We are entering the fall season which means for us that we eat outside every meal possible - we have a table on the front porch that overlooks our animals and pasture, a table on the back porch that overlooks the courtyard and the waterfall/pond, a table in the courtyard for bigger groups near the gas grill, and a picnic table over under the poplars and maples near the pasture. So, no shortage of places to eat outside depending on the mood, the weather, and the menu.
Also we both love Italian food and, outside of Italy, my wife Susan is the best cooker of Italian cuisine I know. Seriously, she is so creative and uses fresh ingredients. I can't begin to tell you how good the fresh farfalle with pesto was, or the spaghetti with cream sauce, or tonight's dish I can't even pronounce but it was Italian sausage with fresh tomatoes and peppers and garlic etc.
Anyway, that's the way it is here on the farm as the seasons begin to change. Come visit anytime.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
New Animals
One of the neat aspects of our farm life is the diversity of wild life we have in this heavily wooded, low population density area of Orange County NC. Last week, we had occasion to see two new animals for us (which is really unusual).
One was a coyote that walked out of the woods next to our pasture, wandered around for a few minutes, then lay down in the grass, and after about 30 minutes, decided to return to the woods. We were in the house and observed this through binoculars. Oh, the house is probably 1,000 feet from where the coyote was, so no danger to us or any of our domestic animals. Also he was out of sight of our guard dog, Daisy, who would outweigh him about 120 pounds to maybe 50 pounds. So no safety concerns and it was interesting to watch a big cat (or at least a bigger than domestic cat). We had seen one other coyote here and that was one who streaked across the top of the hill from one patch of woods to another, so only a fleeting glimpse - nothing like the one we saw last week.
The other animal was a skunk who simply walked through the front yard at a leisurely pace about 20 feet from the front porch. We were inside and just watched him as he went through, seemingly in no big hurry. Skunks seem to be rare in this area as we have never seen (or smelled) skunk roadkill, which is a sure sign that they are around. A long-time farmer, Rob Hogan, said he did not usually see them in this part of the county, only in the northern part (which would be 10-15 miles north).
All of our domestic animals, including Susan and Dwight, are doing fine and we're looking forward to the fall temperatures and garden prep for the winter. Still getting lots of peppers, tomatoes, and some okra. Susan dug our first sweet potatoes of the season today for dinner tonight.
So there we are on the farm on this Labor Day of 2010.
One was a coyote that walked out of the woods next to our pasture, wandered around for a few minutes, then lay down in the grass, and after about 30 minutes, decided to return to the woods. We were in the house and observed this through binoculars. Oh, the house is probably 1,000 feet from where the coyote was, so no danger to us or any of our domestic animals. Also he was out of sight of our guard dog, Daisy, who would outweigh him about 120 pounds to maybe 50 pounds. So no safety concerns and it was interesting to watch a big cat (or at least a bigger than domestic cat). We had seen one other coyote here and that was one who streaked across the top of the hill from one patch of woods to another, so only a fleeting glimpse - nothing like the one we saw last week.
The other animal was a skunk who simply walked through the front yard at a leisurely pace about 20 feet from the front porch. We were inside and just watched him as he went through, seemingly in no big hurry. Skunks seem to be rare in this area as we have never seen (or smelled) skunk roadkill, which is a sure sign that they are around. A long-time farmer, Rob Hogan, said he did not usually see them in this part of the county, only in the northern part (which would be 10-15 miles north).
All of our domestic animals, including Susan and Dwight, are doing fine and we're looking forward to the fall temperatures and garden prep for the winter. Still getting lots of peppers, tomatoes, and some okra. Susan dug our first sweet potatoes of the season today for dinner tonight.
So there we are on the farm on this Labor Day of 2010.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Life of a Chicken
Yesterday, Susan noticed that one of our new chickens (born in February and raised in a box in the garage then immigrated into the real chicken yard in July) was showing signs of distress - rapid breathing etc. We thought it might just be the heat. But this morning we found the chicken dead under the chicken house. It was one of the beautiful Buff Orpingtons that are solid yellow so now there are two left. I got it out and left it in the edge of the woods a ways away so that another animal would have some food (we have lots of black vultures and turkey vultures around here and they have to eat too).
Nevertheless it was a little sad because we had bought this hen (and 4 others) when they were 1-2 weeks old. So now we have 9 hens and one rooster.
I chatted with Peter Efland at Efland Milling Company as to what causes chickens to suddenly die - he's our expert. Peter says that sometimes it can be a rat but they usually attack when the chicken is on the roost at night and that was not the case here. It's rarely a snake as an adult hen can defend herself OK (although snakes do eat eggs). Because one of the hens had been laying enormous eggs at times (like the size of goose eggs - they would not even fit in an extra large egg carton,m we theorized that maybe she was egg-bound - something new for us but Peter says it happens. Could also have just been a chicken sickness of unknown kind. Who knows, as we did not do an autopsy.
Anyway we get about 6 eggs per day now and that's still plenty for us to eat and give away.
Life on the farm is interesting.
Looking forward to some cooler weather soon!
Dwight
Nevertheless it was a little sad because we had bought this hen (and 4 others) when they were 1-2 weeks old. So now we have 9 hens and one rooster.
I chatted with Peter Efland at Efland Milling Company as to what causes chickens to suddenly die - he's our expert. Peter says that sometimes it can be a rat but they usually attack when the chicken is on the roost at night and that was not the case here. It's rarely a snake as an adult hen can defend herself OK (although snakes do eat eggs). Because one of the hens had been laying enormous eggs at times (like the size of goose eggs - they would not even fit in an extra large egg carton,m we theorized that maybe she was egg-bound - something new for us but Peter says it happens. Could also have just been a chicken sickness of unknown kind. Who knows, as we did not do an autopsy.
Anyway we get about 6 eggs per day now and that's still plenty for us to eat and give away.
Life on the farm is interesting.
Looking forward to some cooler weather soon!
Dwight
Saturday, July 10, 2010
The Bounty of Farm Life
Well, it's now July 10th and we are beginning to reap the bounty of the garden. Still getting swiss chard, lots of cucumbers, celery, the onions are up, most potatoes are dug, variety of tomatoes coming in, garlic is all braided on the porch, and zepher squash plus butternut squah. Have begun to get the sun Gold tomatoes in good numbers daily, the bigger tomatoes are still a few days away from reddening. Isn't it remarkable how much can be grown in such little space?
Let me talk about the volunteers first. The butternut squash volunteered in the compost pile and we let it go - it now occupies about 250 square feet of the yard, is on the fence came through from the outside to the inside and is on the gate. There are about 8-10 huge squashes - most are at least 12-18 in size and are about the size of a football. Then the tomatoes have volunteered all along the garden fence and they are prolific. Sun Golds are hybrids so the seeds do not always give you what you had the year before. Mostly, the sun gold volunteers are much bigger than the hybrid sun golds and seem to be just as tasty.
The blackberries have been providing a great fruit for granola every day for the past couple of weeks and show no signs of slowing down. We have one blackberry bush that re-rooted itself several times and now is about 15-18 in width. The thorns are awful though! Today we found out that there is a seedless variety now that we may look into. But for now one plant gives us a pint of blackberries every day. Isn't that wonderful?
This week Susan made potato salad with potatoes (of course), celery, pickles, onions, peppers, and eggs that never left the farm. She grew it all with help from the chickens of course and the pickles were from last year's cukes.
The stirrup hoe has proven to be a miracle tool for getting weeds and grass out of the garden. I think we have hoed up over 10 wheelbarrows full of weeds and grass this week and the garden is nearly spotless. If you are a gardener and do not own a stirrup hoe, you need to buy one. Oh, Susan is the main hoer and I am the main hauler. We work early in the morning and still are dripping wet after 60-90 minutes.
our new chickens have now begun to lay eggs - right on schedule - they are 5 months old - they are laying dark brown eggs so far and we expect the other new chickens to lay greenish-blue eggs. All are the same on the inside.
Tonight Susan fixed skewers with marinated beef filet (from Rob Hogan's grass fed beef), peppers, onions, tomatoes and mushrooms. All but the mushrooms from here and we are talking about growing mushrooms one day.
The weather has moderated and that's been helpful - highs now in the upper 80s or low 90s, not the upper 90s or low 100s like last couple of weeks. Rain is still sparse so most of the farmers including us are still praying for rain soon.
That's all for now.
Dwight & Susan on the Farm
Let me talk about the volunteers first. The butternut squash volunteered in the compost pile and we let it go - it now occupies about 250 square feet of the yard, is on the fence came through from the outside to the inside and is on the gate. There are about 8-10 huge squashes - most are at least 12-18 in size and are about the size of a football. Then the tomatoes have volunteered all along the garden fence and they are prolific. Sun Golds are hybrids so the seeds do not always give you what you had the year before. Mostly, the sun gold volunteers are much bigger than the hybrid sun golds and seem to be just as tasty.
The blackberries have been providing a great fruit for granola every day for the past couple of weeks and show no signs of slowing down. We have one blackberry bush that re-rooted itself several times and now is about 15-18 in width. The thorns are awful though! Today we found out that there is a seedless variety now that we may look into. But for now one plant gives us a pint of blackberries every day. Isn't that wonderful?
This week Susan made potato salad with potatoes (of course), celery, pickles, onions, peppers, and eggs that never left the farm. She grew it all with help from the chickens of course and the pickles were from last year's cukes.
The stirrup hoe has proven to be a miracle tool for getting weeds and grass out of the garden. I think we have hoed up over 10 wheelbarrows full of weeds and grass this week and the garden is nearly spotless. If you are a gardener and do not own a stirrup hoe, you need to buy one. Oh, Susan is the main hoer and I am the main hauler. We work early in the morning and still are dripping wet after 60-90 minutes.
our new chickens have now begun to lay eggs - right on schedule - they are 5 months old - they are laying dark brown eggs so far and we expect the other new chickens to lay greenish-blue eggs. All are the same on the inside.
Tonight Susan fixed skewers with marinated beef filet (from Rob Hogan's grass fed beef), peppers, onions, tomatoes and mushrooms. All but the mushrooms from here and we are talking about growing mushrooms one day.
The weather has moderated and that's been helpful - highs now in the upper 80s or low 90s, not the upper 90s or low 100s like last couple of weeks. Rain is still sparse so most of the farmers including us are still praying for rain soon.
That's all for now.
Dwight & Susan on the Farm
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
From the Snow in January to the 100 degrees of June
Well, there's a lot to catch up on here on the farm.
1. Our trusty peach tree that precedes us on this property and which has been so good to the birds and the bugs is nearly at the end of its life. There have been four major branches that just have fallen off this spring due to the rotten wood and the weight of the peaches. There are two remaining parts of the tree and these continue to be full of peaches but it looks miserable. We are already thinking about what to do this fall or winter when it breathes it's last breath so to speak. It must be 20+ years old and is fundamentally rotting from the inside out.
2. The kitchen garden was expanded about 50% into the space that was prepared by the chickens. The chicken coop was moved a second time by tractor at night and is now down near the lower garden. Before their move, the chickens had prepared the soil for us so nicely by working/scratching with a huge pile of compost over the past year or so. We expanded the deer and rabbit fence around the new space, tilled it, made beds, and planted it this spring. The soil is nearly black from the compost which is a big contrast with our native red clay. Susan ordered a new set of drip hosing and lengthened the ones we had. The new kitchen garden is about 30 by 60 feet. It includes about 20 beds plus a cold frame.
3. Susan has planted the following: multiple varieties of heirloom tomatoes, lots of different kinds of peppers, two kinds of squash, two different cucumbers, varieties of lettuce, turnips, beets, two beds of yukon gold potatoes, vidalia onions, three beds of garlic (5 types), eggplant, spinach, and some things I'm surely leaving out. We have harvested a lot all spring and early summer and are on the verge of the big, big harvest time. I think there are about 35 tomato plants which are my favorite of course.
4. The really cool thing Susan did this year was grow everything from seeds, using the garage as a greenhouse. At one point there were over 600 plants growing in the garage. We still have a second crop of peppers and tomatoes to move to the garden. This has been so successful that we will do this annually going forward.
5. Our son Jody moved this spring from a house into a condominium and he gave us his hot tub. We had a concrete pad built in the courtyard and the hot tub was moved and connected. The first time we used it was in January with our friends, David and Carol Anne Trent from Charlotte. It was 14 degrees and snowing - pretty cool - no really cold but the 104 degrees of the hot tub took care of the cold in a very nice way.
6. Susan has worked hard at planting several of the flower beds in the courtyard - probably 200 plants over a period of three months. It looks radically different and is becoming the courtyard that we envisioned when we designed the house. Very pleasant with the pond, waterfalls, lilies, and other flowering perennials. Jami and Owen helped repair an old bench last fall and it is strategically located in the shade and gives us a retreat spot for quiet times. Now Susan has begun to plant the area around the peach tree out front and it's taking nice shape - hopefully it will be established before the peach tree has to be removed.
7. Not much new on the wild animal front - Susan ran off two foxes that were close to the chicken house a few weeks ago. Today we saw an animal scoot along the side of the woods - either a fox or a coyote based on the way it was moving. A few wild turkeys, lots of perching buzzards, big hawks, lots of birds - an Indigo Bunting this week, but usually cardinals, bluebirds and humming birds are dominant. Only spotted black snakes twice this year - and no bears or mountain lions. We are often able to see and hear pileated woodpeckers at dawn on the dead tree next door and hear the barn owl at night. Actually very nice.
8. Our farm animals continue to be healthy. We have added five new hens because our original flock had been producing fewer eggs (and none in the winter!) so now we have 10 hens and one rooster (Earl). We bought biddies at Efland Feed Mill and raised them in the garage until they were ready to go outside (mainly big enough to fend off the hawks). Hopefully 10 hens will produce enough eggs in the winter. Della (black lab) is great as always, Daisy the Lancier dog had an infection but we caught it and got her treated in time and now she is sheared for the hot summer. the three goats (Muffin, Heidi and Chloe) are doing fine. Tom is our surviving cat as Jerry disappeared in September and he copes pretty well despite his asthma or breathing disorder.
9. We continue to focus on either growing our own food or knowing the people we buy from. It costs more but the taste is surely better and we have the satisfaction of knowing that we are nearly 100% local and nearly 100% organic. No pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizer, etc. If any one wants to talk about this, call us. We also recommend anything by Michael Pollan, especially "Omnivore's Dilemma" or "In Defense of Food". We buy beef from Rob Hogan near Chapel Hill, pork from Cane Creek Farm, chicken from Weaver Street Market, vegetables from the farmers markets or our garden.
10. We have befriended many others in this local, organic gardening community, including Shoe, who is an encyclopedia of farming knowledge and has given us so many good ideas. He does some experimental seed growing for seed distributors, has a small farm near Hillsborough, and is a staple at the Hillsborough Farmers Market. He is like a "Ben Franklin" of gardening, always looking for the new idea, the better way, the easier tool, the best fencing, etc. Shoe of course is his nickname and comes naturally - as he never wears shoes, even in the winter. One of the kindest, gentle persons we have ever met. we visited his farm last fall and he gave Susan some of his seeds which she planted this spring. Also he has recommended a number of tools for weeding, hoeing, etc. which are wonderful. Maybe I can talk about tools in a future posting.
Well, that's it for now. Hopefully you've caught up with us in June 2010.
Dwight
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Our Snow on January 30, 2010
Today we are enjoying about 6" of snow. Of course, that enjoyment includes the gorgeous view of our pasture all white, the many birds at our feeders, using our new hot tub, and enjoying the warmth inside of the fireplace, the hot tea, and the good food. It also means enjoying the fellowship of our good friends from Charlotte, David and Carol Ann Trent, who are sorta stranded here until the roads co-operate. But that's great for us.
The down side of course is keeping water un-frozen for the chickens and the goats and dogs. Not easy since we do not have heated water capability. It's about 21 degrees at 4:30 in the afternoon and tonight's forecast is for about 14 degrees with wind chill near zero. This is hard on us here in the central NC area.
The chickens will not come out of the chicken house so I moved their feeders and their water inside. They seemed to like this.
The dogs love the snow, especially our Lanceer, Daisy. this is her kind of stuff and she has been rolling in it all day.
Stay warm and we'll try to do better with the blog in the future.
The down side of course is keeping water un-frozen for the chickens and the goats and dogs. Not easy since we do not have heated water capability. It's about 21 degrees at 4:30 in the afternoon and tonight's forecast is for about 14 degrees with wind chill near zero. This is hard on us here in the central NC area.
The chickens will not come out of the chicken house so I moved their feeders and their water inside. They seemed to like this.
The dogs love the snow, especially our Lanceer, Daisy. this is her kind of stuff and she has been rolling in it all day.
Stay warm and we'll try to do better with the blog in the future.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Cooking with Sweet Potatoes
We had a bumper crop of sweet potatoes. It's the first time we've grown them. I don't know how many pounds we harvested, but one of the larger ones weighed in at about 6 pounds. To say the least, we have plenty of them!
So my dilemma now is what to do with them all. Sweet potato fries are a real hit with the grandchildren. I can cook one sweet potato and have a whole pan full of fries. So that takes care of one at a time. There's still plenty more to cook.
I checked on the internet for recipes. There really are lots of ways to cook them. So far I've tried sweet potato muffins, sweet potato pound cake, sweet potato cheese cake. I've already tried a recipe for a sweet potato and black bean burrito and will do that one again. Of course, for Thanksgiving, I'll fix the traditional sweet potato casserole that my mom always cooked. I couldn't get by without doing that.
What I've found is that sweet potatoes are a great versatile vegetable. They're quite healthy. They can be used as a side or a dessert. I think I'll plant them again next year.
So my dilemma now is what to do with them all. Sweet potato fries are a real hit with the grandchildren. I can cook one sweet potato and have a whole pan full of fries. So that takes care of one at a time. There's still plenty more to cook.
I checked on the internet for recipes. There really are lots of ways to cook them. So far I've tried sweet potato muffins, sweet potato pound cake, sweet potato cheese cake. I've already tried a recipe for a sweet potato and black bean burrito and will do that one again. Of course, for Thanksgiving, I'll fix the traditional sweet potato casserole that my mom always cooked. I couldn't get by without doing that.
What I've found is that sweet potatoes are a great versatile vegetable. They're quite healthy. They can be used as a side or a dessert. I think I'll plant them again next year.
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