Green grass and brown dirt

Meadow is home and is happy to have grass. The drought was so bad in TN there was next to no grass. It looked like a desert....and we thought we had it bad. Guess we just got the heat! But anyways, I am now the owner of a Jersey cow. She is a sweet cow (like any good Jersey should be) and hungry for good grass. I have been leaving her in the yard while I am out there doing things.

The weather has been more agreeable this year than last. We have had more normal daytime temps and cool nights with off and on rain. I am still trying to decide if the flowers like our more normal weather patterns or not. Some things seem to have done better last year which I guess is why so many commercial flowers are grown in South America. Hopefully this pattern keeps up into the winter though.....the soil could use a good snow cover with slow melt-offs.

These are nine of the eleven dried flower wreaths I have made in the last week. Two of them sold last Saturday. I may squeeze one more in tonight. But doubtful.

Since I Do Have German Blood....

I started a crock of sauerkraut on Wenesday......first tasting will be tomorrow evening. (The water jug is just a weight on the cabbage) This week I also made some kefir and buttermilk...just getting into practice for 6 gallons of milk a day :) And yes, I still have weeds 4 feet tall and flowers coming out of my ears...but I can't work all the time....I must play too. Which reminds me of some work....another picture I will go take and post.

Harvest Time

A week's load of tomatoes(and squash). To be made into sauce tomorrow (hopefully) after market.

Homemade Sourcream

Salt

"Most discussions of salt ignore the issue of salt processing. Few people realize that our salt - like our sugar, flour, and vegetable oils - is highly refined; it is the product of a chemical and high-temperature process that removes all the valuable magnesium salts as well as trace minerals occurring in the sea. To keep salt dry, salt refiners adulterate this "pure" product with several harmful additives, including aluminum compounds. To replace the natural iodine salts that are removed during a processing, potassium iodide is added in amounts that can be toxic. To stabilize the volatile iodide compund,processors add dextrose which turns the iodized salt a purplish color. A bleaching agent is then necessary to restore whiteness to the salt." - taken from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon