Something New for the Bees

October is usually one of our driest months.  Up until two days ago, we'd only gotten half an inch of rainfall so far during the month.  When I saw that Saturday and Sunday we had chances of precipitation, I set my plan into action.  That plan involved seeding around the beehives and garden in the side yard with Crimson Clover.  Why?  I think the honeybees will enjoy it this Spring.  I know the cows will enjoy it, too.  Finally, it sets nitrogen in the soil, so it will be growing its own fertilizer, one might say.

Our local feed store sells it priced at $3 per pound.  I'm not working up the soil.  I'm just broadcasting the seed by hand.  To do this, you want to make sure the seeds make contact with the ground.  It's still a little risky, but I ventured to spend $6 for 2 lbs of seed.  If it doesn't germinate, I'm out of $6.

The Crimson Clover seed looks like it has a treatment on it.  I read that it takes between 1 - 3 weeks for the seed to germinate.

I simply grabbed a handful and scattered the seed like the Sower who went out to sow.  There's nothing precise or scientific in how I'm seeding.  If you look closely, you can see the grey seed below contrasted against the soil.

I made sure that I primarily planted in two main areas - the area in front of the hives and behind the hives.  I'm envisioning a sea of crimson clover covering the landscape.  Won't that be pretty? 

We also seeded Crimson Clover by the garden in the side yard.  After broadcasting the seed we got 6/10s of an inch of rain and the very next day, 7/10s.  Today, I got out there and sprayed the whole area down with water.

Looking forward to seeing if this was a worthwhile endeavor.  We'll keep you posted.

Mending Fences

Last week I pulled in the driveway from work and something was just not right, but I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong.  Then I noticed it.  Popcorn, the Billy Goat, was IN the garden!  Oh no.  The first item of business was to get him out.  I rushed up to him and grabbed him by the collar as he munched on sweet potato vines.  I got him out of the garden and quickly over the bridge and back into the pasture.  Fortunately, he must have just gotten in.  He didn't damage much, besides eating the leaves on the okra plants and stepping all over the freshly planted lettuce.

The second order of business was to determine how he got in and then fix the problem.  It didn't take me long to discover it.  The area of encroachment was the southwest corner.  The goats (and cows) have a bad habit of leaning over the fence and eating sugar cane.  Now I don't see how they do this.  Sugar cane leaves are sharp as razors.  It seems like that would not feel good on your tongue, but to each his own, I guess.

The constant leaning into the fence weakened it, not to mention that I cut corners and instead of using treated 4x4's, I used untreated landscape timbers for fenceposts on all but the corner.  These rotted and on this particular day, when they leaned in to each sugarcane, the post gave way and Popcorn popped right over the fence.  You can see Popcorn in his mugshot standing in front of his handiwork.  You can also see, on his left ear, a gash.  That comes compliment of Belle, our great Pyrenees.  Two weeks ago Popcorn thought it would be a good idea to head butt Belle into the barn.  As it turned out, it was not a good idea.  Belle went after Popcorn with retaliatory precision, biting Popcorn's ear and ripping.  There was weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Popcorn won't do that again.  

I quickly bolstered the leaning fence with a cattle panel until I had time to fix it.  I moved this project to the top of the list and waited for the weekend.

This time, I went to the lumberyard and purchased treated 4x4s.  Using a post hole digger, I dug three holes two feet deep and filled halfway with soil, tamping it down.  I put a level on each side and squared everything and then put quickcrete around the posts and watered.  After letting it set, I used a come-a-long to pull the fencing tight and stapled the fencing to the posts, creating a impenetrable border.  (hopefully)

I realize having a lush garden surrounded by pasture can be a major temptation, but the animals (humans, too, right?) need borders.

The time spent mending fences was a significant investment of time and required some monetary outlay.  Time will tell if, and for how long, the fence will hold up, but I'll remain vigilant to maintaining a strong border fence.  Goats in the garden is never a good thing.  

Inaugural Meeting of the Jeff Davis Parish Homesteaders

Thursday afternoon at six the Jeff Davis Parish Homesteaders (we don't have an official name yet) convened for our inaugural meeting.  It was held five miles due east of our home in a shed.  The gentlemen in the khaki shirt with the phone in his pocket assembled a small group of like-minded people to discuss things of interest to all of us.  The attendees included an engineer, a physical therapist, a pipeline technician, a lawyer, a truck driver, a teacher, stay-at-home moms, an insurance adjuster, a car salesman and a baby!

What do we all have in common?  A love for the land, a desire to return to "old skills," a longing to learn more about regenerative agriculture and building good soil, a wish to be more self-sufficient, healthy and free.  It included folks who have been doing this for 20 years and those who have just started this adventure.  The meeting started at 6 PM and ended around 8:20 when the mosquitoes threatened to carry us all away after sucking most of our blood out.

We started by going around the table, introducing ourselves and explaining our origin story - how we embarked on this journey of homesteading.  The second topic going around the table, each individual discussed what they are producing off their homestead farms.  It included raw milk, beef cattle, yogurt, kombucha, cheese, butter, citrus, vegetables, goat kefir, honey, pastured poultry eggs, sour dough bread and many more items I can't remember.  We also talked about how we support other local homesteaders with purchasing or trading or sharing production we don't produce on our farms. 

Finally, we talked about goals.  What do we wish to achieve going forward?  We talked in depth about efforts and plans to restore the soil to health as most of us are on land whose fertility has been diminished from overuse, lack of rest, and years of chemical spraying (herbicides & pesticides).   

We all learn lots of new things on You Tube and from bloggers on the internet, but you take it to another level when you meet with local subject matter experts of a broad variety of homesteading topics such as pasture management, making elderberry cordials, growing vegetables, milking cows, marketing items off your farm, etc.  It was an impressive and informative first meeting.  We shared contact information and planned to meet again soon.

Even though both nightfall and swarms of mosquitoes fell upon us quickly and relentlessly, we continued talking with each other as we walked to our vehicles.  One more thing to love about living in the country - good people sharing information and enjoying visiting with each other.  The only thing missing was opening of the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and a Prayer (doggonit, we didn't do this!)  We also didn't have any food!  Perhaps we'll rectify that at our next meeting.

Gumbo Season!

Believe it or not, our high tomorrow will be 81 degrees and our low will be 53.  Now we're talking!  I think it's time.  Most people call it Fall.  Some call it Autumn.  We call it "gumbo weather."  First, you make a roux.  We had four blue-winged teal in the freezer from a recent hunt and some good locally made smoked sausage.  That'll be some proteins for a good teal and sausage gumbo to bring in our favorite time of year.  Don't get me wrong, gumbo is good any time, it's just so satisfying when there's a chill to the air.  It warms the heart and soul.

Tricia browned the teal on all sides and then patiently browned her roux a good long time, constantly stirring, until it was the color of dark chocolate.  With plenty of trinity (bell peppers, onions, and celery) cooked down and stock added along with seasonings, you've got a good meal coming right up.  It makes the whole house smell so good.  We enjoyed a bowl after church on Sunday and have been working on it each day since.  Gumbo gets better day after day as the flavors get deeper and richer.

I almost forgot to mention the rice.  I like a lot of rice in my gumbo.  We add green onions to the top for flavor and color.  We usually enjoy a big dollop of potato salad added to the bowl but didn't make any this time.

With four of us eating Sunday lunch (Tricia, me, Russ & Benjamin), we each got a teal in our bowl to eat.  It's a little messy to eat, but delicious.  It's important to have a plate nearby we call "the bone plate" to put your teal carcass once it's been cleaned up.

That's the first of many gumbos to come this fall.  We have plenty of okra put up in the freezer in ziploc bags, so for sure shrimp and okra gumbo will be on the menu.  The old standby, chicken and sausage gumbo, will certainly be made numerous times this fall.  Hopefully, we'll kill more ducks during 'big duck' season so we can have more duck gumbos, too.

35 Years Strong

Today, October 20th, my bride and I celebrated 35 years of marriage.  35 years and we've never had a fight (that I won).  My wife is a gift sent from God.  She makes me a better man.  I love this woman!  To celebrate, on Saturday morning we drove to Breaux Bridge, Louisiana for brunch at one of our favorite restaurants.  Arriving 15 minutes early, we walked one block east to overlook the muddy, slow-flowing waters of Bayou Teche.  In the background is the town's namesake.  With a four hour notice, they'll lift the bridge so that boats can pass underneath.

We've been coming to this restaurant for years.  It used to be called Cafe Des Amis and changed its name to Cafe Sydnie Mae.  The food is great, service is top-notch, and the atmosphere is wonderful.

A long time ago, they made coffins in the building and the hostess stands on the old elevator used to bring coffins up to the second floor for storage back in the old days.

We had reservations at 11 and were shown to our seats.  They had a card made out for us that the staff had signed.

We got the Atchafalaya Omelette which had lump crabmeat, shrimp and crawfish.  Cheese grits on the side with a buttermilk biscuit with strawberry preserves and Cane butter.  Wow!  So delicious.

For dessert they brought us some bread pudding to share as lagniappe!  I had to turn the 4 into a 3 with my fork as we are celebrating 35 years.  For Tricia it probably feels like 45.  We took off our rings and put them on the plate to add to the decorations.

We took our time eating as they had a live jazz band playing smooth, relaxing jazz.  We sat there for an hour and a half just enjoying the food, music, and of course, conversation with my beautiful bride.  We have a little routine that we do.  We walk down the street two blocks on the corner.  There's a cafe called 'Tante Marie's."  On Saturday mornings from 11 to 1 pm, local musicians bring their instruments and have a jam session.  There are accordions, all sorts of guitars, fiddles, and triangles.  Everyone just plays cajun music and they sing in French.  We have coffee while we listen to them play.  Click the arrow below and you can partake as well:

I almost forgot to tell you.  Breaux Bridge is full of little antique shops and gift shops line the street.  In very uncharacteristic fashion, I followed Tricia in a shop.  Something caught my eye and I bought it.  This is a Cypress Sinker from the Atchafalaya Swamp.  We're going to hang it over the french doors in our house.  Each year of marriage has gifts associated.  I didn't see a gift for 35.  We'll just say it's Cypress!  Neat thing is, it cost $35 - $1 for each year of marriage.  That's a bargain in my book.

On the way back, Tricia got a text from a friend group from her high school.  She has great friends and they stay in contact.  One friend sent Tricia a song called, "35 Years Strong."  Tricia thought, wow, how neat.  It was named 35 years strong and it started with a cajun fiddle playing, lyrics about Louisiana, farming and faith, and then it had our names!

Her friend Janie used an app to create an anniversary song for us and it is our new favorite country song!  It's so catchy and the words are perfect.  I've included the lyrics below, but you can click on the hyperlink (35 Years Strong) below to redirect to the website to listen to the video.  When it directs you to a website, click on the photo of the barn and sunflowers and it will play the wonderful song.  I think you'll enjoy.

35 Years Strong   (<--- Click right there)

[Verse 1] Thirty-five years, it’s been quite a ride, Through the Louisiana fields, side by side. With every sunrise, and every storm, Faith and love kept your hearts warm. [Prechorus] From the bayou nights to the morning dew, Every step's been a dance for two. [Chorus] Tricia and Kyle, thirty-five years strong, A love like yours, where faith belongs. Through family roots and southern skies, Together you've built a life that never dies.

[Verse 2] The kids grew up, the farm stayed true, Every plowed row had a piece of you. Sunday prayers and supper at eight, Y’all built a legacy no storm could break. [Prechorus] Through every harvest, through every tear, Your love just grows year after year. [Chorus] Tricia and Kyle, thirty-five years strong, A love like yours, where faith belongs. Through family roots and southern skies, Together you've built a life that never dies.

Happy Anniversary, Tricia. I love you!

Giving the Live Oaks a Haircut

As our high temperatures aren't in the 90's anymore, it's opened up some items on my to-do list that I didn't want to attempt in the sweltering heat.  One of those chores is trimming the live oaks.  I like to clean up the suckers that grow off of the horizontal limbs.  Doing so gives the tree a cleaner look.  The goats really like when I do this as I throw the branches into the pasture where they make quick work of the leaves.  

The main tool I use for this is a 10 foot extendable electric chainsaw with an 8 inch blade.  The hard part is getting up to the branches to trim, but that's accessible with a tall ladder.  Being that the chainsaw is electric, you don't have to worry about it not starting or the carburetor being gummed up.  The main thing is to keep the chain sharpened and I do that with a 'rat-tail' file.  It gets the job done on smaller branches.  This electric chainsaw cost me $69, and it has paid for itself time and again.  I can't say enough about how faithfully this saw has performed.

Once I got the smaller suckers removed, I began to look for the next low hanging fruit.  There was a big dead branch.  We have a concrete bench directly underneath it that seemed like a bad place to be sitting for when that big branch gave way.  Time to cut that down.  This branch is too big in diameter to do with a chainsaw with an 8 inch bar.  I precariously set a ladder so that I climb up and lean over and get in position to cut it off.  I try to do this type thing when Tricia is inside as she gets nervous when I'm up in the tree.

You can see the fresh, clean cut way up there.  I moved the bench and flowers so that I wouldn't crush them when the limb was felled.

Since this limb was bigger, it requires a bigger saw.  This is a Greenworks 80 volt battery powered saw with an 18 inch bar.  This thing cuts beautifully.  It's quiet and efficient.  The battery might last 20 minutes, but I have another battery inside charging as I drain the first one.  It keeps me cutting.  I've been pleased with this saw as well.  I had been sharpening each chain for years, but it was finally time to put new chains on both of the saws.  Wow!  What a difference it makes to have a new chain on it!

With a loud thud, the big dead branch landed on the ground.  It did crush Tricia's plant hanger and a decorative flag, but I did my best to straighten them up.

I recharged the 80 volt battery and quickly cut up the live oak logs into fireplace sized pieces.  I'll also give the logs time to season and then I'll split them.  These logs went into a wagon and were pulled back by the fire pit.

Coupling this with a ton of firewood leftover from last year and we're pretty much set for the fireplace this winter.

On-going Fall Harvest

I've just about gotten everything planted for the fall garden, with the exception of radishes, turnips, mustard greens and spinach.  We're still getting pretty strong bug and worm pressure right now, so we'd like to get some cooler weather that may dissuade them from nightly all-you-can-eat buffets in the garden before we plant.

Speaking of all-you-can-eat buffets, I came back from work the other day to find one of our goats named Popcorn had jumped over a weakened part of the garden fence and that dude was in the garden eating.  Fortunately, he only got to the sweet potato vines when I caught him.  I was still some kind of angry with him.  I had used landscape timbers as fence posts (bad decision) and they rotted.  The goats took advantage of this and pushed the post down and it enabled Popcorn to get in the garden.  Today I picked up 6 treated 8 foot 4x4s at the hardware store.  Mending the garden fence is my next project.  (Thank you, Popcorn.)

One thing that's really coming in strong right now is peppers.  They are in abundance, healthy, and colorful.  We bring baskets and baskets in and have started taking them to church to give away.  They'll continue producing until the first frost kills them.  The average first frost date for our area is November 10th.  That means lots more peppers forthcoming.

The photo below shows Anaheim peppers at top and right, bell peppers at bottom, lilac bell peppers at left and underneath them are sweet banana peppers.  Not pictured are the jalapenos.  We've been picking a bunch of those, halving them and coring/seeding them and freezing for making jalapeno poppers.  With the Anaheim peppers (mild) and bell peppers and banana peppers (sweet), we chop those up and freeze for cooking.

Around here there's something called the trinity of Cajun cooking.  That includes bell pepper, celery and onion.  When we were in the grocery business, one of our more popular selling items was Pictsweet Seasoning blend.  This was pre-cut and frozen Cajun trinity.  No chopping or work.  Cajun Trinity frozen in a bag.  Open the bag and dump in your skillet to cook down.  Easy peezy.  Although we don't freeze them all together.  We cut and freeze peppers, onions, and celery to use in cooking.  It's a great time saver in the kitchen.

The bright orange peppers below are called Datil peppers.  They are HOT!  We core these and put them on the dehydrator for drying.  Once completely dry, we put them in a food processor and make pepper for seasoning.  We learned you've got to be careful.  We've added a little too much to dishes and you had to have a glass of water handy while you ate!  The peppers on the right are Hot Banana Peppers.  Unlike their cousins, sweet banana peppers, these will start a five alarm fire in your mouth.  They look just like the sweet ones, too!  We normally pickle most of the banana peppers - both sweet and hot.

The last photo is okra.  The production of okra is certainly way down since the summer.  We grow several varieties (Louisiana longhorn, Burgundy okra, Beck's Big okra, and Clemson spineless).  We chop them up and cook down with onions and then freeze in quart freezer bags.  We'll freeze a lot of this to use in winter gumbos.  Once you have an inventory of all the garden harvest in the freezer, it makes cooking the meal that much easier and cuts out trips to the grocery store.

In a few weeks, I'll chop all the okra down and plant mustard greens, spinach, radishes and turnips between rows on the fallow ground between where the okra was planted.

Garlic is Up

Fourteen days ago we posted that we're giving garlic another shot, so we planted a bunch of it.  Let's check in and see how things are going.  I planted the Elephant Garlic in some molasses tubs full of homemade potting soil amended with leaves and chicken litter.  I've kept it watered each day.  October is one of our driest months and it's living up to its reputation.  From the looks of it, we've gotten a little better than 50% germination on the elephant garlic.  Maybe more will pop up in a few days.

In the garden in the side yard, I planted all of the softneck garlic.  The soil is heavily amended with composted mulch.  Like the others, I watered this bed heavily and a bunch of the garlic is popping up here as well.  I'd venture to say, so far, it's about a 70% germination rate.

Perhaps more will come up as time goes on.  This is a crop that teaches patience.  It's the longest crop to harvest that we grow - a full 210 days to maturity.

Garlic is worth the wait, though.  It's so delicious!

The Fall Flow is On

In fallow fields all around us at this time of year, you see a bright, happy yellow hue that radiates happiness.  To some, the sight of this radiates allergy problems because this is goldenrod.  Interestingly enough, the honeybees love this stuff.  All day long they forage for pollen and nectar in these yellow fields.

During the springtime, for spring honey, it is primarily made from the flowers of Chinese tallow trees, white Dutch clover, and privet.  We pulled all that honey in July.  For the fall crop of honey, it is almost entirely goldenrod honey.  Goldenrod honey has a very strange attribute.  It stinks.  Seriously.  It smells like a sweaty t-shirt that you took off after mowing and through into a hamper, maybe along with a pair of sweaty socks.  The sour smell is exactly what goldenrod honey smells like.  You walk around the hives and you can't miss it.  It is beneficial to your health, though, and so, this year for the first time, we are planning to pull fall honey.

It's time we inspect the hives to make sure the bees have enough space in the hive to put the stores of nectar they are bringing in.  We apply a little smoke to calm them down.  As soon as you open the telescoping lid, you hear a humming sound as they come up to greet you.

I pulled out a frame and it's heavy.  It's almost completely capped.  The uncapped cells have nectar in them and they'll be capped soon.  Almost all the frames are full of honey.  They are going to run out of room.  That means we'll need to add another medium super on the top to give them more room.  The rule of thumb is that when the box is 80% full of capped honey, add another box.  If you don't, you run the risk of them running out of room and leaving.

Before putting the top on, I put another swiffer sheet on top of the frames, to catch small hive beetles.

Before I put the empty box on top, let me pull it back off and show you how active the bees are.  This was at about 9 AM, so many of the bees are out in the goldenrod field already, foraging for nectar and pollen.

They are very busy and are not afraid to get in my face and let me know they mean business!  I am very thankful for my bee suit.

So all in all, once we added the empty supers on top of the full ones, we have nine total honey supers.  We'll be pulling honey in early November when the goldenrod blooms taper off.

We'll let you know how it goes next month.

Have Your Cake and Eat it Too

My sister is a remarkable woman.  She is the mother of six boys, works a full time job teaching high school and makes cakes as a side-hustle.  As a result, her schedule is full.  I get tired just thinking about all she fits in a 24 hour day.  Recently, her second oldest son got married in Natchitoches.  We talked about it on the blog a little while back.  Jenny, in addition to being mother of the groom, took on the responsibility of making BOTH the bride's cake and the groom's cake.

She never let's anyone see her sweat.  She's motivated by doing things at the very last minute.  It always works out.  Around noon on the day of the wedding that was to take place that afternoon, the cake-making operation went into overdrive.  She got the cake put together and (surprisingly) enlisted the help of my brother and I to bedazzle the top of the cake with fresh, red raspberries.  We washed our hands and began methodically placing the raspberries atop the cake, sneaking a few to eat during the process.

My brother, Kristian, calculating the width of a raspberry while ciphering the radius of the cake

Before you knew it, the cake was about finished.  It looked elegant and smelled delicious.  There were raspberries left over and we indulged ourselves.

Jenny feverishly worked to get things finalized, piping more icing onto the cake.

Now that the cake was done, we just had to get it out to the venue of the wedding reception.  This happened to be about 8 miles out of Natchitoches, in the country.  Amid the rolling hills and oak trees, a big white tent was set up in the middle of a rodeo arena.  That was the next mission: to get the cakes out to the reception site, a tall task, to be sure.

Everyone loaded up in their Tahoe and Jenny hopped in the very back to hold the cake.  All was going well.  However, once you get near the rehearsal venue, the road changes from paved road to gravel road.  Unfortunately, the gravel road had what we call "corduroy" in it.  Some people call this "washboard."  I think you get the point.  There are deep grooves in the road that will rattle the fillings out of your head.  Imagine what it could do to a wedding cake!

Suddenly the cake broke into 3 pieces.  Like the walls of Jericho, the cake and carefully placed raspberries tumbled.  What a mess!  The wedding was only a few hours away now but Jenny was unshaken, unflappable and unfazed.  Here's what she did:  To hold it together until the wedding reception started, she took cardboard and placed around the edges of the cake and then put a ribbon around the cardboard and cinched it up.  The cake came back together.  Everything worked out.  Jenny bound up the broken cake.  All in attendance enjoyed the delicious and beautiful cake.

I've thought about that a lot over the past several weeks.  It reminded me of something.  In Isaiah 61:1 Isaiah said, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;"

What great news for Israel!  The Prophet Isaiah was saying that one day Israel would be restored and all would work out.  700 years later, at the inauguration of Jesus Christ's public ministry, He walked to the synagogue, opened the scroll and, out of all the verses in Scripture, read that very verse, saying, "Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  The Messiah, Jesus, had come to bring salvation and... bind up the broken-hearted.  Perhaps you are broken-hearted.  You are crushed in spirit.  You have no hope.  Your dreams are unrealized.  Discouragement, sadness, and depression abounds.

I have good news for you.  First, you are not alone.  Jesus knows what it feels like.  You see, He was despised and rejected of men.  They put the King of Glory on a cross and killed Him.  Fortunately, that's not the end of the story.  Jesus' death and then resurrection in His finished work at Calvary, gave us victory over sin and death.  We deserved death and yet HE stood in our place, pardoning us and taking the full weight of punishment upon Himself.  The Word tells us that He was wounded for our transgressions.  By His stripes, we are healed!

Maybe we're right smack-dab in the middle of sin right now.  Maybe our lives, like that raspberry-topped bride's cake, has broken into pieces.  What was once beautiful and put together is now an unmitigated disaster - a mess.  Our very heart is broken.  Time has run out and all appears lost.  Have no fear.  We have an Advocate, a Friend who sticketh closer than a brother.  One who has carried our burdens and has forgiven us.  One who has promised to bind up the brokenhearted.  Place your trust in Jesus today.

Psalm 147:3 "He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds."

Jolie Blon (Pretty Blonde)

I've talked several times about one of my favorite authors, James Lee Burke.  I especially like his "Dave Robicheaux" novels with Clete Purcell as his sidekick.  I've read all of them, and I'm going back and re-reading them on audiobook with the Libby App from my library.  I just finished Jolie Blon's Bounce.  James Lee Burke's prose drips from the pages like honey on a summer Sunday afternoon, inviting the reader into the scene being described where you can not only see from the vantage point of the protagonist, but you can smell the scents in the room.  You suddenly are reminded of memories dredged to the surface from another time or place - even from places that no longer exist.

In case you aren't familiar with his work, I've cut & pasted an excerpt that I had to go back and read two or three times:

"A love affair with Louisiana is in some ways like falling in love with the Biblical Whore of Babylon.  We try to smile at its carnival-like politics, its sweaty whiskey-soaked demagogues, the ignorance bred by the poverty and insularity of its Cajun and afro-Caribbean culture, but our self-deprecating manner is a poor disguise for the realities that hover on the edges of one's vision like dirty smudges on a family portrait.  The State roadsides and parking lots of discount stores are strewn, if not actually layered, with mind-numbing amounts of litter thrown there by the poor and uneducated and the revelers for whom a self-congratulatory hedonism is a way of life.  With regularity, land developers who are accountable to no one, bulldoze down stands of virgin cypress and 200 year old live oaks often at night so the irrevocable nature of their work cannot be seen until daylight when it is too late to stop it.  The petrochemical industry poisons waters with impunity, and even trucks in waste from out of state and dumps it into open sludge pits usually in rural black communities.  Rather than fight monied interests, most of the State's politicians give their constituencies casinos and power ball lotteries and drive-by daquiri windows along with low income taxes for the wealthy and 8.25% sales tax on food for the poor."

James Lee Burke
Jolie Blon's Bounce

Ouch!  That's scathing.  James Lee Burke is from New Iberia, Louisiana.  That's 62 miles away from our home.  Only a local can talk this way with an understanding of problems that plague our area in honest terms.  At the same time as confronting painful realities in our state, there is a deep love for its people and the beauty of the landscape.  A heart that yearns for better times and better outcomes.

As I listened to that paragraph from Jolie Blon's Bounce, my mind went back to memories of driving past Cypress swamps that are beautiful as any picture you want to see, and yet, someone has dumped an old washing machine or a black plastic bag full of crawfish heads from a recent boil over the bridge.  I was going to drive out and take a photo to document that, but decided against it.  Nature's beauty, but man has marred the landscape.  Why do we do this?  I don't know or maybe I don't want to know.  

Jolie Blon means pretty blonde.  It's also the name of a song that has been deemed the Cajun National Anthem and may be the most famous Cajun song of all time.  It has been sung by numerous people (Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, Bruce Springsteen, and Jo El Sonnier, to name a few) and each made it a little different.  It was first written and recorded in the 1920's, but made famous in 1946 when Harry Choates' French version was recorded.  It has been said that he sold the rights to the song for $100 and a bottle of whiskey.  The song is a waltz.  As you listen to it, you can count 1,2,3  1,2,3 as it draws you to the dancefloor, even if, like me, you can't dance.  It is a sad, haunting song about a pretty blonde that has run off and left him for another lover.  McNeese State University in Lake Charles, LA, named Jolie Blon their fight song and each time the Cowboys score, the Pride of McNeese marching band plays Jolie Blon.  

If you've never heard it, I've attached a You Tube link below to Harry Choates' ENGLISH version where you can hear the sad fiddle and hear the heartbreak of a man who has experienced great loss.  Click the arrow below.  Forgive me in advance if the tune stays stuck in your head like it has been in mine!

Cowpeas & Butterbeans

One of the crops that thrive in our hot, humid climate is southern cowpeas.  I like to plant purple hull peas, blackeyed peas, and ozark razorback peas.  These produce prolifically and we eat a lot of peas and rice with sausage at our house, so we keep up a nice inventory of these in the pantry.  I want to show you another item that we like - Blackeyed Butterbeans.  These are a relatively new item we've rotated in and grown to like.  It has the markings of a blackeyed pea, but is a butter bean.  It vines up on a trellis.  Here is a pod that I just picked.

The blackeyed peas and purple hull peas are all done, but I still have a row of Ozark Razorback peas left to pick.  These peas are mottled with red and white markings.  They're a little smaller than purple hulls or blackeyed peas, but they sure taste great.  Here is a pod I'm about to shell right now:

Shelling peas is a job I don't mind at all.  You don't have to think about it.  You can shell peas while you are rocking on the front porch or watching TV.  It's rewarding to see your bowl fill!  Once we get them shelled, we eat them, freeze them, or put them on the dehydrator and let them dry.  Here is a half of a quart of Blackeyed butterbeans all dried and ready for long-term storage in the pantry.

And here is a half gallon of Ozark Razorback peas that will go in the pantry as well.

When we're ready, we'll soak the peas overnight and then cook them the next day with some onions and tasso and smoked sausage.  Tricia will make a skillet of cornbread with some jalapenos diced in there.  Then she'll put some rice cooking.  Mmmmmmmmm.....