Clover Jelly

 Eating the bloom jelly is the way we make it through till the berries are ready it is so easy even the girls have gotten it down  

2 cups flower petals 
2 to 3 cups water 
2 cups sugar 
2 tbs lemon juice 
2 tbs pectin 

make the tea brew for 45 mins ( flower and water ) clear the flowers , mix in the rest let cook for 10 mins water bath jar them for 10 mins take them out, and let them zing for 24 hours

this only makes 1 to use, 1 to share, 1 to store in our jelly making we could up the water content and sugar to make bigger batches but this works for us ( this one little E added 3 cups water) 

Spring Garden Update

 We Have Sprouts

It finally got to spring in Zone 5 ... and we have started to sprout some of our very large gardens and are so excited. Weeding and planting have taken up a lot of our May.

This patch is our bush-type plants, peppers/eggplant, sprouts, and bush beans the one above it is bushy things like cauliflower and broccoli  In front of it you can see a bit of our multi tomatoes 

Soon we will add the climbing stuff to this bed it's our climbers , beans, and cucumbers 

Tea Garden, strawberry bed, and tomatoes 

Close up of the tea garden it is going so well.

Trashcan potatoes are filling to the top in no time .....

Honeysuckle Syrup

 Yes, we really use all this syrup

Today we noticed the honey suckle bushes in full bloom so it is time to store a bit more of spring .. yes we use all this stuff we have already gone through 3 of my jelly and 1 of my syrups in the weeks since making it.

Collected and cleaned 

Smell so amazing 

Boil 1 cup of flowers to 1 cup water ... when the water changes color strain our the flowers 

 add one cup of sugar and simmer on low till the spoon comes out and the drips are slow 

I always can small when doing spring jelly 1 to store, 1 to use and 1 to share.

I can in a water bath for my syrups and it works well to water bath just put in boiling water for 15 mins and then let cool on the counter when you hear the pop you are sealed up and can store for up to 6 months in the fridge and a year in the root cellar.

 We have been watching closely all of the wonderful landscape edibles we have. The girls say this one tastes like the bees honey combs.

Poor Mans Honey and Violet simple syrup

 This week has been a fast week of getting things harvested and canned with the spring flowers. A big part of this is setting the flowers in hot water for 24 hours ... I have to put them on the windows because the tiny hands can not keep from touching them 

We made Poor mans honey which is 
2 cups dandelion tops ( the sunbursts ) with no greens we clip them off 
1 cup water   let steep for 24 hours in the end remove the flours and move to a saucepan then add 2 tablespoons lemon juice 4 cups sugar

if you want at this point add 2 tables spoons of pectin to make jelly boil it for 15 mins and then into jars it goes,

       

The violet syrup is similar it is 
1 cup violets no green 
1 cup water 
2 cups sugar

add 2 tables spoons of lemon juice to give it a light purple color or caster sugar to turn it blue. Boil for 15 mins then jar.

Wild Violet Jelly

                     Eating our weeds making wonderful things

Today I am going to share a wonderful sweet treat from our backyard.

Wild violet jelly is wonderful on biscuits or even a good pb and j sandwich .

Spring in our house means a small batch canning every chance I get.

We have a lot of fruit to harvest in late summer off our bushes and vines so our weed jelly

keeps us going till then.

3 cups water 

1 cup violets 

2 tsp lemon juice 

½ cup sugar 

1 and ½  tablespoon pectin 

In a small saucepan boil water and violets for 15 mins  until the water is colored Discard boiled violets then add lemon juice and sugar simmer for 10 mins on low  then add pectin and follow the directions on the package to set it ( depending on the kind you use it could be bringing it back to a boil).  While things are boiling and simmering I prepare my jars for canning in boiling water .  Fill the jars leave a bit of head space add back to water bath for 10 to 15 mins when done turn them upside down and let cool for 12 hrs … if the lids pop eat right away if they do not and have a tight seal then they can stay in our root cellar for up to 6 months.  I do have to note violets are a bit of a laxative so do not eat the whole jar in one sitting and it is also why I make small jars of it .

Historically, violet has been used as a respiratory herb and to treat hacking cough ,It’s also used as a lymphatic tonic, to help with lymph edema and breast issues something around here we like and need so we take the laxative with the lymph node help.

                                    this is an amazing tool Daddy O found me

If you build it they will come

   Transplant Wild Life ... 

We have made our land wildlife-friendly well .... we have some transplant animals we can not claim but we love having a new addition to the homestead welcome  Daisy and Daniel ... DUCK * they are making a nest and we could have a duck family in the pond very soon. 

New Chicks for our flock

                     Silver and Gold ... Silver and Gold ... Silver and Gold .... Silver 

                    On Thursday we added  7 new Wyandotte chicks to our flock , we were adding 6 at a time on a two year cycle from laying to meat to feed our family. We pick dual purpose , cold hardy , and friendly chickens. We had 6 ISA browns in the spring of 2020 and we get constant wonderful eggs from them. We had a hawk attack and lost one to it. To loose one in a year I am ok with she got out of the garden and did not hide like her sisters. One of the new 7 will go with the 5 we have left next spring to make way for 6 more chicks and keep up our cycle of food. 

            The Wyandotte is an American breed of chicken developed in the 1870s. It was named for the indigenous Wyandot people of North America. The Wyandotte is a dual-purpose breed, kept for its brown eggs and its yellow-skinned meat. They will start to lay at 9 months and will lay for 3 years.

            The ISA Brown is a crossbreed of chicken, with sex-linked coloration. It is thought to have been the result of a complex series of crosses including but not limited to Rhode Island Reds and Rhode Island Whites, and contains genes from a wide range of breeds. They lay brown eggs daily for the first 3 years of life.

            Now we are novices to chickens we have never owned them, never cared for them, never knew how many flipping eggs 6 chickens would give you. We started a cost sheet where we take the cost of feed, bedding ( we have started collecting our own and will start growing food for the animals ) and all things chicken with the number of eggs they give us in a given month we are up a lot. In lean times the chickens have proven to be great for our family in both our pocketbooks and our tummies.  I will post more on how we saved money by building the coop from scraps left around and the whole year with the ISA's but nowhere are the chicks. We brought them from a local farm supply store and they are hens as we are not allowed roosters.
This is our broader where we keep the chicks safe and warm in it we have food ( medicated ), grit, water, a heat lamp, and a thermometer. The thermometer is important because baby chicks can not regulate their own temps. We put the chicks in our sun porch last year we had them in the basement and it was harder to keep their temps up.

                                        Lots of thoughts into this and trial and error from last year 

                                                    Babies rocks in the water so they do not drown 

                                                    Night time is colder but they still are able to stay warm enough