IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,...
Read more »

I’m working on a new project this summer – capons. And I’m sorry to say my project is off to a rocky start. I don’t know how to caponize chickens.  I have been wanting to learn how to do it but have lacked for a teacher – until now. Capons are castrated roosters that grow very big and are juicy and tender. They are a specialty type of chicken. The way that roosters are caponized, is that an incision is made with a scalpel between the rooster’s lower ribs. The ribs are then spread apart with a rib spreader....
Read more »

I took a load of 7 spring lambs to the New Wilmington livestock auction about 2 weeks ago. I did very well. Live lamb prices are high and have stayed high for a few years now. The market demand for fresh lamb has remained strong and that’s great news for sheep farmers near the east coast markets. For the most part it’s all a matter of supply and demand. There’s not as many sheep in the U.S. as there used to be and the demand for quality lamb among certain ethnic groups is increasing. U.S. sheep flock numbers are...
Read more »

Last fall when I cleaned the manure and bedding out of the barn, I purposely dumped a big pile of the stuff near my herb garden. My plan was to let the pile “cool off” over the winter and then use it for growing watermelons this summer. I’ve never grown watermelons in a pile of 100% composted manure before.  But I’ve heard all kinds of good things about the practice . In the past I have grown melons in “hills” that had “pockets” of manure place in them.  I directly planted the watermelon plants in the pockets of manure...
Read more »

The Pennsylvania primary election has come and gone and I’m just now starting to get caught up on my work. For the last 6 weeks or so, Pennsylvania politics is pretty much all I’ve been doing. I’m way behind on my farm work, garden work and house work and it’s going to take me some time to catch up. I should be back to regular Granny Miller posting in maybe a week or two. Meanwhile, I thought you might like to see a slide show from the Smallholder’s Daily. The Smallholder’s Daily is one of my pet projects. It’s...
Read more »

These two guys epitomize what made America great!  Looks like they’ve found a low tech and cost effective common sense solution for the gulf oil spill. Technorati Tags: Environment,Disaster,Oil Spill,BP,Drilling,Clean Up,Hay,Common Sense
Read more »

I’ve been swamped with work lately and don’t have too much time to give to Granny these days. I thought a slide show of archive pictures might be a nice way to bridge the lack of posting between now, and a time when I can manage more content.
Read more »

How can it be May 1st already? Here’s this months ASK GRANNY reader’s questions 1.) I would like to breed meat rabbits once we move to Mississippi. Do you know of any meat rabbits that can live in hot weather? You know I really don’t. In general rabbits do poorly in hot climates. Maybe a reader knows of a breed that would work well in a hot climate and could make a suggestion? 2.) I was wondering how you keep the bugs out of your cauliflower? I’ve grown broccoli and had worms, but planting them in full sun took...
Read more »

My husband made a remark to me this morning that gave me a moment of pause. He said that with the recent GRANNY MILLER Waco post, and the 2 embedded links at the right sidebar, that GRANNY MILLER was becoming “a political blog again”. My response was: “No it’s not. …well….maybe.” Fact of the matter is GRANNY MILLER has always been a political blog. It’s time for me to fess up and come clean with you dear reader. I started GRANNY MILLER as an agent for change and influence. In the fall of 2006 I was mostly interested in...
Read more »

April 19th. It’s an important date in American history. April 19, 1775 is the day “the shot was heard ’round the world”. The Battles of Lexington and Concord began our War for Independence. April 19th,1995 is the day of the Oklahoma City bombing. And April 19th 1993 is the day that 76 people, including 20 children and pregnant women, were massacred by our government using extreme military force. Our government  then subsequently lied to cover it up. For the most part GRANNY MILLER tries to steer clear of politics these days. Never the less I just can’t let this...
Read more »

I’m worried.  My apple trees are blooming and it’s beginning to spit snow. The local weather forecast is for a low tonight of 31Fº. Apple blooms can take an air temperature that is just a bit lower than freezing but they can’t tolerate a frost. I’m going to hope and pray that tonight the frost doesn’t settle on the trees. If it does this will be the second year in a row that we’ve lost an entire apple crop due to frost. I noticed just awhile ago that some of the trees are shedding their flower petals. Not a...
Read more »

I transplanted my hybrid tomato seedlings into peat pots on Sunday. They look good and don’t seem to be too set back. It will be at least another 4 to 5 weeks before I can even think about setting them out in the garden. And speaking of the garden … this year’s vegetable garden is going to be much, much smaller than in previous years. I have a surplus of canned  and stored food so I don’t need to put up as much as I usually do. No sense growing more food than I need. I’ll only be growing...
Read more »

Fences all over my farm are in need of  replacement. Most are beyond repair. Whether it’s permanent or temporary electric; stock panels, woven wire, wooden board or barbed wire;  it takes a serious out lay of  money and planning to end up with a good and appropriate fencing system for farm animals. To make matters even more complected, not all types of fencing are suitable for all types of livestock. For a few years now I have wanted to try out electric net fencing for my animals. I had heard different things about electric net fencing and not all...
Read more »

Here’s April’s ASK GRANNY. This is the first ASK GRANNY since I moved the site to a new address. You can find the older ASK GRANNY posts in the upper header. #1 If you were to pick one book (or maybe two?) that would serve as a starting point, or a checklist, for a new homesteader wanting to develop a self-sustained lifestyle, what would you recommend? Thanks, Liz Liz - I think so much depends upon your location. What will work in a rural setting doesn’t necessarily translate into an urban environment.  The north has a different climate than...
Read more »

For people who keep backyard chickens this is the time of year when it’s hard to keep ahead of all the eggs. Rice pudding, pound cake, cookies, specialty breads, deviled eggs, pickled eggs, egg salad sandwiches, omelets – you get the idea – all have a built in limit. There are only so many eggs you can eat. One way to preserve eggs for future use is by freezing them. Another way is by the water glass method The water glass method is an older non electric  method. The eggs are preserved by being placed into a crock and...
Read more »