New Seed Saving Video is in the Works

I have begun taping my new video on saving heirloom seeds. Here is the introduction so far.

Painted Pony Beans

We are so busy harvesting food from the garden,
that I am getting very behind posting on my blog.

My intention is to keep a good journal here, so when I need to look back
from year to year I know what I did and when!

We were busy picking Painted Pony Beans this week. I have never grown this variety and I have to admit, I think they are mighty fine! The beans are very uniform, stringless and taste great!

I have a grand experiment going on in the freezer on these beans.

I took some of the beans straight from the garden and just wiped them clean.

Then I sealed them in an vacuum-sealed bag.

I took some other beans and soaked them in cold water for 5 minutes,
dried them, and then vacuum-sealed them.

Lastly, I took some beans and blanched them for 3 minutes in boiling water,
then cooled them in cold water, patted dried and vacuum-sealed them.

I want to see if the quality of the beans is the same or different
after they've been in the freezer for 6 months.
I would like to see if vacuum-sealing preserves the quality of the beans
without the extra blanching step that I normally do.
So I guess we'll see in Februrary!

Colonel Cluck

Colonel Cluck is our English Game Rooster, and is he a noisy little bugger! He sounds a lot like my friend's guinea hens....always making LOTS of racket. The old English Game birds are very small in stature (they are more bantam size), but what they lack in stature, they more than make up in sound. Colonel has a cute little Missus as well. We acquired these two birds this spring when we ordered our Barred Rock Chickens and Sweet Grass Turkeys from a hatchery in Iowa. At first I thought...."What next?" We already have sheep, pigs, turkeys, cats, and a dog.....well, we may as well have a Colonel and Missus Cluck. Just had to show off this nice little picture! Thanks Chelsea!