Fresh From the Farm Blog

In the early morning on this date (March 6) in 1836 a rag tag group of defenders gave their lives in pursuit of Texas independence from Mexico. The small garrison of volunteers and soldiers numbering less than 200 was surrounded by outnumbering forces of Mexican General Santa Anna’s army of regulars. The defenders were confined in the old abandoned Mission San Antonio de Valero near the town of San Antonio de Bexar. As dawn broke the strains of the Deguello were heard from the Mexican camp, signaling that no quarter would be given the defenders. The attack began and all...

What will the weather bring this year? When will it rain? When is the next full moon? When do I plant my crops or my garden according to the phases of the moon? For hundreds of years people have been consulting a farmer’s almanac to get answers to these important questions. Each year I always buy a new Farmer’s Almanac to check and see if I think there is a snowflakes chance of anything it says actually happening. More often than not, there will be some things that will happen just as predicted. And planting by the moon has been...

Have you ever wondered how we make bar soaps? It involves following a recipe just like in cooking a favorite dinner. Our bar soaps are made following a hot-cold process. Some of the ingredients we combine are goat milk, coconut oil, palm kernel oil, water, olive oil, shea butter, clay, avocado oil, fragrance oils and color. Then the magic begins as the warmed oils are carefully mixed with the other ingredients in a specific order. The soap batch is poured into lined molds and the color is artistically swirled into the molds of scented soap creating a work of art....

Today (Feb 14) is Valentine’s Day and we all usually try to do something special for those near and dear to our hearts. It might be cooking a favorite meal, serving breakfast in bed, giving a thoughtful gift of flowers or candy, gifting a book, concert tickets, or a spa treatment. And there is the ever-popular heart shaped box of chocolate candy screaming “BUY ME” at the supermarket. So much pressure to be thoughtful and caring on this one day. How cool would it be if we treated all those we love with this special celebrity treatment EVERYDAY?  HAPPY VALENTINE’...

With a little bit of warmer weather and rainfall, I started thinking about our garden and remembered that it is time to start tomato seeds indoors for transplanting into the garden after frost danger is over. I love to start tomato seeds with my grandchildren, they love to get their hands dirty and the process is really easy. For years when I ran a commercial greenhouse, we started seeds in special germinating flats and set them on heating mats to encourage germination. With my grands, I use Styrofoam egg cartons. Use scissors to remove the top of the carton and...