Uncategorized Archives - Page 27 of 43 - Morning Song Farm

Dec 21
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Save time, Save the Environment

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As a busy farmer, every now and then I come up with a time saving device that I’d like to offer to others for their consideration. Here it is: I’ve given this a lot of thought and I think that matching socks is an expectation foisted upon people by the sock industry and I have decided to no longer be victimized by their oppressive social manipulation. Who made the rule that donning unmatched socks was a social faux pas, anyway? I’ll tell you who! The Sock People, that’s who. And why? Because perfectly good, but unmatched, socks by the boatload are thrown away each and every day, filling up our landfills and our childrens’ environmental futures. Those unnecessarily discarded socks have to be replaced, with the only beneficiary being, you guessed it, the sock people. Oh, there’s more. Have you ever stopped to consider the opportunity cost of all that time you have spent MATCHING socks? I bet you haven’t. Well, I have. And it’s a boatload, there, too. I say, let’s spend our time in productive pursuits, not wasting time matching socks…when doing so fails to benefit the end consumer in any real way. Rise up! Defend yourself against the machinations of the sock industry. Red with White, Flowered with Plaid. Proudly display your solidarity against the sock conspiracy and save your valuable time, your sock budget, and the earth!

Next week: why making beds is a waste of time.

Dec 21
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Barn Cat Demands Entry

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Okay, so no goats in the house. We’re all on the same page with that. But a cat would be welcome. We’ve had a beautiful feral cat hanging around our packing house for a while, an inport from a local elementary school whose principal asked a member of our crew to take him to our farm as a “mouser.” A few days ago he made his way up to our home, and invited himself inside. He either is a genius, or at some point in his life was an inside cat, because he immediately plopped himself down on my bed and fell asleep. He knows all about cat boxes, we’ve discovered, and hasn’t stopped purring. He’s been here for 3 days now, and the mouse in the house is gone. Since there’s no dead mice pieces lying around, my guess is, his very presence is a deterent, the very best, pest management of all.

At first he refused to venture outside, perhaps fearful that we’d not let him back in if he left. This morning was his first post-home invasion, outdoor excursion. He hung out in the sun, climbed to the top of our patio (photo above) and then returned to his spot in front of our fireplace. The perfect cat, he has found a new home.

On another note, son Frankie thought it would be cool to buy a little catnip for him, and sure enough Cat Man was delighted. that’s him in the photo with a rolled up ball of catnip. I’m wondering if any of our CSA members might enjoy the option of purchasing catnip from our farm?
Dec 21
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Harvest Ticket Dec. 20-21 Page One

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Click on image to enlarge for easier reading.
We’re excited this week to include a bag of passion fruit in the large shares. And another week of spaghetti squash. This squash has an unusual characteristic. When opened and cooked, it takes on the appearance of spaghetti. I didn’t even believe it until I tried it, the whole spaghetti thing seems so unlikely. I cook in the oven, often when the oven is on anyway while cooking something else. (Open the squash lengthwise with a sharp knife, or do as we do and slam the thing on the pavement to open. Using a knife can be dicey, don’t take a chance if you’re at all nervous. Take it out front and slam on your sidewalk or pavement. No, it doesn’t open with perfect edges, but who cares?) Cook at 350 with a little olive oil (try Temecula Olive Oil’s local stuff, (website here: http://www.temeculaoliveoil.com/) , salt, pepper, and crushed garlic. Once the strings are easily loosened from the shell pieces, I remove from the oven, let cool, and then add the finished product to stir fries. Or you can eat it just like that, either hot out of the oven or chilled as a salad. The thing I love about Temecula Olive Oil (beside the fact that they are actual local growers of olives) is that they infuse their oils with an assortment of different offerings with results that never fail to amaze. We actually have started a small olive grove here and have been offered the TOOC facility to make oil once we’re harvesting. I can’t wait to have our own organic olives and oil to add to the CSA boxes!
Dec 13
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Dangerous Stuff Coming Out of the Sky

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You know, I’ve always thought of goats as rugged animals, survivalists even. A beast that can eat your shoe, or a piece of your car on a bad day, is no sissy. So I am really entertained to discover that they’re afraid of rain. This isn’t an individual trait, but the whole herd’s. Even a little mist is viewed with suspicion, but the actual downpour that we received in the last couple days has been met with herd-wide alarm. Our off-limits farmhouse door is only 40 or so feet from the goat’s barn, but when a few sprinkles landed on them, they roared into my house which offered a closer refuge than the barn door. Like the actual 10 feet more had they gone in the opposite direction to their barn, was too dicey. And then resolutely stood their ground when invited to leave. I know we’ve gone over this before; no goats in the livingroom. But getting a goat to move toward something they’re afraid of is like trying to argue with arugula. Each one had to be unbrella’d and carried to the barn, where they’ve sulked for hours waiting for the wet stuff to go away.

Dec 06
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Butternut Pie

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Line a pie pan with pie dough. I often cheat and use Trader Joe’s pie dough, which comes frozen. For a while there, they were having a problem with quality control, but the product now is excellent and a big time saver; especially if you don’t make alot of pies and don’t have a system. There was a time when I made a couple pies or quiches a week, and I really had the whole pie dough thing down to a science. Now, not so much and though a Slow Food Advocate, I use Trader’s product.

Preheat oven to 425.

Here’s the recipe:

2 cups of cooked squash or edible pumpkin. Do NOT try using a decorative pumpkin in this recipe. I’ve tried it, and it was awful, just watery and not flavorful at all.

1.5 cups of organic cream. Watch out for the weird stuff grocery stores are now putting in “cream.” Trader Joes is good, and Henry’s and Sprouts have products without the garbage, too.

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 Teaspoons Cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon Ginger

1 Teaspoon Nutmeg or Alspice

1/2 Teaspoon of finely crushed Cloves

2 beaten eggs
Blend it all in a Cuisinart, Vitamix or blender until smooth. Pour mixture into pie shell, bake for 15 minutes at 425, then reduce heat to 350 and bake until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. In my oven, that’s 45 minutes.
Serve with whipped cream flavored with 2 Tablespoons of bourbon.
Dec 06
0

Butternut Squash Soup

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Ha, this is so easy it hardly counts as a recipe, but here it is:

The most difficult step is getting this hard, winter squash open. I never chance injuring myself by using a knife. I take the squash outside and slam it on the driveway. No, it doesn’t open perfectly, but there’s no chance of the knife slipping off the thing and slicing fingers. Scoop out the seeds and compost those. Then, I bake the pieces with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic (smaller pieces cook faster) until they’re soft.
Remove from oven, (oh–you can use the microwave if you’d prefer) and let cool enough to handle. Scoop out and put in your blender or Cuisinart. I have a Vitamix, but this is so soft even an inexpensive blender will work. The key to amazing soup is getting it smooth, so blend until you’ve reached a really nice, smooth puree.Add liquid to consistency you desire for soup. Some people like chicken stock, others use milk, and I sometimes just use water. I add a dash of Tabasco or chili pepper, more garlic and salt to taste. Serve with finely chopped cilantro in each bowl.
Done
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