Local, Natural, Non-GMO
As is common in rural properties, The Farm is posted land. The Farmer doesn’t want uninvited guests leaving a gate open or tromping through crops. So when The Farmer’s Wife takes her walk along the road, the bright yellow signs are hard to miss.
The other day, The Farmer’s Wife came back from a walk and reported on a violation of the posted sign. We had an intruder!
It is the job of the brave Farmer to protect his borders, so out he went, weapon in hand…
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Here are some views of the animals on the farm – goats, cows, pigs, calf, and chickens – and a look at the tulips, opened and closed. Enjoy!
March is time to start some seeds! So far this year we have started tomatoes, gourds, and rosemary.
We built a little plant nursery in our basement a few years ago that we raise our plants in. A string of outdoor Christmas lights are in the bottom to keep the soil warm. And overhead lights are on a timer to simulate sunlight. The plastic tent covering can be peeled back into a large opening. This lets us soak everything well with a hand sprayer.
Hopefully these young tomato plants will be producing fruit later this summer.
Late last fall we decided to re-try our hand at raising some goats. We bought a fine Nubian-Saanen cross, named Pesch, from farmers we know in Cortland County. She had been bred and expected to deliver in March.
Well, deliver she did…and along came kid number 1.
(Land mammals clean off their new babies by licking them off, so Mama is doing a good job here with her newborn.)
And then along came kid number 2.
(Baby 1 has its head up, which is a good sign. Within a couple of minutes she will be trying to stand up, although her legs will be too wobbly to support her.)
And the out popped kid number 3.
(Kid 3 was 15 – 20 minutes after Kid 1, so the first little lady is already trying to figure out how to eat.)
All was going well with our three little kids. And then we tried to follow good veterinary practice and gave them a booster shot of selenium and Vitamin E. Unfortunately, we got our dosage wrong and thus we arrive at our iatrogenic issue. Two of the kids reacted to the overdose and ended up dying.
It was a sad re-introduction to raising goats, but we are glad that we have one little guy (the kids call him Ralph) that jumps around the pen playing with Mama.
March 23 – Once upon a time (heigh-ho, the dairy-o) the Farmer took a wife.
The Farmer’s Wife not only gets to cook all the great farm food, but also helps keep track of farm records. This is in addition to volunteering for her church, working part-time for a small homeschool curriculum producer, homeschooling her children, and maintaining a household.
And the big push now is to get our tax forms done.
Here is The Farmer’s Wife’s Nerve Center. Does that look like organized chaos? Well, if The Farmer posted a picture of his work area, you would see complete chaos.
April 8 – And taxes are done, submitted, and accepted! YEA!!!
Here is the current pie crust recipe of choice. It works well and gives a consistent crust. It came from a friend who likes to bake.
Here is my favorite pumpkin pie recipe. It came from the back of a no-name brand of canned pumpkin. I cook down my pumpkin and use that in place of the canned pumpkin.
Here is the pie crust recipe that I like to use. Enjoy!
Recently I cooked a pumpkin in the oven to prepare it for making a pie. Here is how I did it:
First I washed the outside of the pumpkin. I poked it 3 or 4 times with a fork.
Next I put it on a pan with sides and put some water in the bottom. I baked it at 400F until it was soft, probably about 2 hours.
I removed it from the oven and let it cool. Then I peeled it.
Next I cut it into pieces and put about 4 cups in the blender.
I added water to the top of the pumpkin. I blended it until I had a nice puree.
Then I set it aside and blended some more. Once it was all blended I could use it or refrigerate or freeze it until I had something to do with it.
Shave steaks are thinly sliced steaks, cut from sirlion tips. If used for sandwiches, 2 steaks take about 5 minutes or less to cook. This batch of shave steaks has 8 steaks in a package and the package weighs about 1 lb. We eat the steaks on rolls with lettuce, cheese, tomato, and condiments.
Here is how I cook them: I put 2 shave steaks on a skillet over medium heat. They will start cooking and will visibly shrink. They will also turn gray/brown and will have red liquid sort of pool on top. At that point I flip them over and cook the other side. If red liquid comes up again, then I flip them one more time. And usually then they are done. I remove them to a plate and do 2 more.
This is the meat that you would make a Philly Sandwich with. You can also cut the uncooked meat into small squares and use as the meat of a stir fry. Enjoy!