"Hitchhikers on My Broccoli"

7 lbs harvested and more to come!

   Well I have started harvesting my daughters favorite veggie and that's "Broccoli"! Yes you heard me my kid loves what most kids don't. We all probably know about broccoli so I won't bore you with the facts on it but maybe we can talk about the "little hitchhikers" that road in from the garden. What are these little hitchhikers? They are broccoli worms! Larvae of the Broccoli Worm or Cabbage Worms prefer to feed on cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, turnips, radishes, kale, lettuce and weeds of the mustard family. They chew holes in the leaves and usually eat their way into broccoli heads from the bottom.

Look Close you can see them! 1 dark and 2 green!

 Broccoli is frequently plagued by these guys and other worms, but don't worry they won't hurt you! They will only really hurt your plants when they are vary small, once they get bigger they should be okay.
   You should clean them real well after you harvest your heads. I did read of a way to get rid of them, if you don't want to just pick them off and eat them like I do, lol! Just kiddin! Bring your broccoli indoors and soak it in a water bath that is 1 part salt to 5 parts water, using cold water. Soak the broccoli for approximately 25 minutes and then rinse it under fast moving water. I tried it and it works great! I would recommend "swarshing" it back and forth. That is "Jethro Bodine" , for moving it back and forth in the water. Far dose of yall dat don't know why I callz myself Jethro sometimes, clink on da link given fur a good chuckle!

 Here is a little history on "Broccoli" from Wikipedia:

Broccoli was derived from cultivated leafy cole crops in the Northern Mediterranean in about the 6th century BCE. Since the Roman Empire, broccoli has been considered a uniquely valuable food among Italians. Broccoli was bought to England from Antwerp in the mid-1700s by Peter Scheemakers.  Broccoli was first introduced to the United States by Italian immigrants but did not become widely known until the 1920s.

If you would like lots of Nutritional Facts on Broccoli Click Here!

Genesis 9:3 "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything."


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Are You A Secret Follower of Jesus?

  I have heard people say that they just didn't feel as though they should talk to people about the gospel of Jesus Christ! Or they felt like just living a right life in front of people was enough. Yes, living a right life in front of others is awesome, but at the end of 2 of the Gospels (Matthew and Luke) we are all given not only a commission but a command (that is if you are a born again christian)! A command to proclaim the gospel or speak the Gospel, but don't take my word for it, look in the Bible for yourself. 
   So this gets me to the titled question: "Are you a secret follower of Jesus?" Are you afraid to tell people that their Debt of Sin has been paid by your Savior Jesus Christ? Do you just go to church on Sundays to stay in good graces with Jesus or your Pastor and just try to not cuss or lie, try not to drink, try to just do the best you can and not break any of the Ten Commandments, the rest of the week? If your answer is yes, then you may want to read these next few scriptures.

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.¹⁴  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Mark 8:38 "For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Psalm 34:5 "Those who look to him are radiant,  and their faces shall never be ashamed."

Romans 1:16 " For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

1 Peter 4:16 "Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name."

  So if we are to be the salt of the earth and shine the light of Jesus. If we are not to be ashamed of Jesus and share His gospel message with others. If we are supposed to glorify God with the name of Christian! Then how then  can we be a secret disciple of Jesus? How can we go to church on Sunday and not talk about Him as the week goes on? Well, I will let scripture answer these questions!

Matthew 15:18 "But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person."

  In simple terms, "What is truly in a persons heart comes out of a persons mouth" or "whatever you are truly into or interested in you will talk about". I didn't say this scripture has! God bless you! 


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Encourage Our Next Generation of Children!

   There are many lost arts and traditions from our past that are dieing due to the lack of teaching our young children how to do the things we were taught growing up. Instead of us teaching them things that are important and the skills necessary to be self reliable and self sustainable in life , we allow the T.V., XBox and other people to raise our children in the way they believe they should be taught. Not teaching our children simple things like gardening, needle work, hands on skills that built this nation, farming and (most important) fundamental Bible teachings is destroying our nation and its youth. Those are just a few things they need taught and I am not posting on a soap box, I am just trying to bring to the realization that if we don't start focusing on the things that matter most in our lives, we may end up raising a generation of children of unequipped adults that wont know how to responded after we are gone.

Being taught!

    So start teaching your children things of the past, things that will help them in everyday life after we are gone. They can't move forward if we don't know and understand where they have been. Find community gardens to get them involved in, 4H, stitching clubs, Sunday school, anything to get the kids involved in something besides a "dummy box". I guess what I am saying is this, kids are the next generation, lets prepare them!

Some of my wife's work!

  If you have any links or sites that you can think of please list the below for all of us to go visit. After the traffic dies down on this thread I will create a link group on the side of my blog for all the links. Anything that you can think of and any area you can think of will help. 

  

Here are a couple of ways:

Your local Church! 

My wifes blog, "Maple Cottage Stitcher" 

KidsGardening.org

4-H.org

Youth Farmers and Ranchers

American Needlepoint Guild

So get involved with the children. If you don't have a local organization for your area, start one! God Bless each of you!

Deuteronomy 11:You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

R.C.H. Lenski said "As the flower in the garden stretches toward the light of the sun, so there is in the child a mysterious inclination toward the eternal light. Have you ever noticed this mysterious thing that when you tell the smallest child about God, [he or she] never asks with strangeness and wonder, “What or who is God – I have never seen Him,” but listens with shining face to the words as though they soft loving sounds from the land of home. Or when you teach a child to fold [his or her] little hands in prayer that [he or she] does this as though it were a matter of course, as though [it was] opening for [the child] that world of which [he or she] had been dreaming with longing and anticipation. Or tell them, these little ones, the stories of the Savior, show them the pictures with scenes and personages of the Bible – how their pure eyes shine, how their little hearts beat."

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Whats Growning on around here??? #2

I just want to show you what was growing around here in this wonderful month of May, 2012! It has been very busy, with the garden, yard, kids and going back to a 10 hour day, 6 day a week job! I had to take today off just to rest my broken down shoulder, lol! Well enough crying and on with the show!

Raised Bed of Broccoli, Beets and Cauliflower

Potatoes in the buckets, Tomatoes, Bell peppers and Basil!

Pole Beans, Cucumbers, Yellow Squash and Zucchini

  And just a couple of our pretty flowers from around the yard! Everything is blooming well! Hosta, Day Lillie's, Corabel's, Hydrangeas are starting to bud up. So much going on and very little time!
***To learn more on "Raised Bed Gardening" Click Here! To Learn about "HugelKulture" Click Here! To watch "The Back To Eden" video, Click Here!

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Ecclesiastes 3:

1 To everything there is a season,
    A time for every purpose under heaven:

² A time to be born,
    And a time to die;
A time to plant,
    And a time to pluck what is planted;

"CHURCH IN THE WEEDS"

I was sent this in an e-mail the other day and had to share with you all!

"CHURCH IN THE WEEDS"

From Google Image

Just two little boys walking down this dusty lane...
They came upon this old white house...
With broken window panes
The paint was faded, the shine was gone...
The grass had grown so high...
Still they made their little feet,
Go see what was inside.
They opened up the squeaky door and then it came to light...
This must have been an old church house... Once upon a time.
Dirty, dusty wooden pews...
A pulpit that still stood....
A Bible lay upon it... Though the pages weren't too good..
An offering plate and song books too... Were lying on the floor.
They must have left this old church fast... The day they closed these
doors.
And over in the corner... A piano was still there, It must have played a
pretty tune... But I guess nobody really cared.

So little Bill looked up at Tommy... And Tommy looked at Bill...
Why don't we clean this old church up, and get these old pews filled?'
They took a rag and wiped the dust... To try and make things shine...
And then they took the offering plate... And put in it their last dime.
They took a broom and swept the floor...
And picked up broken glass...
They got it all so nice and neat...
And then they mowed the grass.
They lifted up the old church sign... And stood it by a tree....
Right down by that old dirt road where every one could see.

They ran back home, to find Daddy gone but their Momma was inside..
Just to find her hurt again... Where Daddy had made her cry.
'Don't cry Momma, wipe those tears,' Little Bill and Tommy smiled...
'Cause we have a big surprise for you... Just down the road a mile.'
Hand in hand they tugged at her, until they made her run....
'What is it Bill, Oh Tommy, just what have you two kids done?'
And then they came upon the house... Once hidden by the weeds...
And there it stood a country church... Just like it used to be.

'But what is it, Mother? What's with your tears?
We thought this would bring you joy.'
'Yes, but hush kids now and listen close...
My two sweet precious boys.'

They both got quiet and stood real still... For the words they heard so
true...
Was Daddy praying in the church... With his head bowed on the pew.
'Forgive me Lord! Forgive me Lord! Though I'm not worthy of Your love...
Shine down on this sinner man, sweet Salvation from above.'
'For I've been out in the world, you know... Living my life all wrong...
Until I came upon this church; the place where I belong.'
'I never noticed it before... All those times I passed it up...
I guess I wasn't looking, Lord.... Or maybe I was drunk..'
'Bless oh Lord, yes, bless oh Lord.... The one who made me see..
This little church that used to hide.... Behind all those tall weeds.'

And then he raised his head and stood... With his hands high in the
air...

"Hardening Off"

"I don't want to go outside!"

Wow! When you hear a a couple of words like that you would think you need more than a six grade education to understand that one! But you don't have to be in the higher institutes of learning to understand what "Hardening off" is. All it is, is getting your plants accumulated to the outdoor temperatures. Remember they have been tucked in to a nice warm building, under warm grow lights, they have had a breeze blowing on them and all the water they can handle! Sounds like a vacation for me, how about you all? So here are a few quick tips on how to harden off.

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1. Harden off gradually, so that seedlings become accustomed to strong sunlight, cool nights and less-frequent watering over a 7-10 day period.
2. On a mild day, start with 2-3 hours of sun in a sheltered location.
3. Protect seedlings from strong sun, wind, hard rain and cool temperatures.
4. Use an automatically opening cold frame, if you have one.
5. Increase exposure to sunlight a few additional hours at a time and gradually reduce frequency of watering, but do not allow seedlings to wilt. Avoid fertilizing.
6. Keep an eye on the weather and listen to the low temperature prediction. If temperatures below the crop's minimum are forecast, bring the plants indoors or close the cold frame and cover it with a blanket or other insulation.
7. Gradually increase exposure to cold.
8. After transplanting to the garden, use a weak fertilizer solution to get transplants growing again and to help avoid transplant shock.You can also use a cup of warm water to help with the transfer!

"How to trim a Rhododendron"

  It has been a very busy week for me and I haven't even been on the computer! But I did get something done in the yard! As you know here in the "Mountain State", The Rhododendron, or “great laurel,” is the state flower. It was selected on January 29, 1903, by the Legislature, following a vote by kids in public schools. It is a shrub of the heath family and may be recognized by its large, dark evergreen leaves and mostly light pink, but many colored flowers! Most people have one in their yards as we do. When we moved in it looked like a Charlie Brown shrub, only about a foot tall. But after many years it looks like this and need a good trim!

Before I started!

6' ladder and half way done!

Finished!!!!!

  It really isn't rocket science! Just do it in the fall or spring. I did it right after the blooms went away so we could enjoy them this year. You don't have to take off as much as I did or you can take off more. YOU DECIDE! I have usually just taken off the new growth in the past but it was time for a big hair cut. Now the Azalea beside it looks a little lop sided. Well don't be scared to do it, just get in their and do it! God Bless you all and happy Mothers day!

Romans 11:24 "For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?"

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