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PiscesGirl

PiscesGirl's Blog (16)

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Eggs!

We've finally got two hens out of four laying now - one Americauna (though it's anybody's guess which one), and our one and only Silver-Laced Wyandotte. Behold our lovely eggs! -

And they taste AMAZING too! :-) For more on our family's chickies, garden and winemaking adventures, come check… Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on November 12, 2009 at 12:00am — 5 Comments

Sauerkraut

Bill and I tried our hands at sauerkraut for the first time yesterday. It's too soon to tell if we've got it right or not, but thought I'd share a few pics and say thanks to Jen for her awesome thread on making sauerkraut with winemaking equipment that finally got me up and running. ;) By the way - the pic pf the bucket only shows it about 1/2 full. Our 6 gallon bucket is about 2/3 of the way full now, which took about 32 lbs of shredded/sliced cabbage to achieve. ;)… Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on October 13, 2009 at 3:12pm — No Comments

Wine Update

After a minor scuffle with the siphon tubing, Bill & I managed to rack & re-rack both of our wines in progress. The rhubarb is a lovely light salmon pink and has a light, sweet taste. It unfortunately got a bit stirred up during our struggles during the racking progress, and is not as clear now as it was. The wild cherry is deep garnet and STRONG! When I first popped the lid off of the primary (a big plastic bucket) the smell of yeast and sweet, boozy cherries just about knocked me ove… Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on August 27, 2009 at 11:33pm — 7 Comments

My blog!

I've just started a little blog over on blogspot regarding my adventures in all things garden related & domestic - http://girlgonegranola.blogspot.com Please pop by and check me out, and let me know what you think! :) Chelle Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on August 26, 2009 at 12:00am — 5 Comments

Staying busy...

Yesterday was a very productive day in the kitchen, thanks to the garden. I made my first batch of tomatillo salsa from our tomatillos. Yum! I also tried my hand at cherry wine for the first time, using 5lbs of the wild dark cherries that Bill and the girls picked back in July. It smells like heaven! :) To date, we have grown/harvested/foraged nearly 50 pounds of produce from our little yard and neighborhood this year! Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on August 14, 2009 at 9:30am — No Comments

Weights to-Date

By my numbers, we have harvested & foraged more than 30 pounds of fruits, veggies & herbs from our garden and neighborhood so far this year! That doesn't include any of the seafood that we've caught/foraged, which would probably add at least another 10 pounds to our total. Mostly red rock crab and a few trout. I think we're doing pretty good for a start. I really hope that we can eat mostly our own homegrown food this coming fall and winter. So far, we're on track to fill up the garage… Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on July 27, 2009 at 1:42pm — No Comments

Zukes & 'Taters

The zucchini have only been fruiting for about 2 weeks, and already we've harvested more than 8 pounds of small, tender, tasty zukes! Before long, we're going to have a freezer full. :) I also just pulled up my potatoes today. They were sort of an experiment this year. I had a few potatoes that we didn't get around to eating fast enough, so I thought I'd try planting them in the garden, and see what happened. They were very robust at first, but then the vines died back rather suddenly. H… Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on July 22, 2009 at 6:39pm — No Comments

Wine & Fruit

Hooray! The rhubarb wine started bubbling away late last night and is still fizzing and burping like crazy this morning. I took a pic of the wine and of the fruit that the girls and I picked yesterday - some teeny tiny wild cherries, red huckleberries and some of our own Carolina raspberries. The blueberries are starting to ripen now too - I see alot of canning and fruit leather in my immediate future! :)

… Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on July 2, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Wine Time!

Today My freind Kristin showed me how to turn my bounty of rhubarb into some (hopefully!) yummy wine. I am so excited to learn how to make my own wine! I guess we'll know if I did ok or not by this time next year. ;) Here's what we did - Here's the recipe we used - minus the campden tablets, we also added a "yeast nutrient" to help the fermentation rev up. :) We also froze, then thawed the chopped 'barb before we added the sugar, in order to get the rhubarb to release its juice a little better… Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on July 1, 2009 at 4:30pm — 1 Comment

In the Coop!

Hooray, hooray! The chickens are finally, permanently in the coop, for about a week now. So far, so good. They are growing at an amazing rate, and I am looking forward to our first eggs pretty much any day now. :-) Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on June 17, 2009 at 10:27am — 6 Comments

Chickens - day ???

Today was overcast and cool, compared to the 80-something sunshine that we've had quite alot of lately (not that I'm complaining!), and so, Bill and I decided that today would be a good time to put the chickens in the coop and let them get a feel for the place. Although they objected mightily to being gathered up and transported from the garage pen to the coop, once they were in, they got used to the coop quickly. The floor of the run is presently still growing grass (and weeds) and the chickie… Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on June 8, 2009 at 1:37am — No Comments

Movin' on up!

Two days ago the chicks graduated to larger pen out in the garage. Hooray! No more chicken poo smell in my kitchen! I'll post a pic of the new pen just as soon as I get around to downloading the camera. Suffice it to say that it is indeed one of a kind, as Billy cobbled it together out of the remains of the boat tent that the wind destroyed last year, plus 3 or 4 miles or duct tape. The girls seem to be enjoying it though, since they can spread out and try a little short-hop flying now and then… Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on May 28, 2009 at 10:19am — No Comments

Busy, busy...

The weather was fine today, and Bill and I decided to take advantage and finish up a few of our to-do's in the yard. We managed to finish weeding behind the pond and get the pumpkins, sunflowers, Gloriosa daisies, Purple coneflower, cantalope and brussel sprouts in! I also got a little trimming done on the Korean Maple and the wysterias, but have a long way left to go on the never-ending wysteria. I stopped to rest a bit, realized that I had a hard-core sunburn on my back, and decided to… Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on May 24, 2009 at 10:49pm — 2 Comments

The Pond

Arg. I've spent my morning clearing out the dreaded wild blackberries and dandelions from behind our pond to make room for hubby's sunflowers and - ouch! Between the blackberries and the Pompus Grass (which I propose we rename Murder Grass), I am scratched, bloody, cranky and not making tons of headway. :( All I can say is that those sunflowers better look good!!! Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on May 23, 2009 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Chickens day 5 (and other stuff too)

Alrighty. Well, the chickies are holding their own. Eating like fiends. I have been experimenting with giving them very small amounts of kitchen scraps with varying success. They loved the finely shredded bits of cooked salmon skin, they are so-so on salad greens and completely indifferent to watermelon. No one had escaped since Anabelle's hijinx, though we will definitely be needing a cover for the enclosure soon because they are getting bigger and bolder every day. Out in the garden,… Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on May 22, 2009 at 10:29am — No Comments

Chicks - day 3

Things are going pretty well with the chickies. The kids can't get enough of petting and cooing over them! They're also pretty keen on feeding them teeny-weeny red worms by hand, which is actually pretty fun to watch, since as soon as one chick decides that something is edible, suddenly the chase is on and they snatch and wrestle the pathetically small worm back and forth betwixt them all. Anabelle "flew the coop" today while I was walking the kids to school. I came home to find her just outsid… Continue

Added by PiscesGirl on May 21, 2009 at 1:14am — No Comments

Latest Blog Posts

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Monthly Archives

2009

KGI's book of the month

Latest Activity

Glenn Fletcher commented on Glenn Fletcher's blog post 'What is an Allotment'
I pay £50 pounds a year approximately for my allotment. This amount has doubled in the last few years as their popularity has increased. Mine is 300 square yards, although there are smaller ones. The trend nowadays is to split them in two, so they...
24 minutes ago
Glenn Fletcher added a blog post
Allotments are now very popular in the UK. I used to have empty ones around mine for years. This site describes what an allotment is. The main advantage of an allotment is that it does not have to be too tidy, so is ideal for trying out different ...
39 minutes ago
Glenn Fletcher commented on Salma Kamal's blog post 'Pakistan: “Home Kitchen gardening to crush hunger”.'
I believe the British allotment system was developed in the late 19th & early 20th centuries to feed the urban poor mainly in the north of the country. Areas of land in urban areas were owned by local government and small parcels [300 square yards...
53 minutes ago
Glenn Fletcher added a photo
My Allotment
56 minutes ago
Kathryn left a comment for Mussarat Nadeem
2 hours ago
Kathryn commented on Salma Kamal's blog post 'Pakistan: “Home Kitchen gardening to crush hunger”.'
I am not in Pakistan as you know but there are very many similarities. The populace is very poor with the basic wage being given to most and usually without health insurance included, even though that is illegal here. The basic wage is not enough ...
3 hours ago
amna mufti added 6 photos to the album 'My farm'
2 more…
7 hours ago
amy left a comment for Everett H. Scott
8 hours ago
amna mufti commented on amna mufti's photo 'turnips'
I don't eat turnip greens but some people use them in a mixture of other leaves i;e.mustard, fenugeri ,spinach and turnip greens.These leaves are collected when very young, the variety is also different.
8 hours ago
PiscesGirl replied to PiscesGirl's discussion 'Seed Sources?'
Cool! Thanks Mike - I'm off to check it out now! :-)
8 hours ago
Mike Taylor replied to PiscesGirl's discussion 'Seed Sources?'
I like seeds of Italy as well. My southern California coastal climate suits many of their varieties well. I also get excellent results from Renee's Garden seeds. Renee's seeds are tested in a number of different climates. Another source is Seeds...
8 hours ago
Everett McDonald commented on amna mufti's photo 'turnips'
hello Amna, Do you eat the turnip greens as well as the turnips?
9 hours ago
Letti replied to Penelope's discussion 'Feeling Stuck'
Penelope, I used to enjoy watching the cooking shows ten years ago. I do not watch them any more. Turn of your TV and enjoy your cooking again. I grow lots of herbs and I enjoy adding them to whatever I am cooking. I love preparing simple and crea...
12 hours ago
amna mufti commented on Salma Kamal's blog post 'Pakistan: “Home Kitchen gardening to crush hunger”.'
Labor is going to foreign countries since ages.In medieval times warriors were required, they left their homes and now you can see many races spread all over the world.In past decades they were called in western and middle eastern countries,its a ...
17 hours ago
Salma Kamal commented on Salma Kamal's blog post 'Pakistan: “Home Kitchen gardening to crush hunger”.'
Dear Amna! Get ready for much bigger population flow.In past it used to be skilled and semi skilled workers,but now workers with agriculture back ground are in great demand.I recently read an advertisment in news paper ,an overseas recruiters agen...
17 hours ago
Muhammad Nadeem Iqbal commented on Salma Kamal's blog post 'Pakistan: “Home Kitchen gardening to crush hunger”.'
This is what we need::::: “Nation Building through Self Reliance” WHAT IS NATION BUILDING THROUGH SELF RELIANCE??? It is a bouquet of Attainable, Retainable and Sustainable initiatives and projects, addressing Best Improvement Practices in all wal...
17 hours ago
Muhammad Nadeem Iqbal commented on Salma Kamal's blog post 'Pakistan: “Home Kitchen gardening to crush hunger”.'
I fully agree with the issue that has been highlighted and also agree to the Amna Mufti sahiba's point of view. Please visit www.vegegarden.net and see the presentation on food crisis. I am trying to raise voice since last 3 years. PLEASE! don't w...
18 hours ago
2 members updated their profile photos
18 hours ago
amna mufti commented on Salma Kamal's blog post 'Pakistan: “Home Kitchen gardening to crush hunger”.'
Salma apa! Problem is many fold,our syllabus should be looked again.I remember in our childhood every body have at least wheat,rice and fuel for them selves.They use to do different duties at village level.Some are laborers in fields,some are pott...
18 hours ago
Mussarat Nadeem and Muhammad Nadeem Iqbal are now friends
18 hours ago

From the KGI Main Site

Gardeners Have the Power!

Braised brussels sprouts with pine nuts

Garden Q & A: extending the salad season

New White House kitchen garden videos

KGI is going to the White House (and we want to take you with us)

Optimal timing for your garlic harvest

Garden Q & A: Harvesting tomatoloons

Roasted potatoes with basil vinaigrette

Garden Q & A: Organic pest controls

Paella with tomatoes

Notes

HOW TO - ADD A LINK

Several people have experienced difficulty putting working links into comments and blogs etc and I know it is clumsy.... so here is how you do it.....

First type the text you want to appear....  ie  IAN'S PAGE

Then go back and highlight the link text.

Then hit the hyperlink button...a pictogram of a chain link.

Your browser may intervene and request permission to allow temporary scripting or some similar message.   Allow it and go back and highlight the text again

… Continue

Created by Ian Jun 7, 2009 at 7:28pm. Last updated by Ian Jun 8.

Forum Policy

Hi, I'm starting to put together a few guidlines on using the discussion forum on here.

I would be happy to hear any comments you may have.  This is very much a work in progress so plese feel free to ask me to add anything you think is needed.

I don't want to make our community hide bound by rules and regulations but I think that, as the community has grown, some explanation of what is expected is needed.

Administration

You can refer any que

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Created by Ian May 23, 2009 at 1:55am. Last updated by Ian May 25.

Climate maps

Hi following recent discussion I have put climate maps of the USA, Australia and Europe on here for reference..

 Climate map of the USA

Climate map of Australia

Climate map of Europe

 

… Continue

Created by Ian Sep 12, 2008 at 6:20pm. Last updated by Ian Apr 14.

Recipes, Recipes, Recipes

Hi Everyone,  I've started to collect together recipes from various posts on the site and put them all together here.

If you have a recipe you want to add on here, just post it on the site and leave a comment on my page telling me where it is and I'll go and fetch it back here.

They are organised in Contributor Order but I'm open to better suggestions!

BEVA'S RECIPES

… Continue

Created by Ian Jun 2, 2008 at 9:54am. Last updated by Ian Apr 13.

US STATES ABBREVIATIONS

 

US STATE ABBREVIATIONS

AK - Alaska               AL - Alabama              AR - Arkansas
AZ - Arizona              CA - California           CO - Colorado
CT - Connecticut          DC - Dist of Columbia *   DE - Delaware
FL - Florida              GA - Georgia              GU

… Continue

Created by Ian Jan 27, 2009 at 4:27pm. Last updated by Ian Jan 27.

HOW TO - MAKE COMPOST

Recently there was an excellent discussion about composting. I’ve pulled together all the various comments here. You can also watch KGI's video on composting here.

 

 

KATE’S ADVICE

I used to have a tumbler that we made from a wine-barrel but

1 you have to fill it up all at once

2. it seemed mostly

… Continue

Created by Ian May 30, 2008 at 5:29am. Last updated by Roger Jan 15.

Notes Home

Welcome to Notes.

To view notes that are in the system hit the "all notes" button above.

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Created by Ian May 28, 2008 at 12:10pm. Last updated by Ian May. 30, 2008.

A Note about Notes

I have just written this note so that I can see what we can achieve by using this new feature.

If you read this and have any suggestions then please leave a comment on my page or email me.

Ian

Continue

Created by Ian May 28, 2008 at 6:19pm. Last updated by Ian May. 28, 2008.

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