It’s official…I have no more “babies” left at home.  My youngest one just turned 12 and he is oh. so. grown-up.  He has become such a terrific young man. I’ve seen a great change in the last couple of months in Elijah and really in all of my boys.  They are involved in what I like to call a “man class”.  There is a wonderful series called “Equipping Godly Men” by Norm Wakefield.  If you have boys, get this!  Almost every man in our church is attending this class and many along with their sons.  It is exciting to see the men in leadership attend – no one thinks they are “there” yet!

For Elijah  and his brothers it has been a gift from heaven.  They are spending hours with godly men, much time in discussion at each class and then a good 45 minutes in fellowship after class with men that are taking them under their wing, loving them and guiding them in the steps they need to take to grow into a godly man.

At a brand new “twelve”, he is well on his way.  We had a small family party this year with a huge “air soft war” planned when it quits snowing and raining.  I’d like dry ground so it doesn’t become a mud bath!  Elijah received some very special presents…

A scarf that Josiah knit for him…beautiful, warm, and 100% cotton!

Another expansion pack for one of his favorite games, Killer Bunnies.  Evidently this was a special pack and the boys are all excited to play.  I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in it.  Killer Bunnies is one of my favorite games also and the boys and I play it often in the evenings when school and work are done for the day.

Then, I unexpectedly found something I’ve been wanting to give Elijah for a LONG time.  Elijah has always wanted one.  We gave him one but it left home and went to live with my mama.  We don’t know why. He had wanted a particular kind but they were SO expensive that I couldn’t do it.  Recently he mentioned to me that he didn’t want that kind anymore.  He just wanted something small.

So…I heard from a friend…who had a friend…who had a mutt…who had a litter…and she couldn’t find homes….my mama and I took off to have a secret look and fell in love….even mama took one home….and was this little girl able to make a young man smile….

Meet Miss Poppins…lovingly known as Poppy!

She’s a tiny little thing – she will be about 7 lbs. when grown – the perfect size to snuggle up to while reading.  She has all of her shots and probably won’t eat a bag of dog food in a year!  She bonded instantly with Elijah…I’ve never seen anything like it.  She tolerates us likes the rest of us but she adores Elijah and whines when he leaves the room.  If I can survive the housebreaking/puppy chewing portion, I think I’ll be glad I did this. She is part yorkshire terrier, part poodle and part maltese.  What a mix!

Elijah also received one other thing…maybe I should say some other thingS.  About 500 of them!

People…prepare yourselves…there are worms in my living room….in a worm bin.  I. kid. you. not.

Tomorrow, I will share a tutorial on making a worm bin.  With pictures…ugh!  If you told me 10 years ago that I would allow a son of mine to keep worms in my living room – even for a day…I’d have laughed…a lot.

Blessings,

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I haven’t run off but the sun is shining, the greenhouse is calling and I’ve so much to tell you!  I’m begging grace until the rain falls again tomorrow or the next day. Then we’ll talk…about boys and men, and WORMS and more!!!

Blessings,

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Spring is here..I just know it.  (I keep telling myself this).

One sure sign, my teaching for the local community college is done and now classes are beginning again here on my farm.  If you have ever wanted to learn everything you need to know to start making soap, join me on March 13th at 1:00 in the afternoon. You’ll learn how to make beautiful, yummy smelling soap

Although I believe that  my online course is very good, when you take a class in person you get to touch, smell, and taste (the lovely herbal snacks between batches of soap!).  When you can watch it being done and be involved in the process, you go home confident that you can do this too!

Although you work hard…you also have way to much fun!

I hope you’ll think about joining me on the 13th .  Please email me for more information!

THEN…on March 20th, I’ll be teaching my Medicinal Herb Class.  You will study 10 herbs with me and learn to make every form of herbal medicine from teas to tinctures, salves to capsules…we do it all!  Interspersed again with some lovely herbal snacks.  You will go home with a salve, a syrup and a tincture to start your own herbal medicine kit and most importantly you’ll have the knowledge to care for you and your family using the herbs your grow yourself!  Please email me if you’d like to attend – sure hope to see you here!

The one question I hear most from my students is “do you have any other classes?” (Told you they were way to fun!) I’ve had many wonderful suggestions from students – things y’all say you wanted to learn.  I’ve listened and taken notes and I am working on a whole host of classes from menu-planning  (bring your recipes and learn my secrets to an inexpensive home-cooked meal on the table each night) to making jams, canning, baking from scratch, cooking ahead and more!.  I hope to be offering some of these by summer!

Need more information? Write to me at tnfarmgirl (at) comcast (dot) net.

Hope to see you here!

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This Saturday, I glanced outside before I jumped in the shower. This is what I saw…

And this!

Let me gently point out that this is not fog…it is snow.  My poor Angus bull – my poor HUGE Angus bull  - was scared to death and completely bewildered.  He stood for a time looking around and then realizing that this was nothing he’d ever seen in his lifetime – he headed straight into the barn.  I think we’ll change his name to Ferdinand.

Now…let me just state that I take pretty quick showers.  Six, eight minutes tops….this busy mama doesn’t have time for much more.  When I got out of the shower I thought I’d check to see if the snow was up to the windowsills yet…and this is what I saw…

Where did all the snow go…oh…don’t worry…15 minutes later…

I’m pretty sure I see snow at the other end of the valley…despite the blue skies…5 minutes later…

Again with the snow…it did this ALL DAY on Saturday…it was so confusing…do I wear a coat to walk for the mail…or grab my sunglasses?

In an effort to do our part to end this nonsense…I decided it was time to pack up our “winter’” decorations that (my sincerest apologies!) indicate we have had a desire for snow…

Not. Welcome. Anymore. Don’t let Spring hit you on the backside on your way out!

What were we thinking??

I want you to know that all of these things are now packed safely away in the basement.  Please forgive us for our prior enthusiasm for snow.  Perhaps….perhaps…we’ll pull them out next November…but I’m not promising!

We’ve done our part..now it is up to you parents to make sure that none of your little ones are still praying for snow. Talk to them…convince them that sunshine is GOOD, warmth, swimming pools, fresh tomatoes…sigh…

However…I have PROOF that spring is on the way.  Something happens in my kitchen every spring!  If you hurry, you can join me….I’ll tell y’all more tomorrow!

Blessings,

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Now that the boys are out doing chores…let’s talk about what new things I’m growing this year! What you are about to see, you will never repeat…understand?! Last thing I need in my life right now are a bunch of tattletales!

There is a list of all of the regular varieties of plants that we have tried and grown to love over the years in my Perpetual Gardening Calendar. For those of you who have my calendar and want to know what new things we are doing, this post should catch you up.

I have managed to control my addiction for seeds in regards to lettuce – I did not order any new seeds.  This had nothing to do with the disapproving looks from my 16 year old as he held up a full 12 inches of lettuce seed packets.  It.did.not!  Believe me….this is progress – it is the first time in 10 years that I did not order a new variety!

However, talking about tomatoes…well, a girl has to have a new tomato every year. It’s a lot cheaper than a new car every year, or dress, or shoes (am I rationalizing?). That is just common sense….right???  I am always on the lookout for a very sweet heirloom cherry tomato. If you know of one, leave me a comment.  Currently we still love Super Sweet 100’s but it is a hybrid so each year I try something new hoping to come close. Last year I ordered and grew Black Cherry which was supposed to taste like a Cherokee Purple – the best tomato every created!  It didn’t taste exactly like a Cherokee Purple but it was pretty close – it’s a keeper!

This year I ordered….Peacevine. Anyone ever grown it?  And then, because I’m all for equal rights for all tomatoes,  non-discriminatory, ahem….hopelessly addicted to tomatoes, I also ordered Chocolate Cherry (it’s CHOCOLATE people!), Isis Candy (they have a cat’s eye star burst at the blossom end!), Sugar Lump (a sweet heirloom from Germany!), Tommy Toe (only because people ask me for it at market…really…) and Yellow Cherry (they said it is preferred by taste testers as much as Super Sweet 100’s!).

OK, perhaps I got a little carried away in the cherry tomato department. It’s all the fault of Totally Tomatoes.  They not only have one of those deranged, evil, talented catalog writers, they have COLOR pictures.  COLOR people!!!  Foul play! Someone throw a flag for goodness sakes!

Moving on….let’s talk about tomatoes…or let’s not.  I had a little trouble controlling myself there.  Again, it is that pesky website Totally Tomatoes!  I had convinced myself that I would only allow two new tomatoes this year.  Foolish girl!  I ended up picking out just a tad bit more.  Anna Russian, Amish Salad (AMISH!), Caspian Pink (all girls love pink…at least this one does), Box Car Willy (really…could YOU resist that name?), and Hillbilly (better not be the same as Box Car Willy!).  All I can say is It’s Not My Fault!!!  Well, yes it is.  I’m weak and undisciplined when it comes to tomatoes.  My dream would be to have a taste of every fresh heirloom tomato known to man, take notes, and put myself out of this misery.

On to peppers…I’m going to try Yummy Pepper…listen…. it was named by children, they called it Yum Yum in Czech.  I’m sure this same pesky website would NEVER lie to me!  I only ordered one new variety….you should be standing, applauding and yelling bravo into your computer screen at this point.  I’m just saying.

I think the worst has happened….I’ve possibly passed this condition on to Josiah who had a list of his own.  New varieties of squash, radishes, kale, okra,  zucchini, corn, peas, cantaloupe, watermelon..my mouth began to water, my palms got sweaty, visions began to dance in front of my eyes…tomatoes, squash, peppers, veggies of all colors and sizes….I felt faint…I counseled him to be reasonable, suggested he reduce the list, I failed miserably as a mother and allowed him to GET IT ALL!!!!

I’ll have to hide the boxes of seeds when they come…I’ll slip down to the greenhouse while the boys are involved in a game of Killer Bunnies…I’ll throw some seeds in the dirt and label them mysteriously…they’ll never know….(I’ll never get away with this!).

I will hate myself in July when the weeds are thriving and it is 90 out.  I’ll hate it when I have to can, dehydrate, freeze and cook all of this stuff.  But, I’ll love myself again when the first snow falls and my pantry shelves and freezers are full!

Then…the worst of it all….my mother (my mother!) sent over two lists of tomatoes that she tore out of a magazine….heirloom tomatoes….many I‘d never heard of….WITH COLOR PICTURES! I’m pretty sure I threw those right out since we had already placed our seed orders.  Or…I might have tucked them away for next year…no….pretty sure they went in the shredder. Yup…that’s what happened.  I had great self-control…

So…commiserate with me, teach me, enlighten me…what are your favorite lettuces, tomatoes and peppers.  Don’t worry, I won’t take notes…

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