stonesprairiemarket.com

We actually got to work outside Saturday afternoon.  We have had some very busy days at the store and I was ready to go to the garden for a change.   We took all of the old vegetation off of the herb bed and started a fire.  Then, we pruned the roses and berry brambles and threw all of that on the fire too.  Our nephew was helping and he really loved it.  I was surprised how many things are coming up.  Quite a few iris plants, regular and garlic chives, some top-set onions and a few baby lemon balm plants were all braving the elements.

I did not have to prune the red raspberry bushes as my brother Kameron, the Marine, had taken a machete last summer and cut weeds with it.  All of those bushes are a perfectly consistent height.  I have never seen anyone work so hard so long; he has amazing endurance.  Sarah said she had to throw herself in front of the blackberry bush to save it.   I will love to hear his reply to that!

The upper greenhouse is bursting with kale and spinach. We love the Ragged Jack/Red Russian kale. In the lower greenhouse we have some tomato and cabbage plants up. Kevin’s idea of peppermint oil-soaked cotton balls have so far kept the mice out of my pepper seeds.

We are still working on dipping cheesecake bites in chocolate. We are gearing up for Easter, and we’ll have crescent rolls, dinner rolls, hand-dipped chocolates, cookies, and noodles just to mention a few things.

Store hours:Tuesday 10-6 pm, Wednesday 10-6pm, Thursday 2-6pm, Friday 10-6pm and Saturday 9am-12pm.

Sunday and Monday we are closed.   Store phone 217-656-3970.

“For those of you following the NAIS (National Animal Identification System) movement, the USDA announced last week it is canceling the program.  They will be implementing a more flexible system of animal disease traceability that will only apply to animals in interstate commerce.  This is a huge victory for local, organic farmers, since the USDA started with a one-size-fits-all approach to tracing animal disease which would have put all the additional cost and time needed on producers.  Now they are more committed to working with the states and individual producers to enact a more flexible plan to prevent the spread of animal disease.  Visit the USDA site for more information.”  From the Wellness Newsletter.

Hurray!!!!!  I have really been worried about this.  It looks like common sense may be prevailing.   Also, our county comprehensive plan got shot down.  That would have started zoning and a whole host of problems for us rural folk. Good news again.   The farmers and homesteaders need a break!  Any grower has enough trouble just dealing with the weather, trying to figure out all of the rules/regulations/politics just makes things that much harder.

We had a busy week selling chocolates. We had original truffles, almond truffles, coconut truffles and dark chocolate squares.   They were a big hit.  Our two new additions were the chocolate dipped strawberries and chocolate dipped cheesecake bites.   I think the cheesecake bites will end up being for sale in the freezer all the time.  Everyone who tried them just loved them.   Sarah did a beautiful job decorating them, the dark chocolate squares had buttercream pink sweet peas on them.  She also did butter cookies and the large ones had lilac colored flowers and violets.   They also had Victorian scrolls in buttercream frosting .

Sarah’s eighteen birthday was Sunday and she was mostly too tired to care .  One of her gifts was a necklace made by Wanaree at The Jade Orchid.  She made it especially for her and it is beautiful.  Wanaree is very talented.  Sarah was thrilled.

All the animals are getting restless, I think everyone is tired of winter and ready for spring.  The only one who is really in her element is Sophia-the Great pyr/anatolian.  She is still enough of a pup to really enjoy playtime and snow.  I just love her intelligent face.  However, she did not approve of the birthday/Valentine balloons that Kevin brought home to us.  She thought they were some type of posessed thing.  It took quite a bit of persuasion and Molly,the terrier, being brave to finally get her close enough to smell one.  Hearing her let loose and bark in our little house is enough to give your eardrums a work out.  Soph is just too big body and personality  wise to stay in the house very long.   Kevin and I were talking about how when she was little she would come and get me at 4 am so that I could sit on the floor and rock her.   She still would like us to do that.

I will be starting seeds soon.  Kevin is building a new greenhouse and I am getting nervous waiting for him to finish. Nothing like a “honey do” on a time schedule. I wish the weather would just cooperate one time!  I am aiming for the 24th and 25th of this month to get most of the seeds started.  Of course the 25th has to be the day the food co-op truck comes in.  sigh.   Then I am going to try and stock up on seeds this spring.  Last year (around August) when Quincy ran out of green bean seed it was a wake up call to me.  One just expects that items will be available when you go to town.  I think we all have had it so good that we don’t realize how fast a hardship situation could manifest.

Looking forward to spring.  Blessings…

Hello Everyone,

I have been in mortal combat with Quickbooks.  I think I now have the upper hand.  That is what I have been doing every spare minute.  It took all of January to line things out.  I am grateful that there is a class on Quickbooks coming up.  I hope the worst is over and now it will be just fine tuning.  We will soon be upgrading the website. I have information to put together so that we can move forward.  I had to wait until Quickbooks loosened it’s grasp.

We are getting ready for Valentine orders.  This is the new flyer:

Krista Manard
Stone’s Prairie Market
260 North Avenue
Plainville, IL 62365

217-656-3970
www.stonesprairiemarket.com

In other news, Joe turned 25 last week and Sarah will soon be 18.  I cannot believe how quickly they grow up.  Joe is now thinking about going ahead with a Phd.  Sarah will be starting college in the fall. Our days have been filled with scholarship applications. She is interested in Microbiology. It was hard to put her transcript together. I see why some homeschoolers pay someone to do it.  I know I have more grey hairs…

Sarah is still doing her spinning and weaving and recently gave a great demonstration to a local women’s group.  She will also soon be at the local Farm and Home with the Old Tyme Assoc. to demonstrate there also. She is also planning a spinners/dye garden this year.

We have had quite a bit of snow and it is very cold. Someone who does not care is Jonquil, Sarah’s rabbit.  She escaped and has been having a merry time in the sheep pen.  She took up residence in an old dog house we had.  I saw her challenging Sophia, the livestock guardian dog, through the fence.  I think Sophie was a little scared of her.  Jonquil does weigh about 25 lbs, being part Flemish Giant and part New Zealand. Only being 100lbs less than her opponent does not worry her.  She ran up and bit Sarah’s shoe in a moment of exuberance, Sarah said Jonquil also tried to scratch her when she went to pick her up.  The sheep tried to head butt her at first, now they are just ignoring her.  I wonder if she beat them up too.

Jonquil as a baby

Sarah has been learning the Violin and I have been working on the Irish Tin Whistle.  It has been fun to play together.  We did a duet at Christmas, The First Noel, her on the violin and I was on the piano.  I am looking forward to more music! Kevin is looking for a banjo.  Speaking of that I hear her playing….I am just going to grab the tin whistle….

I will try and remember all that has happened since October.  We had a huge, huge Thanksgiving.  The bakery had many orders.  The most that we have ever had.  Sarah and I worked for 3 days straight, we put in many, many hours.   A neighbor had bought some french heirloom pumpkin seeds and grew them, he did not know what to do with them so we made them into pulp for the pies.  It was fantastic.  I was pleased that we had very good feedback from the pies and rolls, etc.  We spent several hours on the Monday before making noodles, then 11 hours on that Tuesday making breads, rolls, and crescent rolls and also working up the pumpkin.  On Wed before Thanksgiving we were here early and then late making blackberry, cherry, apple and pumpkin pies.  Then, on Thanksgiving day ,we cooked a meal for the family.   We were a tired mess on Friday.  We learned quite a bit about how to manage complicated orders.  Sarah did a great job of keeping it all straight.   Next time we will hire a dish washer. We could only rook Kevin into helping one evening.

The main gardens are finally finished and we put up 10 gallon of frozen green onions.  The green house is still full of kale and their is some spinach and a few heads of cabbage.   Something ate all of the baby swiss chard.   We made a huge pot of vegetable soup out of the last of the garden and it was great.  Kevin and Warren did get the turkeys butchered and that meat of the Bourbon Red variety is the best.   We still have about 40 old hens to get rid of so that the new pullets can have the chicken house.   Kevin finally caught the new rooster -Mel Gibson-and put him in a warm house.  He had taken to roosting right outside the bedroom window and would start crowing about 3:30 am.  Very irritating.

The new kitten is a mouse terminator!   She is definitely earning her keep. The only real problem is that she wants to “share the love”.   She brings her catch to the french doors and wants in….no way!  Sarah and I usually run away gagging at her playing with her precious gift.  yuck! She is the first cat that I have ever had that trained herself to potty outside and also the first one to run about on the roof.  The dogs love her, esp. Molly the fat terrier.   If she gets in Molly’s bed Molly will come to us to referee.   Molly will not make her move.  It is funny to see a kitten boss a 50lb dog around.

Joey did get a Graduate Assistantship position at Wiu for his Masters in Business Administration.  He will graduate this week , the 19th, with his bachelors in Physics.   We are soooo proud of him.   Thank God his Masters will be paid for.  He has worked really hard for this.  He will be coming home for Christmas.  He has been so busy this semester we have not seen him very often.  My thoughts are with him as he finishes his finals today and tomorrow.

Sarah is on a tear getting  Christmas cookies baked and making bread.   She took the ACT last Saturday and we were all so grateful that it is over for now. At the moment Sarah is looking at Quincy University.  I have to get her transcript together.  Always a big task for homeschoolers.  It is tricky to balance school and running the bakery.  So far she has done an excellent job.

I will post the complete listing of the cookies, etc.  later.

It was an exciting night at our place.  Apparently an opposum was trying to get to Sophia’s dogfood and Sarah’s little dog saw it.  She started in barking and alerted Sophia, the livestock guardian dog.  Sophia is not totally mature and did not quite know how to kill it.  Of course the opposum was playing dead and Sophia’s answer to the problem was to keep bopping it in the head with her huge paw.  Kevin had to help her.  Ah, such is the exciting drama at our place.

We are in the middle of pullets and old hens.  The old hens are slacking off and the new pullets are just starting to lay their small starter eggs.  That means there is no abundance of eggs like we have been used to.  Kevin has been getting rid of the old hens about 12 at a time.  People who want just a few layers or someone who wants to butcher a few have been taking them.  We need to move the chicken house and the fence.  That is always a huge job.

The new kitten has started hunting and has brought a couple of gifts to the back deck.  I have to admit I ran away gagging.  One was a shrew and one was a mouse which Sarah pried out of Sophia’s mouth.  Yuck!

We still have a few things in the garden.  I am going to work up the last of the green onions and I think I will transplant the small cabbage plants to the greenhouse so that the goats and the sheep can take over the garden patches.   That works really well as in the spring those garden plots are perfectly weed free and fertilized.   Something ate my beets from underground.  I still had beans until just a couple of days ago.  They fought a good fight with the frost but finally gave in.  The greenhouse looks good, full of kale and spinach.  Something, I think a mouse, ate all of the swiss chard so I will replant that this next week. I have some asparagus plants that are the type that Thomas Jefferson grew.  I thought about trying some in the greenhouse as an experiment.

We have been selling tons of  immune support and anti-viral supplements.  The flu is making its rounds.  It is interesting that it did not start in earnest until people started getting the flu shots.  Many, many people complained that they got sick within a couple of days of getting the shot.  There has been some other interesting information about vitamin A and D intake being one of the best defenses against illness.  Good old cod liver oil is still great advice.

Greetings Everyone,

Let’s see…I will try and remember the highlights since the last post in mid-July.   We went to the fair at the end of July and Sarah demonstrated weaving at the red barn.  That was so much fun.  Kevin demonstrated  woven wire fence making.  I talked or “facilitated”.   My brother was with us and I so enjoyed seeing him.  Sarah also danced (clogging and irish step dancing) with the band Ragtag on the last day.  Dan Ellwood was in the barn making rope with for the children.  I think he said he made 200 that weekend.  The Old Tyme Assoc. are really great people.  There were Llamas in a cage outside of the barn.  The owner spins their wool.  Sarah bought some.  I fell in love with them.  Kevin did not want to take one home….

We have been busy with the store all summer and on Saturdays we have had a small farmer’s market.  It has been interesting.  August is always a challenge to get school lined out for the year.  Sarah has an intense curriculum this year and she is so busy with all of her interests.   Joe came home on and off during the summer and we did get to spend one week with him.  He will graduate with his degree in Physics in December with a minor in Marketing and Math.  He is tutoring Physics students and doing undergrad Physics research this semester.  He is planning on starting in the Masters degree program in January for Business Administration.   My brother, Kameron , was here for a week also.  He is now somewhere overseas.  He was in Japan the last I heard but had to go out on some type of mission.  He is in the Marines. He is an exceptional person.  I miss him terribly.      We are so proud of all of our young people.

In September Sarah and I were busy working up stuff from the garden.  I was still fighting with my neck and so we had to have some outside help. Thank God for grandmas. We did get some things canned.  Not nearly what I usually do, but, at least some things did get put up.  The weather always seemed to be contrary to good gardening.  Sarah was invited to go to the Adams County Historical Society-John Wood Mansion and demonstrate wool carding and spinning.  She loved it and the people there are really great.  She also recently was privileged to have a master spinner from New Jersey come and teach her spinning techniques.  There are bits of wool all over my sewing area.  She is going to make a Tasha Tutor colonial shawl.  After she spins up the wool she will knit it into this certain type of shawl.

The other big homestead news is that we have a kitten.  My allergies were always so bad I did not think I could be around cats.  Well, I guess I have made some progress, mostly thanks to Monolaurin.  She is a Siamese

Franchesca on the couch

cross and a tortoise point. She is a little doll and we are all under her spell.  She really likes Sarah more than anyone.  Kevin got her because Wilma said we needed a cat after she had an altercation with a mouse in the back room.

Anyway, now we are to October.  Kevin and I had an anniversary and went to a bed and breakfast for the night.  We went to the Kennedy’s Red Barn Inn by the Cannon dam.  It was the first time we had been anywhere.  It was a nice place . I am glad we went. They remodeled an old horse barn.  You can tell that they put a lot of love into that place.

We are homebodies and I learned that I really love my life.    Apparently we work hard because we want to, having nothing to do just about drove us crazy.

We are going to start doing more advertising.  I went to a couple of business seminars at John Wood college and learned more about some things.   I am putting together a coupon offer and also am working on a newsletter.   Sarah said that I could copy and paste onto this blog.  Gosh, such exciting stuff.  She read that and rolled her eyes….

The Trade Days that we hosted on May 30th was a huge success.  We had about 20 vendors, food booths, farmers market people, a small petting zoo and about 300 visitors.  In that bunch was about 40 members of the Stone family.  They came with all kinds of genealogy information and there were Stone relatives who got to meet each other for the first time.  It was all very exciting.  Ragtag , the Irish band, came and played the first set.  The Country Bluebirds played in the afternoon.    Sarah danced for a while in the morning with the Irish band , but, was too tired to enjoy it.  We sold out of cinnamon rolls right away and we had to quickly put together more rolls and coffee cakes.   Channel 7 did a tv interview early that morning and then Stephen Johnson did a great job putting the interviews together.   I think Dolly the goat received as much air time as anyone.  She is a hoot!

It took all of June for us to get back on track with the gardens and animals.  There has been so much to do. Kevin put a fence around another garden spot .  We rotated the cornish cross in there and had to have the dog patrol it because of the fox problem we have had.  So far no fox kills, thanks to the livestock guardian dog.  We had about 100 to butcher and are down to 29.  Poor Kevin had to do most of it because I had hurt myself.

I hurt my neck getting ready for the trade days .  My wonderful chiropractor would fix it and then I would go and do something stupid again.  Finally , Sarah and I washed a bunch of windows and that did it.  I was flat on my back.  We finally did get most of the swelling down.  I had a headache for 5 straight weeks.  I have been doing neck exercises that have made a huge difference.  Apparently if I cannot regulate how much I do and get the rest I need my neck will make the judgment call.

My friend, Cathy Dement, has talked about the importance of rest for almost as long as I have known her.  I should have listened more closely.   She is right that it probably is the most important healing tool that we have.  The body has a marvelous healing mechanism given the chance.  Our lifestyle is so intense we really do not get the chance to just shut down .   We have been trying to make changes to make sure everyone gets more rest.

Sarah has her first wedding cake tomorrow.  I have turned about 3 down before this is she is so young and I thought that it was too much pressure.   This cake is not a tiered one and she has grown up a lot so here goes.    The couple will come tonight before their rehearsal dinner and approve it.   I will let you know how it turns out.  She has the flowers finished for it and they are beautiful.  She made them the exact shade the bride wanted.   It is all very ticky business. Speaking of that I need to go and help…..

(more…)

Whew! What a busy time of year!  Kevin and I put quite a few early things in the garden last week, in between rain showers.  The goats had done a great job preparing that garden spot and then Kevin tilled it well. All rows are 35′-40′ long.  We put in 3  double rows of Green Arrow peas, 2 double rows of Early Marvel Peas.  When they get a few inches tall we will go back and put fence panels down the middle of the double row , this way the peas will grow on both sides.  Then , we put in a row of Slenderette green beans.  We only put in as many as we are willing to sacrifice to cold weather.   This is usually too early for them , but, sometimes we get lucky and they do alright.   We also put in several rows of St. Valery carrots, Giant Noble spinach, Old Time lettuce mix, French Breakfast radishes, and Chioggia beets. I still have potatoes and onion sets to put in.  I usually put in Red Russian Kale and swiss chard too.  I have quite a bit still growing in the upper hoop greenhouse. There is also spinach and Lacinato kale doing well in there.   It has been growing there all winter and will soon go to seed.  I have all of my greenhouse seedlings soaking up the sun in that upper greenhouse too.  It has really a great greenhouse grade plastic covering . One greenhouse is definitely easier to keep track of than two.   Kevin is talking about planting potatoes tomorrow.  We will put them in the back of the herb bed.  Oceanus, my lone Pilgrim goose (who needs a wife) was in that area for the winter .  We are trying an experiment and put him with the chickens.  There is a small seep/spring running in there and we thought he would love the water. We are carefully watching him-he is full of mischief.

One reason we had to move him is that he and Sophia , the livestock guardian dog, had worked out a system so that anyone who tried to get into the backyard gate would get a nip in the behind from Oceanus and it would distract the victim long enough for Sophia to make a run at the gate to go on a “joy run”.  He nipped Warren, Kevin’s helper ,and Sophia had a fun time of it.  When he nipped Kevin I knew he had to be moved, and soon.   So far he has been pulling the hair out of the goats when they rub on the fence.  Sarah’s lamb Daphne looks so funny because she was fighting Oceanus through the fence and he has given her a “crewcut hair cut”.   I will take a picture of her and post it.  Not very dignified for a sheep.

Sarah is busy making plans for the big Easter bakery orders.  She is planning on Angel food cakes, full cakes and individuals ones, chocolate petite four eggs, dinner rolls, crescent rolls, and pies.  If you are interested you better pre-order.  We are selling out of the bakery items just about everyday. She is planning on decorating the angel food  cakes with her beautiful  handmade easter lillies.   I am glad for Sarah, she really does a great job.  She got her drivers permit this week.  Kevin calls it his cardiovascular workout.

We know of a really cool family farm who will have hogs for sell this month.  They are friends/family of ours-here is their flyer.

For Sale

Half Hogs available starting

around mid-April

· Tasty, high-quality pork, from hogs raised on a local Pike County farm, outdoors with lots of fresh air, sunshine, mud to waller in and a spring-fed creek for water. Not routinely treated with antibiotics. Fed a standard hog ration – no hormones.

· Your total cost – depending on what you want done with the pork - should be less than $2 a pound. (Average cost for recent half-hogs was about $1.80 / lb.) A half-hog bundle will probably be around 80-100 lbs.

· Some cuts or products you can expect or request as part of your bundle:

The flavor of this pork is much better than store-bought pork. Buying in bulk means it is cheaper than store-bought too! All you need is a big freezer!

The hogs will be processed by Ed Kabrick Beef of Plainville (217-656-3263), a friendly bunch of people who are happy to work with you to help you figure out what sort of pork bundle you want. They will cut your meat to your specifications (if you prefer small hams, for example, or boneless pork chops, etc.). They make excellent ham, bacon and sausage! They offer free delivery to Quincy, and are also willing to keep your pork for you for a week or so if you can’t take delivery right away.

The hogs are from the farm of Harley and Theresa Baugher, whose main farm business is milking pasture-fed Jersey cows for delicious creamy milk! But they also raise hogs, steers, and chickens on the side. None of their animals are raised in confinement facilities.

Call Aaron or Angel Baugher at 217- 221-9098 for more details or if you are interested in placing an order. Orders need to be placed by April 6 for this batch of hogs. First come, first serve. If you don’t want to order now but are interested in future orders, or are interested in beef, milk, or eggs, give us a call!

(if you miss the April 6 deadline call anyway and they may be able to work something out with you)

I found out some important and fascinating information about the probiotic we sell.  I will post that later.  It is chore time here and everybody wants attention. Blessings…..