Welcome…
Welcome to the Official Feminine Ways Farmgirl Chapter of MaryJanesFarm. I’ve been a farmgirl all my life. From the age of four I’ve lived on the same farm. I’m 50 years old, and still live here! Come join me as I blog, share recipes, gardening ideas, and all the fun stuff I do in feminine farmgirl style!
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Right now I’m off to serve lunch to my husband, go check on the progress of the garden, check and admire the biddies, gather eggs, do a little ironing, and then start supper…See y’all later!
new local members
Tylah- Tianna
- Sherree
- Brandy
From Kelly in WI…
I am in Darien WI. Hoping to start my vegetable garden this weekend if the weather cooperates.
Newest member…
We have another new member, ladies!!! Kelly! Welcome!
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setbacks…
Another hen is gone…We found the feathers yesterday. We now have only two. I also woke up not feeling very well this morning, and have been out of sorts. Meaning, weak, not up to doing any housework or outside chores. I think I may have overdone it yesterday! Please say a prayer for me!
Mayhaw jelly…A Southern Tradition
A friend and I were just talking today about the Mayhaw. It is becoming harder and harder for us to find in the wild, although from my research I found out it is being revived in orchards, and is available in nurseries now. I’m not sure if it is/was actually on the verge of being extinct, but according to this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayhaw – the long-living tradition of going out and picking them in the spring, of which I have been familiar with all of my life, is becoming a thing of the past for several reasons – one being the destruction of the mayhaw’s native habitat. It’s about that time of the year again to go out and forage for these berries for making scrumptious Mayhaw jelly. I wonder if we will find them! They are very similar to a crabapple I’d say – the closest description I can come up with for anyone unfamiliar with these… Also a pic is found here: http://www.southeasternoutdoors.com/flora/trees/articles/mayhaws-fruit-landscaping-wildlife.html
busy bees….
Just a little sampling of dewberries
I don’t know why I keep dreaming up new things, because everything I already have and do keeps me busier than bees in the springtime! But you know me!!
Taking time to smell the roses...
NO longer solo….
We have three new local members!!!
Martha - New Augusta, MS
Mary - New Augusta, MS
Carolyn - Huntsville, AL
LOCALLY, we have our first “meeting” planned for June 3…We will be making dewberry, and blackberry jam and jelly! Maybe more types, depending on what we have available between the four of us.
Our next tentative meeting, (no date set yet) for the next meeting, we will be picking tomatoes (and whatever else is ready such as peppers, onions, etc., that we need to make chow-chow, salsa, and canned tomatoes) at a local U-pick farm.
Not only will it be productive, getting more done in less time, but as my friend said, “It will be fun!” I can’t wait!!!
ahhhh, sigh……
We’ve been working hard all morning picking dewberries, feeding the chickens, dog and pups, horses, and the poor little biddies…another story, later.
Exhausting, but the rewards are plenty!
Blessings!!
I love getting outdoors this time of the year! The white clover is everywhere! I love soaking up the sunshine, smelling the honeysuckle, black locust, and sweet shrub blooming…Nature at its best in my opinion.
We have TONS of dewberries and blackberries this year, all wild, mind you…God is good! I’ve picked, okay WE picked 3 big coffee cans full already! Ran out of room in the can, and ruined a blouse using it to hold the berries, but that’s okay, if it doesn’t wash out I’ll just dye it purple….LOL
My legs and feet are aching, but that’s okay too because I need the exercise!
Now for the sad part…The hen with the first biddies that hatched is gone. A varmint got her a few days ago….Probably the fox, but not certain. A skunk was also seen rambling about the same night!We have had to shut up the biddies which I hate doing, but must, in order to keep the little buggers alive.
AND, (not totally sad) The other hen hatched all of her biddies, total of five, but only two lived for some strange reason…They are much tinier than the other biddies when they hatched, and SO adorable I want to squeeze them!! We have them shut up in a horse stall until the biddies grow a bit.
We thought they were safe in there, when we so sneakily caught her and her biddies under the old corn crib, and the other orphaned ones from underneath the big old cedar tree, and cunningly moved them all to the stall. Weren’t we so smart??? The bigger biddies even crouched down and wriggled up under her. Amazing!! We were so proud! The hen took in her sister’s biddies!!! Wasn’t that so sweet?? In the dark, I suppose, they really didn’t care. The mother hen was clucking softly and seemed to take them as if they were her own.
Hold on, there’s more to the story….Sigh…We went out yesterday morning and there was NO HEN and NO BIDDIES in there! The smart aleck orphaned biddies were BACK under the old cedar tree, as if we hadn’t even moved them!! But WHERE were the tiny biddies and their mother?? We searched and searched (think red feathers)…We were going to set traps, or get out the old shotgun. Miserable fox has had it!!! Then………..we heard chirping! It was music to our ears! Bless their little hearts!!! They had somehow found a very small hole in the dirt under the wall, and had gone through to the next stall. The hen must have undoubtedly flew out and went to them. She’s a better muddah than we gave her credit for! They were all huddled in the corner right behind Begorrah.
Ahhhh, yes, the BIG strawberry roan (well big up beside those little biddies). Wheeeeeew! It’s a world’s wonder they didn’t get stomped to bits. This horse is as crazy as a loon! She throwed dear son and ran over my dear husband leaving bumps, bruises, and swellings a couple of years ago, and we don’t EVEN trust this horse!! She spooks very easily!! Day before yesterday she got spooked by us trying to catch the orphaned biddies. She bucked and snorted, and slid down in the slippery clover twice before coming to her senses and standing upright…Crazy horse!! We couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry or go get the horse trailer and haul her off to the stockyard. But, it was just too hilarious.
BUT, not as hilarious as my husband thought about me chasing the biddies with a fishing net….Hmp
This is where the chase took place…By the way! And dear hubby, well, he watched, and laughed, and finally ran over and tackled the last poor biddie, saying he could have done it sooner, but enjoyed seeing me running around, much more-so. Okay……..
We had patched up the old chicken cage beforehand, so off we go to save the day, and the biddies. And they are happily chirping away, even though I know they would be much happier running loose!! I’d probably go let them out if I wouldn’t have to chase the daylights out of them again….Really!
So….We now have three hens, three roosters, and five biddies - total – all shut up except we let the grown ones loose during the day and will definitely shut them up at night from now on. Why, oh why did we trust that old sneaky fox?? Or was it the skunky skunk??
My husband’s brother is going to order more for us in about two weeks, so we’ll be back in the chicken business full force…Although it will be a few months before they start laying. We might also look for grown chickens for sale, in the meantime. But a neighbor gave us one egg short of a dozen and a half yesterday, in exchange for hunting turkey on our property! Another one gave us about a dozen a week ago. Good neighbors! So there’s no egg shortage for the time-being!
I know I’M rambling now….I’m sure I will have more updates on all of these farm animals, and of course, pictures as soon as possible! I can’t risk scaring that stupid horse in the stall next to the hen and tiny biddies!! A camera flash???? OH, my heavens! She’d probably tear up the whole stall cutting cartwheels!!
Wouldn’t you know it???
I visited my mother and step-father this afternoon, and was AMAZED at all the pretty flowers in their yard!!! Roses-roses-roses…Red, yellow, pinks, (a trillion shades of pink, ladies) a scrumptious dark purple one! And some other gorgeous flowers of which I didn’t recognize…Spiky purple blooms-succulent. I’ll have to look it up….Their new baby goat, orphaned a couple of weeks ago, was the CUTEST thing, it followed us around, and wanted to come inside….Poor thing. We also got some red worms to feed the bird we kidnapped….This man has OODLES of those nasty things in THREE bathtubs. Talk about multiplying! They are nasty, but they make the RICHEST composted soil I have ever seen in my life?! We have a small bucket-full, and I HOPE dear son or hubby (I ain’t touching them!) will make a bed for them so we can have FREE worms for fishing!!
Wouldn’t you know, I didn’t have my CAMERA with me!!!
