Giving Thanks

We enjoyed a quiet mellow day yesterday with family and friends, which is pretty much perfect for Thanksgiving. There was some mix-up about how long the turkey needed to cook, so we ended up eating 2 hours later than planned, but there was plenty to munch on and no one seemed to mind the delay.

Someday I'd like to have a true harvest meal for Thanksgiving, with all homegrown food, but that day is farther down the road. Fortunately we can get yummy local food from New Seasons, and supplement with as much of our own produce as possible.

Our turkey was, as always, a fantastically delicious heirloom from New Seasons, rubbed with butter and paprika and roasted (I am not of the brining crowd--sounds like soggy salty turkey to me, even though I've heard it has good results--this method produces a consistently moist and tasty bird). Since I baked the stuffing separately, I suppose it should technically be called dressing--the basic Fannie Farmer recipe for Cornbread Stuffing. I baked cornbread and a crusty loaf of white bread last week, then crumbled them and let dry for a few days before mixing with sauteed onions (from the garden) and celery, chicken stock, white wine, and salt & pepper.

We debated about mashed potatoes vs sweet potatoes, and finally decided on the former. We do have some potatoes from the garden, but there aren't many left, and New Seasons always includes a free 5 lb bag of local russets with each turkey order; so we used those. However, we did stray from tradition by having green beans instead of peas, since the freezer is full of frozen green beans from this summer's excess. My mother made her usual divine gravy, and Bill concocted two different cranberry sauces--one plain and one spiced with cloves, nutmeg, and Szechuan peppercorns. Accompanied by Gruet Blanc de Noirs and King's Ridge Pinot Noir, it was a fine meal!

I decided to experiment a little with the pies this year, for no particular reason except that I felt like it, and both were very successful. The pumpkin recipe was no more difficult than my usual one, but the apple was rather fiddly and took more time than expected--it was worth the trouble, however. I used our own apples, pumpkin, and eggs; cream from one neighbor; and honey from another neighbor. The recipes originated from the cookbook 500 Pies and Tarts by Rebecca Baugniet, but because I never follow recipes exactly, the following are slighly modified.


Apple Caramel Crumble Pie

Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter or shortening, whichever you prefer (I use either one, depending on my mood and what's on hand)
1/4-1/2 cup cold water

Mix flour and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry blender (this is the only way to do it, no matter what anyone else says). Add 1/4 cup water and mix, adding more water as necessary until the pastry holds together when pressed into a ball. Roll out on a well-floured board, then place in pie pan. Crimp the edge as you wish, then refrigerate.

Filling
6-8 apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1/4 cup flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
9 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp water
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt

Toss the apple dice with the 1/4 cup flour in a large bowl. Combine 1 1/4 cups sugar and 1/4 cup water in a medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Stop stirring and let mixture come to a boil. Boil 10 minutes, occasionally swirling liquid around the pan. When mixture has turned dark amber, remove from heat. Cool for a few minutes, then add 3 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp water and swirl to combine. Return to heat and stir until smooth. Pour the caramel over the apples and toss to coat evenly. Set aside for 10 minutes, while the apples release their juices.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine remaining dry ingredients, then use your fingers to rub 6 tbsp butter into the mixture, until large clumps form.
Remove pie crust from refrigerator. Spoon apples into the crust and sprinkle the crumble over the top. Bake for 1 hour, or until golden brown and bubbling.


Pumpkin Honey Pie

Gingersnap Crust
1 cup gingersnap crumbs (I used Pepparkakor from CostPlus World Market)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients until well blended. Press evenly, using the bottom of a measuring cup, onto the bottom of a springform pan. Bake 10-15 minutes. Let cool completely.

1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup honey
2 tbsp molasses
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup cream

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Using an electric mixer, combine all ingredients and beat until smooth. Pour filling into pie shell. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower temperature to 350 and bake 40-45 minutes more, until filling is firm. Let cool, then run a knife around the edge of the pan before removing springform. Serve with whipped cream.

Sam devoured an enormous slice of the apple pie, while Lucy barely let me have a bite of my slice of pumpkin.

Bounty

I've been putting off posting on the garden, because I don't know where to start! So much work has gone into it this year, and so much bounty has come out, that I feel overwhelmed by the idea of summing it all up in one post. So I won't. I'll write a little now, and see how far that takes me.

I'm so very pleased with our progress this summer--every year we take a few steps forward. We haven't reached our ultimate goal yet, but that's okay--as long as we keep moving ahead, I'm happy. This winter my husband and I spent many contented hours working on a month-by-month garden plan, looking through books and catalogues, and making lists for each month. Of course we didn't follow it perfectly, and there were things that fell through the cracks, but it helped immensely and kept us from forgetting all the many things we wanted to get done.

It was not a good year for gardening. We never really had Spring, and then we never really had Summer. It just rained, and rained, and rained. But during the few moments that it wasn't raining, I was out in the garden--and that made all the difference. I stuck to my lists, and planted in the mud, and almost everything throve. We lost some broccoli plants to slugs and a fair number of potatoes and carrots to burrowing rodents, and we won't harvest many ripe tomatoes, but other than that, we produced a lot more vegetables than we could eat. I gave away bags and bags of romaine, onion scapes, and kale, and the crop of green beans almost had me in tears--every time I went out there were more to be picked and processed.

The bounty won't see us through the entire winter--around about January we'll have to buy vegetables from the grocery store again--but that's partly because we don't have the necessary storage for all of it. For now, it's wonderful to cook with fresh fruits and vegetables every day, knowing that they sprang from our earth with the help of our hands.

I wish I'd kept a more accurate tally of our bounty--maybe next year. At least we have a good idea of what will feed us through the summer and well into the winter, and next year we can take a few more steps towards self-sufficiency.

Changes

Our Peaceable Kingdom has undergone some changes this year. First of all, our cantankerous old Blue Heeler, Eppie, went to the Happy Hunting Grounds this spring, and her absence is much felt. Eventually a puppy or two will fill the empty spot in front of the woodstove, but for now we are, sadly, dogless.

We also said goodbye to a number of goats at the beginning of the summer, though in a happier way. The four pregnant does popped out seven babies altogether (Temerity had triplets, Patience had twins, and Felicity and Whimsy each had a single buckling), and we were able to find good homes for them all. Still, the barn was feeling overfull, and after witnessing the three little girls (Patience, Whimsy, and Felicity) hop effortlessly over the pasture fence, I decided it was time for drastic measures. We had never planned to sell any of the adult goats, but Whimsy and Felicity were the least friendly of the herd, and proved to be disappointing milkers after their first kidding. So they were sold, along with their two kids, to a young girl in central Oregon; fortunately Patience didn't seem to notice their absence, the possibility of which had concerned me (what?!? I LOVE my goaties!).

Erin, in her usual insouciant way, produced a couple of lambs in the spring (and as we all know, the best thing about sheep is... TWIN BABY LAMBS!!). They were adorable and shy for a few months; now they are enormously fat and still trying to nurse on their poor mama. Last year's lamb was never dealt with, and has been dubbed "Wannabe", because he thinks he's a goat. All three are scheduled for "harvesting" next month, and will fill our freezer to bursting with delicious grass-fed meat. Yes, it's a bit sad, but I have hardened my heart. It helps that I don't much care for sheep.

We are expecting babies from Prudence any day now--she surprised us by suddenly ballooning last month, when she was supposed to be retired (I guess that's what happens when the buck lives with the rest of the herd!). She is not happy about it, and we are trying to decide how to arrange matters after the birth. I don't want to milk her (we're getting plenty from Patience and Temerity), but bottlefed babies are so much friendlier. Right now I'm considering the possibility of separating them at night and feeding a small bottle in the morning before reuniting them during the day. We'll see how my mother feels about that, since she'll be the one to take care of it.

I have another post on deck, detailing the amazing bounty of our garden and the wonderful meals that have resulted; that'll show up maybe next week.

To Begin Again

The farm continues, though the blog has been sadly neglected. We have many plans for the year, though cute new baby Lucy is providing even more distraction to keep us from all the hard work that needs to be done. Our little family has moved temporarily to a house down the road, since the farmhouse couldn't stretch anymore to fit another kidlet, and we are working on a more permanent living arrangement.

In farm news, we have one pregnant sheep and 4-6 pregnant goats due to overflow the barn with babies sometime at the end of this month or the beginning of next month. We discovered last summer that our little buck Faithful, who was living at our neighbors' farm, was being bullied so badly by his roommate (an older and larger buck), that he was getting almost nothing to eat and had hardly grown at all. He was a pretty sorry sight by the time I found him--so skinny you could count his ribs, with his black coat turned rusty and mangy, and a hollow despairing look in his eyes.

We brought him over to our place immediately, since it was clear that he couldn't survive much longer where he was, and put him in with our herd while we discussed (and discussed, and discussed) what to do with him. My mother is not fond of the pungent odor of bucks, and it didn't seem possible to keep him in constant contact with the does once he returned to full health. Somehow a solution was never reached, but for a while it didn't matter since he was in no condition to have any interest in the girls, who only go into heat in the winter anyway.

So we let him roam free, grazing and browsing his fill, and after a while he began to look less like a skeletal alien creature and more like a goat. His eyes changed first, losing their dull and anguished glaze; we began to notice him taking interest in things and interacting with the other animals. Within a few months of no special treatment other than worming (much needed!!), he put on some weight and his coat returned to its proper black sheen. The bare mangy patches filled in, and he's grown several inches in height as well.

We were especially relieved to see him displaying the usual (unpleasant) buck tendencies as the weather grew colder, and it appears that Temerity, Patience, Whimsy, and Felicity are all pregnant. We had not intended to breed the other three does, but since we didn't get around to separating anyone, had resigned ourselves to a deluge of babies. However, Special and Fawn seem to have done our job for us, since Mercy and Peace have gone into heat several times and the wethers have monopolized their attention, chasing Faithful away every time he tries to get things done. It's possible they may be pregnant now, but won't kid until later in the summer, which is fine--we'll price the babies to sell quickly and advertise more widely than we have before. Even so, we could have a lot of little goaties on our hands pretty soon--up to 18, if they all had triplets!

I'll save the gardening news for another post...

And It Was Summer...

I've decided that I'm going to be better about posting, and was happy to see that Katy had done an update recently. Since that time, we've had three kids born. Peace surprised us with a sweet buckling who looks exactly like her. As it was earlier than we'd anticipated, we're now wondering if we were precipitate in naming our breeding buck "Disappointment." Maybe he took care of business after all. At any rate, since Peace is not a good milker we have allowed little "Clone" to remain with her and they do make the cutest couple.

A week after Peace kidded, Katy came up from the barn to tell me that Temerity had just given birth to one kid and she thought there might be a second one in the chute. Sam and I raced down to the barn and saw definite signs that she had another one on the way. We waited and in about fifteen minutes, she delivered the second one. They're both does and look exactly alike. Sam was there with me when the last kid was born so he got to see his first birth. He was pretty unmoved. Later that evening when his daddy was home, I said, "Sam, tell Daddy what you saw in the barn today." And he said, very matter-of-factly, "Temerity had a baby come out of her." Sex-ed on the farm. We've separated mother and babies and are bottle feeding the little ones.

I've been so busy this spring that for the most part I've left the garden in Katy's capable hands. The poor germination of seeds this year and a busy travel schedule prevented me from having my annual plant sale, and the seedling crop was underwhelming. Still, I was able to start an herb bed which I'd prepared in the fall, and I planted a few more perennial flowers in the front. The lilacs we planted two summers ago are all well-established now and had a fairly good showing of blooms this year. It looks like our beloved apple tree won't bear anywhere near its usual crop but that just means we'll have to appreciate each fruit that much more than we have in the past years. It seems that when I have time to work outside, mowing is the job that most needs to be done. Where Sam used to always say, "Grandmommy is cleaning." he has changed it to "Grandmommy needs to mow the grass." Yes, Grandmommy certainly does! But we now have a path to the river and if it ever warms up we'll be able to spend some time at the water. And as the summer progresses I'll try to get some mowing done around all the fir trees, as well as keeping up with the yard.

It's Spring! It's Spring!

The farm continues, though blogging has lagged disgracefully. We are all well, thriving, and utterly thankful for the sunshine that promises to last for a week at least. While spring rain is necessary to get us through the summer, it becomes very trying when all one wants to do is dig in the dirt. Fortunately this spring has allowed a number of sunny opportunities for gardening, in between bouts of rain, and I've planted onions, potatoes, and strawberries. The garlic, planted last fall, is flourishing (although I stuck in another handful of cloves because marauding hens had thinned the crop already), and the asparagus, celery, leeks, and herbs overwintered nicely.

The hoophouse also surprised us, since my mother planted several rows of cole crops and then forgot about them all winter. A couple of months ago, I peeked in and was pleased to find an excellent harvest of kale, some broccoli, and a bit of spinach. We've been enjoying them as a welcome fresh addition to our diet, and a preview of the summer's bounty.

Once again I went crazy with the seed order, especially with a new catalogue that tempted me beyond resistance--Baker Creek in Missouri. It's like an art book! So I got more than I intended to, having planned a more modest attempt this year, but hopefully we'll be able to handle it all. Our big problem this year is that our space has been limited. I had the bright idea of moving half the chickens into the garden area to clean it up last fall, with the intention that Bill and I would then butcher them all as soon as they'd done their jobs. Well... they still run free. And the garden is a mud slick. So we have to get creative and squeeze things in where we can. I think it will be fine, but a little inconvenient. Ah well.

The animals are also grateful for the sunshine. The goats are all fat and happy on the green grass, and I'm hoping that health conditions will improve with the summer. No one's been really sick (except Prue, who has chronic issues and has been retired from breeding), but they're all itchy and dandruffy, and a few have rubbed their coats bare in patches. I've ordered some mineral supplements that I expect will help as well.

We brought Faithful, our little black buck, over from the neighbors' house in January, and watched in disbelief as all four does bulldozed him across the pen. The poor thing took refuge under the feeding trough and wouldn't have anything to do with the girls, so we returned him regretfully and got Samson instead. Owing to an eagerness to get rid of the buck goat smell ASAP, he was returned too soon, and Mercy soon proved not to be pregnant. Temerity is, fortunately, and we're pretty sure Peace is too ( though she's so wide naturally that it's hard to tell!), but Mercy will have to wait until the fall when we breed the little girls. So we're looking forward to a slightly less crazy summer with only one milker. Since a human baby is also on the way (due in late October), I'm glad to have the break!

Baskets

I've always loved baskets and have collected a large number of them over the years. Some time ago I decided it was time to learn to make them myself so I bought a kit and tried it out. Seems I had an aptitude for it so I began making more and eventually selling them.
This summer I've had the opportunity to teach some basketweaving classes at a community center in Vernonia, a small town about 20 miles from here. This, plus regular attendance at an open-air market there, has given me the chance to meet many interesting new people and share my love of basketmaking and other almost-lost arts. This picture is taken in our kitchen which became a makeshift basketry studio when I arrived at the class with everything they needed to make their market baskets but the handles. These gracious ladies were willing to make the trek all the way out to the house to retrieve the missing parts and construct their baskets in a very messy, busy, in-use kitchen. It was great fun and all the water that was slopped on the floor made it very easy for me to mop up later.
Baskets are things that people tend to pick up for very little money with the expectation that they will break easily or fall apart quickly. But making a beautiful basket that will last and be useful is truly an art. In keeping with my business philosophy of creating items which are useful and beautiful, I am trying to instill in my students a similar vision. You can buy a cheap basket at Ross to hold your knitting project on the floor beside a chair and it will serve its purpose. A carefully crafted handmade basket, however, will not only serve the purpose but will bring pleasure to you in its every use. You will admire it as you walk through the room and feel a deep sense of appreciation every time you reach into it, for the beauty of its form and the artistry in its creation. Our society seems to have lost that type of appreciation as it seeks to buy cheap, disposable goods which will find their way quickly to the landfill or second-hand shop. Why not invest in a few truly worthwhile items which will have long usefulness and be treasured possessions? Why not invest a little of yourself and create your own worthwhile items? Instructional books and classes abound, and the sense of satisfaction you gain is enhanced by the bond that can be found in fellowship with other craftspeople.
It has been such a wonderful experience for me to meet the wide variety of people I have this summer, to meet kindred spirits and people whose new ideas open avenues of possibility for my own life. I am grateful for the fledgling acquaintances which could become satisfying friendships and shared enlightenment.