Fresh From the Farm Blog

Fast cars with swoopy designs and bright shiny colors…all raced down the special track by the kids that built them. We spent Saturday morning at the “Pinewood Derby” sponsored by our grandsons’ Cub Scout pack. We watched hopeful racers place their cars on the track behind the starting block with eager faces. Once the starting board dropped, gravity ruled the day. Which car would have just exactly the right combination of weight, body design and aerodynamics to cross the finish line first? Much effort went into making the day a success and a little luck didn’t hurt either. I was...

Looking around our kitchen I noticed several packets of seeds tucked in beside my organization basket next to the kitchen phone. Looking through them, I remembered buying them in the fall but had forgotten all about them. I was excited to find the packets of sweet pea seeds, and memories of planting these with my grandmother and later with my father-in-law flooded my mind and made me smile.  I remember soaking the seeds overnight before planting them into pots or into the ground next to a fence. As the pea vines grow, they will climb up a fence or trellis...

Things are busy in Fredericksburg this week as young people are getting ready for the Gillespie County Junior Livestock Show which starts Thursday morning bright and early! Fredericksburg Farms has been an award sponsor for years and a frequent buyer at the premium auction following the show. Both FFA and 4-H members from the area will be adding finishing touches to their animal entries. All of the hard work raising and caring for these animal projects will hopefully pay off when they go before the judges in the show ring. Our kids raised hogs and steers for 4-H and we...

January can sometimes be a letdown after all of the hustle and bustle of December. We have taken all of the ornaments off the Christmas tree at Fredericksburg Farms and have packed away all of our stockings, and holiday decorations ready to come out next December 1. The last of the holiday goodies and treats are going away in the lunchroom which is a good thing for my waistline. Looking out the window in my office I see brown grass and frozen plants in the garden and flower planters. Time to trim back the dead growth and work the soil...

Remember those bananas you planned to eat with your healthy oatmeal? Or the bananas you bought for the grandkids only to find out that they no longer eat them, in fact they now “hate them.” Well, don’t despair! The peels may have turned black but the banana inside will be super sweet…perfect for banana bread, muffins, or pancakes. How often I find that things I may think are no longer good or of any use can be transformed into something totally new. It just takes being open to new ideas and thinking creatively. We live in a disposable world…throw away...