Forget-Me-Not Homestead

Thank You

Life has been so blessedly full to overflowing this month here at Forget-Me-Not Homestead; with routine chores, gardening, canning, home improvement projects, friend and family gatherings, and homeschool planning.  But, I wanted to be sure to pop into my blog today, because it is my one-year anniversary with HomesteadBlogger!  And I'd like to thank each of you who have visited my blog, read my posts, and left nice comments.  Your kindness has meant so much to this newbie blogger.  I'd also like to thank all of you for your lovely, thoughtful blogs - each one is so unique.  I've learned much from many of them, and many have touched my heart.

Thank you dear blogging friends.  I'm looking forward to another year of lovely blogs and blogging.

Peace and blessings, Kim

I wanted to share a photo of what are, I think, the last of my summer flowers.  This is a bouquet of monkshood, foxglove, and lupines in my favorite blue Ball jar.

Amazing Duck Story

Wild Berries and Jam

One of my favorite summer pastimes is wild berry picking some of the many species of edible wild berries that grow here in Alaska.  I use the book, Alaska Wild Berry Guide and Cookbook for berry identification, and for most of my berry desserts and preserves.

I just finished making my first batch of jam this year, picked from wild berries growing on our homestead - eight 1/2 pints of salmonberry jam.  This first batch turned out a little runny, and the fruit is floating on the top, but it tastes delicious all the same on a warm, buttered slice of homemade bread.

A salmonberry looks like a large raspberry, but tastes more tart.  Its color is either orange or red.

PickYourOwn.org has a very helpful page about canning, as well as lists of pick your own farms, festivals, and events around the U.S. and other countries.

Here's a very helpful canning tip from Alaska Wild Berry Guide and Cookbook.

When making jelly or jam it is well to use a large kettle because the liquid increases greatly in bulk as it boils.  It may boil over and create an unholy mess if the saucepan is too small.

Mom's Garden

Sharing a few photos from my garden.

My 13 year-old youngest son gave me this "Mom's Garden" rock for Mother's Day this year.  It's so sweet, just like him.  Nestled in a patch of perennial geraniums, it cheers up this shady spot in my garden.

I love purple lupines.  I think they're simply lovely.

In the background of this photo is a 10' tall, dense thicket of wild salmonberries that will make delicious jam later this summer.

My dear husband and sons gave me this pretty little Miss Kim Lilac several years ago for Mother's Day.  They were so delighted to find a flower at the nursery with my name on it!  The memory of that day is so sweet.  The scent is light, but absolutely heavenly!

May we all enjoy God's blessings of beauty, joy, and abundance in our gardens this summer.

"Who loves a garden, still his Eden keeps."  ~ A.B. Alcott

Rain

"God created rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done."

I'm not sure who said this, but it certainly has been true for me this week!

Berry Cobbler

Hometown parades, barbecues, gardening, sunny days, berry picking, and delicious homemade berry desserts are some of the simple pleasures of summer.  Here's my recipe for Berry Cobbler.  It's best served warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Berry Filling:

• 2 pints Berries - I use wild blueberries or huckleberries, but whatever you have is fine.
• 3/4 Sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. Cornstarch
• 1 tsp. Lemon Juice

Pastry Dough:

• 1 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1/8 tsp. Cinnamon
• 3 tbsp. Cold Butter
• 3/4 cup Milk

1. Preheat oven to 400F.  Lightly grease 9-inch pie plate.  Toss all of the filling ingredients together in small bowl, then evenly distribute in pie plate.  Set aside.

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In another bowl, mix together a teaspoon of sugar and cinnamon.  Set aside.

3. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.  Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, pour in milk.  Stir with fork.  Drop by spoonfuls onto berries.  Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.

4. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

I've Been Tagged!

Leslie at A Mother's Heart tagged me.

At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

I was a 37 year old happy wife and mother; very busy mothering and homeschooling my 11, 7, and 3 year old sons.  Frugality, simplicity, gardening and homeschooling were, and still are, favorite interests.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?

I have a morning routine of chores I do every day, before I tackle anything else.  After that, I need to menu-plan and grocery list for some upcoming festivities. Also, the sun is just now peeking through the clouds, so I plan to go out in the garden and divide and relocate some of my monster perennial flowers before I get dinner started.

3. Snacks I enjoy:

I lost 23lbs this last winter, and I've been maintaining my weight loss by trying to avoid my favorite snacks which usually have chocolate in them.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

If I were a billionaire, I would pray that I would be a good steward of the money; helping others wherever I could and wherever needed.  I don't think I would own much more than I have now, other than a few small home improvements.  I'm very blessed.  I would also invest some of it wisely, so that I could keep on giving to others, and for the benefit of future generations in my family.

5. Places I have lived:

I lived in California and England over 25 years ago, which seems like a lifetime ago, because I've been married, and raised my family in Alaska.

I am tagging:

wannabeone

LaVonne54

mountainmama

anoldfashionedgirl

bodkin

christianmomali 

The Simple Life

"The simple life is one in which there is always time to remember the divine purpose behind each of our tasks, time to listen for a possible divine amendment to the day's schedule, and time to be thankful for the divine Presence at each moment of the day."

~ Lloyd Lee Wilson

Carrot Seeds

Today is a beautiful spring day here in Alaska.  A nice day to plant my favorite seeds - pelleted carrot seeds.  I like pelleted carrot seeds because you can plant a single seed at the correct spacing; there is no need to overplant the tiny carrot seeds, and then thin them out later.  Pelleted carrot seeds are a little more expensive.  I purchase mine from Territorial Seed Company; 250 seeds are $3.25, 1000 seeds are $7.45, 5000 seeds are $23.00.

For the last few years I've been purchasing Mokum pelleted carrot seeds for my square foot garden beds.  I like Mokum carrots because they're delicious, and because of their shorter time until maturity - 56 days.  Because of Alaska's short growing season, I always purchase seeds with the fewest days to maturity.

Here's a photo of a bunch of Mokum carrots from last year's harvest.

They look short and stubby because my raised beds are only 6" deep and the carrots have hit bedrock.  They look funny, but they taste great!

A Sweet,Beautiful Home

The following passage spoke to my heart.  I'm wishing all of you a very beautiful, blessed, and happy Mother's Day today and every day.  Peace and blessings, Kim

"Very largely does the wife hold in her hands as a sacred trust the happiness and the highest good of the hearts that nestle there.  In the last analysis, home happiness depends on the wife.

Her spirit gives the home its atmosphere.

Her hands fashion its beauty.

Her heart makes its love.

And the end is so worthy, so noble, so divine, that no woman who has been called to be a wife, and has listened to the call, should consider any price too great to pay, to be...

the light,

the joy,

the blessing,

the inspiration,

of a home.

The woman who makes a sweet, beautiful home, filling it with love and prayer and purity, is doing something better than anything else her hands could find to do beneath the skies.

A true mother is one of the holiest secrets of home happiness.  God sends many beautiful things to this world, many noble gifts; but no blessing is richer than that which He bestows in a mother who has learned love's lessons well, and has realized something of the meaning of her sacred calling."

~ J.R. Miller, Secrets of Happy Home Life, 1894

Garden Pleasures

"God Almighty first planted a Garden; and, indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures; it is the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man..."

~ Francis Bacon

Cottage Gardening

Spring is just around the corner, and I would like to share my favorite gardening book.  The Cottage Garden by Christopher Lloyd and Richard Bird is a well-written, comprehensive book for anyone seeking a cottage garden.  This book was written in England for English gardeners; but it can easily be read, enjoyed, and used by American cottage gardeners as well.

The Cottage Garden covers all aspects of cottage gardening, including; traditional cottage garden plants and plans, cottage garden features such as pathways, gates, and arbors; and tending the garden and using its produce.  Cottage garden history is covered as well.  My favorite aspect of this book are the dozens of inspiring color photos of beautiful cottage gardens.

In my own humble cottage garden I grow a variety of colorful perennial flowers, vines, and wildflowers.  I have a kitchen herb garden and square foot vegetable gardens.  The wilder areas of our little homestead have been abundantly blessed with wild blueberries, huckleberries, and salmonberries.

I have several good gardening books that I refer to throughtout the growing season; but The Cottage Garden is the one I pull out every spring for pure inspiration and beauty.

A lovely website to view photos of an English-style cottage flower garden thriving in Alaska can be found at Gardening, Alaskan Style. 

Friendship Sampler Quilt

The quilting ladies in my small town keep the lovely tradition of making a Friendship Sampler Quilt for friends and family to mark memorable occasions.  Friendship sampler quilts have been made for families moving away, having babies, weddings, and students graduating from high school.  

Each of the quilters will make a 12 1/2" x 12 1/2" block at home. This block can be any style, color, or fabric.  One of us, usually a more seasoned quilter, volunteers to take all the quilt blocks home and sew them together with borders in a solid color that compliments all the blocks.  After that is complete, we all meet at our town hall to tie and finish the quilt.  Even with all the different types and colors of blocks, these quilts always turn out beautiful.

Right now, we are busy working on a quilt for a dear family that is moving out of state soon.  I like to make the crazy quilt block.  I enjoy making this block because it looks so different every time I make it, and because I have many small pieces of fabric in my sewing basket waiting to be sewn into a  pretty block.  Also, the crazy quilt block is so forgiving if I make a creative flaw.  A pretty button, embroidery, or some beading can cover up a little piece of muslin showing through.

Here is a picture of the block I just finished.  I still need to embroider my name in the lower corner.

The center piece has a vine of forget-me-nots and berries on it, which grow freely in our town.

The Friendship Sampler Quilt is a precious gift to make, as well as receive.

Homemaking and the Soul

"The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."

~ Thomas Moore