Egg Season Has Started!
As the days lengthen the eggs start appearing again in the nest boxes! And so it has begun – egg season. And that, folks, is whey the Easter Bunny has a basket of eggs!
Month: January 2018
Ken Helps Out
Ken loved working all things malleable – making soil blocks, throwing pottery, making bread, black smithing ( which he said was like making taffy, but it’s too hot to touch), mudding sheet rock, laying and grouting tiles, etc. When a musician friend asked Ken to mud some sheet rock Ken said, “Sure! Just get a bucket of sheet rock compound, and call me.” Ken answered the call, and the friend loved to tell the story …
One of Ken’s Favorites
Ken loved fruit. Each winter he would buy pears. And when a bunch ripened all at once he would bake them! His recipe: Halve lengthwise and with a small spoon scoop out core. Place cut side up on a baking pan. Place small pieces of butter on pears. Drazzle (a Ken word) the pears with maple syrup and brandy. Sprinkle with ground cloves. Bake and serve. Leftovers are great warmed in the warming oven of …
My First Bread in over Forty Years
Ken has been making sourdough bread for years. I pulled his starters out , fed them and was happy to learn they are still alive! The first try I added too much flour, but it worked for a pizza dough! Today I tried a gain – and it isn’t dog or chicken food!
My Learning Curve on Planting
About a week ago I planted seeds for shoots for the first time; it was a job Ken used to do for us. I am happy to announce things are sprouting and growing I used the biodynamic calendar and chose a leaf day The problem is some varieties may be too big and floppy for the CSA. This is the learning curve. …
Harvest Newsletter
Greetings from the Garden! This CSA box has onions, garlic, rutabaga, kohlrabi, daikon or black radish, winter squash or pie pumpkins, beets, carrots and cabbage Field Notes. As I write this on Monday, snow is swirling around, and I join the snow day joy of school children. Snow acts as an insulating blanket over the garden and helps slow the frost dropping into the soil. The frost will affect how soon soil temperatures are warm …
Watermelon Cake
Years ago Ken read in Mother Earth New that we should all be putting watermelon syrup on our pancakes because watermelon has a much higher sugar content than maple sap. He tried it and prefers maple syrup Since some watermelon matures when nights cool off and it no longer is what we crave, Ken cooks down some of it. He fills kettles with pulp, and once it comes to a boil he runs it through …
Getting By with Some Help from My Friends: The Saw Buck
We have had some cold weather. And Ken got sick with tractors and wood splitter not working. A friend brought me a load of wood. Another helped stack it. And a third hosted me in her workshop and built (with a bit of help from me) a prototype of a sawbuck from my memory of one Ken and I had years ago. A Saw buck is an x-shaped sawhorse that holds longer …
Taking on New Tasks – Planting Micro Greens
With Ken’s death I have difficult decisions. Do I try to do things he did and I am not sure to do? Do I use up seeds and do my best? I decided yes to those questions Ken planted micro greens for winter CSA boxes and I had ordered the seed. Although I had watched him and chatted with him while he did this, I never did this. So here …
Obvious We are from the Midwest
Years ago we went to upstate New York to a dance camp hosted by Jay Ungar and Molly Mason at Ashokan. We had SO much fun. Although Molly grew up in Washington state, she had spent time in the Midwest on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion Show. When Ken and I danced a polka Ken swung me ALL around the floor as other East Coast folk danced mainly in place. After the dance Molly commented, …
