Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Collaging again

Click to enlarge
 


Monday, December 7, 2009

Snow Builds Neighbors

The snow is flying, with 8 inches on the ground and an 80% chance of more tomorrow. At this time of the year my neighbors always amaze me. With the excitement of snow brings out the "helper" in everyone on this street.

At least three people on the block have snow blowers and are constantly doing powdery drive-bys on my front sidewalk. The boyscout down the street is bringing by the popcorn we ordered a few months back, and his sister is volunteering to take care of the chickens during our winter vacation.Scott brought hot cocoa to our landlady next door who was snow-blowing the 'hood and later she brought over two huge pieces of beef roast from her ranch.

Then there are always the "well intended" incidents, with not-so-hot outcomes. Like the city snow plow truck that took out the back light of an Explorer a few houses down. Or the rocky hill I made Scott sled down, which didn't have quite enough snow on it to render the rocks harmless (he doesn't have as much padding as I do).

I say, live by these principles and it is hard to go wrong (I have this on my fridge and above my desk):



Sunday, November 29, 2009

Chicken Come Home


500 miles with chickens in the car isn't as bad as I thought it would be. If they can put 5 chickens in a crate on top of a bus in Central America, 2 in a pet carrier wouldn't be too bad.

After the first 200 miles it did smell a little farmish (they didn't take advantage of the rest stops we made and went in their hay). 

At one point there was more anxious clucking than usual from Stella for about 5 minutes, and my suspicions were confirmed when Scott dumped out the carrier after we had gotten home and found a broken egg on the ground.

When you gotta lay, you gotta lay.

Stella and Edna are the two newest members of our urban farm and are now safe and cozy in their coop.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Chicken Shizak

Officially, we are ready to be chicken owners. Now that it is legal for us to have them in town and our landlady is on board, we are getting two hens after Thanksgiving.

The plan is a wire-covered outdoor pen (to protect from predators, escapees, and our un-poultry-acclimated dogs) and a straw bale insulated coop.

I am such a wanna-be farmer. Look at our cars- we had three bales INSIDE and three on top. Each.

And, since I am all about renewable power and saving the world, we made it a passive solar chicken coop. Yep, urban yuppie pretender. Also, everything but the straw is recycled, reclaimed materials. Farm-happy hipster. Hokey yokel quack (or should I say cluck).

All I know is that they will be warm and cozy, and we even installed "wing" vents on the side that open to make sure we don't cook 'em.

You can't tell me this is a passing fad or that I'm crazy for being crazy for chickens. Check out This American Life this week: Poultry Slam 2008.

Or this other weirdo chicken freak in Durango.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Pantry is full

After many evenings fogging up the windows (with boiling water, not necessarily hot love), the pantry is full of canned food. Until he realized all the work would pay off in the form of food this winter, Scott was not a fan of all the canning I was doing, and was somewhat miffed that we weren't using that time to go "roost" some "gnar-gnar" trails (ride bikes).

However, since it dawned on him that we won't need to buy salsa or tomato soup for the next five months, he feels better (and maybe a little bit guilty for not helping more).

I know, this doesn't come close to those professional Mormon stockpilers, or a survivalist, with their barrels of water and stashes of wheat flour, but it is a start. Here is the inventory:

Jam (apricot, peach, cherry, and pear)
Peaches
Pears
Beets
Apple sauce (chunky and smooth)
Apple butter
Apple cider
Peach butter
Zucchini relish
Pickled Zucchini's
Tomatoes (for pasta sauce)
Tomato soup
Salsa
Peach/ginger chutney
BBQ sauce
Sweet and Sour Sauce
Cherries in brandy or vodka
Eggplant and sun-dried tomatoes in oil
Whole Pumpkin, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, and some apples

Not to give it away, but don't be surprised if some of you find Santa has filled your stocking with a sampling of these items come Christmas time.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A "Good" Apple

Two 40 year old apple trees call our backyard home. Both trees were trimmed this year by professionals. They were filled with blossoms this spring, and I swear that EVERY blossom turned into fruit this year.



Apple Harvesting started in August, with nephew Chris trucking them for his allowance, and it hasn't stopped yet.



I've made apple butter, apple sauce, barbecue sauce, sweet and sour sauce, apple crisp, canned cider, and multiple apple pies.

All our closest friends have come over to pick apples.

We rake up load after load for compost.

Two pickup truck loads (life sized) were hauled away for a cider party.

And yet, the lawn is still dappled with apples after the wind blows a little bit.

Just one more reason we should have goats (the dogs don't eat nearly enough to make a dent in our supply, and if they did, we'd be very sorry when we got home from work).

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Harvest Recipes

It has been a busy fall (no time for blogging). Here is some of what we've been cookin' up.







Squash Patties

(Recipe from June)

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 medium yellow squash, shredded
  • 1 onion, shredded
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cornmeal
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
  • ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS

  1. Place the squash and onion in a colander, sprinkle with salt, and drain about 30 minutes, until no longer moist. If you have less time (like me) then decrease the salt and squish the moisture out with your fist.
  2. In a bowl, mix the squash and onion, flour, cornmeal, egg, and cheese. Season with pepper. My squash must have been bigger than their concept of medium because I ended up adding another egg and more flour/corn meal to get it to stick with the correct consistency.
  3. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Drop squash mixture by heaping tablespoonfuls into the skillet, flatten with spatula, and cook 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. I used a lot more than 1 Tbs olive oil. I probably used 1 Tbs each time I cooked up 3 in the pan at a time.
I halved the recipe and still had LOTS.

Zucchini/Tomato Herb Casserole

This recipe came from Scott's mom Maggie. I tried it with the zucchini I had frozen using the technique below, and it turned out well.


Canned Peaches

Pick your own.org has some great peach recipes. See Peach Butter below...



Peach Butter










Zucchini Pickles
I haven't actually tasted these yet, but they look good in the jar.

Frozen Zucchini
It turns out a little "rubbery" once you defrost it and use it again, but it certainly tastes good and reduces the glut of zucchini this time of year!

June's Tomato Soup

Its the ripe home grown tomatoes that make it taste so good. I used this recipe:
110 ripe home grown tomatos
7 tbs flour
6 med onions
14 tbs butter
5 stalks celery
salt to taste
14 sprigs of parley (or can used dried)
4 tbs sugar
1 bay leaf
2 tsp pepper
dried basil to taste (or fresh)

Wash, blanch, skin and seed tomatoes. Reserve the juice. Chop onions, celery, parsley, bay leaf and basil. Place in a large pot with tomatoes. Cook until onion and celery are tender. Blend until smooth then return to boil. Mix butter and flour with tomato juice and add to boiling soup. Add salt, sugar and pepper. For a smoother consistency put through sieve (I skipped this). Fill clean jars to within 1 inch of top. Process in pressure cooker on 15 psi for 15 minutes (for my altitude).

Friday, August 14, 2009

What to do with a Girl like Zucchini

August was Zucchini time. Better not blink or there will be one the size of your forearm on the plant. Here is what we did about it:

Freezing: Found this article. We'll see if it doesn't turn them to mush when I defrost them!

Canning: Since the cucumbers are getting a slow start, we'll see if we can't pickle zucchini instead.

Cooking: Zucchini Bread. Zucchini gratin. And my favorite, Grilled Zucchini.

Giving them away: Don't leave your car unlocked if you come around my house in August.

Apricot Yum

My family helped a neighbor harvest her apricot tree awhile back and in return she gave us a bucketful.

We quickly got to work on making them into jam. I made 3 batches and also dehydrated quite a few.

I always thought that making jam was a pain, but I watched Melinda Shishim doing it with cherries a few weeks ago. I've been jammin' away ever since.

Essentially the process is this when using Pomona's Pectin:

1. Clean and blanch the fruit for a minute or so. This makes it easy to pull the skins off and pit them quickly.
2. Add lime juice and calcium water, and put it on the stove
3. Mix pectin and honey or sugar in a separate bowl, and then add to the stewing jam
4. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir to make sure the pectin is dissolved
5. Transfer the liquid into sterilized jars, wipe around the edges to make sure the tops will seal and add the caps (not tightening too much).
6. Place jars in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Add one minute for every 1000 feet in elevation
7. Allow the jars to cool. The jam congeals when it is completely cooled.

Pomona's Pectin requires much less sugar, making it a bit easier to swallow.

Thanks to my Mom for cooking with me last visit and the sista-in-law for inspiring me to jam this year!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Goats at the Fair

The County Fairgrounds, located conveniently across the street from my house, were the temporary home to GOATS this weekend for the La Plata County Fair.








There were some good lookin' nannys and kids, and I spoke to a guy who raises them- his kid took champion and first runner up with his goats. He said he knows a guy who is giving goats away right now- woe (and woa!) is me... my land lady would have a fit.

Also present were, chickens, pigs, cows (uck), sheep (eew) and an assortment of flashy fair rides.



Oink!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Cherry Tomato Woes

My Sweet 100s are looking a little peeked. Anyone have any ideas about what's up?

Tomato Blight?

Under watering?

Aphids?

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Busy Summer Pictures

Canning Beets










Family Visits





Potato Harvest





Biking again

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Harvest is ON

Starting to pull many things out of the garden, and before I give the excess away to the neighbors, I always weigh in my mind if I can preserve it or use it in some way. Here's what I got:

Kale: Cookin' it up with garlic, butter and breadcrumbs just like Grandma used to.




Beans: I picked and ate the first few Golden Bacau two days ago. Yum.









Zucchini: Slowly but surely it is coming out. We made fried squash blossoms stuffed with goat cheese for dinner tonight.









Potatoes: Duh. These little diggers keep forever, and besides, we eat them as fast as we pull them out.




Beets: Canned up and ready for the middle of winter.









Chard: And it just keeps coming...

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Finally Done with the Cherry Chores

When you pick cherries from trees, it doesn't look like much. But when we got them home I realized we have LOTS of cherries.









I bought a dehydrator and started drying them in the form of cut up cherries and fruit leather. We also have two tubs of frozen pie cherries (frozen in sugar water 1 cup to 8 cups ratio).




I made jam after I watched Scott's sister work her magic with pectin and a little bit of sugar, but I don't think mine set up. I bought brandy and used it to fill the gaps in a jar of pitted cherries.


Cherries everywhere.

The Locovore's Dilemma

I want to eat local, and from an article that I read recently, that means within 300 miles of where I live AND within the same state.

So, we tootled up to Paonia last weekend (about 159 miles away) and did the local thing I used to do every summer: picked cherries and ate more of them than my digestive system liked.

While we were in Paonia, we also stocked up on local meat from Homestead Market, a coop that sells locally produced meat from around the North Fork Valley.

We've also been patronizing the Durango Farmer's Market buying steak and eggs.

So, here is the dilemma: It is expensive to eat local.

Though my garden is supplementing much of the vegetables we eat, our portion of cherries cost $26 (thoughtfully paid for by Scott's parents), the dehydrator cost $75 (I opted for the less expensive model- they can be up to $175), the pectin, canning jars, lids, and hot water tongs can add up to over $40, and the electricity it takes to dehydrate a several batches of cherries for 14 hours at a time isn't nominal.

I know that if we break these costs down, it will be much less than compared with buying cherries at the store ($6 for a bag of dehydrated cherries!), but what about the meat from the farmer's market?

Farmers Markets have become so popular for tourists and the social elite that prices have gone up. I am not complaining (too loudly) because I know the amazing amount of work and care that goes into raising food, and it SHOULD be expensive to compensate these people for this nobel contribution to society. I know the difference between meat bought at Walmart and the Farmer's Market, but how can people afford it, especially during these rough economic times?

Luckily, I'm not the only one going back to the land to supplement my food supply. The revival of "victory gardens" and raising food at home is on the rise. 10% of Americans are returning to the land, saving money, and working together as families and neighbors to bring food to the table.

Why did it take an economic downturn for us to realize, gardening makes good scents/cents/sense?

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Horsethiving Women Run Ruby

Last weekend was finally spent on the river, with a group of awesome ladies from all over who came together to be in the flow. Victoria FittsMilgrim asked me to help guide this group for her True Life Coaching and Retreats.

Ruby and Horsethief Canyons were just the thing for my grant burn-out; a nice mellow run with occasional riffles, good conversation with amazing people, and the weather was perfect.

Even the bad weather was good. Wind took us by surprise the second day, but the river's high flows kept us moving down to Blackrocks.

Thunderstorms grumbled and lightening gave us a show as we watched a storm roll in at night. All at once a wall of rain, wind, and sand hit, and we all ran for cover.

The next day I hiked upstream and a lizard and I had a meaningful stare down. He won.

Waiting in the Weeds

Now is the time of summer when everything is planted and the only work that needs to be done is weeding. Sure, there is the fertilizing, or adding iron for plants looking yellow, but mostly it is wait n' weed.

While I wait, I'm reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

Big mistake.

I don't think I've ever been this impatient to produce 10 tons of zucchini before. It is just that Kingsolver makes everything sound so GOOD. The recipes are killing me. I know that I'll be knee deep in beans and tomatoes in the very near future, but I can't wait to try her peach chutney and sweet and sour sauce recipes.

Rather on focusing on what is not yet there, here is a report on Scott's corn experiment:

It isn't there yet. Unlike the peas at left, which are producing like crazy.

Out of 50 corn seeds planted, only about 4 have come up- one from the 18" deep planting, and the rest from the 6" planting. I'm still holding out for more to pop up, but they certainly will not be knee high by the 4th of July.

The rest of the garden, save the peppers, are thriving. I think it is too rainy and not hot enough for them. They do show signs of a little bit of new green growth, but no flowers.