Green As You Can Be

Remember going to the county or state fairs and seeing all the canned goods or bakery items??? I do. I always wished I could taste some of those items because my mom did not can and she was the world’s worst baker.

August 28 and 29 in Young Harris Ga. there will be a chance to see “old time” canning and bake goods being judge while enjoying a great craft show.

It’s not to late to enter. You can get your application CLICK HERE.

All my friends are busy canning or freezing their great, fresh foods but not me. I had the worst time with my garden. Caterpillars, worms and the hottest summer in recent history. I got a few tomatoes, a small crop of red onions and my gourds are finally setting on. (They are way late doing this)

We lost two of our chickens so we are down to 4 roosters. Normal people would think that all the failures I’ve had this year, I would just give up. Not me. This is my dream and I will just keep trying until I get it right. It’s the journey (right ?) not the destination. Besides, I have the best compost pile in the area !!

Jax

Jackie talks with Keith Wood (the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Agricultural Agent of Cherokee County) about his organization’s programs and classes for local farmers, both big and small. Just click on “Watch Our Latest Videos” on the sidebar to the right and learn all about what your local agricultural agent can do for you and your community.

North Carolina Cooperative Extension
Cherokee County
39 Peachtree St Suite 103
Murphy, NC 28906
(828) 837-2917

http://cherokee.ces.ncsu.edu

Our first video of the new season features Jackie’s update of what’s been happening at the old homestead.

Just click on “Watch Our Latest Videos” in the sidebar to see this episode. Click on “Watch More Of Our Videos” to see past shows also in the sidebar. Every couple of weeks we will bring you a new “green” video from beautiful North Carolina and the surrounding area.

Enjoy!

Finally we have our chickens in their new home. This was a long time coming. My son had given me chickens for my birthday in March.

While they were tiny we could keep them in a box.  After they got too big for the box we made a 7 ‘ cage and they were happy. Now they are adults and need to stretch their legs and the weather would not cooperate.  Took forever to get the coop done.

We used scrap from a timber framers burn pile. I had an old window we re-purposed. Some one had given us some metal roofing we had used to build the bar and still had some left. The chickens nesting boxes are old wine crates. The only real cost was for chicken wire and some 2×4′s

The chickens love their new home. Now let’s hope they can start to lay.

Jax

You really know Spring has arrived when you see Farmer’s Markets open.  Our market in downtown Murphy, NC opened a couple of weeks ago but I didn’t get down there until last week.  It’s not running full blast yet but there is more than enough wonderful looking produce, yummy looking cakes and lots of crafts.

My favorite organic farmers from Candy Mountain Farms were there. Their produce is the best. (at least in my mind)

There are many farmer’s market popping up in every town. Check out you towns or near by towns and frequent them. The food is fresh, chemical free and good for you. Most importantly you are keeping your food dollars local and helping the community to thrive.

Jax

This is the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. I remember the first one and how I thought “it’s about time” I have been green my whole life and have been teased, ridiculed and sometimes supported. I had a Scout Troop for 13 years and the one thing I always stressed when out and about was to always leave a place better than you found it. I just hope those girls (now in their 30′s and 40′s) have remembered and passed it on to their children.

I’ve been lining up new shows for this season and had an opportunity to talk to our county extension office and Keith Wood said something that really hit home. People think that you have to invest a lot of money and make big changes to be green and that is not the case. It’s the little things we do every day that make the difference.

So, today, change one thing toward being green. Take you own reusable bags to the store, change out your light bulbs to energy saving ones, plant a small garden, car pool (even one day a week), turn out lights, etc. I’m sure you have more ideas than I could ever list.

You can make a difference.

Jax

We continue exploring the Sleepy Hollow Gourd Farm and see how these gourds are transformed into works of art.

In this episode part one of two, Jackie visits Joan & Mike Glover at their “Sleepy Hollow Farm” where they grow gourds and luffa that is transformed into beautiful artwork.

You now will be able to watch our videos right here on our posting pages. Our older videos can still be accessed by clicking on “Watch More Of Our Videos” in the sidebar.

http://blip.tv/file/3386263

Yep…we have 64 eggs.  Well, we HAD 64.

We want chickens really bad. Only a few, though. My friend Judy went out of town for a few days and wanted us to babysit her chickens. We could have all the eggs we gathered. She has 19 chickens. I didn’t think they would all lay everyday. They laid about 15 per day. So then we had a lot of eggs. I don’t waste anything. (ever)

Now what to do with 64 eggs. First I gave a dozen to my son. We have had many breakfast where I have fried, scrambled and poached them. My husband wanted to make crepes. they turned out excellent, I made a cheesecake, yummy. I still have eggs. I know they will stay fresh for 45 days, so I think we can eat them all.

Last week the county extension office had a workshop on raising chickens. It was very informative. (check you local county office, they may have classes, too) Got lots of hand-outs. The turnout was huge. There were over 50 people there.  Seems everyone wants to have a few chickens in there back yard.

“Someone” ate a piece of cake before I could take a picture.

Jax

It’s never too early to be thinking about Earth Day. Last year we had a celebration in Brasstown NC and it was great. So it’s time to plan Earth Day 2010. It will be on April 24 in Brasstown. I’m looking for crafters, green vendors and any green businesses that want to set up a table. (no jewelry unless made from re-founded items and no food vendors.)

Deadline is April 15. Cost is $10 a table. You can contact me thru this blog or email me at jax1215@gmail.com.

Hope to see you there.

Jax