September on the Farm in pictures...

4 O'Clocks in the frontyard. 

Front porch. 

Pecan trees are loaded. 

Mama Eastern Bluebird watching over her babies. 

Baby Eastern Bluebirds in the waterfall fountain. 

Mama Bluebird watching over her babies. 

Everyone in the pond!!!

Parents watching over their babies....counted 20 Eastern Bluebirds. 

Aleo Vera 2 years old.  

Waterfall pond finally running. 

Painting the lawn furniture...this one will be Zebra striped. 

New kitten joins our herd of cats. 

Roadrunner in the front yard eating grasshoppers. 

family of raccoon enjoying the leftover dog food from today.   

Shepard's Hash Brown Pie

Decided to try to update an old recipe of my mother's.  She layered pie crust as the base, beef mixture, corn then topped with mash potatoes and cheese.  

Here is my new recipe.  

1 pkg. frozen hash browns

1 envelope of onion soup

1/2 cup water

1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies

2 cups frozen corn

1 cup sour cream

1 tbsp. black pepper

1/2 tbsp. salt

2 pounds ground beef

1 can fried onions

2 cups grated cheese

1 med. tomato

sweet basil

Italian Dressing 

1. Brown and drain ground beef, mix in onion soup, water, sour cream, pepper, 

Rotel, and corn. Cook for 10 minutes on med. 

2. Spray baking dish with Pan, cook hash browns till done in oven 425 for 30 minutes.

3. Pour beef mixture over cooked hash browns, top with grated cheese & fried onions.

4. Slice tomatoes sprinkle with salt, sweet basil and Italian Dressing put on top of grated 

cheese and fried onions.  

5. Bake 350* for 20 minutes serve hot with a salad.  

This is whats for dinner tonight!!!

Jalapeño and Serrano Guineas

Meet Jalapeno

Guineas are good for tick and bug control.  They roam all around the farm eating all kinds of bugs.  If they roost near the driveway, 




Some people find they are good watchdogs, and will make a fuss when anyone drives in.






















This family of insect and seed-eating, ground-nesting birds resemble partridge , but with featherless heads, though both members of the genus Guttera have a distinctive black crest, and the Vulturous Guinea fowl has a downy brown patch on the nape. Most species of guinea fowl have a dark grey or blackish plumage with dense white spots.

Meet Serrono



This is what they'll look like full grown.  

How adorable are they, better than spending money on bug spray!!!  At my local feed store they cost me $4.00 each.  I see more Guineas on the farm. 

Puppies Napping Under the Couch

Tiny Tim 

Tag Along

108 on the backyard deck

Tuesday was so hot outside all the dogs and puppies came into the house for the afternoon.  


They found a nice cool dark place to nap, under the couch.  


My pups are Welsh Corgi and Border Collie.  

Peaches

Today it is time to start canning the peaches from the peach tree.


Since all my peeps have their own homes now and it is only Mr. Rooster, mom and me I decided to just use the half pint jars I bought a few weeks ago when I canned plum jelly.  


I've already made peach cobbler and peach pies, so come winter we'll enjoy this batch.  I am looking in my mom's old cookbook for spice peaches for this weeks canning.  


My worms should be in this week that I ordered off Ebay for my new worm farm.  I am excited to get my garden back to the healthy soil it once had.  My manure tea is from the horses is coming along and should be ready in few days.  


Life on the farm is wonderful. 

Maw-Maw's Pork Chops

Maw-Maw's Pork Chops

1960

4 (3/4 inch) thick pork chops 

2/3 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil. 

2 or 3 cups water.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Coat the pork chops with flour, and place in the skillet. Brown about 4 minutes on each side.

Remove pork chops from skillet to a plate.  

Sprinkle leftover flour into remaining oil slowly, brown flour to make a roux, stirring constantly until all is blended. Continue to cook over medium to low heat, stirring constantly until flour and oil blend to form a brown roux the color of a dark copper penny. The longer you cook it, the darker the roux will become. Remember don't rush the cooking of the roux; allow the mixture to develop at its own pace.  

Turn heat down on roux then slowly stir in water, a whisk works better on this part.  Once all the water has been added add pork chops back into the skillet, cover the chops with more water if need be to cover pork chops.  Put lid on skillet turn to low and steam in roux for an hour or until the pork chops start to fall apart.  

Serve with rice, pour pork chop gravy over rice and chops. 

This recipe has been pasted down from mother to her daughters, her daughters to granddaughters a favorite weekly meal requested by visitors to the farm.  

Enjoy  

New Renter on the Farm

This Caroline Wren decided to rent one of my birdhouses for her second clutch of eggs this spring.  


Her first clutch had 3 eggs hatch.  Mom and dad still feed their babies bugs from my garden.  Great for pest control naturally.  


This house is about 20 feet from my back deck giving me a "bird's eye view" to the next building.  

Tator Crown Casserole

This has been one of my family's favorite main dishes for over 20 years.  My "Peeps" request this dish when they visit the farm.  

Tator Crown Casserole

4 cups tater crowns 1 lb ground beef 10 oz broccoli (frozen, thawed)  2 cups french fried onions 1 tomato (chopped) 10 12 oz cream of celery soup 13 cup milk 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese 14 tsp garlic powder 18 tsp black pepper

Place potatoes crowns (they lay flat) on bottom and sides of a 9" x 13" casserole dish. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.  Sprinkle 1/2 shredded cheddar cheese over. Brown ground beef and drain. Place beef, broccoli, 1 1/2 cups french fried onions in potato crown shell. Combine soup, milk, 1/2 cup cheese and seasonings and pour over beef mixture. Top with remaining french fried onions, cheese and chopped tomato. Bake, covered, for 20 minutes, at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Serve with a salad and sweet iced tea. Hope this becomes a go to meal for your family.

How you make homemade Fish Emulsion for the garden

Two of my nephews when fishing this week and caught about 30 fish they planned to use for the family fish fry.  I ask them to save me everything they would toss to make homemade Fish Emulsion. 

It might smell a bit but if you follow these directions it is the best thing for an organic garden. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are using fresh fish, you need to compost it separately in a 5 gallon close able bucket. Fill bucket 1/2 full with extra browns like sawdust, leaves, or straw. You can add molasses to the fishy mixture in order to build up microbes in order to speed up decomposition. The sugars will also help control odors too. Open the bucket and stir the fishy paste daily or every other day in order to get air in the mix for better decomposition and better aerobic microbial growth in the emulsion. Let this paste rot for at least 1-2 weeks. The browns help control offensive odors and absorb organic nitrogen from the fish so that it is not leached out or evaporated.


http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/organic/2002080041031662.html

Nanny's Chocolate Potato Cake Recipe

My grandmother Abby Brown, Nanny uses to make this cake when ever she had leftover mashed potatoes.  My sisters, cousins, parents, aunts and uncles would finish before it could cool off.

3/4 cup butter or margarine softened

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 cup mashed potatoes

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons baking cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions: 

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar.

Add the egg yolks, potatoes, water and vanilla ~ mix well.

Combine the flour, cocoa and baking powder ~ add to the creamed mixture.

In a small mixing bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form into batter.

Add chopped walnuts.

Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack.

Dust with powered sugar and chocolate syrup.

Marinated Smoked Chicken or Beef Recipe

Lady Rooster's Marinate

2/3 cup Vegetable oil
1/2 cup Soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp. Brown sugar
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. yellow mustard
1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice


Tenderize beef than marinate for at least 6 hours, over night for more flavor.
Pour marinate over beef in a Ziplock bag, turning a few times.  Great on Kabobs also.

Place chicken breast/pieces in Ziplock bag pour marinate over.  Same amount
of marinating time as with beef.

Do not re-use marinate.

May Days On the Farm!!!

You can tell it is almost summer time on the farm, time to mow down for the first haying. Thank you Gary Minter for using one of your few days off to mow for your mother-in-law!!!!

One of the horses, Chico was bitten by a snake last week.  He has been pinned up recieving treatment since.

He is happy now to be out of the bull barn (Isolation) and back into the pasture with his girls!

A Golden Tail Hawk was watching for baby bunnies, I closed my eyes each time he dove into the hay!!!

Family Favorite Recipes

Chicken Spinach Lasagna 1 Pkg (box) lasagna noodles, cooked per pkg directions 1 box frozen spinach, cooked per pkg directions 2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite sized pieces Sauce: 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese 1 can mushroom soup 1 container sour cream ( can used fat free) 1 can sliced mushrooms 1/3 cup chopped onion 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper Mix sauce ingredients together. Add chicken pieces. Then add spinach. Layer sauce and noodles, beginning with noodles and ending with sauce. Sprinkle with extra grated cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 min., covered with foil, and then 10 more minutes uncovered. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut into sections.

 

Gilbert's Dry BBQ Rub

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 (2.5 oz) chili powder (less is okay more is better)

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

Dash ground clove

1 pkg dry lime powdered drink mix (Margarita, Kool-Aid)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. cayenne power

 Mix above ingredients together, can be stored for months in dry location.

Cover rare meat with dry rub just before smoking.

Good on turkey, chicken, brisket, etc.

As meat smokes the sugar hardens and holds in the liquids.

Wet Sauce to serve with smoked meats:

1/2 cup dry mix

1 1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup wine/water

Enjoy

Barn Cats and Other Animals on the Farm

 Charlie

 Pudge

 Tommy's cat ChatterBox

 How many barns cats are coming for breakfast??

Cindy Lou Who watching over the farm at night. 

Tommy playing with his cats. 

 Koko dressed for winter 2012

Charlie:  birdfeeder and a birdhouse....surely I can catch lunch!

Where are my sunflower seeds??

Tommy and Scary Eyes.