admine9519, Author at Morning Song Farm - Page 31 of 44
This is Rosie at left, one of our wonderful Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats. She isn’t interested in having her photo taken unless the camera is edible, so this is the best I could do today. Goats figured out how to get into their treat bag last night and then, having gorged, couldn’t be coaxed to the milking stand this morning. In my pajamas and flip flops with a flashlight at 6:00 a.m., I discovered I had been outsmarted. Although those pajamas look like I lost in a mud tug of war, I did indeed win the battle. However, hairy foot ended up in the milking bucket, so maybe we’ll call it a “draw.” I’ll be making soap (critical not to misspell as “soup,” here) of today’s milk. Basically, the goats and I have an understanding. They get treated like princesses and are bribed with treats, that no doubt preclude any hope of ever being a profitable dairy. I get to milk in peace. There’s also a subsidiary rule that although they know how to open my front door, enter at will and say, eat my September billing; they agree not to. That’s my understanding, anyway.
A few people have asked if I sell goat milk, cheese or soap. I don’t sell anything goat-related. They were acquired for the pleasure of their company; although that end game has not always been achieved on a regular basis. In the beginning, they expressed complete disdain at my fumbling attempts to get goat milk in the goat milk bucket, which in all fairness was my stated official purpose for having goats. There was a low point where family members would peer out a nearby window, popcorn at hand, to view the daily match because watching me get my ass handed to me by a miniature goat was better than Southpark. The goats ARE fun to watch; although the foolishness of thinking that I could provide delicious goat food in exchange for them not chomping my landscaping into stumps was stellar in its complete absence of goat-ownership common sense.
They ate the delicious goat food treats AND the landscape. Immediately. And any thought that a goat can be bribed and then stay “bought,” even through a milking session, is nonsense. Payment in the form of goat treats in exchange for the opportunity to milk in peace is a notion that is renegotiated daily; occasionally minute by minute. Sometimes I walk away satisfied with the exchange. Sometimes I don’t. So if you want to add the cost of landscape replacement, let’s see. Goat soap: $127 a bar. Yet another nutty hobby I’ve understaken that my friends are left incredulous over.
I’m heading out of town mid-harvest this morning, so will have to circle back later and revise this entry for errors; but this is what we’ve planned for today and tomorrow’s harvest. Light on fruit 🙁 …we ended our orange harvest last week; and don’t start apples until next week. We still have some oranges hanging on the trees; but they’re really over ripe and have a nanosecond of shelf life once picked. Click on the harvest ticket below to enlarge the image for easier viewing.
Click on image to enlarge for easier viewing.
We got a little carried away with the baby lettuce Spring Mix, and don’t have large enough containers; so large shares are receiving three clamshell containers, and small will receive two. After finishing up our trial case; we’ll find a larger version for our large shares… I know some of you might fault me for using the plastic clam shell containers that we’re trialing this week. But in my defense; they keep our herbs and tender greens in such better condition for you, the subscriber (and me the farmer in my own frig.) I looked around for recyclable product and am trialing a local vendor’s offerings. Any feedback would be appreciated. We’ve tried putting say, sprouts in brown paper bags and then switched to small plastic bags; and neither were as nice as the clamshells we’re trying today. At the end of the day, if produce is getting thrown away because it’s not stored properly and goes bad; that’s not a good trade off for us, or our subscribers. We have mint coming along, and will add it to our spring mix as we enter the cooler season that our mint enjoys. Upcoming is our apple harvest..I think next week or the week after we’ll start. We’re also raking our madadamia groves and gearing up for the nut harvest. I don’t anticipate having cracked out nuts in our boxes, though until end of October or beginning of November.
Ingredients:
10 cups for so of dry bread crumbs. You can purchase “ready made,” or toast your chosen bread and then “Cuisinart” into bread crumbs. If you choose the Cuisinart method, go ahead and add the spices into your mixture at that point.
1 cup of finely chopped onion
1 cup chopped parsley
2 Tablespoons orange peel, finely chopped
2 teaspoons dried margoram
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 eggs
1 cup melted butter
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup lemon or lime juice
Combine all dry ingredients and mix. Then in a separate bowl combine eggs, butter, water and juice. Toss two bowls together with a few quick wisks. Don’t over work.
Use mixture to stuff turkey, chicken or this week’s peppers!
Here’s a quick recipe for this week’s amazing parsley:
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut
1/2 cup butter, melted (if you’ve never churned your own butter, this is a great recipe to try with your own butter….simply choose pure cream (no additives…yes read the label..most basic grocery stores order and sell cream with preservatives). Pour into a mixer’s bowl. Whip until the buttermilk separates from the butter. Pour off buttermilk and reserve for another use. What remains is pure butter. Salt lightly to taste.
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley. I use a Cuisinart for this, but a good knife will do the job
one crushed garlic clove
Cook potatoes until tender but DONT overdo. Drain and combine with butter and parsley; and garlic. Gently toss ingredients and salt to taste. Serve warm.
Ingredients:
3 Tomatoes, chopped
1 medium pepper
1 cup Greek olives
1/2 cup feta cheese
half small head of lettuce
Dressing:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup California olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash ground pepper
The Sahuaro Peppers in this week’s shares aren’t blazing hot, but aren’t “sweet,” either. I think they have the perfect balance between heat and meat. Here’s a quick marinate to use before roasting on your barbeque:
For every 6 peppers, crush 3 garlic cloves, and blend with 1/2 cup of vinegar; and salt to taste.
Soak peppers and then cut in halves and place on a low flame until done to your satisfaction. You can reserve the sauce and serve on the side or as a dip.