Oh My, Prairie Flower Farm Is Hatching!

Mrs. Puddle Duck is a Momma!

Hello sweet ladies,

I am so excited to tell you that Prairie Flower Farm is all excited! The animals have not quit talking all over the farm since yesterday morning. Squacking, coca doodling, quacking, clucking, meowing, whinnying, gobble-gobbleing and a whole lot of barking. The news????????

Mrs. Puddle Duck has been having her, BABIES!!!!!!!

CHICKS AND DUCKS! A wonderful combination if you ask me!

I had as delivery date on my calendar for July 11 or 12th for the baby chicks and July 15th -17 for the baby ducks. She is right on time. A little early on the baby duck.This is quite confusing since Mrs. Puddle Duck has Mrs. Americana's 6 eggs that she is hatching along

with her 9 duck eggs.

Yesterday I went out to do my chores before church and along the side of Mrs. Puddle Duck was this adorable little yellow chick. I am so glad it is warm outside. (photo above)

I was afraid that our cats might be naughty, so this little one went in with Mrs. Red. She took the baby just fine. It is just a little bit tinier then the others. I will give Mrs. Red all the baby chicks.

We heard a little peeping going on last night when we checked Mrs. Puddle Duck and a baby duck was also hatching, didn't see it yet this morning. Hope all is okay.

I checked her again this morning. See the little tiny baby chick head? I haven't seen the baby duck yet. Can't wait!!!!!!

So much is going on. My farm girlfriend Gail called just a bit ago and said my other baby chicks we ordered way back were in as well. I can't remember what kind I even got. I will have to ask her. Gail said they were good layers for her, so we are trying them out. I will report on them tomorrow.

We had some of our family out yesterday. Our sons were building deer blinds on their property, so the women and children went to be with and picked sandhill plums.

We found so many, it felt like CHRISTmas. We were again reminded of the

goodness of the Lord, that He thought all of this up at the beginning of time! So He could

bless us with food. He is such a good Daddy to us!

The sandhill plums looked like huge cherries on the tree. We were so excited!!!!!!!!

I just had to show you the pic's. They were so beautiful.

You could grab a cluster in you hand at one time. That is when it is really fun!

Oh my...... if Grandma Jo was here she would been so excited. She went to pick sandhill plums when they were ready every year. It was always her treat to her family. She loved us so much and we all knew it. We always received it for CHRISTmas as a gift. I have carried on her tradition. It was so nummy then and now we are making it and it hasn't changed since! Our family loves it. We have been having problems with frost getting the plums, for some years, but the Lord has given us plenty to freeze and make some jam. The recipe is simple and can be found on a package of Ball Easy Gel Liquid Fruit Pectin.

I do mine a little different then what the recipe tells me on the box. I DO NOT pit the plums.

I put my plums in a large 6qt. cooking pot and fill to the top with water.

I get as much juice as I can.

So, if you are making a batch of jam, have at least 4 1/2 cup plums. Then follow the recipe from the Ball Easy Gel Liquid Fruit Pectin. It is not hard TO MAKE HONEST!!!!!!!!!

If you want to follow our family recipe here it is:

Grandma Jo always said, that you needed to have red and some pink/yellowish plums.

This is what made good sweet with tart taste in your jam. I agree.

Grandma Ethels and Grandma Jo's Sandhill Plum Jam

for each recipe of jam you need:

4 cups juice with pulp

7 cups of sugar

1 package of dry or liquid Ball pectin.

Fill a 6qt. cooking pot full of plums/pit. Fill almost to the top with water. This will get you the juice you need for the recipe. Let simmer until the plums are mushy. Make sure your fire is not blazing. You just want a slow simmer. Same when you are cooking the jam. Always stay there and stir! I have been known to ruin my jam.

I use this kind of strainer You can buy one here. If you don't have this, use cheese cloth. That is very easy to use as well.

Get all the juice and pulp that you can get. Add your sugar to the juice. I like to add 1/2 tea, of butter to reduce foaming at this time. Cook mixture until it comes to a full rolling boil, that cannot be stirred down, over med heat. Add Ball liquid fruit pectin. Continue hard boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam, if necessary.

This is what my front room floor looks like. I laid a sheet folded in half on the floor. Then I spread the plums all out. If you keep them in the containers that you picked them in they get to hot and ferment.

I sooooooo wish I could send you each a box of sand hill plums.

We checked it would cost about $10.oo just to send it! Why does everything have to cost so much?

When we got home last night everyone was hungry, so we set the momma's and children out to get some basil to make pesto and tomatoes to make our Chunky Tomato Salsa . I have a post from last year that gives my recipe, if you would like to make. Taylor our youngest daughter made up her Famous Penne Spaghetti Bake.

I don't have a pic for this recipe, but thought I would still give the recipe to you. It is so nummy and super easy! Great recipe to make for a family in need!

Taylor's Famous Penne Spaghetti Bake.

1 pkg. of Penne noodles cooked

strain water off.

1 lb. hamburger, fried into little pieces.

Add hamburger to 1 jar of any kind of spaghetti sauce. Tay always doctors the sauce up with a little more italian herbs and 2 cloves of pressed garlic. Start with one layer of noodles on the bottom and then the spaghetti and meat mixture. Do this twice. On the top of each layer of sauce spread mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Bake until warm in a 350 degree oven.

She also baked some Herb Butter Bread up for us.

Use any kind of bread, hamburger buns or sliced french bread

You will need:

Herb Butter Bread

1/2 cup butter softened

1/2 tea. Italian herbs

2 pressed garlic cloves

1/2 tea. garlic salt

Spread over the bread. Shake parmesan on the top of butter. Broil until golden.

This is the best bread. After it is cooked spread a thin bit of pesto and Chunky Salsa on the

top. That makes it even better.

Click here for the recipes for:

PESTO and CHUNKY TOMATO SALSA recipes.

It is so nummy!

I know I have a lot on this post. So much to share! Do you have something going on your blog

that we all need to know about? Leave it in the comments for us.

Love you all bunches and lots of hugs from the farm.