Better weather on the horizon



It's still well below freezing this morning.  When I left for work the temperature had only reached 10 degrees.  But we're supposedly heading for a high of 20, and on Saturday they are predicting a high of 46 degrees, so it will feel like spring.  Sort of... The animals will be happy to get out and about.

Still no signs of the goat giving birth.  Though I'm glad that no babies were born during this week's freezing weather.

In going along with my "eat like a European" plan, last night's dinner was left-over roasted rooster tossed onto a salad with balsamic dressing and a few homemade croutons.  It was enough.

 

 

Due Date

Any bets on when (or if) she's due?

 

I'm new to this goat husbandry thing, so I failed to proactively separate my doe from my buck, and, well, you know what happens next.  So, I have no clue when "Miss Chiba" actually became pregnant (or if she's just really fat).  I feed and worm her appropriately, according to http://www.boergoat101.com/libraryshelf.php?cat=FEEDING.  So unless she has some weird, goat thyroid problem (if that's possible for a goat?) then I don't think she's large due to obesity.

So... Any bets?  Anybody?

Preparing for a Deep Freeze on the Farm

One of the not-so-nice things about living on a farm (with animals) is dealing with cold winter weather.  The animals, but maybe not the horses so much, seem to hate it as much as I do.  The chickens want to roost and linger in the barn all day, rather than brave freezing wind and snow.  But, the chickens (and duck) were happy to get out and roam around a bit over the weekend, once the temperatures rose to about 37 degrees.  And the turkeys and bunnies were pretty active as well.

With the slight break in the weather, I jumped on the chance to get the heat lamps up and ready to get the animals through the next two nights of arctic wrath. I also took the opportunity to pin down the Billy Goat (with some help), to get his hooves trimmed and fit him with a halter.  What a chore! But the collar alone wasn't giving me enough control, and he was still able to swing his head around and puncture holes in my thighs with his horns.  Not fun.  Or safe. 

Speaking of goats, I've been struggling with castration confusion.  If my (hopefully) pregnant doe delivers a buck, is it best to castrate it by cutting or banding?  I can't decide.  If anyone out there has any advice I would greatly appreciate your feedback on this one.

We had a nice dinner to close the day.  The husband wanted steak.  We don't eat much cow, maybe a handful of times per year.  I think if we raised one of our own that could change.  But we love pork, chicken, duck, rabbit, and the occasional squirrel (don't judge).  I'd much rather have a pig or two than a cow.  Or ten goats, but that's another story...

Getting back to the dinner.  This was way too much meat for me to eat, and as expected, I only managed to get through about one quarter of it.  Really, who eats like this?  Other than my husband... But I guess this is why so many of us Americans are large, unlike the Europeans, who's plates would contain only a quarter of what mine did to begin with!  I need to make a mental note to start eating more like a European.   And of course after all that food I couldn't be bothered with taking down the Christmas Tree and putting away the decorations.  I could barely walk. 

How cold is it?

It's ten degrees out as I write this post...

 



Not that I'm complaining. This coming Tuesday they're predicting a high of -2 degrees.  And the overnight temp for Monday is supposed to be around -13.  Negative 13 degrees...  It definitely sounds negative to me! The water pump in the barn has to be thawed out every morning.  Ice has to be removed from the water buckets. This has been the routine for about two weeks now. To add to the misery, the wood pile is beginning to run low.  If my estimations are correct, and it stays this damn cold, we should run out by mid February.  Note to Self for next year - stock more wood.

My main goal for this weekend is to get the two heat lamps hooked back up in the barn's aisle-way, which will keep the barn above freezing (and the animals), the water pump running freely, and as a bonus, prompt the chickens to start laying more frequently.

Even though it's colder than $#!T! I prefer, I still manage to find a little beauty in it all during my drive to work in the mornings.

Stay warm my firends...

Happy New Year 2014

“Today is the first page of a 365 page book.  Write a good one.” - Happy New Year!

 

 

New Year's Day, 2014.  A cold and snowy day to start off the New Year.  What better of a way is there to celebrate than with a hot bowl of lentil & ham soup, hearty fresh-baked dark rye bread, and a cold glass of champagne!  Tradition has it, the lentils symbolize money and good fortune.  The ham in the soup stands for "richness of life."  And the champagne?  Well, it is the New Year after all...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lentil Soup with Ham

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

2  tablespoons olive oil  2  cups dried brown lentils, rinsed and picked over 
2  carrots, peeled and chopped 
1  onion, chopped fine 
3  garlic cloves, minced 
1/2  cup white wine 
7  cups low-sodium chicken broth 
1  teaspoon minced fresh thyme 
1  bay leaf 
1/4  teaspoon red pepper flakes 
About 2 cups leftover chopped ham 

Salt and pepper 

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a pot or dutch oven, over medium heat until shimmering. Add lentils, carrots, and onion and cook until vegetables are softened and lentils are beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine and cook until reduced by half, about 1 minute. Stir in broth, thyme, bay leaf, and pepper flakes and bring to boil.

2. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, until thickened and lentils are completely tender, about 1 hour. Discard bay leaf. Puree 2 cups soup until smooth. Return pureed soup to pot and stir in ham. Simmer, covered, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

 

 

 

Relief

The Christmas Holiday has come and gone.  And I am so happy its over and I get a break from house guests for a while.  Not that I don't enjoy house guests and visitors, but for some reason, this time of year absolutely kicks my @$$.  It think it is all the cooking, and trying to make sure everyone is taken care of and has what they need, are fed enough and, well, you know how it is if you do any sort of entertaining at all.  It's tiring! And stressful.  And expensive!  Really expensive... 

Next year I want to get a better grip on things, and try to have as much of the holiday food (and drink!) as possible, come straight off the farm.  Why have a farm if you can't showcase all the good things it can provide? This is going to require some work, and some new skills to be learned (cheese making, cookie baking, preserving etc.).  But really, I could get my "super farm girl" shit together and hatch out a few turkeys for the holidays, right? This just vaguely sounded like a New Year's resolution didn't it? 

Anyway, then I remembered something...we had an office party last week, and everyone contributed a little food and drink for the gathering.  I sat and chatted with an Italian man for a bit, who got me thinking that I have been doing this whole entertaining thing horribly wrong.  His menu for a simple holiday gathering with friends and family?  Homemade wine (family recipe), homemade pizza (family recipe), topped with tomato sauce and garlic and herbs from his very own garden, and served alongside a simple salad (homemade vinaigrette), and some cookies and pastry from his mother.  Maybe a little too simple, but you get what I'm saying.

He brought his homemade pizza and wine to the office party that day, and it was a total hit!  The pizza was great, the wine amazing.  I was jealous of his pizza recipe. It was served at room temperature and it tasted fantastic!  It was better than my pizza recipe.  The best thing about this menu was that once prepared, it required no other effort from the cook, who now had all the time he wanted to chat and mingle with the other guests. And who doesn't like pizza?  Brilliant!

My take-away from this guy?  I really, really need to simplify things next year, and relieve some of my stress.  Simple food if done correct, is better, healthier, and allows more time to spend with your house guests!

Five Things I'm Grateful for Today

1. The forgiving elastic in the waistband of my pants.
2. Christmas is over.
3. Christmas is over.
4. Christmas is over.
5. Christmas is over.

Curing Cabin Fever

I think I have cabin fever.  I'm sure I have cabin fever.

Last night I was dreaming of a fresh warm tomato, picked straight from the vine ( I could smell it!), sliced and layered with fresh mozzarella, slivered fragrant basil leaves, and lightly drizzled in fruity virgin olive oil...

And then I woke up and had to pee...

It isn't even Christmas yet, and I find myself counting down days.  Not days until Christmas mind you, because that day in fact I absolutely cannot wait for to be over with and done.  Really. I could care less for the holiday. Am I related to the Grinch?  Perhaps...

No! I am counting down days for things like New Year's Day (14 days away), when I can start a fresh new year, reflect back on the old year, and move forward!  I'm counting down the days until Groundhog Day (46 days), when I know that right about that time I will be so entirely sick of the snow, ice and cold, that I am positive I can take no more. 

I'm counting down to the Spring Equinox (92 days), when I know that spring bulbs will soon be making their appearance.  And mostly, I am counting down to the middle of July (208 days), when I know I will be harvesting garlic, and the garden will be bursting with life! And real tomatoes...

How do YOU cure cabin fever?



Farm Happenings

Not a lot has been happening lately around the farm, now that old man winter has set in (other than snow).  The turkeys have grown nicely over the past couple of months, and would be ready to butcher in a couple more weeks, except now that we have lost all but two (a tom and a hen) to predators. We will not be eating these remaining lucky birds.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some fertile eggs in the spring to toss into the incubator.  A Blue Slate / Bourbon Red Cross should make for some interesting poults, no?

The mother rabbit and her three babies that we acquired back in October appear to be all grown up. As mentioned before, I know absolutely nothing about rabbits.  My husband built them a four foot long box to live and hide in, and he refused to separate the boys from the girls, so I would assume that someone will be having babies soon.  When he goes away for work in January for a few months I will sneak in and separate them, if I can manage to learn how to sex them.  I'm all for a scheduled breeding program! 

Speaking of scheduled breeding programs, I really have to learn more about goat husbandry.  I let the female goat run with the buck all summer and didn't separate them until sometime in October.  I have not idea if she is pregnant or just fat. They had a "date" this past Friday because she was wagging her tail and seemed to be very interested in hanging out with him, but once we let them together he didn't seem so interested in her, or perhaps he just didn't want an audience?  Regardless, she will either give birth in the next couple of months, or she won't.  Time will tell.  And next time, we will schedule her dates with the buck!

The chickens are rather boring right now.  The last time I counted, I had around 42-45, with about 5-6 being roosters. I would think that egg production would be a little better, but as of the last few weeks I am only getting 1-6 eggs per day.  Not much. 

Speaking of eggs, the sole remaining Pekin duck that we were given back in October started laying an egg a day just over a week ago.  I thought she was a boy.  I was most definitely wrong.

And what can I say about the horses?  They are just here, hanging out in the snow, burning through six bags of grain every week (along with hay) and giving nothing back in return.  Yet.  Two are racehorses, and I hope they will pay back their way, and that of the other two, next season at the racetrack.  Otherwise, it will be time to decrease the herd for sure.  Horses are the biggest expense on the farm, and usually do not give back much, other than a fun ride and something to play around with when time allows. Oh but they do look pretty standing out in the pasture, right?  

Hardiness Zone Confusion...

While daydreaming about what fruit trees I want to plant this coming spring, I jumped on the Internet  to find out what hardiness zone I reside in.  Not what I expected...  I checked five different sites, all of which ask you to type in your zip code to determine your particular "zone."  Guess what?  Out of five sites, I got four DIFFERENT answers!  Given the information, I decided I would go with Zone 6, just to be safe.  My zip code is 44491.  Check it out yourself and see what your zone is... I hope you have better luck at getting a more concrete answer than I did. 

http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/  Zone 6a

http://www.garden.org/zipzone/  Zone 5a

http://www.gardenweb.com/zones/zip.cgi  Zone 5

http://www2.arborday.org/treeinfo/ZoneInfo.cfm?ZipCode=44491&submit=Look+it+up%21 
Zone 6

http://www.burpee.com/gardening/content/gygg/growing-zone-information/growingzoneinfo.html

and that last one came up with Zone 5...

 

Banana Bread

I've tried numerous banana bread recipes over the years, and this is the one I finally settled on as my go-to recipe.  Its easy and its a great way to use up your over-ripe bananas.  I usually bake my bread in three small loaf pans, but it works fine in a large loaf pan as well.  Shorten your cooking time if you choose the small pans.  Unless you like really dry bread....

Banana Bread
(makes one regular size loaf, or three small ones)

2 tsp. butter
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup light olive or your favorite cooking oil
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
4 med. sized ripe bananas, mashed well
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. milk or cream
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

(1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
(2) Prepare a loaf pan by coating it well with the butter
(3) Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
(4) With a mixer, combine the oil, sugar, eggs, banana, vanilla and milk or cream.
(5) Add the flour and mix until just combined.  Stir in nuts if using.
(6) Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out dry (about 1 hour and 15 minutes)
(7) Cool ten minutes before removing from the pan, then remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

Seed Catalog Season 2014

The fever hit me today.  Seed Catalog Fever... It was bound to happen any day now. A coworker casually mentioned that she wanted to plant some heirloom tomatoes this coming spring.  Being a gardening rookie, she wondered where she might get some of those seeds to experiment with.  I suggested a quick search on the Internet would surely turn up numerous resources.  At which point I had to jump online myself and start ordering stacks of seed catalogs!  This was my "hit list" for the day...

http://www.mypatriotsupply.com
http://www.rareseeds.com/resources/non-hybrid 
http://www.victoryseeds.com 
http://www.heirloomseeds.com 
http://www.seedsavers.org  
http://www.johnnyseeds.com
http://www.cooksgarden.com
http://www.highmowingseeds.com

Now, I'd like to offer a few tips and suggestions for your approach when these type of catalogs start arriving in your mailbox.  First, take a deep breath and try like mad to contain your excitement. 

Second, do not, I repeat...DO NOT open any of these catalogs, not one, until you have gone through last year's seed stash and taken full inventory.  There is no reason to end up with twenty-five seed packets of zucchini!  Unless of course you really hate your friends and neighbors...

Second, and again, before you open even one single catalog, sit down and really think about what you and your family consume the most of.  Tomatoes (sauce)?  Beans? Onions, carrots, or corn?  Do you want pumpkins and Indian corn to decorate for fall?  Do you love growing sunflowers? Let these kind of thoughts guide you in your seed selections.

Third, refer back to your garden records from the previous years.  You do keep good garden records don't you?  What grew well?  What failed miserably?

And last, have even more fun with your plan and try growing something that you find new, odd or even exotic, next season.  But start small and only choose ONE new thing. 

Now, grab a coffee and start ordering those seed catalogs!

Clam Chowder (New England Style)

 

This time of the year, sitting down to a hot bowl of soup, stew or chowder warms your bones and somehow makes everything feel right with the world. 

 

New England-style Clam Chowder, or "Chow-da" as those in Boston refer to it, is one of my favorite ways to warm up and indulge.  Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate and enjoy Manhattan-style chowder as well, but given the choice I will always choose New England.  Don't judge - I adore cream! And this is not the time of year to worry about calories! 

 

Though I do believe steaming and shucking your own clams is the preferred way to go, the following recipe is a damn good stand-in for those of us who do not reside on the east coast; and I am betting you will not be disappointed. 

 

Serve this chowder alongside some warm, crusty bread, a light salad, and a crisp and refreshing white wine; and you are very close to heaven my friend... Now go! Go and make a big, steaming pot of this chowder and watch the snow fall.

 

 

 

 

Clam Chowder (New England Style)

6-8 Servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

cooked bacon (an amount to your liking)

1 medium onion diced

1 carrot, diced

2 celery stalks, quartered and sliced into ¼ inch pieces

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups of chicken stock

4 (10 oz.) cans of clams with their juice

2 cups of heavy cream

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon of thyme

Pinch of cayenne

2 pounds of potatoes, diced

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

 Directions

Heat the butter in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the onion, celery and carrot and sauté until softened.  Stir in the flour to distribute evenly.  Add the chicken stock and juice from the chopped clams (reserve the clams). 

 

Add the cream, bay leaves, cayenne, thyme and potatoes.  Stir to combine.  Bring to a simmer and thicken slightly.  Reduce heat to low and cook 20-30 minutes, stirring often, until potatoes are tender. 

 

Add clams and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Simmer a few more minutes to heat clams through.  Serve chowder with bacon crumbled on top.

Farm Happenings

Thanksgiving has come and gone.   The turkey came out magnificent!  I highly recommend using a wet brine to anyone.  I definitely look forward to trying it out on a chicken or two in the near future.

My niece, Ella, was here for the holiday and had a great time messing around with the chickens and bunnies.  She and I even brought a couple into the house to hang out for a while.  Yes, I'm a little strange, and I don't care.  Life is short and its all about having fun and enjoying it while you can.  And the chickens seemed to enjoy getting out of the cold barn and hanging out in a warm kitchen for a bit.

Yesterday I managed to get all of the hen's nest boxes cleaned out and re-stuffed with hay, in the hope they will go off strike and start laying again.  Many of them are coming off their last molt and are still in the process of growing out the last of their new feathers, so I suspect it will be a couple more weeks before they are ready to resume laying.

We also did our second annual cut-your-own Christmas Tree adventure.
The tree this year rocks! Now I just need to find time to decorate it...

Thanksgiving Day Countdown - Wednesday

Tomorrow is the big day...are you ready for the gluttony?  America goes through more than 675 million pounds of Turkey on Thanksgiving.  Did you know that for every four pounds your turkey weighs you should allow for one day of thawing in the fridge?  Did you even remember to thaw your turkey?  If not, go here: Quick Thaw Directions for Turkey.

1,500 = the amount of calories an average woman requires each day. 
2,000 = the amount of calories an average man requires each day.

The American will consume more than 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day.  Of course, you can always bump that count higher by downing a few glasses of wine or beer, and some appetizers to boot. Just sayin'...

Now that I've brought you to tears with the calorie stats bomb, let's move on.  Shall we?  So about that snow storm warning I mentioned yesterday.  We now have snow this morning, and more snow coming.  A good time to stay inside and cook, and bake, drink wine, and then drink more wine.

I started off early this morning testing out a bread recipe for tomorrow.  If it's worthy of mention I'll post it later. 

Turkey Update:  the turkey went into its wet brine bath yesterday evening and will stay there submerged until sometime early tomorrow morning when I'm ready to prep it for the oven.  My husband's words to me this morning..."Honey, do a good job with the turkey, okay?"   Right.  Stay tuned....

 

Thanksgiving Day Countdown - Tuesday

Thanksgiving is almost here, and everything seems to be moving along right on schedule.  Except my waistline.  My waistline is definitely moving ahead of schedule. But I'll address that in January...

So I came home yesterday evening to a clean house!  The men had worked hard scrubbing floors, the bathroom and even the oven here on the homestead, while I worked hard at the office downtown.  A clean house!  This drops my stress level a notch or two. I needed that little boost.

Over the weekend I pulled out all of my recipes for the big day, and then crafted my monster grocery list.  Then on Sunday, I stormed two different grocery stores like a mad woman (which I am), upon the carefully calculated time of 11:30 a.m.  Why 11:30 a.m.?  Because I knew all the Amish, and most everyone else, would be off the streets and out of the stores, busy attending church.  It was the perfect plan!  It was quiet, and nary a soul was to be seen.  Well done farmgirl!

This morning the 22 lb. turkey was lifted from the new chest freezer and set out to begin its thaw.  Tonight, when I return home from work, I will set about making the wet brine for the turkey to "bathe" in until early Thursday morning.  The brine that I use is absolutely amazing, but I can't take credit for the recipe.  If you want to check it out you can find it here.  Its one of Alton Brown's, from the Food Network.  I've used it every year since discovering it.  It received five stars and four thousand and some reviews.  Really, you can't go wrong.  It even tells you how to cook your bird.  And a bonus for me, I killed a rooster two nights ago and ended up with enough homemade organic broth to use for this particular recipe. Score!

To top this countdown off, a lovely snow storm warning is in effect until 4:00 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.  They're talking nine or more inches of the white stuff.  But that's okay, because the plow is back on the tractor and ready to go.  Bring it on I say.

I am so very looking forward to four and a half days off from work, as well.  A little time to spend digging out the Christmas decorations, a little horseback riding, a little reading, a little more adding on to my waistline.... * sigh*