Here are some pics of our garden space this year.
Garden Pics 2026
Stewed Rhubarb
We enjoy making stewed rhubarb. For us it is an -ish recipe or a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
Put cut up rhubarb in pan. Add water so that it is about halfway up the rhubarb. If you cover the rhubarb, it will be too runny. Add some sugar – say, 1 tbsp/9 inch stalk. Stir in sugar so that it dissolves. Simmer on stove topover medium to medium high heat, stirring about once a minute. Rhubarb will soften and separate, and it shouldn’t take long. Once it is softened and separated it is done. Enjoy!
This can be served by itself, or over breads or ice cream, or with other fruits.
This is adapted from Fannie Farmer recipe with these proportions – 1 lb. rhubarb, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water.
Tetrazzini
I had leftover ham recently and wanted to make a tetrazzini. I adapted a recipe and came up with this rendition. The following week I had leftover turkey and used that meat instead. We have enjoyed this with both ham and turkey. The leftovers became the next day’s lunch.
Ingredients
Method
- Prepare spaghetti noodles.
- Saute vegetables in butter. Add meat. Mix together. Keep over heat.
- Mix in arrowroot powder. Add chicken broth and heavy cream. Mix and simmer. Add shredded cheese. Mix until cheese melts. Remove from heat.
- Add drained spaghetti noodles. Mix together. Spread in 13×9 in pan. Bake at 400 F, covered for 20-30 minutes, then uncovered for 15 min.
Notes
Because everything is cooked, you can eat this straight from the stovetop. Baking it helps make sure all the vegetables are softened and makes it a little less runny. Either way it tastes good.
Adapted from https://theforkedspoon.com/turkey-tetrazzini-recipe/
Baby Calves
In April 2025 we purchased a bull. He was about 16 months old. He is 3/4 Angus and 1/4 Hereford. Herefords tend to have white faces and you can see that on this bull. He has been with the 9 cows since April.
A cow’s gestation (time she is pregnant) is 9 months. So anything bred in April will give birth in January. As of this writing we have 6 calves with 3 more moms that could give birth. Below are pics of some of the calves.
And here are two outdoor pics.
Moms and calves are all doing well. We are thankful!
Cooking a Pasture-raised Turkey
We have turkeys again this year. Here are some recommendations for how to cook them. Just remember that pasture-raised turkeys tend to cook faster. So don’t over cook them.
Shannon Hayes of Sap Bush Farm has raised pastured turkeys well. She recommends – “Roast these birds at 325 degrees for 8 minutes per pound unstuffed, 12 minutes per pound if stuffed. Yes! They cook a lot faster than conventional birds!” She offers phone support throughout November for how to cook them. Here is her page of recommendations – https://www.sapbushfarmstore.com/s/stories/pastured-turkey-cooking-tips
Heather, from Mommypotamus.com, likes to use a brine for her turkeys. Her recipe is here. She soaks the turkey in a salt water solution for 12-24 hours and then roasts it. One of my customers used this method one year and said that her family thought that it was the best turkey dinner they had ever had.
I like to cook turkey in a bag breast side down. I follow the directions and times on the box the bag came in. I think that this gives a very moist meat.
Any of these 3 methods should work. Just don’t cook it to death, and you will be fine. And don’t forget the carcass soup for a day or two after Thanksgiving. My children really like this soup and ask for it year round!
Happy turkey cooking!
Local Publicity
The Local Show with Tom Soccocio Jr and George Powers interviewed me recently. We had a nice conversation about CSAs, items we grow, and some of our farm history. The Local Show interviews about 10 local businesses each week, and it airs on Saturdays and Sundays on iHeart Radio. Here are links to the audio or video version of our interview.
Onondaga Grown suggested our farm to The Local Show. Onondaga Grown sponsors On Farm Fest every September, a day that you can visit Onondaga County farms. They also have a website for local food businesses in Onondaga County. You think of a food niche and it is probably listed on this site. We are under local meats.
2025 Turkeys
We are raising turkeys again this year. These birds are being raised outdoors, moved to fresh grass regularly, and supplemented with locally grown organic grains from Gianforte Farm. If you would like to order one of our turkeys, please use this order form. More details can be found on that page.
Thank you for choosing local food for your Thanksgiving dinner this year!
Which Hat Was That?
You know me as the face and voice of the farm. But I am also a story time lead, a mom and wife, Grammie, a volunteer at church, a home educator. In a recent email with a customer, she hoped I had a good week. I commented that things were sort of busy and I had to keep track of which hat I was wearing.
She replied by sketching this picture out.
The book is The Story of Ferdinand by Leaf Munro. The chicken says, “I think she put on the library hat again!” Such a clever pic! 🙂
So I went to https://www.craiyon.com/en, an AI generating art site, and typed – woman with hat sitting on a stump reading “the story of Ferdinand” to a cow, sheep, and chicken. This was the resulting AI generated pic. Such a lovely pastoral scene.
A fun diversion in the midst of some busy-ness!
Cheeseburger Potato Salad
Do you remember the Big Mac television jingle – 2 all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun? I used that as my guide to make cheeseburger potato salad. Potatoes, ground beef, grated cheese, mayonnaise for the base and then lettuce, pickles, onions, tomatoes, catsup and mustard added at the table depending how you like your salad. We have been enjoying this salad this year.
Ingredients
Method
- In stovetop pan barely cover potatoes with water, put lid on pot, bring to boil, turn to low, cook for 5 minutes or until potatoes are just done. Drain and cool.
- Cook ground beef.
- Mix potatoes, ground beef, grated cheese, and mayonnaise or salad dressing. This is the base.
- Add the other items at the table. Each person can add what they like and mix it on their plate.
Notes
If you know the salad will get eaten and there won’t be leftovers, you can mix all the ingredients at serving time. Tomatoes, pickles, and onions can make leftovers of potato salad taste weird so I leave them out if I think I have made too large a base.
Other salad dressings can replace the mayonnaise, like Thousand Island, Ranch, or Oil and Vinegar.Â
We like cheddar cheese, but any cheese will work.
Other meats will work – ground pork, sausage, chorizo, leftover meat chopped small, ground chicken or turkey.Â
A slice of bacon, cooked and broken up, or bacon bits would add a good flavor.
Pickle relish can be substituted for the pickles.
Pasta or rice could be substituted for the potatoes. The starch could also be left out and the rest of the items just eaten with lettuce and salad greens.
Lots of variations for this recipe.
Scotch Broth
This is a comfort food, a good warm soup made from barley, meaty shank soup bone, carrots and broth.
Ingredients
Method
- In a large soup kettle, combine beefy bones, water, and salt. Cover and simmer for 2-1/2 hours or until the meat comes easily off the bones.
- Remove bones and meat. Remove meat from bones; dice and return to broth.
- Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 1 hour or until vegetables and barley are tender.
Notes
Use 3 1/2 cups of whatever vegetables you have. Onions, celery, carrots, and turnips would be traditional.
For a thinner soup, use less barley. For a thicker soup, use more.
Salt and pepper can be added at the table.
Recipe doubles well.
Based on this original recipe from Taste of Home