Dirt Therapy

It has been a cold winter here in the South.  I'm usually able to keep my winter greens growing in the garden.

Not this year. 

So far we're on our second round of near 0 degree temps. Ugh.

Everything outside in the garden is...shall we say...toast. (Nothing against toast, because quite frankly I love toast all slathered with grass-fed butter and homemade strawberry jam...but I digress).

The herbs will all have to be replaced in the spring.  Toast.
The kale, collards, spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli...toast.

I take solace in planting anew for the spring.  I enjoy sifting through the seed catalogs, looking for that "must have" seed.

I started mine in 8 oz drinking cups this year.  I've tried all the egg carton, egg shell, dirt cube ideas.  They simply require repotting too quickly.  The roots do not have enough soil to hold adequate moisture to grow strong healthy plants.

I labeled all of the cups with the name of the herb, flower or veg seed that would soon call it home.  I filled the cups about 2/3 full with an organic seed starting mix.  At this point, I add warm water.  Enough to allow all the soil ample time to become nice and moist.  I waited 15 minutes, maybe, before moving on to the next step.

Then I planted each seed according to the depth recommended on the package directions.  Covering with soil accordingly.

I misted the top layer of cover soil with a spray bottle filled with warm water and placed all my cups on my little grow stand I concocted. I placed a single sheet of plastic cling-type kitchen wrap over each tray to help hold in the moisture.

In the picture below, you'll see that one tray has the plastic covering removed.  By day 6, the sprouts were above the top of the cup, so I removed it.

Pretty sprout babies...

Check your seed babies daily.  Make sure the soil is evenly moist.  Moist...not soggy. Rotate them so they will grow nice and tall and straight.  My grow stand is in front of my dining room door, with faces South.  I have a grow light above each shelf.  About 6-8 inches from the tops of the cups.

You may prefer a standard seed starting set-up like this or this or even this.  But if not, give my version a whirl and see how it goes!

Baby it's cold outside

Here in the North GA Mountains the weather folks are calling for the lowest temps we've seen in over a decade.  Much of the rest of the country is under ice, snow, and brutal cold.

Here on the farmstead I have to think about the critters and keeping them warm and their water unfrozen.  As tempting as it may be, don't put water in the coop with chickens.   That can lead to frost bite in a hurry.  Do make sure they have unfrozen water outside the coop all day though.  You may have to make a couple of extra trips outside to keep refilling if your temps don't make it above the freezing mark.  Your flock will thank you for the diligence.

As we take care of our pets and livestock...sometimes we neglect ourselves in the winter.  Dehydration is as important to prevent in the cold months as in the hot ones. I tend to forget though.

I mean...who wants to drink a big tall glass of ice water when it feels like 130 below outside?

Not this girl!

What to do?  I KNOW I'm dehydrated...first thing I reached for this AM after waking was the lip balm.  Sure sign I'm past needing to refuel the H2O.

So again I say...what's one to do?

Herbal teas to the rescue. 

Possum Creek Herbs Apple Spice Tea with added ginger

Herbal Tea can be brewed from your favorite fresh or dried herb or blend of herbs. Some classic favorites include mint, lemon balm, lemon verbena, and chamomile.


Herbal Teas are generally caffeine free and depending on what variety you choose, can be very warming or cooling.

Let's stick with warming today...'cause baby it's COLD outside!


Ginger and cinnamon make nice warming additions to herb tea.  Ginger also helps settle upset tummies.

Once you pick your flavor, how do you brew the perfect pot or cup of tea?

So glad you asked.  :)

This is how I do mine:

• Put kettle with pure, filtered water on to boil.
• While water is coming to a boil, rinse your teapot with hot water. Fill the teapot with hot water and let it sit while your kettle with your tea water is coming to a boil. (You can skip this step...but it helps warm your pot.  A warmed pot keeps tea warm longer than a cold pot.  So you decide.)
• When your kettle whistles, boils or does whatever it does to alert you it's ready, turn off the heat. And let it sit there in the kettle for about 3-5 minutes. You want it to cool a bit so the bitter tannins from the tea/herbs are not released into your gloriously beautiful pot of tea.
• Empty the warm water from the tea pot.  Add your loose leaf tea (or tea bags).  1-2 heaping tablespoons of loose tea is to my general taste.  You may like more or less.  If using tea bags, I like 2 bags per 3 cups of water.  Again, you may like more or less. 
• Fill your teapot with the now slightly cooled boiled water from the kettle.  Replace the lid on the teapot and let it steep for 5-10 minutes.  (Rarely can I wait 10 minutes, so in reality, my wait is more like 3-5.  Just being honest.)
• Pour your yummy, warm herb tea through some sort of straining device into your awaiting tea cup, mug or other tea holding vessel.
• Sweeten with a teaspoon of raw honey if you desire.
• Drink up and enjoy!

 It's probably about time for me to go out and check the chickens' water again.

Stay warm...and hydrated.

Finally Friday

Made it through the work week! ( I have a 9-5 40hr/wk one besides all I do around here.)

YAY!

But....I have to much left to do before Christmas.  Today's list includes:

• grocery shopping for the week at the supermarket
• picking up meat, milk, butter from the local farm
• preparing the items I'm bringing to Mr T's family holiday gathering.  (I have to bring the Sweet Potato Souffle and the Cole Slaw.  Every. Year.)
• gift shopping...I have to finish some shopping before tomorrow's event!
• chicken coop...started repainting that yesterday.  Need to finish the trim.

Mama hugs make it all better.

• need to cook the Mama Doxie (Dixie Mae) some chicken and rice.  Got to keep those pups happy with lots of rich mama milk.
• I know there's something else...but I haven't even had coffee yet...so I will leave it blank to fill in later! ha! ________________

 There's always something to do around the homestead!

OH...I know one more thing...when I pick up sweet potatoes and want to remember to get a couple extra so I can make the mutts some homemade Sweet Potato Chewies for Christmas! ( recipe coming soon!)

What's on your to-do list for today?

The Circle of Life

There's one thing that's always true on the homestead...

Death is never easy.

Whether you raise livestock for meat, eggs, milk or just have family pets...it's never easy to deal with. Not for me anyway.

Our second litter of dachshunds came late Monday night.  Dixie Mae and I were up til 3am bringing those 5 pups into the world.  The last little guy was just that...little. Very little.

And yesterday, he decided he just didn't have the strength to go on.

Yes, he was only with us for a day and a half...but it still hurts to lose him.

But today is another day. The sun is out and it's actually warm enough to take a ride on the bikes and do a little painting on the new old coop.

And the circle goes on.

Welcome to Sunflower Girl Farm.  

We are a small mountain homestead trying to get back to the basics of natural, healthy food, organic gardening, and being better stewards of the small plot of land we've been blessed with.

Some members of the 'stead include 9 dogs (more on that later!), chickens, and teenagers.  I'm Lynn...the Sunflower Girl and my right hand man is Mr. T (by the way, he looks nothing like any TV actor images you may now have in your head!)

Follow our journey as we share our successes as well as our mistakes, learn new skills and recipes, and endure losses and heartaches.

We are real people, with real dreams and real feelings.  Around here, what you see is what you get.  We love big, eat heartily, laugh loudly, and do it all with a heart for Jesus.

So sit back and enjoy the ride with us.