The how to, from scratch, growing, harvesting, preserving, fermenting, savoring food farm blog
We bought a new American Black Belly ram last Saturday. We also bought two additional ewes. So we now have 8 females and 1 male, and hope for lots of bouncing baby lambs around mid March next year. We’ve named the ram Pasco (after a local town – we’ve decided to name new sheep after streets and towns in our area).
Charlie, the Tom Turkey, quickly figured out there was another set of rather large testicles in the barn yard, and he wanted to make sure that Pasco knew who was in charge. My husband shot this video. Note how Pasco eventually puts the ewes between himself and Charlie. Wuss. I’m sure he was thinking, “man, that friggen turkey is crazy”. Read the rest of this entry »
A finished chokecherry wine. One of the better wines we’ve made.
For the past 20 years or so, I’ve been lucky enough to live in quite a few towns with microbreweries. Boulder, Fort Collins and Durango Colorado, Missoula Montana, Spokane and Walla Walla Washington. In fact, it was a small brewery in Boulder that taught me that I actually liked beer. Read the rest of this entry »
Finally! We found our first duck egg on the morning of the 20th. I had hoped they would start laying around the 9th, but the information you read on when ducks start laying is always given as a range. It depends on the size of the duck and the time of year. For our Ancona ducks, it turned out to be almost exactly 5 months (they were born on April 22nd or 23rd). The next day, we found two eggs. And so far, that’s it in terms of who’s laying, but we have gotten two eggs every day since then. Read the rest of this entry »
Lots of codling moth larvae holes (I didn’t spray anything this year), so not much good for eating, but with the bad parts cut out and the good parts run through the apple grinder and juiced, they will make a fine Perry Cider.
A friend of mine (who I swear is a sister from another mother we are so alike in thought) was lamenting the frustration of wanting every seed to germinate and every seedling to survive, and then the angst of having this not be the way of nature. I would add to this the wish to harvest every single thing you have grown and savor its fleetingness or turn it into something lasting. I mourn every tomato and green bean that has been nibbled on by a slug, even though I have too many tomatoes already, and the green beans are small and not-so-tender and pretty much done for the year. I kick myself for every overgrown cucumber I missed, even though both the chickens and the goats love them, so they don’t go to waste. Read the rest of this entry »
A friend of mine in Colorado Springs loves this recipe, as do his kids, so I make a few jars every year, some for him, some for me (sorry John, we ate the 2011 batch before I could mail it to you last winter). My husband, who is not a huge fan of the sweetness of tomatillos, does not eat this salsa with abandon, which is also good. It gives me a chance to have some. Read the rest of this entry »
So back in August 2010, I wrote about my adventures in sourdough. Well, it’s now been two years (can you believe it!) and my starter is still going strong. I thought I’d give an update, and include a bunch of recipes. Read the rest of this entry »
Some from old hens, some from new.
I successfully incubated and raised up 15 new hens this year, and I’ve been waiting and waiting for them to start laying eggs. I have two customers who buy three dozen eggs a week from me, and in an effort to keep them supplied so I don’t lose them as customers in the winter (once the farmers market ends and I don’t have another outlet to sell eggs), I’ve hardly had any eggs for myself these last few months. So it was with real joy that I found my first “pullet” egg on August 9th. I had expected, based on previous experience, to find new eggs sometime around the 19th, so a few of the girls are ahead of schedule. Read the rest of this entry »
My father grew up on a farm in rural Montana in the 1930’s (he was born in 1923). He was second to last of ten children. He used to tell me stories of growing up, one of which included how, as kids, they were so hungry for something fresh that they would eat chokecherries right off the tree. While there may have been some truth to the story (it was the depression, after all), I have also met his brothers. And given that they were the kind of brothers who would put a dead fish in your sleeping bag on a camping trip, my guess is a lot of the chokecherry eating was on a dare. Read the rest of this entry »
Mary’s four babies, born July 21st/22nd (night)
So, with Mary the rabbit having babies, I thought I’d do a brief post on what I’ve learned about raising rabbits for meat…so far. (I’ve only been in this since mid April). Read the rest of this entry »
MilesAwayFarm
Miles Away Farm Blog 