May 12, 2009
Mother’s day and Buffalo gnats.
Filed under: Bakery, General, Homestead, Nutrition, garden supply — Krista @ 5:17 pm
Hello Everyone,
We have been super busy! We put out 6 long rows of onions and 125# of potatoes under straw in the past couple of weeks. Sarah and Warren mulched the black raspberries and we started a new red raspberry patch off of the old one. The rhubarb looks great. We moved the tomato plants out of the greenhouse yesterday. It has been so cold that I hesitated to move them out . On Mother’s day we planted long rows of cabbage plants( Copenhagen and Red Rock) and Snowball Cauliflower. I still need to get the broccoli in and Kevin did get a pound of Slenderette bush beans in.
All of our chicks arrived safe and sound. We have 100 Cornish Cross, 8 Bourbon Red Turkeys, and 50 Black Austrolorps. We did have an exciting evening when my dad and step-mom were here , a large snake got into the chicks and had one killed and half way down. We all went up and after an exciting chase and capture Kevin killed the snake. He said he hated to do it , but, it was actually eating the chicks. He told me to stop screaming (yeah , right) and then swung the snake at me-I guess just so he could hear me do it again? We had started with 10 turkeys and 2 just vanished so I suspect that another snake was around. It did not take me long to get those other poults moved. Sophia did not understand what all the fuss was about and Molly , our terrier, acted like she wanted to help kill the snake. She does not like icky things in her mouth so she just could not bring herself to help very much.
I gave into temptation and bought 3 goslings at the farm store. I had to make a choice of getting rid of my goose, Oceanus, (believe me, this was Kevin’s idea) or getting more so he would not be so lonely. I think that these are Toulouse or Africans. I am leaning toward the Toulouse. I wanted more purebred Pilgrims, but I would have had to take 15 at a time. That is just too many right now. Someday I would like to have another flock of them. I also do Pysansky eggs and the goose eggs work really well for that.
We have been working hard on getting the Saturday FARMER’S MARKET off the ground. It has been such a wet, cold spring that everyone has late gardens. I know that when it warms up we will be really busy. We are starting the market this Saturday and will have tomato plants, asparagus, green onions and radishes. I think that will be a pretty good start. The market will run from this Saturday May 16 until Halloween.
We are also sponsoring a TRADE DAYS on May 30th. We already have over 20 vendors and will have food booths and the Farmer’s Market people. Samuel Stone is who actually founded our town, I think around 1822, and his descendants have been coming into the store. They are really just the nicest people. They will have a historical booth and be available to answer questions. All of their family is coming. I will be updating more as we go along…..
The guests that I hope do not come are the stupid Buffalo Gnats. They are sooo pesky. I have to wear something over my hair because they get into it and bite my ears. So far the chickens are doing OK, but, I can see that egg production is really down. Kevin needs to put more wood ashes into the chicken house, that always helps. I have been dousing rags in vanilla and hanging on the doors. That has helped some also. I have been so worried about the chicks. Everything has to be checked several times a day. Keeping everything inside a house decreases the gnats on them also. I have heard that several people that take vitamin B’s have less “bugs” than the rest of us. This has also been reported in reference to dogs and fleas.
In light of the H1N1 flu, I have been after all of my family to take Monolaurin and Acidophilus. They just had a case at the college where my son Joey goes. He is finishing his Physics degree at WIU and starting on his Masters in Business Administration. I think he only has one more final left. I will be glad when he is out for the summer. He will also be coming on the 30th of May to help out in the store. He is my computer guy and keeps me in Star Trek TNG episodes.
Sarah will be making cinnamon rolls and blackberry danish for the Farmers Market this Saturday. She has been selling quite a bit of bread. She is finishing up her school year and is learning to weave from the Old Tyme Assoc. that is located by the Adams Co. fair ground. She was able to have a class recently with the master weavers David and Diane Rigsbee. It is a small world as Mr. Rigsbee taught Joey Calc 1, 2, and 3 when Joey was at John Wood Comm College. We had a nice visit and they let us help warp a loom. We were in the round barn at the fair grounds. That barn is just a marvel. The silo is 40′ in the center and all of the boards are in one piece, no splicing. I bet that there are no trees like that anymore, sadly.
Blessings, krista
Hey Krista -
Wanted to know if you will be hosting other Trade Days and what the dates might be. My sister and I are interested, but your first date didn’t work for us! Thanks!
Comment by Terri Groce — June 1, 2009 @ 7:36 pm
April 3, 2009
Early garden is in
Filed under: Bakery, General, Homestead, Nutrition, garden supply — Krista @ 10:59 pm
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:
? ham
? pork chops
? spare ribs
? bacon
? sausage (various flavors)
? roasts
? cutlets
? brats (various flavors)
? ham steaks
? ham steaks? pork loins
? ground pork patties
? stew bones
? fat (for rendering into lard, or to feed to pets or chickens)
? other cuts and products too!
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…..
Comments (0)
March 19, 2009
St. Patrick’s Day fun
10:31 pm
We had such fun on St. Patrick’s day. Kevin had to watch the store while I took Sarah to perform Irish dance/clogging with the band Ragtag. They started at Adams school and then went to Washington school , both in Quincy, Il, and then to the dinner at St. Rose church. After a short break we went to St. Patricks , MO where they finished out the day. She danced on and off from 8:15am to 5pm. I have to admit that I was way more tired than she was. The church at St. Patrick’s is exceptional. It is a replica of a church in Ireland. It was a privilege to get to be there with an Irish band, hearing traditional Irish music and watching Sarah dance. We love the band.
We are getting ready to plant garden. It is finally dry enough and the soil looks great. We have been selling seeds right and left in the store. I guess everyone has the same idea. We are getting ready to start transplanting seedlings in the greenhouse to bigger pots.
Pies have been selling really well. We have had a great response to them.
Comments (2)
March 11, 2009
Spring is finally here!
Filed under: Bakery, General, Homestead, Nutrition, garden supply — Krista @ 7:23 pm
Wow! Am I glad that spring is finally here. It has been a very long winter. Here is a copy of the e-flyer that I just sent out. We just received a bunch of seeds to sell…
IT IS TIME FOR GARDENING!!! SPRING IS FINALLY HERE!!!
(There was a cute picture..I guess it did not copy).
Traditionally, planting dates for early potatoes are St. Patrick’s day until Good Friday-with the 24-25 of March being exceptional (Old Farmer’s Almanac). At our homestead we put in Norlands and/or Pontiacs under a thick layer of straw. It is a good idea to go ahead and buy your potatoes for later summer planting as they sell out quickly. We use Kennebacs for our summer planting. Some prefer Cobblers.
Good planting dates for above ground crops are March 28th and 29th (Old Farmer’s Almanac). I will try and give optimal dates each month. Also, 2 days before the full moon to the day of the full moon is always a good time for above ground crops.
For sell at the store we have seed potatoes, onion sets –yellow and white, a seed rack from the premier seed company Baker Creek, and regular bulk seeds. We also have kelp to fertilize with and it is also great to reduce transplant shock.
We are glad that it is spring and we are looking forward to sharing our garden enthusiasm with you.
Thank you and happy gardening, The Manards
We are gearing up to put our early garden in. We overwintered the goats in one of the gardens-the main one- so it is in great shape. They ate all of the debris off and fertilized it for us. We did have to run them out a couple of weeks ago as I was afraid that they would completely kill out the strawberry beds. They are fat and sassy and need to be moved to a spring pen. It is wonderful to see the grass coming back. Sarah’s lambs are busy and want out to start on the new grass. Oceanus, the Pligrim goose, is lonely as his mate died. We need to find him one. He needs to be moved out of the back of the herb bed to a better place. He bit me last night when I reached down to pet him-another sure sign of spring. He gets really mean during the nesting time. We are getting ready to order chicks for layers and broilers. We are getting several dozen eggs a day. Sarah has been making noodles and angel food cakes.
We are so excited to offer Baker Creek seeds. They are a fantastic heirloom seed company. I am always amazed at the quality of their seeds. They share a passion for the history of the seeds and understand the necessity of preserving them for the next generation(s). They are always the first ones up in the greenhouse plantings. Alas, my poor old greenhouse is just about shot. Kevin is working on a new one. I will be able to utilize the hoop greenhouse in the mean time. He found a great greenhouse plastic for the hoop greenhouse. The worst trouble I had in the greenhouse this year was a pesky mouse who ate all my pepper seeds. He was digging in my asparagus seeds so I layered the whole thing with cayenne pepper. It did not stop the mouse, however , it seem to help the asparagus take off.
Sarah is busy in the bakery. We finished our Ill. State Sanitation lisc. class. We ended up doing well in the class, it was a huge amount of work/homework. She has been selling a lot of her whole wheat bread. We are getting ready to offer deli sandwiches on homemade bread hoagies.
Sarah and our friend Jared took time to prune the orchard and get it in shape . He really is an expert at pruning. We learned a lot from him. We are going to fertilize it soon and this should bring it up to snuff. We had a huge yield from the apples last year.
There does not seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done. Just the weather warming up has helped. Seeing the grass starting to green up has cheered everyone. I am looking forward to St. Patricks day. Part of my family is from Kerry county. I have a Kerry Pippin tree in the orchard to honor it.
Happy St. Pat’s day and happy gardening too!
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January 23, 2009
Onward and Upward
Filed under: Bakery, General, Homestead, garden supply — Krista @ 9:38 pm
Greetings Everyone,
I need to update -now that I know someone has actually read my blog. We had a great Christmas.
Joey , my son, came home from a semester of schooling in Japan . My brother , Kameron, came in for a break from the Marines. We had a great time and they ate a large amount of food. It was so much fun having the “boys” home and Sarah had two “brothers” to pick on her. They were good about helping her with her chores.
Sarah and I worked ourselves silly between cooking at home and in the bakery. We made the BEST hand dipped chocolates! We made a ganache of vanilla infused cream and a mix of chocolates. Then, we hand rolled the truffles in a chocolate covering that is a Sarah speciality and then we either rolled them in ground almonds, coconut or if plain she decorated them. She also made dark chocolate squares and decorated those. It was such a hard job to taste test those..ha ha. We will be making these again for Valentine’s day. They will have heart decorations. We had/have gift boxes with beautiful ribbon. Many people gave these as gifts. We are debating about having chocolate dipped strawberries. We will have to experiment, the pure chocolate may have to be handled differently than cheaper coatings.
On another note…Sarah and I are taking classes to take the bakery to the next certification level. Then we will be able to have deli sandwiches. We are looking forward to opening that door.
Joey stopped in recently and helped finish up the year end bookwork and he helped me set up new Excel sheets to track numbers and sales more efficiently. I am glad to have someone help in this area. He is so fast at numbers and the computer it is incredible.
We are working on getting in gardening items. We are doing quite a bit of research and are excited about getting plants going in the greenhouse and offering seeds and supplies in the store. I did not like the seed starting medium we used last year . I am going to check with an expert to figure out a better way. It is time to start those greenhouses and I getting the gardening fever again. Sarah and I did the garden seed inventory and enjoyed every minute. I did set it up on the computer this time. It made things go much faster. People have been already asking for heirloom tomato plants.
We had an interview with KHQA this morning. Stephen Johnson was really nice. Very professional. The story will air Monday the 26th between 5-5:30 pm.
December 12, 2008
The new and noteworthy
Filed under: Bakery, General, Homestead, Nutrition — Krista @ 12:30 am
Greetings Everyone,
Sarah and I have been busy getting ready for Christmas. We have 2 beautiful gingerbread houses made. They have “stained glass” windows and are made with organic gingerbread. We are starting on the hand-dipped chocolates tomorrow. We will need taste testers! We will also be starting the the holiday cookies.
I am trying to keep enough supplements in stock for all of the people that have had the flu. We have some great products that help kick it. Good old Monolaurin is always the heavy hitter in a fight with a virus. I will soon post more information about Monolaurin.
On the homestead front… We had our LGD (Livestock Guardian Dog) spayed this week. It was a hard decision to make. Not because we want puppies, but, these type of dogs are very sensitive to anesthesia . We were blessed to have a great vet that understood about Great Pyrenees and Anatolians. Our dog is a mix of these two breeds. She is a fantastic dog, she weighs 100 lbs at 7 months old and is” hardwired” to be a livestock dog. She is already patrolling well and is able to be with the variety of animals that we have on the homestead. We have goats, sheep, a goose, turkeys,rabbits, chickens and other dogs. She is also able to herd the chickens which was a huge surprise.
We experienced a rite of passage with the goat babies. Gabriel got his head stuck in the fence and had to be rescued. It scared us to death. We are such rookies. We now have 3 goats under the age of 9 months. They keep us busy and we have had sooo much fun bottle feeding this summer. We just recently weaned . These guys are so cute. This is Gabriel, Dolly Maude, and Lily. Gabriel and Dolly are Spanish-Boer, and Lily is a pure bred Saanen. She will be a milk goat. Gabriel is a wether and will hopefully be used to pull a cart.
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November 30, 2008
Welcome to Stone’s Prairie Market
Filed under: General — Krista @ 9:47 pm
We’re very pleased to have Joey Calvey of Calvey internet systems set up our new blog. We will be frequently posting all the news at Stone’s Prairie Market. We will be talking about what is going on at the store, what we are doing in the bakery, information about supplements, and any big news on the homestead. We will sending more blogs soon, and feel free to e-mail us here.
To see current blog check out the Blog link......
March 17, 2010
St. Patrick’s Day!
Krista @ 8:43 am
I love St. Patrick’s Day. My maiden name is DeLany, which goes back to Kerry county, Ireland. Joseph Delaney came to this country with his brothers. We will be celebrating by watching Sarah clog and Irish dance at St. Rose church over the noon hour with the Irish band Ragtag. St. Rose serves a lovely traditional Irish meal.
It is just about time to plant the gardens. The 24/25th look like good above ground crop days and the 30/31st look like potato planting time. I have lots of babies up in the greenhouse. My pepper plants are somewhat reluctant to show their face. They just have to have it warmer to germinate. I love the greenhouse plastic from Farmtek. However, Franchesca, the cat, wants to play on top of the greenhouse. I am amazed it is not riddled with holes. She likes to be able to watch the whole area from one place and I saw her the other day taking a swipe at the birds flying by.
This afternoon Sarah and I will be dipping more cheesecake in chocolate. We will also be working on chocolate covered almond butter squares. We will have all kinds of neat items for Easter. She has also been making noodles.
I moved all the supplements around and put them in alphabetical order. I guess no one appreciated my old “logical’ system for supplement organization. Well, at least I could find stuff. Now anyone can find anything… We found a great source of eggs. A local couple has just received their lisc from the State of Ill. and now we can sell their eggs through the store. They are free range, brown, and grade A. They custom grind the feed and hand feed flax seed and millet. We are proud to be able to support local small farms.
I did hear that the Baughers had hogs for sell again. If you look at my old blogs there is contact info there, or email me and I will send it to you. They will take the hog to Kabricks to have it processed.
We will be sending out a sales eflyer soon and will have a special bakery list for Easter. We will also be making the unleavened communion bread for our church. It is a heritage German recipe that is hundreds of years old from the old German Baptist Dunkards.
Happy Spring to all of you!
March 9, 2010
Hurray for Spring
Krista @ 8:10 pm
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.
March 3, 2010
The New WebSite
Krista @ 4:31 pm
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.
Comments (0)
February 16, 2010
NAIS gets shot down
Krista @ 5:09 pm
“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…
February 9, 2010
Valentine’s Day is Near!
Krista @ 11:41 pm
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:
Valentines Day Specials
Stone’s Prairie Market
Hand dipped Chocolates combining 3 different types of chocolate
>Dark Chocolate Squares- Intense squares of silky, dark chocolate ganache dipped in a crisp, milk chocolate shell. Decorated. $1.00 each.
>Milk Chocolate Truffles-Soft and creamy milk chocolate centers dipped and rolled in another layer of fudgy chocolate.
Original , Decorated Milk Chocolate Truffle. $1.00 each.
Milk Chocolate Truffle rolled in Toasted Almonds. $1.00 each.
Heart-Shaped Butter Cookies decorated with Buttercream Frosting in Romantic, Victorian designs.
Single, 5” cookie. $2.50
1 dozen, 3’’ cookies. $10.00
NEW! Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries! $2.50 each.
Sweet, juicy strawberries dipped in a crispy milk chocolate shell.
Please Pre-Order to Guarantee Availability. Orders will be ready for pick up Friday after 12 pm and Saturday. Gift boxes available. Pies and breads also available.
217-656-3970 Contact Sarah Manard -
Store Hours:
Tues/Wed 10am- 6 pm
Thurs 2- 6 pm
Friday 10 am -6 pm
Saturday 9 am-12pm
Sunday/Monday closed
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.
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….
December 15, 2009
It ’s almost Christmas
Filed under: Bakery, General, Homestead, garden supply — Krista @ 4:27 pm
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.
October 24, 2009
Homicide by paw bopping
Filed under: Bakery, Homestead, Nutrition, garden supply — Krista @ 5:40 pm
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.
October 8, 2009
Updates to October
Krista @ 10:26 pm
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 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….
July 17, 2009
Trade days and more….
Krista @ 3:52 pm
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…..
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