In hay cutting hell.
© FarmgirlFare.com, the still feels like August foodie farm blog (this is Day 11 of unrelenting temps in the upper 90s and heat indexes up to 108) where it just took three people, three tractors, and ten hot and sweaty hours to do a one person, one tractor, two hour hay mowing job—and we've only just begun all this.
But despite the heat, we've still got to eat, and a fabulous farm dinner of homegrown grilled lamb leg steaks, the first green beans from the garden, just dug new red potatoes (which were unbelievably good), a hunk of homemade baguette from the freezer, and freshly baked chocolate chip raisin cookies (a bribe for the cookie loving neighbor who lent us the antique tractor above—which bears a striking resemblance to our own big tractor, except that his isn't dead) almost makes it all worthwhile.
And as Joe's mom said to him a few minutes ago on the phone as he was recounting the day, "Oh, but you love what you do, and you love who you're doing it with." "Guilty on both counts, Mom," he replied. How cute is that? But we'll still both be extremely glad when haying season is once again over!
I love my new old quilts (this one is hand stitched).
More photos below. . .
Attack! (taken 5/16/09)
© FarmgirlFare.com, the hand tossed, homemade sauced, fast growing foodie farm blog where there's something for everyone when we clean out a chest freezer, and the homegrown/homemade chicken food discussion continues in the comments section below. Feel free to join in the conversation.
And if you'd like to read more about what we feed our chickens and why, check out the comments section of yesterday's Dose of Cute. You'll also see why I never have time to reply to all of your comments—I easily get carried away!
At just a few days old, they're already turning into foodies (taken 4/21/09)
© 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the baby gourmet foodie farm blog where this year we decided to skip giving our eight newly hatched chicks overprocessed commercial 'chick starter' food and went straight to a mixed diet of fresh meat, fruit, veggies, cheese, and yogurt with a side of ground up oats and flax and a sprinkling of kelp and natural calcium mineral supplement instead.
Everyone seemed very pleased with the menu.
Wondering what all you can feed chicks and chickens? I talk a lot more about what we feed our flock in the comments section below, and lots of other chicken owners chime in, too. And then the discussion continues in the comments section of this post. Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!
Ignoring the New Kid
© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the peeping foodie farm blog where, considering these baby chicks (who were born back in, ahem, April) are usually fed (and often photographed) several times a day, it seems impossible that the only picture that's been posted of them so far is this one, and yet it's true.
Where the heck are our priorities? Oh wait—they would be over with the whole 'several times a day' feeding thing. Current chick photos coming soon. Can't wait? Get a peep of past peepers here and here.
Bird
Dog
© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the soft landing foodie farm blog where one of the only sheep memories I have from my pre-farmgirl days is of taking a favorite back road parallel to Highway 101 in Sonoma County (the name of which I've completely forgotten, despite the fact that I used to drive on it all the time—I'm thinking it was Old Highway Something or Other) and seeing black birds sitting on the backs of sheep. For some reason I just thought it looked really neat, and I love that this sight—which never ceases to delight me no matter how many times I see it—is now a part of my life.
So Pretty
And So Fuzzy!
Breakfast Bliss
1. Find yourself some very ripe organic raspberries.
2. Pick out the best specimens and set them aside so you can whip up a batch of Really Raspberry (and Really Easy) Cream Cheese Pastry Tartlets.
3. To make one serving of jam, place the raspberries on a plate and mash them with a fork. For a larger batch, put the raspberries into a bowl and mash them with a potato masher.
4. Sprinkle in a smidge of sugar if your berries are a little tart.
5. Slather your raspberry jam on a toasted and buttered slice of Farmhouse White, a warm and flaky biscuit, a buttery homemade scone, or a peanut butter sandwich made with Honey Wheat Bran Bread.
6. Shake your head in disbelief at all the jam and preserves recipes you've seen that called for 1 cup of sugar (or more!) for every 1 cup of fruit as you savor each ridiculously delicious bite.
7. Lick the jam off your lips and set off to find more raspberries.
8. Put some of your next batch in the freezer to be devoured next winter during a snowstorm.
© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the fruit-filled foodie farm blog where it doesn't look like we're going to get any homegrown raspberries this year—the brambles never quite recovered from the summer Cary spent in the kitchen garden—but all the rain we've had lately (including two more inches during a thunderstorm yesterday that also sent down 1½-inch chunks of hail!) means there just might be a bumper crop of wild black raspberries ripening along the edge of the hayfield. Yum.
One of BB's Twin Ewe Lambs On the Way Out to Breakfast in the Front Field
© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the black is always in fashion foodie farm blog where one of the questions I'm most frequently asked (which will definitely be included in the Frequently Asked Farmgirl Questions page I'm diligently working on) is whether our black lambs stay black. The answer? Sometimes and sort of. It usually depends on if their mother is a true black sheep, and even then their wool usually bleaches in the sun to brown or grey. Most of the black Suffolk lambs fade to white and only keep their black faces and legs. But the Katahdin hair sheep (if they aren't bright white) retain their color and spots better, and since this lamb is half Katahdin and her mother is a true black sheep, there's a good chance she's going to stay that way (yay!). You can read more about black sheep and how much I love them here.
That's One Way to Get Your Minerals
Farmgirl Fare is four years old today!
In my very first blog post, An Unexpected Beginning, I wrote about the word unexpected, which my thesaurus told me meant surprising, unforeseen, sudden, stunning, eye-opening, astonishing, astounding, amazing, breathtaking.
Yep, that pretty much sums up the last four years (along with all the cute of course). Thank you all so much. Here's to another four and hopefully many more!
© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the time-sure-flies-by foodie farm blog where it wouldn't be a birthday without cake, so there's an Orange Yogurt Loaf Cake cooling on the kitchen counter. But since the oven is still hot and there's plenty of yogurt left over, I'm thinking about mixing up a quick Chocolate Emergency Cake—because it's always good to be prepared for an unexpected emergency.
And the winner of The Laws of Harmony by Judi Hendricks
Or At Least Kick Up Her Heels
Okay, I admit it. One of the reasons I like to hold book giveaways is purely selfish. I always make you answer a specific question in order to enter because I know I'll love reading your responses—and once again you didn't disappoint.
For The Laws of Harmony giveaway, I asked you to share a favorite novel that somehow features food. You not only mentioned several of my favorite novels (including Diane Mott Davidson's Goldy the caterer culinary mysteries
and Like Water for Chocolate—which has been sitting on my nightstand waiting to be reread for months) but you've also given me a whole new list of books I can't wait to read—especially Blessed are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch since I really enjoyed her quirky second novel, By Bread Alone. Thank you!
The random winner of the signed copy of The Laws of Harmony is Gen, who said,
When I was a child I would read Little House on the Prarie every summer. I remember the food that was written about very well, it was homemade & homegrown most of the time.
I've just heard from Judi, and she's starting the California leg of her book tour. If you'd like to meet her in person, check out her Events Calendar to see if she'll be in your area. And I hope you'll let me know if you read and enjoy The Laws of Harmony!
© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the high kicking foodie farm blog where, unlike our Suffolk sheep, these new Katahdin hair sheep get to keep their long tails (rather than having them docked), which means they swing around and around in hilarious circles any time the little lambs—or their mothers for that matter—pick up speed.
