Sunday, August 24, 2014

First pair done!

I finished up my first pair of slippers for my best friend's 30th birthday. They were a quick, fun knit and I can't wait to make more :-)


Wednesday, August 20, 2014

CSA Wednesday

We tried something a little different this week. Instead of me picking out our box, I let Dale from Fish Hawk Acres do it for me. I tend to gravitate toward the same produce over and over again, but that's not the point of the CSA. The point is to get a wide variety of in season goodies. Since Dale is a chef, he picked out some really awesome looking veggies and things we wouldn't normally pick!


Dale picked for us some heirloom tomatoes, poblano peppers, a sweet jalapeno (the flavor of jalapeno without the heat!), shiitake mushrooms, red candy apple onion, white candy onion, eggplant, a chocolate bell pepper, tomatillos, and some new potatoes. Everything looks fantastic!

An idea of what we'll do with the produce this week - I made some potato soup with bacon. I'm planning some mashed potatoes to go along with a grassfed beef roast and green beans from our garden, and this weekend, I have my eye on a recipe for butternut squash and mushroom enchiladas with a tomatillo sauce. I have some butternut frozen from last fall and I want to use it up before we get our harvest this year. We're already sitting at about 2 dozen as long as the chickens leave them alone!

What local things are you cooking up this week?

Monday, August 18, 2014

Those Darn Chickens

I love having chickens. I really do.

But, I don't like them getting in my garden. And eating ALL of my ripe tomatoes. Every last one. From 3 dozen plants. Seriously?! They got in while we were away on Saturday and by the time we got home, the damage was done. And now that one knows there is a way in, several have done it. The kids and I chased 8 of them out after dinner.

And eggs. You'd think for all the free, wonderful, almost pizza sauce food they've been gorging themselves on they'd be laying machines. Nope. We got one egg yesterday. ONE!

So, we decided to go on a little egg hunt today. We've walked the perimeter of their usual locations a few times and have come up empty handed. But, today, they exposed a new area we hadn't checked. Under the deck. Under a pallet. And under a little bit of landscape fabric. Lela decided to hang out for a while after laying her egg today and we caught her....red winged?

We found 6 eggs and several that had been cracked and eaten. But, we did find one exciting thing!


One of these things is not like the others! We got our first pullet egg! We think it came from Amelia, our Barred Rock. Or my little therapist. She has started doing the "submissive squat" over the last week and we have read that this is a tell tale sign that a pullet will soon start laying. Either way, we found it and it's cute. And for the time being, our fall gardening plans are on hold until we figure out our fence...

Monday, August 11, 2014

Food Status

Things are kicking here! We got a bushel of peaches last week and have been gorging ourselves with pie, muffins, and the kids have a permanent wet chin. We also canned 9 quarts for summer. Everything in the garden is coming along gangbusters! Cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, squash,  beans, and sunflowers. And I don't think I mentioned, but we've dug 80 pounds of potatoes for the root cellar. How's your garden doing?


Sunday, August 10, 2014

CSA Sunday

We can't get enough of summer goodies. I was thrilled to see watermelon today and had to snag one up. I also picked up some red raspberries, shiitake mushrooms, bulgur salad, a pepperoni roll, and a cookie!


Tuesday, August 5, 2014

True Lemon

This is our third year growing True Lemon cucumbers. And I think I fall a little more in love each year. They are wonderfully crisp and slightly sweet. And super productive!


What's your favorite type of cucumber?

Sunday, August 3, 2014

CSA Sunday

Another beautiful day at our local farmers market! And more delicious goodies from Fish Hawk Acres! Tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, onions, peppers, cookies, orzo salad, and a pepperoni roll!

Has anyone tried zucchini fries? I'm going to give them a go this week!