Tuesday, November 24, 2015

KitchenAid Mixer Giveaway!

Hey y'all! Miss Angie over at MySoCalledChaos is hosting another awesome giveaway!


Enter to win a Kitchenaid Mixer Wowza, do we have a special treat for you just in time for the holidays! I've banded together with Angie over at My So-Called Chaos, her sponsors, and some other wonderful bloggers and people to offer all of you lucky readers a Kitchenaid Mixer. Do you want to win a Kitchenaid Mixer? Good-read on to enter! Angie asked the wonderful people participating in this giveaway with me to share their favorite holiday treats with you. Maybe our answers will inspire you, and if you win, you can make those treats in your brand new kitchen baby. *Swoon!* So here are the lovely ladies involved, and their favorite holiday treats: Kitchenaid Giveaway Sponsors "To kick this off, I'll share that my favorite holiday treat is Pumpkin Pie. I know, it's totally basic, but a good homemade pumpkin pie is something I look forward to all year long. That and all the festive holiday coffee options-love!" - Angie from "There's something just so classic and comforting about freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and a tall glass of cold milk. I bake them every year because the smell stirs up the best childhood memories." - Kimi from Kimi Who "I recently made Buckeye Brookies! They are a twist on an old Ohio classic. I made them on Monday and by Wednesday they were totally devoured. Everyone loved them and was asking me when I was going to make them again! Looks like I've found my signature sweet treat!" - Stephanie from Wife Mommy Me "I am definitely a sweet eater! I love just about any sweet, but when it comes around to the holidays, I'm in love with cream puffs. If you haven't ever had a cream puff, its a dough filled with a cream cheese mixture feeling. It is a must try this holiday!" - Ashley from Simply Ashley Nichole "Churros with dulce de leche!, it's sweet and crunchy, and I just love the creaminess of the dulce de leche, it could also be Nutella!" - Gaila from Petit Gourmet "My favorite holiday sweet treat is Christmas cookies. I love cookies year round, but the cookies my family makes around the holidays are super delicious. I love my Grandmama's shortbread and my Aunt's sugar cookies. I also like to make cookies and make some awesome chocolate chip cookies." - Christina from Cali Darling "My favorite treat is homemade Caramel Apple Pie. I'm not great at baking but I can make some delicious pie and this one is by far my best. I'm proud of it every time I cook it and it's absolutely delicious." - Bethany from Stella Kenton Body Shop "My favorite holiday treat would have to be brownies or cookies, wait maybe Pie. Lol I love all three. How can I choose? But I do need them to have some time of holiday spirit on them such as peppermint." - Jasmine from Classy, Sassy, and a Bit Smartassy "Definitely hot chocolate! Maybe with a shot of espresso? It reminds me of colder weather (I live in Florida!) and cozy blankets! There's a comfort in holding something warm." - Samantha from Samanthability "My favorite holiday sweet treat is simply hot milk with cinnamon. I think cinnamon immediately drives me to the Christmas atmosphere as for the whiteness of the milk that reminds me of snow falling down." - Caterina from Kate/idoscope "Cookies....because who doesn't love cookies? :)" - Linda from Brunch with Joy "Every Christmas, my grandparents in New Jersey ship us out kiffles from the Kiffle Kitchen Bakery in PA, and they're by far my favorite holiday sweet treat! I love them because they remind me of the holidays in NJ when I was a child! Now that I'm across the country in AZ, it's nice to have a little something that reminds me of home during the holidays." - Nicole from Violet & Vine "Our favourite holiday sweet treat is a chocolate candy called Almond Roca. It comes out in the stores around the holidays. It's toffee wrapped with chocolate and almonds." - Tript and Prabh from Footnotes & Finds "Anything with chocolate - white, milk or dark, I love it all!" - Ang from Juggling Act Momma "A big ol' piece of pumpkin pie covered in Cool Whip! But, minus the crust. I eat around that nonsense ;)" - Leeann from Join the Gossip "I love my mom's homemade butter cookies. Her baking always fills up the house with a fantastic smell that reminds me of the holidays. I remember sneaking cookies that just came out of the oven. So good!" - Jessica from Living La Vida Holoka "My favorite holiday sweet treat is pumpkin pie, although I have met very few cookies I don't like. I love the spices of the pie and it brings lots of fond memories. Plus, I love to squirt the whipped cream in my grand kid's mouths." - Kathleen from Fearlessly Creative Mammas "I love homemade toffee - one bite takes me back to sneaking pieces off my grandma's kitchen counter during the holidays!" - Heather from All Roads Lead to the Kitchen "I love cinnamon rolls. The sweet smell. The warmth. It just is perfect for the fall and winter time!" - Amanda from Green Tea & Cotton "My favourite holiday sweet treat is something we get in the UK called After Eight Mints. They're absolutely delicious and I can't imagine not indulging in a few (or half a box) after dinner on Christmas Day!" - Louise from With Love From Lou "Every Christmas we host a Family Cookie Day, so I have to go with Butterscotch Haystacks as my favorite holiday sweet treat. Eating them brings back great memories of my youth." - Darcey from Foodie & Wine "Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls - they're a tradition in our family and I've been making them for my kids for about 15 years!" - Julie from Mom Fabulous "Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies because they're good with coffee or after dinner." - Tiara from Ice Cream & French Fries "It's so simple (and might sound totally lame) but I love Peanut Butter Blossoms. Every holiday season I crave them!" - Mary from Vindulge "My favorite holiday sweet treat are Hershey kiss peanut butter cookies! There is something that just screams holidays when I'm stuffing them in my mouth by the handfuls, haha!" - Amanda from Little Lady Little City "I love hot chocolate and fudge! Hot chocolate just reminds me of the cooler weather and fudge reminds me of Christmas time!" - Alissia from Stay at Home Mompreneur "Sugar cookies topped with sprinkles are my favorite! They are so simple to make and taste delicious." - Krystal from The Krystal Diaries

Enter the Giveaway

Prize is one Kitchenaid Stand Mixer in your choice of color (as long as that color is no more than $300 value currently on Amazon) This giveaway is open Worldwide (Internationa winners will receive $300 Paypal cash instead to purchase from an international site) and ends on 12/8/15 at 12AM. Entries will be verified and entering below agrees to full terms and conditions within the Rafflecopter widget.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

12 Days of Christmas Swap!

Do you like to join blog swaps? 
The fabulous ladies over at Chaotic Goddess Swaps are hosting another great one! Come join us, sign ups are over Nov 16! This is a really fun one and it's a great way to get to know others in the blogging community!

Thursday, November 5, 2015

October Wrap-up // November Goals & a Wedding!

So, I last left you with getting my garlic bed ready.. Well, it's just sitting there, wet, empty and sad. It has been raining off and on for weeks and I'm scared to plant anything because I don't want it to rot from too much water.
Aside from too much rain, October was great! We had a wonderful Halloween week and the weeks leading up to it were just as fun. There was a party at Liv's school, a party at our dear friends' farm and of course trick-or-treating! 

And on Sunday, November 1, my best friend married an amazing woman! I am so happy for them and I'm honored I was there to see it. 
  

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It's that time again! First let's go over my October goals, the successes and shortcomings.
☾ Take summer plants out of garden and prepare for garlic and onion planting Did it!

Post at least 1 blog post a week. (I really really need to get back into blogging.)  Almost. I should have had at least 5 posts and I did 3.
Apply for two new farmers markets/craft shows. Kind of. I applied for one. Buckle down and market SK daily online, again. Yup! ☾ Start marketing farm more - sell more seeds/focus on WitLift. Nope. Got to setting it back up but didn't post anything.
☆ Take a further leap of faith and actually start letting people know about my future CSA GoFundMe..  NOPE :(
Get everything set up with the city for our new house--most important one. Yes! The process has begun!

How did you do on your monthly goals? 
 My goals for November are somewhat similar. Plus a few holiday related things! I am so excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas time. I just love November and December!

☾ Finish planting indoor winter herb garden.
☆ Write a post about planning & planting an indoor herb garden.
☾ Pack up summer clothes.
☆ Go through games, toys, and books for donations.
☾ Do yoga everyday. My body and spirit needs it! 
Get holiday gift sets posted to my store.
☾ Hold a giveaway on my blog.
☆ Make Joe's lunch for work at least 4 days a week. He needs it for his health and we need to cut our extra expenses (and for good reason, we're so close to finalizing our new home!) 
Walk at least 3 miles a day. Does anyone else have the app Pacer?
 
I'm excited to get these goals done and conquered! What are your November goals? 

Monthly Goals Link-Up

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Garlic Day part 1

Today is garlic planting prep day and, I must confess, I'm terrified. I have no idea what I'm doing. I hope this works out. I've never planted garlic before and after my potato failure and the murder of my onions  I just don't know if I'm a root vegetable type of gal (assistant to our main man that helps with our yard put a weed whacker in my FENCED onion bed and killed them all). Today I'm going to finish weeding, hand till with my trusty garden hoe, mix in chicken manure, used coffee grounds and our chickens' egg shells, water it all in, mix it again and make some raised rows. I'll place the garlic bulbs in the ground on Saturday. 
We are trying two types of garlic, Samarkand and Kettle River Giant; both are organic Heirloom varieties from Seed Savers Exchange. I did some math, and if all goes well, we'll end up with 15-22 pounds of garlic at harvest! 2-3 pounds will be saved for replanting and the rest will be eaten fresh or preserved. I can't wait.

Have you planted garlic? Or any root type of vegetable? What are your secrets to success?


CSA  Dreams/Crowd-sourcing-->Here

Sunday, October 11, 2015

See ya in space, my friend...

Can you believe it's already October 11th? I can't. Where is time going? Old age makes time space go much faster; I am not a fan. 
This past week and a half has been a rough one. We had to go to Ohio to celebrate the life of my stepbrother, Greg. He unexpectedly passed due to complications in his journey for better health (chemo to kill what little immune system he had left to receive a bone marrow cell transplant which was supposed to ultimately make him better/stronger than he was.)
 It's been said that tragedy brings people together. Unfortunately, that is the case here. I had no idea how many wonderful, amazing cousins I had on my stepdad's side of the family and I'm honored and incredibly proud knowing that they stood by his side during all of this until I could join them. Greg was all about family, friends and love. He had a veil over his eyes and mind that I used to think of as an adolescent way of thinking and living. But, now I wish I could have that veil. That complete, seriously true happiness that he carried everywhere with him, he never saw the negative, he never felt bad feelings, and trust me they were there and we had to combat that hate with love this past week. Greg literally smiled and happily bounced his way through life, like he couldn't see the existence of something that wasn't positive. He always wanted everyone to be together and sadly it took him leaving us to finally do just that. And ya know what, when we did, we found that we were and are a force to be reckoned with. I'm sorry it took us so long Greg, but you were right. We all love each other and we couldn't have done it without you. We'll do our best to honor you until we're able to see you again, when we can all happily bounce around the stars together.

Friday, October 2, 2015

October Goals and a Cute Chicken Update!

It's a new season and with new seasons come new beginnings! I haven't joined a blog link-up in a while, but times are a changin'.

My goals for this month are quite simple..
  ☾ Take summer plants out of garden and prepare for garlic and onion planting.

Post at least 1 blog post a week. (I really really need to get back into blogging.)
Apply for two new farmers markets/craft shows.
Buckle down and market SK daily online, again.
☾ Start marketing farm more - sell more seeds/focus on WitLift.
☆ Take a further leap of faith and actually start letting people know about my future CSA GoFundMe.. I don't know why I'm so nervous about it, maybe the fact I hate asking for money, but it's to ultimately serve my community and I need some help getting there, still though. ahhhh
Get everything set up with the city for our new house--most important one.


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Okay, are you ready to see something super cute?
How adorable is she? This fabulous babe is a Polish Barred Rock chick and her name is Nefertari. Don't you just love her hair? (They're actually feathers.)

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Her Universe $50 Gift Card Giveaway -hosted by Angie at MySoCalledChaos-

Wow, October already? This year is flying by at warp speed, but at least I have an awesome crew to accompany me on this fast-paced journey! An awesome crew of fangirls who have teamed up with My So-Called Chaos to bring you a fun and nerdy group giveaway for the month of September-a $50 gift card to Her Universe! Enter to win $50 to Her Universe-nerd fashion for all shapes and sizes! Her Universe is a website filled with geek clothing, jewelry, and what they call "everyday cosplay." Angie chose them (this is not sponsored by them at all-just Angie and her fab sponsors-like me!) for our Group Giveaway this month mostly because she just got back from Salt Lake Comic Con and she's still geeking out, but also because they have a lot of gorgeous nerdy plus-sized items too. We love a company that supports all sizes with cute clothing. It's not just for us fangirls, they also have nerd clothing for kids and men too! Since we're going geek this month, Angie asked us sponsors what we geek out about-here's what we had to say: Emilie & Laura from Burke Does geek out about Harry Potter! "We're Harry Potter fans. We love having marathons with our cousins on Saturday nights while under the blankets drinking homemade butter beer #sorrynotsorry" - Emilie & Laura from Burke Does. Christine from Christine Everyday geeks out about books. "I am one of those people who can get lost in a book and be crying over fictional characters with no shame at all. Give me Jane Austen, Harry Potter, or even Charles Dickens, and I'm there!" - Christine from Christine Everyday. Kimi from Kimi Who geeks out about Funko Pop! "Right now, I'd say the biggest thing I nerd out about would be my ever-growing Funko collection. It all started out so innocently - a few on the rare side My Little Pony Funko collectibles found their way onto my shelves thanks to some awesome friends. Next thing I knew, I was collecting more and more Funko products - specifically Funko Pop figurines from every corner of the nerdiverse. I think that's what makes me nerd out so hardcore for them - they cover ALL the fandoms! Must. Collect. Them. All." - Kimi from Kimi Who. Bethany from Stella Kenton Body Shop geeks out about seeds. "I nerd out about something that may seem a little odd.. I love seeds! I go on too many heirloom vegetable, fruit and herb seed shopping sprees; always looking for something more rare than the last gem I found. When my seeds start to grow, I talk to them and tell them how lovely they are, I do.. And, that's my weird nerd out!" - Bethany from Stella Kenton Body Shop. Brittany from Your Friend Brittany geeks out about books! "I nerd out about books! I am obsessed with finding new things to read and spend way too much time stalking Goodreads and the library. I also tend to brag to anyone who will listen when I'm #1 on a book request list at the library!" - Brittany from Your Friend Brittany. Want to participate in next month's awesome community feature and giveaway like this one? Well you can-just sign up for an ad spot on the My So-Called Chaos sponsor page-and don't forget to take 23% off your ad for Fall by using the code MABON at checkout. You'll love working with Angie! Enter the Giveaway One lucky winner will win a $50 Gift Card to Her Universe where they can pick out their very own geek wear or everyday cosplay. Giveaway is open worldwide, ends at 12AM on October 13th, and entering below agrees to all the terms and conditions within the rafflecopter widget. Giveaway entries will be verified, no false or giveaway only accounts.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, July 17, 2015

Planning for a Fall Heirloom Garden

It's time to start planning for the fall garden! I've got a large variety of organic heirloom seeds to pick through and I'm wondering what are your favorite fall and winter vegetables? What do you like to eat when there's a chill in the air? I'm longing for something new and different that can grow in 40-70*F temperatures. So far I have Alaska Shelling Peas, Late Flat Dutch Cabbage (these things are monsters, 10-15 lbs each!),  Leeks, Cream of the Crop Winter Squash, Waltham 29 Broccoli, Preococe D'Argenteuil Asparagus, Red Onions, Yellow Onions, Pie Pumpkins (already planted) and various Greens. 
I live in Zone 8a and have fairly mild winters so I'm able to easily overwinter a lot of different hardy plants. However, for those that can't, I set up a little guide of starting/transplanting dates for the most popular fall crops.


:Plant Name:                      :Start Seeds:                              :Transplant:                      :Spacing:    
Broccoli                     8-12 weeks before 1st frost          4-6 weeks before 1st frost         8-10 in apart

Cabbage                    8-12 weeks before 1st frost          4-6 weeks before 1st frost         20-24 in apart

Carrots                      Direct Sow 8-10 weeks before 1st frost                                        3-4 in apart

Winter Squash           Direct Sow mid July - early August                                              2-3 feet apart

Peas                         Direct Sow 8-10 weeks before 1st frost                                         2-3 in apart  



You can find your specific frost dates here.




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Help me in my journey to having my own Organic CSA

Monday, June 29, 2015

On to the Next Step!

Well, I did it. I actually did it. I made the leap from dream to hopeful reality. 

I set up a GoFundMe to help me expand the garden and future areas for the chickens and other livestock across the street where we're building our house.
I moved here with the intention of having a garden large enough to be able to donate and sell our organic heirloom produce for cheaper than most. I want to make natural healthy living within reach and affordable for everyone around me. It's time to start. There's no time like the present and the present moves quickly.


I feel like I've done something crazy. A GoFundMe? Really? Me? Yup. I did that, I am doing it. Maybe crazy isn't what I'm feeling, maybe it's excitement. Excitement for finally going for it. I'm taking a leap of faith here and it's not just the GoFundMe; I'm finally taking the steps to move on to the next phase of my life. I'm expanding my animals, my stock pile of garden equipment and seeds, I've got a folder full of plans and drawings for my new area across the street. There will be more chickens and hopefully some pigs, a 3000 sqft garden area and my own cute little farmstand. 
I'm excited. That's all I can say.

Friday, June 19, 2015

Just a small farm update

I know I said "I'm back!!" but, while it is true, it is also becoming apparent to me and others that I'm not spending much time online anymore.
I think it's been the lifestyle change. I'm no longer living in the fast paced Cleveland; I'm on a farm in the middle of Georgia! I have satellite internet with data limits (who knew that was a thing?!) and at first it was hard to only use 15 gigs a month, but now I'm lucky if I even use 10. I can still google, pin and do all that stuff freely but no videos, no Netflix and so help me if I accidentally miss a video ad playing and don't pause it (bye bye 1gb of data!) The data isn't what's keeping me away, though. It's outside. It's the heat, the sun, the garden, the chickens, everything.. I like it this way. 

We've been pretty busy on the farm. I've got chickens laying delicious 100% pastured organic eggs every day and an organic heirloom garden that is beginning to thrive. I'm hoping that I'll have a cute little farm-stand set up in 2-3 weeks, depending on my harvest dates.
My goal is to be here two times a week with updates on our new organic life. I'll be seein y'all soon!

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

I'm back!

Hey y'all! It's been quite a while since I've last written and so much has changed!

For starters, we moved. We live in Georgia now on a beautiful 90 acre farm. We have chickens, a donkey named Jack and an organic/non-gmo, heirloom fruit and vegetable garden. We are staying in my parents empty home while we build our house across the street. Olivia is enrolled in ballet classes and is loving the freedom she has to be a kid in nature. Joe has a job he loves and he's excelling; I'm so proud of him.


I'm excited to be able to share our new life experiences with everyone, some gardening tips, heirloom variety recipes and of course a few giveaways.