Welcome to Homegrown Bites by Jake's Run!

Tasty food, lamb meat, jams and jellies, fresh produce, and crochet accessories.

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Little things and high hopes

When we started our seeds this year, there was one tiny little runt that I chose not to plant. I was thinking it was too small. But my better half asked me to plant it, telling me he knew it would grow. So with little faith I planted that little tiny plant.

I was in for a surprise.

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Our little plant was growing! It was 1/2″ tall when we planted it and look at it now! Sure, it’s not as big as the plant beside it but it’s growing.

Now, I see this:

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There’s a little tiny tomato on the little plant that can. I have high hopes for the little plant. We’ll see…


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It’s amazing to watch the garden go from brown, plain dirt to rows of lush green.  Those tiny seeds, so gently planted in the rows, produce such wonderful foods that feed so many.  I’m honored that our produce is gracing the tables of so many families!

All is well in the garden.  With the exception of the final corn field (which will hopefully be planted this coming weekend, depending on the weather), everything is planted and looking great!  Every day there’s something new coming up and something new to see.

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My favorite type of lettuce. I can’t wait to eat this!

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These cabbage heads are beautiful!

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Cayenne pepper plant is looking good!

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Beautiful rows of corn, ready to be thinned.

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Pea pods!!!

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We should have a great crop of potatoes this year.

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Little teeny tiny peppers showed up, seemingly overnight.

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Sweet potatoes 🙂

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I can’t wait to eat a delicious vine-ripened tomato fresh from the garden.

 

 

 


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Thankful

Today, I’m thankful to live in a country where we enjoy such freedoms.  I’m thankful for long days in the sun, planting what remained to be planted:  green beans, yellow squash, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, acorn squash, gourds, watermelon, cantaloupe, etc.  I’m thankful the only things left to plant are pumpkins and the final field of corn. 

I’m thankful for the smells that surrounded us this weekend while we worked in the fields – honeysuckle, wild roses, and blackberry blooms. 

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Wild roses are everywhere, along with honeysuckle. Great smells!!!

I’m thankful to live in the great Commonwealth of Kentucky, where it’s green like no other place. 

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This was my view while mowing Saturday. Sure, I was stuck in the mud at the time, but WOW the view was nice!

I’m thankful to see a little tomato on the vine:

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He’s hiding, but he’s in there! Little tomatoes are popping up.

I’m thankful that the garden is doing well and I’m pleased to see the potato plants growing strong:

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The potato plants are looking very good this year.

Every day, I’m thankful for this life.  And on this Memorial Day, I’m extra thankful for the men and women who have served or are currently serving our country.  Their sacrifices allow us the freedom to live this wonderful life.  I am grateful. 


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Everything Old is New(er) Again!

Here at Jake’s Run, we like vintage.  We like to repurpose.  We like old stuff.  I use a wagon to transport items around the property.  It serves me well.  However, it was starting to look a little sad…

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My poor little wagon. So sad and rusty…

So, I decided to perk up my wagon with a scrub down and a new paint job.  First, my husband was nice enough to lay out the tools I’d need:

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Gloves, safety glasses (safety first!), a scraper and whatever that thing is that’s attached to the drill (I can’t believe he’s letting me use that! LOL)

Next, I scraped everything down until most of the rust and flaky paint chips had disappeared, then rinsed the dust off:

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My favorite thing about this wagon is the drop-down sides. So handy!

With all of this hands-on effort, I developed a couple of really odd-placed blisters 😦

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OUCH!

After letting the wagon dry, it was time to paint!  Now, I’ll never be a graffiti artist and it’s nowhere near perfect, but I think it turned out good enough for my needs.  Thanks to a couple of cans of Rustoleum.

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Sure, the tires got sprayed too and they look a little funny, but I love my “new” red wagon.


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Everything’s Coming Up… GREEN!

Another busy weekend has come and gone.  This weekend, we worked on the office renovation project, gave the wagon a makeover, tilled a lot of ground, and planted sweet potatoes and red potatoes.  Thus far, everything is looking pretty good!  My biggest problem is that the garden is so big, I can’t get it all in one picture!

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This is the garden view diagonally from the pepper and tomato patch.

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LOTS of tomato plants! I think there are 48 plants and they’re all looking good!

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Broccoli and cabbage, jalapeno and cayenne pepper patch.

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This is the first greens patch. Every few days we pull the weeks and give those to the chickens. Makes them very happy 🙂


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Peppers, Tomatoes and Corn, Oh My!

Tuesday was a planting day.  We each took a day off from work and spent the day in the garden.  Peppers are planted!  Green, red, yellow, cayenne, jalapeno, and banana.  The last 8 tomato plants (cherry) went into the ground.  Two rows of peanuts.  The first 6 rows of corn.  Russet, red and purple potatoes.  Two rows of sunflowers (just because they’re pretty).  It was a very productive day.

This was my best friend for the day:

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So thankful my lovely daughter thought enough of me on vacation to buy me this lovely water bottle!

If anyone’s wondering, this was my view during pepper planting:

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Ah, the glamorous life of garden planting 😉

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The kale is looking beautiful.

There is still so much left to do, but we’re getting there!  Watermelon, more corn, more potatoes, cantaloupe, squash, green beans, etc. still to be planted.  I’m so excited to see the garden growing and taking shape.  I’m looking forward to delivering those baskets of fresh produce.  I’m ready for early Saturday mornings at the Farmer’s Market. I’m VERY excited to see this:

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One of my most favorite garden items. STRAWBERRIES!!!!! YUM!!!

 

 

 

 

 


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Why the name, “Jake’s Run”?

When the time came to name our farm, we tossed many names into the hat.  We’re a blended family, consisting of one husband, one wife, two daughters and one son (and 6 Beagles + 1 Basset who likes to pretend he’s a Beagle, but that’s another post).  Because my children share a different last name, we intentionally threw out all options containing last names.  The more we thought about it, the clearer the solution became….

Jake the dog had spent lots of time running rabbits on our land and thus probably knew the land better than we ever could.  Jake was loyal and kind – a good hunter – a great companion.  It made sense to honor Jake by naming the land he knew so well after him. 

This is Jake.  All around Good Dog. 
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Jake passed away not long before Christmas 2013. Although he’s no longer with us, his spirit lives on 🙂