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Sand Hill Thicket

Tales of stunning sunsets, happy sheep, and peace and quiet on a 10-acre farm in Northeastern Kansas.

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Gardening

Starting Seeds Indoors: A Spring Garden

We've lived here in Northeast Kansas for more than five years now. I've come to the conclusion that most of the gardening success that I've had stems from starting seeds inside under grow lights. I do not currently have a... Continue Reading →

Beginning Again

I haven't written a blog post here since November of last year; the posts on this site aren't widely read anyways. Regardless, I'm endeavoring to pick up my keyboard again and post more frequently to this journal/blog. In the interim... Continue Reading →

Garden Update: Taming the “Jungle”

It's high time I provided an update on my new garden area. We have just entered a cool and wet spell after being hot and super dry. Meanwhile, the empty areas in the garden have been overwhelmed by grass, which... Continue Reading →

Garlic Harvest

I figured it must be time to harvest the garlic when I noticed they had all disappeared into a sea of weeds and grass. Sure enough, upon closer inspection, it was time! I was a bit shocked how successful I... Continue Reading →

New Garden Area

Well, it's a start. I've got loads of room (~1300 sq. ft.) to fill with vegetable plants. Then I'm going to go crazy with mulch! So far, I've sown two 50' rows of Glass Gem corn, which is a flint... Continue Reading →

Attempting A No-Till/No-Dig Garden

Yesterday we placed a large silage tarp over the grass and weeds in this area to attempt to start a new no-till/no-dig garden site. We tried super hard to find enough items to keep the tarp down, but in the... Continue Reading →

It’s Another New Year

We've been in the deep freeze since our first snow on Friday night, bottoming out at a wind chill of -7°F. The chickens are so cold they haven't come down out of their houses for more than a minute to... Continue Reading →

Low Tunnel Update – Blogmas Day 17

Well, Blogmas took a break over the last couple of days. We had quite a storm here on Wednesday night. Serious winds and then a line of storms like a derecho, which was then followed by worse wind, dust all... Continue Reading →

Dreary Day

It's a dreary day and we might have severe storms and/or heavy rain later. Emma Mitchell, author of The Wild Remedy: How Nature Mends Us - A Diary, says to lift your mood, go and try to create a catalog... Continue Reading →

Picking the Garden

Here is my latest harvest. I've been getting something akin to this when I pick a couple times per week. The question is how to do it justice? Today, the tomato worm "massacre" was worse than normal as I haven't... Continue Reading →

It’s Pickle Time!

Every winter, as we crunch the last pickle made the summer before, we will sigh and wistfully calculate how far away (months) fresh cucumbers are. Every summer then, due to the pickle withdrawals we will have just survived, I will... Continue Reading →

Wool as Mulch!

Mulch is absolutely a must for gardens here in NE Kansas. The last thing I mulched my garden with was wheat straw, but unfortunately, wheat started growing! I won't use that again. Enter: wool! This year I grabbed some of... Continue Reading →

Onions

I was cleaning out a portion of my garden bed and knew there were a couple of onions ready to harvest as I spied their signature periscope-like flowers marking their location above a sea of weeds, but there were many... Continue Reading →

Carrot Harvest

It is time to start harvesting carrots! Actually, might be a little past time, but that's okay! I hear sheep and horses love carrots as much as humans. We are trying to decide what to make. Maybe creamed carrots, carrot... Continue Reading →

Pancit (Bihon)

I learned to make pancit from the Chamorro people while we were stationed in Guam. There was always a huge lecture about which noodle to use, and the winner was always rice vermicelli. No one wanted pancit (canton) with thick noodle, it had to be thin!

The Great Canning Contest: Dilled Asparagus Pickles

What's that?  Coronavirus possibly causing food shortages, you say?  Well, we have a plan for that...

Shearing is Done! Time to Plant!

The shearing is done, the ewes and lambs have been turned out onto spring and summer pasture, and I don't have to feed hay anymore! Yay! If you are interested in fleece, let me know!

Bok Choy Harvest & Kadun Kadu Katne (Chamorro Beef Soup)

We lived on Guam for 3 years before we got out of the U.S. Navy; it was the Husband's second tour on Guam. One of the recipes I instantly loved was Kadun Kadu and everytime I can get my hands on bok choy, I'm almost sure to make it.

Harvesting Seeds

Choy sum grows like a weed here in Central Florida. It has won in the contest against kai lan (Chinese broccoli). I will only grow choy sum from now on, especially since I will have a billion seeds!

Hybiscus & the Cat-Days-of-Summer

Wild Tomatoes

So, it's getting to be the height of summer now. They say you can't grow tomatoes down here in Central Florida in the summer. Apparently the wild tomatoes didn't get that memo.

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