Upcycle Projects

Yes, we have been really busy outside lately, but I have still found some time to sew. Here are some pics of a few of the projects I have been working on. These projects are focused on finding new uses for old items.

Up first: coffee sack tote bags. This is the front and back of one bag. I have several more in the works. I love the look of these - but really, working with burlap is not my favorite. It is SOOOO messy. Luckily, I have a serger which makes the job a little less messy.

Fun, right?

Next up: summer dresses made from men's shirts. Fun sun dresses that just slip on. The elasticized area sits above the waist, just below the bust to flatter most body types. Every dress is unique. Cool and stylish or just off?

 I have a new respect for picking fabrics and envisioning the final product. Some items are easier than others.

Until later...

Jill

Peaches and Blackberries

We love peaches around here. Sadly, we don't get good peaches very often. I was fortunate enough to find a road side stand this year that is selling peaches from South Caroline. They have been sooooo good!!! I have gone back to buy more, twice. I hope to go back and buy a whole case to can, but we shall see how much time I have on my hands.

I have made a low sugar peach jam. Yum.

Peach crisp. Put over ice cream, extra yum.

And my first attempt at canning peaches: let's just say, my mother-in-law and I decided to quit while we were behind. I think the end result was good, but the process did not go overly well. I was so glad to have her by my side - otherwise I really would have thought I was crazy and completely inept. Turns out, it was the peaches, not me. Phew. I hope to try again next week.

And yes, I have made some blackberry jelly too. I love to have a bit of jelly with some of my homemade peanut butter.

The first berries of the season were really pretty. The last week, not so much. I am not sure what has gone wrong, but I assume all the rain has something to do with it. The jelly still tastes good, but is a little more cloudy. Oh well, I will still enjoy the jelly come this winter!

Have you been preserving any of this summer's bounty? What are your favorite methods?

Until later...
Jill

7-up biscuits

Yep, I've made them too. YUM!

There are a ton of recipes out there, all a little different. Of course, all have Bisquick. I had no Bisquick in the house. Bummer. So, to Google I went to find a way to make my own Bisquick from scratch. Yes, I wanted the biscuits that bad. Again, there are a million recipes out there, all a little different. So, I decided to just wing it and see what happened.

Homemade Bisquick:
http://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-bisquick-mix-69051

I also added 2 TBSP sugar, as most of the other recipes used sugar. Although, not sure it matters. I will probably omit it the 'next' time I make this - assuming there is a next time. Yes, it's good, but it takes time. Just depends on how desperate I am.

I used my food processor to cut the shortening into the flour. You have to do this in stages, unless you have a massive sized machine. Then I just kind of mixed it all together.

Biscuits:
4 cups Bisquick
1 cup 7-Up
1 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Put butter in a 9x13" pan. Put pan in oven to melt butter. Don't over cook this, burned butter is no good. :)

Mix everything else together. The dough will be wet. Put some flour on the counter. WARNING: the next part is messy. Grab about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of dough (I just guessed here). Roll dough in flour lightly and form it into a ball. Place in the pan. Repeat to make 12 biscuits.

Bake until golden brown approximately 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven.

And when they come out, you really should wait a FEW minutes so you don't burn your mouth. But, if you are anything like me, have a glass of water on hand and just bite and swig at the same time. Yeah, I am not very patient.

I will be working on a slightly healthier version - to see if I can keep the same great taste and texture but reduce the calories and fat while increasing the good stuff.

Until next time, increase your exercise to help counteract these little lovelies.

Jill

Plant Progress

It has been quite a unique experience living on a farm for the first time. We have lots of existing plants - many of which we don't really know what we have. There are always new surprises. I have greatly enjoyed taking this very unique opportunity to go out and take pictures every now and again as things change. So, tonight, you will get to see some of the plants currently growing.

We have also decided to plant a ton of pumpkins this year. My dear hubby and I have a crazy notion that maybe we want to run a pumpkin patch. Yeah - because we need more things to do. Halloween is one of our favorite holidays (even if it is not very big here in the south). We love the fall and just about everything surrounding that time of year. So, this year we are experimenting to see if we can grow pumpkins - kind of important if you want to run a pumpkin patch. ;)

Are you ready for some pictures??
Our blackberries are starting to ripen! I hope to pick my first bunch tomorrow morning. Hopefully the birds and coons don't get to them tonight.

Our chickens are growing nicely. I expect our first eggs to come in August/September. Luckily, they have lots of space to roam, so they are not eating much feed.

The pumpkins are in the ground! Most of them anyways. We are using drip irrigation and black plastic mulch. This is all new to us, so we have no idea if we will succeed or not. So far so good.

We decided to just plant 3 rows - there are about 10 watermelon plants in there too just for fun. If we are successful, we will hire out a tractor to deal with the rest of the garden space. Each row is about 175' long and 4' wide. I am guessing we have about 3-4 feet between rows for walking space. This is a lot of work! 

Look at these little lovelies. I don't know what they are, but I thought they were pretty.

This is a shot from the middle field overlooking the largest field we have. The trees basically mark the end of our property. That far field is about 6-7 acres. Wouldn't it be fun to have a corn maze out there??

We have some trumpet vine! I always love to see a little pop of orange in crazy places. 

That's all for tonight. Hope you enjoyed the tour. I will be posting plenty more pics as things around the farm continue to change.

'Till next time...

Homemade Laundry Soap

I don't know about you, but man - my laundry mountain is getting crazy big by this point in the week. So, I thought this might be a good day to share with you my homemade laundry soap. Yeah, I am getting a little crazy with all this homemade stuff. I doubt it will last - or be consistent. Just something that is fun to do from time to time. If I can save money and have time to do it - of course I will.

There are tons of recipes out there, again I tweaked mine a bit - more with a method than ingredients.

What is needed:
2 bars FelsNaptha laundry soap
1 box washing baking soda
1 box borax
1/2 container scent crystals (optional)
1 container to hold finished soap (I have used my empty Tide box for most of the soap and the empty scent crystal container works well for what sits next to my machine.)
1 kitchen garbage bag - to mix everything


I have a family of 5 and average 7 loads of laundry a week. This recipe lasts us 4-5 months. 

What to do:
Cut the bars of soap into thirds.

1. Microwave each piece separately on a piece of parchment or wax paper for about 45 seconds.  It will expand and form 'clouds'. Once it is done expanding, you can stop the microwave. NOTE: You may want to set your microwave for something like 2 minutes and just wait to see how long it takes to stop expanding. That will give you a better estimate of how long it will take with your microwave. 

(soap bits pre and post microwave) 

1. Put each piece into a large mixing bowl to cool. Do this for all the bar soap. Let it all sit for about 30 minutes - or until it is COMPLETELY cooled. Seriously - wait.
2. Mash the soap with your hands. It will turn into a powder.
3. Add all ingredients to the trash bag and mix. I just tied it closed and moved the whole thing around for a few minutes.
4. Pour into your storage container.

And that is it! You only need to use 1-2 TBSP per load - but I pretty much always use 2 TBSP. And yes, I use this in my HE front load washer. It does not sud, so it works great.

There are also recipes for liquid versions. I haven't tried those yet as I tend to like powder soaps better.

Enjoy!