Missing Willow Farm

I took this photo from our hot tub.  The blackberries are close enough to pick to add to a glass of champagne.  Life is good!

The only basil we have this year is grown on our back deck in pots.  I’ve made pesto twice now with the basil leaves, garlic, toasted pine nuts, parmesean, lemon and olive oil.  Toss that with pasta and some sauteed shrimp.  Yum!

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Our morning haul from the raised beds usually fills a large colander and inspires the evening’s dinner.

Pickle marathon 2017 should start soon….

Gotta get my sauerkraut crock out of storage.

Roasted beets, carrots and garlic with sauteed beet greens and blue cheese.

Spanikopita pie with our spinach, garlic and goat cheese from the freezer.

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Because you REALLY want to start this kind of activity when you get a little older… we’ve taken on shearing ourselves this year.  Thankfully only Gus and Beatrice need shearing.  Since the dog attack last spring, they’re the only two wool sheep we have left on the farm.

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The saga continues…  and I don’t want to see my cherry pitter again until 2018.

Cherry liqueur. This won’t be ready for a few weeks, and yum.

Black forest preserves. I’m blown away by how good this stuff is! Dark chocolate, cherries and a little amaretto.

Speaking of amaretto…. these are amaretto cherries. They will be amazing as an alternative to maraschinos.

I’ve been on a sour cherry hunt for the past month or so.  I’ve tried every upscale grocery place in Greensboro and nobody ever carries them.  I started looking online to see if I could get some shipped here from a fruit supplier but the only thing I could find were jarred or frozen cherries.  In my online search, I located an orchard an hour north of here and sour cherry picking started yesterday.  And they were expecting 3000 people on opening day.  We were one of the first in line.  This place has 34 acres of cherry trees.  We met folks from NC and Tennessee picking there.  I pitted cherries for 2 hours when we got home.   I so far have made maraschinos and the best cherry pie I’ve ever tasted.  Today’s adventures include cherry liqueur and maybe some black forest preserves. 

Our garlic harvest filled the back of our Mule.  We dry it outside in a shady spot for a week then store it in our pantry.  This should last us a year.