Just another Day on the Farm

Fresh Creamy Horseradish Sauce

Posted on October 11, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

It the perfect time of year to head out and dig out some fresh new horseradish root. The first year root is still so young, smaller flexible, and much less heat than second year roots will be.

Do you grow horseradish in your garden? While it is a bad spreader and once its in an area, it’s there for life.. its such a great plant to have. Forget about the roots LOL, it’s the greens that are going to be the whole gardening eating plant.

I adore my horse-radish greens, eating them fresh for around seven months of the year and using them in my cooking for the winter time as a dried green (it replaces Basil perfectly in recipes)

However today in the light rain, I headed out to a compost pile and dug out a lovely this year’s root that was came out close to two feet long but narrow.. a quick scrub, a little bit of end trimming and a touch of the peeler as required and cut into smaller pieces and into the grinder it went..

I wanted to clean out my nose LOL

Helpful Hint, Watch your hands well after working with horseradish and do not touch your eyes 🙂

I got a lovely pile of fresh grated horseradish, it was a little baby root so it only made half a cup.

Creamy Horseradish Sauce

half a cup of freshly grated horseradish
half a cup of prepared Mayo
1/4 tsp of salt, pepper
1 tbsp. of sugar (this is something we like but you can skip it if you want)

That’s it folks.. mix it up and put it into jars with lids and into the fridge to meld.. best after it has at least a few hours to a day to meld. In this case, I want it to make a dish that is coming to the blog.

However it works for side relish for meats, including darker meats like beef or wild game. It also works really nicely on sandwiches as a thin spread in replacement of mustard.

Also can mix this in a bit of salad dressing for a added zip to your fall cabbage salad

Posted in food, Food in jars, Garden | Tagged Creamy horseradish Sauce, Creamy Horseradish sauce recipe, Eating horseradish greens, Horseradish, ways to use creamy horseradish | 10 Comments

Ground Cherry Apple Pie Recipe

Posted on October 10, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

This pie is so simple to make and it got rave reviews, everyone says that the ground cherries tasted like little hit of peach in this apple pie..

I am comfortable saying that is pretty to serve, easy to make (really easy) and that the flavour combo worked very well. Want to know more about Ground Cherries?

Growing Ground Cherries in the garden

Ground Cherry Apple Pie Recipe

6 cups of peeled, sliced cored apples
2 cups of ground cherries (husk’s removed)
2 tbsp. of flour
1/4th cup of brown sugar
1 tbsp. of chopped finely diced candied dried ginger
1 tbsp. of cinnamon
1 tsp. of ginger
1 pinch of nutmeg or all spice.

Ok, you will need enough pie dough to make either a top and bottom or a like in this one, a bottom shell with an open lattice top.

In a bowl mix everything listed above, then pour into your bottom shell. Add you top of choice, if solid. don’t forget to cut a couple of air holes into the top of the pie crust 🙂

Bake at 350 for 50 min.

(normally my pies are ready at 45 min but this one took the extra five min) Can be served warm or cold.. It got tried both ways but while apple pie get the voice for warm.. this pie got the vote for cold better.. Tried it both ways and tell me what you think?

Posted in Baking, Life moves on daily | Tagged Aunt Molly Ground Cherries, Baking with Ground Cherries, eating ground cherries, Ground Cherry apple pie, Ground Cherry apple pie recipe | 2 Comments

A little C5 Update

Posted on October 10, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

C5 got a new post up on his site Dark Green Mountain Survival Research Center. For those that have not gone to his site before. C5 is a fellow Canadian homesteader, blogger and prepper/survival… sort off.. really he is a work it, get it done.. doing is more important then talking kind of guy.. (he also has a wild sense of writing, he is not PC and most of the time he is a PG13 at a min). just read when the littles are not around.. 🙂

C5 Rule Of Survival- Any essential project will cost twice as much and take three times as long

This rule is the truth and then some.. I know it well, we work with it the same on this farm.. I have to admit that I laughed out loud on this line..

If I was going to be conscripted into this job, I had a few requirements of what the end result would be. #1- It needed to be able to be raised by one person alone, without a tractor or mechanical assistance. #2- It needed to be able to survive a Hurricane or Bomb Cyclone. #3- It needed to be able to be taken down for maintenance or repair and most importantly, It needed to be able to be taken down right in the middle of a storm if things get too much and it had to be able to be done by one person without mechanical assistance. No biggy. I can pull that off….. cough.

I mean it, I laughed so loud the dogs looked at me.. then I got up and made a coffee and sat back down to read his post.. one of the things about C5’s post is that they are long, and they always need a couple readings, spaced apart by days or weeks.. he sends you down rabbit holes on reading.. he makes you snarl, he makes you go.. WHAT?? and then I am off on google digging to track the info and see if I can go.. well that source is totally slanted.

Or I read the link and go.. yup.. I read up on that last week or last month.. Its a rare day that he does not have a fresh take or a fresh way of looking at something that I am already mulling.

I had to admit that I did have a moment of.. hmm on the mechanical assistance, because we have hired more” machine” help this year then we have in the past ten and I will be getting at least a few more in this year and next.. Its a trade off of money vs time.

There are things on the farm that are bigger projects and I need them done in a timely manner and the big machines can do in a matter of hours what would take us 100’s of man hours in some cases. I am feeling a push to get a few bigger things done and I am bring in the big machines to help make it happen.

Having said that, its quite different then what he means on his own project. my projects will finish up needing only our own hands in the end.. its just saves us man hours.

On a side note, I was talking to someone who has off-grid power and they had been somewhere that had off-grid power based on water power.. a long term way to power things.. its so steady when built right compared to solar power. I know my hubby really wants solar, and I am open to a point.. but only to a point.. we are still talking..

Anyway, enjoy the video of how he figured out how to make a wind tower that can be safely moved up and down for extreme weather events and if you want to read more about the process in detail, head on over to his very long, detailed and lots of photos write up

Posted in At the kitchen table, Blogging | Tagged C5, Green Mountain Center C5 | 12 Comments

Aunt Molly Ground Cherries

Posted on October 9, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Lets Talk about Ground Cherries, also called Huck Berries or Cape Gooseberries. This is a plant that you should be growing if you have room to do so.

positives, it grows very well in a permaculture type garden, it is an easy to start early plant to get the best results. Native Bee’s like it, it very tasty and its seed are easy to collect and save. From Seed to producing in 65 to 70 days and goes till frost.

Extra bonus: keep up to three months in its husk! This means that its a excellent fresh keeping fruit for those that are looking to grow 0 mile fruits. There are very few fruits that can be held at a basic room temp for weeks to months with no preserving required.

So my average garden growth year is approx. 120 days, that means that started early this plant is producing the first fruits on day 70 of that season.. and it continues to produce fruit for 50 days or till last frost.. we are still bringing in bowls full of them in mid oct.. and with the weather depending, we will pick the rest in the next two weeks..

Given they will keep three months that means we will have them as fresh fruit available to us till the end of jan! This is up there with storage apples..

This is ONE OF THEM! and that makes it a gold star fruit in my garden.

What do they taste like.. they sweeten as they age but its like a hit of sweet peach/pineapple with under hints of citrus. I have never seen anyone not go back for more once they try these fresh, put a bowl out of them and soon enough, folks will have little piles of husks as they enjoy them.

Downside : they are space hogs, they easily will take a 4 by 4 spot in the garden per plant, they require regular picking at least weekly at a min. For anyone that does like to have their stuff touch the ground, this can be a issue as when its ready the slightest touch on the plant or wind will cause the plant to drop the fruit to the ground (which I figure is how it got the name ground cherry to be honest)

If you want them seedless you can strain the seeds out for jelly, juice or syrup. I like to leave the skin and the seeds in when I make jam.. Its truly a amazing jam. It can be used as a relish on the side for meats or in a sandwich for a dressing. The above is the jam, its was cooked and then hit with the stick blender.. I love the color of this jam.. so bright, so fresh.

Posted in Food Storage, Garden | Tagged Aunt Molly Ground Cherries, cape gooseberries, fall storage fruits, ground cherries, ground cherry jam | 4 Comments

October Unprocessed 2018

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Once again we are taking place in the October Unprocessed challenge this year in 2018. Its honestly not that hard to do on the farm and with our lifestyle.

https://eatingrules.com/october-unprocessed/

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.

It does limit us on a few things in terms of eating out.. Its very hard to eat out and truly stay to the unprocessed meal plan. Something little will slip in on what seems like a dish that would meet the requirements.

We are currently on day 8 and other then our cold meds we have both taken, we are firmly on yes! we are being successful! I will update weekly only on the challenge, we are going to be focused more on fall idea’s. I will try and do one unprocessed meal recipe per week for oct.

And I am already one week behind lol..

Posted in October Unprocessed | Tagged October Unprocessed | 3 Comments

Fall Green Harvesting

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

The part of the yard that was exposed after all the tree’s came out has had a total regrowth.. there was clearly a spot where birds where sitting after snacking in the garden,

as we had a number of tomato, ground cherry plants come up. We have no idea at all on what kind of tomato they are, but they are starting to bloom, We are going to put a moveable hoop house over them to keep out the frost till I can at least figure out what kind of tomato’s they are ideally. as for the ground cherries, not sure what I can do about them.. they are such a large plant.

we also had wild mustard, wild violets that are growing like spring and are in bloom. Baby horse radish greens and burdocks are coming up in droves. So as strange as it seems, at the start of oct, I am harvesting and drying greens in the house like its spring.

Given we had such a poor spring (it went from cold to high heat) its lovely to get a longer extended fall here on the farm! I just wish I had been able to plant more things at the regular timing in aug (but the ground was dry dust at the time LOL) so that didn’t happen.

Topping up jars of dried greens is a very good thing.

So how is your fall this year? are you like my dear friends and family in the west.. early hard cold winter has arrived (in many cases before the crops have been taken off) or are you living in a more moderate climate and your fall garden is going well?

Did you get your typical fall rains? We did not..

Posted in dry pantry, gardens | Tagged fall gardens, fall harvests of greens, hoop house for extended gardening, self-seeded plants | Leave a comment

Overwintering Cherry Tomato’s Slips or Plants

Posted on October 7, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Fall has fully arrived on the farm but some of the tomato plants are still going thanks to the permaculture planting styles used on the farm, the cherry tomato plants are still producing in the main garden, they are quite sheltered. We often think of tomato’s as a annual but if the weather works right, its very much a perennial. With a little care we can overwinter a few in the house and then taking slips at the right time, start lots of wee babies that will give us a huge head start in the spring.

Today was a perfect day to go get slips, two off the best plant and one off each of the other two next best plants.. only take slips from your best producers. Each slip was cut on a angle with a clean blade and then all the bottom leaves/stems taken off and any flowers also removed off each stem.

This one is a touch long, I will shorten it up one more nod now that I see it in the picture 🙂 I got a nice piece of young willow and cut up a few stick of willow to add to the water to help with the rooting out process for the tomato’s. Once I have roots, I will pot them up with rich potting soil from the store to make sure I do not bring in anything for the winter bug wise.

I placed it in the glass jar so I can keep a close eye on what is happening and its in my bathroom which is warm with nice indirect lighting. I have tried potting up bigger tomato’s types and I have found over the years that while you can keep one or two of the bigger ones for slipping in the spring.. they do not get enough from the winter light to produce the same way that the smaller cherry tomato plants seem to. It might be different in your zone.

Are you going to be bringing in tomato slips? this fall, will you be overwintering any tomato plants in your house? Got a story about a plant that has been alive in the house for many years. I went to one ladies home, her whole living room window was covered in the most amazing cherry tomato plant that she had for many years.. I can not remember how old it was, just that it was a long time and she just pruned it to keep the shape and to keep it producing.

Posted in Garden | Tagged Fall Garden work., overwintering cherry tomato's, rooting out tomato slips, taking fall tomato slips for overwintering, tomato slips, using willow in rooting water | 9 Comments

Apple Pie Recipe

Posted on October 6, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Fall has arrived and the apple tree’s are filled with lovely apples, some for fresh eating, some for winter storage and some for baking.

Freshly made apple pie for Canadian Thanksgiving is a treat!

You will need Premade pie dough (homemade is awesome) Follow the blue link to a detail pie pastry dough blog post.

Apple Pie Filling

Peeled, cored and sliced apples (it took five large local apples to fill this pie

2 tbsp. of flour

1/2 a cup of sugar (you can go as low as 1/4th)if the apples are on the sweeter side

1 tsp of cinnamon

1/4th tsp of all spice

1/4th tsp of ground ginger.

In a bowl mix the apple slices/flour/sugar and spices together. Pour into the bottom unbaked pie shell, Top with a unbaked pie shell. Brush with cream and sprinkle sugar on top of the dough if you would like.

Bake in a preheated 350 oven for approx. 45 minutes

Serve Warm with ice cream or excellent cold with whip cream, ice cream or sharp aged cheddar Cheese.

Posted in Baking | Tagged Apple pie recipe | 4 Comments

This and that Post.. Family and Gravel

Posted on October 5, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Wow, its been busy.. Dear Hubbies mom flew in from Alberta and its has kept us running pretty much since.. she headed home yesterday.. and I am back on the blog.. Whoot!

Our home was the center, as his mom has fragile health and limited mobility at this point, so we have lots of family come visit over the time she was here, some for the day, some for a couple days at a time, our guest rooms and beds were full 🙂

Its fair to say that the dogs are missing all the company, they loved all the pats, cuddles and play times. Lots of lovely meals was made and served.. I did a smaller finger food for when we have more folks and little ones around, so that it was easier for everyone to get different choices., Everyone got sent home with fresh buns and farm eggs

Then the other thing that happened was that our gravel arrived to redo the drive way, it needs a touch more work done with the rake but it looks amazing! It really needed to be done.. The laneway itself took 27 tons and we got a second load for the front parking area and the side walkway by the house.. so great to have that done before winter hits. Lots more packing it down to go yet.. I will drive up and down the drive with the truck and help it get packed down.

I will be doing a full post on it coming soon but I have been faithfully doing October unprocessed again this year. I was so pleased that we were able other then one single meal, (and not in oct) we were able to totally prepare all our meals on the farm. Its harder then it sounds to get folks to not just want to stop for fast food lunch or lets go out..

Everyone enjoyed the meals and we have a early thanksgiving dinner (Canadian) for his mom with all her favorite trimmings including her asked for apple pie. The hit for everyone was this little wee girl.. They adored my farm dogs but the wee Paris never lacked a lap LOL

Everyone have a great day!!

Posted in At the kitchen table | 6 Comments

Zucchini Fruit

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

I love Zucchini canned fruit.. This is often called Mock Pineapple and I have talked about it before on the blog. I have done it a number of different ways, my grandmother made a version of it with lemon’s.

Dear hubby loves it with mixed fruits, including peaches or even as the base of a fruit cocktail.. However this batch.. It’s perfectly done plain and I adore it!

Take large over grown zucchini and skin and gut it and cut it into cubes.

For every 6 cups of chopped zucchini I added one cup of sugar and 1/4th cup of lemon juice to mix though the fruit. The sugar is needed to help create a light syrup to can the fruit in but just as important it pulls the juice out of the fruit. The lemon juice is to increase the acid in the recipe. Once you are done as much fruit as you are doing. Over and let it sit at room temp for six to 12 hours..

At the end of that time, you will see the above, it will have pulled enough juice to create the syrup, if for some reason your’s are drier then normal, you can make a sugar syrup on the light side per your canning fruit book.

Bring this to a simmer and simmer the fruit till the fruit turns clean and golden yellow in color. Test your fruit, it should be firm but have NO crunch left to it 🙂 Put into your washed, cleaned and prepped for water bath canning jars and lids. Leave half a inch head space, water bath can 15 for pints and 20 minutes for quarts. Store in a cool dark place, will last a year in storage.