Growing Potatoes

Well, last week was rather busy, but we found some time to plant some potatoes that were starting to sprout in the bag.  These were regular russet potatoes from the grocery store.

These are left over ones.. the ones we planted had even longer sprouts than this.

Each potato had several sprouts, so we cut each sprout and left a bit of the potato with it.  Then we planted these pieces in ditches that Jesse had made in the garden bed.  We were surprised to see how fast they grew in a little over a week!  : )
                        
We are very excited to watch these potatoes grow..
We have to cover our beds to keep the chickens from scratching and ruining the seeds.. We had to learn this the hard way!  : )

Faith making a silly face by the potato bed. : )

Faith loves to help plant seeds in the garden!  We really appreciate her help.  : )  God really has given her a gift in being very delicate with the seeds and covering them up ever so carefully.

I will try to take more pictures if the Lord allows these to grow and then when we harvest them!  : )   So look out for updates on the potatoes!  : )

                                       -------------------POTATO UPDATE-------------------
So we are now at the end of March (about a month since we planted the potatoes) and I wanted to share some new photos.

        We hilled them up several times through the month as they grew.  Jesse waters the potatoes every couple of days and our three Barred Rock chickens are great pest control as well.  We haven't added anything else (because we are trying to grow everything organically).  They seem to be doing great (above ground anyways).  : )

Hopefully they will be growing lots of nice potatoes underground.  : )

I just read that when they blossom you can dig up "new potatoes" (little ones I guess).
For the mature (big) potatoes though you have to wait two weeks after the plant dies.
What a silly thing it seems that we can't wait for the potato plants to die!  : )
Can't wait to see how big some home grown organic potatoes will be.

Napkin Folding Fun

Today is my and Jesse's 9th Wedding Anniversary.  To surprise him I woke up early (a real surprise in itself.. he he) : ) and fixed him a big breakfast.  I should have taken a picture of his plate!  Anywho.. I was preparing for this early meal and decided to fold some fancy napkins to go along with the "grand" meal. : )

Here are some pictures of two different napkin folds I learned.  It's great fun to do and really makes the table look special!  : )

This one looks nice sitting right on the plate. (Even this cheap plate can look nice!) : )

This one is fun because it has pockets to put your silverware in and more.

Have fun making the table look nice in a free and simple way.

I may do a step-by-step blog of these folds if anyone is interested... Let me know.

Simple Step-by-step Valentine Craft

Today I made a simple little Valentine that I had noticed online sometime last week.  I thought my kiddos might enjoy them and I had all the supplies already on hand.
We'll call them "Candy Butterfly Valentines".
         Supplies you will need: 
                     Sucker (Lollipop - whatever you may call it)
                     Paper (any color you want or have)
                     Google-eyes
                     Scissors
                     Pen
                     Glue (if Google-eyes don't have sticky backs)

Step one:

Fold paper in half and cut a butterfly shape close to the size of your sucker.

 Step two:

Decorate butterfly wings and put two small slits along the fold.  This is how I saw it online, but you can be creative - use stickers, stamps, or whatever you like.

 Step three: 

Add Google-eyes to your sucker and slip it into the wings.

 Step four:

Share your candy butterflies with others!  : )

I thought they were kind of neat and supper easy to make.. hope some others enjoy this as well.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them.

A Real Tree Hugger

Jesse found a great deal at a yard sale this weekend for some tree climbing gear.  He couldn't pass up this great deal and he thought he might try to learn to cut down trees in our back yard and even possibly to make some extra money.  So here he is giving it a try!  : )

Ain't nothin' like your own backyard to give it a go!  : )

"Okay, Honey, that's high enough.. (nervous laugh) ..why don't you practice coming down now."  : )

 Going up looked much easier.. coming down not so much.  : )  Jesse said it was hard work!
As you can see in the background.. we have quite a few trees for him to practice on!  We may not have a shaded yard much longer!


Has anyone ever done this type of work?  We would love to hear any advice.

Large Lemon

We finally got to pick our first "vine-ripe" lemon today.
The kids have picked some prematurely, but this one survived the kids and the weed eater and turned yellow right on the tree.  : )

Would you look at the size of that thing!  I think it's called a Ponderosa lemon.  They are supposed to be big.  (Pay no attention to the junk on my counter.)  : )

This is a regular size soup can.. just to compare in size.

Nice and plump.

Hope it tastes good!  : )

Cookie Party

Today we went to my sister-in-laws house for a Valentine cookie decorating party.  

The kids enjoyed decorated lots of sugar cookies with the help of Nana and Aunt Shelly.

But I think for Faith and cousin Abigail the temptation to eat the cookies was too much to handle!  : )

Everyones plate looked great.. Notice the empty one... he he.. that was Abigail's.  : )

Thanks for a fun afternoon Aunt Amy!  : )

Do you have a fun way to decorate cookies or just enjoy these fun times too?  Let us know about it.

God is faithful - Chicken Eggs

We have three Barred Rock chickens that "free roam" (or run free) in our fenced in back yard.

                                     

Nearly every day I go out to the chicken coop and find this..

 God is faithful!  : )



Do you have a story like this?  I'd love to hear about it.  Leave a comment and share how you find God is faithful... He is faithful, whether you notice it or not..  : )
Do you have a question about chickens?  We are not experts in the least, but we may be able to answer any simple questions.. or help you to find an answer you are looking for.  Just leave a comment and we will try to get back to you.

A Godly Woman

     This mornings sermon at church was a hard one to hear for us ladies.. it was about the role of a Godly Woman - wife and mother.  Proverbs 31 gives us an example if we need to refresh ourselves on our duties.  You may begin to feel tired just reading all the things the Godly woman does!  : )  Help me, Lord, to even come somewhat close to being that kind of a woman.

  These are the four little blessing that the Lord has given us the privilege to guide and direct.  Please pray for us and our children to do all things pleasing in His sight.
Pam

Just got our new phones today, could use some help with this "smart one."