Garden Stuffed Peppers

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

I love when I make dinner and almost all of it I have gotten out of my garden. The satisfaction in what one seed has given me for a year amazes me. With it being Spring and the work is incredibly more difficult than I remember over the Winter, I won't say this is anything like FREE FOOD. I WORK for this! But, I know what I have....and most importantly what I haven't added to the soil or the plant. That what I am eating is pretty darn pure! So, on with the Recipe, such as it is. Remember all recipes can be adjusted to what you have on hand....what spices you like etc. You are always in charge. 

1. Starting with Peppers I froze whole at the end of the summer. Took out to thaw just a bit.

2. Sauteed Onions, chopped peppers (also froze from the garden) garlic in a bit of Olive oil

3. I cooked Rice to equal 4 cups as we like to have extra filling. 

4. Picked about 12 cups of Red Russian Kale and Rainbow Chard. Wash well and chop. Add to the pan of onions and cook until tender. It will reduce quite a bit. Mix Veggies with Rice.

5. I also add Meat Substitute Crumbles

6. Next, I take extra Sharp Cheddar and grate it to add to the filling. Love this Cheese! Season Filling with Salt and Pepper and anything else you would like.

7. I take 2-quart jars of my tomatoes, put them in the blender to make them more like sauce. Pour a little sauce in the bottom of the pan. along with some of the filling. It makes the peppers stay upright. Fill the peppers with filling and cover with sauce. 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. 

Yummy! 

Installing Nucs of Bees!

   
    First thing Saturday morning we picked up the 2 nucs we ordered in February. We didn't know we were going to luck out capturing a swarm a week before this. So we are now the proud owners of 5 Bee Hives. This year I want to try to do some infused and smoked honey. Maybe Elderberry/Elderflower...I have Lavender growing so that is a possibility also...definitely some blueberry. 
   I am assuming that our garden is going to explode being surrounded by Honey Bees, which is exactly what we want. Farm Life is always busy and exhausting some days but always good...always satisfying and you sleep better too. :) 

                                         APPLES!!

This may look like no big deal but I planted this tree 13 years ago...it has never produced. We have gone through pruning wrong...pruning too much...not pruning at all. Fire Blight...Japanese beetles...Tent Caterpillars and other diseases. I decided to do to my fruit trees what I have done to my Vegetable garden years ago...I went ORGANIC! composting, mulching, composting again, mulching again. And I have apples! Of course this is the beginning of the season and we need to get to Autumn to be safe but they have never produce like this. #soexcited The other 2 adult trees also have apples and the 2 that are only 2 years old look super healthy.

Moving the Chicks to the Big House

Time to Move them out of my Mudroom!

    When I first get baby Chicks, they are so fluffy and cute...shaped like little puffy eggs with heads.  We all can't stop watching them...loving when those little spindly legs first start scratching...and then...in just a few weeks I am counting the days before I can get them out of my mudroom. I question why I haven't closed in the pole barn for these things. The smell, in spite of cleaning out the tub every week, starts to drive us all crazy. All that cute scratching...is now forming clouds of dust over everything. They perch on the sides of the tub and poop on my floor. They day I walked in and there were 5 in the tub and 16 walking around the mudroom I stopped counting and started to prepare for their entrance into the coop with the big girls.
   It was spring cleaning of the coop the week before. Pressure washed, clean Pine shavings and it was ready for the babies and now to separate the area to protect them from the pecking order. Stapled Chicken wire from ceiling to floor so the big girls can see them and get used to them being around. Besides the infernal Sounding of the Alarm while I was in the coop getting things ready, it all went well. The first night, roosting within sight of each other, The One Guinea, that I still have, kept sounding the alarm during sunset. Dumb bird! Two days in and everything is quiet...everyone seems happy and my mudroom is clean and quiet. 
   Yes, those are Curtains on their windows I got a little carried away 3 years ago when I first built the coop. Since then the pictures have been knocked down and pooped on so they are no longer there. It looked cozy when they weren't living in there yet.