Even though we all are thinking about springtime, gardening and outdoor activities, Winter stopped by to smack us all upside the head again this past weekend. Lovely, bone chilling rain and sleet hit the farm around 5:30 pm Saturday.
And left this for a Sunday morning’s sunrise at 8:00 am.
And ended with beautiful sunshine at 5:30 pm that evening…
It was way too cold and windy to be outdoors. There was really nothing to do but indoor things. Quite frankly, I’ve had enough of this cold, damp weather. Soup sounded like the right thing to be made, and a hot loaf of bread to warm up the kitchen.
I had a good bit of ingredients sitting around that needed used up. Leftover sausage and ham, some wilted green beans left behind from Easter dinner, as well as some tomatoes that were starting to go soft. Oh, and a very, very pale cabbage! And I always have carrots, celery, garlic and onions on hand. But who doesn’t?
Everything was screaming “Minestrone,” so that’s what came to be. Minus the pasta. I’m not a big fan of pasta in my soup unless its homemade chicken noodle or a wonton.
While the soup was simmering I got busy modifying the incubator to hold quail eggs. I cut the bottoms from an egg carton so the tiny quail wouldn’t fall through the openings the eggs sit in. Hopefully the 12 little guys will still turn well enough so they develop correctly.
Then hen eggs were already loaded in previously. I had to add the quail eggs later because they have a much shorter incubation period. And I wanted to time it so that both sets of eggs should hatch around the same day, fingers crossed. Really, I just hope something hatches this time around or else it’s time to look into buying a more expensive thermometer…
After the eggs were all settled in for their warm slumber, I got to work starting more seeds.
I’m even toying around trying to start blueberries from seed. I know… I’m living dangerously.
I’m not a good gardener. And I’m not the best at keeping plants alive. So let’s hope for some good to come of all this effort, and that mother nature smiles down upon the garden this year. ~A
PS – I would love to hear your feedback and any tips you might have for me! : )
