Backyard Farmgals

I scavenged the garden this morning.  In my desperate hunt, I found some amazing things, gorgeous colors and absolutely delicious tomatoes.  I spent nap time sampling 'maters and drooling all over myself!  Yeah, it was attractive... There are a few really great tomatoes in this batch, I have really enjoyed taste testing them (haha) hope y'all enjoy it too! PINK GERMAN - This is a tomato that I have planted before.  Also referred to as Pink German Tree, it is a potato leaf, indeterminate plant that has great big, sweet, luscious tomatoes dripping from it.  It is a bit of a late producer, but I added this to my sauces last year and it was outstanding.  This is one that I will plant year after year. WEIGHT - Heavy SIZE - Very Large ACIDITY - Almost none FLAVOR - Extremely sweet PRODUCTION - Medium-Heavy GENERAL IMPRESSION - This is a sweet, no acidity tomato that makes a great slicer.  It is very meaty, with moderate amounts of seeds and juice.  I love th

Late summer equals tomatoes in my book.  Glorious jewels of green, yellow, orange, pink, red, and purple hanging in the garden.  I wait all year for this moment!  It is my favorite piece of summer.  I tried a lot of new varieties this year, and I have a lot of tasting to do to find my favorites of the bunch.  I thought that I would share my thoughts on the taste testing with y'all so you know what's good too! Green Moldovan Tomato.  Gorgeous greens, I love 'em! Everything that I planted this year was heirloom, which is defined as being an established variety of a plant prior to WWII.  Heirlooms are a little slower to come on, they are also not quite as prolific.  There are several tomatoes that are still ripening that I haven't been able to sink my teeth into.  I am antsy to try them and I tell them every morning while I am watering the farm and feeding animals.  (Yes, I talk to my plants!)  As they ripen, I will continue to post tastings on each new variety.  

My boys are so proud.  Proud as peacocks, to be exact!  This week was fair week and my two farmhands took their 5 best chickens to put on display in hopes of ribbons and chicken champion glory.  Imagine their surprise when on Wednesday morning, they stepped into the chicken house to see a large, green, chicken-topped trophy staring back at them. I think the plastic rifle really makes the picture here.  Will insisted on bringing it, and posing with it.  Boys!?!??  I sometimes wonder what planet they are really from!   Reserve Champion Junior...  *gasp* Which is a really fluffy way of saying second place.  Jane, the Silver Laced Wyandotte, was beaming as only a Reserve Champion Junior chicken can!  First place was taken by a gorgeous black and gray rooster with feathered feet.  I think that his feet won over the judges, that, or he was bribing them with chicken feed! Jane.  Doesn't she look like a Reserve Champion Junior?  She is a pretty chicken! Following the disc

As promised, the rest of our fabulous trip to Colorado, in photos.  The second day was spent in Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), which is incredible.  The tundra at RMNP was impressive along with the herds of elk and the stout little flowers growing and stretching as far as oxygen would permit.  We learned a bit about identifying flowers and set out to identify a few on our own.  This was great fun with the exception of the altitude factored in.  We were at 11,700 feet and a few of us got sick.  I was just a bit dizzy and breathing a bit faster than usual, Julie was a lot dizzy and decided not to hike around so much as to just sit and take it all in (and go shopping at the visitor's center). Photos cannot do the mountains justice.  The range is massive and one of the most awe inspiring things I have ever seen.  It really makes you wonder where all of this glorious earth came from. Some of the exquisite flowers we saw while hiking at 11,700 feet.  Flo