Autumnal Surprises and Hopes

The last tree to flower in our area is the Witch Hazel. Most trees flower in the spring, their blooms lost in a sea of glorious color, while the Witch Hazel just sits there, biding it's time. But in November, the Witch Hazel has the last laugh. When the leaves are mostly off all the trees, their early beauty long forgotten, she bursts into full flower. It's startling, really. We have one in the road hedge row and I almost fell off the tractor when I drove by it yesterday. A beautiful, rather wild and unkempt flower. It also has a huge scent... not the sweet perfume of spring, but astringent, and medicinal. Perhaps a scent to get us through the long winter... not to scent our perfumes, but to keep us healthy.



Being the eternal optimists that we are, we're still holding out for a good crop of broccoli. We covered part of it with a large, very light cloth, called 'remay', and taken to calling it our field of dreams


The forecast for next week is for temperatures to be in the 50's. And, if it's sunny too, perhaps we can get the broccoli heads to go from:



to this


Well, we can always hope!

Final Days of The Garden '09

Buckwheat, ready to be tilled in

Now is the time of the growing season dedicated to taking the garden apart, tilling in the summer cover crops, sowing fall oats for a winter cover crop,spreading manure, and generally making sure the garden is ready to greet the spring. Our days are spent pulling up the black plastic mulch that warmed the soil for the peppers, eggplants, and the melons. Irrigation hoses are rolled up and labeled. Tomato stakes are piled up for next year. I wake up each morning with a check list swimming around my head... oats seeded, check, potatoes dug, check.
It's almost time for the winter season of the farm.. cows, milk, cheese,and indoor chores But now, it's still garden time. The leaves are still afire, cows are still on pasture, and I'm so glad our days are still spent out of doors.

Ubu, Timothy and Hershey, enjoying the last of the pasture

Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Late yesterday afternoon while walking through the garden, my mind on dinner, I noticed some yellow and red cherry tomatoes. Running back to the house for a picking basket, I then picked about 2 pints ( the very last) of the small red and yellow tomatoes. I also picked a few mildly hot peppers, sweet peppers, 2 ears of corn,some basil and parsley. At first I thought of just making a quick saute served over pasta, and then thought of oven roasting all of the veggies along with some garlic. After all, the tomatoes are not at their sweetest, so why not coax some sweetness out of them by a slow oven roast?

To cut or not to cut?
I was afraid if I didn't cut them they would just turn to mush, and implode. So I halved the tomatoes, cut the kernels off the corn cob ,diced the peppers, minced some garlic and herbs, and mixed them all in a bowl with some olive oil ( just enough to lightly coat all the veggies), and into a pan they went.

They baked( uncovered) in a 375 oven for about 45 minutes, till they were lightly brown, and the kitchen was filled with the wonderful aroma of garlic and tomatoes.















When I cook pasta I like to think about the sauce and pick the proper shape. I love campanelle, and orchhetti to cradle the pieces of vegetables. Campanelle was on hand, so the choice was easy
Right before the pasta was done I took out about 2 cups of the pasta water to help make a sauce.
To finish the whole dish, I drained the pasta, put it back in the cooking pot, threw in the roasted veggies, 1/2 a cup of grated Parmesan, and enough water to make a sauce.


Then I put the cover on it so it could rest a minute. I then gave it a stir, added a bit more of the hot pasta water, and dished it into bowls.
Any veggies will work for this recipe.
There is still time for fresh produce. Go to your local farmer's market. By something fresh, and support your local grower!
As Barbara Crooker says in her wonderful poem
" Vegetable Love":
Quick, before the frost puts out its green light,
praise these vegetables,
earth's voluptuaries,
Praise what comes from the dirt

Mid September Gardens

The gardening season left me rather speechless. It was long growing season full of sadness... the loss of lettuce to hail, and a whole crop of our various tomatoes ( cherry, plum and regular) to blight. Not just the lost income, but all the work that went into growing them. But now, it's mid September. The days are shorter, and the weather has been crisp, clear, and sunny, and I feel like my speech is returning. In many ways it is the most glorious time of the year. All the crops are either harvested or still in the ground.. no more planting, except for some cover cropping. The shortness of the days make the blue sky somehow more intense, the annual flowers more brilliant.


The garden marches on. The shallots have all been harvested and are curing in the greenhouse.



We've been harvesting loads of huge red peppers ( a fact not many know: red peppers are ripe green peppers ), and soon we'll fire roasting them for salsa, and for drying. Its been very dry, so we've been watering all the lettuces and broccoli.
Along with this stretch of fine weather has come a barn full of beautiful hay. All the rains of June and July led to verdant. lush hay fields. And that led to sweet smelling green hay, and lush pastures too- the cows are still out to pasture, and will be for a while.
It is such a wonderful time of year. And, I'm so glad to be writing about all this again.

A Trying Year For Optimists

Farming is an act of faith. That the seeds will grow, that there will be rain, and sun, and heat, and a barn full of hay for the winter. That the shelves in the pantry will be lined with jars of tomatoes, and the freezer full of veggies for the long winter.
This summer is one to try that faith .
After our devastating hail storm in June all our lettuce was destroyed and other plants reduced to just bare stems. But the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants continued to grow, and even thrive. It was again looking like this could turn out to be a good year. Never in a million years did I think that the devastating blight that has been blanketing the east coast would touch our beautiful, strong,healthy, green, vibrant tomatoes. On Sunday they were fine, by Tuesday, they were peppered with blight. This is not the "normal" early blight that is common in a wet year, but the blight that caused the potato famine in Ireland. We are doing what we can. We have pulled out the worst, and are pruning off the leaves on some with the hopes of having enough for us, to put up for the winter.
I am hoping for a stretch of some dry weather so we can get in our fall crops, the broccoli and the lettuce. Because, being the optimist I am, we'll probably have a great fall.

2 Weeks Later....

The regrowth in the garden since the hail storm has been astonishing. I am constantly amazed by plants, and their will to live and even to flourish no matter what is thrown at them. We did end up losing thousands of heads of lettuce, but the nightshades ( tomatoes, eggplant and peppers) are doing double time to make up for all that lost and precious time ( 2 weeks is an eternity with our short growing season). Just look at the plum and round tomatoes below .. all the green growth is new !!

The cherry tomatoes are also growing again with such vigor we have been able to get back to trellising them.

Gardening truly is an act of faith.... faith that a seed will germinate, that even against all odds, new and vigorous growth will continue, and, no matter what, there is always hope and one more chance. Once again, I am truly humbled by these simple truths.

Hail in June

And just like that, our beautiful garden ... wiped out in a hail storm. Never, in our 29 years of gardening here have we seen anything like it. The storm just sat over us and dumped pea size hail for about 10 minutes. Thousands of heads of lettuce....gone. I am still hoping that it's early enough in the season that the decapitated tomatoes can do some growing( perhaps that's just my optimism). Don't know about the eggplants, the leaves are just skeletonized ....And the ice itself, will it just freeze the plant tissue?
It's really an amazing sight. There are literally piles of hail on the ground, some around 5"deep. And no, we have no insurance ( even if we could get it for our small acreage, the price would be prohibitive). We do know all about the vagaries of weather, but never expect the worst!

Take a look at these pictures:





I'll let you all know how it turns out, today it seems pretty sad and hopeless, but, tomorrow is another day.

The Garden Grows

Summer needs to happen at a quick pace here in Vermont. So much to do each and every day. Just in the last 2 weeks we've planted over 1,400 plants of various tomatoes, peppers and eggplants,put in all of the tomato posts, and now this week we're tilling, beginning to weave the tomatoes, weed,and as soon as it drys out after today's rain, mulch the garden.The corn's been seeded, potatoes planted. And soon, perhaps, we'll have a chance to catch our breath.
As I move from one task to the other, I do try to take in the beauty of it all. It changes so fast, I want to grab the day and watch it go by in a slower motion, appreciate the unfolding beauty.
Thank you for sharing this with me.

young pepper plants in black plastic

Tomatoes after their first weave

Utani, watching the eggplant grow

The Smell Of Lettuce

Once again we slide from one season to the next.
We made our final batch of cheese last Thursday. Today, they were waxed. Today was the last morning milking until November. And, in a seamless stretch to the garden, today we picked the first lettuce of the season. 2 cases of red boston, 2 cases of romaine, and 2 of red leaf. ( each case is 24 heads). I forgot how incredibly fragrant a freshly cut head of lettuce is. It was rainy and cold and really muddy, and I couldn't help but think how fortunate we are to be here, today, doing what we do.

A New Season Begins

What a wonderful time of year. A time of great change for everything...birds are in their finest feather, plants lush and green, and, how intense can the flowers be?





Tree leaves are a bit slow this year, not fully unfurled yet, but soon.And here on the farm, the winter season is ending, the summer season gearing up. Thursday will be the last cheese making until November. That means that Wednesday will be our last evening milking. We'll milk the cows in the mornings for a week, then off to pasture they go!We'll have lettuce for market by
May 29th .

Hopefully I'll have a movie of cheese making soon( first I need to learn how to edit movies). In the meantime, here is a short movie of the cows this evening. Notice how their mouths are moving as they chew their cuds... truly, a sight to behold.

May

Ah, May. The loveliest time of year. The time of new growth, and blooming trees,the returning of the birds, and, for us, double duty since we're still milking, and making cheese, and getting the garden going. It's a lot, and is the reason I haven't written more. In the garden, we've already planted 2 plantings of lettuce, 10 85' rows of shallots, and seeded peas, spinach, and chard. As tired as I am, it's really a wonderful tired. The sense of accomplishment is huge, and I get to see where I'm going... and it looks pretty exciting from here on the tractor .

tilling for peas

The First Till

Lettuce hardening off before
being planted outside.

Although we've been gardening on this farm for 28 years, I am always amazed and awed by the certainty of the seasons. We always set out the first lettuce around now, but, somehow I am always left breathless by the speed of the drying and warming of the soil. So it was yesterday that I hopped on the tractor, hooked up the tiller, and tilled. There is stark beauty everywhere now. The trees are just showing a hint of color. The hills, usually covered with greenery, shrubs and undergowth, now shows all their texture.
As I began to till, I was thrilled to see the beautiful soil fluff right up. Our soil is a loam, with some good sized rocks, even though we pick them every year, and as I got off the tractor to throw some rocks in the bucket the soft soil covered my sneaker.Soft and warm, so alive. So ready to plant into.
It is at this time, this first moment of the garden that I am so aware of the great promise every time we plant a seed, or a plant. Its the great faith that it will grow, and flourish. That the rains will come, but not too much. That the heat will come, but not too hot. That the pastures will grow to feed the cows, and that this will be the best garden ever.
And so it is, tomorrow,that we'll plant our first planting of lettuce in the garden!!

The First Rain Of Spring

We are in the midst of a luscious spring rain. Rain where you can smell the soil waking up. Rain that wakes up the spring peepers, the wood frogs, makes the Canadian geese honk for joy. Makes the grass turn green, and gives the still dormant trees a shot of color. So much is going on. It's measured not by the day,but by the minute. It will probably get cold again, after all, it is April, but for now, I'm soaking up the glory of early spring.

Its All About The Salad

And here it is, our first taste of spring. The succulent tastes of the mustard greens, arugula, Chinese greens, and baby lettuce. A grated carrot ( ours, put up from last fall and still crisp in storage), some blue cheese, and a light sprinkle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil... Its really what its all about.

The Rumbling Of The Earth

Timothy, Moxie,Boffo and Hershey

What tells the cows that it's time to start grazing? Perhaps its the sun, or the returning red winged blackbirds or even the gulls. One day they are staying close to their feeder, and then, just like that, they hit the pasture. Sure, there's nothing but the promise of green grass. now So maybe they are just listening to the rumble of the earth springing to life. But its there, they hear it.

The Dawning of the Spring

In deep winter I can only imagine how it all begins. One thing is for sure... it's slow and steady. One day it's the cardinal's song, then it's a flowing stream, or the wisps of smoke from the sugar houses. This weekend we had a crocus on the south side of the cheese house. The snow only had to melt, and there it was. Sure, today it's covered with snow, but the snow is like a blanket, and by tomorrow when it melts, the crocus will return.

seeding lettuce

This weekend we began sowing seeds in the greenhouse. I am always humbled by the act of planting. I hold the seed in my hand and just marvel. I feel like I am holding the whole world right in my palm of my hand. Each seed has what it needs to become the plant it was meant to be. Just some soil, water, and sun, and everything else the seed needs is right there. This is it, the beginning of the growing season. I can only imagine the succulent sweet taste of a red boston lettuce, or the crunch of romaine.
And so it goes. Next week we'll be on to onions and peppers.

In Like a Lion....

A snowy March day....

I suppose there is something to be said about the strength with which we are greeting March this year. It is truly a time of transitions. One foot stretching towards the promise of longer days, and the other firmly planted in winter. So, today it's 12 degrees outside, the wind is whipping, and the cows are warm and comfy in the barn. On the other hand, our greenhouse is ready to go. We bought peat for our soil mixture, got the propane heater serviced, and will be seeding our first seeds next week. We'll start with with greens for us, then lettuce, then on to leeks, onions...

I know, because all years are pretty much the same, that the snow will melt, that the fields will turn green, and the cows will be able to lie down on green pastures. Soon, very soon.

Happy Cows

Ah, nothing like a barn full of happy cows. We were able to find 100 bales of wonderful hay from 2007. The opened bales are full of pink clover blossoms, purple vetch, yellow birdsfoot trefoil and green sweet smelling grasses. Its rather comical... the cows are fed their regular hay from 2008 and they just stand there. Then, out comes the "new "hay, their eyes light up, and they dig right into it. That's all it takes... a little topdressing, a whiff of the good stuff, and they are in bovine heaven.

Cows really like having their pictures taken. Here's Timothy, Hershey, and Boffo.

We are almost half way through our milking and cheesemaking season. By mid April the cows are living outside, coming inside only to be milked. Then, in May they are " dried off", and spend the summer grazing , chewing their cud, and generally enjoying life. It fantastic for them and for us. We don't have to be in a hot barn in the summer, and they only have to loll around. It wasn't always like this. When we started milking cows in 1981 we milked year round. Day in and day out. Slowly our heard numbers increased until we were milking 30 cows and had almost 50 head. In 1995 we questioned how much longer we could keep this pace up. We were milking, making cheese, and growing a 4 acre summer market . We found a wonderful farm for our cows, sold most of them and kept just 4. Now we milk from November til the end of May. We still have the garden, though it is a bit smaller. We milk 7 cows : Wizard, Timothy, Hershey, Boffo, YooHoo, Bosco and Moxie.
Its still a lot of work, but milking only 1/2 the year makes it all so much more manageable.

Spring in Winter

Its snowing,and its cold. But, the days are getting longer, and its time to think about greens, and flowers, and all things that grow, and the smell of the earth, and the sounds of the spring peepers. First things first, we take a seed inventory. Some seeds can be carried from year to year, but others not. Onions, and the allium family don't carry, but peppers and tomatoes do. So we look through all the old seed packets, count seeds, look at expiration dates on packages, and make lists.
We have garden notebooks going back to 1977. Way back then we'd make beautiful colored diagrams. Now we make lists. Still beautiful, but not as colorful .
This afternoon we'll pull out the catalogs. Johnny's seeds in Maine, and Fedco Seeds also in Maine are our main seed suppliers. We'll have to jog our memories. That beautiful red lettuce, Marimba, didn't size up , and bolted too soon. Is there another vibrant red lettuce to use? We'll stick with ace peppers as our tried and true, but should we really put in any yellow peppers ( their yields are always low)? And Leeks... is this the year to just put in a short row for us and skip selling them? Even though we don't sell flowers, we grow hundreds of them both as annuals and perennials. Just thinking about them makes me smile... the annual flax with those impossible blue flowers, the smell of the evening phlox,and the zinnia's, so beautiful!
Today we'll immerse ourselves in all things spring. Tomorrow we'll shovel.

Autumnal Bees

remember fall? Those days when we were all working like mad to get the end of our summer work done. Making sure all our veggies were canned,stored in the root cellar, dried or frozen?
I took this movie of our bees working like crazy to get everything done before the cold got here on the last warm day of the year, December 14th( technically still fall). Our bees are wild honey bees and have lived in a Locust tree right outside our house for a number of years. They help pollinate our crops, and we feel blessed that they chose our tree to live in!

Last year's growing season

I thought the damages from last year's growing season was over and done with, but it turns out, I was wrong. With all the rains of last summer, the hay was hit hard too. Normally when we open a bale of hay, it's like walking in a summer field. Bright green and full of legumes ( red and white clovers, alfalfa, and the beautiful yellow bird's food trefoil). This year, no legumes, just a barely palatable hay. The cows are not happy. We feed them their hay and they look ( o.k., beg) at us with their beautiful dark, soulful eyes to please, give them something better. And, there is nothing more distressing than unhappy cows, except unhappy cows with a metabolic imbalance, which, it seems is why Hershey couldn't get up today. She was " down" in the barnyard, in the snow, when our wonderful vet, Joe, came and gave her some calcium IV. She was able to get up and walk into the barn where tonight, she's in a pen getting pampered with one of the few bales we had left over from last year.
It has not been an easy winter. I think it's time to start looking at the veggie catalogs.

A Warm and Crusty Loaf of Bread

Cheese making and bread making are almost one in the same. Where we use milk , bacteria and heat to make cheese, in bread it's flours and bacteria ( yeast) and heat. Both take time and patience, and both are the most ancient and basic of foods. I'm going to write more about our cheese making process soon. But today on this cold, cold, winter day, I think a nice loaf of bread is just the ticket. Yes, it takes time, but if you start with the "starter" tonight, you can have a wonderful loaf of bread tomorrow with dinner.
Here's the recipe (It looks more intimidating on paper than it actually is in real life) :


Italian Bread

Starter
2 cups unbleached white flour
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1 cup warm( not hot) water

Dough
3 cups unbleached white flour, & extra for dusting work surface & hands
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/3 cups warm water.
3 teaspoons salt

Flours: substitute no more than 1 cup whole wheat for your first few times.
Parchment paper ( not wax paper!!)
Pizza stone

1. For the Starter:
Combine flour, yeast and water in bowl of standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Knead on lowest speed until it forms a dough, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand at room temp. until it begins to rise, about 3 hours. Refrigerate ( no need to stir it down or anything) at least 8 hours, or up to 24 hours.

2. For the Dough:
Remove starter from the refrigerator and let stand while making dough. Combine flour, yeast, and water in bowl of standing mixer fitted with dough hook; knead on lowest setting till it forms a dough, about 3 minutes, Turn mixer off and, without removing bowl or hook, cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap; let rest 20 minutes.
Remove plastic wrap, add starter and salt to bowl, and knead on lowest setting until ingredients are incorporated and dough is formed, about 4 minutes. Continue to knead until dough forms a more cohesive ball, about 1 minute. Transfer dough to a large bowl, cover tightly with plastic, and let rise in a draft free spot until risen, about 1 hour.
Remove plastic, punch down dough ( push it down in the middle, and turn over… you can put some flour on your hand if its too sticky). Let rise 1 more hour, punch down again and let it rise again.

3. To shape the Dough
Dust work surface liberally with flour. Turn dough out of bowl onto surface. Dust dough and hands, and, using minimal pressure, push dough into a rough 8-10 inch square. Fold top left corner diagonally to middle, repeat same with top right corner, Begin to gently roll dough from top to bottom. Continue rolling until dough forms a rough log. Roll dough onto its seam, slide hands underneath each end, transfer dough to parchment paper. Gently shape dough into 16 inch football shape by tucking bottom edges underneath. Cover loaf, and let rise about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425. Make sure baking stone is in oven, and you have a pan on the bottom of oven that will hold about 2 cups water

4. To Bake
using a single edged razor, cut 3 or 4 ½ inch deep diagonal slashes. Slide parchment sheet with loaf onto a baker’s peel or upside down baking sheet, then slide onto hot baking stone. Pour 2 cups water into hot pan that’s in the oven . bake 10 minutes, reduce oven temp. to 375, and spin loaf around using edges of the parchment paper. Bake until deep golden brown, about 45-50 minutes longer. It should be a rich, golden color
Cool on rack

To give you an idea of the time involved, I've added a bread making time line:

Day 1 : Make starter, let sit for 3 hours than refrigerate overnight
Day 2:
0:00 Remove starter from fridge and set on counter. Mix the flour, water and yeast for the dough 3 minutes, then let rest 20 minutes.
0:25 add starter & salt. Mix 5 minutes, transfer dough to large bowl and allow to rise
1:25 punch down dough and let rise
2:25 punch down dough and let rise again
3:25 shape the dough, place on parchment paper, and let rise
4:30 slash and bake dough
5:30 cool bread on rack

Birds In Winter

We feed our birds year round. The late spring days begin at early dawn with the songs of intensely colored birds.The Goldfinches other worldly yellow color is at its peak. As the days shorten,their colors fade until now,these short short days where they are an olive drab, but still just as beautiful.The flit of red from a cardinal is brilliant against the snow.There is a silence that slowly seeps into the world. The birds are silent visitors now. The snow mutes all noise. Sounds are more rounded. It is a starkly beautiful time of year. The exact opposite of the longest days. None of those garish greens, reds and blues , it's all monotones now.

Here is a wonderful winter poem by David Budbill From his book Moment to Moment.

All the raucous birds of summer
Faithless, transitory, fly-by- nights
Finally gone. Sky quiet, ear empty.

Chickadee, companion through
The cold and dark, little friend
At the door yard feeder again.

Now those of us who stay, we quiet ones
Settle into the winter

-David Budbill

These Short Days

There is a certain beauty to these short days. Days when the sun rides low in the south, never really giving us much light or warmth. It is this time of the year that, for a moment, we have done all we can do to prepare for the winter, a time that we are, in a way, set. The hay mow is still full. The cows have all calved, and we are back into the swing of cheese making.
This year we had a total of 3 heifers out of 7 calvings. Their names are Bingo, Presto and Hazy.Here's a picture of them:


And, all our summer produce is in and canned or stored.
Our root cellar, and freezers, and pantry still overflow with food. Although we've been getting seed catalogs, we haven't looked yet.

Cheese, Again

Today was our 1st cheesemaking. Even though I've been making cheese for years, I am always amazed by the process. It never ceases to be a magical and very ancient experience. By adding enzymes to milk, we are able to make a wonderful ageable cheese from the cow's wonderful but perishable milk. We pump milk from the milkroom in the barn, to our cheeseroom. After the starter culture and rennet is added, the milk sets into a soft curd. To tell when it's time to cut the curds, I test them.

this is called " the clean break test". And its this that I find so awe inspiring. It worked. It always does.
So, let the cheese season begin !!

5 Milkers, and We're Ready For Cheese !!

As of today we are milking 5 cows ( Wizard, YooHoo, Hershey, Boffo, and Bosco), with 2 more to come ( Timothy and Roxie) . So now that the cow part is pretty much under control, we're on to cheesemaking.
The cheese room cleanup is, of course, much more intense than the barn. The room is scrubbed from the ceiling and walls right down to the floor. All of the moulds, presses, buckets and various cheesemaking paraphernalia are washed and sanitized. Right now, it seems insurmountable, but somehow, it always gets done. Thursday will be our 1st "make". The first batch might be a bit short, but on a normal day, we set about 1000 pounds of milk, and end up with about 140 pounds of cheese.
I'll write more about the process along with pictures as our season progresses.
But for now, on with our new season!

Winter Chores

I have been walking down the hill from the house to the barn every morning and every evening for chores during these dark winter days for the past 28 years. I have to tell you, I'm amazed by that statement. But its true. And, probably most amazing, is how much I still love it. It's so familiar. Every step I take in the barn is a known step. We are the ones who have worn the steps from the stable to the milk room. Even after a summer of not milking, I embrace the continuity of it. The cows calving, the milking, the haying, the sound of the milk pump the sweet smells of the barn. It really is a wonderful way to begin and end each day.
As of today, we are milking two cows, Yoohoo and Bosco. Bosco had a really beautiful heifer named Bingo, Yoohoo had a bull ( cute, but still a bull). Here's a picture of Bingo:
Milking two cows is like priming the pump. We get back in the swing of things, but slowly
Three more are due right off. Then we're on to cheese.

pasta

I love fresh pasta. It really makes any dish special. Simple stir fries, tomato sauces, anywhere noodles are used. And,it's really easy.... all you need is some flour, salt and eggs.
A well is made in the flour and the eggs are added to it. Here I used 9 yolks and 4 whole eggs. I know it seems like a lot, but there are so many wonderful meals that can be made from it.


I like to mix up a big batch, for ravioli, and roll the extra pasta into sheets. When the sheets are fairly dry, I roll them up and put in a plastic bag to be used as needed. From this batch I got 10 dozen raviolis , and a meal of pasta with a tomato sauce.

When our nieces, Isabel and Lily were visiting this summer, we cut the sheets of rolled dough into thick noodles.



They only need to boil for about 2 minutes. We put butter and cheese on it.
Another thing we do is to make lots of ravioli for freezing for a quick meal in the middle of the winter on a day where we need something fast and wonderful.



For these ravioli, we made a filling of sauteed onion and chard mixed with ricotta. But really, any filling is wonderful!!



They will be boiled for about 6 minutes, and tossed with sage butter.
The sheets of dough can also be lasagna noodles, or cut small for soups...
really, there is nothing like fresh pasta!

My recipe for pasta is:


9 egg yolks
4 whole eggs
3 cups white flour
1 cup semolina flour
1 tsp. salt
* note on the flours: I never really know how much I use, I keep adding it to the dough until it is workable
Mix flours and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour, add eggs and yolks. With a fork beat the eggs, slowly incorporating the flour. As the eggs absorb the flour you might need to add more flour. When the dough is formed, turn onto a floured work surface and knead ( adding more flour as necessary to keep it from sticking) into a smooth ball.
Put dough in a clean bowl and cover for an hour or so.

Our Pantry

A vegetable garden is truly amazing. In the winter, we pour over seed brochures , imagining all those succulent tastes. Next comes the greenhouse, truly an act of faith that each seed will indeed grow into tasty veggie. The time between setting the vegetables out and the first taste seems interminable . Finally, we bite into a still warm tomato the wonderful taste just exploding in our mouths.
Then comes the canning, drying, salsa making and freezing. Really, the glory of the garden is in the pantry. I stand in the door of the pantry and marvel over our hard and seemingly endless work. The rows of canned whole tomatoes, tomato puree, fire roasted salsa, dried tomatoes. The jams we made from our own strawberries and raspberries. The jars of peaches.. not our own, but canned fresh. And the freezer full of frozen corn, and peas. Bags of swiss chard, and eggplant parm.
All beckoning us to keep enjoying our garden with wonderful winter meals.

storing root veggies for winter

Our basement/ cold storage area is starting to look mighty fine. The potatoes are easy, we just dig them, let them dry off a bit ( turning once after a few hours), and pack them into boxes. Onions need to be pulled and cured on screens in the greenhouse, then put into boxes. Carrots are a little more involved, but we eat huge amounts of them all through the winter. Grated for our winter salad of carrots, red cabbage, cave aged cheese and dried cranberries.. we never buy lettuce from some far away place when we can just walk into the basement! The dogs also love their carrots. They each get a carrot for dessert every night.
To harvest carrots, they are pulled and the tops taken off with just a few inches of the green left on. They are allowed to air dry, and turned after a few hours. If just left in a box in the basement they'd sog out really fast. We've tried to store them in sand, sawdust, and hay. But the sure winner for us has been dried maple leaves.The carrots are layered with the leaves in containers.
Using these storage methods, we get firm potatoes, onions and carrots right until early summer.

Fall Chores

Fall tilling is a time for reflections. What we could and should have done differently this year, and what will be different next year. The beauty of the garden, is that there is always another year. And though every year is so different than anyone before it, the structure of the seasons are the frame in which the different seasons flow. Every year certain events happen at the same time, yet, every year is so different. I think this as I sit on my tractor, looking out over the fields, and the pastures where the cows continue to graze, even though we are into November.
I reflect on the garden, and all the rain we had this past summer. Surely, we wont have another year like that, but of course, next year could be so dry we ache for just a bit of that rain. This year was fairly cool, few of those hot days where even a breeze feels like a furnace. It's the finality of the seasons and the knowledge that soon we will be pouring over the seed catalogs that makes gardening so wonderful.
The cows will be off the pastures soon, and it will be too cold to till, and mow. But, for now, for this brief moment, it is warm enough to get our outside chores done.

A Family Feast

I love winter eating. Gone are the easy meals of running out to the garden for a handful of basil, some heirloom tomatoes, a quick saute, and there is a fabulous meal. These days speak to slower, more deliberate meals. This past weekend my folks, aunts and uncles came for the first of our truly short day meals.After a beautiful antipasto plate ( and some Campari) , we had a small bowl of winter vegetable soup.

For the main dish, I had been thinking of a wonderful tart of slow cooked onions, some wilted chard and some roasted red peppers, and a sprinkling of our cave aged cheese. Afraid it might be too sweet, I made a dried tomato tapenade with some garlic, black olives and olive oil and spread it on the bottom of the tart to cut the sweetness and add some saltiness. It was wonderful, although I think next time, instead of phyllo dough, I'll use my own pie crust . A salad of fresh picked lettuce, and home made bread completed the meal. My dad made a wonderful apple tart for desert. He pre baked ( his own) pie crust, made an applesauce for the bottom, and beautifully cut apples on top, then baked it.
The warmth of family, and a wonderful meal....

October Snow !!

This Was our world on Oct. 29th, as our summer world came to a screeching halt. Last week we were bringing truckloads of produce to market, and now, nothing. It happens every year but not always with such a vengeance. The snow slowly melted, but what a glimpse into what is just around the corner! So, we did the best thing we could think of, we made soup.
Just a basic, throw everything in the pot soup. I picked leeks, potatoes, carrots, chard and parsley out of the garden. Got some onions from the basement, and corn from the freezer. Plumped up some dried Jacob Cattle beans and, viola, a wonderful winter soup. The soup, some fresh bread and butter, and all is well with the world.

The season of slow transitions

In late May, as our cheesemaking year draws to a close, the days are at their longest, and I can't wait for winter chores to be done with. It happens gradually... first the cows start spending nights outdoors in mid April and our late night visits to the barn to " sweep the cows in" ends. Then, in early May the pastures begin to get green, and the hay feeding season ends. And I can't wait to be out of doors. We make cheese around 50 times a year, and by batch 49 I am so ready to stop.I cannot ever imagine wanting to be tied to the barn and cheeseroom again.
So, here I am today, October 28th. We let the cows up from their pastures to give them hay since its rainy and cold and there is a chance of snow flurries tonight. As I walked down to the haymow , I found myself thinking about milking, and winter chores. And, I found myself remembering the winter barn. And I started thinking about our slow transitions between the seasons. It begins with feeding hay, then putting in the barn windows, cobwebbing, washing the mangers, and generally getting ready for the next wonderful season.... untill its time for the next!

The trials of farming

Naturally, if farming were easy, and things didn't go wrong, it really wouldn't be farming, and everyone would want to be a farmer. Just imagine, beautiful, sunny days, copious amounts of fresh organic produce.
This growing season has had a lot of ups and downs. ( great red peppers and eggplant for example) Today it feels like more downs We had inch upon inch of rain in July and August and were unable to get all of the broccoli in the ground in a timely manner. Now, when we should be 1/2 way through our harvest, we are done... unless we have a wonderful and warm November. Then there are the shallots. Last year they were our cash cow. We were able to store and sell shallots straight through until April. The price is really high, and at one point even thought we could just grow shallots. Well, this growing season got rid of those ideas ! They have been curing in the greenhouse for about a month. Today was a rainy day, so we went into the greenhouse to begin boxing them up. Sadly, a great majority were rotten ! Just like that, no shallots ! Guess they really didn't respond well to all that rain
Ah, well. We've always thought our motto should be ".....next year " !!I suppose its that forward thinking that makes this all possible.

The last geese of the season?

There is a wonderful place where we walk in the mornings . It's called the water works, and is many preserved acres. An old reservoir, it now is a place of serene beauty. Early in the mornings, the woods are alive with warblers and other song birds. And, if we hit the timing just right, as the sun rises and hits the water, the geese take off for the day, coming back in the evenings. I tried to get a movie of a beaver swimming and otters playing, but it didn't look like much. So here is my first movie posting.... geese flying at the break of day.

channeling my inner peasant

This is what the sky looked like from the porch as we got ready to take an early morning walk yesterday. Its a wonderful time of year, we have another month until the cows freshen ( calve) so we get to go for a walk instead of go to the barn. We had a pretty hard frost the night before, so as we walked on the lower fields, the sun lit up each blade of grass with a billion prisms of shimmering light.
Then it was off to the gardens.

Picking and washing vegetables at this time of year.... when its just this side of being too cold, stirs some deep inner feelings of true contentment in me. It's these days when I find myself smiling,singing, and remembering Mary Oliver's line " Oh, to love what is lovely and will not last ..." trying to hold onto this day, this time of year. The trees still have their foliage, and picking on top of the garden is truly like being on top of the world. Sure, the washing of the veggies is cold, but I even love how cold my hands get. I think of peasants, like us, doing as we have for untold centuries

cover crops

Just as the quality of the milk and the health of the cow depends on the quality of the hay we feed, the quality of the of the crops we grow corresponds directly to the health of the soil. We are fortunate that we have tons of wonderful composted manure to put on the soil. We also use different " green manures" in the form of cover crops to enrich the soil. In the summer, we use buckwheat. We can seed it, and till it in 30 days later ( see top picture). It adds lots of organic matter to the soil. Buckwheat is very tender, so it's best used as an early summer crop.And because to grows so fast, we can get another vegetable crop on the garden, or, if we don't need the space, we can sow another cover crop( field peas are a favorite for nitrogen, or if we're looking to add lots of organic matter sudan grass is a good choice) Later in the year ( like now, mid October) we like to use oats. They grow well into the fall, and because it winter kills we are able to get on the garden with the tractor to till easier than if we used something like rye that begins growing again early in the spring. The roots hold the soil which is nice on the slope of our garden. In the 27 years we've been gardening here, the soil has really changed from a heavy clay garden to a much lighter soil , and judging from the health of our crops, the fertility is right there.
The oats in the lower picture were seeded after the tomatoes came out. What a lovely winter coat!

Mid October, and the cows are still eating pasture ! It probably wont be for long, though. On their last change of pasture the other day we noticed that the grasses are really slowing down. Soon, they'll be eating hay .



Fall is such a time of transition. Along with the colors, we slowly slip from our summer life of being outside all the time. Meals on the porch become meals inside. It is slow because we are still gardening... still have loads of broccoli to pick and cases of lettuce, but when we need onions we now go to the greenhouse instead of up to the garden.And, we are also remembering that window in the barn that needs fixing, and the bales of sawdust ( because there is no longer bulk sawdust available from the saw mills ) need to be moved around.

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Leeks !

So much more go into leeks than the beautiful white spears you get at the market. They are started in the greenhouse in early spring. Being frost hardy, they can be set out early. We make a deep ( well, not that deep, about a foot or so) trenches, and transplant each baby leek into the trench. Then, through out the growing season we hill them. That's why they have long, usable white portions. In the fall, when they reach their full size they are pulled, cleaned up and washed. All that for a leek? Yes ! We are know locally for our beautiful leeks.
Here is a recipe for an easy and delicious potato leek soup:

Leek and Potato Soup

3 Tb. Butter
4 Cups sliced leeks
3 Tb. Flour
6 cups hot water
1 Tb. Salt, or to taste and ground black pepper to taste
4 cups diced potatoes ( I love yellow boiling potatoes)
2 cups milk added at the end of cooking.( add at end so it doesn’t curdle)


Melt butter over moderate heat in a soup pot, stir in leeks. Cover pot, and cook slowly over low heat for 10 minutes. Then blend in flour, and cook over moderate heat for 2 minutes to cook the flour. Remove from heat, let cool a moment, slowly stir in hot water to blend with the leeks and flour. Stir in salt and pepper, and potaoes. Bring to a boil, the reduce heat to a simmer and partially cover pot and let cook for about 40 minutes until potatoes are tender.
Potatoes can be partially mashed , or left in the cubed state. What ever suits your fancy!

So easy, and so good!

I'm new to writing recipes, so let me know how this works for you.

the edge of frost

It's at this time of the year that I most feel the thin line between the seasons. Closer to the house, and under some trees the frost hasn't hit yet . The first frost was light enough that the remay that covered the eggplant and peppers was sufficient. But, what a tiny matter of degrees!.

Really, the line between the  living and the dead. 

I find it so amazing that there are the tender plants, and then, there are the hardiest of the hardys. Take lettuce for example. How is it that a tender red boston will take temps. in the high 20's, but a rugged plant like a pepper, or tomato will turn brown at 30 ? And basil, the slightest cold wind blowing on it turns the leaves brown. 

The tomatoes are gone. And the clean up has begun. First we  pull up the soaker hose, roll it up, mark the lengths, and store them for next spring.

Then the posts are removed and stacked.                                                                                                                     

Then the ground is tilled, manure spread and, weather permitting, a cover crop of oats is sown. 

I love this time of year.

the first frost...

This week has been a week of getting ready for the frost... lots of picking the veggies that will die in the cold weather. Lots of peppers, both green and red... eggplants, the remainders of the tomatoes. Then we cover some of the peppers and eggplant with a large 30 X 100 foot piece of light fabric called remay. It gives the plants enough protection from light frosts to keep them from dying. 

The veggies not affected by frost are leeks, lettuce, broccoli and carrots. 

I'm on my way to the garden to do some picking,,, I'll add some more pictures later. 

Its looking like tomorrow will be out first broccoli picking, a bit late for us, but, oh well. Every year has its hardships... and this summer's heavy rain made it hard for us to get our fall plantings in on time. I'm not sure how to put 2 pictures on a posting , but I wanted to get this beautiful broccoli head on here also. 

Oh, easier than I thought it would be. As I keep learning, I'll try to make this more interesting to read.

I'd like to add a recipe sections for food I love to cook......( once I figure how to add new sections, I'm sure its easy once one knows how) Along with photos of the food.

Let me know what you think too. This is all so new to me! 

Autumnal updates

It's hard to believe in out zone 4 1/2 area we can grow a southern belle like this hibiscus. She blooms mid September, and here we are in Oct......still enjoying lots of blooms. The days are getting shorter, and I think tomorrow ( monday) we'll be picking for a frost. 

But, our greenhouse is full of onions and shallots, and we still have plantings of broccoli and lettuce to come. 

Salsa Making

Salsa making is a wonderful fall tradition. Its a whole day activity of picking tomatoes, an array of hot and sweet peppers, chopping lots of onions, garlic, peeling and dicing everything. The air is filled with the smoky heat of roasting peppers. We start by making a wood fire in the fire pit. As the peppers are fire roasted they are put into a covered pot, then peeled. Then everything is cooked together for hours on the stove. Opening a jar of salsa in the winter is heavenly, sending me right back to this perfect early fall day !!