Fresh Sweet Pea’s-A spring treat in a Sweet and Sour Pork Dish.

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

My Garden Cup Overflows, one of the many things coming out of the garden at this time of the year is sweet fresh green pea’s. They are still in bloom so there is no end in sight yet, but the first steady pickings have began.

Last night, I figured out what we were having for supper and headed out to the garden for green onion, and a basket full of fresh picked pea pods. Most of the pea’s were fresh o so tender baby pea’s.

The Pea pods can be roasted, or they can be simmers in a little water to make a pea broth for later use but I feed these ones as treats to the sheep and the pig later that night, I swear the sheeps eyes crossed in pleasure while they munched away.

So got left with a good size bowl of these lovely pea’s..I could have just eaten them fresh as is!

Time to make supper, I made a pot of white rice (yes, I know, its not as good as brown or red or wild rice but the sauce on this dish was going to be so light, that if I had used a heavy rice on it, it would have overpowered it and I didn’t want that)

Into a pot went a whole onion, both white and green parts, six big white local mushrooms sliced and about 2 pds of fresh diced tenderloin into stew sized cubes, I stirfried them till the meat was done, and to it I added a pint jar of homemade watermelon jelly for the sweet part, once it had melted, I added 2 tbsp of rice wine vinager and Volio, my light, but delightful sweet and sour pork was ready, at the very last second, I added in my big bowl of fresh green pea’s and served it over the rice.

Posted in gardens | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

GooseBerries-Thoughts, Idea’s and Recipe.

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

The gooseberry was a staple in every Grandma’s garden that I knew, I still remember the huge gooseberry bushes we had a the farm.  It was the first thing I bought for the farm was two gooseberry bushes, and since then I have taken cuttings and now have a good size row of eight bushes with plans to continue until I most likely have a even dozen soon enough.

I typically take most of my gooseberry’s off the plants while still green for use in jams, jellies and to include in a few different dishes, only a few of the berries are allowed to ripen up to the rich sweet dark red ripe that are used for fresh eating, the green underripe have more value to me then the fresh.

I tend to freeze at least 20 to 30 cups of the berries for future use as required during the winter months, I dry some for use in certain dishes, and the rest is used as a way to make homemade pectin. Given the rising costs of pectin this year, I am guessing that most of my berries (along with my currents) will be heading into pectin making.

Frugal tip for you, apples are not ready to be used for homemade pectin in the spring, as I am sure you know, they are a late fall fruit, but the gooseberry and the red and black currents are ready at the same time as some of your other fresh spring fruits. Gooseberry is very high in pectin and acid levels.

Time Tip: The recipes often call for tipped and tailed and if you have the time to do so, then please feel free to do this, I don’t, I cook my gooseberries, giving them a mash or two as cooking as they soften and break open and then I put them though my ricer or food press, this gives my most of the flesh to go with the juice but leaves the tips and tails behind, its saves alot of time, and I don’t find it effect flavor or taste, it does effect the look, if you want it to look like berries, you will have to take the long way, if you just want the color, flavor, this is the way to go for speed.

This filling is awesome as is, just thicken with corn starch and use as in as many ways as you want, but do try this pie recipe thickened with Tapioca at least once.

Gooseberry Elder Flower Pie
3 c Fresh gooseberries filling
1/2 To 1 cup fresh elder flowers
1 1/4 c Sugar
2 tbsp Tapioca
2 tb Lemon Juice
Pastry for 9″ double crust
 
Line a 9″ pie tin with pastry and put your fresh elderflowers in, don’t worry if they go a little light brown from bruising when you remove them from the stems,  fill with gooseberry mixture. Cover with a round of pastry or with latticed strips of pastry. Bake in 350 F until golden brown and you can see the filling is boiling hot.

Serve Cold with a dollop of whip cream or clotted cream or scoop of icecream if you wish.

Posted in gardens | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Weight/Goals Update

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

Well, its been a trying week, the rain and thunderstorms have been effecting my working outside, add in something that is driving my allergies nuts and I have felt off most of the week so I stepped on the scales with a sense of doom to be honest.. but was surprised and pleased to see that I was down a pd, would I have liked more, of course, am I unhappy, not at all, a pd in a week is good.

Last weeks goals

  • Write down the food and calories-Done and making better choices all the time, other then monday night.
  • Stay under 2000 per day-Yes, other then Monday
  • Get huffy and puffy at least once a day-Nope, only four out of the seven, and I am sure that is part of the reason that I was slower, I did do things and even did some in house workouts but I don’t find its the same as doing a active full body farm workout.
  • Eat out of the garden as much as possable!-Yes! and enjoyed the fresh foods while doing so.

Goals for this week.

  • Continue my food journel
  • Spend at least an hour or two or more in my garden each day
  • Work with the ox at least twice
  • Eat out the garden as much as possable.
  • Pick and keep fresh wildflowers on the table for a spot of pretty to lift my mood each time I see them!
Posted in Goals | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

My Double Yolker Girl

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

My Chickens are dual purpose birds, this means they are of older breeds that are still good for both egg production but you get a nice amount of size on the boys for the freezer camp.

It also means that the odds of some of my girls going broody is good, and given that I have for a number of years now kept back from the chicks hatched out by their own momma’s, it add to the broody factor in my own flock, something I am quite fine with, I don’t want to pay 3 to 5 dollars for a day old chick if I can have a momma or two hatch out 20 to 40 new wee ones for my own personal use each summer.

So in the new keep back girls from last summer, I have a double yolker girl, I am not sure which one it is.. I have never caught her in the act, but for months now, about four times a week comes in a egg that looks like this..

This is very special egg, and it does not go with the other eggs, it goes into its very own spot in the fridge and it is not used for breakfast or hard boiled eggs or any of the used so many of my eggs get used for, its saved for a certain purpose, can you figure out what and why?

To my regular readers, I am going to wait 24 hours before giving away the answer, so I hope lots of you will comment and give your thoughts on what and why? The answer is in the picture above.

Answer: These eggs have double the york for a single egg and less white then a single egg, they are perfect for making homemade pasta with!

Posted in Critters | Tagged | 10 Comments

What do you use clover for?

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

I like clover! I like white clover and red clover, I can remember as a small child the pleasure on a warm sunny summer day to pick big fluffy heads of the most wonder purple and sucking on the sweet at the bottom of each tiny flower nub..  I have never been quite sure why red clover is called red, as the flowers are purple to my eye..

Clover in the pasture was a good thing, clover pulled and tossed to the chickens or given out to grandpa’s rabbits, would make critters cluck and coo or nibble in the most happy way.. but my mother never used clover in the kitchen that I am aware of.

Credit for the first time I had homemade clover tea goes to Miss T back when she was my roommate just as I hit my 20’s,  and I have never looked back, I missed clover something fierce when I lived in the artic and there was none.. no clover flowers for years in my life, I traded them for a different world view and culture and don’t regret it, it has helped make me who I am.

But now that I am back on a farm again, I seek out and grow my clover patches, some white, some red, some a mix of both, I use it as a green cover, I use it for bird feed, and for six months of the year, some is picked for the rabbits daily greens, I dry the flowers for my own use and I make at least a batch  or two of clover flower syrup. This is special to me, no using it one pancakes or icecream or as a meat glaze.. not this one..

Its used for when I have a cold, I mix up a couple tbsp of this with hot water and sip away., its a wonderful  sweet flower with nutty undertones 

This is a basic flower syrup but I have a few helpful hints to make sure it turns out the best possable for you.

  • Pick your flowers early in the morning, and be picky about them, you want young just coming out flowers with no damage or brown on the bottom of the flowers. yes it takes time to hand pick the flowers and you will need a good size patch of them.
  • Pick your flowers when they are dry, not wet from rain or dew
  • Pick only from patches you know have not been sprayed
  • Don’t overpick your patch, no more then half at any given time.
  • Use good quality water(I know, I know this one seems basic, but not everyone has the right water in their home wells to make good canning products!)

Clover flower Syrup Recipe

  • 4 cups of flowers (all Red, all White or a mix of both)
  • 2 cups of water

Put your flowers after carefully checking them over, and removing any green leaves or stems or brown spots on the flowers into your steel pot, cover with water and bring to a slow soft simmer for 20 min by which time all color should have leach out of the flowers, and you will be left with a very pretty yellow fresh flower tea.

Measure out your water, it should be two cups, if you want to use it right away, just bottle and cool and add honey or sugar as you use it, if you want to perserve it for winter, its a one to one rato is what I use.

So back into the cleaned steel pot goes the two cups of flower tea and two cups of sugar, bring to boil and simmer for two min, and then jar and process the pint jar for ten min and cool and store in a cool, dark place.

So you make clover flower tea? Do you dry clover? Do you make syrup and have a favorite way to use it?  Do you grow clover as a ground cover?A green Crop for the garden? or how about a big old patch for your smaller barn critters?

Posted in Food Production and Recipes | Tagged , , , | 20 Comments

But what do you do about those Pest Bugs?

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

I was asked this question over the weeekend, and the next thing was what do you spray those plants with? The short answer is, I don’t spray anything from the store.. but the long answer is more detailed.

As with most things in life, I think the everything is joined, and so some of my answers might seem a little “uh” to a few folks. so I believe that its up to a large part to the plants to do this work for me, I am will give a helping hand but mainly in ways that I believe will give the plants what they need to do it on their own as much as possable. So the first thing is working the soil, I make multiple critter compost, and work hard to create loose healthy soil, that rarely see’s the light of day, most of the time its under green cover, under bedding or under the light of the veggies.

 

  • I wide row plant, now I do this for a couple reason, one its dry land planting spacing, I don’t water my plants other then to start them and only if they are dry that they are major in need. Giving the plants that extra space means that the plants grow bigger, stronger and therefor are able to withstand the bugs better, they also get better airflow around the whole plant. The big plants that are said to get one sqaure foot, get three in my wide row planting.
  • I use straw or old hay to cover the ground between the plants, this helps retain moisture, suppress weeds and helps the plants be healthy plants, and healthy plants are less likely to be attacked then weak plants are. While they are still young now, by fall, these patch will be overflowing and the straw will not even be visable for the plant growth.
  • Ducks, I like to run my light weight laying ducks thought the garden once or twice a week as natural pest control, unlike my chickens they are not as prone to snacking on fruits or leaves.
  • Hand Picking, we still take out hot soapy water in a container and pick bugs off, and drop them in and put the lid on to kill them, its old school but effective.
  • If its a true push come to show and I still can’t keep up with the different things above, then I will make up Rhubarb Leaf spray.. as you know, you can’t eat Rhubarb leaves and I find if you fill a bucket with  a couple big ones and then pour water over top, let sit 24 hours, with the odd stir, then strain and into bottle and spray the plants, It will help only until your next rain, and remember to wash your veggies before using them, I would not use this on soft fruits like raspberries or strawberries.

So how do you deal with your bugs in a organic, natural way? Do you hand pick?

 

Posted in gardens | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

What are you eating out of your garden?

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

Its that time of year, that you can always find ways to add or make a large amount of your meals out of your own garden.. there is nothing quite like the taste of  fresh organic food  that goes from garden to the dinner plate in a matter of minutes.

Starter: Roasted Pea Pods -With a touch of Sesame oil, and homemade Spruce Salt, fresh picked out of the garden, very lightly oil and salted and roasted in the oven at 375 till crisp about ten min, they are crunchy, and chewy with great flavor, DH didn’t like them, but I loved them! I found this idea on Mother’s Spice Rack Challange meals for Mint, I have linked above to the blog that posted how she did her’s.

Main course, From our Garden :A mix of greens (Romaine, Lettice, and Horseradish Greens, Radish Greens), Green onion, Fresh baby Pea’s, Cucumber, Dill, Fresh Radish  extra’s, Local Mushrooms and Cranberries, with a touch of mayo.

Dessert: Fresh Strawberries mixed with Kiwi.

What are you making to eat out of your garden? 

Posted in food, Food Production and Recipes, gardens | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

How does your garden grow

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

How was your gardening week? We had three days of heat and then four days of warm and rain, and I do mean rain, all my rain barrels are full to overflowing and I can see the plants growing. This was a steady as she goes week in the garden, some weeding, and daily picking of strawberries, herbs and greens.

  • Harvested-Pigweed, Romaine, Horse Radish Greens, Radishs, Pea’s, Green Tomato’s, Strawberries, Elderflowers, Beebalm, Mints, Feverfew. cucumber
  • Planted-Cucumbers,Ground Cherries, Melon’s (from the greenhouse) Dill, Beans
  • Canned-Marrow Fruit, Strawberry Jam, Strawberry Fruit, Elderflower syrup, Pickles(made with Grape Leaves, Dill and Horseradish)
  • Dried-Lemon’s, Limes, Kiwi, Strawberries, Stinging Nettle, Mints, Elderflowers, Red Clover.

So photos this week of a great example of staggered plantings, so you the back row is very early greenhouse started tomato plants, then second planting of tomato’s and then third plantings. Next we have one of the many! trays to dry of strawberries, along many other things, including the next photo of Elderflowers. Last but not least, my first Greenhouse started Cucumber plants are producing and we have been enjoying yummy fresh cucumber and even made my first spring batch of Grape Leaf Pickles.

So how is your garden doing this week? What have you been wild harvesting? Are you canning yet? Drying? or mainly fresh eating at this point?

Posted in gardens | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Elderflower syrup

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

The Elder’s are in bloom, and I went out and carefully pruned the bush of select flowers, so that when the berries come, they will not overwhlem the branchs (my bushes can produce so hard, that they will break their own branches with the weight of the fruit).

Pick the heavenly scented star shaped mini flowers off the stems over a bowl to catch them, you hold the stem and gently stripe them off with your clean hands. Put your flowers and one finely sliced lemon into a steel pot, just cover with water and bring to a simmer for ten min.  Put into a cheese Cloth and allow to drain for at least four hours or overnight in the fridge.

Measure how much liquid you have and then I do a 2 to 1 ratio, so two cups of liquid to one cup of sugar and I bring it back up to a boil and into a clean hot jar, if you want to keep it for long term use, I will hot water bath it for 15 min, if I want to use it in the next two months, I let it cool and store in the fridge.

Idea’s for this lovely golden yellow syrup, well pancakes and waffles are the easy off the top, but lets consider using it as the base for a wonderful cool refreshing summer drink, or drizzles over fresh fruit etc, a tiny bit goes a long way in the flavor department.

 

Posted in Canning, wild foods | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pectin-Commercal or Homemade

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

Canning season has certainly started here on the farm, I tend to can all year long but the push is always late spring to late fall, I typically pick up supplies in the fall when they go on sale and so tend to ahead of the game by about half a year normally on most things a min.

One of the things I tend to stock up on is Pectin, but with a full winter of processing behind me, my stock is getting lower, and so while I was getting some good deals in town today I thought I might pick up another dozen box’s and almost fell over in shock!! The price locally has more then just slightly doubled in price per box.. I went to all three stores in town, picking up their loss leaders and they were all the same.. ouch!  and double OUCH, I stood in the row at the cheapest store and glared at that price and then looked at my hubby and said.. GREAT, one more thing to add to my to do list this year.. While I will certainly look for this to go on sale (hopefully to the price I paid last year), I will be making alot more of my own homemade pectin.

Now I have a couple different sourse locally available to me from the farm itself.

  • Crabapples
  • Apples
  • Gooseberries
  • Currents

Sources available off the farm but locally wild harvested, are apples and crabapples, and non-local sourses would be lemon and limes from the store.

While I normally make small amount of apple pectin for later use(while I am making my apple sauce) it would appear this year, I will be needing to plan for making a whole lot more and canning it for later use. I will have to some research and see if there is anything else that can be added to those lists.

Do you make homemade pectin? Have you seen a price increase on this product in your area? Are you aware of anything else that has a very high pectin count for use in jam’s or jellies?

 

 

Posted in Canning, frugal | Tagged , | 6 Comments