Friday, April 29, 2011

Tulip's Are A Bloomin!

FINALLY  I have tulips in bloom!! Its been such a cold Spring I didnt think it was ever gonna happen. I was really hoping to see them on Easter Sunday but better late than never. So beautiful and well worth the very long wait. Maybe tommorow they all will be in bloom.






Thursday, April 28, 2011

Native Plants to Grow: Cup Plant

Another Native worth planting in your garden for wildlife.Plant it where you wont mind having alot of it in the future because it will spread. The leaves are rather large and will hold rainwater and dew. Hummingbirds love to drink out of the leaves.  

Cup Plant
Silphium perfoliatum
Aster family (Asteraceae)
Description: This native perennial plant is about 4-10' tall and remains unbranched, except for the panicle of flowering stems near the apex. The central stem is thick, hairless, and four-sided. The large opposite leaves are up to 8" long and 5" across, which join together around the central stem to form a cup that can hold water, hence the name of the plant. These leaves are broadly lanceolate to cordate, coarsely toothed, and have a rough, sandpapery texture. The yellow composite flowers bloom during early to mid-summer for about 1-1½ months. Each sunflower-like composite flower is about 3-4" across, consisting of numerous yellow disk florets that are surrounded by 18-40 yellow or pale yellow ray florets. The infertile disk florets protrude somewhat from the center and are rather conspicuous, while the ray florets are fertile. The latter produce thin achenes, each with a well-developed marginal wing, which are dispersed to some extent by the wind. The root system consists of a central taproot, and abundant shallow rhizomes that help to spread the plant vegetatively, often forming substantial colonies.

Cultivation: The preference is full or partial sun, and moist loamy soil. This plant may drop some of its lower leaves in response to a drought. Sometimes, the leaves and buds of distressed plants turn brown, growth becomes stunted, and blossums abort in response to disease or drought. Another problem is that Cup Plant may topple over during a rainstorm with strong winds, particularly while it is blooming, or situated on a slope.

Range & Habitat: Cup Plant occurs throughout Illinois, except for a few southern counties  It is fairly common. Typical habitats include moist black soil prairies, moist meadows near rivers, low-lying woodland edges and thickets, fens and seeps, lake borders, fence rows, and along ditches near railroads.
Long-tongued bees, butterflies, and skippers are common visitors and the most important pollinators of the flowers. Some short-tongued bees, wasps, bee flies, and other kinds of flies also visit the flowers for pollen or nectar. The larvae of an Antistrophus sp. (Gall Wasp sp.) feed within the stems of this plant, and may attract the hyperparasitic wasp Eurytoma lutea. Various birds, especially goldfinches, are very fond of the seeds, and drink water from the cups formed by the leaves. Because of the tendency to form dense colonies, this plant provides good cover for birds, which often lurk among the leaves during the heat of the day, searching for insects or pausing to rest. Large herbivores, especially cattle, may eat the eat leaves of Cup Plant, especially those of immature plants

Monday, April 18, 2011

Kissing Frogs

Here I am at 3 years old . A country girl already. :) See this post

Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Great Catnip Heist

For years I have had dreams of growing giant sweeping beds of "Nepeta" or otherwise known as catmint or catnip.  It will grow really tall and has pretty purple flower spikes that last for a while.Last year My Mom gave me some to add to my new flowerbed. I was already to plant it and discovered this

My sweet innocent housecat Reeses somehow managed to climb into the back of the truck to investigate what that alluring smell was.
She just wanted to rub its intoxicating scent on her fur for a minute and then she was gonna let me plant it

OOPS! accidently knocked it over ... It was an accident..Right?


Oh look she took it out of the pot so it would be easier for me to plant, such a sweet girl

Just as I was about to reach in and pick it up I got this look....


NO!! Its Mine!! all Mine!!!! SO yummy!! Touch this nip and Im gonna use you for a scratching post!!


There's no arguing with a cat who's under the influence of nip..


Maybe Ill try again this year, though it will have to be surrounded by a really high fence and a few guard dogs to keep this kitty cat out.

She sure looks happy :) 

Friday, April 1, 2011

Now All I need Is a Dairy Cow or Two

 I decided today to try and make butter. I know its much easier just to go and buy it at the store but I wanted to see if I could do it. It was so easy and to see cream turn into butter is really quite magical.
 There are actually two easy ways to make your own butter. One is to put the heavy cream into a large jar and shake it until the butter seperates from the buttermilk . I started out this way but because I halfed the recipe I didnt use a big enough jar, plus I was getting quite the workout. WHEW!!
The cream starting to thicken


Because I didnt have a big enough jar and my arms were getting pretty tired I switched to the mixer. It was really like a minute in the mixing bowl and it started to seperate into buttermilk and butter.

Once it is seperated you have to strain the liquid (buttermilk) from the curds (butter)
It will look like this once you rinse it off until the water is clear.

Add salt to your tasting if you want salted butter or you can leave it unsalted.
Waa Laa its BUTTER!! So delicious on homemade amish bread!

Now have to search for a recipe for the buttermilk, pancakes maybe or biscuits? The possibilities are endless.
Th recipe I used called for a quart of Heavy Cream not the ultrapastureized. Let it sit til its room temperature and then start shaking or mixing. Add your salt when its all done. Store in the refrigerator in a sealed container.

I wish that I knew some one with a dairy farm because I had to get my cream at the store. Not the same experience that my Grandma has told me about so many times of having to milk the cows and seperate the cream from the milk, but then again she wasnt too fond of having to do that everyday. She tells me to just buy it at the store, so much easier she says lol!  Thats not magical at all and not nearly as much fun.

Enjoy!!

Homemade Chocolate Sauce Recipe

Got this recipe from Paula Deen's website. Was Easy and pretty tasty !
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