Happenings Today and Grassfield High School Spring Craft Show Tomorrow

THIS IS this Saturday 02/23/2019 from 9-4pm in Chesapeake Virginia there are like 140 vendors from food, crafts, arts and so many great things.....I can't wait to see my buddies as I missed them ....this will be our first show of the year.  My son Colten even sent a message to me this morning as we sit in RAIN in the Gator taking care of animals and freezing....as I tell you I am always cold.....Colten says "Do you think we will have a market tomorrow?" YES COLTEN ITS INSIDE lol hahahahahaha YEP the show must go on!! 

Yeah so hopefully you can make it! 

As I type this Bruce is finishing up boxing soaps, I've printed labels etc etc..... made so many things....hoping for a GREAT YEAR! 

Soooo this is Colby packing the soap we have poured over 2000 YES I REPEAT 2000 so do I need to RPEAT that yes 2000 bars of soap just since January we were practically sold out nothing hardly left at all. So it was like starting from scratch....Colby and Bruce and Dusty pretty much got all the bars packaged in put in the boxes and labeled. I of course printed all the labels....I buy the blank labels from OnlineLABels.com which is an EXCELLENT place to get your labels from. They have a blank label for everything. So I do think we are ready..........HOPEFULLY! 

Wanted to share this adorable little hat that my dear friend Cheryl sent me over she lives a few counties over....I love it! I am a hat person,.....once again Im always cold lol so I flock to anything warm.....

I have some of my onions coming up.....YAY! 

Wanted to share our new rainwater catchment containers for my plants and garden Bruce did all this and in less than three rains we have filled up TWO of these....I will need to make a video on this 

You can see this is the first one FULL 

Coming back from the boy goat field one evening I saw this and thought oh yeah this place is AWESOME 

For some other updates I have been making videos and I am quite enjoying them however I am NO videographer  so just bear with me.......

This is the video on the seedlings and the seed mix we used 

This is the video on the dehydrating some herbs 

The day our meat chickens arrived as you know we try to grow and farm our own foods

This video is the video on the seed mats and the lights we used for our seedlings 

The video on the handmade gloves and hat by Brenda

So I have shared enough for today....but please if you can watch some of the videos let me know....THANKS 

Sunday I was soooooo HAPPY to get to go to our art group fo a visit it was wonderful seeing everyone and sitting and sharing and creating and eating..... 

Bruce came back to pick me up and we went to REI to get a few things bought two hats for the summer and I got new socks....we used our gift card we had and we only spent $7 bucks and Bruce said WOW this the cheapest we ever.....left REI spending definitely I Said......it was a good day!! So wonderful to see everyone and enjoy the good vibes and the inspiration it renews the soul!! Thanks everyone .......

Now to get back to work....we are making Kombucha  today again which is fine as we do love this stuff.....good thing to do in the rain....

Have a wonderful weekend and stay dry! 

Cyber hugs to all......

Dawn Gallop

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Places we will be this weekend...........Smithfield Farmers Market and Riverview Village Days Plus Some Baby Goats and Wildflowers

Hello everyone well it has been spring break all week and we had big plans......but you know how they can change in the blink of an eye. We have been cleaning up the limbs still from the March first Northeaster and Dusty had several ticks on him and of course one attached under his arm. Well Tuesday night he developed a "really bad headache" and then a fever......of course being a mom to nine kids and spending most of the years without any health insurance....you just don't run to the doc, you use all the home remedies and old school ways to relieve symptoms and "HEAL" and as nurse I also "know too much" you know the old saying "what you don't know won't hurt you, and what you do will." Well of course I got worried about the tick bite.....so I took him to the doctor on Wednesday and they ran some labs...and really no meds and all the labs came back normal and we would be waiting until Monday or Tuesday for the "tick borne" labs. He has been sick all week and he feels better during the day as long as you keep some children's Motrin in him. He was able to ride his scooter on Monday and Tuesday have bonfires at night and cook hotdogs on the fire, but it can really suck for a child to be on spring and be sick. My poor baby.......but as Dusty told the doctor he wasn't the baby of the family......I looked at him funny "what" then who is Dusty????? He said Ledger!!! LOL. Dusty he is your nephew and our grandson.....then I told him you might not be a baby but you are my baby! So its been a super busy week...well did you expect anything else???? LOL

We had more baby goats born and of course the bottling continues...the high tunnel preps and the greenhouse still full and growing. Still milking......which never stops...and of course we did extract honey late one night. 

Saturday is calling for rain and a sleet snow mix......really April and on coastal North Carolina yeah I'm still running heaters in the greenhouse at night but that is always expected. So IDK how this will go for tomorrow but I do plan on being at Smithfield Farmers Market tomorrow from 9-12 noon. So everyone think "NO RAIN" tomorrow morning and maybe it won't rain! 

April 7 Smithfield Farmers Market from 9-12 noon 

I have decided to attend the Riverview Village Market on the 2nd and 4th Sundays starting this Sunday.....as I told David the manager I was a little worried to attend more than one day a week even though its only two days a month mostly.....sigh I did this before (not Riverview) but attended more than one market a week and I tell you...then you can't be a farmer.....unless you have tons of help and can leave others to do your jobs. So this will be a new experiment for me this year.....as I will try again....yes I do need the money and YES most defiantly I want to do the best job I can.....so we shall see how my new adventure goes. Because to me Sunday is a day of rest or a day you want to just EASE into the day.  

Of course I made kombucha again this week and I tell you it took me all day pretty much 10 hours to make the teas and bottle the rest and transfer scobys etc.....its worth it totally as I tell you my husband Bruce really loves it! It is just soooo yummy..... if you want to see my recipe and how I do it go 

HERE 

this time I did grape and pineapple I got way more bottles I just needed to get them put up and out of the way for each batch, the hooch tops are the grape and the flag are the pineapple

This is catnip which has stayed alive all year in the high tunnel and now is flourishing 

The radishes are really growing and all the water lines are in and ready to go 

The seedlings are doing well in the greenhouse looking forward to going outside in the high tunnel

Early jalapenos I grew from seed....lots of them I will bring some to sell at the market

Some of the tomatoes growing 

the okra 

               Bruce built me more boxes this year so I am excited for that. See all the waterlines in

                                            The high tunnel is all ready now

                                                                    More of the boxes

One of the baby goats born this week 

Welcome little one 

My wildflower seeds came this week for the bees this year I ordered 5lbs which let me tell you is expensive, we had such awesome luck with the wildflowers last year we wanted to plant more for the bees plus its great ground cover and BEAUIFUL plus other pollinators love it too. 

These are some of the wildflowers we grew last year 

The field was loaded with flowers and you cans see the hive bodies behind the field 

Butterflies love them too 

of course the bees absolutely love them!! 

See all the hove boxes behind the flowers 

A friend of ours let us use his homemade extractor and it has helped out so much as we were doing four frames at a time with another borrowed extractor this extractor is automatic and holds ten frames plus you don't have t flip the frames each time! 

The uncapping tank 

Bruce uncapping the frames to extract the honey note all the hive body boxes in the background each needs to be extracted and full of frames full of honey, I know always too much to do 

uncapping the frames of honey 

the frame totally uncapped  

See the honey draining through the screen 

Coming out of the extractor 

You can see some of the BEE POST 

HERE

and 

HERE

and 

HERE

This is Milly who now has a new home and look at that SPOILED 

                                    Milly and Violet in their onesies and diapers #GOATLOVE

Bruce found this adorable turtle in the high tunnel of course I put him or her under the greenhouse for shade and plenty to eat 

You see how tiny it is 

I will be at both of these events coming up so please note that 

Well remember hope for no rain tomorrow......at least not at market time. Enjoy your weekend I am off to replant some more in the greenhouse and paint some more hive body boxes and then make some strawberry jalapeno as per request. Hope to see you this weekend. 

Until next week! 

Dawn Gallop

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My Kombucha Recipe and The Making of the Kombucha

Hello all I have been making kombucha since 2015 and I kinda feel like now I have sorta mastered it, no not ready to write a book on it but can share with you a bit of how I do it and how much my husband and I enjoy it. So at the bottom I am putting in my recipe and where I originally got the Scoby (Symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast)  We have been making beer and wine off and on for year since like 2001really it may have been more like 1997 or so I can't really remember. We first learned of this at Wine and Cake Hobbies in Norfolk Virginia. We have been loyal customers since I know like 1988 or 1989 I was going there trying to figure out cake decorating when my oldest son Bruce Jr. was a baby. He is now 31 years old. Wine and Cake Hobbies have been excellent in providing me a place to shop and teach for all my hobby needs over the years. I have bought all my bottles from there and wine making and beer making supplies. Oh and cheese making ingredients. Chris can order you a Scoby from Wine and Cake too.  Thanks Wine and Cake!!  

This is the Butterfly Pea Scoby which turns the most beautiful purple color, and not to mention taste Yummy! It is made with the butterfly pea flower tea which is a caffeine free tea. The tea possess many antioxidants. Known as Clitoria Ternatea, Asian Pigeon wings and other names like blue pea. Known for brain booster, anti-stress, and calming your nerves. Has many properties for providing many health related issues. Great for stress and anxiety. An amazing herb which could be f=grown around here at least in the summer. It is known for Zone 9. You can buy seeds to grow some right here. You can buy the tea flowers HERE  You buy your Scoby with some of the Butterfly Pea Tea at Zenobia's Garden

This is one of the places I have bought excellent healthy Scoby's from and they are amazing they ship fast and everything comes with excellent instructions. 

This is another pic of the butterfly pea scoby I always wear gloves with so you don't transfer any germs or oils from your hands 

I use some of the half gallon Ball jars and old pickle jars (which I learned something amazing from Tiffany Don't Waste the Crumbs) which you soak the jars full of hot water and Dawn Dish soap and soak turned upside down for several days and I tell you it works!!!! When you dump the soapy water out and wash like normal and dry there is no vinegar pickle smell left behind and you can now use the pickle jars for really anything. I also use the 2 1/2 gallon jars you buy from Target or Walmart which we have had for many years. They used to be $9 bucks at Walmart and I stored a lot of stuff in them like my cookie cutters, flour, and other stuff. We only use purified drinking water and we also use that to make the tea too. We have the stick on thermometers on most of the jars, the ideal temp for kombucha is 75 -85 degrees Farenheight. Which is perfect for fermentation. I have a few of the heating blankets jars from Amazon.

See Recipe Below

Bruce usually makes all the tea which I do all the bottling and the second fermentations 

This is one of the first batches and where I split the scoby I add different things for the second fermentation like Welche's Grape Juice 100% juice, Dole Pineapple Juice, ginger, apple juice, its endless. 

These Grolsch bottles are ready for the second fermentations

These are the grape after the second fermentation. See all the bubbles and fizz

I enjoy at least one a day whether in the car of just working around the farm 

This is the pineapple ginger (just grate up a thumb size piece of ginger root) add some to each bottle and add the pineapple usually about a 1/4 cup per bottle and then add the tea allow to sit for several days (all depending on the temps) and once you have the fizz or carbonated part then you have a delicious kombucha or aka at my house as a buch or a buchi 

We make a lot every time for all to enjoy 

Note the stick on bottle thermometer 

a perfect little one gallon jar scoby 

another perfect scoby 

I cover all the jars with muslin and a rubberband and also a crochet cloth or towel if you have issues with the fruit flies especially in summer and fall just have to make sure those little bugs do not get into your buch as they love that fermented smell and will do anything to get to it. So keep it covered well. 

One of the 2 1/2 gallon jars with the large scoby it is best to let your scoby be at last about a 1/4 of an thick 

I also add freezer tape to all the bottles and the brewing jars 

Note the grated ginger in the flat dish to add to bottles of kombucha the bottles are best to rinsed first with a sanitize or no rinse solution like C-Brite you can also buy the bottle drying racks HERE

                                                          Kombucha Recipe

12 Cups of  Purified Water to start (I use one gallon for each batch)
8 Tea bags of Oolong Tea or Black Tea 
1 cup of cane sugar we use the Organic one 
2 Cups of kombucha from a previous batch or if you don't have that or it didn't come with your scoby use one cup of white distilled vinegar I always have the kombucha from a previous batch and it is best to buy the scoby with the extra kombucha 

We brew the tea in a coffee pot filled with the purified water (you don't want any chlorine in the water so I buy the purified water in the jugs)
once brewed add the organic cane sugar and then pour the rest of the gallon of the water in the tea sugar mix allow to cool to approx. 80 degrees then add your  kombucha brew from a previous batch or the white distilled vinegar. Mix in and then place the scoby in.  Then cover well it muslin cloth and a rubber band as you don't want any bugs to get into the tea. I cover with crocheted towels too to try to avoid in penetration of the fruit flies. As they love the stuff.  

I do use some of the bottles from my beer making days and cap with "hooch" bottle caps or the flags If you can't find stuff you want on the Wine and Cake Hobbies Website you can call and they will guide you thru an over the phone order.

These are from the wine and cake hobbies store bottles and item number 

On Valentine's Day I got to make one of my original heart chocolate chip cookies which my family got to enjoy. It was like "old times" I used to make these every year and I still have many of these pans which I will eventually be listing on Ebay as I am going to sell all my cakes pans too. They are all Wilton. 

Ledger celebrated his First Valentine's Day .....#adorable  

Really mom???? 

Dusty got him some new Converse shoes we called the Journeys after the Landstown Craft show and picked them up for him, I was glad I made enough to get them as he certainly has enjoyed these new shoes.  

Converse last a long time too.....they are one shoe I don't  mind spending good money on as Dusty has had a lot of shoes that just don't last no time. 

We have also been working on the greenhouse and I should be planting all my seeds within the week. 

I'm glad to see these cups filled let me tell you it seems to take forever....but we now have both sides completed 

My wonderful neighbor Linda who always thinks of me and is like and angel and when things are tough and I am going thru things more than you can control or sometimes beyond your own control. Linda shows up with bag and hands it to me and wanted to let me know that her Prayer group has been thinking and praying for me and they made me this beautiful prayer shawl. Which brought tears to my eyes and I have been wearing it as much as I can it just makes you feel better. THANK YOU LINDA and THE PRAYER GROUP.......

This is the poem that came with the bag. Again thank you all so much!!!!

This is where we will be next Saturday for another craft show so if you can make it out stop by and see us. 

Have a great week,

Dawn Gallop

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