All about Rhubarb

We love our Rhubarb!! Thinking about it makes my mouth water. Probably because it is so sour, unless you add sugar. I have known people to eat it raw, they call it the natural sour treat. I’m not brave enough to try it fresh. My dog hurried up and grabbed a little piece I knocked on the floor… And the face she made while she was trying to spit it out was too funny. 🙂

So let me introduce you to what it is we love about it. Rhubarb is a vegetable that we use more like a fruit. It is a perennial, so once you plant it requires minimal work. It is low in calories (until you add sugar) but high in vitamin C. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch and supper.

Rhubarb also makes for a good landscaping plant. It’s dense large leafs are beautiful and prevent most weeds from growing out from under.

Rhubarb along the shed

I have even seen the leaves used to make a unique print on stepping stones.

Our favorite thing to do is to eat it. So here is a list of all my current recipes.

Breakfast:

Apple-Rhubarb Oven Pancake

Apple-Rhubarb Oven Pancake

Lunch:

Rhubarb Sauce

Cut up several long stalks into 1/2 inch pieces, place in a saucepan with enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. Add about a 1/2 cup sugar. (You can add more later if you like it sweet.) Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until it resembles a sauce. Let cool, Then enjoy.

Supper (well, for dessert)

Strawberry rhubarb crisp

Rhubarb crisp

If you end up with some rhubarb left over, try freezing it:

Cut up the clean stalks into 1/2 pieces, Measure them out into 2 or 3 cup bags (most recipes take between 2 and 6 cups) and put them in the freezer for a rhubarb pie or cake in the winter. And Yes, No blanching required.

We have also made Rhubarb jam and Rhubarb cake. So far we have never had a Rhubarb dish we didn’t enjoy.

What is your favorite Rhubarb recipe? We are always looking for a new recipe, so leave a link in the comment section so we can all enjoy.

 

 

Two Picture Tuesday 4/12/16

Happy Tuesday Everybody,

Mason Bee Condos

It’s that time of year for the Mason Bees to become active. Check Out my DIY Project for more info on these great bees and how to make the condos.

Purple Martin Hose

Got the birdhouses all cleaned and ready to go. To see what was in them last click here.

See you next week! Lynn

Roller Pigeons

Roller Pigeons are so grand the way they stand

When on the roof top they dance and coo

In flight they soar so high

Almost as if they are dancing in the air

Then suddenly they flip down,

So quickly that it looks like they forgot to fly

Then back to the roof top to show off their dance to the ladies.

Back in the coop the young ones play

Not yet ready to go outside

The Dads keep watch on them and on the eggs

While the ladies are out spreading their wings.

Then night time falls Mom takes over

Sitting and tending to the eggs

Then  18  days of taking turns

Mom at night, Dad at Day

They hatch, with a face only a mother could Love

Baby pigeons

Squab

 

Those blacken eyes and long beaks and pink featherless bodies

Turn quickly into a beautiful pigeon

To take flight, to the roof top to dance and coo….

Two Picture Tuesday 4/05/16

Happy Tuesday Everyone,

Hens at work

Delaware Hen

 

Hen in Nest Box

Thanks for stopping by.  See you next week, Lynn

Need to see more? Check out another Two Picture Tuesday, or click the tab on top of page.

Garlic & Cheese Biscuits

This recipe is one of my husbands favorite breakfast treats. They also go good with stew.

Ingredients

Our Day old Peeps

Our peeps that we ordered from a hatchery came today. It is always an exciting ride to the post office to pick up our noisy package.

Too cute!!

Check out my other posts on how to take care of them.

How to Care for & Understand your Peeps

6 Things to do before you by Peeps

Also check out my Blog Hop page to find more interesting info about chickens

How to Care For & Understand your Peeps

Peeps are always fun to have, but you have to play Mother Hen. And believe it or not they do have a few ways of communicating with you.

First lets go through what you need to do to help the Peeps get acclimated.

When you first bring them home, you have to introduce them to their surroundings. You will take each of your peeps and gently dip their beaks into the water.

Showing Peep the water

Then you will take and show them the food. You only have to do this once, enough of them will remember and the rest will follow. You must also keep chic starter (food)and clean water in the brooder for them at all times.

They will naturally be drawn to the heat when they need it.

Peeps laying under the Heat Lamp

So now you are probably wondering how they communicate.

The first way would be if they are cold, they will huddle together under the light, restlessly and slightly noisy. So with that said, the second way they communicate is, if they are hot they will be as far away from that light as possible.

If you see the peeps laying peacefully in different spots in the Brooder, then the temperature is just right and they are happy.:)

Peeps at Feeder

If you hear a really loud peeping then something is wrong with a peep. He may be just being laid on by another peep, or it could be in distress (never a good thing). So always check the brooder to see what is going on when one is screaming.

Peeps are a lot of fun to watch grow and a great project for kids. There is always that chance that one will die but if you understand that going in, then it may not be so hard to handle.

We bought these peeps at a local farm store. They are approximately a week old. They would probably find the water by themselves but why chance it. If you get day old peeps they have to be shown the water because you are the Mother Hen and they don’t know what to do.

Tip: avoid buying the runt or littlest one of the bunch. They usually don’t make it.

For more on buying Peeps, Check out my post: 6 Thing to do before you buy Peeps

Check out my Blog Hop page to see all the great places I have shared this and other posts of mine.

 

Two Picture Tuesday 3/29

Happy Tuesday everyone,

Last week we celebrated National Dog Day. And our dogs enjoyed their day in the woods.

Our Dogs, Missy & Scioto the Collies on the left, Willow our Hound on the right

Highest point in our Township

We went to the top of our property which just happens to border the highest point in our township. Always found it interesting that our house sits in one of the lowest points and the property ends near the highest.

See you next week, Lynn

An Awesome no bake cookie

We got a new cookbook for Christmas and found a great easy cookie I just had to share.

They are called No Bake Chocolate Cookies.

If you are looking for an Easy Awesome cookie, this is it. Mmmmmm

No Bake Chocolate Cookies

Worth the try!!

I can’t stop eating them!! Lynn

6 Things to do Before you buy Peeps

Now that Spring is here, it is time to think about adding something new to the homestead. Spring has always meant it was time for Peeps. In fact I don’t know if I can remember more then 1 or 2 years that we didn’t have them. If you are considering trying a few this year, here are a few pointers.