You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ category.
Right now the garden is bursting with all manner of leafy greens. Lettuces, kale, spinach. Even the beet greens are beginning to cry for picking. SO many greens, so little time!
This week we are still enjoying an overabundance of kale but also we are able to mix things up with the spinach that is beginning to take over. I am rather fond of spinach myself: for all my talk of loving growing and picking kale, I think I may actually prefer the spinach! There’s an unending variety of things you can do with spinach: soups, dips, Spanakopita! I like to use fresh spinach in place of shredded lettuce in my tacos. It does well in a regular ol’ salad, and even better in one with strawberries!
This week I made my go -to dish for any vegetable for which I have too much: risotto. I am a sucker for risottos of all kinds, but my favorite is just a simple white wine and parmesan, plain – as – they- come risotto with some chopped up and sauteed veg thrown in.
To start I gathered a large bunch of spinach from the garden – around the same size as those bundles you see in the produce section of the supermarket. They weigh probably around a pound. It looks like too much, but it cooks down and reduces A LOT.
I like to thoroughly wash my greens, and not because they are dirty. In fact, I am completely sure the greens from my garden are far cleaner than those that have been picked in some other state, loaded onto a truck, driven for miles and miles, loaded onto display and handled by various shoppers.
I clean each leaf because of this:
I don’t want to eat bug litter. You know, if a few little bugs escape my notice and get cooked up, so be it. But wads of webbing? No thank you. A hidden chrysalis? Even worse. But worst of all, this bit of webbing could (and did) conceal this:
Yeah, you’d notice that big guy in your finished meal.
(The risotto I make is pretty common, and a good, detailed recipe can be found HERE.)
So – I thoroughly wash my spinach, and then chop it up with half a yellow onion.
I saute the onion and some garlic in a bit of olive oil until the onion starts to become translucent, and then I add the spinach.
I don’t want to cook the spinach too long – just long enough to wilt it a bit and reduce it somewhat – then I remove it from the heat and transfer the onions and spinach to a warm plate. You don’t want to leave the vegetables in for the entire cooking time or they will overcook and lose a lot of their texture and character. We’ll throw them back in at the end.
Meanwhile, I have a pan of vegetable or chicken stock simmering on the stove on low heat, waiting for its turn to be added to the pot. You want it to be hot when it is added to the rice or it will slow down your cooking time dramatically.
You can use either kind of stock for this recipe – I prefer the richness of the chicken stock, but since my oldest is a vegetarian I tend to use vegetable stock whenever I can.
Next I add a touch more olive oil to the pan that the spinach has just vacated and I add the dry, uncooked rice. The idea is to get it coated in oil and saute it for about 3 or 4 minutes – until it starts to become translucent-ish. Then I give it a good splash of white wine. I tend to be generous here.
Here’s the thing about wine in cooking: I don’t use “cooking wine”. I use straight up, run of the mill, whatever’s on sale wine. I cook with wine fairly frequently so I always keep a couple of bottles of cheap whites and reds around. You don’t have to be as picky with it as you would if you were going to drink it (although sometimes even that super cheap stuff can be very drinkable!).
Once the wine has mostly been absorbed into the rice you can start adding a bit of the simmering broth, a little at a time, waiting for it to be almost all absorbed before adding more.
It should take around a half an hour to use up all of your stock and for the rice to become soft. It will start to look almost creamy, and then you know you are ready to finish it up.
At this point you’ll throw your spinach and onions back in along with some parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Honestly, I tend to add extra parmesan and leave out the salt. If you wanted to you could throw in some steamed and chopped asparagus at this point as well. Artichokes also make a nice addition. Okay, I am making myself very very hungry right now.
Once everything is mixed in and heated through you are ready to serve.
A nice and simple risotto like this can make a fine meal all on its own. Or you can add a fried egg with a runny yolk right on top and make it extra special!
And now, instead of the “In the Garden” post I was going to do, I had to share puppy pics instead. I put them up on Facebook and realized I couldn’t not share them here as well.
For those of you who hadn’t heard, this past Saturday was Maryland Sheep & Wool. Susan, Caroline and I drive all the way up there to meet some friends and partake in the wooliness. Three hours in the car. We no sooner got there than Zac called and announced that one of Susan’s Maremmas, Lucy, had just had a litter of 7 puppies. Needless to say we did not stay in Maryland very long. Which is why I have next to no pictures of the event to post here.
Instead I have adorable puppies to show you:
Maremmas are a livestock guard dog breed that hails from the Maremma region of Tuscany in Italy. They are big, friendly working dogs that live their whole lives with the livestock they guard.
The best news?
We got to reserve one for us!!!!
I cannot tell you how absolutely thrilled I am and how excited we all are.
Especially the chickens. They’ll have a full time guardian!
PS – for more puppy pics, click here for Susan’s blog.
All of our hard work creating the chicken prison?
The foxes (or foxen, as Jenny Lawson hilariously calls them) laughed at us.
This past Tuesday we awoke to fresh carnage. Something had obviously made a grab at the chickens as they slept on the perches (which were long sticks hanging in the corner of the chicken prison). You could tell by the feathers all stuck to the wire at that spot.
Then that same something dug under the wire and crawled under the two feet it extended along the ground into the prison. This was also the point where it dragged out Prim, as evidenced by all of her feathers left behind:
Everyone else was present and accounted for, but unfortunately Fleur was badly hurt. At first I thought she was just a bit torn open under her wing, and sprayed her with Blue Kote thinking she’d be fine, since Tevye had similar wounds after his foxen encounter.
Then we noticed under neck. And down into her breast. All. Torn. Open. Her crop was even torn open. You could see her dinner still in it, dropping out in clumps whenever she’d move. Not something Blue Kote was going to fix.
I told Emily things didn’t look good and we should keep her comfortable as best we could until…..you know.
Emily didn’t take it well. SHe sat in the garage with Fleur and cried as Paul and I tried to figure out what the #$*% to do next (the chicken proceeded to poop all over Emily AND lay an egg on her).
First off: no sleeping perched in the corners. Second: secure the ground wire better.
Paul wanted to line the entire ground area with wire so nothing could tunnel in. I was worried about the chickens not being able to scratch the dirt if we did that.
While he brainstormed that, I looked up “torn hen crop”on the internet. Turns out, incredibly, it is totally survivable. With surgery.
Crap.
Because you know I had to give this hen a fighting chance at least.
In related news: can you believe most pharmacies do NOT carry dissolving sutures? In fact, every pharmacy I called acted like I was looking for contraband. I joked with the nurse at the local doctor’s office later that it’s like they thought I was doing open – heart surgery on my four year old.
I managed to get some dissolving sutures from the local dentist (shout out here to Dr. Mera – thank you for helping me save my chicken. You are my daughter’s hero!).
Then EMily and I went to work.
Blindly. Completely, “I have no idea how to do what I am doing” blindly. All I knew is her crop needed to be sewn shut, and it was now or never.
No, I did not take pictures.
Emily held her while I used a lot of saline to clean it out, sewed up what I thought needed to be sewn, stitched her breast skin back together, sprayed a shit – ton of antibacterial wound spray on her, gave her antibiotics, and set her up in a clean space in the garage.
That was Tuesday.
This is today:
She is still eating, drinking and pooping (which I hope means I didn’t actually sew her crop completely wrong, thereby preventing the food from ever leaving it) but she is not making much effort to leave the box . My guess is having your chest stitched back together without anesthetic makes you pretty damn sore and you don’t want to move much afterwards. The skin at least does not look puffy or swollen, and it looks to be healing over.
She also gets upset when she sees the neighbor’s outdoor cat wandering around (the cat has adopted us, apparently, and has no interest in chickens) and she bawks madly, puffing up and pacing around frantically. She has also started fighting me when I go to give her her antibiotics. I think she may actually make it.
As for the prison – Paul decided yes on the welded wire covering the ground, except at the very center. Where he made them a sandbox to scratch in. Then he built a frame for perches over top of it.
I am not saying nothing will get in. I will not tempt fate again. I also don’t know if I will ever be able to free – range them again either. Which is sad, because i will miss those dark orange yolks from all the grass.
They come at too steep a price, though.
A month or so ago I teased y’all about a project I was working on with Lizzy House’s Hello Pilgrim.
Well, it’s done! And I am pretty darn happy with the results.
The pattern is Sew Lisette’s Traveler Dress, with mods. The shirt dress pattern was the closest I could find style – wise to what I had in mind, but the skirt wasn’t quite full enough. I didn’t want a straight shirt – style, nor did I want a too – full skirt, so I added a slightly flared panel on the sides.
My only complaints are that I made it not – quite long enough (another inch would have been my perfect length) and the top isn’t quite as fitted as I’d like around the collar and underarms. Otherwise I am quite pleased with it.
It’s darn comfortable and I adore the fabric, so I think it will get plenty of wear this summer, especially as it works well with my farm boots!
Then again, Hunter boots do look good with just about anything!
While the tomatoes all languish in the house (outgrowing their pots by leaps and bounds) waiting for it to warm the heck up, the cold – weather crops are all coming in like crazy.
The beans and peas are starting to climb the wire trellis and I hope soon we’ll see some actual pods.
The lettuces (Black Seeded Simpson and Red Romaine) are all just about ready to be picked for salads, and the spinach is not far behind.
The broccoli is getting nice and leafy and I am waiting impatiently to see the flowery part!
Then there is the kale. It is screaming for attention and picking right now – growing head and shoulders above everything else. I wasn’t planning on making anything kale – related for dinner tonight, and it’s not very tall yet – but it is very crowded so I decided the time was about right to pick some of the tender leaves for making kale chips.
Kale is one of those greens that is very at home in a potato or ham – based soup – it is very sturdy and flavorful without being too overpowering (it is actually a part of the cabbage family). It is also very good for you – being high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C and even calcium!
Kale chips can be made with large, fully – grown kale leaves, but I like to make them with the more tender, smaller leaves. If you use big kale leaves, you’ll need to remove the stems and the ribs to make the chips. With the small, baby leaves it’s not really necessary.
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees and wash your kale. I just give mine a quick rinse if I’ve just pulled it from the garden – really all I am worried about is that we don’t end up eating too many hidden little bugs or spiders!
Lay your kale in a single layer on a cookie sheet either coated with cooking spray or with foil.
Drizzle some olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. I also like to splash some vinegar on them – like salt & vinegar chips (malt vinegar is best, but just about any will work)!
Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until they are nice and dark and crispy.
They will come out like this – all nice and blurry!
Oona and I hogged all of these up before anyone else even got wind they were done. They were yummy!
The last couple of weeks have been rough for us, chicken – wise. We lost 6 hens to either foxes and mysterious disappearances (also probably foxes). We lost 3 rare breed hens which hurt the most, since, as you can imagine, they are tough to come by.
So I had a bit of a fit over it trying to figure out how to contain the free rangers who refuse to stay safely inside either chicken pen, because it’s the free rangers we keep losing.
That’s when Paul got brilliant. And also I kind of wondered why the heck we haven’t done it this way before.
Voila. Free ranger prison. Maximum – security style. (well, unless you’re a snake. But they can get into anything, let me tell you).
The two weakest spots were at the top (Tevye flew right out before we were done) and along the bottom, where they kept trying to tunnel out. So, the top has plastic mesh all around so there are no gaps to fly through, and the bottom has extra welded wire all around to prevent tunneling out.
Those chickens are not too pleased.
BUT. They are safe, and that is priority number one when you own animals. Their safety. I don’t care that they are happier free ranging, because clearly they are also tastier to foxes that way.
Believe it or not, this is still being looked at as a temporary solution. We still have landscapers coming (any day now………seriously……any day) to clear the property and then we will see how things lay in terms of fencing and chicken territory. It may be we end up putting a coop in this prison and let that be that, but we’ll see. For now they are clucking around during the day, and sleeping either in the dog shed we put in there or roosting on the sticks I put in the corner.
As Paul said, if they break out of there, they deserve to get eaten.
That’s right! This year we have a wooly vegetable garden.
I was lucky enough to be able to grab a bag of skirting after the sheep were sheared at Juniper Moon Farm the other day, and I am thrilled to be using it in the garden.
“Skirting” is the icky bits of the fleece that are so soaked in urine and feces that they cannot be sent to the mill for processing into yarn or roving (such as the wool surrounding the animal’s back end). It’s the waste bits and they are pretty much garbage. Thankfully, they can be composted or used in the garden directly as mulch.
I’ve been using some straw to mulch the areas where I have sown seeds directly into the soil (beets, carrots, onions, chard) and the little sprouts are still fragile so I didn’t use wool there. With some of the hardier squash transplants I have made a light circle of wool around the base and spread out enough to discourage weeds close to the plants.
But where the wool is making the biggest difference for me is at the borders of the beds where the weeds like to encroach and I can’t properly weed-whack them.
The best part is (actually, there are so many “best” parts it’s ridiculous) that the manure-y stuff stuck to the wool will help keep the soil and plants fertilized. AND once the growing season is over you can till the wool mulch right into the soil. See? It’s brilliant!
My garden looks pretty funny and odd right about now – I’ve not completed the mulching process entirely. I have only mulched around the edges a bit and around the current plants that are growing. I have a lot more transplants waiting to go outside once it stays reliably warm enough (tomatoes are pretty delicate and we’re still getting down into the 40′s at night), and once they are in the ground they’ll be mulched with the wool as well.
For now it’s a patchwork of wool, mud and straw. But it’s getting there.
Well, it’s been nearly two years since Jerry got the hackjob of a shearing I did that first summer I owned him. Since then his fleece hasn’t really grown out the way a fiber llama’s would. Those llamas you see at ag fairs and fiber festivals have fleece that falls to their knees. Jerry’s headed just south of his belly and then started to look more rasta than long and luxurious. It looked like it was beginning to felt right on his back.
With summer coming (and I am predicting a hot and awful one) it was time to lose those matted locks. So when the awesome Emily the Shearer came to Juniper Moon Farm to do a mini shearing this week, I took the chance to have Jerry done.
Emily’s not crazy about shearing llamas. And to be honest, I don’t blame her. As fiber animals go, they’re bratty and they don’t like to be touched – AND they’re rather too large to be easily controlled without a restraining “chute”, which I don’t have.
Zac did wonderfully well keeping Jerry “calm”, but despite his best efforts, Emily, Caroline and I all got spit upon. Now that’s saying something, because as llamas go, Jerry isn’t a spitter.
Thankfully Emily really knows her stuff, and she’s fast. As well she should be, freshly back from her time in New Zealand at The Golden Shears.
She can knock out a sheep in no time flat – but that’s what comes of spending six weeks shearing 200 sheep a day!
Jerry was preeeetty pissed.
For as bad mannered and upset as he was, though, he did pretty well – though I think a lot of that come down to Zac and Emily being so good at handling him.
He looks like a hobby horse on a stick, no?
Although he looks rather sad and undignified without his fleece it will make a huge difference in his comfort level this summer – llamas are better suited to colder climates – they come from the Andes, after all!
For the finishing touch? A much – needed pedicure.
I totally owe Emily big on this one. Especially since in two years I’ll need to ask her to do it again.
I’m the type of person that likes traditions. The more the better! And if there isn’t a tradition for something, you can be sure I’ll do my best to start one.
The last few years I’ve been making omelets for breakfast each Easter. We don’t really celebrate Easter beyond the bunny and an occasional family gathering, but with all that candy going on first thing in the morning, and with it being spring and the chickens swamping us with eggs……you can see where it was just a natural progression.
The thing is, and I don’t like to brag – especially about myself – I make a pretty mean omelet.
My grandmother – you know, the one who was the head chef at her own restaurant for over twenty years? She took me into the kitchen one day when I was young and taught me to make omelets. I remember she and my grandfather even took me out and bought me my own omelet pan at the restaurant supply store once I’d mastered it.
I’ve been making omelets almost exactly as she taught me ever since. And now I am going to share it with you.
First, crack a few eggs into a large bowl. The general rule is two to three eggs per person. I personally like a two egger – if I am making it for Paul it’s a three. If I am filling it with loads of extras, two is usually best.
To my eggs I like to add salt and pepper and some dill. I’ll always add fresh chopped basil if I have it, or dried if I don’t.
Then whisk it up good.
Next you can decide what else to put in your omelet.
Cheese? Excellent. Make sure you have some grated or shredded cheese at the ready. I like to chop up mushrooms, tomatoes, green peppers and red onions as well. Sometimes I like to be different and do sun dried tomatoes with marinated artichokes and goat cheese. Be creative – meats are good, as are all kinds of cheeses and veg. Whatever you want, prepare it ahead of time so it’s ready to toss in. This Sunday I used shredded cheddar, green peppers, onions, sun – dried tomatoes and mushrooms.
Meanwhile prepare your pan. I use a non – stick skillet generously coated with Pam. This is where my technique differs from my grandmother, who uses a seasoned omelet-only pan with no spray. I like the ease of my eggs sliding right out when I want them to.
You want a medium-ish heat. Not too hot; you don’t want the eggs to sizzle when they hit the pan. You will need them to cook evenly and gently.
Pour your eggs in the pan. After a minute or two the bottom will start to cook a bit. You want to lift one side of the pan off the heat now and scrape everything down to the side on the heat. Then, holding the cooked bits back with your spatula, rock the pan the other way so the fluidy bits of egg run down into the side you’ve just scraped.
Believe me it is hard to take pictures of yourself doing this!
Always let the runny parts pool down into the side of the pan touching the heat.
Scrape the cooked bits down just before you move that side back down onto the heat.
It’s not very tricky; you just want to maximize the amount of heat the runny parts get while minimizing the heat onto the cooked parts. This way none of it gets overcooked and hopefully nothing gets undercooked either (it helps to use fresh-that-day eggs if you are worried about undercooking!).
You want to keep this up until about 60 to 70 percent of the eggs are cooked. You need enough runny egg left to hold it all together when you lay the pan flat again.
Now’s the time to toss in your extras.
At this point, if I think the eggs look a bit too runny or if there is an awful lot of cheese to melt, I will put a lid on the pan and let it cook until almost completely firm.
But – here’s the trick – you don’t want it 100% cooked just yet, because you need it to remain a bit flexible to fold it.
You’ll carefully fit your spatula under one half of your omelet, lift it, and gently fold it in half.
This is where you’ll let it finish cooking, if it isn’t already done.
Et voila! Delectable omelet for you!
Lately I have been on quite the sewing streak. Ever since I went to the Lizzy House workshop at Susan’s, and Paul bought me a new machine for our anniversary, I’ve been remembering that sewing is fun – not frustrating (an older, not quite “right” machine can really make you dislike sewing).
I also was inspired by the fabrics that Lizzy has created and have been snatching them up as budgeting allows.
But what do you make with such treasured fabrics? It’s kind of hard to decide, as it turns out – the more you like a fabric, the more you don’t want to mess up badly whatever you are making with it.. But, I’ve made two things so far that I am very pleased with (though I really want to buy more of the same fabric and make MORE things with it!!).
This is my new “Schoolhouse Tunic” by Sew Liberated (dress length) in Lizzy’s “Outfoxed”. I love how it fits and it’s very comfortable and flattering. But I just love this fabric so much I want to make MORE dresses, tunics and skirts with it. I mean, just look at the little hedgehogs!
I think this calls for a skirt as well, don’t you?
These are my new Wide – Legged Lounge Pants from Amy Butler’s In Stitches. This fabric is also from Lizzy’s “Outfoxed” collection.
I have been wearing these nearly non -stop around the house since finishing them.
Right now I am working with another Lizzy Fabric from her new “Hello Pilgrim” collection – no sneak peeks today, but I am nearly finished with it so I’ll be showing it off soon enough.
