Backyard Farmgals

I took this photo of my youngest farmhand holding a tiny egg.  After I took it, I couldn't stop thinking.  Our children have the whole world in their hands right at this moment.  That little egg has the potential to change his whole world, it can teach him about life, about caring, about love, about dreams and opportunity.  As they grow, we hope our children have every opportunity to explore, learn, grow, and find themselves in this world. The question came to my mind: how do I keep my children holding all of these opportunities in their hands?  The world can be a tough place where dreams can crumble and doors shut out opportunity.  How do we help our children keep hope and learn to maneuver around these obstacles that will come in their lives?  The answer is different for each child. Over many years, I have decided that one way I can help my boys hold the world in their hands is to give them a broad point of view.  We take our children eve...

I made these last fall, when we had way too many apples and not enough time to eat them all, but you can easily make them now. I love having these in the pantry and freezer, they are a pretty healthy go-to snack that really cost almost nothing to make. My farmhands gobble them up after school or on hikes or while snowshoeing. They fill you up too. These are sprinkled with very little cinnamon-sugar and then dehydrated. They are really easy to make; they need a little prep and then a whole lotta ignore time on the dehydrator. If you don't have a dehydrator, you can do this in the oven on cookie sheets covered with parchment. Just pop them in the oven at 200ºF and turn them every so often until they are as crispy as you like. I like mine really crispy, but my kiddos like them a little soft, so I do a little of each. Ingredients: Apples, whatever type you like Large bowl full of water Lemon juice from 1 lemon Cinnamon sugar Slice and core the apples. You can use a m...

I had this crazy idea.  For a minute, while looking at my little farmhands this morning, I thought that maybe I should be writing down all of the things I love about them.  I write in a journal about once a week, but I forget all of the little things they do each day that melt my heart.  So, I grabbed a couple of empty notebooks, some craft paper, sticky glue dots, ribbon and a marker and got to work. In about a half hour I had two cute little notebooks that I can fill with all of those little things that I love about both of them everyday.  Between sips of morning tea, I wrote a little note to each of them in the front of the journal explaining why I felt like I needed to do this for them.  One day I hope they will get a good belly laugh or, even better, they will know how much I love them.  What better gift to give your children than love? I jotted down something that I loved about them.  It doesn't have to be long, just a quick little sen...

I can't remember the first tomato I ate, what it's color was, or how it tasted.  There are, however, tomato colored memories that flash through my mind when I am out among those big green vines. Some of my very first memories have tomatoes ingrained in them.  In his garden, my grandfather introduced me to a Better Boy.  Salt shaker in hand, he would pick a soft, red, warm tomato.  Sliced with a pocket knife, he would give me a wedge liberally sprinkled with sea salt.  I can remember tasting the sun.  Warm, sweet, and tart all at the same time.  Juice running down my chin and the slurp associated with the big greedy bites.  I remember the taste of that tomato patch, along with weathered hands and wrinkled smiling eyes. I have different memories later on.  When I married, the first thing I bought to go with the newly remodeled house (the home where my grandfather was born) was a tiller.  $400.00.  The price tag seemed hefty to...

Because tomorrow is Valentine's Day, I thought I should share this totally un-farmy project.  It's so cute, I can't resist.  My oldest farmhand and I worked on it all weekend while the rest of our house was sick (then I got deathly ill Sunday night - joys of being the mom - you always end up with what they bring home...).  Feeling much better today, and I am excited about tomorrow.  I always make a big deal of Valentine's with my kids.  We decorate the house, make Valentine's, and they always wake up to something really special on Valentine's morning... because their mama LOVES them!!! This is what is so stinking cute... The Valentine's box my oldest and I made.  There is a contest, and he really hopes to win.  He has been studying Ancient Egypt in school, and he is really into pyramids and mummified pharaohs, so we decided to kick it up a notch and make a pyramid Valentine's box, complete with lovable mummy, hieroglyphs, and hearts. ...

We had a great Halloween, and hope the same for all of you out there.  We hope you found that Halloween spirit and ran with it, because we ran a Marathon with our Halloween spirit this week.  I love Halloween, and I have since I was a kid.  My mom always made it so much fun.  We had pizza parties at the Rancher's house next door and carved out our creations on pumpkins all night long, we won face painting contests, costume contests, pumpkin contests, you name it, we won it.  We had the most creative costumes... one year I was a mailbox with a mail door that opened to my face.  It was always the best holiday.  Now as a mom, I am trying to bring that same love to my children, and I hope that it rubs off!   This year, we did a lot of carving just as a family... no huge party (which was relaxing and easy...).  It was refreshing to spend time just the four of us carving away, just like how we used to before we had kids.  However, t...

Seriously... This is our FAVORITE holiday of the year.  We get a little nuts!!!  We had a mini carving party for the neighborhood kids on Saturday, decorated a pumpkin for a school contest, and got dressed up for the first time this weekend.  I had to give y'all a little sneak peek! I still have a 200 pound pumpkin to carve, and a few glitches to iron out on halloween costumes, and I am not revealing my costume until Halloween...  I'll give you a hint: yee-haw meets tiara!!! Just a few pictures... Enjoy!!! My minions... "Dave" and "Steve" "Steve"  looking really  green... Is that the evil eye I see???  Farmgal Julie looking her best... she makes a fabulous witch! "Dave" carving a chicken in a pumpkin...  Chicken in a pumpkin... What can I say? The "Back" in Backyard Farmgals gets into the fun! Helen, our blind chicken, even got into the party... Will's pumpkin for the school contes...

I had to do this for a fun little assignment for school and thought I would share with y'all.  This is super easy, really fun, and a great science experiment for kids to watch.  Plus, if you have some plants that you would like to propagate or save for next spring, this is an easy and cheap way to get them! Taking cuttings is fairly simple, but you will need a few things: A good sharp knife Transplanting pots (plastic cells with seed starting mix work well) Rooting hormone (available at good nurseries/garden stores) Plant labels (popsicle sticks and tongue depressors work well) Waterproof pen for labeling Pencil or screwdriver to make holes in the potting medium Drinking straws Clear plastic wrap or large clear plastic bags Rooting medium               - low in nutrients, well draining, water-retaining               - soilless is best               - c...