Missing Willow Farm

We’ve been away for a few days helping our daughter Tracy celebrate her birthday.  It’s been a while since we got away from our daily chores. My wonderful parents watched the farm while we were gone, which included milking our goats (so sweet of them!)  While we were gone, more tomatoes started ripening.  It’s going to be a delicious summer!

Of course, we’re so remote we don’t have a cable TV option…  Our weather finally allowed us to move the turkeys from the barn into a poultry tractor in the pasture.  They have since provided hours of entertainment for our cow, Jessica.

We have… er had blueberries.  There’s been a chipmunk hanging around the back deck and we found a half eaten tomato the other day.  He’s an elusive little bugger.

Cabbages, our first tomatoes and Snow’s Fancy cucumbers.  I’ve already started making pickles.  I’ve got two quarts put up so far which is good because we just opened the last quart of 2011 at dinner last night.

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We’ve been harvesting cabbage and can only eat so much coleslaw so I decided to try something new.  Sauerkraut in a jar.  I did a lot of research and ended up deciding on a recipe that uses shredded cabbage, mustard seeds, juniper berries, pickling salt, honey and brine in a sterile jar.  It’s stored in a dark spot (our pantry) and should be ready in about 6 weeks.  I’ll keep you posted…

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We harvested one of hopefully two batches of honey from our two hives this week.  It was a record haul (for us).  A couple of the frames had brood, so a few bees were born in our kitchen during the process.  It was a sweet, sticky, long day.

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It’s pea season around here and I put some in the freezer this week.  You shell them, boil them for 2 minutes, dunk in ice water then drain and freeze them in serving sizes.  These are destined for creamy lemon pasta with peas next winter.  I like to plan ahead!

Our asparagus patch is still giving us spears, we pick some every day.  We grill it with olive oil, salt and pepper, steam it or broil it wrapped in bacon.  Leftovers go into a cheesy risotto.  We’re in our third month of asparagus harvest.  Once they’re gone, it will be a good six months before I miss it enough to pay grocery store prices to have them again.

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We had the great fortune to be invited to a cookout last weekend where we met two lovely documentary filmmakers who recently completed a short film titled Pimento Cheese, Please!  which is kind of a love poem to this southern delicacy.  Did I have the nerve to make a batch and take it?   You bet I did.  It was very well received (they took home the leftovers).  I thought I’d share the recipe here.  It’s pretty simple stuff, just 5 ingredients; 8 oz. of sharp cheddar cheese,  3 Tbsp. of Duke’s mayo, 2 0z. of drained pimentos, 2 good splashes of worchestershire sauce and hot pepper flakes to taste.   Oh, and salt & pepper.  It’s best served on a saltine cracker.  Go ahead and make some, you know you want to.  And while you’re at it, have a look at their short film, it’s awesome!   http://vimeo.com/31515064

Herding sheep is hard work in the heat, especially when you’re wearing a black fur coat.