The Day after Thanksgiving

Our garden is still feeding us on Thanksgiving.  Beautiful fresh broccoli.  Haven't checked yet today, but the super frost and cold that began last night has probably finished the broccoli, but how great that it waited until the day after!  Another thing to be thankful for.  I finished picking the meat from the remains of the gigantic Thanksgiving turkey just a bit ago.  The bones, skin and gelatinized juices from the bottom of the roasting pan are already simmering in my 20 qt. stock pot. The meat has been chopped and put in freezer bags for soups, stews, casseroles, etc.  I will let that cook for 3 - 4 hours, then strain the stock into 2 qt plastic tubs to freeze outside the back door.  Then I will put them in the barn freezer until needed. I make a lot of chicken stock through the year, but turkey is the richest and most flavorful.  I think I have written it before, but nothing is so easy and free and has so many uses as homemade stock.  Lots of turkey, mashed potatoes, noodles, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie left in the refrigerator.  I won't be cooking much all weekend.  Back to the reasons to be thankful---we all have our jobs (except for middle daughter who was laid off from Lily's when it changed hands to another pharmaceutical company--she is taking this opportunity to get a second associates degree --this time in nursing using some financial aid made possible by Pres. Obama's stimulus $$--thank you, Mr. President), all of us are healthy (Dad will be 83 next month and just had a great physical report!), all have homes to live in and food on the table..............can't ask for much more than that, especially now! 
      Already have received some seed catalogs to begin planning the farmers' market gardens.  Lots of stuff to do before Christmas.  Have already received orders for knitted items for next year--socks, fingerless gloves, hats, mittens, scarves, etc.!   

deer season, greenhouse is here! past year assessment

This past weekend always marks the beginning of late fall for us at home. Saturday was opening day for firearms deer season. As usual, middle daughter got her first one that day and so did husband, which means that Sunday was butchering day. We started at 8:00 in the barn, skinning, and taking the meat off the bone. Then we bring the meat to be processed in the house (trimmed, washed, ground into burger meat or cut into roasts, steaks and wrapped). We were finished at 7:00—kitchen cleaned up, hide and bones buried, meat in the freezer. And when I say finished—I mean FINISHED! We were so tired—even my hands hurt! But it is worth it to have good meat for very little $$. Right now, I have a large venison roast in the crockpot and all I have to do for supper is cook and mash potatoes, make the gravy and add a vegetable and supper is served.


Today our greenhouse is being delivered on a semi-truck so husband is at home waiting for that delivery. Then the foundation will be set and the assembly/building will begin. Rather exciting. For all the decades that my family has gardened and farmed, this is the first greenhouse we will have. Broccoli almost done in the fall garden. I will probably serve my last bit at Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is always the bench mark of a fall garden. The rule of thumb is 'if it can be grown in the early spring, you can grow it in your fall garden.' We are always amazed when stores put away their seed displays in July! We have pumpkins stacked on the flatbed trailer waiting for the brooder house to be cleared out for the season. Then we will line the little building with straw and store the pumpkins in there for as long as they last. Gourds are drying.

Trying to put together family gifts for the holidays as well as finish my handmade orders. It's been a great year for our vegetables, eggs, breads, barbecue sauce and handmades at the farmers’ market and at home. We experimented with a CSA customer (Community Supported Agriculture) who tells us she was very satisfied and will do it again next year (we will take on 4 customers next year, as well as the farmers’ market and vegetables sold at work). I have made and sold socks, scarves, neckwarmers, fingerless gloves, mittens, dishcloths, etc. as far away as Boston and lots of soap this year at both the farmers’ market and from home. Everyone loves socks, especially now since we are all turning thermostats down! I make the ones with fine wool sock yarn for wearing inside shoes and make thicker ones for boots and bed socks (also, just padding around the house). Noodles for the holidays are in high demand and my chickens produce eggs that make the best so I sell a lot of those, too! Next year, I will also add woven rag rugs, etc. to my line of handmades.

End of season chores, knitting, chicken stock and soup recipe

Our last Saturday at the Attica Farmers' Market was last week so now I can begin the Fall food 'putting by', more soap making, finish some knitting and start some knitting orders (hope to have some pictures on my blog soon) .  I put laundry on the line at 7:00 today which seemed strange since, during farmers' market season, I do all the laundry on Sunday.  Tomorrow, however, I will be making soap so that it has time to age by the holidays and noodles to replenish my supply in the freezer.  I also have a new soap mold that I am anxious to use.  Two more batches of soap, along with the batch that I made 3 weeks ago, will see us through the winter with some left over for gifts.  I promised myself that during this long Labor Day weekend, I would finish Liberty's purple cardigan sweater which, if today is any indication, she will need for school soon.  For the first time in months, I feel the need to wear socks in the house--it got down to 49 F degrees last night!  Dad has a large bucket of pickle-size cucumbers ready for me to put down in one of my crocks.  My prolific morning glories decided to strangle my dill in the herb garden, but I will see how much survived.  If not enough, I'll have to buy some somewhere.  Still have a lot of apples to peel, slice, and freeze.  Pumpkins ripening fast and fall broccoli and cabbage (think crocked sauerkraut) doing well.  Deer season will be here before we know it and since I help with the butchering, it is a good idea to have everything done and canned, dried, or in the freezer before that begins.

Made a 'green soup' this a.m. for supper (most farm people still refer to the noon meal as Dinner and the evening meal as Supper. To us, it is the right way---but to each their own!)  For those who care, here's the recipe.  Add some really good homemade bread and butter and you've got yourself some really healthy stuff (I am sure in a New York restaurant somewhere it would be on the menu  for some ungodly amount of $$).

Peasant Green Soup

1 medium or large crock pot
5-6 large swiss chard leaves, de-ribbed and chopped coarsely
(frozen on fresh spinach will do, I am sure)
2 cups dry great northern beans (or your favorite dry bean)
4 cups homemade chicken or turkey stock (more on this big saver below)
4 cups water or 4 more cups stock if you have it
handful fresh basil leaves, chopped coarsely
3 large cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
2 T salt (I make a sea salt, garlic powder, coarse black pepper blend that I keep on hand for everything so I use it for this also--increase the quantity to 3 T of the mixture)
I also found 1/2 cup chopped turkey in the frig left over from cutting meat for sandwiches the other day so I added that--what the heck!
Cook on high until beans are done.  Mash a bit of the mixture to thicken.  Stir and serve.  Also, freeze the remainder for work/school lunches.

Now, about that stock.  Nothing costs so little, takes so little time, and does so much to save on your food bill than stock.  No excuses--you'll be using up stuff you have probably been throwing away!.  It's ecological and free!  Two of my favorite things. Come on, the stove does all the work! 

Chicken or Poultry Stock Primer (variations at the end)

1) Save all your cooked and uncooked backs, wings, skin, carcasses of turkey (I collect the families turkey carcasses during the holidays and freeze them) or chicken in a bag in the freezer so that when you have a weekend afternoon when you are going to be home, you will be ready.  Also save the bottoms of celery stalks, old carrots, bits of onion and their skins (all in the freezer), garlic, bunch of parsley, etc.

2) Put the poultry pieces and vegie material in the bottom of a 20 quart pot (invest in one of these---VERY multi-purpose), add 6 - 8 whole peppercorns if you have them, enough water to cover everything, add about 2 T of salt (careful, this will boil down and concentrate a bit). 

3) Now put the pot on the stove, put the lid on the pot, and turn the heat to high and bring to a boil.  As soon as it comes to a boil, skim off any scum if there is any, and turn the heat down until you see just the hint of rolling boil under the surface.  Put the lid kind of slanted so that some steam can escape, then set your timer to about 4 - 5 hours.   The stove will heat your kitchen for you that day. 

4) After about 5 hours, turn off the heat and let it set for a few hours. 

5) Then, take it to the sink and find one of those terrible plastic bags (without a hole in it) that we get from every store.  Open up the bag in your sink.  Using a slotted spoon or strainer, dip out all the solids from the pot and put in the bag.  When you have all the stuff in the bag, tie the two 'ears' together and toss in the compost minus bones (those go into the trash). 

6) Now, put a dishcloth in the bottom of a colander (that thing you drain your pasta into).  Set the colander in a dishpan or some other large container and pour your stock in.  Discard whatever is in the dishcloth and the rest is stock. 

Put into freezer containers (I freeze mine by the quart) and use for soup, noodles, vegies, whatever.  Nothing is so easy and cheap and adds so much flavor!  I do this every 3 weeks or so in the winter and it seems to be enough for us.  P.S.  Also works with venison bones, beef bones (get what is called dog bones at the butcher counter) for a great beef stock for stews, etc.

Forgot to add.  When the open the frozen container of poultry stock, you can spoon off the fat on the top (not all of it--where do you think most of the flavor comes from).  Save this fat--nothing is more perfect to add to a little vegetable oil when you fry or saute--lots of flavor and very pure.  Do not do this with beef stock--THAT fat really isn't good for us at all. 

Got salmonella? Know your Food

So now we have millions of eggs recalled due to salmonella poisoning.  How many times have we (ecologists and other folks who know and care) told them that it is the conditions in which layers are raised that caused this to happen. The big producers say that this is the way to raise eggs so that they will be cheap at the stores.  How cheap is it if it sickens you and can cause death?  Why is it expected that life sustenance should be cheap so that we have enough money left over to go out and buy that which is of no importance whatsover?  In 80% of the world those last two questions would have made no sense whatsover. 
       Chickens cannot thrive in conditions where they stand in a tiny cage in their own waste 24/7 dropping eggs into it and not have the transmission of bad stuff into the eggs.   And then, because they have worn the chickens out using high-powered feed, god-knows-what chemicals to 'enhance' their laying capabilities, the chickens are no longer valuable as layers at 18 months so they are now only good for dogfood and feather protein.  Now, for those who do not know this, chickens do not even begin to lay until they are around 6 months old.  So, these chickens are worn out in 1 year!  An egg a day (or more) is expected from them from the beginning of their laying cycle.  In our flock, that isn't even a remote goal.  If, on the good stuff that ours are fed, we get an egg every 2 - 3 days, that is great!  The egg is quality, it is clean and the chicken leads a good life of generally around 3 - 4 years.  They have the run of a very large area, grass clippings, weeds, and vegetables from the garden and, as an added bonus, they produce compost for us to begin the cycle again. 
    I would love to be able to provide more eggs for more people, but we are a very small operation and that may be the solution.  The big outfits have failed.  Get to know a local egg producer.  Ask questions about how the hens are raised.  Don't expect the eggs to be cheap (the old phrase 'cheaper in the country' was only used by those who thought that somehow country people don't need to make a profit, that they don't have bills like everyone else).  And don't expect a knowledgeable chicken farmer to invite you in to the chicken area. That sounds very quaint and old fashioned, but people spread more diseases than chickens do.  Know your producer and know your food.  Food gives us life, so it really is that important.

A/C??????

So I have had very interesting responses lately when it is known that we do not have air conditioning by choice.  Oh, we could patch the hole in the airconditioning line and charge it with freon or whatever they call the eco-substitute now, but we choose not to.  And, believe it or not, we are surviving (with a much lower electric bill than those with a/c).  We have fans, and windows and screens and trees and, most of the time, a breeze.  Sure, it is hot, especially this year, but we work outside so much in the gardens and with the chickens, that it doesn't seem to matter.  Also, in the back of our minds, we wonder if we had a/c if we would actually go out and do the work we have to do as willingly.  You know, people lived and worked prior to the 'air conditioning age'.  I can remember the first time I went into a home that had a/c.  Thought it was the neatest thing!
     So the comments I hear lead me to believe that people think they actually must have a/c.  In fact, there seem to be those who really believe that they will die, their allergies will kill them, etc.  Is it possible that some have allergies and other conditions because we insist on living against nature instead of with it?  We have tortured our environment so much that it is turning against us--and justifiably so.  Something to ponder.

How we spend 4th of July!

Yesterday was a beautiful day and as I sit upstairs by the window in my sewing area, I can see the progress we made in Garden B.  Weeded, planted and picked.  New plantings of lettuce, radishes, more swiss chard.  Tomatoes are just about ready to ripen.  Had a few just yesterday.  Peppers are ripening, swiss chard is (as usual) growing faster than I can pick it.  Green beans, melons, pumpkins and potatoes blossoming.  Getting ready to plant seeds for cabbage and broccoli fall crops.  Will also put in a fall crop of spinach and some later green beans--a lot cooler canning green beans in the fall.  A really good rain came yesterday when we were all done (or exhausted from the heat)---perfect timing since Mike was going to have to water if we didn't get some rain soon!  It was a good 4th of July!  Taking care of my daughter's mama and baby Chihuahua while she is in Wisconsin fishing.  Cute as they can be.  The cats are not really thrilled, but they have been on their best behavior--at least while I am looking.  Dogs don't care.  Almost finished with my dad's Fathers Day socks--yes, they are late, but almost done!  Need to finish granddaughter's sweater before fall.  Will use that as a 'take along' project to the farmer's market--something to do when it isn't busy.  Have a lot more projects to get started for the year and the year is half over!  Need to get the Fenters' Farm Farmers' Market Cookbook started which will showcase the vegetables and baked goods that we do AND I have some good genealogy leads that my father is anxiously following.  Well, work awaits........................

Too much rain, too much heat, too much denial

Too much rain this past week and too much heat this past month.  Just a little different for June.  The ground is like a sponge and the river is up over the crops in the river bottom ground.  Our market gardens are holding their own, but too many more storms and they will uproot since their roots are so loose in the wet soil.  At least we have been spared hail which would take all of our vegetables and new grape vines.  I remember the slow rains that we had in hot weather when I was a child.  We would actually go out and play in the rain to cool off.  Now it seems that all the rains are attached to wind and hail.  Climate change is catching up with us.  Too bad we wasted so many years in denial while those in power tried to 'determine' if there was really a problem. An old '60's saying comes to mind "if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.'  Our greed and broken economic system doesn't work very well as we try to solve the problems we have created.

On Mothers Day or a bit later

Mother's Day was a few weeks back. Instead of getting schmaltzy cards, I generally try to compose something for my parents on their special days. I also didn't have Mom's shawl finished in time for her day. Keeping in mind that I may not necessarily believe everything that she taught (there is at least one that I am not sure of) , here is my tribute to my mother.....

What My Mother Taught Me

That I CAN make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear or an elegant little hat from an oatmeal box

That I won’t hear anything good about myself if I eavesdrop

That when I am at the lowest point in my life, I can either hit the bottom and bounce back up to the surface or I can lay down on the bottom and die

That the worst thing that can happen to me can be the best thing to happen to me

That I will heal when the worst thing happens to me, but it will take a long time

That anyone who messes with my kids (and grandkids!) will be very sorry afterwards (if there is an afterwards!)

That I can be a force to be reckoned with

That, when necessary, parents eat after their children

That parents are not perfect people, but the good ones try

That women should get loud and good and mad once in awhile

That women must make themselves emotionally stronger than men because we are the ones who bear the children

Shut up and eat it or you will be hungry later

That only idiots become bored. A smart person can always find something useful to do.

That Mom will forgive me for not having her Mothers’ Day gift finished for another week.

Happy Mothers’ Day

Gardens are beginning to take shape. Cold crops are coming along. Something new this year is a a couple of 4 x 8 foot boxes that Mike made to start radishes and lettuce early. We anticipated that it would be wet this year and we would need to be able to start some plants before the soil dried enough for tilling. We were wrong---it has been very dry! Hopefully, we will get some rain tomorrow so we can quit watering every evening. We have our first CSA customer who is our 'test case' so that we can decide if we want to go into it in a big way next year. For this year, most of our market will be at the Attica Farmer's Market and the vegetable/fruit customers at my workplace. Looks like the blossoms on our fruit trees did not get frosted, so hopefully we will have peaches and cherries. I think our apple trees are still too young to give us any apples this year. The new blackberries made it through the winter ok, as well as the strawberries we planted last year. The deer seem to enjoy eating the tender tops from the new plum trees so we will have to address that. We are looking forward to watching the Saskatoon Blueberries get taller. Dad says that Saskatoons are actually June Berries, but they are so much like Blueberries that you can't tell the difference. Sounds good to me.
Really excited about making 'yarns' from recycled clothing--cutting cloth into thin strips and knitting with them. What a great way to recycle! I can think of some great silky scarves, some denim rugs, t-shirt dish cloths, and on and on, but of course I will have to put that off for fall and winter. Right now we still have a great deal of planting to do.

Doughnuts, little girls, and spring!

My granddaughter stayed at our house this weekend. We have her there frequently since we are only a few miles away. We are planning to make doughnuts and she gets to be at the glaze & sugaring end of the process. Just the thought of it makes me think of the times my daughters were growing up when I would fill the top of our 10-seater kitchen table with row upon row of doughnuts to be put into the freezer--those that survived the immediate onslaught of ravenous doughnut lovers. My girls were outside more than they were in and, since our deep freeze was in the corner of a garage, they would simply open the freezer, take out a bag of doughnuts and go on down the creek with breakfast, lunch and, quite possibly, fish bait (we've all used doughballs for bait, haven't we?). Anyway, it got me to thinking about how great it was to have little girls that played in the creek and brought back crawdads (crayfish for all of you city folks) for me to make 'lobster' bisque. I remember one day when we lived in the log house right on the creek bank that I heard Kristina yelling up towards the house "Mom, bring a bucket" I, of course, could not figure out why she would want a bucket at the creek ('crick' is actually what we say, but 'creek' for some of you). I grabbed a bucket and ran down to the sand bar and there she was -- trying to land a very active 2 lb bass. She hadn't brought a net and she thought it would just be easier to yell for me to bring the bucket. That little girl will be 35 this year and she is still fishing and hunting and cutting wood. She always gets her deer the first day of season. She became a carpenter but, like many in our area, she is now unemployed. Of course, being unemployed to her is not like everyone else. She has animal, carpentry, computer, etc. skills that she uses to get by. The same kid with a fishing pole and doughnuts in her mouth. As luck would have it, while I was writing this, Kristina called and when I told her what I was writing about, she reminded me that she had once eaten many, many of my doughnuts and washed them down with our home-canned grape juice and when she got very sick it was not a pretty sight. So much for memory lane.

We started some of our cole crop seeds in the house this past week. Cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli. We'll plant some more of those for three weeks and then begin the seedlings for the warm weather vegetables. Very chilly outside, but spring is coming and with it the farmer's market and we have to be ready to sell. Time for me to make noodles and put them in the freezer and a few more batches of soap so that it has time to age. We sell that, too. (darn, this job thing keeps interfering with my other plans!) I keep chanting to the chickens, 'spring is coming, spring is coming'. Thank goodness for seeds and seed catalogs so that we can dream of spring!

Death of my friend, lesson learned

This past week, my dearest friend died. She and I had been friends since we were 14 at Pine Village High School. She and her husband were with my first husband and I when we went to the Justice of the Peace to get married (they had those in 1971). Our husbands were best friends, our children -- three each-- were born around the same time and are very good friends. For a time, she was the supervisor of my oldest daughter at the little rural hospital in our county. She loved my kids and I loved hers. After my first husband left, she was my salvation. I would talk and talk and talk her ear off trying to figure out what happened and she never avoided me, never acted as if she was very tired of hearing it. After I married my present husband, we all got caught up in all those things that we think are important. She got sick about 3 years ago with cancer. I saw her now and then, but not nearly as much as I should have. She and my middle daughter played golf sometimes. Time passed and I knew that she had went into remission, but I still didn't see her much. The remission passed and last June, our high school class had our 40th reunion and Wanda and I sat there together and talked and talked and laughed until we cried. We had such a great class and it was so much fun sitting with all of them who came (at least half!) talking about how we were 40 years ago. We all knew that it was the last reunion that Wanda would attend. I promised to visit within the next month, but again stupid, inconsequential things got in the way and I didn't visit. Last week, just 3 days before I was going over to her house to visit, she died. She told her family that she would no longer take her medicines and all knew that it would be just a matter of a few days. I will never again get the chance to sit and talk with her, laugh with her, pick grapes and sweet corn with her, make noodles with her, laugh at the shenanigans of our kids, play poker with her, argue with her. I didn't know it 44 years ago when I met her that one of the reasons she may have been put on this earth was to teach me a lesson. Never put off spending time with those you love. Nothing is more important. The chance will not come again.