Farming/Gardening

Pieces of our Saturday

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A morning spent baking a pecan pie thank-you.

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An early afternoon spent planting hyacinths and digging earthworms with the girls.

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A late afternoon of immense blessing – We have been given an enormous maple loom, made right here in Oregon.   We spent about two hours getting it dissassembled, carried up our narrow stairway, and reassembled.

It will need a good bath, a shuttle, some new pegs, but it is a beautiful, beautiful thing – an amazingly generous and precious gift.  The girls and I can’t wait to get her in working order and teach ourselves how to weave shawls and rugs and coverlets – our minds are full of anticipation and possibilities!  (Firecracker would like a superhero cape!)

And now we are off to our homeschool co-op’s end of the semester Open House.   We have been looking forward to it for weeks (Little Hen is in the theatre class, and Firecracker will be singing in the choir).   We’re so glad Grandma and Aunties and Cousin can come down and join us.

Altogether, a truly blessed Saturday – every piece.

Strange beauties

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I found these other-worldy fungi while mulching our future veggie garden on Saturday (these are a species of Inky Cap).  The children were resting, and the sun was shining, so I dashed out to work on our sheet-mulched, mounded rows that will be next year’s kitchen garden (the garlic, shallots, onions, leeks are already in the ground, hiding out until spring under thick blankets of straw mulch).

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In the unplanted rows were whole villages of  mushrooms covering about 30 sq ft in total, busily converting the manure and kitchen scraps into black gold.

My friend, Sara, who is passionate about mushrooms,  says that these little guys are a type of cup fungus.   There are hundreds, and range from the size of a nickel to the size of my open hand.

They’re not the quaint little toadstools in gnomey tales, but they are definitely strange and fascinating beauties.

Cider Pressing

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Some pictures from the cider pressing party last weekend.  It was also my husband’s birthday – I’m so glad he had a great time! (We all did!)

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Most folks brought apples from their own trees and also gleaned many from abandoned orchards along country roads.

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Apples were washed, wormy parts and bruises removed, and then cut in half or quarters to fit into the grinder.

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Ground apples in one of the two presses on site.

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Little Hen was strong enough to crank the smaller press. (The electric grinder is the wooden box behind her on the back end of the press – SO much quicker than the hand-grinding we did in the past!)

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The girls carrying the pressings to the wheelbarrow (they’re heavy!).  The pressings will eventually to be buried back in the orchard, although while we were there, the deer kept snacking on them.

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Tum Tum liked to hang out by the wheelbarrow.

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Pressed cider, waiting to be strained through cheesecloth and bottled.

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A small fraction of the finished cider – most folks froze theirs, but I canned mine, since our freezer is pretty well full.

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The girls even got a chance to ride the zip line (thank you, Jody!!), which they have been talking about nonstop since. ( I’ve been informed by Firecracker that I need to plant some really fast growing trees, so that we, too, can have a zip line in our yard. )

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Thank you for a wonderful time, Teacher Linda!

Cannelini and Butternut Stew

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I’m feeling so much better – and very grateful that none of the rest of the family became ill.   In an effort to get back into the kitchen and make something nourishing and comforting, Firecracker and I started with something easy but wholesome and cooked up a big pot of  bean stew.  Here’s my recipe –

Larksong’s Cannelini Bean and Butternut Squash Stew

2 cups (approx 1 lb) dried cannelini or lima beans

6 cups of water

1 large onion, finely diced

2 ribs of celery, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 3/4 inch cubes

large handful of kale or spinach, chopped

6 cups veggie or chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

Directions -  1.  Approx. 1 – 2 hours before you want to begin the stew, quick soak the beans in the 6 cups of water.

2.  In a large pot on med heat, sautee the onions and celery in olive oil or butter until translucent and caramelizing slightly.  Add the garlic and cook 5 more min.   Add the squash, increase the heat to med-high, and cook, stirring every few minutes, until the onion  and squash are nice and caramelized on the outside.

3). Drain and rinse the beans, and add them to the pot, cover with the stock, cover the pot and allow to simmer until beans are nearly fully cooked, being careful not to stir too often (so as not to break up the squash too much) (approx 1 hr).  Add the kale, salt and pepper, and let simmer 10 min more.  Serve with a loaf of rustic bread – I like rye.

Enjoy!

Bartlett Harvest

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Saturday,  I was blessed with the opportunity to ride with another family of volunteers out to Mosier, OR (in the beautiful Columbia Gorge) to glean pears for Birch Community Services.   The weather was very rainy, windy, and chilly, so I was grateful that the children could all stay home, snuggled up reading their latest chapter book with Daddy.

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The five of us wore large canvas pear-picking bags, and picked 40-50 lbs of Bartletts off of the trees at a time and then unloaded them into large crates.  Due to the windy, rainy conditions, I didn’t get any pictures of the actual picking, but here you can see a fraction of what we picked.  The owner’s of the orchard estimated that we picked close to 2200 lbs of pears!!

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You may ask, why were thousands of pounds of beautiful pears sitting unpicked, unwanted on the trees?   Well, the owners explained to me that there isn’t any profit in Bartletts – they cost $120/crate to grow,  but can only get $180/crate on the market – so by the time they pay workers to pick them, and absorb the cost of transporting them, they actually lose money on the Barletts.

The farmer makes his living growing Bosc pears for market.  So, why grow Barletts at all, then??  Bosc pears command a much higher price than Barletts, but the trees are not self-fertile, and require another pear variety for pollination.  So, for every 4 rows of Bosc pear trees planted in the orchard, the farmer must plant a whole row of Barletts in order to reap a crop.  The Barletts are generously left available for the gleaners.

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After picking over 8000 pears to donate to BCS, we were allowed to harvest for ourselves as many pears as we could put up  – so I have over 150 lbs of pears sitting on my kitchen floor to ripen over the next week!  I’ll be dehydrating and canning pears and pear butter non-stop late in the week and over the next weekend.   Bring some jars and you’re welcome to join me and take home canned pears for your family, too!   I’d love to have your company!

For more on the culture and history of gleaning, check out my favorite (and oh-so-French!) documentary – Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse (The Gleaners and I).

Yardwork is hardwork

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This weekend was the first weekend in months that the weather hasn’t been horrendously hot or rainy, and we haven’t had other obligations (weddings, visitors, birthday parties, etc), so despite the fact that the two younger children were sick, we spent the entire weekend at home, working on our major yard renovation.

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Along with a lot of other yardwork, were able to mostly complete a sheet mulching project in the backyard – we put in an 18 x 22 ft veggie bed, using lots of boxes and packing paper (10 sheets thick) from our move.

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Here you can see the mulching clearly – a layer of weedy soil, simply covered up with a 3-inch layer of chopped, dried bamboo mulch (Permaculture principles state that it’s best to use what you have on-site, and we have TONS of bamboo we are slowly ripping out.).  On top of that we sheeted mulch with cardboard or stacks of packing paper, carefully overlapped to smother the weeds.  Then, composted cow manure is added on top of that.

After we add the final layers of straw/hay and compost, and topsoil, it will have 4 4×18 ft mounded rows with 18-inch mulched paths between the rows.  One or two more weekends, and we’ll be done – just in time to plant garlic, leeks, shallots and a few brassicas for the fall!

After a long time spent playing at busily gathering leaves and things for the compost, Little Hen went to an un-touched part of the yard, made a little nest in the middle of the “prairie”, and took a nap in the sunshine.  She was pretty tuckered out from all her hard work!

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For more on permaculture, I highly recommend the DVD, Establishing a Food Forest,  anything on Powell’s new permaculture bookshelf, and connecting with your local permaculture group.

And since our garden isn’t actually growing anything yet, you might like to visit  Mom in Madison, Garden Mama , Green Thumb Mama, A Little House by the Big Woods,  and Little Red Caboose to see the bounty of foods and flowers other mama’s gardens are yielding this summer.

Garden harvest

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Fridays are my days to volunteer at Penelope’s Garden.  This week’s harvest was 29 lbs delivered to Birch Community Services!!

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The raspberries are all done for the year, the mint bolted in the heat, but the tomatoes and green beans are in full production!  There were even some carrots and a new patch of basil ready.   (I must admit, I couldn’t help myself and snacked on some of the tender beans while harvesting – SO delicious!)

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The heat wave, followed by the cool snap in the weather caused the Walla Walla sweet onions to bolt and then fall, so that meant harvest time for them, too.  They smelled unbelievably good.

Next week it looks like lots of peppers, some patty-pans, and maybe even some cucumbers will be added to the wave of tomatoes and green beans to bring in.  Can’t wait!

What are you harvesting in your garden this week?

(Don’t forget – check out my Contest, if you haven’t yet.  Thanks!)

Spring-into-Summer Nature Table

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While not technically summer, the very warm, sunny weather of late has been pointing us in that direction.  The girls and I have cleared away the spring table and begun to gather items for our summer table.  It’s just beginning to take shape – rocks from a nature hike, sweet alyssum from the yard, beeswax flowers Little Hen made, some shells from the beach…

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We are looking forward to seeing it grow and change as the summer progresses, and also seeing and drawing inspiration from other families’ nature tables.

Some blog and flickr posts that showcase nature tables -  Chickadee Nest,  LadyKnit, Syrendell, Home Baked Education, Granola Girl, Madam Fafa,  Lyneya.

Red Clover

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Little Hen picked me a red clover bouquet and slipped it into my knitting basket on our morning walk to the park.   “Weeds” growing wild outside the park made a handsome centerpiece on our dining table.   I love how children find beauty in places we overlook.

Where do your children find unexpected beauty?

Lilac Gardens

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Pictures from our trip to the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens in Woodland, WA this past weekend with my husband’s mother, sister, and our niece.   If you have never been, we highly recommend the trip – just a short drive North from Portland.

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I can hardly wait until next year, when our yard will be ready to accept plantings – at the festival, we picked out six or seven lilacs we have to put in along the side of the house – some fragrant, some extravagant, some old-fashioned and just lovely in aroma and blossom (my favorite is a variety called Glory).  We’ll be back to buy our plants next spring!

Meyer lemon

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Ever since I was a girl, and our neighbors in San Antonio grew lemons in their backyard, I have wanted a lemon tree of my own.  But of course, in the Pacific Northwest, planting a citrus grove in your backyard is not realistic.

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Our new home has a large L-shaped bank of windows in the front room, letting in lots of sunlight yearround, perfect for keeping citrus.   So, for Mother’s Day this year, the children bought me a Meyer Lemon tree at Portland Nursery!!

Meyer lemons are very sweet and juicy, good for baking.   The tree is a semi-dwarf, growing only about 6 ft tall (that’s do-able indoors in a pot, isn’t it?).  They also produce lemons year-round, not only during the winter months.

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Look, it even has little baby lemons growing on it already!

Of course, during the summer months, the tree will live out in the backyard, but during the cool, grey NW winters, it will have a home in our front room.  (My mother teased that I should add a mandarin and a lime and have my own little orangerie.)

Stop by this summer and you can share some little lemon souffles and tea with us!

Mother’s Day

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No gift sweeter than the bluebell bouquet the girls gleaned from the backyard this afternoon.

Wishing you a blissfully happy Mother’s Day!

Oh, sunshine!!

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I should have been packing, but the weather was just too perfect.

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At least I was industrious – I spent the morning cutting the grass with my clean, quiet reel mower (with the baby in the Ergo),

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making posies with the girls,

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and washing diapers (yay for being able to dry the covers in the sunshine!!)

Okay, back to packing.  Moving in a day and a half!

Celebrating

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The children and I chasing falling cherry blossoms in the yard, smelling the hyacinths – rejoicing in the beauty of spring and anticipating tomorrow’s Easter celebration.

Wishing you a blessed Easter weekend as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, the hope of our salvation.

Spring in the Northwest

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Spring is finally unfolding here in the Northwest.  Inside the house, our usual spring rituals are delayed a bit.  Since we’re packing to move to our new house over the next few weeks, I won’t be getting out the spring decorations, and we won’t be starting a spring nature table until after we get settled in our new home.

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Instead, we are enjoying the beautiful bulbs we planted last fall that are making their appearances all over the front yard.  It’s wonderful to see and feel the world waking up, isn’t it?

Vulcan Red Chard

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I know it isn’t the most romantic food in the world, but when planning my garden for the year, I always order lots of Swiss Chard (especially Vulcan Red, and Brightlights, and Fordhook Giant).  It looks so beautiful in the planting beds, requires little help, is extremely cost effective to grow, and some years here in the NW I can get it to keep growing right through the winter.

More importantly, it is very healthy, full of vitamins, and I use it a lot in cooking (second only to my beloved Russian Red Kale) .  I often chop it into any stew we’re having (adding the stems about 20 min before the greens, since they take longer to cook).  My favorite recipe (the kids love it, too!) comes from Cook’s Illustrated Nov 2004 issue – Balsamic  Chicken with Swiss Chard and Tomatoes.   It is a little involved, however (honestly, though, aren’t most Cook’s recipes??).  If you’d like one,  I can get you a copy.

Chard is also great just steamed by itself and topped with a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil, or lemon juice and capers.  Not to mention the possibilities in stir fry!

I’m glad we make room for a little patch in our garden and our diet.

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PS – there are many tips of the hat to yummy greens lately (some kicked off by Shining Egg‘s Green Week, I believe)- A Friend to Knit With,  In the Kitchen, Hurrayic, Orangette’s Broccoli Soup, and many others.

Local Dinner II

We’re still trying to eat local when at all possible (Meaning, when it’s a prudent use of our financial resources.)  That includes growing our own food whenever we can.  This dinner contained:

from Oregon - 8 young organic carrots (from our garden), 1 onion, 3 garlic cloves, 2 tbsp unsalted butter, 1 ambrosia apple, large handful of cranberries,  3 small links organic bratwurst, dried parsley (from a friend’s garden)

 from Washington – merlot for drinking and in the sauce

from California – organic brown rice, organic white rice (the sticking point on “all local” is always the grain or pasta, which I can never seem to find locally grown at an even semi-reasonable price).

Next time I’ll change one thing – I’ll add a large handful of vitamin-rich chopped kale.  Truth be told, we were late getting home from Girl Scouts, I was in a rush to make dinner, and didn’t feel like taking the time to go out in the dark and pick some greens. 

Total estimated cost for dinner for 4, and leftovers for 1 lunch, not including whole milk to drink (for the girls) and wine to drink (for the adults) –  $5.80.  The primary expense? $3.23 for the 3 organic, local, sausage links (on sale at New Seasons).  We are finding more and more that you can be very frugal and feed your family local, organic, nutritious meals.

Little Hen with the carrots she dug this morning.

A Pleasant Afternoon

Yesterday was an unusually dry, warm day in the Pacific Northwest.  We couldn’t have asked for nicer weather – almost 60 and a nice, blue sky.  After Hubby helped friends load their moving truck, he came home and spent the afternoon raking leaves in the backyard with the girls (As you can see, the leaves were everywhere – it was quite a task!).

Little Hen kept taking breaks from the leaf raking to snack on some peas.  (Our Alaska, Tacoma, and Sugar Pod II varieties are still producing, and are miraculously healthy and free of powdery or downy mildew, despite the rainy weather of late.)

Of course, a few were left by the Garden Fairy’s house that Little Hen and her daddy made.  Afterall, she likes to share with her friends.  The peas absence in the morning will be evidence that her friends enjoyed her gift, of course. 

Wishing you a little late fall sunshine, and a handful of fresh, sweet peas.

Garlic Planting

 

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Little Hen with Spanish Roja garlic clove (left) and Elephant garlic clove (right)
Little Hen with Spanish Roja garlic clove (left) and Elephant garlic clove (right)

Space is limited at our little house, so we have quite a small garden right now.  I’m glad the heat wave a while back killed the potatoes, because now I have some place to plant the garlic! I know I won’t be able to enjoy them until at least next July, but I love the ritual of breaking apart and planting the cloves, covering them with hay, and then the waiting, waiting, waiting, until the little green shoots appear between the thick hay next spring. 

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(My apologies for the font size issue.  WordPress is being wonky, and I don’t have the energy to delete and re-write the post. )

 

Garlic Shopping

 

I love autumn.  Yes, the crispness in the air, the pear and apple harvest, pulling out the fall linens and changing the nature table, not to mention Firecracker’s birthday – all of these are wonderful things.  However, if I was to be perfectly honest, the fall ritual I most look forward to is planting my garlic and shallots for the coming year. Besides onion, garlic is my favorite veggie, whether the gloves or the scapes.   So, the other day  we went here to try out some new varieties – I was like a kid in a candy store.  Tomorrow, we plant!

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Please check out this wonderful wooden giveaway here.  It’s a pregnant mama with interchangeable belly pieces, that can grow as the baby grows inside! very creative!

Prairie Girls at the Farmers Market

The prairie girls make another appearance – at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market.  This time, they went for a more bohemian look, and were determined to sling their babies in some Indian scarves. 

We grow most of our own veggies, especially fall ones (kale, beets, broccoli, chard, rutabega, peas, potatoes, turnips, leeks, lettuce, mustard greens, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots…you get the picture), but we do run to the farmer’s market for fruit and things I haven’t managed to put in the garden.  This trip was for butternut and acorn squash, and the last of the peaches for the year. 

Grape Harvest

The few precious grapes from our grapevine were finally ready today (not sure of the variety, but they are very flavorful).  I snapped this shot as quickly as I could – because, well, as you can see below, they didn’t last long!

Brady Street Potato Dig

 

 

 

I am a huge fan of Penzey’s Spices, and find that their spices add so much to the simple, mostly vegetarian, dinners we cook around here. Their Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle is awesome mixed with sour cream and tossed over garden veggies.

 We had a heat wave last week that sent our potatoes over the edge a few weeks early, so two days ago we dug up the baby potatoes and tonight we’re enjoying the creamy new potatoes with the first of our fall shell peas in Brady Street sour cream sauce.  So yummy and so very easy.