And So It Begins

This last week has been in the 90's and let me tell ya, I'm already tired of the heat and humidity.  Not that I'm ready to go back to our sub-zero days of winter, but I'd love a day in the 80's with a lot less humidity than we've been having.  My garden would really be suffering but since I'm using the Back to Eden method of growing with a mulch covering, everything still appears green and lush.  I've watered the plants in the greenhouse and a few ones in the garden that seem to be struggling a bit, but haven't watered anything else (yet).  I've been able to just hand water using water from the rain barrels so no extra expense on the water bill!

Yesterday, I picked our first cucumber

This morning, I harvested this

And by tonight, I found a zucchini and pulled a potato plant (just a volunteer one that was in the way of some other plantings)

The funny thing about the acorn squash is that I did not plant any acorn squash.  Its growing in one of the side beds so I guess it got imported with some compost.  I've never prepared acorn squash, but after a quick internet search, I decided to bake it up for supper. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and it seemed pretty straightforward and easy.

First I cut the squash in half

Scooped out the seeds (like a pumpkin)

Place the halves face down on a cookie sheet and popped it in the toaster oven for 30 minutes on 350 degrees.

Reserved the innards for the chickens and ducks (both went crazy when I throw this out for them)

After 30 minutes, I pulled the squash out of the oven, put 1 TBL of butter and 2 TBL of brown sugar in it, closed it up and put it back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

Pulled it out, sliced, drizzled some of the sugar/butter mixture over it and served.

Everyone said it tasted sweet (thanks to the brown sugar, no doubt) and Matt & Essie had 2nds.  This is a good side-dish and a good way to get some more fiber and vitamins into your diet.

We also had our first (of like 100) sunflowers open today.

If you look hard at the flower above, you can see a bee in the bottom of the face (about 6 o'clock)

I took this one holding my phone with my arm completed extended and I'm still looking up at it. 

The Most Fun Recycling Program Around

No chickens eating mice today, just lots of old freezer-burned food we cleaned out of my in-laws extra freezer (pizza, taquitos, peas).  When I think about all the food that my chickens have recycled, it utterly amazes me.  In the last month they have not only eaten stale bread and vegetable peelings, they've also dined on leftover french fries, Chinese food (they love the rice with vegetables), popcorn, stale potato chips & crackers, leftover steak, meatloaf, lunch meat, wilted celery, cabbage, broccoli & cauliflower, leftover pasta of all assortments, and more freezer burned food than I can recount.  I do remember lots of frozen meals and frozen vegetables. Oh, and they devoured past-its-prime home-made grape juice, salsa, and tomato sauce. They even downed a freezer-burned half carton of vanilla ice cream and a past-date gallon of milk. Oh, and of course bugs, worms, grasshoppers (yes, that was a fun one to watch) and the occasional mouse (not so fun to watch).  All in all, chickens are some of the best recyclers I've ever seen. (pigs are probably the best recyclers, but Matt refuses to let me get one!) and they turn all that garbage into delicious eggs.

Chicken Eating a Mouse

Holy Cow, how has it been this long since I've posted to the blog?!?!  Oh yeah, I took the kids to see my family in IN last week and entered the "NO WIFI" zone.  Now I'm trying to make up lost work time and time in the garden.  Well, because you all have been so patient with my lack of posting, here is a killer video (seriously, the chickens killed and ate a mouse so you may not want to watch this before eating a meal).

OOVOTO 2014

Our Own Version Of The Olympics was yesterday at our kids' school. Its always a fun day for the kids and I overheard more than 1 parent talk about memories from their OOVOTO days at Wilmore Elementary School.  The day opens with an Opening Ceremony where all the kids who have lived overseas (many missionary kids, Int. students from seminary kids, and adopted kids at our school) get to carry their country's flag.

Our kids got to carry the Ethiopian flag

Friends Margaret & Courage with the Liberia flag

Opening Ceremony

Once the Opening Ceremony was finished, the classes break up and participate in different activities at five different stations around the school.  This is the part I didn't necessarily think through as a mother with children in more than 1 grade level.  I told several parents that they should call it the "Parents Olympiad" because I basically cris-crossed campus all day to see as many of my kids' activities as possible. 

So here are a ton of videos of my kids doing all kinds of sporting event, which I'm posting for family 

AJ & Classmates

Hey, It's Hot Out There!