Teaching a Class

I will be teaching a class on Backyard gardening/homesteading starting April 30th at the Bees Landing Rec center.  If you are interested or know someone who is- e-mail me and I can send you more info.!  Thanks!

Strawberry Picking Time!!

Yeah, yeah, yeah!!  I think I was the most excited person in Charleston to hear that the strawberries were ready for picking at the farm!!  It has been several months- too many to count- since we have had any berries in our house!  So, Saturday morning, bright and early, we were up and dressed and out the door by 9am to get in the strawberry fields!  Those of you who know our family, know this is a huge accomplishment for us.  We do not get too many places early in the morning, except for our backyard!  But, I could literally taste the sweet strawberry juice in my mouth, so out the door we went!  This is really one of my favorite things to do with my kids and myself.  You really cannot get much better than walking into a field of fresh strawberries warm from the sunshine just waiting to pop in your mouth!  Magical!  Plus, Farmer Pete practices sustainable/organic farming, so no sprays for the beautiful berries.  This means you can literally eat them right in the field, of course a little dirt is on them.  But, really we all could benefit from a little dirt now and then.  Don't you remember the saying your mother/grandmother would say "God made dirt, and dirt don't hurt"!!  I just love seeing the red juice dribbling down my boy's chins, and hearing them in awe over the biggest strawberries!  Of course, being true to boys, they always have to have a contest on who can pick the biggest berry!  I think in a matter of 20 minutes we had picked over 5lbs of berries!  Strawberry shortcake was on the menu that night at our house, so I had to make sure enough berries would make the car ride home for that!  I used an old fashion recipe for homemade short cake and real whipped cream made from real cream.  Oh my goodness, there will never be another container of cool whip or angel food cake in my house!!  There is no comparison- real whipped cream is amazing!!  And so easy to make- just get some real cream and put it in a bowl with 2-4tbls sugar and get to whipping- it takes a few minutes to get thick, but it is oh so worth the wait!!   Update on eggs in incubator- we candled on day 14 and saw a lot of baby embryos inside this time- very excited!!  Hatch Day- day 21- is this Saturday!!  Lots of planting going on, too- Tomatoes in the ground, cukes, squash, corn- just need this cooler weather to take a hike!! 

Baby chicks!!

Well, from our first try at incubation, we were able to successfully hatch 2 baby chicks!!  We had 3 more that pipped but never fully made it out of shells.  My book said not to help the chicks out of shell b/c this is part of natural selection, and it can make your stock weaker.  Ok, I can understand the logic here, but I will tell you, with this next batch of eggs, if any need help- they will be getting help from us!!  Very hard to watch the little guys make it all the way to the finish line and then not make it fully out.  As it turns out, those were the very large eggs, and the chicks were too big inside to be able to fully turn themselves around in the shell.  Yes, if we were going on to use these as a breeding stock, I could understand not wanting carry on a line that produces eggs too big to hatch on their own.  However, our main purpose with this first batch was to see if we could actually hatch eggs.  And, also to have meat birds for the freezer in a few months.  But, since just two hatched this time- these two will be pets- as our boys have already named them.!!  They said with the next batch of eggs that hatch that they will name them, too.  However, they said that the names would be "lunch" and "dinner"- got to love kid's logic!!  On the day the first two pipped was day 21 right on schedule- however, they took about 12 hours to fully emerge from the shell which of course occurred at 1am and 3am.  I swear it was like waiting for a baby to be born- I could not sleep at all, and I had to watch the whole process.  It was really amazing!!  I tried to wake the rest of the house up to see the chicks coming out of the shell, but all of my boys are hard sleepers including Dad, so it was only me up with them hatching.  When the boys woke-up at 6am that morning, I was back in the bed finally, but I was quickly awakened by their screams of "oh my gosh, there are live baby chicks in the incubator!"  It sounded like Christmas morning around here!  The two chicks are doing very well- very well loved and cared for.  We have them in a brooder next to the incubator right now.  But, during the warm days, they like to stay in the greenhouse.  It is so cute watching them chase after bugs being so little.  They already try and take mini-dust baths- it is very amusing to watch.  Yes, that is my entertainment- some might say, geez don't you have something better to do- my response is "I am doing something better right now".   The simple things in life really do offer the most pleasure.  You just have to slow down and enjoy them!! 

Easy white gravy recipe with turnips!

Here is our homemade recipe for white gravy- it is easy and very adaptable to different recipes.  Start with a couple of tablespoons of butter melted in a pan, then add finely chopped up turnips (yes, turnips- they are delicious- trust me!), sautee for a couple of minutes, then add 2 tablespoons of flour and whisk it all together- it will be very thick and a bit hard to whisk.  Then you slowly add milk- about 1 cup give or take some depending on how thick you like your gravy.  Whisk this often until desired thickness- that's it!  Very simple yet, delicious and not so unhealthy!  You can add salt and pepper to taste when sauteeing turnips.  We use this recipe to put over chicken, pork, mashed potatoes, rice, broccoli- whatever you want- biscuits- yummy!  Our boys love it!  If you are cooking meat- just cook the meat in the pan first, then take meat out and you can start your gravy with pan drippings- sometimes you need to add a little more butter and/or wine to get drippings off of the pan.  Last night- we used this recipe to make an alfredo sauce.  I followed this same recipe, then added some chopped carrots, broccoli, and then at very end added our homemade ricotta cheese.  It turned out wonderful!  
Incubator update- we are on day 17- tomm. will be the last day of turning- then it is a wait and see game through day 21- hopefully we get some baby chicks!!  Our eggs are so dark brown, we have not had much luck candling them to see if any growth was happening.  So for us, it will be a big surprise!!
More to come on this!

 

Fertile Eggs!!

Wow- we had some excitement over the weekend!  We discovered that our eggs are in fact fertile!!  We have been closely monitoring our hen/rooster lately, and we had noticed that he was really enjoying some "adult time" with the hens.  My husband I think is a little jealous of the rooster- apparently male-bounding transcends species!   So, I did a little reading in my backyard chicken book (great reference), and it had a very detailed section on how to tell if you have fertile eggs.  I had always heard you put a candle under them- we tried a flashlight in a dark closet, but having no clue what we were actually looking for- this proved to be very unsuccessful.  The book said that once you crack an egg, you can look at the yolk for a very small white circle.  If the circle is neatly formed with a bulls-eye shape or doughnut, then you have a fertile egg.  If the white shape is very disorganized, well then your rooster is not doing its job properly (as my husband says "shooting blanks").  So into the kitchen we went with two fresh eggs from the coop.  Being a house with four growing boys, someone is always hungry, so we knew after we examined the eggs we could fry them up to eat- no wasting!  After cracking the two eggs in a shallow bowl, my husband and I were closely looking for the white shape- I must confess, I felt as though I was waiting for the results of a pregnancy test!  Bingo, we saw the perfectly white shaped doughnuts- tiny as can be, but there indeed!  So, as it turns out- our rooster is apparently the "real deal", no "blanks" for this guy!!  Needless to say, we were all extremely excited about this discovery.  It has always been a dream of ours to hatch our own baby chicks.  Especially since our hens are of good stock- why not keep the good breed going?  Next step, incubator.  Yes, we could go buy one- but as you know by now, if it can be made, we will make it (excuse me- my husband will make it).  I am not the handy type at all- hence the reason I married one!  So, onto the internet I went- I can research really well!  I must say, I am not normally a fan of computers, but when it comes to finding info.- wow!!  Well, we found some great plans for incubators on the Mother Earth News website- told you this is a great magazine!  My husband decided the one made from an old cooler suited our needs best.  So, after everyone went to bed- he stayed up and watched the Youtube video of making an incubator from a cooler.  Supplies: old cooler (plentiful around here), working computer fan, hot water heater thermostat (had one from the heater we just replaced- hence the reason we never throw anything out- you never know when you might need it), thermometer, chicken wire, light bulb, and you are ready to make it!  First thing the next morning, my husband was up making the incubator and it was completed by lunchtime- it is so cool!!  He cut out the top and replaced it with plexi-glass so we can monitor what is going on at all times!  Once we got the temp. and humidity (cup of water) right in the incubator, in went the eggs.  Tuesday Feb. 15th was day one- 11 eggs went in- a variety of white, little brown, and big brown ones.  That first night- it was like a newborn baby in the house- I was up every hour checking on them to make sure the temp. and humidity were ok.  Everyday they must be turned- four times a day.  The temp. and humidity must remain constant, too.  But, if we are successful, in about 21 days, we should see little chicks popping out of the eggs!!  We have great expectations and I will keep posting back here on progress!  On another note, we have successfully made mozzarella cheese- absolutely delicious- no comparison to the store-bought kind!  Only took about 45 minutes, too!  With this warm weather, I have been busy getting my raised garden beds ready for spring planting.  I add chicken manure daily and yesterday we shoveled compost to top dress all the beds.  Our potatoes and onions went in the ground this week- 5lbs of red and yukon gold, and 2 lbs of red and yellow onions.  Seeds are sprouting in the greenhouse- tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, lettuce, pumpkins, watermelons, cucumbers, basil!!  Yeah, my favorite time of the year!! 

Making Bread

I wanted to share the recipe we use for making bread.  I discovered this recipe while reading my Mother Earth News a while ago- which by the way is an awesome magazine!  Anyway, it is a very simple no-kneading recipe that you can add to or adjust as you like, and it is very kid-friendly (smooshing dough with your hands!).  Things you will need before you get started:  bread flour/all-purpose flour (better to use unbleached), yeast (packets or jars- jars are better value if you will be baking a lot of bread), salt (I use sea salt or kosher salt), cornmeal, pizza peel (I use a small cutting board with a handle).  The recipe is for a free-form artisan loaf or French boule. 

• Start by heating 3 cups of water to about 100 degrees.
• Add 1 1/2 tbsp of granulated yeast and 1 1/2 tbsp of kosher salt to the water in a 5-quart bowl- I use a wooden salad bowl, but you can use any bowl that you can loosely cover or lid.  Do not worry about getting all the yeast to dissolve- just swirl it around a bit with a wooden spoon.
• Mix in 6 1/2 cups of your flour by gently scooping it into measuring cup and leveling it off with a knife (don't pat down)
• Mix with a wooden spoon or stand mixer with dough attachment until uniformly moist.  If hand mixing becomes too difficult (which it will)- this is where your children can help.  With wet hands, have them mix the dough together until flour is blended together and all moist.  This step is done in a few minutes- remember no-kneading.  The dough is ready when it is wet and loose enough to conform to your container.
• Cover it loosely and allow to rise at room temperature for about 2 hours (until it flattens on top).  If it rises longer- no problem (if you are like me, two hours slips by sometimes). 
• You can use the dough anytime after this; however, if you refrigerate it for a few hours (better overnight)- it will be easier to work with and the taste will improve.  Refrigerate it covered loosely (I cover my bowl with plastic wrap and a towel- or sometimes just a towel.
• When you are ready to bake, sprinkle a little cornmeal on your pizza peel to keep it from sticking.
• Sprinkle top of dough with flour to make it easier to cut a piece away- then with a serrated knife cut a piece of dough about the size of a grapefruit or cantaloupe (if you want a bigger loaf)
• Take the ball of dough in your hands if it is sticky add a little flour to your hands so it will not stick
• Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on four "sides"  rotating the ball of dough a quarter-turn as you do, until the bottom of the dough has a collection of four bunched ends.  The bottom part will flatten during resting and baking.
• Put the dough on the cornmeal-sprinkled pizza peel and let it rest for 40 min.
• Twenty min. before baking pre-heat oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone on middle rack and place an empty broiler tray for holding water on the bottom rack.
• Dust top of loaf with flour to slash it with a serrated knife to allow for bread expansion.  Slash scallop pattern 1/4 inch deep in loaf.
• After 40 minutes and oven is preheated, with a flick of your wrist, slide the loaf onto the baking stone, and add 1 cup of hot water to the roasting pan and close the oven quickly to trap the steam.
• Bake for about 28-30 minutes depending on your oven
• Take out and cool on a wire rack before cutting- then enjoy your delicious homemade bread!
• Refrigerate the rest of the dough to use over the next week

It may sound difficult or long, and yes the first time, as with any recipe, may take awhile and seem hard.  But, trust me, the end result is worth it.  Plus, after doing it a couple of times, it will be like second nature to you.  Then, you can add ingredients (sunflower seeds) or use different flours (like wheat) once you get the hang of it.  We have started using the dough for making pizza on Friday night- it is delicious.  Just cut a piece of dough off the size of grapefruit and roll out and put toppings on and bake same degrees- if you like a crustier dough- bake the dough a couple minutes before adding toppings. 
This bread is so good with honey drizzled on it or dipped in olive oil.  Great snack for your children when they get home from school- especially on cold days.  Also, thinly sliced, it makes perfect sandwich sizes for kids, and toast in the morning before school.  Send me a comment or e-mail if you have any questions.  caroline_watford@bellsouth.net

A new snack- Kale Chips!

Once again, we have discovered a new way to eat a food that we would have never eaten before.  On Saturday when I went out to pick up our CSA share, one of the vegetables we got was kale.  My husband has never been a huge fan of kale (not really sure why), so I normally just get one bunch and then trade our other bunch for collards.  However, when I was picking up the kale bunch, I noticed a new recipe above the kale- Kale Chips!  It seemed very easy and might just be tasty- you never know til you try it!  Also, my husband and boys have seemed to be craving a new snack food.  So, into my bag the bunches of kale went!  When we got home of course everyone was "starving" and dinner was still two hours away.  It seems with growing children and a husband someone is always starving!  Since dinner was still a few hours away, I decided to try the kale chip recipe out for a snack food.  All you do is take the kale bunches and remove the stems and cut or tear the kale into bite size pieces.  Then, in a bowl mix about 1/4 cup olive oil, a few splashes of vinegar (I used red wine), salt, and pepper, and add the kale pieces to this, and mix this together.  Then, spread out on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes at 325 degrees, or until crispy.  Then take a bite and enjoy!!  Trust me, I did not think kale could possibly make a good snack food, but I was proven incorrect.  As it turns out, kale chips are delicious!  My husband could not believe how good they were!  Of course, my boys were the ultimate taste testers- and it passed their taste buds with flying colors!  Turns out kale makes a very yummy chip, and guess what, it is super nutritious, too!  It comes out crispy and tasty just like a potato chip- but even better!  We also made a batch of sweet potato chips, too.  We were able to satisfy our snack food craving with nutritious and local food, but we did not have to sacrifice taste, and we did not have to feel guilty about eating all the chips!  Update on cheese making, our cheese supplies came in over the weekend, so today it is homemade cheese making day- bring on the mozzarella and ricotta!!