Double Up Farm

While I love elderberry syrup, it turns out not all children like it. My dental hygienist mentioned how her kids only liked the elderberry gummies, and asked if there was a way to buy local elderberry syrup and make her own. As is often the case - my answer was "I'll let you know". I have messed with gummies before, and don't like making them. What I do like is jello. What kids like are Jigglers!! So I made elderberry jigglers. The first batch was too loose (so, I ate t

I started growing loofahs a few years ago - you know - loofahs. Those wonderful sponges you can buy for the shower. They grow like zucchini. You can eat them when they are little, use them as sponges in the bath or kitchen when dried, and they are beautiful flowering plants throughout the heat of the summer. Anyway, last year Mr. Double Up and Junior Double Up built me some tunnels for my loofah crop. Technically, I think Junior Double Up built them and Mr. Double Up sup

I am not actually saying it out loud, in case I jinx it, but I think....maybe....it might be Spring now instead of Winter. I like Winter, really, but this one has seemed longer than most. Every year, around September / October, I swear I am done gardening. I am so tired of the endless weeding, pruning, tending, processing. I just want it to be over. My last gasp is always putting in the garlic bed in November. And like clockwork, every February I start watching the weathe

If you do something two years in a row, does that make it an annual event? This was the second year the Union County Master Gardeners have come for a field trip, and once again, I am sure I must be related to some of these folks. We had a great time with the farm animals, a lovely lunch, and I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed showing them how to needle felt (even though some of them immediately put me to shame!!!) Promised the ladies my top secret (not) White Chili recipe. An

I planted elderberries in 2013 - and became an immediate convert. They are glorious bushes, versatile, beautiful, hardy, and love Carolina soil and weather. And you may have heard me wax poetic about the health benefits of elderberry juice (and also, did I mention it is delicious?) But, I noticed my "mother" plants did not produce as well last year. So I reached out to my friends at Norm's Elderberry and asked what I was doing wrong. It turns out productivity will decrease

~~~~Mornings are better when you have an entourage (and a copilot)~~~~ I admire efficiency. Like tidiness, it just makes me happy and content. This morning felt like a well oiled machine. 5:30 a.m. – cuddle with the dogs 6:00 a.m. – go through bills and mail from yesterday; check email; order medicine for Dave’s feet and new collars for the dogs (have a protein shake while working). 7:00 a.m. – Set up new needlefelting projects 7:30 a.m. morning chores!!! Chick proof the b

Since 2009, I have been looking at greenhouses. After a few years, I cleared an area which we called "the future site of the greenhouse". And I continued looking. Finally, this year, I took the plunge, because I am oddly obsessed with the idea of growing ginger, and turmeric, and orchids. It has been a long, slow, process - but today, the greenhouse was officially declared ready for occupancy. Just in time to put the shade cover on..... In the interest of full disclosure

When we first moved to the farm, we had a terrible time with weeds that came up every spring. Mowing them down didn't slow them, pulling them up didn't slow them, nothing we tried could control them. So I started eating them. This field garlic is particularly nice for making Asian pancakes; the tops are like chives, the bulbs are a garlicy green onion flavor which is great in cooking (a bit strong raw). Since then, I have started using lots of our "weeds" - field garlic,

The Union County Master Gardeners came to the farm for a field trip. I was not sure what to expect exactly, but it sounded like fun when Kathy suggested it to me. So at 11:00 today, 18 of the most delightful women I have ever met showed up at my house. I made a salad buffet (smoked turkey salad, egg salad, kale salad, green salad, fruit salad), all from my farm or friends' farms. Well, except for the fruit, that came from Costco. Anyway, we walked around the farm, and pet

I love planting things and watching them grow. I never consider myself a serious gardener, because I pretty much expect things to grow on their own. I add manure and leaves to my soil, and I keep the dogs from running amok through the plants. But for the most part, you really need to want to grow if you live in my garden (may I say I have an amazing crop of weeds!!! They like it here just fine.) My native soil here is not great - technically, it is clay and rocks. And I

or something like that... Two years ago my older sister sent me some loofah sponges she had grown, and I was amazed. She graciously agreed to send me some seeds, and I am in my second year of growing them. I love these things! Easy to grow, beautiful plant, gorgeous flowers that bloom all summer, you can eat them when young, and they produce loofah sponges. #FarmLife #Gardening

I am a list maker and a planner. Each day, I have a plan for what I am doing that day - gardening and livestock kick that plan in the butt almost every day.... Pickling was NOT on the list today, but as I was weeding the top half of the garden (which WAS on the list), the cucumbers advised they were ready for the first batch to come off the vine. And oh by the way, so were about another thousand zucchini (okay, there were 12, but it felt like 1,000). So...we are interrupti

May is a wonderful time in the garden - things are growing and every day is something new. I got to spend a few hours weeding this weekend, which I genuinely love. It was cool, and there is something very satisfying about getting your hands in the dirt. Only the lettuce is ready for eating (I have finished the asparagus), and the herbs, but everything seems to be doing well. Sage and Oregano The whole garden view Zucchini, peppers p

My friends and family have always called me The Spreadsheet Queen, and gardening is no exception! Mostly, I have to use a spreadsheet or I cannot tell what I have planted where!! Old and bustedness means that I can do just a bit of gardening a day, rather than spending one whole day at it. So far, onions, lettuce, spinach, carrots, beans, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers are in. Over the next week I will put in the potatoes, cabbage, radishes, turnips, bok choi,

It is too early to plant, I KNOW this (and learned it the hard way). But, we are having an unseasonably warm spell. And this morning, I opened a drawer in my office and found this package of seeds. I have no idea why this would be in an office drawer, but surely this is a sign that I should be planting RIGHT NOW.... #Gardening #FarmLife

Sometimes I wake up in the morning with so many ideas running through my head, I can't decide what I want to do first. Yesterday was about doing things that had to be done. Today is about doing things I want to do - but how to decide? I want to make some soap I want to make some new dog toys I want to start some new sets of dryer balls I want to plant my new elderberry bushes I want to mulch my garden I want to groom the horses and dogs (who are all blowing their winter coa