The flower garden has come to life with lovely showing of spring blooms!

Dove Gray Iris

Poppies getting ready to crack open

1st Poppy of the season

Columbine

Bearded Iris

Not to be left out, even the yard is showing off with some cheerful Buttercups

Cranesbill Geranium, Black Beauty Heuchera, Caramel Heuchera

Whew, they made it!

We woke up to some very cold temperatures this morning, they were in the low 20's. Thankfully, I had those Pirate hats ready to cover up my Baby Broccoli Plants. I must admit that I was very nervous this morning as I uncovered the plants. They were frozen. Solid.

I spent some time fretting. Told my friend Jimmy that I was fretting. He reminded me that fretting was a waste of energy and offered up a prayer. I love how spontaneous my friend is and I am grateful that I bumped into him today.

I checked on the plants tonight and I am happily, gratefully amazed. They survived. Thank you Lord.

So, here are tonight pics.

 

Pirate hats as promised.

Supposed to be around 32degF tomorrow morning, so, the hats are back on.....

spring, Spring, SPRING!

Saturday was another fine day for gardening. I started out by running my High Wheel Cultivator the other direction from last weekend's plowing fun.

 I took a trip to my local garden center and bought a few things. Innoculant, for one. I have never used innoculant on my pea and bean seed. I was reading my handy Crockett's Victory Garden book and that information just jumped out at me this time. I have had this book since 1979, but, I really didn't notice that. So, I planted my pea seed the way James Underwood Crockett suggested.

Complete with Pea trellis made from the stuff I trimmed off of my fruit trees.

I have to say that my guy just knows what makes me happy. The other day he came home with a package of new Strawberry plants (along with onion sets! and seed potatoes!), So, the Strawberries were added to the garden on Saturday as well. Isn't this one cute?

I took a little side trip toward the back of the garden to pull some runners of poison Ivy and some other weedy stuff. (yes I do get poison Ivy)

My Horseradish is making a good showing, I need to dig up a root or two and grate it for some good fresh sinus clearing sauce!

 

Just as I was leaving the garden center yesterday, I remembered my girlfriend saying that they had their broccoli on sale, so, I grabbed a couple of 4-packs. Tomorrow it is supposed to get very cold though, so, I have to get busy making some Pirate hats for them.

The Gooseberry bushes are blooming... Very accellerated spring.

Yesterday Tim put together the boards for my cold frame. Today, I put down some weed barrier and filled the raised bed with dirt. Then we added the frame for the cover.

I have been dreaming of a Cold Frame for many years! I asked for one as my Christmas Gift this past year and here it is!

 Sowed some Tomato, Pepper and Flower Seed. It is ready to rock.

Isn't it neat? I am very excited to learn about using a cold frame.....

Happy Gardening....

(Tomorrow I will share a pic of my Broccoli and Strawberries wearing Pirate hats.)

Spring! Oh, Beautiful Spring!

Here in the Hudson Valley, we are having a fabulous string of warm sunny days. The Forsythia is in Full Bloom!

 I just spent some quality time with my Strawberry Patch, maybe I will have some this year? The last 2 very wet summers wiped my berry patch out, well, just about.... So, fingers crossed for a recovery in that section of the garden!

The Dogwood is Starting to open as are my fruit trees.  

I have alarm bells ringing in my head regarding the fruit tree blooms and I pray that we are spared any killing frost.

While it may be difficult to believe, the Daffodils are starting to fade on the South side of my House.

Here are some pictures of them before they are gone

Some more Daffodils out in front along with my Highbush Cranberry, the deer have nipped the tops again, yet, there is life!

Did you notice the Poppy Leaves at the bottom of the picture?

Lastly, I pulled up 3 of the Kale plants that wintered over and picked a dishpan full of leaves. Wow are they beautiful! I left 3 plants in the garden beacuse I missed my opportunity for sweet Kale leaves. They are already setting buds. I am hoping these plants are open pollinators and hope to gather the seed to plant later in the summer.

Last, but not least, we have been listening to the Pileated Woodpecker calling for a mate, they seem to carry on at daybreak and again in the evening toward sunset.

The Turkey Toms are fluffing and strutting and the hens are acting as though they do not exist.... who will finally fall for that crazy male? Who will finally swoon?

The peepers and the frogs have been singing, such a wonderful choir!

Ah, Spring!

I love the lyrics to this old tune, it makes me think of wonderful time spent outdoors in the fresh air!

The Happy Wanderer

I love to go a-wandering,

Along the mountain track,

And as I go, I love to sing,

My knapsack on my back.

Chorus:

Val-deri,Val-dera,

Val-deri,

Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

Val-deri,Val-dera.

My knapsack on my back.

I love to wander by the stream

That dances in the sun,

So joyously it calls to me,

"Come! Join my happy song!"

I wave my hat to all I meet,

And they wave back to me,

And blackbirds call so loud and sweet

From ev'ry green wood tree.

High overhead, the skylarks wing,

They never rest at home

But just like me, they love to sing,

As o'er the world we roam.

Oh, may I go a-wandering

Until the day I die!

Oh, may I always laugh and sing,

Beneath God's clear blue sky!

And to top it off we have had some marvelous temperatures. Bringing out the early flowers, I really need to get out in the woods and see what is going on there!
These are Tete' a Tete' Daffodils, all of 6"tall!

I finished this cute little wreath last night, it just makes me smile!

So, now the very big question is, do I remove it from pinterest because I finished it?

Or do I make another board?

Is this going to be another distraction, like Farmville?

I am a recovering Farmviller and I have knit 111 little projects since quitting. I have something to show for the time spent now.

No, I did not keep them. They were either donated, traded or gifted except for a few scarves, hats and fingerless gloves.

Apple Chutney

I made a 5 Spice Apple Chutney (Lacto Fermented) last weekend, it just bubbled over last night, so it's ready.Todays Lunch....
If you want to try making some, head on over to gnowfglins.com and search for 5 Spice Apple Chutney

I made a half batch (1 quart) as a test batch. I like to scale down before I know if it's something that my pallette enjoys. It's a winner! One whoops though, I halved everything except the pecans. (That's what happens when things do not get written down.)

Enjoying it with my Maple-Vanilla Yogurt from Hawthorne Valley Farms, so delicious. 

23 Pound Gifts

What happens when you are gifted with a 23 pound, Heritage Turkey which was Organically fed, Cage free and Hormone Free? You get cooking, thats what you do.
What a wonderful giftt. And something that can make so many meals!
Day Brine it - I used a brine solution on the Turkey. The lid would not fit on my pot and it was too big for the fridge. So, It went out to the porch overnight in out 20 deg F temeratures. Ok, so brined for about 17 hours.

Then it cooked for about 9 hours (23 x 20)/60 = 7.67. That was not quite enough it had to go for another hour or so. Ah but the golden deliciousness that we ate last night was truly incredible. Funny think about brining, the flesh can get a red/pink tone once it is cooked. Especially the dark meats. So, because I was a bit freaked out by the color, I got my meat thermometer out, good thing because I was probably going to incinerate it!

Sorry, didn't think to take a picture of it when it was sitting and resting after the oven, it was so pretty and bronzed looking. Wouldn't you know it was too late to get into making the whole gravy thing and I had so much juice! I saved that of course. Nice and gelatin-y. Heres a pic of the juices, skimmed of fat.

Tonight, I have cut away the breasts, legs, wings and stripped allot of the carcass.

The carcass is in the pot being turned into a beautiful, flavorful stock. It looks kind of gross at this point, but, when it is finished, wow and wow again!

I made a Turkey pot pie and will freeze that in portions.

Layering Turkey pieces, carrots and snap peas.

After the last layer of meat and veggies, I spooned in some of the pan juices and added a bit of cornstarch to thicken the juices when they bake.

Top crust on and poked to let steam out.

Ta Da!

Nice fork work, right?

The best fork work is whats going to happen to that slice of Turkey Pie!