Thank You

I have been overwhelmed the past few days with the outpouring of kindness from you all.  The prayers and gifts of so many has truly touched my heart.  Through these blogs we have made connections and friendships that will endure for the long run. I am blessed to be a part of an online community who has shown that even across hundreds and hundreds of miles they can and do reach out and make a difference in a "virtual" strangers life.  I know how hard times are right now for so many folks these days.  It has restored my faith and makes my heart swell  to know that there are still so many good people in this world.  I cannot thank you enough. 

I'd like to thank my dear friend kymber for everything she has done.  She showed me that friendships reach out beyond distances and touch your very heart. I love ya gurl!  OK I'm starting to feel real sappy now so I best snap out of it!! LOL  And I'd also like to thank North from over at the Gun Blog Blacklist for putting kymber's post up and my friend Stephen and George for linking over here as well.  Ya'll All ROCK! 

We are trying to figure out exactly what to do right now and there are some plans in the works for dealing with the transportation problem.  I'll tell you what I can in a few days. Before I say too much though, I need to check with someone and see just how much I can share.   Never let it be said that there are not good people in this community of ours or that prayers are not answered.

The Wreck

   I've struggled over even writing this post. I know it is going to come out sounding all whiny and "poor poor me" and I wasn't really sure I wanted to be THAT honest with folks.  I try for the most part to be as positive as I can  about life.  And why not?  I feel like I've been blessed the past few years.  Then after thinking about it I decided that I pretty much share everything here so why stop now?  There were so many other things that I would rather write about.  But I'm feeling the need to actually say these things if only to get them out of my system.  You see I had another wreck this weekend. Thank goodness it wasn't like the last one I was in.
  They say that most wrecks happen within a few miles of your home. This time I was less than two  miles from home and I hit a patch of gravel. I lost control of the truck. It went slipping and sliding. I tried to do all the things you are supposed to do in that situation but I suppose somehow I must have over corrected.  I slid completely around and flipped the truck and ended upside down. Pretty much totaled the truck for all intents and purposes. To say that Mars is upset would be an understatement.  That truck was his "baby" and was supposed to last us for many years to come.  We had hoped it would be the last one we would own.
      By some sort of miracle I came out of it with only a badly cut ear, a couple of bruises and some stiff muscles. I was lucky. It could have been so much worse.  I had BB the dog with me.  She was in the back of the truck and somehow came out without a single scratch.  Once again I was made to understand that I wasn't quite done here yet.
     I wish I could say the same for the truck.  The picture doesn't do justice to  the damages. It actually looks pretty good in this picture!  I didn't think to take any before Mars started working on it. This one was taken yesterday evening after he had spent the entire day trying to get the doors to open, take the shattered windshield out, air up a couple of tires and pound the cab into some semblance of an actual truck cab. He even attached a chain and had it wrapped around the barn frame and with the help of a come along and a big hammer has been trying to straighten up the frame of the cab. I'm not sure if we'll be able to actually get another windshield to fit in it again but at least he's trying. The motor starts but is now leaking oil, (it lost A LOT of oil when it flipped) the steering is messed up, one rim and tire are toast, the windshield and a couple of other windows are shattered.  I don't really know what all else at the moment. I'm afraid to even find out. I do know that we now are on foot, fifteen miles from town, and have no one here to even call for a ride. Aargggg.... back on that dang pity pot again.  I'm trying so hard not to be. I know that I have so much to be thankful for. 
     This month marks one year here on the land. Almost a year to the day that we got moved in here. I guess I really SHOULD have gone and introduced myself to some of our neighbors this past year.  Somehow though we have just been so busy here working on the place that I kept thinking that I would get around to it eventually. 
      I actually did meet a couple of them right after the wreck.  I was just too scared (freaked out) to do much more than thank them over and over for the help they gave me. 
     There was the lady who was behind me when I flipped the truck. She stopped to make sure I was ok and helped me out of the truck.  And there was another lady who stopped less than a minute later who just happened to be an EMT (with her medical bag in the car) who taped up my ear and stopped the bleeding and checked me over.  She wanted me to go to the hospital and get a couple of stitches.  (I didn't want to tell her that I wasn't going to go because I would have there or back home) 
     The man who lives just down the hill from where the truck flipped has a wrecker.  After speaking with the LEO (who was 45 minutes away and said if we didn't need him then he'd rather not have to come out)  he hooked up the truck, flipped it back upright with the help of two other men who live somewhere around here, and hauled it home for me.  They even helped pick up the stuff that had been tossed out of the truck, including the tool box.  That thing has to weigh at least 300 lbs and has most every hand tool that Mars owns in it. It would have been irreplaceable.    I am ashamed to say that I didn't get anyone's name or if they told me I just don't remember.  I was pretty shook up.  I owe them all so much. 
      I do remember the wrecker driver saying not to worry and that's what folks out here did for one another.  I half way thought someone would come by and check on us but so far we haven't seen anyone. Which is ok, I'm just thankful that they were there when they were.  Angels come in all shapes and sizes don't they!
     Mars is pretty upset with me right now.  Heck, I'm pretty upset right now. I don't know how we are going to be able to afford to get the truck fixed and back on the road.  It's that or find another means of transportation.  Either way this is going to take us awhile to get over.  Hey... at least I'm still here to worry about it!
On a positive note.... I had already gone to the feed store and done the grocery shopping for the month.  So if nothing else we are ok on those fronts for awhile. I just need to stay positive here.   I'm sorry  this has been such a pitiful rant. I just needed to get it off my chest and out in the open.
If you are still reading this, thank you for your patience!
                ~~~~~~  Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

UPDATE ! kymber over at Framboise Manor has put up a post about all this and is trying to help get us some support. (You are awesome kymber :-)  )And North over at the Gun Blog Black List has graciously allowed her to post something over at his place. Please go over and give them some love!!   I cannot thank each and every one of you enough for all your amazing kindness.

Michigan and the DNR

It is not often that I re-post something in its entirety but I feel the need to share this one with you all.  Carolyn Renee over at Krazy Acres has this one NAILED!  The situation in Michigan is only the forerunner of what is to come.   Thanks Carolyn! 

Pine tar and poultry plumage

One of my few (but ever increasing) Political Rants will follow, and it's a doozy.  If you do not wish to read my ranting and occasional foul language, please come by tomorrow when I will talk about making homemade chocolate covered orange peels (amazing variety of topics, hugh?)

If you're still here even after the little warning, thank you.  Really.  Although I occasionally get depressed about the sloth and indifference of the majority of the US citizenry, I am happy to know that there are still people out there that give a damn about freedom and about the US Constitution and Bill of Rights.  

So.  What's my rant about today?  As many of you may know, no thanks to CNN or Fox or MSNBC, there is another fight for food freedom going on right now in Michigan.  I won't get into the nitty-gritty details not only because I'll have a stroke while typing it, but because there is so much first hand information out there from the little guys caught in the middle of it.  But in a nutshell, the asinine State of Michigan and the DNR has now made felons out of anyone harboring "feral" pigs.  (Go to Bakers Green Acres for a good, if not maddening, read.)

I'm not talking about farmers letting a bunch of wild boars out into their neighbor's farmland, or secretly breeding pigs with the ability to spread a biological weapon amongst the human population (That would be our own government doing that.  Just kidding.  But it wouldn't surprise me at all.), but family farmers growing pigs that are not the status quo.  Pigs that are able to live and thrive and grow outdoors in a pasture and not in an overcrowded cesspool like in the gigantic factory hog farms.  Pigs that look like, well, pigs.  Curly tails, stripes on piglets, hair.....you know, what a pig should look like.  Pigs that, heavens forbid, may be in greater demand than those cranked out by the mega-pig factories.  More and more people are wanting their meat to be raised in a humane manner, want their families to sit down to a natural pork chop, want to support their local farmers.  But big business doesn't like that.  And neither does the State.  Big business wants to stamp out any and all competition.  And the State is right there to help out by making (cover your ears) fucking ignorant and completely unconstitutional laws in order to force everyone into compliance.

Every single day, our rulers are adding things to their list of what you can or cannot eat.  Yes, they are.  I'm sick of being called a fanatic, or a tin-foil-hat wearing wacko, or a conspiracy nutjob.  If you cannot see the writing on the wall, you are the delusional one, not me.  

Our government is making felons out of people selling raw milk, raising heritage breeds of animals, or otherwise taking responsibility over their own lives.  Things that humans have been doing for a millennium.  Yet those same departments that would love to take your daughter from you for child-endangerment (you know, letting her drink raw milk), will happily let GMO's flow through our food system without even giving us the right to know.  They make selling totally natural products like a Stevia plant as a "sweetner" unlawful (which has been in use for hundreds of years), but will grant a patent to a huge corporation to make and sell a synthetic version of it with little or no testing.

Don't get me started on the "But the USDA, DNR, FDA, etc., are responsible for reducing the amount of bacteria/pathogens in our foods, keeping our water clean, conserving resources (for whom??)" crap.  Yes, there are many things that these departments have done to honestly help reduce disease, improve food safety, etc.  There is no doubt that good things have come from these departments.  But they have gone unchecked, been held unaccountable and have overstepped their boundaries by unimaginable distances.  

These government agencies are out of control and they have gone far beyond what they were originally created to do.  They destroy family dairy operations that have not a single incident of food-born illness in 30 years of operation.  They raid direct farm-to-consumer buying clubs.  They criminalize the sale and purchase of raw milk sales.  Is it because there are people becoming sick from the products or because consumers were being sold something other than what they though they were buying?  No.  

Just like any government agency, it keeps growing and growing, feeding on the endless supply of taxpayer money.  And in order to keep the agencies fat, happy and ever expanding, they have to rationalize (i.e., make up, skew facts or out & out lie) reasons for the billions of dollars a year they suck from our wallets.  They claim that they are saving us from horrible, horrible things.  And the majority of the people still believe that it is all for our own good.  That it is justifiable.  That it is just how things are in today's society and we should all just deal with it.  It's the price we pay for living in a civilized first-world country.

Bullshit.

The price we pay for these "services" and "safety" is bloated, inefficient and downright criminal.  But as time has gone by we have been brainwashed into thinking that it's OK.  That there are just some freedoms that we will have to give up in order to live in this civilized society.  That humans are infallible so we should just assume that those institutions constructed by them are inherently flawed.  While there is truth in the fact that our governing bodies are imperfect, there is absolutely no reason that we should accept or encourage those imperfections.  Wrong is wrong.  Evil is evil.  Regardless of who institutes it or if they got away with it before.

Let's play a word game.  If I say the word "Politician", what's the first word(s) that comes to your mind?

Honest?  Civil Servant?  Law-abiding?

I'd be willing to bet it was somewhere along the lines of "Crook" or "Liar".  And the fact that we take this negative connotation in comic stride is a perfect example of how bad it has become.  We expect to hear scandalous things about our elected or appointed officials.  Nobody utters a loud and horrified gasp when we see the local mayor, judge or senator on the television being accused of breaking the law; we just shrug our shoulders and say "It's just politics" and wait for Dancing with the Stars to come on.

I see I have regressed (or progressed, depending on how you look at it) in my original ranting.  But it is really all connected.  

It is time for us to hold our ground.  It is well past time, actually.  If you watched the latest video from Baker's Green Acres (see link above), he says something to the extent that the guys lower on the DNR totem pole are "just doing their jobs".  Ok.  So maybe the poor sap who just works there to mow the grass at the forest preserve should't be held accountable (although I could argue this point also).  But anybody who would employ state-sanctioned force at the point of a gun on those raw milk sellers, heritage breed pig farmers, etc. should be held liable and accountable for their actions as well as should their superiors.  It's so much easier to say "It's my job" or "But my boss told me to do it" than to take responsibility for oneself. 

So don't pull that "just doing their job" crap on me either.  Those guys at Auschwitz where just doing their jobs.  Is the jack-booted thug with an itchy trigger finger pointing a gun at a dairy farmer going to shoot him if he dares sell that gallon of milk to a willing and knowledgeable consumer?  Just because it's his job?   Just because he has a shiny badge with ABC Dept. stamped on it?  Just because some politician said it was "OK" for him to do it? 

It's time to tar and feather.  It's going to be difficult.  There are going to be friends, acquaintances, maybe even family that you will have to come to terms with.  But we must tell them that their line of work is unethical, immoral, even evil.  That we will no longer tolerate injustice just because it's their "job".  These people need to be ostracized by their community until people realize that those jobs are not honest employment, that those jobs are nothing more than state-sanctioned evil.  We must make those jobs some of the most insidious, most disgusting, most hated occupations known to man.  When somebody tells you that she's a citation officer for the XYZ Agency, we must look at her in distain and ask why she can't get an honest job.  If a friend is applying for a job with the XYZ Agnecy, we must tell him that we no longer value his friendship.  When a guy at a bar is bragging about how he gets to carry a gun because he's going to raid a family farm for selling chickens processed on-site, we need to tell him what a POS he is.   It's not going to be easy to do, but it has to be done.

PS - I wish I didn't have to write this, but here goes:  I am not in any way, shape or form suggesting nor implying that you should use violence against any government employee (or anyone) at any time.  Violence is not the answer (although I wish the State would take the same stance).  And please don't take your anger out at your local mail carrier, city park lawn maintenance crew or the guy collecting money on the toll road.  There are government services that are worthy and justified (and you all thought I was an anarchist).   I'm not directing my anger towards them, but towards the tyrannical gun-wielding and Constitution-trampling thugs and agencies that think they are above the law just because some self-serving egomaniac in a political position told him it was ok.

The First Amendment is still (mostly) upheld in the USA.  Use it to voice your outrage.  

 Posted by Carolyn Renee at 10:08 PM

Update

Yesterday was such a beautiful day that I didn't once even think about sitting in the house or even jumping on the computer.  Absolutely gorgeous with no clouds (of any kind) and a high of about 72.  After the storms from this weekend and all the nervous energy built up because of them I spent the entire day messing around outside.  We came through the weekend faring much better than many other folks here in Oklahoma did.  Somehow both of the major storms just skirted us here.  Living in the hills out here and being on the side of this hill I've noticed that many times  storms will kind of split and go around us from both sides or will veer off just past us. I keep telling Mars I think we are in some weird sort of Rain Shadow that moves most of the really bad stuff around us.   After the weather we DID get I am extremely grateful for that.  Somehow we came out pretty much unscathed with only some high winds and a lot of rain.  To say I was just a bit nervous is an understatement.  And that storm cellar?   Well it just got a few notches higher on the "list" of things that need to be done.
    Anyway, not wanting to waste beautiful weather like we are having now I spent the day doing outside "stuff".  These days it seems that if I can get out of having to do household things by doing outdoor things I'm all over it!  Even washing clothes is now considered an outdoor chore these days since the machine is in the barn and I hang out my clothes every chance I get. Then just in case I run out of things to do ( highly unlikely) there are always weeds to pull.  The rain boosted the garden tremendously but in doing so it also multiplied the weed production.
  Raggedy Anne, the hen who decided to finish up sitting on Mama Red's eggs, got off the nest and along with her came FOUR more chicks!  That brings the total to nine chicks, 4 hens, Randy  Rooster (get it?)  and of course Stew(art).   Very cool!  Now if Layla the Rabbit will just cooperate we should have some baby bunnies in a couple of weeks.  
  The swap meet/ farmer's market opens this weekend for the first time this year and I'm hoping to go and see what all they have.  Who knows, there might even be Goats there!  Not like we are really prepared for them yet but if for some reason..... well....  Anyway, it will give us something to do for the day.  I swear we haven't been away from here since last month and then (like every other month) it was into Little Big Town to hit the Feed Store and the Grocery stores.  
  We've been working on getting the rest of the garden ready to plant.  I still haven't put in the okra, some more squash, watermelons or cantaloupe.  Everything is growing great that's been planted so far.  We've even been harvesting lettuce already!  Now if we can just keep the dang bugs from eating every thing up.  They've already started too.   I made up a bug spray with garlic, cayenne pepper, jalapeno peppers and dish soap and will be spraying that this afternoon.  I got the recipe from The Natural Gardener . Let's hope it works!
I'm going to pick up some more tomato and pepper plants this week since ours didn't really get started well.  I figure in a few days we'll have most everything planted.  YaY!!!!   Then if all goes well I'll be canning in a couple of months.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  And as for today.... second verse same as the first!!
 
 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

 We have babies!  Say hello to the first of the critters to be born here at our little Hillside Haven.  I'm so excited!  We had to do some last minute improv since we hadn't really figured out what to do with the chicks once they actually hatched.  You see Mars built the nesting boxes about four foot off the ground. I was so worried about the little ones falling out of the nest but he kept telling me it would be just fine.  "Heck baby birds fall out of the nest all the time and they are fine".  Uhmmm ok.  

Come to find out, I guess he was right this time.  I went to check on the chickens ( which I had been doing like every hour or so) to see if we had babies yet.  Well, I walked in the coop and I'll be danged if there weren't five little chicks and a freaked out mama hen on the floor! 

  So we had to do a bit of moving things around.  First there was the matter of finding some place for the new family.  We have a cage that could be used and it's perfect for the time being. 
 The problem was that we have been keeping "Stew" the Rooster in there because he's mean as hell and beats up the other chickens.  He has a date with the stew pot but we just haven't got around to "doing the deed" yet. 

 We don't let them free range because the last time we tried that Stew(art) the rooster went back down the hill where he came from.  They made us come get and bring him home.  Hey, I told ya he was mean!  LOL  So he's been hanging out in the pen for the past couple of weeks.  

   So what to do with him???  Well, we have a spare spot in the rabbit hutch so we just moved him in with his new roommates for the time being.  Poor old Bucky the rabbit wasn't too sure what to think of him at first but everyone settled down pretty fast.

The next step was to get the other chickens out of the coop and out into the pen and blocking the coop door.  They are all pretty used to me and don't get all freaked out when I go in there but they don't really follow directions well!  So I told Mars to just walk in there and they would all run out the door. 

 Sure enough.... easy peasy.  So we set up the cage with straw and water and Mars caught the indignant mama hen and shoved her in the cage.  Of course she was totally freaking out because... well....."MY BABIES, MY BABIES".   After rounding up the chicks and having a family reunion everyone settled right down.  As soon as I opened up the coop for the other chickens to be able to come in....

Raggedy Anne  (the hen with the missing back feathers - thanks Stew!) Jumped up into the nesting box on the rest of the eggs and has been sitting there since Monday!  We aren't getting any eggs at the moment but apparently we just might have some more babies in a couple of weeks. 

Strawberry Jam

I just love strawberry jam.  It is hands down my favorite "jelly".  I'm hoping maybe next year we will try our hand at raising them.  Until then I'll just have to hit the farmers market for fresh strawberries.  The season is almost here and I've run out of strawberry jelly! (oh the horror)  I had some in the freezer so I decided to take the last of the strawberries I had and whip some up.  I've been using this recipe for about 3 years now.  I like the fact that I don't need pectin. And it beats the store bought stuff hands down.  

Strawberry Jam
 2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled
3 cups white sugar
 1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon butter (it helps keep the foam down)

Directions
    In a big bowl, crush strawberries until you have 4 cups of mashed berry. In a heavy bottomed pan, mix  the strawberries, sugar, butter and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer make sure to have it a rolling boil around 15 minutes. Don't forget to stir because it WILL scorch. Spoon into hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace, and seal. Process in a water bath. If the jam is going to be eaten right away, don't bother with processing, and just refrigerate.
 
To test for jelling
    Place three plates in a freezer... after about 10 minutes of boiling put a teaspoon of the liquid of the jam onto the cold plate. Return to freezer for a minute. Run your finger through the jam on the plate... if it doesn't try to run back together (if you can make a line through it with your finger) it's ready to be canned! 
I originally got this recipe from Allrecipes.com and have changed it up a bit. It usually makes just over 5 half pints (jelly jars)   Don't try to double this recipe, trust me, it doesn't work well.  Don't ask me how I know ok?  LOL!


       ~~~~~~   Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ...  ~~~~~~

PS If you are wondering about the extra jars in the picture.... I had some apples that needed to be used and decided to make some apple butter in the slow cooker.  Since I was processing the other jelly I figured I'd go ahead and can this too instead of storing it in the fridge!

Tyranny In America

Have you  heard about the Dept of Homeland Security and ICE ordering 450 million rounds of .ammunition in the last 7 months?  That is on top of the 2 million they ordered in 2009.  It certainly wasn't in the Main Street Media. Now maybe it's just me but for a Department that is supposed to be focused on domestic operations, that's a whole lot of ammo.  That's more than enough ammo to execute every citizen in the U.S. if they wanted to.   Link   In the last three years numerous domestic US government agencies have ordered a total of over 750 million rounds of .40 caliber ammunition.
Here's one even better.  Why does the USDA need over 300,000 rounds of ammo?  Link
Evil raw milk distributors?  Organic farmers? 
The FBI  has over 100,000 rounds of .40 caliber hollow points  on order. 
  Oh, and then there is this.  The DHS is now ordering these guard booths with bullet proof glass.  What exactly is it that they need those for?  We all know It's sure not for the border of Mexico.  That seems to be  an open door with a Welcome mat.   Here's a description of the booths. Link
Here's a picture of what they look like.  Link
  I don't know if you have heard about this either.  The TSA VIPR (Visible Intermodal Prevention & Response) ran more than 9,300 unannounced checkpoints and searches last year.  They have asked Congress for the funding to add 12 more teams next year. Link
 Why is the TSA out doing searches on highways, buses, at NASCAR events, football games,Cruise ships,and train stations? What happened to the 4th amendment?  Anyone remember what it says?  

The 4th Amendment: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

They are also trying to get a bill passed that will allow the IRS to suspend passport rights for folks who owe taxes.  So now if you owe the IRS money they can suspend your right to travel.  What next? Link  
It is Senate Bill 1813 in case you want to look it up.  I've been thinking for years that eventually there will be checkpoints to be able to leave your state or county or maybe even your town. They are doing this  in increments.  Let you get used to the idea of checkpoints and illegal searches.  "Show me your papers".  We should all be screaming at the top of our lungs. NO MORE.
  But all this isn't enough for "them".  They are now working hard on spying on us all.  SOPA didn't pass so they are now trying to censor the internet with CISP  Link    The government already tracks folks who visit prepper sites (Link) and puts a cookie on your computer so they can see where you go on the internet. Link
.   Oh and speaking of spying on us, the NSA is building a super computer which will be up and running in September of 2013.It is able to  store all forms of communication "including the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails like parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital “pocket litter.”  Link
 
I could go on and on. Heaven knows there is so much more going on and most folks have no idea what is headed our way.  This is just the tip of the iceberg.  Call me paranoid.  Call me a conspiracy nut.  Call me what you will.... But I see our Constitutional rights crumbling and America as we know it  dying a slow and painful death.  

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Once again, we have broken a record here in Oklahoma. This March was the warmest one on record.  It seems since we moved here we have experienced more weather records than I can recall.  Last winter we broke records for the most snow, latest snow, something like the longest lasting snow and a couple of others I can't recall.  Then this past summer we broke record after record for hot temperatures and little rain.  And now this Month with spring coming so early.  What's a girl to do?   Well, Plant of course!

   Warning!!!  Garden talk coming! It's been awhile since I actually wrote anything here so.....I have  a few things to catch you up on.   We've been planting like crazy over the past month.  We've also added two 50 foot rows  for potato's  and squash and the cucumbers  next to the old foundation ruins.

  and a 20 x40 corn patch.  

  The potato's are coming up pretty well but already we are having some bug problems.  I've got a feeling we are going to be doing the Bug Battle all season. I had planted squash,pumpkins and cucumbers with almost zero germination, so I replanted it all yesterday.

Almost everything is coming up already and except for the squash and cucumbers, everything seems to be doing pretty well.  I had to laugh when I realized just how many types of beans and peas we have out there.  It's a good thing they are one of our favorite vegetables!  We planted an entire 100 foot row of Black-eyed peas. 

 There are also two types of Kentucky Wonder green beans, one bush and one pole bean.  There are four other types of beans out there as well as some sweet peas and purple hull peas.  In the past we have grown things that we don't really like to eat much.  I don't know why but it was just something to grow I guess.  This year we are only planting things that we know we will eat.  So no zucchini or eggplants grace our garden this year. We do have spinach, lettuce, Swiss chard, turnips, carrots, broccoli (started them late so they are tiny)  and onions in as well.

Mars still needs to till up all that grass between the rows.  It's on the to-do list along with a few (100's) other things.   
Once again I'm trying to raise some herbs.  I don't know what it is about them that I do wrong most every year.  I have some of the worst luck with herbs.  The only things that are showing signs of sprouting so far though are the cilantro and basil.  I'll keep trying though!

   My tomato and pepper plants are pitifully small.  I got a really late start on them though and had already figured that this year I'll buy plants for the season.  I'm waiting impatiently for payday this month to go pick some up.  I can't go another year without homegrown tomato's.  I've really missed them over the winter and even now.  I just hate having to buy them in the cans. 

With the rising price of groceries more and more folks are becoming interested in trying their hand at gardening.  I think that's great.  The growing food part not the price of groceries I mean!  If you've never thought about growing something why not give it a try this year?  It's a lot of fun and it's definitely time to start. 
                 ~~~~~~  Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ...  ~~~~~~

Things Sheeple Say

I thought I was going to fall out of my chair laughing at this! Just had to share it!  I hope you enjoy it at least half as much as I did!