January 31st

Yay!

Dont'cha love hot chocolate?

We do!

Here's a bit of chocolate history.

Archeologists have found evidence of 

chocolate drinking in the Mayan

culture that dates back to 500 BC!

But, they feel that the consumption

of some kind of a cocoa drink

predates even that.

The actual drink wasn't anything

like we drink today.

They ground the seeds into a paste,

that was mixed with water, cornmeal

and chili peppers.

Then drank it for ceremonies.

And,

it wasn't brown like we are used to.

It was light tan because the

cocoa beans weren't roasted.

Sugar, and later on, milk,

 was introduced when the 

explorers brought some back to

Europe.

Now, to indulge my chocloate

cravings and break out

the old "Swiss Miss".

😋

**************************

The cold weather killed

our coleus.

We tried to cover them but

they face north, so it didn't help.

The lavender doesn't look

completely dead.

Hope it comes back.

The leaves on the tomato

plants died, but the fruit didn't.

That's good, but it probably

won't produce any more.

Thanks little plant,

you did a great job.

😔

Bell Pepper,

gone but not forgotten.

Cauliflower

Broccoli

Snacking on Cauliflower leaves.

Artichoke.

Survived the cold - so far.

👍

Snapdragon.

1 little bloom that the cold didn't affect.

Coleus and Begonia,

rooting.

The King Cake baby is standing guard!

Kalanchoe babies.

***************************

No eggs today.

🥚

Hazel

Lucy

Nugget and Ethel

Live crickets!

🦗

They literally go crazy for them.

🐔

*********************

I'm pretty sure that the

world changing invention

the year I was born

is the wheel!

or maybe

fire!

🔥

💚

 

January 20th 2022

It's raining.

I'm sitting in the kitchen watching the rain

from my bay window.

These neat succulents are

called pachyphytum,

or as I like to refer to them,

Pachys.

We grew most of them from 1 single leaf.

The others were rescued from the garbage.

I just poked the leaves into the soil

and within a few months,

we had beautiful plants.

This is 2 Pachy leaves with a baby.

This is 2 Echeveria leaves

with 2 babies.

This is a Kalanchoe.

It reproduces by making baby plants 

along its' leaf edges.

Another Kalanchoe with babies.

You can see how the "babies"

sap the strength from the parent leaf.

I am planning to plant the

babies and remove the 

dying parent leaf.

A close up of the babies with their root

systems sprouting.

A nickname for this plant is

"Mother of Thousands".

That is a good argument for not 

planting it into the ground

and keeping it under control

in a pot.

Once they take hold in a 

lawn or garden,

they are difficult to control.

I pick off the babies before they 

grow too much.

Anytime a plant is allowed to reproduce

it can weaken the plant.

So, depending on the plant,

I'll pinch off new shoots,

buds, flowers or "babies",

unless that's what I want the 

plant to do.

It's also.....

Boy, does this household love cheese!

and...

as you can plainly see....

But,

that's not all of it.

This picture isn't the snack cheeses or 

the sandwich slices.

We all love it!

********************

There have been a few days

that have been too cold for some of our plants.

We usually don't do much other

than cover them, or put them

closer to the house, away from the wind.

But..

in this case I took a few cuttings

to save them for spring planting.

Lavendar.

Coleus.

It already has roots.

Pink Begonia.

The Sunflowers are starting to bloom,

but if the weather gets too cold,

they'll die.

We grow them to feed the hens

and neighborhood birds and squirrels.

*****************

A recent harvest of 

yellow cherry tomatoes,

jalapenos, broccoli and 

cauliflower.

The girls are back at work!

This is about a weeks

worth of laying.

In the winter they don't lay as much.

Oh, well,

We'll take whatever they 

can give us.

Thanks girls!

Everybody foraging in the sun.

But Minew has to get into the act.

The Chicken Girls tolerate her now.

Maybe they think she's a hen?

Well, now I believe it.

Minew is hanging out in the coop.

She does think she's a hen.

Ha!

Italian Flat Leaf Parsley

Yukon Gold Potatoes

***************

 Habanero pepper.

Brazilian Habanero pepper

We have several more hot pepper plants.

I harvest them (with rubber gloves on!),

then dehydrate them.

My plan is to make a super hot 

pepper dried herbal blend.

My grandson came up with

that suggestion.

Hopefully it'll turn out ok.

Broccoli

More broccoli.

We like it raw in salads.

Yum!

Cauliflower.

I bread the florets and sprinkle 

parmesan cheese on them

and bake till golden brown.

Our lettuce collection

hasn't fared well in the 

changing weather.

I harvested as much as I could

and put it in a ZipLock bag 

with a couple of paper towels

to keep it fresh,

and then refrigerated it.

Even with covering them

and moving them close

to the house,

they've wilted or died.

But,

while it lasted, we had great salads!

************************

Remember

to choose being

kind over 

being right

and

you'll be right every time!

💚