Tag Archives: gardening

My Little Victory Garden, Oklahoma culture

My Little Victory Garden: Entry Five-Egg Foraged Omelet

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Locavores breathe a sigh of relief during the Spring. Find out what we foraged this weekend, and how we created meals around our treasures.

Today is Sunday afternoon, March 20th, and my family is going foraging.  I have just a few veggies and herbs we can now eat, but it’s certainly not enough.  I know, however, there are more outside so I thought I would take you along with us.  I’ll also take you to Crestview Farms, just down the road from my house, and talk about home-produced eggs.  So…let’s get going!

Garden report ~ First things first, here’s how my early garden is growing: onions are now at the early green eating stage, Swiss Chard actually looks like it might do something, and a few sprouts are…oh, maybe one-half inch tall now? Lettuce and spinach are at the “micro-green” stage and if I wanted to get fancy, I’d be cutting.  I’m going to wait, however, because I prefer to eat mouthfuls of those luscious crops.  Broccoli and cauliflower look promising and are now about three times their planting-time size, and so far…no sign of potatoes.  My oregano came back and my asparagus is beginning to make so all-in-all things are looking okay.  I’m still contemplating our extra bed.  Mick and I have finally decided on a size and location.  And now, for the fun stuff!… Continue reading My Little Victory Garden: Entry Five-Egg Foraged Omelet →

Homestead and Garden

Meanwhile, Back at The Ranch: My RDC T & Me

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Last week I was in the dark digging around in my t-shirt drawer, and my hand landed on a shirt that was softer than the rest.  I pulled it out and flipped on the light.  It was my RDC T!  I realized that I had only worn it a handful of times, so I made the commitment to wear it every day of my spring break.  What a week it’s been!

These little egg shakers are fun to play! I'm listening to all of Bryan's CD's so I can be ready to perform next time.

Day One: Saturday night my husband, Greg, and I attended one of Bryan’s (He’s Home) shows at his Farmhouse Studio. It’s always a good time, but this night I discovered egg shakers, and Bryan called me up to the stage to play.  Later I advanced to the tambourine.  Was it the t-shirt that gave me rhythm?  I don’t know for sure, but there is audio of me singing.  The audio will remain locked in a vault, but I am happy to share this picture with my fans.  I mean “fan.”  (me)

Day Two: It’s hard being a rock star.  I woke up with a sore throat and a sore leg (from the tambourine), but a quick glance at the weather report (rain tomorrow) was the signal I needed to get me up and moving.  Armed with a shovel and compost material from my kitchen, I headed to the compost pile to do some turning.  It was cloudy, but the temperature was perfect for my RDC T.  I wondered how I was going to do everything I wanted to do today. Then I got a call.  A parent of one of my 7th grade students called to see if they could come out to see the goats.  The dad chatted with Greg as he worked on the barn, and the mom and three boys were eager to brush and pamper the horses.  The boys left covered in dirt from corn stalk wars and if I was covered in dirt, you’d never know it.  My RDC T is brown.  Perfect.

Three items that are always needed on the ranch: a tool, a bucket, and an RDC T.

Day Three: It was cold and rainy, but I was multi-tasking.  The rain was drenching my compost pile and I was getting my car serviced.  I had chocolate meringue pie  for dinner.  It melted in my mouth.  How did Mrs. Wagner know that my mind and body deserved that melt-in-your-mouth pie and coffee?  My RDC T was hidden under a sweater.  She must have had x-ray eyes.

Day Four: Three girls (okay, four if you count my dog, Mae) and two sets of mattresses made for a nice day and lunch at the local diner.  My RDC T and I were happy to give away a queen mattress to our friend Katherine.  She and her mom brought their full size mattress to exchange and bought us lunch.  I saw even more friends later!  I didn’t let the cold tempt me from not wearing my RDC T.  It looks great with an orange long-sleeved shirt underneath! Continue reading Meanwhile, Back at The Ranch: My RDC T & Me →

Foodie Page, My Little Victory Garden, Oklahoma culture

My Little Victory Garden: Entry Three

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Yukon Gold potatoes ~ the debate remains on whether or not you need more than one "eye" per chunk when you plant.

I was talking to my dad on the phone Saturday, sharing with him that I was getting ready to plant potatoes.  He said, “You’re not waiting until St. Patrick’s Day?”  I didn’t even know that was a THING. (Later, I felt slightly better when Mick told me ‘the sign said sometime between February 20th and March 15th.’  Heck, I wasn’t even being risky if we were using the sign’s standard!)

I wonder how many THINGS I don’t know?  I found out another THING while on the phone with him.  He recalled for me that my grandmother Porter (Julie At The Ranch’s great-grandmother as well) used to peel her potatoes fairly thickly, then simply plant the peelings, saving the core to cook for a meal.  Then he, my mother across the room speaking “through” my dad, and I had a third conversation:  How many eyes do you need per chunk of potato planted?  She said two, he said probably just one.  Knowing me, and my inability to identify exactly what constitutes as a bonafide eye, I’ll probably plant three or more.  It’s one thing for roots to be growing forth from the potato, hence easily identifiable makings of a plant.  However, are the little dents with tiny dots in them ALL eyes?  Who knows.  My potato chunks may have four eyes or more due to my lack of experience.

So, earlier that morning, prior to speaking with my dad: I was feeling a little guilty having only purchased three seed potatoes from the feed store.  I looked around a bit more and found a packet of last year’s cucumber seeds for fifty cents.  A discussion ensues…this time with Mick.

Mick: “Don’t you want to buy THIS year’s seeds?”

Me:  “Why?  Don’t you think LAST year’s will grow?”

Mick: “I don’t know.  It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Me: “Okay, first of all – that’s silly.  Of COURSE they’ll grow.  Secondly, I’m simply trying to find something to add to my potato purchase so the total will be over a dollar.  These are nice people and I’d like to spend more than eighty cents with them!”

Mick (known for always tipping the employees at Sonic more than he should): “Oh, yeah.  Good idea.” Continue reading My Little Victory Garden: Entry Three →

Art, Homestead and Garden

2011 Ranch Hand Guide: #2. If You Can’t Sing – Dance

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"5th Grade Julie." Piano lessons, art, and even home-building was part of her life, or just down the road in the near future (1973-74).

Out here on the ranch there never seems to be enough time.  We are always tending to the animals, building something, or just performing the everyday maintenance that all homeowners have to do.  Somehow, and it’s not always easy, I make time for hobbies that enrich my life.  So rule #2 translates into “find a hobby you are good at and make time for it.”

The Seed

As a kid, I took dance and piano lessons outside of school, but I had an opportunity to explore sewing (the home economics/shop era) and art during school. I actually remember the advertisement for an art school that read “If you can draw this… you may have a future in art.” We had an empty lot across the street from our house, and I watched my mom start a garden there before it sold and a house was built on the land.  I worked summers in the home building industry with my step-dad.  I was exposed to a lot of different activities.  Exposure is important.

Germination

Just because we are exposed to different activities doesn’t mean we will have the opportunity to pursue those activities.  For example, it wasn’t until a co-worker introduced me to quilting and my Aunt Sally gave me a sewing machine that I had the opportunity to pursue sewing.   That happened over twenty years ago, and I am still making time for it.  I have found that I can look at something and figure out how to make it, but I have also found some success in designing my own interesting projects.  Now that I live on a ranch, I have my own space for a garden.  I am still learning the basics, but a friend talked me into enrolling in our local Master Gardener class.  What a learning experience!  I have realized that two of my favorite activities were merged in the creation of the Tag Rag, the gardening bandana I made that I wear every day in the summer.

Continue reading 2011 Ranch Hand Guide: #2. If You Can’t Sing – Dance →

Homestead and Garden

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch: Jack of All Trades, Master of ….Gardening?

There is a certain spin that living in the country puts on hobbies.  We have to work with what’s available to us or travel to a nearby city to get it.  A Teddy Roosevelt quote sums it up best:  “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”  I have dirt, and I have decided to do what I can.

I showed up to my first Master Gardener meeting with a green paper folder with a few sheets of paper inside.  (Green, you know, for plants? )  There was a total of four participants in the meeting and we all had to stand and tell our names and what we hoped to get out of the program.   The lady across from me just wanted to grow some grass in front of her house.  The boy behind me was with his mother.  He was going to include this as part of his home schooling science curriculum.   Ahh, sweet.  Then the scene changed.

I was handed a commitment page to sign for 40 hours of community service.   I turned around to ask the boy to borrow his pen; he glared at me clearly annoyed that I had forgotten mine.  I turned back around to find that a four-inch binder with twenty separate tabs had been placed in front of me.  Neatly tucked inside was my first take-home test, ironically, on dirt, known in this extension office, as “soil.”  The boy quickly threw his hand in the air and started asking about due dates then weaseled his way into a conversation about eagles with the lady who just wanted to grow grass in her front yard.  This young boy had just established himself as a weed trying to take over my flower bed.

This boy has been planted in my Master Gardener class for a reason.  I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I know what I’m going to get…exactly what I put into it.  You don’t have to be a former president to hand out words to live by.  Julie Allgyer, future Master Gardener, sums it up best:  “Bloom where you are planted.”

To find out more about the Master Gardener program in your area : http://www.ahs.org/master_gardeners/index.htm