A Collage Of Every Picture I've Uploaded On This Blog~~~~AVery Cool Montage

Welcome: OCCUPY THE GARDEN Photo's

My addition to the cause

I grew the squash, I handpainted the 2 signs,
I added the sun and Voila'.
DIY all the way






This article tells the story of how the 99% are Family Farmers and I would add gardeners
to the list also because what is a gardener, but a little farmer.
The title of the article is
HOW OCCUPY WALL STREET IS BRIDGING
THE  RURAL/URBAN DIVIDE and it is well worth reading.

Just when you think you are the only ONE, Lo and Behold,
the others come out of the woodwork to be heard.

Why Would A Gardening Farmer Occupy Wall Street? The Radical Homemaker Tells Us Why

So I don't usually get political on this blog, but when I read This blogpost from another garden/farm blogger, Shannon Hayes, I had to share it.

As a rule, I don’t do protests. I don’t occupy anything, except my home and the farm. I am a country girl, and the key to living a happy agrarian existence lies in having a certain personality type – I’m a recluse at heart. I can stay home for weeks on end and never crave to see a soul. Living in the sticks, that’s a good thing. It is this personality trait that enables farmers to do what they do.

…Which is not to say that I disagree with protests, political uprisings, or the like. But rather than join demonstrations and marches, I choose to make my voice heard in a different way. I live my opposition. I don’t like the consumer culture, so I live a life that largely excludes it. I don’t like the rapacious nature of industrial agriculture, so I live and work to steward the land in a way that honors Mother Earth. Rather than protest for a day, a few weeks or a few months, I protest with my life energy that there is a different and better way.

But I do support protesting. In fact, I support it wholeheartedly, and I am grateful for those who have the courage to do it. But my personality type leaves me utterly petrified at the idea of joining a crowd and adding my physical presence to the masses. I am nervous in cities, skittish in crowds, wary of large organized gatherings. And that’s the reason I haven’t joined Occupy Wall Street. I have other excuses, too. I’ve got little kids at home, food to cook, sausages to make, turkeys to sell, farmers’ markets to attend…I am so busy living my life of protest that I really don’t have time to protest.

But those organizers have figured out that I’m hiding. And they’ve figured out my excuses. They are asking farmers, community gardeners, food activists, and food workers to come down and Occupy Wall Street on Sunday. I know it is last minute, but they figured out things are slowing down on the farm right about now. They’re not asking us to camp out or commit our lives, they only want 4 hours of our time, from 2pm to 6pm. I hear that call not only as a third generation farmer, but also as a mother, a home cook, and rural citizen who’s life is tied to the flow of seasons, the health of the land, and the vitality and diversity of a locally-sourced food supply. Mom and Dad are watching the kids, and Bob and I are heading down. We should be back home in time for bed.

 December 4th has come and gone, but I thought this great blog, from a great gardening and farm type of woman was worth sharing. Her viewpoints speak volumes to  the rest of us, out here, out there.  She  is letting us  know that there are others. "THE Others"

Brother Nature Produce: Greg Willerer

The Contrariness of the Mad Farmer by Wendell Berry

Not Much Happening In The Garden, So Here's The Contrariness of the Mad Farmer, By Wendell Berry.

Thanksgiving Thanks~~~Thank You Rhodes Frozen Bread Dough~~Thank You Libby's Canned Pumpkin & Frozen Pie Shells ~~~Thank The Seeds & Me For The Pumpkins I Grew & The Hunny Bear !!!

Yummy Yum Yum
and Thanks to Somebody
called Hunny Bears
for being a good food provider

A plate of Bread Rolls & A Loaf of Bread
made from frozen bread dough

A Punkin' Pie made from Libby's Canned Punkin'
and frozen pie crusts

Foraging Fever | On Point with Tom Ashbrook

Foraging Fever | On Point with Tom Ashbrook



Nothing much going on in the garden these days, so here's an audio delight link to ON POINT about foraging for food in the wild and other places. (No, not dumpsters)

I recently foraged for rosehips and black walnuts and loved every minute of it.

It's Black Walnut Time Again In The Garden

From these black beauties of black walnuts will come
  other goodies.
Nutmeats and Tyed Dyed T-Shirts
that I hand Dye from the walnut stain are just a couple
of things.

The process of husking and cleaning walnuts
is a dirty job but somebody's got to do it.



For the complete process on how I shuck, hull and husk black walnuts, go to this previous blogpost, from TO WEED OR NOT TO WEED THAT IS THE GARDEN that I photo journalized last year.

Collecting Rosehips and Making a CenterPiece

First I collected rosehips, complete with the
prickers. For anyone who's ever collected rosehips, you know
that this can get bloody because sometimes there are gigant thorns
on the rosehip bush, along with the tiny thorns on the rosehips themselves.
I personally wera a rubber raincoat with a hood and gloves.Not a task
for the faint of prickly heart that's for sure.



Then I bundled individual strands into
bunches




Then I picked some evergreen boughs
from a nearby tree




The final product  is what you see here.
(the giant pinecone came from South Carolina
that I collected while on vacation)



Stuffed Peppers On The Half Shell Filled With Eggplant and A Cheddar Cheese Mix

The  Bell Peppers
Even a Black One
(and yes they all pretty much taste the same)

The finished product

Here's the recipe I modified (as usual) you got to work with what you got on hand.

I substituted white cheddar cheese for the romano and parboiled the peppers for less baking time. I baked them for 1/2 hour at 400 degrees.  I also handpicked 2 fresh eggplants which are not shown (forgot to photograph them) 

It tasted great. It's simple and dee-lish.

Here's the recipe:

Stuffed Peppers With Eggplant

about 5 green or red bell peppers, in halves

1 large eggplant
3 eggs
1/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs
1/2 lb. Parmesan or Romano cheese 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
pinch each basil and oregano
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
paprika
butter

Remove peel from eggplant and cut into 2 inch chunks; cover with water and cook until tenderook  Drain well and let dry for 10 minutes.

Grind cheese in food processor (if not already grated) and add eggplant to puree. Add remaining ingredients (except peppers).
Slice peppers in halves and stuff with eggplant mixture. Rub outside of peppers with a little olive oil.
Sprinkle filling with buttered bread crumbs and sprinkle lightly with a little paprika.
Bake for 1 hour in a preheated 375°F oven.

When The Last of the Hummingbird Feeders Gets Taken Down, You Know It's A Sign

 My biggest punkin'
with the Sunflowers That I adore as Back Ground

I dislike when my Hummingbirds fly south.

I believe they took off somewhere around September 15th. 

So it's my job to take the hummigbird feeders down until next year.

I also picked my big ass punkin that I grew from a seed from last

year's punkin I bought at a roadstand.

Nothing says Fall or Autumn has arrived quite like a punkin.

The annual taking down of the Humming Bird feeders
makes me sad !!!
I didn't even get to say goodbye to those tiny tiny
birds I adore watching outside my
window
Every morning.

Bye Bye Hummingbird Feeder
Till Next Year

When My Little Humming -bird Friends Fly Back
From where ever they fly to.

SAVE ADAM'S GARDEN

Cheyanne's Campsite ...Where The Money Meets The Rubber of The Spirited Road in America Today !!: SAVE ADAM'S GARDEN:, Once again this garden thing matters to me and you and anyone else who g...

I Took a Photo of Every Punkin' I Got Growing Right Now

Puff Balls Galore......Yummy Yum Yum....A Gourmet Deluctable Treat Straight Outta the Yard, NOT The Garden

A Big Puff Ball

 Another Big Puff Ball

And another

I call this one The Butt Cheeks Puffball

All of them kinda made a fairy ring of
puffballs similar to what other fungi do.

Big, small, I've got 'em all
right in my yard

Are puffballs good to eat?  Yepper, But.....


How do you make puffballs for breakfast, dinner or lunch?

I'Ve Got A Punkin' With Your Name On It....You Know Who You Are.....And I Hope This Makes You Smile

It's big and it's orange and it's my
pride and joy right now

So come and get it !!!!

The Harvest Moon Is Up and The Tomatoes Are All Coming In........Plus a Tiny Wooly Caterpillar

What do with with a basket of
tomatoes?
Stuff "em of course



And make fresh tomato sauce
and juice.



The smallest wooly caterpillar I've ever seen