Baby of mine

Well, here is one of my little lambs, with her head in a bucket and food on her face. Isn't she cute? This is Teeny (formerly known as Bitty Baby), one of a set of triplets (Teeny, Tiny and Mo). Teeny barely made it through the birthing process. It took me forever to get her to breathe on her own and then she required tube feeding the first few days and was one of the last ones to come off the bottle, just a few weeks ago. My husband, ever practical, says she will never amount to much and I should not keep her, but it's too late. She's completely won me over with her quirky personality. The reason she is having her breakfast outside the pen, with no competition, is that she's still so small she can't really reach the feeders and gets shoved around by the rest of the lambs when they are eating. Teeny knows the drill now and comes to stand at the gate to be let out into the barn aisle for a private dining experience. Once she finishes her grain, she trots over to the dog's water bucket, helps herself to a drink and has a little look around the barn before she is ready to go back in with the rest of the gang. I know engaging in this kind of behavior indicates I'm not a "real" farmer, but having a few special characters around makes it all so much more fun.

It's a jungle out there

Way back (2 whole months) when I was planting the garden, everything looked so nice and tidy, if a little sparse. I always think I need to keep putting out plants or adding more seeds to help things fill in more. Above is how it looked back then......... and this is what it looks like now. Big difference, don't you think? After getting a rough start (mostly because Mr. Dandy kept picking off all the leaves), everything is growing like crazy now. I'm so glad I was able to put out a big garden this year. I heard on NPR this evening that food prices are going up again, because of fuel prices. Mainly, though, I just love the idea of growing so much of what we eat and being able pick it moments before I cook it. We had the first corn and green beans last night and finally the tomatoes are ripening. Naturally, zucchini and cucumbers are already getting ahead of me. I see pickle making in my future! And, if you live within 50 miles of me, don't be surprised if a bag full of zucchini mysteriously shows up outside your door!

Nothing healthy about this--but, it's good!

Warning: There will be no discussion of healthy eating within this post.

You know it's summer in Kentucky when the blackberries are ripe. When we moved to the country, we had an abundance of wild blackberry brambles along the farm lane and at the edge of the woods in some of the back parts of the farm. Gradually, because we have cleaned up overgrown fence rows and tried to get rid of the dreaded Korean honeysuckle vines and multi-flora roses, the blackberries have disappeared. We did plant some blackberries at the edge of the garden several years ago and they have turned into the bane of my existence. Not one berry have they produced. All the energy in those plants has gone toward creeping all over my garden and even out into the yard. A few months ago, when I was digging out the paths in the garden, I pulled up massive amounts of roots running all over the place. Cutting and pulling up roots amounted to pruning (and you know how pruning encourages a plant to put out lots of new growth?). I finally broke down and started spraying with brush killer anytime a sprout poked through the soil. I think I'm winning the war right now, but it is definitely not over by any means.

Not long ago, one of my husband's clients gave him some starts of thornless blackberry canes. Now, I know there are purist out there who think they don't taste as good as the wild ones. Whatever they give up in taste, it's worth it. Picking berries in the brambles in July, wearing long sleeves and pants to protect yourself from the thorns (not to mention the chiggers!). Never more. Even though they are just recently planted, over the past few days we've managed to pick, from the new, improved vines, the requisite 4 cups of berries for a cobbler. It's pretty safe to say this might be my husband's all time favorite dessert. There is nothing healthy about this recipe. Most likely, everyone has made some version of this. It's so quick and easy and fool proof.

BLACKBERRY COBBLER

Melt one stick of butter (yes, I know, but I warned you) in a 2 1/2 quart Pyrex or Corningware casserole dish in a 400 degree oven, til bubbly. Meanwhile, whisk together 1 cup of self-rising flour, 3/4 cup of sugar and 1 cup of milk. Rinse berries and drain, then heat in sauce pan with just enough sugar to sweeten slightly. When the butter is melted, pour the batter into the dish, then ladle the berries (and liquid from the pan) on top. Bake for approximately 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Serve warm, with good vanilla ice cream on top. (That's a recipe that makes me feel like Paula Deen---you know, butter, sugar and ice cream to top it off!) Enjoy and be grateful blackberry season is short. (It's also really good made with cherries.)

PS-My friend, Mary, tells me this took a little longer to bake than I had said. I forgot to mention that I used the convection/bake setting on my oven and that usually shortens baking times. So....it may take a little longer for you. You'll know it is done when the top is golden brown--somewhere between 20-30 minutes.

Not to be confused with Purple Martians

No, that's not what you're seeing (but, I'm sure you already knew that). These are Purple Martins, in their little house, high in the sky overlooking my garden. I gave this Martin house to my husband for Valentine's day several years ago, and I only wish all presents could be used and appreciated as much as this one has been. We have been told that many people put up their Martin house and then wait years for Martins to move in, but somehow, we got lucky and they came within weeks of installation. We mark on the calendar each year when the scouts appear and then when the rest of the birds show up. Their timing is remarkable. They fly all the way from South America and arrive within just a few days of the years before. Apparently, the same families return, year after year, to the place of their birth and as new babies are hatched, the cycle continues. The Martins are very entertaining to watch and knowing they are keeping the bug population down is definitely a plus. They love it when we are mowing the fields close to their house because it stirs up the bugs and provides a meal for them. They circle around us, chattering and chirping all the while. Whenever I'm working in the garden, they are there to keep me company. They are some of the few creatures here on the farm who ask nothing from us but a cozy house. I suppose all this makes us sound like a couple of old folks out watching the birds. Oh well, so be it.