Wednesday

Posted on December 28, 2005 at 06:37

I had a nice relaxing day at home.  I love to read and I'm almost done with Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry.  Anyone who has seen the movie, the book is nothing like the movie, which I love!  However, the book is good too, in its own right.

I went to the library today and checked out a few gardening books.  I want to find another vegetable or two to add to our garden this year and I checked out a book on herb gardening and how to preserve the herbs and use them.  I usually grow Rosemary, Basil and Oregano and use them fresh but when the season is over I let them die.  Isn't that terrible?  So I want to dry and store them in jars this year.  Anyone know where to get inexpensive, but pretty jars?  Craft store??

I also got a few books on canning and preserving.  My dh would love for me to do this, it sounds good, but like a lot of work.  I'll find out.  I think I need a pressure cooker??  Hopefully they're not expensive or hard to use.  I have no idea what it takes to can, my Grandmother does it, but I've never been at her home when she has.  She used to live here in CT but now lives at our family farm up in VT. 

The farm has been in our family for over 250 years and was a working dairy farm until my Great-Grandmother was too old to keep it going and had no one in the family who was willing to run it.  The house was left to my Grandmother's brother, who after a few years couldn't keep up with the land taxes and it was going to be sold.  My Mother and Grandmother bought it and it will be left to my children.  Zarek, my 11 year old has said he wanted to be a farmer all his life, I remember when he was 2 he said it, before he knew there was a farm in the family and he has kept with that dream to be a farmer until now.  He's only 11.5, but wants to study farming and plans on having our family farm be a working farm once more.  We live 3.5 hours away from it so we do visit quite often. 

Anyway...I've written plenty now.  I'm off to random blog and learn things! 

Pretty jars

Posted by spinninggrandma on December 28, 2005 at 07:08 - Link

Second hand stores .... craft stores .... antique stores (be careful - find the cheaper ones) ... dollar stores ....

Just keep a look out for what you want - and ask for them - if you send your request into the atmosphere, you will be rewarded with it. (Just be careful of what you ask for! I asked for a Calico cat and didn't specify that she be mild-mannered. I got a Jekyll/Hyde one!)

If you don't want to kill your herbs, you can dig them up and put them in pots in the house. Otherwise, get them cut and dried before freezing. But orgegeno and basil and sage are hardy and you might be able to save them to come up the next year if you cover them with straw for the winter.

Good luck! I have some oregeno in my stove drying right now!

How Wonderful!

Posted by midwesthomestead on December 29, 2005 at 07:21 - Link

It's so wonderful that y'all have a family farm out there just waiting for your son to have at it!! What a beautiful thought that Zarek has been preparing to farm since he was small.

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Family...

Posted by DonnaJoy on December 29, 2005 at 02:16 - Link

farm - how wonderful that your son wants to carry that on - it's like a movie!!!
Donna