Sunday, July 18, 2010

Freezing Sweet Corn Family Style

Mom and Dad have a grand set up for preparing sweet corn for freezing. Mom has it all stored in memory from previous years, along with suggestions on how to improve it this year.Dad usually follows instruction pretty well but on occasion disagrees. (Now you know where I learned the fine art of finger pointing. I got it from both of them.)Saturday we had a multi-generational gathering to process 25 dozen ears of corn. (Dad didn't know it but we had a birthday lunch prepared for him, too.) They cranked out the awning and set up the fan. Husks went right onto the truck bed for easy unloading later.
Dad divided the corn into boxes so we knew whose corn was being processed. I thought the corn was very nice. We purchased it from the Ebys on Feaster Road. After husking comes the final silk removal. This is Dad's drill strapped to a bench with a brush in place of a drill bit. It's noisy. I wore my ear plugs. Dave lent us his turkey cooker. It has a basket for easy ear removal. We cooked 2 dozen ears at a time. Then onto the two coolers set up with ice water.
Then the cutting, bagging and freezing happen.
At noon we had a lunch of hot dogs, barbeque, sweet corn (of course), watermelon, lemonade, birthday cake and ice cream. Afterward was time for story telling and cat naps.Kaden rescued the few worms we found and loaded them onto his truck for a ride around the patio. Madison loved playing with the garden hose.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Born 4.4.10 Brooke's Winnebago


Born 4.4.10 Brooke's Winnebago, originally uploaded by lamb lady.

The only single lamb of 2010, Brooke gave birth to black ram lamb, Winnebago on Easter morning.

Born 4.2.2010 Butterfly with Erie

First time mom, Butterfly, gave birth to twins Erie and Fox. Much to my dismay, Fox has become a bottle baby. Though he was sturdy and strong, she wanted nothing to do with him.

Born 4.2.10 Mesa's Mandan and Marameg

Born 4.2.10 Mesa's Mandan and Marameg, originally uploaded by lamb lady.

The first of three sets of twins born April 2. Ram Mandan (L) and dear ewe Marameg (L).

Born 4.2.2010 Bella's Seminole and Sugaree

I was so worried first time mom, Bella, would give me problems, but no, it was her sister Butterfly instead. Bella gave birth to ram lamb,Seminole (L) and ewe, Sugaree (center). They are doing great. She keeps them as far from me as she can.

Pima and Fox, Precious Bottle Babies

Fox (L) isButterfly's twin and Pima (R) is Leah's triplet. It's maddening when ewes reject a lamb. These babies have been a delight and good company to each other. My sister-in-law, Jane, provides their mid-day feedings while I'm at work.

Born 4.1.2010 Leah's Pequot and Paiute

Triplets Paiute (L) and Pequot (R). Brother Pima is my bottle baby. Smaller and weaker at birth, he didn't stand a chance with his stronger brothers. Leah and Cassie were delivering their triplets simutaneously.