My sister Judy's tips

Hi.  My name is Judy.  I’m one of Kathy’s sisters.  I’m the one who doesn’t live on a farm or ranch.  I don’t ride horses, help mama pigs or sheep with their deliveries, or even know how to collect chicken eggs properly. 

Now that you know what I don’t do, let me tell you what I am good at.  I can make killer jelly and jam, I know a secret for easy juicing of pomegranates, and I freeze tomatoes and zucchini during the summer for winter use.  I also knit, crochet, embroider and sew.  Yep, that’s me – Mrs. Homemaker.

I want to pass on a few of my tips that I have learned over the years.

What to do with all that zucchini?:  Well, don’t let it go to waste or give it all away.  Wash it, grate it and seal it in freezer bags.  Then freeze it.  I know what you’re thinking . . . I’m going to tell you to use it for zucchini bread.  Yes, you can do that, but I also put it in my spaghetti sauce, meat loaf and soups.  It adds some thickening and gets more veggies into the family, stretches the food dollars and adds 2.5g fiber per cup.  It is also a great source of vitamins A, C and potassium.

What to do with tomatoes?:  I put my tomatoes whole into boiling water until the skin starts to split but no more than 30 seconds.  Then put them into ice water to quickly cool them down so they don’t continue to cook.  Once cool, take the core out and the skin just peels off.  Put them on a cookie sheet, not touching, and freeze them.  Once they are frozen you can put them into freezer bags and they won’t stick together in one big messy lump.  Put them back into the freezer.  When I’m ready to make something with tomatoes, I can take out only as many as I need.  These fresh frozen tomatoes and the shredded zucchini become a base for my homemade spaghetti sauce during the winter.  The other bonus is that I didn’t have to can them during the summer when the last thing I want to do is stand over a hot stove all day. 

Another tomato tip:  Buy a dehydrator.  It’s a great investment.  Wash you cherry tomatoes, cut them in half and dehydrate them.  My grandchildren and husband eat them like candy.  The large tomatoes can be sliced and dehydrated.  Experiment on the thickness you prefer but remember that they are much smaller when dehydrated.  To keep them longer, I store them in freezer bags and after they are dehydrated and put these in my freezer.  Yum!

It’s berry season: Wash the berries, put them on a cookie sheet and freeze them. Once frozen I put them in freezer bags.  When I have time during the winter I take them out and make jelly or jam just in time for Holiday giving.   I also dehydrate strawberries got a great winter snack – or anytime snack.

Now, for those of you who don’t have enough zucchini, tomatoes or berries from you own garden, see Kathy at HZ Harvest.  Her garden is abundant and wonderful.

Veggies are ready!

We have lots of ripe vegetables.  Our new vegetable stand is out and veggies are selling.  Squash is growing so quickly the we are in fear of being covered in our sleep!  We are so very lucky to have such great soil here on the farm.  Most people don't have their squash ready yet, but you can see that we have no problems.  It's been very hot here the past few days which only adds to it's success.  We sent some to the Food Bank today to share with those less fortunate.

Bradley has afternoon "air conditioning".  This is the 30 mph winds that blow through in the afternoon this time of year.  This is because there is fog in the Monterey/Salinas area and heat in the south end of the Salinas Valley.  We are lucky to be in between those two.

Farming is an interesting way of life.  It is light at 5:00 am so of course we are up and going too.  At around 8:00 pm, it starts looking late so I begin thinking about dinner.  By the time the animals are put to bed and we get around to dinner, it is close to 9:30 or 10:00.  The days seem to fly by but they are so very fulfilling.

We have a bumper crop of fowl right now.  We are raising wonderful Cornish cross chickens for eating, turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas and chicks for laying hens.

Take care!

The flowers above are spread throughout our vegetables to keep our bees happy.  The added bonus is that they keep us happy too!

We are fortunate to have two wonderful summer helpers - Tanner and James - that are staying at the farm, working hard and learning from us.  They are particularly nice, polite and intelligent 21 year old men.  We couldn't have asked for better farm guests.  The challenge is to remember that things that seem natural to us aren't necessarily things that young men from the city know. 

On Friday night, Marvin realized that the cows weren't in the field above the house as expected.  Marvin has been spending night and day cutting, raking and baling hay.  This hay is in various stages in the east end of the back 300 acre parcel.  Tanner and James have been "bucking hay".  This involves picking up the bales and taking them to the barn to stack them for future use. 

One commandment of country life is that you always leave a gate as you find it (if it's open, leave it open - if it's closed, close it after you go through).  Unfortunately, Tanner and James hadn't been told this commandment yet.  As you've probably already guessed, they left the gate open and all 35 cows found the hay smorgasbord. 

The wind was blowing approximately 40 mph Friday evening.  The last thing these cows wanted to do was to leave their evening meal.  After about and hour we finally got them through the gate and return to the house to begin our BBQ.  It was about 10:00 before we were able to eat dinner.  The boys went back to their room and we fell into bed in a sleep slumber. 

I've always felt that it is normal to make mistakes.  We all do.  Sometimes the best lessons are learned when mistakes are made.  These lessons seem to stick with you better than just being told.  Tanner and James have learned a good lesson.

We took them to the the lake (Nacimiento) last night to BBQ and give them the opportunity to go swimming.  It was a beautiful eventing and we had a nice visit with Marvin's brother and sister in law - Greg and Licia.  A nice evening makes the hard day worthwhile.

I like this quote:

"The fence that makes good neighbors needs a gate to make good friends."



New Piglets!



We had new pig puppies!  These little kiddos were born night before last.  She is a really good mama so I feel confident that we won't have any problems with this litter.  We will leave her pretty much alone for a few days and then check them over to eartag them and list their sex.

Angel jumped in the Kabota last night as if to let us know that she is the princess.  These Great Pyrenees are the greatest dogs.  Very independent, very loyal, laid back normally but relentless with coyotes and big birds (they know they eat their chickens).

We have sooooo many veggies coming on the plants.  The berries are even starting to ripen!  We have 300 blackberries, raspberries and boysenberries.  Of course, everything is grown completely natural with no pesticides, no non-organic fertilizer and no herbicides.

Many more pictures to come!

Puppies for sale!

We are looking for good homes for 6 little darlings (the cute little gal above took one home on Monday).  The mother and father both belong to us.  The mother is a miniature cocker spaniel and the dad is a yorkiepoo (yorkshire terrier and poodle).  They were born April 30th and mom is DONE with them.  They have been eating dry puppy food for around 1 1/2 weeks.  Both parents weigh around 10 pounds.  Give me a call if you are interested (805) 610-1053.

There are just too many beautiful pictures to choose from today!  Things are growing so quickly we are having trouble keeping up with picking them.  I swear that squash can grow 8" in a day. 

We received 100 baby heritage turkeys (poults) today.  These cute little birds will grow to be happy organic full grown turkeys in time for the holidays.