Missing Willow Farm

Tis the season again.  We just filled two raised beds with garlic.  If you want to give it at try, grab some from your kitchen and plant individual cloves about 2 inches deep with the pointy side up.  Wait six months.  Enjoy!

Tomorrow night at 10PM on Bravo (October 24th) check out Life After Top Chef.  You’ll see two former Top Chef All Stars contestants visit a sheep farm in rural SW Virginia.  The episode is titled Shear Today, Gone To Marrow.  You might see someone you know…. just sayin’

Fog rolls off our pond and up the driveway and beyond.  So pretty… and creepy.

This is how we watch TV.  Bindi’s not happy unless her hiney is in someone’s face.

We try not to let anything go to waste around here.  When a few of our mini pumpkins got a little wilted, we took them to the hens to see if they’d enjoy them.  These were gone in a few minutes with just a tiny bit of fighting and arguments.

Our shiitake logs have fruited again.  It’s taken a few years for them to find their rhythm, evidently it’s early spring and early fall.  This is about half of the harvest.  We’re investigating how to preserve them because you can only eat so much risotto!

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We have four compost areas on our farm.  This one is next to our small barn and is where we dump the chicken poop that collects under their roost every morning.  Somehow, a tomato seed made it into this straw pile and grew the most epic tomato plant.  It’s got tons of blooms and tiny fruit on it.  We’re so close to our first frost we’ll never get to harvest anything but, let me tell you, there will be non-accidental tomato plantings in there next spring!

Bindi enjoys being cozy.  This is her second favorite place in the house.  Her first favorite is inside Brian’s sweatshirt, as long as he’s wearing it.

It’s getting cold here and with the first frost right around the corner I was getting bummed about losing access to fresh basil.   I dry some every year and have made and frozen pesto in the past, but it’s not as versatile as just plain basil.  I decided to try something new.  I packed my mini chopper with leaves and added 3/4 cup of olive oil.  Once processed, I spread it on top of a piece of Saran wrap laid inside a baking dish.  Into the freezer overnight and I now have a brick of frozen basil in olive oil.  It’s in the freezer in a gallon storage bag.  I’ll just break off a chunk this winter for any recipe calling for basil.  Pretty cool!

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We do an annual garden and winery tour with friends from the farmer’s market.  Last year, we were gifted some bitter melon seeds at one of the farms we visited.  This is the coolest looking vegetable ever.  It’s a vine that grows warty squash-like fruits.  When they ripen, they turn bright yellow and burst open to show their large bright red seeds.  I find them fascinating but  can’t comment on their flavor because I haven’t tried one yet.  I’m chicken…