Pioneer Women Outing: Lavender Farm

Each month a group of women in my family and some of our friends get together to do different activities, many of them focusing on old skills that have been lost like food preservation or soap making. We call ourselves the pioneer women and this past weekend our group took a little field trip to a lavender farm near St. Louis. It was such a great time!

When we arrived, the owner of the farm gave a very thorough and interesting talk on lavender and all its beneficial uses. I really had no idea that lavender was so great for medicinal purposes! I've always heard about the cosmetic uses, but actually it sounds like it is a wonderful all-natural cure for just about anything that ails you. It can help wounds heal faster, alleviate symptoms from allergies or sinus issues, and can also act as a sleep aid.

Dried lavender can also be used in cooking, and after the talk we had our lunch which featured some of the lavender grown there on the farm. With my veggie wrap I had a wonderful spinach strawberry salad with a balsamic vinaigrette infused with lavender. To drink I had lavender lemonade, and for dessert it was a chocolate brownie with dried lavender. Everything was so delicious!

After lunch I was ready to go pick some lavender for myself. They have several different varieties growing at the farm, and I was sure to harvest my lavender from the variety used for culinary purposes. If you use a different type of lavender, it can be very overpowering and slightly bitter in your food.

I was so thrilled to see bees everywhere! They actually have two beehives at the farm but they were all sold out of honey. I wish I could have tasted some - I bet it is heavenly!

After I had collected my lavender bundle, I spent a little time walking around the property and taking in the beautiful scenery. There were several small ponds and a cute old barn making up the landscape.

To end the time at the farm, we headed up to the gift shop where they sell all sorts of wonderful products created with their lavender. I purchased some lavender essential oil (made from steam distillation) so I could try making a few of my own cosmetic items at home.

It's always fun to spend time with my pioneer women. The lavender farm was the perfect destination for our outing for the month of July!

~Tammy

Shared with Tuesday Muse, Eco Kids Tuesday, Barn Charm  

Feathered Friend Friday: Little Girls All Grown Up

Last weekend we integrated our five new pullets in with the main flock and it has gone really smoothly (thank goodness). So far, the new girls are staying to themselves away from the other chickens and trying to keep a low profile. Smart girls! Our run is huge, so there is plenty of room for them to get away from the hens and roosters if need be.

I spent some time with them yesterday to make sure all was still going well, and I began to reminisce about how much they have grown since early April when I brought them home. It's still hard to believe that in just a few short months, this...

Penelope, aka Penny

Turned into this...

Their fuzzy fluff is long gone and has made way for such soft, beautiful feathers! They are starting to get a little spunky lately with their new found freedom and room to roam, so they don't like me to hold them and keep them from exploring. I oblige and just end up watching them have fun in their new environment.

Summer

Cheddie

Goldie

Pearl

They probably have several months to go before they start laying eggs, but I am excited for more gorgeous colors in my egg basket. Summer will lay dark, terra cotta colored eggs that I can't wait to see! But for now, I'm just enjoying watching my girls turn into little ladies. The eggs will come soon enough.

~Tammy

Shared with From The Farm Blog Hop 

Egyptian Walking Onions

Have you ever heard of walking onions? I definitely had not up until a few weeks ago when David's aunt gave us some of her plants for our garden.

What makes these onions unique is that they form a cluster of tiny "bulblets" where other onions would only produce flowers. The onions emerge from the ground in early spring and continue to grow all season long, eventually reaching up to three feet tall. At this point, the bulblets are too heavy for the tall, thin plant to hold them up, so the plant falls over and the bulblets hit the ground forming roots and new plants where they land. Hence the term, walking onions!

Little bulblets from the top of the plant.

The whole plant can be eaten, with the main onion in the ground appearing similar to a leek with a pungent flavor. The young greens can be tossed into a salad, and the bulblets are great for pickling. These perennial plants are very prolific and will yield bigger topsets of bulbs each year and will produce new onion bulbs in the soil so you can even divide the plants each year. 

Occasionally the plant will grow tiny flowers with the bulblets.

Since we just planted them this summer, next year we may only see greens pop up, but the year after that they should be well established and come in at their full potential. They are very hardy plants able to withstand cold winter temperatures, so they should be just fine in our climate here in Missouri.

For more information on these neat onions, you can visit this site. From there you can even order some if you wish, or if you're lucky, maybe you know someone who will give you a few starts from their plants!

Do you have walking onions in your garden?

~Tammy

Power Granola

For the past few years now, I've been a big fan of granola for breakfast. I prefer something sweet over savory for my first meal of the day and I like to eat a lot of fruit in the mornings, so granola is perfect. Here's my go-to recipe lately that I like to call my "power granola."

Power Granola
Ingredients:
1/2 cup granola (I really like this recipe)
Chia seeds
Hemp seeds
Pecans
1 banana
Pomegranate seeds
1/2 cup almond or soy milk

I've found that this is my favorite combination of add-ins to my granola, and it keeps me full and satisfied until lunchtime. I look forward to eating breakfast each morning when I know it's going to be this good!

If you've never made granola at home, I'd highly recommend giving it a go! I just started making my own granola last winter and haven't stopped since. I've gotten into a routine of baking it each Sunday night so I have plenty to last through the week. I keep it in a pretty glass jar on my counter so it's ready to go.

Do you like granola? What are your favorite add-ins?

~Tammy

Shared with Tweak It Tuesday, Sunny Simple Monday, Healthy Vegan Friday, From The Farm Blog Hop, What I Am Eating