Author: ebeth

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2019 Plans – Seeds

In early January we make our main plan for what we will grow in the coming summer.  We tweak this until finally we plant things.  Part of January’s plan is placing the seed order.  We primarily use Fedco Seeds, because we like their small farm sympathies and because we get a significant discount with the group that we are part of.

Here is how YOU can help us:  What have we grown that you have enjoyed?  What would you like us to grow?  Think about greens, root veggies, pumpkins, squash, herbs, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and flowers; in short, any vegetable, herb, or flower that might grow in this region.  We make no promises that we will be able to grow it, but we will seriously consider it. Email to let me know.

Jarrahdale Pumpkin – Grown at a customer’s request; excellent as a vegetable and a pie

Here is how WE can help you: You can place your own order with our group for seeds, potatoes and exotics, and growers supplies. Seeds tend to have 15% discount, potatoes and supplies 5-10% discount.  Shipping is free for seeds, but will be spread out over the group for the potatoes and supplies.  Email me your interest, so that I can let you know how to be part of the group.

Here’s to planning for our 2019 summer!

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Meaty Shank Soup Bone

1 package of meaty shank soup bone; note, there are 2 pieces of meat side by side

The meaty shank soup bone has long been one of my favorite cuts of meat.  It is a thick piece of beef with a marrow bone in the middle.  It can be boiled to make a delicious broth for soup.  It can be sauteed and then simmered with veggies to make Osso Buco.  The flavor comes from the marrow fat in the middle of the bone.  Here are the recipes for Beef Barley Broth and my rendition of Osso Buco.

Each package of meaty shank soup bones are 2.50-3.00 lb. each. The cost is around $25.

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Beef Barley Broth

Beef Barley Broth

This is a simple broth, simple to make, simple to eat. It is more broth than stuff.  It is good with a hearty bread.
Print Recipe
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 pounds meaty beef soup bones, can use beef shanks or short ribs
  • 8 cups water
  • 6 whole peppercorns, opt
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 cup chopped carrots
  • 1 cup chopped turnips (or 1 cup other veggies)
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1/4 cup medium pearl barley

Method
 

  1. In a large soup kettle, combine soup bones, water, peppercorns and salt. Cover and simmer for 2-1/2 hours or until the meat comes easily off the bones. Remove bones; remove meat and marrow from bones; dice and return to broth. (Yes, dice the marrow and add it back into the soup. The fat gives the flavor!)
  2. Add the veggies and barley. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer about 1 hour or until vegetables and barley are tender.

Notes

Typically, I put everything in the pot about 2 hours before we are going to eat.  Then about 15 min. before we are going to eat, I remove the bones, take off and dice the meat and marrow, and return them to the broth.  Both ways work.
 Original recipe
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Osso Buco

Osso Buco

The meaty shank soup bone is browned, then veggies are sauteed, and all of it is simmered for several hours.  Yummy-licious!
Print Recipe
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp oil, butter, or fat
  • 1-2 meaty shank soup bones or short ribs
  • 1 cup carrots, shredded
  • 1 cup celery, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup onion, chopped
  • 18 oz. diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups broth, chicken or beef, use up to 2 cups, up to the level of the vegetables and meat

Method
 

  1. Brown meaty shank soup bones (or short ribs) in oil for 3-4 minutes on each side in dutch oven. Remove from pot.
  2. Saute the fresh veggies. Add oil if needed.
  3. Put the meat back in the pot under the veggies. You do this by pushing the veggies to the side and putting the meat down, then covering the meat with the veggies.
  4. Cover with diced tomatoes. Add broth. Cover pot. Bring to a boil, turn to low, and simmer for 2-3 hours.
  5. Take meat out, cut into fine pieces or shred. Cut marrow into small pieces.  Add back to pot and stir it all together. 
  6. Serve as is or over rice or potatoes.

Notes

This is based on a kitchn.com recipe and a comment on someone else's website.  Neither had good proportions.  They were -ish recipes.  So feel free to -ish with what you have on hand.
Use up to 4 cups of any sorts of vegetables - broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, cabbage, green beans, snap peas, squash, tomatoes, greens - or whatever else you have and like.
This tastes just as good with beef short ribs.
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Spaghetti Squash Secret

This is the season to use spaghetti squash.  It looks like this:

If you look online, most folks recommend cutting it in half lengthwise from the stem end to the blossom end.   But here is the secret that I learned thekitchn.com.  If you want the strings to be longer, cut the squash around the middle this way:

Notice that the strings start in a swirly pattern from the bottom and circle around coming up.  When you boil or bake this, and then let it cool, the squash strings will come out sort of like circles.  I cut them in half and mix them with the topping for the day.  I have used both a traditional spaghetti sauce and a veggie-chicken-sour cream mixture.  Both tasted good and were well-received by the family.

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July, August, September Local Food Challenge

I haven’t posted about the local food challenge since June. So for September, we will allow you to have up to 3 comments/entries. They can be about your choice of locally grown chicken or vegetables. The food can be from my farm, from a farmers market, from your garden or from your neighbor’s garden. It just needs to be locally grown (to you). What have you made this summer? Any salads, grilled veggies, chicken soup? Comment below OR  email and let me know.

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17-Year Cicadas

Cicada on Wild Parsnip

On and around our property this year was the eruption of the 17-year cicada. We moved here 18 years ago, so we would have been here the last time they erupted.  But it was our first year here and the time of their eruption was also the time of the birth of my twins.  I don’t have any recollection of the cicadas.

This June we knew the cicadas were here by seeing the hard locusts shells on trees and clothes lines and items sitting near trees. About a week later we started hearing a background hum or buzz.  The Farmer described it as an other-worldly noise. (Think outer space other-worldly.) If we were in the city and coming home, there was no buzz up on LaFayette Rd.  But as we came to Graham Road, the buzz started and continued until we got to our home (and probably beyond).

I think the noise was temperature dependent and perhaps daylight dependent as well.  It would start around 9-10 a.m and stop around 4-5 p.m.  This continued for about 2 weeks.  We were able to record the noise of the cicadas.  At first you will hear the hum of the cicadas.  Then at about 10 sec. you hear the hum of 1 cicada.  From our internet  and book research, we found that only the males make the noise.

One day during this time as I took a walk on Kennedy Rd., I saw that the cicadas were covering everything – trees and weeds – everything.  Of course we had seen them flying around.  But I didn’t realize they were hanging off everything.  Here are some pics of them:

Continue reading “17-Year Cicadas”

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June Challenge – Your Choice

Our monthly local food challenge is a freebie month.  Find a local food and enjoy it.  Maybe you like local fish, or perhaps you have spinach or lettuce in your garden.  Maybe you grill local chicken or steaks, or you collect wild edibles and use that for food or as herbal remedies.  Or you like local honey!  (See this story on how we collected a bee swarm.) June is the month of comment on that.  Any comments enter you in our January gift certificate drawing!

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Pork Dishes – Flavor is in the Fat

This is what pork is all about.  The flavor!  Whether it is smoked or spiced or roasted, the flavor is what you remember from a good piece of pork.  And what makes the flavor?  The fat.  As Julia Child has been attributed to say, “Fat gives things flavor.”

The fat is what is left in the pan after you cook your bacon and what gets drained into a container to be later used to flavor veggies or rice or potatoes.  It is what mixes with the barbecue sauce of Sloppy Joes made with sausage or with the sauce of the pulled pork and what you sop up with the bread or boiled potatoes at the end of the meal.  The fat of a smoked ham slice or pork chops melts and flavors the potatoes or rice it is cooked on top of.

Pigs resting in their hut

We cook pork either by itself or on top of something: such as,  bacon cooked first and then eggs cooked in the grease; smoked ham slices, pork steaks or chops cooked over rice or potatoes; pork roast, first pan seared and then roasted in the oven.  In the last scenario, the fat is saved for a later use OR the bones and fat are boiled to make a broth for rice or for soup.  (This makes an excellent bean soup broth!)

Sausage is used to flavor things.  It is added to soups; it is the spice of sloppy joes – 1 part sausage, 3 parts hamburger, spaghetti or barbecue sauce for the sauce; it can be added to a stir fry or to an egg dish.

How have you used pork recently?  Let me know by email or in the comments of this post.