A New Fermented Favorite!

I love this time of year! The rooting cuttings and sprouting seeds in our greenhouse fill my heart with anticipation for this year's growing season. I look forward to spending another year in these glorious gardens but I also know that we are another year 'older', too! We are both determined to stay young and enjoy many more years of gardening on the Flower Farm, so we get plenty of exercise  (also known as 'work' out here.) We also grow a large vegetable garden and freeze, dehydrate and ferment our harvest. We love the fresh tastes of our preserved garden veggies but sometimes we are tempted by the organic produce aisle at our local grocery store. When I read about fermenting bananas...well, I couldn't resist. Hmmm...Bananas! Raw honey would be perfect! I filled a very small jar with banana slices and drizzled them with raw honey along with a small amount of water. Only two days later...we couldn't resist the amazing aroma and devoured the entire jar in a matter of minutes. 

Time for banana ferment number two! 

A few banana slices into a pint-sized jar...

then two more tablespoons of raw honey added to what was left from our first banana ferment...just to give it a little 'kick start'. 

I usually use kale or cabbage leaves to keep my veggies submerged under the brine but honey, bananas and kale didn't sound like a good flavor combination for this new ferment. So I got creative!

These glass stones were the perfect answer!

Yes...perfect!

This is only 48 hours later. They will be devoured tomorrow!

Laughing in Flowers...

This is what happens when it's been a busy day on the Flower Farm. It's no secret that we have been eating healthier around here and when our day began to wind down, I was looking forward to making turkey casserole with the leftover turkey we roasted earlier in the week. I was so proud of myself as I cooked whole grain pasta in the whey I had reserved from making a batch of cottage cheese in our own kitchen. I stirred in organic kale, added diced peppers and onions from the freezer and crushed a few dehydrated tomatoes; all from our garden. I tossed in a few home-grown herbs and we both remarked that this particular February meal had the aroma of summer. Time to catch the news and weather...well, on the Flower Farm it's mostly about the weather. After watching a cute story about the area fish fries, my sweetie reminded me that we really hadn't taken the time to check the grocery ads this week. "You would think there might be some great sales on fish right now. The new ads should be coming out tomorrow. We'll have to check them".  HUH?...Umm..The grocery ads arrive on Wednesday. Today is Friday. "It's Friday"?  Yes, today is Friday and tomorrow is Saturday.  

It was only a few minutes later when it occurred to me that I had spent so much time admiring our turkey casserole...that I had neglected to add the turkey!!!! 

Its all good though!

A great laugh...and a wonderful reminder of how much we look forward to beautiful sights like this in our prairie gardens! God really does laugh in flowers. We do, too!

Something to Warm Your Spirit...

Brrrrr! A summer sight from the flower farm to warm your spirits this morning! Hope you enjoy it!

Ken suggested indoor projects for me today...so I'm busy getting all my fermenting recipes gathered into a collection to share with you in our 2015 'Lacto Fermenting 101' classes. I've perfected my fermented Ketchup recipe...

so tomato juice from the garden is simmering into paste on the stove for another batch of probiotic-filled goodness. The kitchen smells like summer! Aromatherapy at it's best!

A Look Back...

2014 was an eventful year on the flower farm.

 Just as we were catching our breath from a bitterly cold winter and beginning spring preparations...a natural gas line explosion left everyone in our area shaken but thankfully not hurt.

Storm clouds repeatedly gathered over eastern Nebraska...

and left us plenty of damage to repair...

but our thoughts and prayers are with others who lost so much more.

Our garden angel must have asked her friends to spread their wings over our gardens to protect them.

Despite the wind and hail, we were blessed (and extra grateful) for beautiful blooms that everyone enjoyed!

Thank you for all your love and support in 2014! We are excited and have many surprises to share with you in this new (and hopefully less-eventful) year!

A Good Day...

You know it's a good day when your mailbox is filled with wonderful things like this! Can't wait to see inside the pages! Hope you all had a merry and joy filled Christmas!

Sunshine...

Hoping to inspire the sun to make an appearance. It's been a rare commodity on the flower farm! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Blessings...

The month of December is special on the flower farm. It's a time to reorganize, research and rejoice. Sure, we miss our time in the gardens but the beautiful plants in the greenhouse remind us that the growing season will arrive again...soon!

To prepare for the season ahead, we're reorganizing spaces and adding amazing new creations to the shop. We're spending time researching new flowers and vegetables to grow in the gardens and we're checking out the ingredient lists on a few commercially produced foods (scary)...opting instead to fill our freezer with healthy food for the busy days ahead (no toxic chemicals in these buns)!

We're taking advantage of seasonal organic citrus, cranberries and apples...and fermenting them into probiotic-filled relishes and salad dressings to enjoy when we're busy with our blooms.

But most of all we rejoice in God's beautiful gifts and blessings...each of you are among them. We humbly than you for your love and your support. Merry Christmas!