Music Monday: Luke Bryan "I don't want this night to end"

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Soil Test Results

 Last week, Dad and I took soil samples from one of the fields in the bottoms, and from the garden.

  
Then we sent Daniel, my brother, in with the dirt and some money to drop off at the local University of Missouri Extension office where they send off for soil samples. The results came yesterday.

 The garden looks pretty healthy. We're a little low on Calcium, and the ph is a little low, but overall looks fairly healthy.

 Keep these graph lines in mind when you look at the following photos which are of the soil report for the field.

 Majorly lacking. In addition to the dry years we've had recently, the poor soil is a major factor in the low number of hay bales we've baled.

The soil lab gave us two copies of the reports. We're guessing we take one copy to the local fertilizer place, CO-OP, so they can mix us up a cocktail for the field.

Here's to hoping they don't laugh at us and our poor soil...

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Almost like George Washington

 Yesterday, Dad and I did some orchard maintenance. We took out an apple tree that I've never known to produce apples, and that was dead.

It's nice that it's still daylight when I get home from work.

Now you see it

 Dad taking out the apple tree. His hatchet is a little bigger than George Washington's.

Now you don't

Have no fear. We saved the larger pieces for the smoker.

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How to Move a Bale without a Bale Loader

Yesterday we got some haybales from a neighbor. Due to low hay production this year, we had to buy some earlier this winter from another farmer. (Dad says we usually need 80 to 85 last through the winter and we only baled about 50 on our farm this year.) The first bales we bought were small bales, so we had to buy more.

Dad left the tractor with the bale loader at the neighbor's farm, so we had to improvise once we got home:

A tow-strap, a chain, and a tractor.

 Dad pulled the bale off the wagon, but then it flipped on its end. We needed it flipped back over so we could get the tow-strap and chain off for the next bale.

Flipping the bale back over was a lot harder than we thought it would be.

One of the bales fell apart after it was off the wagon and pushed around, so Dad pulled it out to the pasture. It had a black plastic cover on it, and Daniel decided to surf it out to the field. Hilarious!

The cows were pretty frisky yesterday. After we took the bales out to them, there was one cow that kept rolling in the hay and scratching her neck on it. She completely obliterated the bale. And then she started frolicking around, like bucking broncos. I said to Daniel "Did our neighbor put wacky weed in those bales?" I've never seen cows act like that before. Dad said they do that when the weather changes.

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Sweet Potato Peanut Stew

I made a recipe out of Joy of Cooking. I fully intended to take a photo before eating it for lunch today, but it smelled so good, and I was so hungry, that this is all you get:
 

Sorry about that.

Sweet Potato Peanut Stew

In about 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil, saute:

1 onion, diced

1 bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

In the meantime, brown and drain about 12 oz of ground beef. 

Add to the peppers/onions:

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced

Saute for 2 minutes. 

Add:

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" chunks

1 can tomato paste

Add water to cover the sweet potatoes and simmer for 45 minutes. 

At the end of simmering time, scoop out about 1/2 c of liquid into a bowl and stir in:

1/2 c peanut butter

Add to the vegetables:

peanut butter/liquid mixture

ground beef

2 small zucchinis, sliced

Simmer until warmed through.

Salt and pepper to taste. 

I ate it with a handful of roasted/salted peanuts on top. And I made the following cornbread to go with it:

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

2 boxes of Jiffy cornbread, prepared per package (you'll need 2 eggs and 2/3 c milk)

1 c shredded cheddar

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

1/2 tsp ground cumin

Saute the onion and pepper in about 1-2 Tbsp olive oil.

Mix the cornbread per package instructions and add remaining ingredients. Bake per package. (9x9 pan for about 25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.)


A couple notes about the recipes:
1. I started cooking with a frozen block of ground beef. Grandma suggested I put a little water in the pan and put the lid on it and "steam" the ground beef thaw. It worked, and then the cooking liquid cooked off.
2. Instead of using olive oil, I cooked the ground beef first and used some of the beef grease. I know, that's probably gross, but it worked.
3. The cornbread is really amazing with a smear of pimento cheese spread.

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Music Monday: Eric Church "Springsteen"

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Seeds arrived!

Friday night when I got home, our seeds from Jungs had arrived!

It's amazing what they can fit into a little box!

We also received two packages of free seeds: bachelor buttons and radishes.

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