Come Turn the Pages of our Virtual Scrapbook...

Come turn the pages of our virtual scrapbook of  our farm this week...
CSA Week 12 Colvin Family Farm Scrapbook.

The view from the top fields of our farm overlooking
the rest of the farm. We have a beautiful place
to work! Praise God!

Wild Prasimins growing on our farm! They make a great quick bread for the winter! Our boys over the years have taste tested them before the first frost...What a mistake!! They pucker your moth terribly!

This little snapping turtle thinks he's fisty! Beware! He can bite very hard!

Break time! Our boys go through about 10 gallons of water
day! The knees in the forefront are Noah's...he's flaked out below.

Noah will turn 16 this coming week!

Our bean harvest is BEAUTIFUL! Enjoy them...steamed, roasted, in stews, grilled, "french fried", or RAW!

(Sorry about the following pictures...I don't know why my phone went fuzzy.)

I decided to try making butter the old fashioned way with "clabbered milk" like my 88 year old mother-in-law used to do. We let the milk "thicken" ( or clabber...probably not enough) and then began to churn. Everyone that walked by that morning took a turn at turning the handle of the churn. Isaac was the first to give into temptation...

Lil' Samuel had lots of practice as the churn is one of his favorite toys when he comes to visit Grandma. He was a real pro at it!

Charity Rose (6) took her turn after quickly finishing her chore of doing the "extra dishes" after breakfast. (Extra dishes are those that do not fit into the dishwasher. We fill 3 loads a day and still get to hand wash.)

Levi (who turns 9 tomorrow) was very excited to see the final product which didn't come quickly!

Titus, our new 18 year old took his hand to the churn...I think to get his picture taken...ha ha!

Luke, my scientist/inventor/investigator wanted to see how the gears turned, milk swirled, and the technical aspects of making butter.

Finally Faith Anne (13) got her chance....She wanted to
 make yogurt, but we were out of starter.

Farmer Steve remembers the days when he churned butter for his Momma before going to school!

The final product

 didn't look much
like butter. I put it into a cheese cloth
lined strainer where it proceeded to drain.
Whey drained out and we were left with a
close facsimile of cream cheese!
I'll try again one day...practice makes perfect.

We've been on a squash stir fry kick lately. My frig was overflowing with squash
So Farmer Steve made a quick lunch for he and I one day early in the week. A few nights later he taught Charity and I how he made the tasty dish.

1. Brown diced onions in a bit of olive oil.

2. Dice up 1/2 a boneless chicken thigh per person.
Add to the onion and stir until it looses its' pink color.

3. Dice summer squash into small bite-sized pieces.

4. Cut up some pretty sweet peppers. (For a spicier version cut up 1/2 a jalepeno pepper per serving.)

5. Arrange everything for quick cooking.

6. Add squash and peppers to the pan.

7. Admire the beauty of the dish coming together!
Stir for a couple minutes.

9. Cover and let set. We like ours crisp-tender.
Set the table and ring the bell!

The next time we made it, Charity and her Daddy made it alone.
We outgrew the cast iron frying pan and made it in our 33 year seasoned wok!

Charity it learning to be quite the cook!

And Momma!

To make quick stir fries and other small meals
quickly during the busy season we repackage
boneless chicken thighs into snack-sized bags.
Then we place them all in a 2-gallon freezer bag.
When we need to make a quick hearty meal we pull one
 or two out for each person being served.
This is a frugal tip for you also! Find them on sale and
repackage for easy usage.

Potatoes are labor intensive on the farm...below you'll see the boys digging and picking up the potatoes...then they may be washed (depending on time and water availability), sorted, weighed and packed in bags someone has drilled holes into to allow them to stay dry. 

Noah crawls along the row so as not to miss  a single potato.
You should see his jeans when they come through the wash!

He's a blessing to the farm.

Bread ready for market.

On Tuesday night I started making zucchini crust pizza for my hungry boys coming home from working in the field. When they got home Adam started in on making jalapeno poppers...Isaac started making Mexican meat/bean mixture and others were snooping in the refrigerator. We ended up with a smorgasbord!

A rare picture of Adam cooking, but when it comes to poppers, he's a connoisseur! There's been 3 LARGE batches made this week.  Here's how we usually do it.
1. Clean jalapenos wearing rubber gloves.
2. Slice in half.
3. Fry bacon or spicy chorizo (sp?) sausage until browned. Drain.
4. Mix the meat with cream cheese (good thing I made a lot!). We ended up using the food processor.
5. Fill each half of the pepper with meat/cheese mixture. (I use a plastic bag filled with the mixture and "pipe" it onto the pepper.
6. Bake until the pepper is very tender.
7. See who gets the REALLY hot ones!
ENJOY!

Noah just layed the bacon on top to cook while he baked the poppers...a quickie version. Some folks fill whole peppers and wrap in bacon. That's a lot of work when you are cooking up a batch for a crowd!

Butternut squash ready to be picked up...soon to be at your market.

I froze another melon for the winter.


1. Cut the melon up in bite-sized chunks.
2. Place on tray.
3. Freeze until solid.
4. Transfer the melon to a freezer bag, and freeze.
Great for winter fruit salads or smoothies.

We've begun drying cayenne peppers for winter sales. We'll be making pepper flakes, and also our mixed hot pepper shakes also.

1

Look closely...yes, there is a field mouse about to be eaten by a black snake!

There it goes! My boys come across the most amazing sights working outdoors!

The famous calico kitty.
It's traveled underneath one box truck to Market Square Farmer's market and was treated to Cruze Farm ice cream by Colleen. Then it went to the Main Street Farmer's Market in Chattanooga also! This kitty's been places!

Enjoy the fall bounty! Please continue to come to the markets this fall!
Farmers earn their living by your patronage. We want to say
A BIG thank you to ya'll!!

Faith Anne made 4 coconut custard pies this week!

As usual there were several vegetables to "put up" again this week.
Levi (rear) and Faith Anne silk and wash corn for freezing.

Levi cuts off the sweet kernels over an angel food pan.

After cooking it a bit with a stick of butter, Luke  packaged it up for freezing.

The boys cutting okra. I think the okra blossoms are
beautiful! What a pretty patch!

It's getting close to salsa time on the farm!

The pigs are now 3 months old! They'll be ready for market by
November. They enjoy vegetable leftovers (the uglies) and natural, GMO free
corn. Safe food raised in nature! 

My newest creation...Jalapeno and Cheddar
braided loaf! Sold out at $10 a 12" loaf.

Clover-leaf rolls made with FRESHLY stone ground
wheat! 

Farmer Steve does all he can to get fresh greens to his Tuesday market at
Ebeneezer. Each of these Swiss Chard bunches are in a cup of water!

Adam and Allison's wedding is set for March. Adam has begun plans for
a small cottage on the farm to live in. This week he bush hogged a trail to the house site by the year round creek!

Our next bean harvest is in full bloom! See the
tiny green bean?

Beautiful rows of beans that will soon mature!
Great job guys!

Carrots come in fun shapes!

Farmer Steve took over the supervisor role on Monday in the kitchen.
He and I froze 3 gallons of peaches, the younger kids put up 3 gallons of corn, while Luke (11) canned his first ever green beans. He got 9 quarts! I'm proud of you Luke!

It's Friday night, and the sun has gone down over the farm...the
trucks are packed full of shares, vegetables, eggs, and honey. When the
sun rises again we'll be on the road delivering to you!
 Enjoy week number 12!



"Count your blessings,
Name them one by one.
Count your blessings,
See what God hath done!
Count your blessings,
Name them one by one...
Count your many blessings see what God hath done!"


Abundant Blessings,
The Farmer's Wife
Val