Ramsey Farms Potato Salad

Potato salad, the phrase evokes images of summer picnics, pot lucks, family reunions, and church gatherings. We harvested more than 400 pounds of Ramsey Farms Reds and Ruby Lane Whites this year. I never have a problem finding ways to prepare potatoes (do we need a book on 101 recipes for potatoes? I'll write one! Don't make me!)

Potato salad is so easy, versatile, and is most welcomed at any meal or anyone's table. Try varying the type or flavor of mayo or mustard (or omit the mustard) and test out a various variety of vinegars too and always sprinkle in your own favorite or preferred herbs and spices.

I'll share this soon on the Facebook page if it's better to download from there.
Be sure to check out all the posted recipes here. Leave comments in the box below!

"What I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow." ~A.A. Milne

Bruce or Caitlyn?

Big Bird July 13 @ 14.5 Weeks Old

You all remember the pretty yellow chick? The only one we weren't sure on its gender? Originally that chicken's name was simply "yellow bird" that morphed into Big Bird. But for awhile, Farmer Chris contemplated calling her Bruce / Caitlyn since we were not sure of the gender (reference: Bruce Jenner). My friend, Caroline (the woman, not the dog) refers to this bird as Gertrude.

The Red Ranger breed of chicken was selected by my son. Because he wanted a yellow chicken, not the black ones Mom was picking out! The Black Stars are genetically modified (is that the right word?) so that at hatch, the female chicks are solid and the male birds have a black dot / star on their head. Saves those chicken sexers some extra work and saves those that do not want roosters from getting cockerels.

5 days old, she didn't have a name yet!

So for nearly 23 weeks, we watched. We wondered. We waited. Was Big Bird a boy or a girl? (What about on Sesame Street, I'm not sure that Big Bird was gender specific either, was he / she / it? Hm. Anyway!) So now whatever name you want to call this big, beautiful, size of turkey, can-imagine-it-fried, docile friendly bird...you can call her "ma'am" as I literally saw an egg coming out of her body!

Big Bird at 16 weeks, July 15

And let me tell y'all, about every third egg she lays is HUGE. The egg from yesterday barely fit in the egg carton with the lid closed. My seven-year-old must hold this super egg in two hands! She's given us one double-yoker already and I have a feeling that jumbo egg from yesterday has more than one yolk in it too. I'll find out this afternoon. My son (the junior farmhand / chief ditch digger around here) declared that he wants to eat that egg for snack after school. It's his chicken, he said, he is gonna be the one to eat her eggs. How's that for a pretty awesome pet?!

Big Bird starred in her own little show that depicted this chick's faster growth from week old baby to a teenage pullet. You can check out that fun little minute-long clip here. I know, I'm personally a little obsessed with these awesome little cute feathery food producers but if you wanna see all the chickens in all their glory, be sure to visit our Facebook page for all the fun photo albums. I even have an album just for the chicken cottage construction photos too. :) Enjoy!

My personal note for today:

You can either curse the rain or search for rainbows! ~Ramsey Penegar

Make the most of what you have & love with all your heart!

Cheers,
Ramsey

What Do You Feed Chickens?

Laverne chilling on the temporary roost in the run

We love our chickens! Who knew they'd be so much fun?! Really they are fun to sit by the chicken coop in a shady spot and laugh at their crazy antics, they greet you with such admiration and idol worship, they are gorgeous creatures to look at, you can pet them and hold them (someone told me the other day she used to have a chicken that would just hop up in her lap!)...ummmmmm plus they give you food i.e. eggs!

Finding eggs is the trophy of chicken ownership of course. Each egg is unique in size, shape, shell color and design. I've enjoyed a little chicken-study the past few weeks as the egg laying began to figure out just which of our six girls was laying which egg. I'm a little nerdy that way, but it's been a fun endeavor and now I'm the resident expert on "who laid this egg?!" A title I've really always dreamed of. LOL Yesterday was our first half dozen day - all six hens laid an egg yesterday! The final one to lay (I feel sure it was Shirley) dropped her first egg several days ago and it takes a few egg cycles to get regular. Our Black Stars should lay about every day taking one day off every week or so. Big Bird, the yellow Red Ranger might only lay every third day give or take. At least that's her M.O. so far and heavier birds tend to be less prolific layers. The Black Star variety were bred to lay daily.

Once they awaken at sunlight, these funny birds spend their day eating, drinking, scratching, dirt bathing, egg laying, and general chicken silliness. And pooping. Oh yeah, don't forget that - they seem to poop all the time. But all that vitamin-rich chicken poop can go straight into the compost (unlike other fresh manure) and composted for our garden. So they are like little wild squawking compost machines! It all begins with commercial layer feed.

The girls have all day access - an all you can eat buffet - to their commercial layer feed with it's 15% protein and high calcium to help with the formation and production of eggs. Without this stuff, we could make our own but you want to ensure a healthy flock and this is a key step in that. Much of the commercial feed also has medication to help prevent common bird issues.They also have all day access to water in their run.

However, just like all animals, they love food and treats. And just like all pets, chicken owners want to give their girls yummy snacks in appreciation for all those eggs! My girls see me coming with a bucket and it gets loud and rowdy up in the chicken run - all of them hollering and singing and declaring their deservingness of a snack! These girls love acorns, blackberries, muscadines (unripe, ripe, peels only, and dried), strawberries, pears, apples, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, basil flowers, acorns, marigolds - all healthy, nutritious snacks if given in moderation. They also love bread and cooked pasta but don't get much of it since it lacks much nutrition. (One cannot live on junk food alone, even if they are a chicken!) There are a lot of other great food treats chickens may safely have and I'll be working on getting them some fun, delicious recipes!

This is a gigantic zucchini that hid from us in the garden until it was way past the size we want to eat. So instead of just tossing it in the compost, I scooped it out and ran the pulp through the food processor along with some other veggies like cucumber and squash ends. Added the puree back to the zucchini shell and topped it with breadcrumbs, chicken feed, and dried marigold flowers. Garnished with leftover corn on the cob (unsalted, unbuttered) for a perfect chicken snack feast! Needless to say, it did not last long!

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Hope you have a wonderful week full of rich experience. Be nice to yourself ! 

Cheers,
Ramsey 

Summertime Pickles

Pickles! Sweet pickles, sour pickles, bread 'n butter, dill pickles, lime pickles, frigerator pickles (that's short for refrigerator if y'all didn't know that word!) There are so many different varieties, types, and flavors of pickles out there! There are even pickled ocra, pickled green beans, pickled eggs, and my favorite, pickled pigs feet! (Nah just kidding, I wouldn't eat pigs feet fried, boiled, grilled, steamed, or pickled. No thank you ma'am.) Maybe we have a pickle obsession?!

Our cucumbers did not yield as much this year as we saw in 2015. I think I was only able to make about seven jars of cucumber pickles. I also made squash relish and spicy squash pickles! My mom fell in love with the cucumber lime pickles (made from lime the mineral, not lime the citrus fruit) during one of her visits here. These lime pickles are sweet yet not syrupy, and the crispest, crunchiest pickle you've ever had grace your mouth! Plus they stay a really lovely bright shade of green, not the dark overcooked sogginess that some pickles get.

Different pickles have different seasonings. When I first made the cucumber lime pickles, the instructions on the bag of lime said to use "pickling spice". So of course I had to google it to see just what this was and how I could make it at home (right now) to continue forth with my summer pickle fiesta.

To make your own pickling spice, here are your necessary ingredients.

Pickling Spice

• 2 tablespoons whole mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon whole allspice berries
• 2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 bay leaves, crumbled
• 2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
• 6 whole cloves

Place mustard seeds, allspice berries, whole coriander seeds, and red pepper flakes into a small glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake to combine. Add ground ginger to seeds and shake again. Sprinkle crumbled bay leaves over spice mixture and place cinnamon stick halves into the jar. Seal and shake to combine. Mixture can be stored in the tightly sealed jar for up to 1 month without loss of flavor.

Check out all the recipes on this blog here!

If you have never tried making your own pickles, I encourage you to try it! Come on over and we'll do 'em together! If you grow cucumbers or can get your hands on some fresh, homegrown cukes then by all means - do it! Even if you've never canned anything before, you can make pickles! Start out with a fairly easy refrigerator pickle that requires no canning - just make the pickles, put them in the jars, and make room in the fridge!

We have cucumbers growing in the garden right now, so I hope the fall season will produce many more cucumbers and many more jars of pickles in my pantry!

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the blue sky, is by no means waste of time."

~John Lubbock, "Recreation," The Use of Life, 1894

Make the most of today!

Cheers,
Ramsey

Storms & Rainbows

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” ~ Genesis 1:1

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” ~ Psalm 19:1

“This is what God the Lord says - he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to itspeoplee, and life to those who walk on it.".” ~ Isaiah 42:5

“By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” ~ Hebrews 11:3

"Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, "Here we are"? Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind? Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clods of the earth stick together? ~ Job 38:34-38

All Photos Copyright R.Penegar. Taken at Ramsey Farms. June 30, 2016.

Life is short. Enjoy every moment. Think about what's truly important! We need to work to earn a living, but do we need to do so at the expense of seeing our kids grow up? Is rushing around to run errands or taxi the kids to extracurricular activities more important than sitting down to dinner at home as a family? Is the big house as important as the people who live in it? Is what's on TV tonight more important to you than getting to know what's in your spouse's heart and mind? Is what's happening on your phone more important than what's going on around you - in real life? Take the time to talk with an old friend, read a book with your child, eat dinner with your family, watch the sun set, go fishing, play frisbee, swing, look for rainbows, dance in the rain, splash in a creek, cartwheel through the fields...breathe fresh air, laugh out loud, dance like no one is watching. Stop being so busy and start looking for life's little miracles in the ordinary. Our lives are ordinary and yet magical! Live it to the fullest, enjoy the moments of ordinary. We are not promised tomorrow or even later today. 

Cheers, Ramsey

~R.I.P. Lauren 1977-2016~

Marigolds

Thousands of marigold seeds! Our marigolds grew like gangbusters next to the pepper plants this year. I harvested the dried flower heads and separated the seeds from the flower. We have more than we need for 2017 planting and to share with our friends! We were also able to save a ton of basil and dill seeds and sand‘andy peas for next year and have enough seed potato to grow a full crop!

I love saving seeds. We brought potato, basil, pepper, mint and a few other seeds with us from North Carolina. We actually dug up potatoes from the ground the day we moved, carried those with us to Georgia, planted those seeds in our first fall garden in Georgia, saved seed from that batch that we planted in 2015 and saved potatoes out of that crop to replant in the spring of 2016. Those are our Ruby Lane Whites and we will plant those same seed descendants in our spring 2017 garden. Not only is it economical to save seeds by not purchasing new seed, but the seeds that came from healthy plants grown in your own garden are custom made to grow and thrive right there in that soil under those same conditions. Those are the things we “brand” as Ramsey Farms produce – the foods that grow from seed that was raised successfully in the previous season.

You can also use dried marigold flowers as a food coloring and light-flavored herb. The marigold flowers we didn’t harvest for seed (as well as the seed pod and dried petals) went to the chickens for a fun snack! They’ll eat up those dry flowers like candy and recycle them into great garden compost. The chickens love marigolds, blackberries, muscadines, strawberries, and pears! Acorns, apples, dried bread, and veggie cuttings are great snacks too, but they sure do love their fruit. 

Egg Score & Pears

Just a quick update! It's early so the girls haven't come out of their coop for the day yet (so I haven't yet checked for eggs). But so far, our beautiful birds have given us 12 eggs!

1. Loner Bird is in the lead with 7 eggs so far!
2. Baby Bird has given us 3.
3. Pretty Bird is on the board with 2.

Monda,y my friend Teresa and I headed over to Jeff Davis County to do a little pear pickin'! We only picked about 50 or 60 pounds of these golden tough fruits and hauled 'em home. So far Chris and I have put up ten jars of pear butter (like apple butter, only with pears) and now nine jars (quarts and pints) of just good ol' canned pears. And there are still more to go! What shall I make today?

Leaving you with a picture of the full moon rise back in June.

 

Be sure to enjoy your day, we only get so many of them!

Cheers,

Ramsey