A Day On The Farm

This morning we were surprised to see a couple deer walking across the front yard just beyond the hitching post. I do mean just beyond it too... like maybe only two or three feet. One of them was fairly small but we were excited to see it had little tiny buds on its head, soon to become nice big antlers. The other one was quite a bit bigger and had antlers about 6 inches long that were still in velvet.

In case that doesn't make sense to you, the antlers first comes out covered in a soft, furry, velvet. They will eventually scrape this off and many hunters use those scrapings to hunt the deer. Clearly we don't have to worry with actually hunting if they're going to just walk right up to us... This only happens when it's NOT hunting season - of course.

The deer headed over to the garden and as soon as they got within distance of the motion sprinklers, they ran off towards the woods. The bigger one of the two let his curiosity get the better of him and he inched is way back up towards the garden. He didn't risk the sprinklers again though, instead he just walked off into the woods behind the garden.

HOW COOL WAS THAT??

That's how it is here and part of the life I love. As we watched the deer, there were two or three little birds perching on the bird feeder and the humming bird was busy drinking the nectar from that feeder. There were a few chickens pecking at the ground and the rooster calling out his "cock-a-doodle-do" for all the world to hear.

The new bean plants have sprouted despite the heat and despite the fact that everyone told me they would never make it. I hope I get more beans from these than that first round but there's no way to tell how sneaky those little rabbits will get in their quest to outsmart the motion sprinklers.

Looking back on the garden pictures I took when it was in full season, the greenery was a refreshing sight to see. Indeed, it's been so hot the cucumber plants are mostly brown, the bean plants have no leaves and the stalks that remain are also turning brown. The tomatoes have put out so much fruit that the plants looked wilted and dead. They're still growing though - they just look neglected.

I found a lady who grew so much summer squash she was selling it for a dollar a pound. I just couldn't resist... I bought five pounds. She picked it on Tuesday and I canned it on Thursday. The batch made 10 quart jars and I must say they are quite pretty to look at! I can picture me making  a warm, cheesy, squash casserole somewhere up in the middle of the winter.

In one of my baskets came some daikon radishes. I had never eaten one before but found it to be very similar to a regular red radish, maybe a little hotter. Well, I've been reading my pickling book and it just so happened to have a recipe for sweet pickled Daikon. You know me, I got right on it. I peeled and sliced the daikon into very thin pieces. From there I had to boil some vinegar, sugar and salt to make the brine and it was poured over the daikon slices that were packed into a 1/2 pint jar.

The recipe says to be sure and share this with friends as it has an off-putting odor that no one should miss. hee hee hee It also says not to be scared off by the odor because this is one tasty pickle. It only takes 3-4 days for it to be ready to eat so I'll keep you posted on that!

I've been reading (of course) and my reading brought me to a recipe for sauerkraut that you make at home, in a crock, with nothing more than some salt and something to weigh it down. I've never been a fan of store bought sauerkraut but I'm told the homemade stuff is an entirely different thing. So while we were out getting scratch and sweet feed, the ACE Hardware store advertised they had ceramic crocks for just such a venture. What luck???

I brought my 3 gallon crock down to the trailer along with my 5 pounds of cabbage. I chopped it very thin, as instructed, and added it to the crock. I salted it, again as instructed, and mixed it all together by hand. I love the smell of fresh chopped cabbage, reminds me of cole slaw :) Anyway, it was all chopped up and salted and I placed a piece of cheesecloth over it and weighed it down with plastic bags full of brine - just in case they leak. The cabbage is weighted down for 2-4 weeks at which time it should become tangy, crunchy sauerkraut! Really now, how easy is that? I hope I like it! Even if I don't, Wally does and so do a couple friends that are aware of this latest attempt of mine.

I didn't just decide to make sauerkraut because of the ease of the process, I decided to do it because of the reported health benefits... they say that eating lacto-fermented foods is good for your gut health and really good for your overall digestion. I'm all about that. Sauerkraut is one of the best when it comes to lacto-fermented foods so even if you don't make your own (which I recommend), you should still eat it as often as you can. I never thought I'd hear myself say that since I've never been a fan but we gotta stay healthy people so get with it!! hahahahaha Oh, and quit smoking would you?

Sorry, had to throw that in there :)

I know this post has been primarily about food but farming is primarily about food so it's hard to write about much else when this farming keeps me so busy. I start my day feeding the chickens and then us. If the horses come up, they get fed too. I clean up the breakfast dishes and get my basket and head for the garden.

I pick cucumbers, tomatoes and now that the okra is coming in, I have okra in my basket as well. Tonight we have enough for smothered okra with shrimp that I'll make with tomatoes I canned last year! I check the tomato plants to be sure none are falling down and tighten any pantyhose that may have loosened up. I water the peppers and herbs and pick any peppers that look ready to eat. The jalapenos are coming in quick and I'll soon have enough to put in a jar with vinegar and water. The sweet bell peppers are just beginning to put out peppers and the banana peppers are growing nicely but can get much bigger before I pick them unless I just can't take it.

After the watering and picking there's deciding what to do with all of it. Most days I have a half bushel basket full so there's lots of planning to be done. What to pickle, what to can, what to eat and what to let ripen on the windowsill.

I load up my truck and drive on down through the holler to the trailer where I unload all my goodies. I turn on the ceiling fan and the radio and start sorting out where to begin. Depending on whether something needs to be brined or not sets the stage. If no brining needs to be done I get started on washing the vegetables, chopping the vegetables, washing the jars and filling the canner with water to boil.

I get out my timer and then the fun begins :) The jars are packed and wiped clean, the lids and bands are set in place. They are lowered into the canner and depending on whether I'm using the pressure canner or the water bath canner, I start watching the pressure gauge or for the water to boil.

The pressure builds slowly but once it gets where it needs to be, it just needs to be watched so it doesn't get too high. The water bath tends to seep water out so I have to wipe up the water that boils over. None of this is high maintenance and mostly I can sit at the table and read my books and magazines once things get going. I can't hardly complain now can I?

When the timer goes off, the heat is turned off and the pressure has to come back down at its own pace. This isn't the type of pressure cooker you can safely cool down by putting water on it, indeed, that would be a seriously dangerous move. The pressure has to come down before the lid can be removed and there's no point trying any sooner. Even with the pressure completely released, it's still such a tight seal that it's difficult to turn the lid and unlock it. But I can do it! Those jars cooling and those lids popping are proof! lol Come see me during the canning season and I'll show you just how easy the whole process is.

The water bath canner is new to me and it's a little more to watch over just because of the water that comes out. Just like any pot of boiling water, some comes out. I just wipe it up with a paper towel and keep watching for more. This type of canner doesn't take a long to process as the pressure canner but you have to be pretty strong to lift all those jars out of it. It comes with a basket that has handles but the handles are hot and they're in water. Once I get them out of the water, I can rest the basket on top of the canner. I can then move the jars to the towel on the counter so they can cool.

After the jar lids pop, I'm done. I usually clean up my mess while the canners are doing their job so once the lids pop, I pack up my things and head back through the holler to the cabin. The jars stay at the trailer until the next day when they've cooled enough for me to touch them, then I store them on the shelves until we need them.

On my way out, I water the 4 jalapeno plants I have in the ground there and then I'm on my way. Things still need to be done at the cabin, like pulling in the laundry, walking the dogs and fixing dinner. You can see how I stay busy on a typical day. If I still had to go to work, I'd never be able to have a garden this size. Once gardening season is over, well, I might look for something to do job-wise but nothing with any potential :) My corporate days are over.

I find I like doing the things I've always wanted to do and now that I have the chance to do it, I could never go back to the daily grind. I still want to try my hand at soap making and there are still the cows I want to raise. I hope to double the garden next year so I'll be even busier by then. I have plum trees planted so I can make more wine and I may even try to grow some corn. I miss the Zellwood Sweet corn that I canned for all those years. The corn here is really good by all means but somethings just can't be duplicated.

I'm still pondering the thought of a website but I'm too busy during the picking season to get too involved with it. As soon as things settle down, it will be my next project. If anyone has any experience with stuff like that, feel free to give me some tips. After all, this blog wouldn't even be here were it not for Ernie telling me about blogspot. I have some awesome friends!!!

I'm off to the trailer to check on things; put my jars on the shelves, shake the pickle jars and skim the wine. I may even plant the two sweet potato vines I started growing a week ago. Already they need to go in the dirt!

Busy, Busy, Busy...but lovin every minute :)