It’s time to save seeds for next year’s flower garden. 

These datura or Devil’s Trumpet seed pods will dry out and turn brown. That is the time to harvest them. Georgia O’Keefe liked Devil’s Trumpet or Jimson weed as it is often called.

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To everything there is a season. It’s late September and, like clockwork, the flowers in the Big Mill garden are going to seed and then they will die. I will save the seeds, plant them next spring and these same flowers will live again.

There is a real science to this seed-saving and though I actually understand it, I prefer taking the easy route — I save the same seeds my mother saved – seeds from heirloom or old varieties of annual flowers (flowers that must be planted every year). [continue reading…]

The Sign Says it Best:  “Blow horn for ferry.”

See the tiny house across the river? That is the other ferry dock.

The San Souci Cable Ferry crosses the Cashie River in eastern North Carolina near Windsor in Bertie County.

Lest you ever try to tell anyone about this ferry, first — you must have a language lesson. Forget the Southern part, that is a given. The local part is more important. [continue reading…]

If you like figs, you will love this Fig Bread –
I bet you will like it even if you don’t like figs!

Homegrown Figs are just wonderful

I love figs and fig trees; I now have four fig trees planted in my orchard. That might be a bit obsessive, but this is a farm and I can share. When figs get ripe, they come in great profusion, so I needed some recipes to use all these great fruits of the gods. I make Fig Preserves or Jam and Fig Bread.

Click to get the Fig Bread Recipe From Big Mill BB innkeeper Chloe

Eastern North Carolina might seem laid back and slow with nothing to do. What a fallacy!

If you like history, canoeing, hiking, fishing, golfing, birding, antiqueing, outdoor dramas, eating local seafood and road food with Norman Rockwell scenes – then you will love Eastern North Carolina.

Visit one of our charming coastal towns – watch the fishing boats as they come in, see historic Edenton or Bath, participate in a Civil War re-enactment at Ft. Branch in Hamilton or at Plymouth. Y’all come and sit a spell.

To see more videos of Big Mill & eastern North Carolina check out our Big Mill You Tube channel. We have some fun videos of evening primroses, tobacco harvesting, hummingbirds who don’t know we’re watching and other life on a farm bed and breakfast.

If you “Subscribe” to follow the channel, then you’ll get a notice when we upload a new video. It doesn’t happen that often, but we have fun doing them as time allows.

As always, we hope you will join us at Big Mill B&B in Williamston, NC 252-792-8787.

(Video credit: Barney Conway of Palm Radio Productions)

How to make these cute Christmas Santa Claus ornaments from Okra

We must remember to grow and dry our okra here on the farm in the summer so that we can have these wonderful Okra Santas for Christmas. These ornaments are made from the okra seed pods that dried on the okra plants at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast. Most folks just throw them away; when I was growing up we saved them for next year’s seeds. Read more about How to Make Okra Santas

The mystery – What happened to the Lost Colony? Are they in Manteo or maybe still in eastern North Carolina?

In 1587, a colony of 120 souls established the first English Colony in this new world on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Three years later when John White returned from England with supplies, the colony had vanished. He found only the word “Croatoan” carved into a tree. Recently researchers have found a clue that the colonists may have moved to Bertie County — to what is now an Arnold Palmer Golf Course. [continue reading…]

Do you need an easy punch recipe for that special summer party?

This great-tasting party punch is quick and easy to make and pretty – and you can do most of the prep ahead of time. Here is the recipe. [continue reading…]

Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park is a fascinating world of birds

There are more than two thousand birds from six continents in Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park located in Scotland Neck in eastern North Carolina. It is truly a bird watcher’s paradise!  In fact, it features the largest collection of waterfowl in the world.  [continue reading…]

Does washing berries in a vinegar wash keep them fresh longer?

Fresh picked berries are yummy. Recipe for storing berries below

Everyone has an opinion. I think you should at least give it a try, then decide. I know the vinegar wash works for me, but then I think white vinegar is “gold.” We use it here at Big Mill B&B for an eco-friendly cleaning product. I also use it as a fabric softener. [continue reading…]