What Did She Do Today?

She Canned Fun Stuff! October 20, 2010

I wouldn't have picked to be doing "fun" canning today, as I have a list of not as fun things, that really need to get done, but it was necessary.  I have pears and tomatillos that need to be processed before they go bad, and I had specific things in mind.  I didn't know if I could get away with freezing and doing these fun goodies later, so I bit the bullet and got started.

Tomatillos did pretty well in my garden this year.  I only had 4 plants and the yield was a solid half bushel, or more.  I've not done much with them, as I'm not super familiar with them, but decided that some salsa was in order.  I found a recipe online, and other than substituting a sweet pepper for most of the jalapenos, and  parsley for the cilantro, I followed it.  The resulting salsa was fabulous!  I had a small amount left, after jarring, that wasn't enough to really put in a jar so I put it in a pan, laid some fish on top, covered and simmered.  It was delicious!!  I am loving the local fish lately.

I made another double batch of Chunky Spiced Pear Jam, which we have been enjoying on toast, lately. 

One thing I've been wanting to try my hand at, is chutney.  I have never made any and can't say that I've done much with the store bought form, either, but I do love the chutneys that have accompanied meals in fancy restaurants.  Pears just seem perfect for chutney so I gave it a try.  I used a couple different recipes as my inpsiration, but they all seemed pretty similar to this one, except I added dry mustard (about 1 tsp) and cinnamon (also a tsp), no red pepper flakes (Husband prefers less spice than more), Honey instead of Brown Sugar, so only about 1/2 the amount called for, as I find it to be sweeter than sugar.  I also grated, with a microplane, the garlic, instead of just letting it simmer and remove.  That just seems crazy to me.  Garlic is so yummy, you can't just take it out! 

I'm pleased with how it all came out.  I have a few more pears that I'm trying to figure out something special for, and a few more tomatillos that I'm just going to can up like regular tomatoes, for use in sauce this winter.  I love the tangy sweet flavor and I think they will compliment a tomato sauce, quite nicely.

Tomorrow, more apples!  Looking for Chuntey recipes for the apples, and I might try that Chunky Spiced Jam recipe with the apples.  I really prefer jam over jelly.

I've been remiss in introducing you to our newest breeding buck.  He came with the name Sam, and I'm tyring to decide if I'll keep that name.  My other bucks are Almanzo, Henry and Jack.  Boy names are harder to pick, than girls, I think.  I have enough bucks, but Sam needed to be saved.  He is from Virginia's first litter, and he's just too good to end up being dinner.  He has a very nice form, but he wouldn't work for Virginia, as she has his mom and full sister as breeding does.  He will stay here and she will get a different buck from me, who isn't closely related to her does.  So until I figure out how many bucks I'm going to keep, and which ones, he's going to hang out here.  He seems to like his new home, and has transitioned well to the whole food diet.

I haven't mentioned the chickens lately.  They are certainly not center stage on the homestead this year.  We have found we just really enjoying eating duck and rabbit more, so the chickens are fewer.  Chicken is still a popular dish around here, but I love the darkness of duck meat, and rabbit is just phenomenal, and so easy to harvest, that I don't really mind not doing all the business of plucking chickens. 

Well, tonight, the young laying hens were moved to the laying coop.  It was a bit of a project, so one I have been procrastinating, but Husband helped and it went smoothly.  All the old ladies had their bands removed.  I checked to see if they seemed to still be laying.  Those believed to be laying recieved a pink band. 

All the young girls were banded with clear, but there are a couple who have already started laying, so I tried to identify them, and those who I believed were laying got a yellow band.  I did this so that in the Spring I can breed from them, as they are the early maturing birds, and the older girls are still laying after the fall equinox, so kudos to them. 

The bands are just zip ties from the hardware store.  They stay on well, are inexpensive, easy to find and come in a variety of colors, so they are a great option for temporary identification.  Identification is very important if you want to form a good breeding flock, and breed well, which I hope to be able to do.

She Spent the Day in the Kitchen with Irma and some Tough Ole' Hens October 9, 2010

I finally did something with Irma.  I've been feeding her, but have not made anything with her for a while now, besides an occasional batch of sourdough crepes.  But today I pulled her out and used her to make a batch of sourdough Cheese Crackers, English Muffins and some oatmeal muffins!  Everything came out great.  We are going to have the oatmeal muffins along with some canned peaches for breakfast tomorrow, before heading to the Brookford Quark Fest! 

The crackers are nice and crisp, and cheddar cheesy!  I'm hoping to use the english muffins for mini pizza sometime in the next couple days. 

The Pears were canned yesterday.  I canned 13 quarts, out of about 1 bushel of pears.  I have  2 bushels left to process, which must be done on monday, as I'm busy tomorrow!

While I worked in the kitchen, and ran errands, a pot simmered on my stove, all day.  It contained 6 2 year old laying hens, that I harvested in Spring.  I need to make room in the freezer, which might be futile and a new freezer purchase may be necessary regardless, but for now I'm trying to move some things out to make room for newer items. 

After simmering all day, I removed all the meat, which I will use for sandwhiches, and such...maybe even a chicken pot pie.  Oh that sounds so good!  The carcusses are all in the pot again, with all the liquid the chickens cooked in, and celery, onions, basil, salt and carrots, to make stock!  I am going to can quart jars of stock. I'm so excited to have nice, rich chicken stock that is easy to grab.  It's one of the things I miss the most about not buying premade food, the ability to just grab a container of stock.  After I get this canned I will have stock readily available that was made with far more flavor than any store stock.  The best of both worlds!

Josie's chubby bunny is doing very well.  I'm pretty sure it's a girl, and she's getting so big!  I kept her in at night for about 5 days as sort of a diet.  She was getting so fat I was concerned it could effect the way her structure developed, and was advised by Neva, our neighborhood expeienced breeder, to bring her in for 12 hours a day so she didn't eat all day.  I did this, which afforded the chubby bunny lots of snuggle time.  The Baby is very smitten with animals, especially the chubby bunny.  She's so gentle. I didn't have to cue her at all. She picked the bunny up, out of her box, and held her so gently and carefully.  It was so sweet!

One of the highlights, so far, in October was teaching another homesteader how to harvest their rabbits.  Virginia bought a bred doe, raised up the litter and they were ready for harvest on Tuesday.  She and her Husband, Steve, came over, learned how the process works and then worked together, with supervision, processing their own 3 rabbits.  They did a great job, and left having learned a skill they can use to feed their family healthy, local food.  They took with them 5 Ancona hens, who will reside in their little 1/2 acre homestead, and provide them with, hopefully, an abundance of eggs!  She made her first rabbit meal...ever.  Virginia got a rabbit before ever having eaten rabbit!  She wanted to homestead and rabbits fit in her space and neighborhood better than meat chickens, so she made the decision based on what worked.  Fearless!

We are all going to the Quark Fest and Brookford Farm tomorrow.  Are you going?

The Brookford Farm Quark Festival is happening on this Sunday, October 10th, from 11 - 4 with a film showing at 6.

We'll have puppeteers, baked Camembert, food workshops, famous chefs, bobbing for kohlrabi, a movie in the heifer barn, and of course, plenty of quark-themed delicacies for the tasting. Local artists and musicians, an elementary school, and yours truly, the Brookford Farm farmers, will be in attendance.

Sample our delicious artisinal cheeses as well as other dishes made with our pasture-raised beef and pork, organic vegetables, and renowned dairy products.

There will also be workshops on traditional crafts like beekeeping and food preservation, pumpkin-carving, a straw labyrinth, and of course a hayride through beautiful seacoast countryside at the very peak of fall. For kids, there will be crafts, games, activities, and more!

The food preservation workshops require registration, so send an email to brookfordfarminfo@gmail.com if you wish to register, or have any questions.

Brookford Farm
70 Sligo Rd
Rollinsford, NH 03869
603-742-4084
www.brookfordfarm.com

 

 

She Enjoyed a Spatchcocked Chicken August 12, 2010

My friends harvested some young Ancona Roosters, which is not an easy task to do, in a traditional way.  The body cavity of a 14 week Heritage bird, especially one with a smaller frame than a standard Multi-purpose bird, is very small.  It could be done, but time consuming, especially for a small meat yield.  So why bother?  Because a heritage bird that is harvested at 6 months, requires a wetter and slower prep.  It's certainly yummy, but can't be thrown on a grill, well, unless you are fond of shoe leather.  With age comes muscles, and cooking those fast and how, makes them tough.  But a 14 week bird is tender.  It is young, it can be cooked fast and hot, or at least much faster and hotter than the 6 month old. 

Industry figured this out, so they fiddled with genetics to bring us a 14 week (or younger) bird, with all the tender meat, and flexible options for prep, but instead of being small, this bird tips the scale at as much, if not more, than you would find in a 6 month old heritage chicken.

What is the solution for the Heritage Chicken Farmer or Homesteader?  Are we relinquished to a life of roasters, unless we want to fight with the small body cavity of young bird?  No!  There is spatchcocking.  Simply explained, in order to eviscerate the small bird, simply cut up each side of the back bone.  This allows you to reach the inside bits easily, quickly, well worth the work!  The term seems to come from Ireland as far back as the 18th Century. 

Tonight I enjoyed a young Ancona that my friend's had spatchcocked!  I cooked it in the broiler on low, on the bottom shelf of the oven (my broiler is in the roof of my oven).  I salted the skin, layed it flat, and let it cook about 30 minutes, maybe a little longer, I was busy doing other things, so I didn't time it.  But it was fast, but it was also tender!  Very tender.  It was fabulous.  I served it with some fresh corn on the cob, fried eggplant, and diced musk melon.  Oh, a delicious summer meal indeed!

I shall be using the butcher technique next week for the VERY noisy Ancona Roosters who are having machismo matches outside my bedroom window each morning.  Speaking of...I got a great box today!  My knifes and other necessary equipment for butchering in my own backyard, arrived today!  I feel very empowered, and prepared!

She Had Another Raccoon Encounter July 27, 2010

Last night I heard a crash outside, and the chickens were all a flutter.  I thought they had knocked something over in their pen, but they continued to squawk and flap.  Husband, with metal pipe in hand went to investigate.  He couldn't see anything, but was sure that there was something in the growing pen.  I went out with the gun, and we continued look around.  Sure enough, in the corner behind a bucket was the raccoon, hiding.  I couldn't seen though the scope because it was too dark, then realized, I'm only 3 feet, at the most from this thing.  I put the barrel of the gun through the chicken wire.  No chickens were harmed by the raccoon or my shooting it.  We think it got in via the door that can be pulled open.  We do barricade it at night, but clearly, not well enough.  Reinforcement barricades when up tonight.

I fired up the dehydrator for some zucchini from a friend's garden.  There is a whole basket of lovely, small zucchini, that are perfect to dry and throw into soups and such, this winter.  I have done two runs, and am about half done the basket.  1 pound of zucchini fills about 2 1/2 of my dehydrator trays.  I had to figure it out.  I wondered how many ounces of dried zucchini equals 1 pound of fresh.  I will know after the run this is in now, as the top 3 trays contain 1 pound of fresh zucchini.

Last night a friend dropped off a lovely gift.  Zucchini relish.  I've been looking for a recipe for just that, and since I had a chance to try hers, I'm going to use the same one.  The relish is delicious.  Thank you Virginia!

She Went to a Permaculture Meetup July 11, 2010

There is a great Permaculture Group in the Seacoast area, and they are part of the Meetup system.  They have events regularly to discuss, and learn more about topics, like keeping bees, making solar food dryers, composting, capturing rain water, and today was chicken raising. 

I know I have a fair bit of experience with the raising of chickens, but I was interested in this meetup because they were going to show us their rotational pen set up, and it's always great to learn what others are doing...besides sitting around for a couple hours talking about chickens is just fun. 

The event was fun, and I did get some good ideas, and was glad I went.  I love the diversity of backgrounds in the group.  Some folks are incorporating many permaculture concepts into their homes/yards, while others are just learning, and some even live in apartments, so are doing small scale things, or filing information away until they have the space to do some of these great ideas.  It's definitely an inviting group, so if you are local, and want to check it out, the meetup page is a great place to start.

I whipped up a new nightie this evening.  I have a pattern that I made from an existing garment which fits well.  It has a simple front and back, and I finish the top with fold over elastic, which also becomes the straps.  I have made two others, and was inspired tonight by the "Friday Make and Do" idea to sew something simple and fast. This fit the bill, so when Grammy showed up to play with her girls, I snuck off and, in about 1/2 an hour, emerged with a new nightie!

It was a rather disappointing hatch.  The humidity spiked, so I ended up with only 13 chicks.  Very disappointing, indeed.  This solidifies my resolve to hatch with natural incubation next year.  I got the structure in place this year, but wasn't organized enough to use it, so next year I will already have the structure.  I'll be getting some Cubalaya hens from a friend this fall, when he's culling his flock.  They are a particularly broody breed of chicken, so I'll use them to hatch my not particularly broody Ancona chicks.  I'm sure they will have a much higher hatch success rate than I've had this year.  But that is okay, I have enough birds to carry me through the winter, and I have next year to start all over again!

Mini felt very grown up yesterday, when after the rain, she asked if she could go outside and blow bubbles and I told her she could go out on the front steps by herself to do so.  She was a whirlwind of excited giddiness as she dressed for the occasion, grabbed her bubbles and scurried out the door.  This on the heels of a walk in the rain, with mama, where we found a handful of blueberries.  Life was pretty exciting for this little 3 year old.

Speaking of independent.  Miss Mini was checking on the incubator this morning, being the first to peek in on them, she saw one was dead.  She opened the incubator, brought the chick to the trash and then washed her hands, informing her father that she took the dead one out so that the others didn't have to be in there with it.  She was very matter of fact, and proceeded to go back to the incubator to coo at the others.  We don't usually put expired birds in the trash, they are composted/buried outside, but since she's never really been involved in that process before, we hadn't really gone over proper animal disposal protocols with her.  I guess it's time.  She really is taking to the homesteading cycle of life.

She Witnessed Life and Death July 9, 2010

Life on the farm, even a small homestead like ours involves life and death.  I am often told by people "I could never do that", when they hear we are raising and butchering our own animals.  Honestly, I'm not sure why I can.  I would never have thought I could.  And while many times I find the process quite tolerable, there are times that I absolutely do no like it.  I don't know if I'm just not in the right frame of mind at the time,  if the emotions just ebb and flow, or if I'm still working out the years of programming to think that hiring a hit man to do your "dirty work" is far more civilized.  At any rate, yesterday's butcher session started out pretty rough...Since I share with you the triumphs, I find it only fair to also let you peek behind the curtain at the tough times too.  By the way, this angst is internal, so fear not, you won't hear about anything gruesome.

Husband's mom came to care for the girls so we could have some time to ourselves.  Normally a date night/day would consist of dinner, shopping, a movie perhaps, but lately eating out becomes harder, shopping becomes less enticing, and with no good movies playing, the practicality of life set in.  We started the date with Black Raspberry picking!  Great fun.  Gram's bushes are still producing plentiful yields.  A couple errands were tended to, then over to pick up knives from our friends (I still have to order my own proper butcher knives), and then back home to set up for our harvest of 10 rabbits.  You will recall that I harvested 3 on Monday, alone, so I was happy to have help. 

Husband has never butchered the Rabbits, so I was showing him with the first one, and as it seems to happen whenever you show someone something, things did not go a smoothly as I would have liked.  "They" say that rabbits scream when you butcher then, and while they can, they usually don't.  They are usually pretty compliant and it goes quickly enough that they don't even know to make a peep.  I like that, then you know they had a good life, a peaceful end, and all is well.  Some rabbits are more high strung than others, in life, and so it also can go in death. This frisky little gal gave us a run for our money.  All went well, still humane and quick...much more so than death by raccoon, for sure, but it wasn't the best way to start the night.  The task of harvesting 9 more was daunting, at best. 

This is where husband stepped in.  The offer of a hug, and a couple suggestions of how we could do this together, and the black cloud in my mind dissipated, and a system was formed.  We got back to the place of feeling good about our task, knowing that we had done well by them in life and we were doing well by them in death.  We now have 10 rabbits in the freezer, several cups of black raspberries in the refrigerator, and time spent together, doing life, what more could one ask of a date night/day.

We had other deaths, that were not as noble.   What I believe to be a combination of heat and a management mistake, on my part, Clementine kindled a litter of 6, on the floor of her cage, allowing them to wriggle out, and fall to the ground.  2 died due to exposure overnight, and when found in the morning, 4 others were snuggled together in the hay under the cage.  We put them in the nest box, hoping Clementine would find them and all would be well.  She found them, but did not care for them.  They passed away last night.  I did look into feeding them, but found that nursing bunnies from a bottle, from birth, has about a  10% success rate, at best.  Lesson learned by me, be sure to write down the breeding and don't think you'll remember...I had not given her a nest box in time, as I thought she had a week to go.  This is very unlike me, as I'm sort of anal about record keeping, but I didn't write it down, thought she was after Josie, who I did write down, but she was actually before.  Josie is due to kindle any day now...was due yesterday by the calendar.  I hoped she would kindle in time to foster Clementine's bunnies to her, but that didn't happen.

So what about Life, as the title said there would be some of that too... Baby chicks are hatching!  My last incubator hatch for 2010...there if I say it on the blog, I must follow it and not bend to the temptation to throw in some more Cayuga duck eggs.  No, this was the last incubator hatch.  I'm excited to see how many Ancona chicks arrive.  I'm hoping for a good hatch, all seems to have gone smoothly with this one, so we'll see, but I'm hearing some peeping eggs while I type this, so that's a good sign, and already 6 have hatched!

The two broody Muscovy mom's are doing another bang up job, or at least they seem to be.  Attentively setting on the nests, even in these extremely high temps!  Has this been over a week of temps in the high 80's to 90's?  It really can let up any time...really.

Now to figure out what to do with the black raspberries!

She Reigned Triumphant over the Raccoon! June 18, 2010

4 Hours of sleep, followed by a grain run to VT!  I was tired, but am feeling really good to have my "store houses" stocked with grain!  So why only 4 hours of sleep? 

At 1:29am the raccoon was pronounced dead.  For three nights in a row we have been trying to trap the little bugger, but he's too trap savvy, making me wonder if he was "brought out to the country" by some well meaning person how trapped it in their yard.  He was also not very concerned about lights and voices.

The only solution was the 22, well, or let him feast on my animals all summer.  Shooting something is very different than butchering something.  I had never taken down a wild animal, and the experience was much more adrenaline packed than I expected.  There is one more out there, but this one was the more aggressive of the two, so hopefully the other just moves on and finds something else that catches his fancy.  Okay, no pictures of that.  Oh, and for those wondering, I did not bleed it, I did not skin it to tan the hide and we had fish for dinner tonight!

I started the incubator up again.  I have about 4 1/2 dozen Ancona eggs in there.  I am feeling a little crazy about this, but honestly, after satisfying my commitments for pullets (young hens), I don't have much left to pick from for replacing my older girls.  I love Ancona's because they are mature enough to butcher at 4 1/2 months.  They yield a small fryer at that age, but still, the are ready.  They also start laying at that age.  This is an entire Month, to Month and a Half, before the standard expectations for the dual purpose heritage breed chicken.  Love the Ancona!

I'm trying to roost train the chickens, so they won't be near the walls, where they current like to pile up for sleeping, and so that they don't crush each other, which can happen with chickens, once they hit a certain age.  They are happy to use the roost during the day, but at night, they still pile all up.

She Hasn't Done this Yet, but Plans To June 17, 2010

I've been battling raccoons here, no more deaths, yet, but I have two VERY large raccoons that are coming here almost nightly, and for all I know, every night, I just am not up to see them every night. 

Last night they crawled all over the growing pen trying to find a way in, because the birds were too far away from the walls to grab.  I threw a canning jar at one of them...it missed, and then he crawled down to look at the jar, and played with it on the lawn for a little while.  Husband went to dad's to get a gun, but it never presented in such a way as to have a clean shot, after the gun arrived. 

We got a havaheart trap today, so hopefully we can catch one of them in there.  I really don't mind if the raccoons want to live in my back woods, they can even eat the chipmunks...I'd like them to do that before the chipmunks start eating my strawberries and tomatoes), but they need to leave my animals alone.  Since they will not, drastic measures must be taken.

My new favorite treat, Garlic Scape Pesto!!  Just throw some scapes in your food processor, along with some oil (I used grape seed, quite successfully, but you might want olive), and once well blended, I place in a bowl and mix in grated Parmesan Cheese.  I made some Parmesan Cheese Crackers to accompany it the other day, then tonight I brought some to my knitting group, with bread for dipping.  Yum! 

Next weekend, June 27th, there will be a great little event, that I want to tell you about.  Farm Tour Day in Barrington, NH.  It's a wonderful opportunity to see several local farms, up close and personal!  There is a nice mix of farms and homesteads.  We've gone, as a family, for the past couple years.  It's a lot of fun.  You can go to as many of the farms as you want, and each farm has different things to see and special events going on, throughout the day.  Hope to see you there!

The 3rd annual Barrington Farm Tour Day is coming up on June 27th. Farms will be open from 10am-4pm and there are 8 farms to visit this year! Download and print a map and farm descriptions (.pdf)

Participating Farms 2010

#1 Warren Farm
30 Warren Road, 868-2001
Offering fresh picked vegetables in season and “pick your own“ vegetables, berries and flowers.  We have fresh picked strawberries June thru October and handmade herbal soaps year round. Cut Your Own Christmas trees and handmade wreaths Nov -Dec. Tour the farm and eat strawberry deserts for a small  fee. Common sense, sustainable farm practices.
www.warrenfarmnh.com

#2 Sallie’s Fen Alpacas
97 Swain Road (come from route9)
Tour our alpaca farm. Meet our award winning livestock and cute crias (baby alpacas).  We
have been raising these beautiful relatives of the camel for show and for their luxurious fiber
here in Barrington since 1995.  Learn about alpacas, watch a hand spinning demo.  Available for purchase we have yarn grown and spun on the farm in a wide variety of natural undyed colors, as well as our hand painted options. We also have hand made scarves and hats made with our fiber, and New England made socks.
(603)664-2916.
www.sfalpacas.com

#3 Yellow House Farm
541 Route 202
We specialize in foundational breeds of heritage chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys for the
production of meat and eggs.  Gradually we are developing a permaculture model to complement our breed preservation and hatchery efforts.  We also cultivate many heirloom vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers, combining beauty and production. At Yellow House Farm we are developing a curricula of classes and seminars for our friends and neighbors to promote our collective efforts to
create a more beautiful and sustainable local culture of awareness.  Come and Enjoy!!
www.yellowhousefarmnh.com

#4 Nippo Brook Farm
628 Mount Misery Rd.
Growing fresh vegetables in season, Nippo Brook Farm is committed to raising local food in a healthy and ethical way.  Come tour our beautiful vegetable fields and ask the farmer for tips and tricks to growing your own food!  Learn about heritage breed chickens and turkeys, and visit with the newest members of the farm, old fashion meat rabbits.
We look forward to seeing you!
Abram Pearson and Jessica Hebert
nippobrookfarm@gmail.com

#5 Castle Anam Cara “The Castle”
20 Hansonville Rd.
The noted medieval living history residence of David O’Connor (Lord Duncan) and Loretta Salazar (Lady Espringale).  In addition to stepping back in time 1000 years, you will see how committed David and Loretta are to solar, organic, self responsible and sustainable living: from organic food
production and food preservation to organic mushroom growing, heating and cooking with
wood and solar furnaces to irrigation with collected rain water. David is also the well known “Dr. Tomato” and partner in HEALTHY HOME HARVEST LLC - known for their organically grown vegetable and flower plants grown in their self built, fully insulated, petroleum AND bio-fuel free green house! Come see how you and your family can begin to move in a more self-reliant direction.
Please note you must sign a liability waiver to tour the grounds and Castle. (500 ft. from Greenhill Rd. intersection)
www.castleanamcara.com

#6 Profile Alpacas
345 Dry Hill Road
Enjoy the day while taking a tour of our farm and viewing our Alpacas.  Lear how their fiber is spun into yarn and what you can do with just the loose Alpaca fiber.  See examples in our new farm store.  Be sure to ask questions about how this fine fiber is so warm on those cold New England winter days!

#7 Lasting Legacy Farm
148 Second Crown Point Road
Come and enjoy this family farm that has been in existence since the late 1700’s. Raising farm animals as it once did for it’s family and neighbors we  are always learning about farming an environmental friendly way, allowing the animals to do what they naturally do using their individual assets to work with mother nature at her best.  Come and enjoy other aspects of agriculture here at Lasting Legacy.  Taste the bounty of flavor in our burger raised on our farm while you have lunch with us!!
www.llfarm.net

#8 Spring Harvest Maple Farm
220 Route 9 (Across from the police and fire station)
We are a producer of exceptional maple syrup and maple products. The sugar house will be open for tours and we will be available to answer questions. We will also have samples of maple syrup and other products. We have recently completed our second year of production with great success. The support from the local community is amazing and will allow us to expand for next season. Also, we
will have maple syrup, maple cream, and maple  candy available for sale. We look forward to
seeing you.

Sponsored by the Barrington Parks and Recreation Department

Download and print a map with farm descriptions (.pdf) to guide you throughout the day on June 27! 

She Bought Parasites June 10, 2010

Predator update.  No chicken deaths last night.  So, here is what we did, the good, the bad, the ugly.  Husband put more boards up, so that there was a barrier of 12" all the way around the growing pen.  And then we sprinkled urine around the outer lying edge of the animal area, closest to the forest.  Yes, we took Mini's little potty, filled up, because she's doing a great job with the potty training, and marked the territory.  I don't know if it worked, if that even works on raccoons, but I recalled some "old timers" telling me of taking their morning or evening pee out in the fields, to ward of predators. 

So was that too much information?  Did it work?  I don't know, on either count, but I happy my kid is mostly potty trained, and that there were no dead chicks this morning.

So the last time I went to hear Eric Sideman Speak, he mentioned nematodes being a great solution for grubs and cut worms.  Nematodes are specific parasites that do not harm good bugs, not even earth worms, but for larvae, like the cutworm, and grubs, it inserts itself into the critter, releases a bacteria that it lives well with, and then uses the host to hatch it's young.  The host is eaten by the nematodes and the bacteria, and left, dead, as the nematodes hatch, mature and move on.  That is the basic gist, and I'm sure it's more technical than all that, but that was the bite sized bit that I could process, hold onto, and thus realize, when I saw cutworms while digging in the dirt the other day, that I should go and buy some parasites.

Green Spot in Nottingham, happens to be a great place to purchase these helpful bugs.  The company sells their critters nationally, but we are very fortunate to have them in our own back yard!  I purchased a pack of them for $11.99, which was enough to do my whole garden.  I lucked out, as today it's raining, and nematodes need to be applied to wet soil.  This means I didn't have to pre-wet the soil, or water them in afterward!  I just had to put them into a garden sprayer, spray them on then go to bed!

I did all this after arriving home from my second Eric Sideman talk. I'm a firm believer, that when you are learning something new, you need to give your brain hooks.  A place to hang information.  Going to the first talk, game me hooks.  I heard words I'd never heard, I made a couple basic connections, took lots of notes, then processed the information, after the talk was over.  So today, when I listened to pretty much the same talk, I had heard the terms, read my notes, looked some things up, and had hooks to hang the information on.  The hooks are by no means full, I still have tons to learn in the area of organic disease and pest control, but I have a lot more tools in my tool box, and I'm excited to understand the systems these diseases and pests work in, a bit more.

The talk was amazing, and I'm so thankful for Seacoast Eat Local, Slow Food Seacoast , and Seacoast Community Gardening Network for sponsoring these two talks.  Both were very full, and this time the room was quite large.  It was very exciting to see so many people turn out on a cold rainy evening to learn alternatives ways to protect their gardens, and still not harm the environment.

There is really a lot that goes into farming, and even homesteading.  It's not a simple as buying some chickens, or plopping some plants in the dirt.  All these animals and plants are part of a larger system, with their own physical needs.  It's really amazing, and with as much as I've learned, I still have a lot left to learn.

For all the very local folks, if you haven't checked out the Northwood Farmer's Market, I'm finding it to be a fun little option.  It's close to my house, which is nice, and today I purchased Sugar Snap Peas, Strawberries, Ground Beef from Scottish Highland Cattle (the furry cows!), Carrots from a very industrious guy who planted seeds during the warm spell in March.  Brilliant.  A couple Pepper Seedlings, to round out my home grown pepper options, and some cookies! 

The market had gourmet mushrooms, chicken, eggs, dog treats, plenty of baked goodies, including some gluten free options, soups, body products, jams and jellies, syrup, other veggies, and some Maine grown oats and whole wheat flour.  The selection was very nice, and there other others that I've seen before, but were not there today, including a guy who sells very yummy honey.  So if you have some time on a Thursday afternoon, I recommend a stop in Northwood.  It's right at the corner of Route 9/202, 4 and 43.  Across from the Library, and Northeast Credit Union.  Very simple to get to!

I hope my little nematodes are making their way to the cut worms, as I sleep, and the raccoon leaves my little birds alone, again, tonight...not something I would have imagined hoping for in my previous life!

She Had A Preditor Strike June 9, 2010

I'm thinking it was a raccoon, as the birds were eaten through the fence.  One bird lost it's head, and the other it's leg, got away, and died from the injury.  Very sad.  See this is the way animals die in the wild.  It's not noble, or human, it's just awful.  My solution was to build a roost, place it in the middle of their run, in the hopes that being on the roost, they will not be close to the walls, so can not be dragged through.  I hate that we lost two birds, I hate that it was to a predator, as whatever it is now knows that there are chickens here, to snack on, so will likely be back. Ugh.  I guess it was bound to happen.  We have been fortunate thus far to not have a problem.  I'm seriously considering spending the night, perched in my bedroom window (with the perfect view of where it struck last night) with my knitting, and a 22 rifle across my lap. 

Today was a day of education.  This morning my friend Jessica brought some high school kids over to her house to witness a chicken being butchered.  She's guest teaching at an alternative school in the area.  The whole unit is very fascinating, and exciting.  They hatched chickens, made jam, bread, cheese, watched Food Inc, discussed different local farms, and today there was a field trip.  They went to a couple farms, including Nippo Brook and Lasting Legacy.  Went to Jessica's to make lunch, see her rabbits, and then to a picnic on the grass followed by the butchering of one chicken. 

The field trip was optional, and I don't think the entire class did come, but I'm pretty sure I counted 13, 2 of which were boys.  The kids were very funny about the whole process.  They had the option of walking around the vegetable fields while the butchering took place, if they wanted to.  A couple opted to not be around when the animal was killed, but at some point, during the process, everyone watched.  Some watched the whole time, some came over and then back to see the other animals.  I think the funniest quote came from one of the girls "Oh, Gross...wait, can you hold the neck like that again so I can get a picture".  There were cell phones out with stills and videos being taken.  

I found this encouraging, because the overall feel of their comments, and energy, was interested, and processing.  It was a lot to take in. 

One girl helped pluck the feathers, with a couple others joining in briefly.  Jessica did the actual eviscerating, showing them where the internal organs were, what was edible, what was to be discarded.  It was a really great opportunity for the kids to see where their food comes from and what it takes for it get to their plates.

Later in the evening I spent some time with a group of adult women, making cheese.  There was a group of women who recently spent time together on Wednesday nights discussing "The Menu for the Future", a discussion course about food, where it comes from, and how to eat more sustainably, and locally.  They have finished the discussion/course, but they were interested in trying a couple of activities, including cheese making.

I made some yogurt cream cheese to share with them.  I simply put some plain yogurt into a cheese cloth, hung it, and once the whey had dripped off (about 6 hours), I had a cream cheese style yogurt flavored cheese .  SIMPLE!  Well, after I had the cheese, there certainly needed to be something to place it on.  Perfect time to finally make those Parmesan Crackers, to go with the Violet Jam and cream cheese.  That would make a perfect little snack to share.  The batch made enough for a little snack to bring, and a few left for Husband and the girls to enjoy while I was gone. 

While there, we made a couple batches of Ricotta and Mozzarella.  Every time I make these cheeses, I wonder why I don't do them more often, as it's so simple.  It was a fun evening, thought cheese making and chatting made the cheese making take a lot longer than it should...hopefully it doesn't discourage anyone from trying it themselves, for fear it will always take 4 hours to make a couple pounds of cheese!