Walk on the wild side and evolution of an organic garden

So I'm walking out to the pasture a couple days ago and I see mushrooms growing on the ground and naturally I think "Wow, free food!" I'm shocked when I bring in my harvest and my family acts like I'm trying to kill them....Puleeeeze!!! These can't possibly be poisonous right???? Well to allay their fears, I look up poisonous mushrooms on the internet and darn...I find the exact same mushroom listed as a killer...I hate when my family is right, I'll never live this down... BUT wait...it says the definitive test is that the spores of the deadly mushroom are white! I do the little prescribed spore test and....

HA! Clearly this has black spores. They still are not convinced so I take a couple bites (Actually the internet said worst case is that I end up in the hospital with severe stomach cramps and the internet is never wrong - so there) I told the little doubting Thomases (and the one big one) that if I make it 6 hours with no ill effects, the mushrooms are just fine. I did get a little nervous when they all set their watch timers :( BUT HA! again 'cause here I am days later, still alive with no ill effects whatsoever! It's sauteed' mushrooms tonight baby! And lest you wonder...they taste FABULOUS - like what the store bought mushrooms taste like in their dreams.

So now that I have survived Domestic Mushroom Experiment 101, I am on to putting in the fall garden. Step 1 - till the ground (we are strip tilling this year and hoping to go to a no-till next season - more on that later) Step 2 - put up a fence when I realize that Bessie is just waiting to munch all my tasty new plants. She stolls over daily to check out what is going on.

These are super wide rows, I know! But I have lots of room and efficiency is not my main goal here. I left plenty of room to mow between the rows since I am leaving the grass to hold the soil in place and help the moisture content. I am also doing organic wheat in a huge tilled area to the right of this picture. I bought it from a local grower so I'm pretty proud about the whole thing. Fresh bread soon to come....well...not soon really, but one of these days. Don't start salivating yet - I'll let you know when.

Step 3 - put in hoops to support the netting. This is the most important part of the organic garden because it will keep insects and birds away from my crops without having to use any chemicals. That's the theory at least. I'll let you know how it goes.

Yes, the gigantic hat is required attire for working in the garden. Just so you know.

More about the new fall garden in the next blog - stay tuned.

So much going on!!!

I just realized that I haven't blogged in over a week and now I have so many things to try to remember... ugh. OK, let's start with the rain situation - the grass was beginning to get a bit a crispy and then...hallelujah! Rain, rain and more rain! We had a FULL rainbow TWO days in a row - it was spectacular and awe inspiring and just really really.... um, hmmm... nope, can't think of any words that will do it any justice - you had to be there.

Newest animal on the farm.... PIGS!!! We found a show breeder that was willing to sell us some rare Glouchestershire (Gloustesheer if you're a Texan) Spot Pigs. These wonderful pigs are on the critically endangered list because they make really bad confinement housed pigs and will really only thrive on pasture. Gotta love an animal that demands fresh air, grass and sunlight to grow. They are hilarious and we have really enjoyed watching them root around in the dirt and swim in their watering trough. The best thing about having pigs though is that I no longer throw out even one scrap of food. Of course the kids have caught on and now anything they don't want to eat is "I'm saving this for the pigs" It's not really complimentary for my cooking but so far the pigs haven't complained - bless their little pink noses!

And then we nearly went a whole week without adding any more animals to this ark - gasp! But luckily we drove up on Saturday and picked out 6 new cattle. Let me explain... two bred (read pregnant) cows and their most recent calves, technically six head of cattle - sort of. They are a breed called the Murray Grey which - can you guess??? Are known for their excellent pasturing skills and meat quality. I also think they are really pretty - hee hee, I'll bet it really irritates all the old, rough and tough cattle guys when I say that but 'cmon... they ARE! Pretty. There...I said it again.

I'll add tasty when the two steer calves dress out in January but until then, pretty. The one with the red tag is ours - they are being delivered to the farm (when they get here do we have to call it a ranch?) on September 25th after their vet check. Yes, for anyone paying attention, that is the same day as the FRESH screening here so needless to say, much coffee will be consumed.

Whoa... this is one of the steer (educational note - a castrated male) calves - he's gonna be a big fella - I think we'll call him T-bone.

Let's see...other exciting news...a reporter from Country World magazine came out to the farm to do an article on us!!! He watched us moving the turkeys and feeding the animals and of course waited until I was completely covered in crud and sweating to take my picture....sigh.... I just can't seem to make this look glamorous - oh well, I guess these days no one would recognize me if I wasn't covered in gunk and sweat.

Everything else is going great - we have new customers every day and I think the Turkeys will be sold out by the end of the month - everyone seems excited by the chicken program and the new fangled processing shed is being built this week. Chickens are laying more eggs every day and if Ella can stop making eggs and bacon every day for breakfast we may actually have some to sell. The Lord is raining his blessings down on our little farm in a million different ways. Praise!