What Did She Do Today?

She Finished her Sprouting Experiment November 6, 2009

The sprouting experiment was a success.  I started with 2 cups of wheat berries.  On the 7th day, there were approximately 16 cups of sprouts.  The original weight was about 3/4 of a pound, and the end weight was 3 pounds.  That is 4 times as much food weight as when I started.  The math works out very well for this being cost effective.

$1.00 a pound for the berries

3/4 pound berries = 3 pounds sprouts

$.75 for 3/4 of a pound

$.75 divided by 3 = $.25 per pound of sprouts

The Non organic grain is about $.26 a pound and the organic grain I feed them is about $.44 a pound, so in the end the sprouts are going to save me money, and provide the chickens with live food all winter!  I'm so excited.

There will be more about the sprouting, as I figure out a system that will allow me to grow enough to use them as a food source.  The glass jars would be fine for small amounts, but I want something that will allow for more sprouts each day.  I have a plan, so we'll see if it works out.

The Garden has been made ready for fall.  I pulled up the fencing, and all the various stakes and labels and such, to allow for tilling.  Dad did the tilling, and then we started on my new BIG project...making raised beds out of rocks.  I decided raised beds would be easier to tend to, allow for more food in a smaller place and would also aid in making my front yard beautiful, and not just productive.  Last year the garden looked okay, but this year, it looked a bit too trashy.  I don't want to the local "hick", I just want to grow food, instead of grass.  So I'm working on a couple things that will allow for a prettier vegetable garden, on a large scale, in my yard...I'll show you once I get further along, but I'm thrilled the plan has started to be realized!

Another great accomplishment today, was finishing Calvert!  I'll get pics tomorrow, but I am so over the moon about this sweater I needed to at least tell you the saga is over, the sweater is done, fits great and yes, was totally worth the extra work to get it right. 

Interesting news for NH folks in regards to Autumn Olives.  It is on the Invasive species list making them illegal to transplant or transport.  I contacted a guy in Concord who works with the invasive species management who said it was not illegal to use the berries, providing the seeds were properly disposed of.  He suggested they be heated for at least 15-20 minutes, and then placed in the trash, not in a compost pile.  I have a friend who is taking the Master Gardener class at UNH who made me aware of the plant's status.  The whole situation is kind of crazy, but I'm happy to find that I can still use them for cooking.  I even used them tonight for some Autumn Olive Apple Sauce, which I took to a get together tonight, where it was a huge it!

She Made it Through November 5, 2009

Today was a crappy day.  The weather was cold, raw and rainy, a bunch of unpleasant things happened, nothing earth shattering, but it was just a lousy day.  Looking forward to tomorrow, and a better day.

Among the crappy events, I broke my VERY WELL SEASONED pizza stone from Pampered Chef.  I am looking to replace it, as I find it incredibly useful for so many things.  But I wondered if anyone had a stone from somewhere else that they would Highly recommend.  You need to LOVE your stone, if it's not a Pampered Chef version, to mention it, but if you do love yours, I'd really like to know about it.  The only complaint I had about the one I broke is that it was a little hard to get out of the oven, as it didn't have anything to grab onto.  The new version by PC has raised handles, so that solves that.  So any other suggestions?

Calvert is bound off, the front left and right trim is on, I just need to put on the neck trim, sew in ends and on buttons, and block.  I'm so excited!!  

Sprouting is still going well.  It's so easy, and I'm so excited about it.  I have 2 very full jars, that are growing nicely.  I swear if I video taped it, you'd be able to see it grow, they get so much more volume within, even, a couple hours.  This is Day 6:

She Bought Food, Inc. November 4, 2009

Food, Inc.  is out on DVD now, so if you didn't get to see it in the theater, you can pick it up, or probably you could rent it.  The special features contained a news report that aired on NBC, or ABC, can't remember which, but the people in the report were the owner of Chipotle's and Joel Salatin, of Polyface Farm.  Apparently, Joel's Farm is one of the sources of meat for Chipotle's restaurants.  That is super cool.  I knew Chipotle's had "hormone free and pastured" animals, but those sorts of words only resonate with me on a small scale, because everyone wants to sound so "food and eco friendly".  Free range chickens just need access to the outside, even if they never actually go out, they are free range, so I get a bit synical.  However, after the interview, it seems far more real, and I'm even more excited to have a simple place to grab a bite to eat, if I'm out and can't get home for a meal.  It's kind of neat to think I might have eaten pork from Polyface farm, when I at at Chipotle's last.

Knitting update.  I worked on Calvert today, because I was driving around with mom, making it tough to work on her Christmas Gift.  However, she was telling me about the blanket, as she saw my friend Kim working on hers and indicated she might want to try that some time.  I'm glad she's a slower knitter who has Christmas gifts of her own to knit.  I should be clear until Christmas, without her starting her own version, and it's clearly something she'll like, if she's thinking of making her own.

Calvert, is almost done being knit (again).  I will be finishing binding off, then just the trim needs to be knit!  Very soon I shall have a new sweater, which is perfect, as the weather is starting to get cold.  We had a pretty mild October, save a couple really cold days, but I'm sure November is about to change all that.

Sprouting Day 5:

The sprouts are really growing.  I did transfer half the sprouts to a second container, so now there are 2.  I have 2 days to go, so I think 2 will do it, but I anticipate them both being completely full! 

She is Posting What She Forgot to Post Monday November 4, 2009

My day has barely started today, so I'll be back later to tell you about what I do today...

I forgot to share what I did on Monday for dinner.  More Chicken, but it came out much better.

I had taken the carcass from the salty chicken, put it in the pot with water, and onion and started to simmer.  The next day it was still simmering, so I took the liquid, poured it on Ancona Rooster number 2, to the point it was almost covered, put a cover on the pan, and put in the oven on 325 for about 2 hours.

This chicken was amazing!!  The flavor was fabulous, it was tender and just all around lovely.  These boys have been running all over my property for about 6 months, and their leg meat is so dark, like a rich mahogany, so I think the wetter cooking worked really well for relaxing the very active, and fresh bird.  I have placed the other bird in the freezer, and will be having soup very soon!

The carcass from both birds are in the pot, and the flavor should be good and rich for soup tonight...maybe that is one of the things I'll do.

The Locavore Tally for Monday's Dinner:

• Chicken, my back yard
• Potatoes, Nippo Brook Farm
• Onions, Nippo Brook Farm
• Rosemary, Nippo Brook Farm
• Sage, Yellow House Farm
• Buttercup Squash: Nippo Brook Farm
• Apple Cider (In squash and for drinking with the meal): Pressed in my yard, and apples from Butternut Farm, and Major Waldron's in Barrington.

See you tonight with what I'm about to do, now!

She Picked Paint Colors November 3, 2009

I am a color girl.  I like art and crafting because it allows me to use, and be surrounded by, color.  This is why the fact I live in a modern, white walled house, is just crazy.  I painted the bathroom a while back, and it looks very nice, but I have not tackled the living room...basically because my house if very open concept, and I have one big space that houses the living room, kitchen and dining area.  It's going to be a lot of work to paint it, and a lot of cutting in, which I'm only moderately proficient at that task.

My friend, Jessica, on the other hand is a professional painter.  Splashing boring walls with lovely colors is her thing.  She came over today, and we figured out colors for my living room.  She's going to start painting on Monday!  My living area will finally have color!!

I also tried making Autumn Olives into muffins.  I've determined that the berries need to be pureed and have their seeds removed, to be used in cooking.  I will be doing that with the rest.  The seeds are just too offensive.  They are too large, for as woody as they are.  I did read that some folks used bits of Autumn Olive fruit leather in muffins, which I might try.  

Mom's Christmas gift jumped Dad's, in line.  I found the perfect thing for her.  She's a doily fan.  She always has been.  She has a collection, some from my grandmother, great grandmother, and others she's just picked up. I think she may have even made one, a long time ago.  So when I saw the blanket from Jared Flood, which was an up-sized doily made out of Ecological Wool, I had to get started.  I'm very excited.  It's working up nicely, and I think she's going to be over the moon when she opens it on Christmas Eve!!  The Rainey Sister's made the pattern more accessible, and they also blogged about their expereinces with it.

I think this will be the last pic, until it's off the needles.  It's not going to be a very photogenic, in progress, project, because it's done in the round, so it's just going to bunch up on itself, but I love how it's looking, so far, and I think I might need to make one for myself, after the Christmas knitting, and a couple other projects, are knitted through...maybe January will find some time for my own version of this.

Day 4: Sprouting project...I think I'm going to need to transfer from the 1/2 gallon canning jar.  I probalby should have started with 1 cup of spouts, instead of 2.  Oh, well, that is the point of an experiment, right?

She Rejoiced Over Dirt November 2, 2009

I want to make runs for my chickens.  I think they will be safer, easier to care for, and all around better off, this winter, if they have runs.  This is a fairly frustrating undertaking, because I don't really have any yard.  My house lot was sort of awkward, add to the fact it was built when my idea of being outside was going from the house to the car, so there isn't really any place to put anything, as the forest is right in the way, and there is a steep drop off behind the house.  I've toyed with buying fill before, but it's so pricey.  Well, dad and I were trying to figure out how to work runs in the space we have, what trees to cut down, and all while yelling this over the large State trucks working on the road. 

I looked up, annoyed, to see a big dump truck driving off with dirt from the side of the road...then I got an idea, and took off running.  Long story short (and the truck guy probably wished I shortened by request), but I was able to have them dump all that glorious dirt in my yard!!  I saved the State gas money, since I was right next to where the dirt was being pulled from and money on trucks, since delivering to me only took 2-3 trucks, instead of the line of about 6 that they started with, and I now have dirt behind my chicken coops to put their winter/breeding runs up.  I also have enough dirt to make a fairly decent back yard for playing, and the picnic table!  Oh, and yes, the dirt was free.  I think, all told, there are 20 dump truck loads of road dirt in my yard.  I'm so glad dad has a tractor.

Day 3 of the Sprouting Project.  They are growing right along. I think I'm going to wish I used 1 cup, instead of 2 cups of wheat berries, as I think they my out grow the 1/2 Gallon jar.  Each day I'm rinsing and draining. 

She Finished Leg Warmers and a Project Bag November 1, 2009

I'm still fighting with the Calvert Sweater, but I did manage to finish another pair of leg warmers for the girls.  This pattern is so simple, fast and easy.  It has become my go to "carry around" project of choice.  Soon to be interrupted by socks for Dad for Christmas.  Eeeek...did I admit to attempting Christmas Knitting starting at this late date?  I guess I did. 

The socks will be carried around in a fabulous little project bag, that I also finished today. The pattern is free!  The bag is adorable, fast, easy and would make a great gift.  I'm definitely making more of them.

I cooked our first home grown chicken tonight.  I put it in a brine yesterday...1 gallon water, 1 cup salt, 1 cup sugar.  Today I removed the bird, coated in olive oil, using a combo of salt, pepper, sage (Yellow House Farm) and rosemary (Nippo Brook Farm) for a rub, I covered the bird.  Then I poured about 1 1/2 cups of red wine in my Dutch oven, place the bird (my yard), surrounded it with potatoes (Meadows Mirth and Nippo Brook Farm) and mushrooms (David O'Connor).  The potatoes and mushrooms were sprinkled with remaining rub.  Covered and placed in the 325 degree oven, for 25 minutes per pound of bird, which worked out to be about 1.5 hours.  He weighed in a 4 pounds, not bad for a small egg laying breed.  I served the above with buttercup squash (Nippo Brook Farm).

Eating heritage poultry is definitely different than a supermarket bird, or even a "broiler" from a farm.  I'm amazed at how much more character and flavor the bird has.  Husband said the leg meat was more like eating steak than any chicken he's ever had before.  The bird was pretty good, but a bit too salty.  So foodie friends, did I brine too long (almost 24 hours)?  Should I have just used the pepper and herbs and no salt on the skin?  Are you supposed to rinse the brine off before putting it in the pan? I was just following directions from a foodie friend, so I'm not sure what I did wrong.  It was still good, but I'd like it less salty next time.

Day 2 of the Sprouting experiment:

She Processed her own Chickens October 30, 2009

We have 2 generations of Anconas.  The first generation is full grown, laying eggs, and ready for eating, if that be there fate, and for most, it is not.  Most are females, who will stay as either breeders, or just for eggs.  There are 4 Roosters, but only one that will stay for breeding.  Joseph (My Poultry Mentor), after a visit to my homestead, told me that one of my non keepers is the head male, so as long as he stays on the homestead the male I want to keep will not fully bloom into all he can be.  The keeper was chosen because he is closest, of the 4, to the breed standard, and shows strong vigor in his countenance.  The time has come that all males that are not being kept for breeding need to go, to help set the stage for the chosen male to take his place among the females.  This also means the females can rest a bit easier, since all 4 boys are "active" and looking for some action.  With only one male, of age, the ladies will have fewer advances to either accept or thwart.

I took the 3 over to Yellow House farm, where I started the day helping them process their chickens, then we moved into processing Muscovy Ducks.  At the end of the day, once their birds were done, we worked up my 3.  I have one in a brine, 1 gallon water, 1 cup salt, 1 cup sugar, soaking for the night, in preparation for becoming dinner tomorrow night.  Here is one of them...our first homestead chicken!

I've started a sprouting experiment.  I want to feed the chickens "live, green food" all winter.  They will be allowed to forage, but in the winter that is not going to get them very far, and grain, while specially formulated for their needs, is well and good, I like the idea of fresh food, too.  So I'm going to try sprouting and see how that goes.  I have started with some wheat berries, and last night I put them in a half gallon canning jar, soaked them for 24 hours, rinsed, and drained.  I will rinse and drain them daily, for the next 7 days.  This is what they look like on day one, after the first rinse.

I have done a bit of sewing, and in so doing, have been able to update my Etsy store again...and I'm hoping to have another update in another couple days.  The car catchalls make GREAT gifts, especially for folks you may no know super well, but still want to let them know you are thinking of them...folks like teachers, coaches, a great work gift for the office yankee swap, or the like.  If you puchase 3 or more they are only $14.00 each.  If you want to purchase 3 there is a option in the store.  If you want more than 3, send me a message and I can give you a special listing.  Also, if you are local, and want to avoid shipping, then select the item, checkout, and email me about when and how to pick it up and pay for it.

She Moved the Furniture October 30, 2009

It's amazing what a little furniture shifting can do for a living space.  I turned my kitchen island, and the dining room table, both 1/4 turn, and I'm loving the change.  The same space, the same amount of furniture, and still it seems like there is so much more room. That and I don't have to fight with the island when I want to fully open the refrigerator.  Splendid.

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner in our new dining area.  Mom and I split a CSF (Community Supported Fishery) share from Eastman Fish Market.  Neither of us wanted to commit to 2 pounds a week, but 1 pound each would be perfect for a meal for our small families.  It's been great.  I'm so glad we shared it.  I have been wanting to add fish to our diet, and this has been a great way to do it. 

The Cod from today came with a recipe, for which I had to do some substitution since I didn't have a couple of the ingredients, but it made a fabulous meal.  We had mushrooms from a local grower, David O'Connor, that I've been itching to cook with, after drying them, and they worked great in this dish.  I teamed it with some rice and some steamed carrots. 

This meal was the kind of thing my foodie neighbor Andrea would whip up.  The rice would probably have had some cool additions, if she made it, but this is far fancier than my normal meal making goes.  Husband even said it was the kind of dish you'd see in a restaurant...yes, big hit, indeed.  Even cooler that the fish, mushrooms, garlic, parsley and carrots were all locally sourced!

The recipe, with my substitutions in parentheses:

Calls for 4 6oz skinless cod fillets...I used 1 pound of cod, that was not cut into the smaller pieces.

In a heavy skillet melt 3Tbs Butter over med-high heat.  Add 10 oz. white or baby bella mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced about 1/8" thick and cook, stirring only occassionally, until well browned, 5-7 minutes. Add 4 med cloves of minced garlic and cook, stirring, until golden and fragrant, about 45 seconds.  Add 1/2 cup dry vermouth (vegetable stock), 3 Tbs Parsley, 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar (apple cider vinegar), salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until liquid has reduced by half, about 2 minutes. 

Remove pan from heat.  Lightly season cod with salt and pepper, then add it to the pan, nestling fillets into the mushrooms and spooning some mushrooms on top.

Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer over medium heat, cover the pan and reduce to medium-low, simmer until just cooked through, 7-12 minutes.

Note:  I used dehydrated mushrooms, so I soaked them for 10 minutes before adding them to the pan, and they came right back, plump and lovely!

She Started Planning for Breeding October 29, 2009

I was talking to a friend who has the same breed chickens that I have, the Dorkings.  She was telling about keeping one of her 8 roosters but needing someone to process her others.  I suggested she let me come over and look at her roosters so if she had a really good, breeding quality fella, I could save him from the pot.  In the end, I went with my friend Joseph, we gathered up all the unwanted boys, a couple of which will be used for breeding on his farm, in the Spring, and the rest will make their way back to her house it a more recognizable, for the table, fashion.

While wrangling the birds, she snapped a shot of me holding 4 of them.  Chickens have strong legs, and when held upside down they do not struggle, so it's a great way to hold and move them about, for a short period of time. The easiest way to move a chicken, however, is at night.  Chickens are night blind, so in the dark they rarely struggle at all, they just don't know where to go, making them feel safer to just stay with you.  So, if you ever need to move chickens, and can do it at night, that is best.  Otherwise, the upside down leg hold, makes for a calm experience for you and the bird.

Joseph came over to look at my ducks, to help me decide who should stay this year.  It turns out I have a very big, beautiful Lavender Cayuga Drake, who will be joining Edward, in the flock.  I'll be keeping another Lavender Hen, as well.  They will need names, at some point, but I'm not sure what direction I want to go, with that.  I'm getting very excited about the breeding for next year.  I think my favorite part of raising poultry is the breeding/hatching part.  It's so exciting to see new creatures, as they first enter the world. 

The last Exeter Market was today, but there is still one in Portsmouth for the next 2 Saturdays, and the winter Markets start shortly thereafter!