Many of you have asked for our Six Arrows Farm Party Recipes.   Here are two favorites:

Chili Corn Bread Salad

1pkg (7 oz-smaller works too) cornbread mix

1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies, do not drain

1/8 tsp dried oregano

Pinch rubbed sage

1 c mayonnaise

1 c sour cream (8oz)

1 envelope Ranch salad dressing mix

2 cans (15 oz ea.) pinto beans rinsed and drained

2 cans (15 oz ea.) whole kernel corn, drained

3 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 cup chopped green pepper

1 c chopped onions

10 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

2 c shredded cheddar cheese

Prepare corn bread mix according to directions and add chilies, cumin, oregano and sage.  Bake in 8 in square pan according to mix directions.   Cool and crumble.  Combine mayo, sour cream and dressing mix and set aside.  Place half crumbled cornbread in 9x13 glass dish.  Layer with half of the beans, mayo mixture, corn , tomatoes, green pepper, onions, bacon and cheese. Repeat layers.  Dish will be very full.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or longer.  12 servings.

Banana Brunch Punch

6 medium ripe bananas

1 can (12 oz) frozen OJ thawed

1 can (6 oz ) frozen lemonade thawed

2 c sugar

3 c warm water (divided)

1 can ( 46 oz) pineapple juice

3 bottles (2 liters each) lemon lime soda

Orange slices optional

In blender or food processor, blend bananas, orange juice and lemonade until smooth.  Remove half of the mixture and set aside.  Add 1 ½ c of warm water and 1 c sugar to mixture in blender; blend until smooth.  Place in large freezer container. (ice cream pails) Repeat with remaining banana mixture, water and sugar, add to container.  Cover and freeze until solid.  One hour before serving; take punch base out of freezer.  Just before serving, place in a large punch bowl.  Add pineapple juice and soda; stir until well blended.  Garnish with orange slices if desired.  16-20 servings.

Blood Root, a kind of Wood Anemone, (thus named due to the “blood” that runs out of the red roots, or “rhizomes” when they are broken) is the first plant that blooms in spring here. I don’t truly admit of the possibility of spring until the flower’s tender thumbs poke up across the forest floor. The bright little buds relieve the dull brown of the spring ground like stars on a velvety dark night and the absolute purity and delicate nature of the remarkable blossoms is a glorious pronouncement of spring. As far as I’m concerned…it is now official!

I heartlessly pruned the raspberries last night, chopping away with a large clipper until my sore hands could no longer grip the handles. The work evoked memories of past springs...

I can still see Daddy pruning his trees and shrubs while my siblings and I, curious and adoring lads and lassies, bobbed around his knees, mildly solicitous for the welfare of the “poor plants.” After all, the trees bud so busily in spring, and he was cutting off all their hard work with remorseless brevity.

The first year I was entrusted with the task of trimming our rose bushes, I “executed” the job with a few cautious snips and a guilty feeling akin to that of…well…an executioner. When Daddy checked my work, he was kind, but told me I had failed to accomplish the necessary pruning. I have to admit to my shame that I protested a bit at first. Those bushes had sprouted up and out marvelously and it seemed a shame to cut back the tender green shoots.

My feelings in the matter have revolutionized dramatically, but I believe watching my characteristically tender and loving father trim with care and resolution year after year gave me a new understanding of love as well as the nature of plant growth. Experience taught me that the pruning of growth is a inexorable prerequisite to the bearing of fruit. Season after season showed me the abundance that comes out of healthy plants cut back and branched out.

In fact it is the expectation of fruit proves the love of the gardener for his plants even while he cuts back what seems to be good; because he prunes to make way for what is better. This understanding has brought a kind of joy and satisfaction to the task of pruning that supplants the naive hesitating cringe I used to harbor at every snip. Love knows when to gently cut away what is temporary so that what is lasting may be gained with patience.

So we cut back and train up and plant down and water in with faith and expectation…that the Lord of the Harvest will bring forth the bounty of His choosing in His good time.

Potatoes and Peas, Beans, Beets and Radish seeds are planted, with nothing as yet to mark their final resting place but trim rows of dirt and rugged stakes. Broccoli and Cabbage, frosty of leaf and sturdy in stature are set in neat squares, and feathery Onions march in regiments down the length of the garden. And chicks peep merrily from 207 throats and convulse any watchers with their clumsy antics. Our dear friend Gracie seemed to bring out the best in them!

Craig, Karen and The Six Arrows