Musings and Popcorn

Pet peeve: People who makes words plural by adding an apostrophe before they tack on that last s. So how do they make possessives?

Regional vernacular: One of the favorite sayings here in TN, and I'm sure in other parts of the South as well, is "Bless your heart." This is often, but not always, said by a woman (rarely a man), sometimes condescendingly, to an old person who doesn't get around too well or needs a scooter, or to a younger person helping an older person get around, such as with a wheelchair or pushing a shopping cart for the older person, especially if said older person forgets what they need in the store. (Ask me how I know.) Or it might be said to anyone who is obviously not in the best of health (leg in a cast, maybe?). Or to someone going through a hard time with just about anything in their life. We've come to the conclusion that "Bless your heart" is a euphemism for "Sucks to be you!" But heaven forbid a proper Southern lady would stoop to such vulgarity. LOL

Chickens: We got 6 new pullets a little over a week ago, since we've gradually lost some of the older girls for one reason or another. Our pen is divided in half, with a gate, so for the first two days the old and new girls were separated. The new girls had their own little coop made out of a doghouse. But then we were supposed to get an all-day rain and the tarp we had wasn't big enough to cover much of the pen for the new girls (which the old girls already had on their end), so the day before the rain, we opened the dividing gate and let the two flocks mingle. OK, so far, so good. No huge fights or pecking, and everyone was able to keep dry if they wanted to. But the new ones were still returning to their little coop at night while the old girls went into their coop as usual. We let them continue to do that until yesterday. With temps forecast in the 30s for last night, we decided to force the new girls into the big coop, where it would be warmer. So DH closed the door on the small coop after he let the 6 out in the morning. Then last night, when the main flock was heading in for bed, he herded the others in too. There was some squabbling and I think three of the new girls slept on the floor (not for lack of roost space).

The new girls are Partridge Rocks, one of the color variations of the Plymouth Rock. They appear black from a distance, but are actually mottled black and brown.

Garlic: Our garlic is about ready to be planted. The bed is all tilled and the one variety that we had to order has arrived. We'll be planting Inchelium Red, Duganski, Purple Glazer, and Susanville. Last year's Inchelium, grown from bulbs saved from the 2009 crop, didn't do too well, so we decided to start with fresh stock. The Purple Glazers did very well when replanted last year, so we'll continue with our own cloves. This will be the first replant for Duganski and Susanville. We've eliminated Music this year - it was popular, but the cloves are much too big. There aren't enough in one bulb to get too many new bulbs out of it. There will also be less hardnecks this year. Garlic scapes just didn't sell well enough to warrant planting that many again. The scape is the flower stalk that grows on a hardneck garlic. They should be broken or cut off right at the top leaf while still soft. That puts more of the plant's energy into the bulb. Scapes are edible and can be saute'ed, stir-fried, made into pesto, or chopped and added to any dish where a little garlic flavor is needed.

Popcorn: Next Saturday's program at Howell Farm is Corn and Popcorn Harvest, which is kind of self-explanatory. Some people don't realize that popcorn is a different type of corn than sweet, Indian, or field corn. The hard shell acts like a pressure cooker when the corn is heated. The moisture in the kernel heats up and suddenly explodes the shell (the "pop" sound), and the kernel turns itself inside-out.

On the evening of Friday, the 21st, there will be a presentation, "Pleasant Valley in the Revolution," with reenactment programs on Saturday and Sunday.