Just in Time for Mother's Day!

Introducing 2 new products!

A Soothing Salve! It's amazing on dry, chaffed, cracked skin, feet, elbows, or lips!

It's a super powered moisturizer.

It makes a great gift paired with a Gardener's exfoliating soap.

$8.50 for an 8 oz jar.

Special Mother's Day farm pail with a Gardener's soap & Soothing Salve only $15.00.

My new favorite thing!

It smells like lemon pudding! Yummm!

A Lemon Sugar Scrub only $7.50 for an 8 oz jar.

Goes great with a Rise n Shine citrus soap!

Special Mother's Day farm pail with a Rise n Shine soap & Lemon Sugar Scrub only $14.00.

Mother's Day gift pails will be available starting Monday, May 2nd @ Bubba Lu's Java Time or email me for more information or special orders!

In My Kitchen

Beets!

Yes, I said Beets!

Not only are they good for you, they taste good.

They are also super easy to prepare.

If the only beet you have ever had is the pickled kind..........

you need to try a fresh beet.

Serious.

Give the beets a good scrub under cold running water.

Remove the top & bottom.

Place in a pot.

Cover with water just a couple of inches over the top of the beets.

Then boil until tender when poked with a fork.

Remove beets from hot water & let cool for a few minutes.
Remove the skin by either peeling it with your fingers or use a paring knife.
(The skin usually just slides right off)
I sliced my beets in thin rounds but you could also cut into chunks.

I used Chioggia & Golden beets from Whole Foods Market.
They are beautiful!
I love them plain, tossed into a green salad or I use this recipe:

Beet Salad
2 lbs. chopped, cooked, chilled beets
Make a dressing using 4 Tbls. olive oil, 1 1/2 Tbls. red wine vinegar, 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped), 2 scallions (chopped), coarse sea salt.
Gently toss beets with dressing and serve.

You can find more information & recipes here!

I Am In Love

I have wanted chickens FOREVER!!!!!

Probably about 12 years.

My wonderful hubby finally gave in & agreed to build me a hen haven.

Or should I say Fort Knox.

We have bobcats, mountain lions, raccoons, coyote, hawks, etc, etc.......

His safety plan is pretty intense.

Thank goodness because I would be devastated if I lost one of my girls.

I am already totally and completely in love.

Who wouldn't be in love??

This is Hazel, she is an Ameraucana.

She is the absolute sweetest thing in the whole wide world.

I adore her.

Yes......I let them in the house.

Guilty as charged.
They are just tooo cute.

The black Barred Rock is Ruby, the brown Leghorn is Henrietta, & the white Brahma is Justine Beeper. (Justine used to be Anne but she liked to sing so much that we renamed her. Plus she had the bang comb over for awhile. teehee)

Right at home in the baby brooder.

Aka, plastic box from Target.

I know this pic is blurry but I just love it.

The girls had an obstacle course set up and were running the chicks through it.

"They needed proper exercise."

Ruby, the escape artist!

Time to relocate!

The girls on a outdoor field trip!

They are already getting their big girl feathers.

The chicken Shepperd.
She takes her job very seriously.

She even has the stick.

At home in their new brooder.

A reclaimed rabbit hutch that we borrowed from our friends Luke & Leesa.

I love these girls!

StRaWbErRy JaM

Yummm!

I love berries!

It's currently strawberry season & I am elated.

Strawberry Jam is our 3rd favorite.

Elderberry being #1 & Meyer Lemon Marmalade #2.

Every season I end up making about 6 cases of Strawberry Jam.

We have some regular customers that buy jam from us.

It makes the most delicious PB&J sandwiches & it's a great last minute gift.

You will need to start with 2 quarts washed, stemmed, quartered berries.

It doesn't matter if they are a little overripe, as long as they are not molded.

Our local fruit n veg stand offers a discount for day old berries.

Place them in a heavy pot & mash the berries with a potato masher.

Then add one package powdered fruit pectin & 1 tsp butter.

On high heat stir constantly until mixture comes to a full boil.

Add 7 cups of sugar all at once.
Return to boiling and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat.

I keep my jars waiting in a boiling water bath until I am ready to use them.
I work very quick and remove the jars with tongs.
I don't worry about the lids until after I have filled my jars with the jam.


Skim any foam off the top using a metal spoon.

Then using a ladle fill your jars, leaving a 1/4" headspace.


I wipe the rims of my jars using damp paper towels.

I then remove my lids & rings from the hot water.

Adjust lids and screw on rings nice and tight.



Process in a boiling water canner for 5 minutes (don't start the timer until the water is at a full boil).


Note: If you live at a high elevation, like me, you will need to add an additional 1 minute for each 1,000 feet of elevation.

I do 10 minutes, which is probably more than I need, but I feel it's better to be safe than sorry.


Also, my "canner" is just a giant enamel stock pot purchased from Wal Mart & my canning rack that fits inside is from Sur La Table.


I couldn't wait to try some.

I immediately made a peanut butter & jam mini bagel.

It was sooooo good!



For some really cute labels & decorating ideas try:


Postcards & Pretties


Martha Stewart


The Sweetest Occasion





I am sharing at:

Debbiedoos

&

Eggs, Family, Fun

Dying some eggs.

I just love how brown eggs look when dyed!
A little bingo.

All the "kids" ready for the hunt.

My niece Cambria found the golden egg!

Isn't she cute??

The Cousins!

Our little family.

Bay and Cambria.

Bunny birthday cake for my sister Sarah.

Everyone blowing out the candles!

It's All About A Half Marathon

I owe you a post about my half marathon.

I don't know what's been taking me sooo long.

So let's start from the very beginning..........

I have this friend, Shauna, she's one of my farmgirls.

We were having a phone conversation one night waaaay back in January and she says to me "I want to actually stick to my fitness goals this year, let's run a race." Now I don't know if she actually meant it or not but a few days later I signed up to run the River City Half Marathon. Most of my friends know that if you verbalize a goal, Amy (Me), will find a way to push so that you achieve that goal. I like to push myself as well.

(I think they are afraid to tell me things now! teehee)

So feeling the heat, Shauna signed up as well. Followed by Julie, another farmgirl, and then Sunny, also a farmgirl. My 17 year old son Jacob also joined the pack.

I am not a runner. So this was a real stretch for me.

We trained our hearts out for over 2 months!!

We became runners & walkers.

Sunny and I at packet pick up.

This was a very nerve racking moment for me.

It meant no turning back.

It made it all too real.

Just leaving the starting line!

Jacob in the bright yellow shirt.

Sunny in all black.

Shauna in the bright blue long sleeve.

Me with the beige hat & big ole grin in front of Jacob.

Julie in all black directly in front of me.

Team J&A at mile 8.2!

Still going strong and feeling pretty good.

We ran the WHOLE way.

Julie's knee was bothering her most of the race but she toughed it out and stuck with me.

Jacob (ahhh, youth) was about a mile ahead of us.

Team Shauna & Sunny were power walking the race so they were just a bit behind.

Sweet Success!

The finish line.

I am putting my hands in the air & balling my eyes out.

Our time was 2 hours 50 mins!!!! It was my all time personal best.

(The time clock was set for the marathoners, they started an hour before us.)

Honestly, one of the happiest days of my life.

Nothing feels as good as setting a MAJOR life changing goal......and fulfilling it.

It really truly makes you feel like you can conquer the world.

I couldn't have done it without my dear friends.

They encourage me, inspire me & motivate me to be the best me that I can be.

Thank you girls & Jake for the incredible experience.

I am sooo grateful that I got to share something so amazing with such amazing people.

Look out world.....here comes the Farmgirls!