the tiny homestead

in the garden

As our growing season comes to a close, here a just a few highlights from this year's garden -

:: this year's butternut squash harvest was amazing - we'll be eating it in various forms all winter long ::

:: kale, the only green food my children will eat, was a life saver this summer and fall. The unseasonably cold weather has shortened its life span, but it was good while it lasted. Of course, the remnants are a well loved treat for the chickens too ::

:: beets and cucumbers in mass quantities fill our pantry in the form of pickles. I love the recipes from The Pickled Pantry (the bread and butter pickle recipe is crazy good) ::

:: mint and parsley and oregano - oh my! In everything, on everything, everywhere, all the time! ::

:: tons of heirloom tomatoes that sadly did not make it into a can this year. Hey, a girl can't do EVERYTHING! ::

:: we lost two chickens this year - our rooster and one of our first hens, Ruby. Both  passings were incredibly sad for us, but we knew it was an inevitability when choosing to keep livestock. In the spring we'll be welcoming more chickens and hopefully, a few ducks - stay tuned! ::

Tell me, how did your garden grow this year?

 

strawberry jam

With any luck, this will be our last year picking strawberries at our local pick-your-own farm. While technically we have a strawberry patch (and a rhubarb patch!) in our very own garden, we are not supposed to harvest any of it the first year. This gives the plants time to grow strong before producing a large crop. Everyday, I pick little strawberry flowers off of each plant. It pains me to do so each time, but I remind myself of what will await me in the years to come if I practice patience now.

This year we gathered two full pecks of strawberries (about twenty pounds). My husband and son did most of the harvesting. Yes! My four year old boy picked with a purpose and gathered about a half of a peck all by himself. He was sure to remind us all "no unripe strawberries" and "the smallest berries are the sweetest!" My daugther mostly enjoyed the scenery and "helped" me pick the other half peck of berries. It was a beautiful day and everyone remained happy - not an easy thing to come by these days!

My husband and I (in between tending to the garden, chickens, and children) spent most of the weekend in the kitchen canning the fruits of our labor. This year it was strawberry balsamic and strawberry rhubarb jam. We used the generic recipe from the Ball website for the strawberry balsamic jam and we used this recipe for the strawberry rhubarb. Both turned out beautifully and will probably be our go to recipes for some time to come. In total we canned about sixty jars which should last for quite a while - if I can manage to stop pouring it over everything in sight!

our first egg

This is Hungry (named so by my son because as he says "she's always eating, mommy") sitting in a nesting box laying her second egg.

By yesterday morning I had given up hope that these girls were going to lay an egg anytime soon so, with the thought out of mind, we began to hear some incredibly loud squawking coming from the coop. I shrieked! We all ran down to the coop to find Hungry very proudly boasting to the other hens that she, in fact, had just laid her very first egg! Woot! After giving her a little love, we collected her egg and scrambled it for all of us to eat. The kids were so excited. My son proudly proclaimed that we would no longer have to get our eggs from the grocery store because our chickens will make them for us! The egg was delicious and creamy, but more importantly my children were able to see first hand from where their food came. That small, but treasured animal that we feed and nurture everyday has returned the favor and nourished us with one of the most nutritionally perfect foods on the earth and for that we are greatful - thank you, Hungry.

thirty-three

Today, I turned thirty-three. I spent the day surrounded by my husband, children, and family. We had dinner together and finished with my favorite chocolate cake found here. Some find it odd that I bake my own birthday cake every year, but I like to think of it as a gift to myself. Who wouldn't want to eat their most favorite thing in the world on their birthday? 

Now, on to watching the football game with my love! I think some popcorn is in order!

Thirty-three - an unremarkable number, but for me it has been an unbelievably remarkable year.

peach preserves

Continuing our family's journey to learn how to can and preserve food we've grown or collected, last weekend we headed back to the fields in pursuit of peaches. While strawberry picking was a long and hot endeavor, peach picking was decidedly easy and more importantly - fast. Walking in the orchard under the protection of gently bending peach tree branches kept us cool while collecting fruit. As my husband picked, the children and I meandered through the orchard filling our basket with lovely yellow and white peaches. I have to add that when picking with toddlers and preschoolers it's inevitable that a few rotten or way under ripe peaches will end up in your basket.  I have no problem with that though as it makes me so happy to watch them eagerly participate in collecting food for the family. 

After a few days of allowing the peaches to ripen in our kitchen, they were ready to be made into preserves. That's where things get tricky! All around the web, peach preserve recipes call for blanching the peaches first in order to remove the skin. I don't know what kind of peaches those folks are using, but these peaches didn't shed their skins easily (not at all actually). After testing a dozen or so peaches to find the right poaching time to get the skins to come off, I gave up and resorted to my potato peeler which did the job in no time. From then on it was smooth sailing and this morning we had luscious homemade preserves on our toast. I think tonight's batch might include cinnamon. Mmm, spiced peach preserves - my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

plum raspberry oatmeal crisp

Simple. Fresh. Easy.  Three words that epitomize summer cooking at its best.  I love using fresh, local ingredients when the seasons allow and right now it's all about plums and raspberries (both ahead of schedule here in Maryland because of a very warm spring). I was thinking of making something elaborate like a tart or pie, but I have neither the time nor the energy for making pastry dough and assembling the dessert.  So, I settled on a  crisp - yes!  Easy to make, lots of payoff, and very little work for me.  I simply modified the Martha Stewart recipe for a plum oatmeal crisp found here by adding raspberries and adding a 1/4 tsp of cinnamon to the crisp mixture.  I really don't think you can make a crisp or a crumble without cinnamon, but that's just my opinion.  Try it out, I think you'll like it - enjoy!

out to pasture

About a thirty minute drive north of here lies a local gem, The Prigel Family Creamery.  We, as a family, are lucky to be in such close proximity to an amazing dairy (they sell grass-fed beef too). It allows us to indulge in our very over-indulgent love of ice cream and at the same time support local businesses and agriculture. How often are we able to meet the cows from which our preferred dairy/meat product has come? The children were so excited to meet the "moos" (mostly Jersey and Holstein ladies) and even more excited to pig out on some delicious, creamy ice cream.  It was also an opportunity for me to talk to them ( I use the word "talk" loosely here) about where their food comes from in hopes that some day they'll appreciate the animals that make a nutritious meal possible.

Just a side note - no, the boy didn't bite on the joke about chocolate milk coming from chocolate cows. I totally thought he would, but when asked where chocolate milk comes from he looked up at me with kind of an incredulous expression and simply replied "from cows." That-a-boy!  Way to be a baby nerd! You make mama so proud.