these days the kids just say, “Your Mama.” What?! That’s it? Just “Your Mama”? That’s supposed to be an insult? Your mama WHAT? I don’t get it. I just don’t get this generation. Are they really so lazy they can’t think of something specific to say about each other’s Mama’s. (haha. I get to say these kinds of things now that I’m 50: “I just don’t get this generation.”)

Anyway. I wore them. They looked super cute. And they almost match my new truck.

Have you discovered the Greenhorns website? http://www.thegreenhorns.net/ I bet you have already. Very cool and informative. Well, I ordered two of those Almanacs and am giving away one. http://www.thegreenhorns.net/category/media/almanac/

One for me, one for you. Make a comment, facebook me, or send me an email to enter (email address is rebekah at maryjanesfarm dot com). I’ll draw a name and send it to the winner to enjoy.

Also take some time to explore the wonderfulness of http://newfarmersalmanac.org/. You’ll be touched with the Audio Almanac. Beautiful!

The horse.

My Great White Horse is headed to Boot Camp.

I know I didn’t mention it before but My Sweetheart, the horse love of my life, bucked me off. Wham and I’m on the ground. It hurt my feelings more than it hurt my bum. And, believe me, my bum was bruised, so you can imagine my feelings. But it was a wake-up call for sure. I can no longer ignore the fact that he needs some tuning up. He’s not exactly the bomb-proof, family horse he was represented to be when I bought him. I’m not complaining though, because I do indeed LOVE him madly and believe he was supposed to come to me and be mine forever. I’m dreading him going because I love him so much. I’ll miss him. In fact, I miss him already and he hasn’t even left. But I bought him to RIDE him, not just to LOVE him and LOOK at him and GIVE him treats. It. Must. Be. Done. So he’ll be going this week. I hope it will be only for a month or so. How long he’s there really depends on how well he does. The sooner he ‘gets with the program,’ the sooner he’ll come back home to me. I believe that he wants to be good; he just forgot how to be.

The chicks.

I never in a million years thought we’d love these little chicks the way we do. We ordered 17 chicks from Murray McMurray in Iowa. I ordered the mystery ornamental hen collection. We received them in the mail on April 22. They are 4 weeks old now. They grow so fast you can almost see them growing. They are growing LIKE WEEDS!

Several weeks ago we lost one. I don’t know what happened. She was droopy and listless. I held her and tried to get her to drink some electrolytes; but she died while I held her. It was awful. We had a funeral for her and buried her under the old oak tree.

That night I served chicken for dinner. It just kinda struck us then. My daughter (12 years old) said, “No way.” I said, “Yeah, no way.” My husband said, “Way.” So he ate the chicken dish and my daughter and I ate rice and salad. Looks like chicken is off the menu at our house. I’ve always had vegetarian tendencies because I love animals so much. Think I’ll explore beans, pasta and tofu a bit more. And I have the best recipe EVER for cheese enchiladas. I’ll post it over at www.rebekahteal.com. So fantastic and easy. Here they are before I popped them in the oven. So good!

Sweetest Chick Ever

The other bird that stands out from the bunch big time is our little Black Cochin.

Cutest chicken EVER hatched!

She is easy to identify because of her legs and feet. They are covered in feathers. She, too, is a little angel. Friendly and curious and smart and calm. We haven’t named her yet.

These two on the roost are White Faced Black Spanish chickens. We think!

We have a third White Faced Black Spanish that we believe is a rooster. He is bold and brave. And he is larger than the others. There is a certain look in his eye that I can’t define. He gets up on the roost and flies down on everybody, causing a stir. He’s pecky and pushy. We will be very surprised if that bird turns out to be a hen. Of course, keep in mind….we know NOTHING about chickens. NOTHING.

But I look forward to having my very own

.

Currently I get mine from a neighbor.

The building of the chicken house is coming along slowly. I think this is why they tell you to have a house before you order the chickies. It is going to take longer (and cost more) than you could ever imagine.

But, as I mentioned, I don’t mind them in my house. Well, except for the smell. There is no way to cover up that smell. I’ve felt like they need more space, so I keep putting on additions for them. I take a cardboard box and cut a round hole in the side. I then hook them up together. For one, I used a tube that the birds can walk through, a tunnel connector. The other one I was able to simply tape together. The birds seem to enjoy the different apartments. Cute things.

The garden.

The list of reasons why my garden progress is stalling:

1. It’s been raining for weeks. 2. I don’t have a tractor or tiller that works. 3. I’m rather overwhelmed and unsure where to start. 4. Did I mention the rain?

1.This weather! The ground hasn’t dried out in weeks. You walk across the meadow and hear squishy noises. Look down and you can see the water with each step. Soon you feel it in your shoes; your shoes and socks are soaked. That’s the way it has been around here. More rain is predicted for this week. This is encouraging the weeds to take over the property. Like the phrase I used a minute ago when I was talking about my chickies “growing like a weed.” I get it now. Weeds grow faster than anything else. When there is no chance to mow or weed-eat in between the rain storms, well, the weeds get out of control fast.

The good side of that is that many of the weeds are wildflowers with beautiful flowers.

I am currently farming weeds. A “weed farmer” I am.

2.The hunt for a reasonably priced tractor hasn’t gone well. I have found a couple of older CUTE tractors, but they won’t get the job done. And, the price of the newer, larger tractors is just too much right now. The tiller from our suburban garden has gone ca-pluey, so we don’t even have that right now. And, shall I add to the mix that there are still fallen pine trees on what I hope will be my kitchen garden spot. Zero progress on a garden.

3.Wait. No, that’s not true. I was in the Feed and Seed store buying some chicken starter and I saw this collection of seeds by the register. I couldn’t resist.

These seeds are non-GMO, all natural, non-hybrid, heirloom. It was a great price, but has made me feel overwhelmed.

Look at this list and you’ll see why.

The kit includes:

Blue Hubbard Winter Squash

Lincoln Pea Jubilee Watermelon

Scarlet Emperor Bean

Yellow Indian Woman Bean

Appaloosa Bean

Dapple Grey Bean

Baby Borlotti Bean

Butter Scotch Bean

Pigeon Peas

Eye of the Goat Bean

Black Valentine Bean

Black and White Calypso Bean

Mayflower Bean

Red and White Calypso Bean

Marrone Bell Pea

Chamomile Herb

Dill Boutiquet Herb

Thyme Broad Leaf Herb

Italian Basil Valention Herb

Lemon Balm Herb

Forest Green Parsley Herb

Oregano Herb

Yellow Globe Turnip

All American Parsnip

Yolo Wonder Pepper

White Bunching Onion

Waltham Butternut Winter Squash

Purple Plum Radish

White Sweet Spanish Onion

Purple Top White Globe Turnip

Tender green Mustard Green

Sugar Baby Watermelon

Scarlet Nantes Carrot

White Wonder Cucumber

Delicious Cantaloupe

Pumpkin Ct Field

Edisto Cantaloupe

White Icicle

Cuban Sweet Fryer Pepper

Red Romaine Lettuce

Chioggia Beet

Golden Ace Cabbage

Waltham Broccoli

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce

Jack-O-Lantern

Imperator Carrot

Bloomsdale Long Spinach

Detroit Dark Red Beet

Roma Tomato

Cherokee Purple Tomato

Black Krim Tomato

Brandy Wine Yellow Tomato

Marglobe Supreme Tomato

Delicious Tomato

Brandy Wine Red Tomato

Beefsteak Tomato

Bradley Tomato

Mortgage Lifter Tomato

Rutgers Tomato

Arkansas Traveler Tomato

Self Blanche Cauliflower

Quattro Stagioni Lettuce

Georgia Collard Green

Whew!! I mean—check that out!! How’s that for some seeds! Can you believe that collection? All those seeds and not one ounce of planting instructions. Ouch. I’ve got my work cut out for me FOR SURE. I guess I’ll start by planting what I know how to plant and go from there. I’ll start some tomato plants inside in a cardboard egg carton. I think the Mortgage Lifter Tomato sounds like a real winner! We can all use some of that.

Am I too late? Maybe that’s why the seed collection was such a great deal. Hmmm.

Hey-Speaking of cute things with feathers…

The visitors.

Our visitors lately have had feathers.

Three little ducks. See them? With their heads in the water? My ducks are all in a row. (If only.)

This is our pasture. Puddles have formed in the low spots from all the rain we’re getting.

A Great Heron also visited our pasture puddles.

A white turkey.

(turkey season just ended. she’s safe!)

An Indigo Bunting.

So that’s the update. Hope to make some ACTUAL progress by my next post! ha!

SO HEY! What’s happening with you?! Don’t forget to leave a comment or contact me to enter the drawing!

Until next time, Friends, savor the flavor of life!

Lots of love, The City Farmgirl, Rebekah