albemarle, nc

Month: January 2016

oregano in the greenhouse

oregano in the greenhouse

I’ll be at the Charlotte Regional Farmers’ Market tomorrow with sweet potatoes, hard red winter wheat and just a few of beet greens & this and that. It’s been 3 weeks since I’ve picked anything and nothing has grown since. But there are beets, beautiful lettuce, radishes and turnips all half grown, just waiting for some warmer weather to get them going again.

I’ll have our grass fed Angus beef in these cuts:  ribeyes, NY strips, cube steak, ground beef, sirloin tip roasts, bone-in chucks, soup bones, hot dogs, andouille sausage.

I had a million things to tell you but now I can’t remember any of them.

We had a great time in the snow, Shane pulled me around on the sled with the Gator at the speed of light, throwing me off several times until I caught major air and landed on my head. Ow! I don’t know why the video is so grainy but anyway this is not the one where I hit my head.

Is my voice really that squeaky? Our neighbor has a little certified organic dairy and she invited me to come over while she has her inspection. We got to talking about using molasses for growing, and then I talked about it with my other neighbor Carl from Carlea Farms, and he picked me up a gallon of organic molasses when he went to get feed. I googled how to use it when transplanting because I was about to set out some leeks and green onions, and wanted to try it. Apparently the only people doing this are pot growers? Anyway they recommend 1 tsp of molasses per gallon of water to stimulate biological activity which helps make more nutrients available to the plant. Also, they day fire ants hate it. I’ll be exploring this, because fire ants are the reason I don’t have any kale right now.

With very little fresh food growing, we’ve been eating out of the freezer for a while now. it’s so nice to have all the stuff I froze in the summer! Sweet heirloom tomatoes, bell peppers and mini sweet peppers that are still delicious stuffed with this no bake chickpea dip, boiled peanuts, edamame, onions, berries, corn and even muscadines, ginger and turmeric. Plus I still have pickled hot peppers and pickled ginger, so good! But since there aren’t any greens for juicing, we’ve been having this for breakfast lately:

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Homemade raw milk yogurt (so easy, so illegal in our state) with cooked wheat berries, chia or flax and some fruit from the freezer. I like it with chopped apples too. If you haven’t made raw milk yogurt, here’s the recipe I use, but let me just say how easy it is; all you do is heat the milk to 110, whisk in a couple tablespoons of store bought plain organic yogurt then pour it into quart jars and I set the jars in my crock pot – don’t turn it on – and fill it with 110 degree water. Cover it up and go to sleep and in the morning, Voila! I love that it isn’t pasteurized because I feel like without all the fresh food I’m used to having, we really need all the beneficial bacteria and enzymes we can get. One time I did turn the crock pot on, just to slightly warm it but then forgot and cooked the yogurt like crazy. It was still amazing! It was very thick, like Greek yogurt.

just a few of the onion flats

It’s time to start onions, so I got in the greenhouse and got everything ready just to find the Thorvin kelp I use in my organic fertilizer mix was ruined. So I called (actually texted, because I never ever call anyone ever) both of my nearby organic farming neighbor friends and thank goodness Dean from Laughing Owl had some on hand he was willing to share. The place I buy my ammendments is far far away. So, got all those done and now it’s time to start potted herbs that will be for sale mid-April and I’m going to attempt some greenhouse cukes right now even though my little voice says they’re going to attract disease and bugs into the greenhouse and spread them to my baby tomato plants which would be horrible and maybe ruin my life. These are special greenhouse cucumber seeds: ok with cooler temps, self-pollinating and resistant to disease. I think they were $14 for 10 seeds which I would normally never pay, but these are supposed to be supercalifragilistic and I really love cucumbers. Hush, little voice.

oakleaf and butter

oakleaf and butter

Not sure if I’ll come next Saturday (hope to) so don’t forget your hot dogs for the Superbowl Disco Wieners 🙂

I’m always a little embarrassed to post this recipe because it’s so not like the typical recipes I make, but we just make it one day a year for the Superbowl and it’s so good! My mom always made it and I buy organic ingredients but it still sounds so bad.

It’s just equal amounts of grape jelly and plain yellow mustard, mixed together in a pot and heated until just starts to simmer. Add a pound or 2 of hot dogs cut into 1″ pieces, stir,  cook until hot! I feel like i need to apologize, but YUM.

See you tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

No market for me this week.

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I smashed my hand in a fight with the tiller. The only thing I can use it for is getting sympathy from Shane but even that’s not really working out 🙂

I plan on coming next week unless I lose another fight with some equipment.  Have a great weekend!

 

Market Stuff for January 9!

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I chose the windiest of all the days to ride my just-barely-broke-to-ride horse through the woods and fields. It was pretty much a hot mess, with all the super scary wind sounds and booger-whos blowing around! But then, that photo.

I’ll be at the Charlotte Regional Farmers’ Market tomorrow, and it’s slim pickins, friends. Those cold nights. I’ll have sweet potatoes, baby leeks, beet greens, turnips, my wheat,  and 3 bunches of fresh thyme and only 2 bunches of basil. I know I told folks I’d pick the kale this week but it’s got powdery mildew thanks to the dampness in the hoop houses.

And our grass fed Angus beef in these cuts – andouille sausage and hot dogs made from our Angus beef with no added nitrates or nitrites.  Ground beef, cube steak, short ribs, huge briskets (we don’t normally have 5 and 6 pound briskets!), soup bones, bone-in chuck, sirloin tip roast, eye of round,  NY Strips, ribeyes, and a couple filets.

So I’m not sure if I’ll have anything to bring next weekend, but if it’s a sunny week and things can grow, I’ll be there.

Check it out!

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Homemade pasta! I made it from my freshly ground whole wheat flour.  I thought it wasn’t bad for a first try, but Shane flipped his lid. We tossed it in olive oil, garlic, homemade sun dried tomatoes and the basil, and a little grated pecorino.

Didn’t try too hard on the noodle cutting. I really didn’t think it would turn out, seemed too easy.

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This was a huge plate of pasta and I thought we would collapse onto the couch and die after eating all that, but both of us had a ton of energy and we both went back to work after supper which rarely happens lately. That’s the thing about whole grains. THESE are the kinds of whole grains that should be included in a diet if one is choosing to include whole grains in the diet. Freshly milled whole grains are truly an entirely different food group than any “whole grain” product from the grocery store, including flour off the shelf.  In my experience, they digest differently – much faster and cleaner; they don’t have the same effect on the blood sugar, they are ground and used fresh before the delicate oils oxidize. The closest thing I’ve come across at the store is the sprouted grain bread, like the Ezekial brand. I can’t even stand the smell of “whole wheat” bread off the shelf, it always smells kind of rancid. Have you ever noticed that?

Anyway. Remember the surprisingly yummy Super Greens Rice with kale pesto? Even better with beet greens pesto.

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I’ll see you tomorrow bright and early!

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Happy New Year! I hope it’s a great one for you.

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A lot of mud happening around here.  If I hear one (1) word  about a drought this summer… OOPS upside your  head weatherperson!!

I’ll be at the Charlotte Regional Farmers’ Market tomorrow with sweet potatoes, leeks, beet greens, swiss chard, parsley, a little basil, cutting celery, radishes and turnips, my wheat,  and our grass fed Angus beef in these cuts – beef andouille sausage,  sliced pastrami, and hot dogs all made from our Angus beef with no added nitrates or nitrites.  Ground beef, cube steak, short ribs, brisket, soup bones, bone-in chuck, sirloin tip roast, eye of round,  NY Strips, ribeyes, filets.

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Not as to-die-for as summertime basil but much better than no basil.

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Looks just like the picture I took IN APRIL. So so so green. A little too squishy and slippery for my taste though.

 

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I just remembered that today is Moo’s birthday!  Drats! I forgot to get him his box of Frosted Mini Wheats.

 

 

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