October Unprocessed Week 1.5 Update

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

As the first week of Oct was a very short week being only 4 days, I am combining week one and week 2 together for this update.IMG_1882

The weather has been very warm with lots of mixed in rain..  This is only the 3rd year on the farm in 17 years here that we have not had our first hard killing frost by Thanksgiving Weekend., certain spots on the farm and gardens have had two or three light frosts for the super tenders but no killing frost at all.. 

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The Big Garden Teepee is just rocking along, with bowls of cherry tomato’s still being picked every two days plus beans and so on..  I will be honest, I am surprised that the 4 cherry tomato’s we planted have reached ten feet high and each one covers the full 4 feet side with each being at least 4 feet wide..  They really liked this growing set up.. 

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We have been enjoying a mix of food from our gardens and our Full Bellies Food Box..  The Sunchokes are in full bloom, and will be one of our last and longest harvests in the gardens but the gardens are still pretty full, its not that we have not been harvesting, we have been..   Point in fact 96% of all my jars are full at this point, its a good thing we are also eating out them and so the cycle continues.. fill empty, fill empty..   

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Its been quite easy to make our meals meet the rules, a little thinking and a little planning.. the biggest challenge has been the few times we have been out for medical appointments and its moved over into meal times.. and planning thanksgiving as I do love my stuffing and point in fact.. I adore stove top stuffing..  I know I know.. I can make a mean homemade stuffing, I know how to make a crazy good cornbread stuffing, a apple/sausage stuffing that is lip smacking good.. my mothers, cooked heart/gizzard, onion, herbs and so much butter thick/rich very sage based one.. half goes in the bird and half goes in the pan to bake in the oven to be mixed together for the table.. 

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I will make a tiny little stuffing this year as I will be the only one eating it, or maybe I will change my mind and make a full stuffing and just put stuffing on the dogs dinner bowls and we will all enjoy it lol..  either way I can’t imagine not having cold stuffing to go with my cold turkey tomorrow..  I have a few hours yet to make that final choice.. 

Onward we go.. 

 

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

Happy Thanksgiving to all my wonderful readership. I wish you the very best..  and here are few lovely photos of my hounds and purrpots to go Ahhh over.. Hug your loved ones!

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Posted in Life moves on daily | 2 Comments

Baked Beef Shank Steaks

Posted on October 9, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

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This garlic loving somewhat made in the pot BBQ sauce works so perfectly with these baked till pull apart tender Shank Steaks.  There is enough sauce made for four steaks with the fixings for sure if you wanted to pull it, mix it together and use on pasta or rice..  or you could use as a full side like we did, in which case it goes amazing with a huge side salad..  It would be outstanding with my loaded cabbage salad and a bit of of mashed to round out the plate.. 

Given the price of beef these days, its possable that some of the different cuts might be had for a much better price point.. Shank Steaks could be in that better price point..  this recipe works well in regards to taking one or two steaks, cooking it in a way that you could easily then shed the meat into the sauce and use it over pasta/rice or mashed.. all of which will give a good filling meal that does not seem like you are stretching the meat, just that it should be served that way..   

Perhaps you bought a quarter or half a beef and have moved the Shanks package around.. not really sure how to use them?  The recipe below could be done in a slow cooker or even on very low on the stove top if needed.. or in the right pan a toaster oven..  its very flexable in that way.. 

While these are beef and they should have been aged at hanging time, I was taking no risks with these steaks, and I aged them two days in a brine in the fridge.. the brine was as simple as it gets a bit of oil, a bit of apple cider vinegar, and some soy sauce with some cracked course salt and cracked pepper.. flip twice a day.

  • 2 Extra Large Beef Shank Steaks Bone in (aged)
  • 1 purple head of chinese cabbage, finely sliced (it melts down much more then regular cabbage for texture
  • 1 large or 2 medium yellow onions (peeled and slivered)
  • 8 med to large cloves of garlic, peeled, smashed and coursely diced
  • 6 cups of beef broth
  • 1 can of tomato paste concentrate 
  • 1 tsp of instant coffee (your choice but it does give a extra something to the dish)
  • Salt, Pepper 1/2 tsp, 1/2 tsp of ginger, 1/2 tsp of all spice and 1 tsp of montreal steak spice.

In a oven proof pot with a lid, place the cabbage, onion and garlic down first, then place the steaks on and just wiggle them in a tiny bit.. Mix the spices, the instant coffee and the tomato paste in with beef broth, blend with a whisk till its smooth and well combined.. pour it over the steaks and veggies.. 

Bake 3 and half to 4 hours at a slow 300 degree oven till the meat is fall apart tender..  

Posted in Food Storage, frugal, grass fed beef | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Winter Tires and Stuff

Posted on October 8, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

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All over the farm and the fields around me, the geese have been flying..

Honk, Honk, Honk

If we needed more signs that fall is here.. these lines of every changing moving, shifting V flocks of honkers would certainly be it..

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They are still moving with ease.. Butterflies have left and are on their flight to warmer winter pastures..

Do you want to know what is not moving freely, STUFF.. stuff is not moving.. the great global supply chain.. the just in time delivery..  Its showing more and more strain..  a shipping load that metal box used to cost $5000 to rent, now it costs #30,000..   I want you to really think about it.. some really high end items have enough profit margin.. but there is a HUGE host of things, smaller things that we are so used to having on the shelves that do not have the profit margrin to make this possable..

I know, I know.. but Farmgal.. have you seen the prices..  everything is up, up UP.. yup.. the cost of everything is higher.. so they are passing on the extra cost of doing business..  I am not sure you read my blog if you believe that lol

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I expect that most that read my blog understand that due to global factors (a host of them) that this is not a blip.. that while certain parts of canada are doing well enough with the health issues, while others are struggling that point in fact, we are going to find ourselves having a broad sweeping brush of inflation.

While we have rising costs across the board, (including lumber) what we do not have is rising incomes.. but we are about to see debt.. o yes.. those rising house prices which many bought into, taking out a healthy portion of the bank of mom/dad in terms of their extra (if you were lucky enough to have parents that could help you) means that a huge percentage of those that just got into the market are going to be house poor straight off and second, they are about to get their ass’s bitten with their variable rates..

Ah, the flip side is that those that were in their house’s, working from home, stable incomes and so on.. they suddenly found themselves with a extra 100,000 to 300,000 grand worth of house.. and I will bet a nickel that a swack of them took out huge lines of credit for “improvements” and yes I am sure some did put in pools, redo the kitchen and dropped 50 grand on landscaping..

Thing is.. lines of credit are still credit.. and they are interest rate connected as well..  I have so many friends that I like.. yes.. the house made X amount of money and so I took out and got X or Z or Y..  but here is the thing.. as long as it was “credit line” its not real money.. its credit.. its a loan.. its debt!

This big old house of cards has been being held up with bandaids, the feds have been pushing money out the door by the shovel ready programs..  it can’t keep it up.. Billions spent.. Billions more put out in.. you guessed it.. loans..  so many small, med an big business’s that have been held up by the programs..  once that bill comes due.. many will fail..  and so will all those let go..

If you have CASH on hand, then get ready for winter early this year.. I am not talking about buying bathroom paper products..  or the extra bag of beans etc.. they will make sure that the basic’s are in the stores and you should have extra on hand already by now..

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I am talking about the extra’s you need for winter for your home, for your vehicles, for your farm, barns and so on..  pick up the feed now if you can because the price is only going to get worse, do not put off getting new winter tires if you need them, I do not know your home.. you do.. you most likely have a list.. make it, check it twice.. then check your house hold repair boxes and compare them..

and Remember the Golden Rule.. Two is one and one is none..

Enjoy these at least locally wonderful warm days of fall.. but remember.. winter is coming..

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Lamb Quinoa Meatballs Baked with Sauerkraut

Posted on October 7, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

Lamb Meatballs baked with krout is very good.. o yes.. very good indeed..  So lets to the recipe shall we..

Recipe

  • 1 pound of ground lamb 
  • 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
  • 1/2 very finely chopped yellow onion
  • 1/2 a cup of Quinoa (red)
  • 1/2 tsp of salt, pepper, 1 tsp of Steak Spice
  • 1 qaurt of wine sauerkraut or 3 to 4 cups if you are making it yourself in a crock.
  • 3/4 cup of broth (lamb or beef or veggie, your choice)

Mix the meat, onion, garlic, spices and quinoa in the burger very well, then make 6 to 8 even sized meat balls put a layer of sauerkraut down, then the meat balls with the rest tucked between them, leaving just the tops showing, add the broth and bake for 25 min covered in a 350 degree oven.. uncover for the last 5 min if you want more browning on the meat itself. 

Serve with a side salad or would also go excellent with mashed potato as well.. the more mild wine saurerkraut works very well with the lamb and the Qauinoa works to help bind it together but far less then tradional carbs.. 

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Bells – A wee Update

Posted on October 5, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

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Bells :strike a pose, first offical photo shoot lol..  Bells is proud to announce that I have finally cracked the one pound mark on the my daily weigh in on the soaping scale.   To say that Bells was and is still a wee thing is fair.. we got the KML milk replacer which is still being used for extra calories

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However, I much perfer the special kitten wet food and I like it.. lots, I started out eating a quarter of a can at a time and now I am up to half a can sometimes and I like to eat 6 to 8 times a day.. hungry, growing baby.. FEED ME! meow, meow.. 

On the back end that has meant more baths then any one kitten should have to take.. first I have a blue dawn bath, then I have to be flea combed over and over, but I purr so its not so bad on the combing. but the bathing.. that I am not so fond of.. but at least I get dried, fluffed and lots of cuddle time..  I am not sure why but the two legged does not like it when I get stuff on me,  so many wee baths.. how many times do you have to wash me tail 

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Which brings me to the next big event in my wee kitten world.. the litter box..  I am pretty good with it, I really am..  and o gosh, then there was the nail trimming, I was informed that my little nails were very sharp indeed and so I had the trim.. and now I can’t cling to things as well as I used to but on the other paw, I don’t get stuck the same either.. 

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The whole house is mine to command, I demand food, milk, laps, cuddles and snuggles..  and I gets its.. purr purr purr..  I helps the two legged at work by making sure he is doin a good job.. write, write, write.. and for the other two legged, she has started wearing a jacket with hood and I ride the hood, sometimes I even fall asleep in there while she workin.. 

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Sometimes I get to play on the “kitty stand” but only when watched because its quite high and sometimes there is cranky other kitty on it and she does not want to share.. but I like to play on it.. I also have a bell ball to attack.. its mine.. whack, whack.. sometimes I get to play on the floor.. but then the two legged puts a COLLAR on me with a bell on it..  its not nice.. but what can you do.. 

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The two legged says is so she can keep a ear out of me cuz I am so wee.. I hope to outgrow the need for a bell but she giggles each time the bell rings on Bells so I don’t know.. it might stick around..  I am warm, I am fat bellied (so much good foods), I am Bells.. Hear me Roar!

Posted in Life moves on daily | 6 Comments

Roasted Sea Salt Grey Ghost Squash Seeds

Posted on October 2, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

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Its fall and that means squash and pumpkins are coming in by the wheel barrel and bins full.. such bounty.. we had a low threatened of 4 and we did get just nipped but only in our most frost prone area so far..  still we also noted that we were dry now and had a days of rain coming.. 

So it was time to bring them in and they are scattered all over the house tucked here and there as they are drying and curing.. I grabbed a  Grey Ghost Squash, the top was cut off, the seeds pulled out, the guts to the chickens, the seeds to be washed for future use and the squash itself, had butter, maple syrup and pink sea salt cracked in it and the lid put back on with a heat hole cut into it and put into the oven to roast away till tender.  I will personally feast on a bowl of it.. and the leftovers will be used for a dish as a accent for hubby LOL

I then washed the seeds in cool water, just using my hands to get the last of the fresh off the seeds, then I put a touch of good olive oil, seasoning salt and mixed it though, then spread it out.. then cracked larger sea salt over them and roasted till golden brown and the shells have firmed up. 

Unlike different pumpkins or even some squash, my grey ghost seeds are either a very slow eat, crack, scrape out edge side, the middle is tasty and I like the flavor very much and its a nice slow snack.. or you need to eat them whole.. 

If you have any kind of bowl issues where extra fiber can give you issues please do not eat whole shell on pumpkin or squash seeds.. the fiber load on them is massive and they are going to pass right though.

 

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October Unprocessed Challenge 2021

Posted on October 1, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

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The “Kitchen Test” Definition

The first question I’m always asked is, “How do you define unprocessed?”
Obviously there’s a wide range of implications in that word, and we will probably each define it slightly differently for ourselves. My definition is this:

Unprocessed food is any food that could be made by a person with reasonable skill in a home kitchen with whole-food ingredients.

I call it “The Kitchen Test.” If you pick up something with a label (if it doesn’t have a label, it’s probably unprocessed), and find an ingredient you’d never use in your kitchen and couldn’t possibly make yourself from the whole form, it’s processed.

It doesn’t mean you actually have to make it yourself, it just means that for it to be considered “unprocessed” that you could, in theory, do so.

I am once again taking on the october unprocessed challenge.. its always good to find out where you have creep..  sometimes you find yourself buying something or using something that you could be making yourself. 

Examples of creep that I am aware of.. Salad dressings..  given how many salads we eat, we have taken to having a much wider then normal selection of dressing and they are all bought from the store..  its helpful and useful but at the same time, many of them could be made at home.

My biggest challenge for myself will be my sugar in my coffee..  but I have lots of honey and maple syrup in the house as well as raw brown cane sugar.. 

I am giving myself a added little push, I will do my best to make sure that as much as possable that most things come from within a 100 km of the farm..  

As always I will own up if I fail and why,  the first thing I will say is that while my food box does buy ontario/quebec when possable, canada however some of the things that come in it are from the states and even around the world.. they are however cost effective and unprocessed.. 

So the first switch of the day was my coffee.. I had to move from my favorite instant coffee to my french press with ground..  its much stronger and more bitter.. 

Anyone want to join me?

 

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Fall Round Up -Ground Cherry Mincemeat Tart Recipe

Posted on September 30, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

Looking for a way to use your fall apples and your amazing fall ground cherries, I have a lovely tart that can easily be scaled up to a pie if you perfer..

Just another day on the farm's avatarJust another Day on the Farm


Apple-Ground Cherry Mincemeat Recipe

  • 6 cups of peeled, cored and coarsely chopped fresh fall apples (I used Spartan)
  • 2 cups of husk removed Ground Cherries
  • 2 cups of golden raisins
  • 1/8 of a cup of finely diced dried ginger
  • 1 cup of brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp. of Cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp of nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp of all spice
  • 2 Tbsp of water (just to start it off so it will not burn)

In a heavy bottomed steel pot, add everything together and on med heat (4) bring to boil, Cook till the apples are soft, give it a mash with your potato masher, you want bits left.. not smooth, so don’t mash too much but enough that it breaks the apples down some. At this point.. lower that heat to a barely there simmer.. Stir often..

Slow and steady will win the race.. cook it down till its thick, o the…

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Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Just another day on the farm

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O that irony of duck momma’s..  This spring we came into the year with 4 proven hens, 2 2020 hens and one big old chocolate drake.. Their job this year was to be fly eaters and garden helpers..  Now on a normal year I try for a min of one clutch per hen.. and they average at least 12 ducklings per clutch..  and I normally run 4 duck hens.. so give or take 50 babies..

I took a good hard look at my freezers, my pantry, my lambs and pork from last year and the fact that I have ordered half a beef for late fall from down the road plus the chicken I have raised this year and went..  let have a no duckling year..

Now I have done this once before.. its not hard. the hens lay eggs, we collect the eggs, they lay for a crazy long time, we get a LOT of duck eggs and at least one hen will find some spot to sit a nest and show up with a clutch.. but typically its a smaller clutch maybe 4 to 6 as she had to find a spot that was very much NOT ideally to lay and sit on..

This year has been a shake my head, so first off.. we have two to four duck eggs coming in like clockwork.. this SHOULD mean that we are getting most of the eggs.. right?? RIGHT?

So this spring one of the duck went MIA and that only means two things.. a) fox got it, as there was no blood or body, like there would be if coon or b) she snuck off and is sitting and will show back up with babies in tow.

And sure enough.. 14 babies .. hiya..  I gave them away.. its a no duckling year, I didn’t have the baby feed in, I did not want to run baby duck pens, it was NOT the plan.. so I put them up on facebook.. take them and they are yours..  they were going for 10 dollars a duckling locally is sold so as I expected, they were picked up the very same day..

and I gave the hens the talk.. look, this year just be ducks.. happy happy ducks, no momma requirement needed..  and we doubled down on not letting them out to early, collecting the eggs..

Then as I expected one of the hens had a half hatch of 6 healthy and I went ok.. whatever.. grow them out, 4 big drakes and 2 hens.. lovely birds.. then I had a slow down on eggs, but all the hens were eating and drinking and being head counted..  then one went MIA for a single day, and showed up with 14 babies (how? my best guess is that they were nest sharing) because within 72 hours the second hen showed up with another 14..  yes you read that right.. 28 ducklings..

and so we went hunting and found the next nest and dang if they were not almost ready to hatch.. the thing is that we were still collecting duck eggs, so some of the hens at least where still laying while sitting and that is just not done.. its really not.. I still do not get it..  but they are sneaky things..

13 more ducklings joined the duck flock.. 32 plus 13.. 45.. right on target for a full production year.. till yesterday.. I heard them, that high pitched, I am lost, I am lost, I am lost..  and there was my oldest biggest momma duck.. proudly, o so proudly showing her clutch of 16.. yes 16! healthy new babies..  Largest hatch we have ever had on the farm..

45 plus 16.. 61.. sigh.. lol.. Fall is the worst time to sell duckings, their worth drops 50% or more.. because it cost more to raise them in the fall then in spring an summer.. true.. but these fluffy butts are thriving and growing rapidly.

I had figured I would have all my butcher done by X.. but now I have to plan in duck butchering.. so that changes a few things..  Now to do a full hunt to try and make sure there are no more nests hidden..

How is it possable that on my NO DUCKLING year that I have more babies then the years I plan for them.. and how did they pull of the magic trick of still laying eggs?

I will not be short on duck for 2021/22 that’s for sure..  Did you have some surprise? hatchings, chicks, ducklings or ?

Posted in Life moves on daily | 15 Comments