The Front Porch Swing

[LeslieDJoyce]

Mulberries trimmed back ea yr to stay at 6-8' is the best investment you can make. The leaves can be fed to the chickens as well as the berries. High protein in both. Google it

Mulberries are on my list for sure!

 

[Alice28]

Mulberries are on my list for sure!

You guys are makig me want to add to are garden!!!! Only ares is small but when we get a gate around the front were going to do a few planter boxes around the fence line I think. We have a collared tree (never goes to seed!!!!) that we got from someone. I ha never heard of a collared tree before! They just cut off a joint and we put it in the ground, now it's huge! And we just cut off leaves as we want. Then we have chard, lettus, broccoli and asparagus. Although a goafer has been eating the roots of are plants and took a whole broccoli plant under ground with him! I was mad, so was my husband, but we got a trap and got him. Then we have three blueberry bushes and two cherry trees When we get raised beds I want to plant carrots and potatoes.

 

[Loc20chick]

Mulberries trimmed back ea yr to stay at 6-8' is the best investment you can make. The leaves can be fed to the chickens as well as the berries. High protein in both. Google it

Definitely adding this to my list too.

 

[bruceha2000]

Yes, it's a math thing ... and I was born in an easy year for doing age math ('65). I've been saying "I'm almost 50" for so long I have confused myself. I have to think about my sister, who is a year older, and then subtract 1. And still that's sometimes too much math. So ... even with truth things can get confusing!

We're doomed. Doomed, I say. DOOMED!

(stil not worth telling fibs ...)

You aren't "almost" fifty until a month before your 50th birthday

My Dad didn't feel old until my older sister hit 50. She was 60 last year so he probably felt REALLY old. He's doing great, turned 85 last October.

Janet and I go married in '90. Makes it REALLY easy to calculate.

Oooh Leslie you are making me crave some of the soup right now.. when it gels its so good. I have never used bird heads and what would you do with the feathers, make some kind of art? I did learn to use chicken feet from my SIL last December. I'll have to try adding vinegar to my next bone soup I've never done that, will be getting a slaughtered goat in about two weeks. It's exp I wish I could raise my own.

My grandmother always tossed the chicken feet in the soup pot. I presume she scrubbed them REALLY WELL first. Grandpa got them in his bowl. Not sure I, as a non farm kid, would have wanted them, but he sure liked to suck the meat off. Must have been pretty tasty.

You buy them as bulblets and plant. They come up as green onions and when they start to droop over and touch the ground they reroot. Keep them in an enclosed bed because they will take over. Year after year.

Sounds neat, I'll have to try them. Do you harvest the original once the top of it has rooted or do you harvest most of them as green onions and leave some to replant themselves?

Um, so at this point I guess confessing to loving a steaming bowl of Campbell's creme of tomato soup with a big blop of butter and a balogna sammich would be a sacrilege??

Yes.

One of our favorite lunches here is tomato soup with broiled cheese sandwiches*. If I add those thin sliced deli ham slices under the cheese, Dad moans and groans from the pure pleasure of it. "You're spoiling me!" Meanwhile, I feel like I cheated on the meal because it's so easy.

Honestly, I think Dad would be even happier with balogna, but ... hmmmm ... as much as I appreciate all the salvaged meat that goes into balogna (for the thriftiness of it), I just never put that on my shopping list so it's never in my fridge.

* Broiled Cheese Sandwich: It's a misnomer ... there is no sandwich. This is open-faced goodness here. Just put a slice of yummy bread on a cookie sheet (lined with foil if you're being lazy like me), a thick cheese slice or two, maybe a sprinkle of season salt, stick under the broiler until it is at the melty yummy stage you love best (clear up to crispy!). Our favorite is plain Tillamook Cheddar Cheese ... and it's orange!

Orange is NOT a naturally occurring color from a healthy milk animal, cheese should be creamy white! Darned Wisconsin ad men went and screwed it all up.

Variations include sliced meats, avocado, tomato, crab or tuna salad, hot or pickled peppers, salsa or hot sauce or pico de gallo, fresh basil, sauteed onions, bacon, mushrooms, you name it, or ... EVERYTHING!

A person could sub in a tortilla for the bread ... be creative, it's your tummy. But be warned: the more you put on it, the harder it is to dunk in your tomato soup!

I think I will, my sisters have been saying we need to write down stories of family stuff, I think I'll just start and email my family to add what they know.
The nettle is made into a powder or dried and crushed into small pieces, I get it from my mom all ready, I make mashed potatoes with it and add peas and sweet corn when boiling the potatoes, that's how we make our traditional mashed potatoes. It's also used in soups by adding a spoonful or two when its nearly done.

Definitely want to get on that. So much is lost when one dies but since there is "always" tomorrow, sometimes it is too late.

I SUPPOSE I could figure out what to do with the stinging nettle other than weed whack it down. But for now, that is what I am doing. I have plenty, I'm sure it won't be a problem if I decide to use it for medicinal purposes.

I've read that another kind of wood shavings tends to mildew ... can't remember which kind though!

I can tell you that ash is OK. I planed down some rough boards to make stair treads and risers (Gotta get on that when I finish other projects!). I dumped the shavings in the run where it was damp - the ground was still frozen so the snow melting off the barn roof went down to the alley in the lower part of the barn rather than down through the curtain drain. The girls' feet got a little damp, but not wet, as the shavings soaked up the water. The shavings dried out, no mold and are still there.

Bruce

 

[Tomtommom]

I just skipped like 20 pages, but what the hey, I can't read all that

I believe you peel chicken feet before cooking them.

http://domesticendeavors.net/2013/07/22/how-to-peel-chicken-feet/

And mulberries sound awesome. Wonder if they work in Alabama. Gosh.. my garden wishlist is ever growing. I need to find people who want to trade eggs for plants

 

[LindaB220]

You aren't "almost" fifty until a month before your 50th birthday

My Dad didn't feel old until my older sister hit 50. She was 60 last year so he probably felt REALLY old. He's doing great, turned 85 last October.

Janet and I go married in '90. Makes it REALLY easy to calculate.


My grandmother always tossed the chicken feet in the soup pot. I presume she scrubbed them REALLY WELL first. Grandpa got them in his bowl. Not sure I, as a non farm kid, would have wanted them, but he sure liked to suck the meat off. Must have been pretty tasty.


Sounds neat, I'll have to try them. Do you harvest the original once the top of it has rooted or do you harvest most of them as green onions and leave some to replant themselves?


Yes.

Definitely want to get on that. So much is lost when one dies but since there is "always" tomorrow, sometimes it is too late.

I SUPPOSE I could figure out what to do with the stinging nettle other than weed whack it down. But for now, that is what I am doing. I have plenty, I'm sure it won't be a problem if I decide to use it for medicinal purposes.


I can tell you that ash is OK. I planed down some rough boards to make stair treads and risers (Gotta get on that when I finish other projects!). I dumped the shavings in the run where it was damp - the ground was still frozen so the snow melting off the barn roof went down to the alley in the lower part of the barn rather than down through the curtain drain. The girls' feet got a little damp, but not wet, as the shavings soaked up the water. The shavings dried out, no mold and are still there.

Bruce

Bruce, on the walking onions, I do not know. Still have my bulblets ready to plant. Research it.

I love my google

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: Awesome.... Did you put vinegar in there to extract the last bit of Gelatin?

My Great Grandma was a midwife. Back in the late 1800's When She had a delivery where she didnt know if she was going to be a bleeder she made up a special tea for them. She never told them what it was. But it was loaded with Vitimine K and helped with blood clotting... She never told them she made it from horse maneure... freshly collected before it hit the ground.

deb

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I just skipped like 20 pages, but what the hey, I can't read all that

I believe you peel chicken feet before cooking them.

http://domesticendeavors.net/2013/07/22/how-to-peel-chicken-feet/

And mulberries sound awesome. Wonder if they work in Alabama. Gosh.. my garden wishlist is ever growing. I need to find people who want to trade eggs for plants

Yep. You scald them then peel them. I made my college girlfriend help me peel a huge batch of turkey feet. She was a trooper.

No, I don't eat the feet.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: Yep .... NOT a fan of cooked Cauliflower so wont be doing that one..... LOL.

deb

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Orange is NOT a naturally occurring color from a healthy milk animal, cheese should be creamy white! Darned Wisconsin ad men went and screwed it all up.

Bruce

I have to say ... the best part is how naughty I feel when I eat Tillamook orange cheese. They also make white cheese, but the orange is their classic. It is DELICIOUS cheese. For bland american cheese.