Friday Farm Photos: Hot on the Trail

Of an exciting adventure.

Any plans this weekend? We're staying around the farm (quelle surprise!) and I'm hoping to take advantage of the break in this freaky hot and humid February weather (the daffodils are already blooming!) to start in on all the kitchen garden fall clean up and bed prep that I never actually do in the fall. The good thing about these too warm temps is that all the cold tolerant greens I decided on a whim to direct seed in the garden two weeks ago have already sprouted.

The few dozen broccoli seedlings, cilantro, and 96 plugs of lettuce (seven cold tolerant varieties) in flats under fluorescent lights in the mudroom are also doing well (no need for fancy grow lights; $10 two-bulb fluorescent shop fixtures from the home improvement store work great), but I have no place ready in the garden to put them yet. At least the ground isn't frozen solid like it usually is when I decide it's finally time to pull up all the dead tomato plants. Who knows, I might even turn the compost pile.

Tonight we're having lamb burgers with raw milk sharp cheddar and dijon mustard, and tomorrow I'm planning to slow roast a couple of lamb shoulders in the oven with lots of fresh rosemary from the two plants I've miraculously kept alive on a kitchen windowsill for years, served with rice (we love this organic rice so much we buy the long grain white and the short grain brown by the case and keep it in the freezer) and a freshly picked kale salad tossed with dried cranberries and pecorino romano and dressed with lemon juice and olive oil.

I'm also hoping to finally get around to mixing up a sourdough starter to replace the one I accidentally killed a couple of months ago. After 22 years of baking bread and acquiring a small mountain of bread books (some of which still feel overwhelming when I flip through them), I always go back to where I started, with my bread baking hero's easy to understand, now classic book when I need to make a new levain starter, or when I just want a little bread baking inspiration. (It was such a thrill to talk to him on the phone for nearly an hour last summer!)

I use the levain to make everything from Basil's simple and delicious pain au levain (page 189) to homemade pizza. Years ago I tried the San Francisco sourdough recipe (page 212) and with one bite was instantly transported back to the Bay Area where I grew up. I've been meaning to make it again ever since. The rye sourdough starter is also wonderful for making rye breads, but lately instead of trying to keep two starters alive I've just been using the levain to make my sourdough ryes. No complaints yet.

Since spring has apparently already sprung, there are several cleaning and decluttering projects in the house I'd also like to start (and finish) tackling, but that's a never ending, never very exciting year round list, at least around here. What's much more likely to happen is that I'll blow off the cleaning, close my eyes to the mess, and take a nice long walk with the dogs. It's a simple matter of priorities. Good food and time with the animals win out every time.

Friday Dose of Cute: Have a Happy Weekend.

Hanging out by the new chickens (who are laying four six dozen eggs a week!)

Any plans this weekend? When we're not eating as many of the last vine-ripened tomatoes as we can (tacos! BLTs! hot melty cheese and tomato open-faced sandwiches on homemade sourdough rye! enormous salads!) we'll be spending as much time as possible outdoors enjoying this gorgeous fall weather, Joe mostly out on the big tractor bushhogging down the fields and me in the kitchen garden.

Two days ago it's like a switch was flipped and we went from hot and humid and thinking about a late afternoon swim in the river to cool and crisp and looking for a heavy long-sleeved shirt.

The nights are dipping into the low 40s, but we're still sleeping with the windows wide open. Cozy blankets, vintage quilts, slow-roasted dinners, hot cups of tea, invigorating breezes flapping all the laundry on the line, and the sounds of the first geese already heading south.

Autumn wakes us up and always seems so full of possibility. It feels completely different both outside and in our hearts. The sheep are suddenly feisty and full of energy, jumping around and playing like little kids. The kitchen beckons, and so do the woods. Firewood and flannel sheets. Pitch dark by seven o'clock. Fall has arrived. It's time to slow down and savor every minute.

© FarmgirlFare.com, the gracefully aging foodie farm blog where it's hard to believe our beloved Lucky Buddy Bear will be fourteen years old in January. His eyesight is fading, his hearing is going, and he now spends most of his time in the house, but this retired old stock dog hasn't lost his shine or his smile—and he still likes nothing better than to be surrounded by members of his feathered, furry, and wooly farm flock.

Tuesday Dose of Farm and Cute: Good Morning Light

The 20-year-old homemade swing in the hayfield keeps getting higher as the tree gets bigger.

I haven't been taking any pictures lately, but a few mornings ago I decided to grab my camera as Bear, Bert, Henry, and I headed out to check on the donkeys, the chickens, the big dogs, and the sheep. Before we'd even left the farmyard I was seeing photos everywhere.

It's all in the light.

15 more photos below. . .

Monday Dose of Cute: No Comment.

And not happy about it.

Hi Everybody,

Just a quick to let you know why Henry and I aren't smiling.

First I want to thank you, as always, for taking the time to leave so many nice comments on my blog posts. You know I always love hearing from you, and I do my best to answer your questions in a timely manner, especially if they're about one of my recipes.

Unfortunately for some reason, Blogger, which has hosted Farmgirl Fare since I started it back in 2005, hasn't been letting me leave any comments (on my own blog!) for the past few weeks. Not on my ancient desktop—which is so old and cranky that most days I want to toss it out my second story office window—not on Joe's new Chromebook (no more Windows updates!), not in any way, shape, or form that I can figure out. *head* *desk* So if you've been waiting for me to reply to a comment you've left recently, I apologize.

I'm hoping this is some sort of bug that Blogger will figure out and fix soon, but since it's now going on something like four years since I've actually been able to change things in my Farmgirl Fare template like background colors and font sizes (I'd really like to make the main column text bigger and easier to read!) who knows.

In the meantime, you're always welcome to email me at farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com, and I'll try to reply as soon as I can. Thanks so much!

More farm dogs (including some that are smiling)? Here and here.

Want some wordless farm critter cute? Here and here. 

© FarmgirlFare.com, where tech is definitely a four letter word.

Tuesday Dose of Cute: Marta Beast

Living up to her name.

It's hard to believe it's already been over six months since the last time we spent several hours shearing our beloved guard dog Marta—until you look at her. It's time to get some more doggy downers from the vet and do it again before she gets more matted and the job gets even more difficult.

She actually wouldn't look too bad if she would just stay away from all those dirt pits, mud puddles, and manure piles she loves to roll around in, but where's the fun in that?

We used to haul her to the groomer 40 miles away (which was an adventure in itself) for a yearly spring spa day cut, but the last time it took them over five hours and cost a small fortune—and they didn't seem real excited about ever seeing her again—so we bought a set of professional clippers (which cost much less than the visit to the groomer), asked the vet for some drugs to knock her out (the growling makes Joe nervous), and started doing it ourselves.

More Marta photos and story below. . .

Monday Dose of Cute: Bear's Annual Tradition

He tiptoes through the tulips. . . and then he pees on them.

Wishing you an enjoyable week!

Want to get to know Bear better? Look here and here and here.

© FarmgirlFare.com, the real life foodie farm blog where we don't document everything that happens.