Granny's Parlour

The weekend is a good time for grazing. This is a summary of some of the delightful Blog articles I have been reading during the week. I invite you to graze through these, and also through the archives of the creative writers who wrote them.

Food canning equipment, tool carts, compost bins, growing kits, cider and fruit presses, the Squeezo Strainer, food dehydrators, juicers, smokers, cold frames, greenhouses and so many more innovations contribute to making our lives organized and healthier and to turning our homes and properties into an oasis where the living is good.

All of these things exist because we are creative and because we have a unique ability to adapt to our environment. In truth, foodies, homesteaders and gardeners who write about their experiences are telling the ongoing story of our inventive spirit. On their pages, every tool and appliance is like a paint brush; ready to express a new vision.

You can access the entire Weekend Highlights series to date by clicking on that category in the sidebar at left.

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Don’t you love it when you knock on doors and something unexpected, yet more perfect than what you were looking for, shows up? This is how I landed at Fast Grow The Weeds.

The author explains, “I’m a DIY kind of gal. I’m an architect, but I would really rather be a farmer. I guess I take the DIY notion fairly seriously in that I moved our family out to a farm for the love of fresh vegetables… I am the first woman in six generations of my family who has plucked a chicken, plowed a field or shot a raccoon…in other words, if I can do it, anyone can.”

The sidebar offers thought-provoking quotes. “The word agriculture, after all, does not mean ‘agriscience,’ much less ‘agribusiness.’ It means ‘cultivation of land…” The Art of the Commonplace: Agrarian Essays.

A Books/Links Page offers resources for managing the garden, harvesting, preserving and, as the author puts it, “Managing your life (okay, I exaggerate).”

We jump in on April 30, with the article titled, On Year-round Harvests. “We ate our last potato last night. It was a huge Red Norland, a ‘spooky’ potato (according to the eight-year-old)… That last potato got me thinking about staples and seasonality…” Many questions arise that will make the reader think as well. Among them, “Are the items destined to be eaten in the same form as they’re harvested?” Like roots spreading out, this question offers natural ramifications worth considering.

We so often go through life almost blindly, not questioning the value of our actions over time, and the value of change. The garden demands questions, many of which also apply to other areas in life. We should stop and ask more often, “Now, what do I want to make of this?” In many cases, I suspect the answer points to fresh, new soil. [Read Full Article]

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Next, we check in on Honey, Harriet and Goatman Dave at Emerson’s Acre, who surprised me this week with an article titled, Always Listen to Your Granny.

It so happens that would be yours truly. I will say no more, because credit is due where credit belongs…

“I have taken Granny’s advice,” explains Dave. “In the evening, when I get home, after I’ve kissed Samantha and the girls, I take a few minutes and spend them out back with Honey and Harriet… In an earlier post about the goats and the ridiculous games they put me through with necessary tasks like changing the batteries on their collars or trimming their hooves… She gave me this advice…” [Read Full Article]

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We must follow-up on a story posted by The Pocket Farmer last week. As promised, the author kept a watchful eye on the “Special Delivery” so that she could keep readers up to date on the tribulations of a couple of urban geese.

One Left Behind begins, “In Nature, an egg that doesn’t hatch with the others is a liability… It would be folly for a mother to risk her whole brood for the uncertainty that one unhatched egg represents… in the grand scheme, one egg left behind is business as usual… in fact, this was a very successful hatch. Six babies alive and well! … On a whim, as I went home that night, I  collected the egg and brought it home with me…” As you might imagine, I had to read further and I am sure you are curious as well. [Read Full Article]

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Mother’s Day is Coming at The Middlest Sister and since it indeed approaches it makes perfect sense to conclude this week’s review with her clever visual Blog. “Just a warning,” observes the author, “So this doesn’t happen to you, too!” [View Post]

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Thank you for stopping by to read this Weekend’s Review. Please take a moment to leave a few words on the Blogs you enjoy, if you feel so inclined that is.