Planting Ginger

 This weekend we finally got around to trying something we've meant to do for a while now.  We planted our own ginger.  My family loves ginger in stir fries and sauces Jeff loves to eat it crystallized.  In one of my homesteading books the author states that you can grow your own ginger just bring it in for the fall and winter time.  Okay I can do that (probably anyway).  I grabbed the piece of ginger while grocery shopping about a month ago and left it sitting on the counter so it could grow some 'eyes' like potatoes have.  A bit weird looking huh?

Jeff planted it in a long shallow planter for me that the kids picked out.  It's planted about 2 inches deep.  In theory it will look a bit like bamboo when it grows and will get to be around three feet tall!  The kids are very excited to watch it grow.  I will keep you updated as to how our project goes.  Have a great day!

May Day

 Happy May Day everyone!

'But I must gather knots of flowers,
And buds and garlands gay,
For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother,
I'm to be Queen o' the May.'
-  Alfred Lord Tennyson

Out with the old in with the new

 It is so nice to finally have some stuff going on around the homestead that I can share with you guys :)  Last week Jeff finally decided that the Pine Tree in the front yard needed to come down.  I've been asking for a few years for fruit trees but he was reluctant about it.  I'm not sure what changed his mind but one day at TSC we saw the trees and he said grab them, who am I to argue with the man! 

 This little guy is a golden delicious which is Jack's favorite.  They didn't have many varieties unfortunately.

 And this is a red delicious that is Molly's favorite.  They will cross pollinate with each other I guess and so there will be apples.  I'm still reading up on the whole deal but I know we have a few years before apples appear. 

As you can see from the top photo Jeff decided to take the tree down by hand axe to see if he could do it.  He did rather successfully (albeit to the wonder of many neighbors who offered us their chainsaws).  If you look at this post you can get an idea of the tree a bit.  It was large in the middle of the yard and really blocked the house a lot.  We left the stump on purpose, Jeff has an art project in mind for it.  Since I got my new trees finally I can't say anything about his art.

Spring Time

 I can't believe that it's the first day of Spring already!!!  Here in Michigan today is a freakish 80 degrees out side.  I'm not really complaining but I am wondering if the other shoe is going to drop. 

 A while ago I bought some Florida strawberries from the farmer's market.   They were a use it or loose it type of deal so I wanted to see what would happen if they got put into the dehydrator.  I thought that ... well actually I didn't have a clue what to expect.

This is what they looked like after several hours in the dehydrator (and my house smelled like strawberry cake for some reason).  The taste was outstanding!  Almost like a slice of candy, so sweet and delicious.  I can't wait til strawberry season and try to make more of these.