It may be grey and wet outside, but inside I'm enjoying the quiet days of winter. While my older boys are gearing up for growing vegetables, this farmer's wife is enjoying cooking, baking, organizing recipes, organizing my herbal notebook, sewing, teaching school, cuddling on the couch reading seed catalogs, and relishing the warm bed at 5:45 a.m.! Some people eat seasonally, but we also live seasonally!
Tis the season for many things on our farm...
*Tis the season to prepare our bodies for the long season ahead. I'm intentionally fixing meals that will build up our immune system and strength. Farming long hours for about 8 months of the year is very draining. While the children school at our 12' farm table, I work in the kitchen next to them...teaching... kneading... reviewing...mixing...giving tests...experimenting with an idea for a new recipe. I call on children to join me, as they learn so much as we work together. Charity Rose (about to turn 4) is getting to be quite a good bread baker! This way I model several things to my children. #1 Momma is a learner, and there are a lot of things to learn outside textbooks. #2 My children see me serving in our home being a "keeper at home" and prayerfully they will catch the godly vision of Titus 2.
*Tis the season to prepare our seed and equipment orders for the season. We have lots of plans, but a lot of them depend on YOU. When you sign up for your share, it enables us to put our plans into ACTION. The variety and quantity we are able to plant depends on the support we get from our shareholder family. There is a lot on the line as I type this.
*Tis the season for researching, researching, and more researching for ways to use our vegetables in innovative ways. If you are a longstanding share holder you may remember that when I first started typing out hard copies of From the Farmer's Wife in 2010, our family liked steamed vegetables...old time tried and true methods. Being "The Farmer's Wife" has challenged me in a good way to break out of this path and try new things! It only took one season of the Farmer's Wife for me to exhaust my recipe file! Now we braise, roast, grill, combine, pickle, ferment, etc.
One funny thing about my research is that NOW I KNOW WHAT A BLOG REALLY IS! "What?!!", you say! I had never read a blog until this winter other than my own! Odd eh? Well, I'm being challenged now by other women in my calling as a wife, mother, and farmer's wife! There is soooooooo much information out there that I actually hit overload...there was a growing stack of computer print offs in a stack in my desk area! I had to tell myself to stop printing off recipes for casseroles, breads, soaps, herbal mixtures, etc. until I had organized it all. Thankfully that didn't take too long!
*Believe it or not, tis the season to plant in the greenhouses all ready! As seeds arrive different varieties of cabbage are being planted. Before today's planting there were 4,000 seedlings there..more today. This is cheap "therapy" for my older boys. They are like me...they get the planting itch around now.
*Tis the season for rocking chair gardening! Anything is possible in my garden during the long snowy nights of winter! I picture the perfect cottage kitchen garden with a new rustic wattle fence defining it. I dream about quiet moments enjoying its solitude during the busy season...
When we started our CSA in Dayton in 2002 we used mainly 1250 square feet of raised beds in our side yard. We fed 25 families plus our own needs in this area. It's amazing what you can grow in one square foot! 9 bean plants, 1 tomato plant, 16 green onions or radish, 9 beets, PLUS A WHOLE LOT MORE! For more information how to grown in a very frugal way, visit square foot gardening.com. Well, these beds are now not needed and are overwhelming to me along with my other responsibilities... I realized last spring after planting the whole thing that I could not keep up with it. I felt guilty, and frustrated that I didn't have the needed time to work in it. (I was used to working 6 hours a day in it until it was established.) So for the first time last summer I got the food we need same as you do, from boxes leftover from drop offs. BUT I still have the need to garden, it's me...that's how the boys have fallen in love with growing. It's been our classroom, our hobby, and our livelihood. So the beds are coming out with some of them being rearranged closer to my kitchen door. I plan to plant them back with my all ready established herbs, and flowers in a more manageable size. I hope to border it with a rustic wattle fence that Titus and I are planning to make in March before the rush begins. So, now I'm putting little stars by all the flowers in catalogs that strike my interest...that's free...and maybe a few will end up in my "picture perfect cottage kitchen garden"!
*Tis the season to experiment in the kitchen! I love to light candles or my kerosene lanterns, gather the children about me and cook. Here is one recipe or formula that helps me to use the leftovers in my refrigerator. I give all the credit to Green Apple Home on UTUBE. Faith Anne (11) and I cleaned out the refrigerator yesterday and made a delicious supper!
WHATEVER CASSEROLE FORMULA
2 C. meat (cubed chicken, ham, tuna, leftover roast etc.)
4 C. starch (cubed potatoes, noodles, rice, or other grains)
2 C. chopped leftover vegetables
2 C. sauce (1 can cream of __ soup, cheese sauce, gravy, etc.
Topping: buttered bread crumbs, croutons, fancy fried canned onions, etc.
Shredded cheese (optional)
Here's what my first casseroles looked like:
2 C. (or so I just layered it) cubed chicken with bits of congealed chicken juices on it
4 C. layer of leftover brown rice
2 plus C. layer of broccoli and cauliflower mixture (We're thankful we froze so much!)
Buttered bread crumb layer (From our own whole wheat bread.)
Sprinkle of cheese for looks (optional)
Bake covered for 30 minutes or until bubbly (more like 45 minutes if your ingredients are cold), uncover, sprinkle with cheese. Continue to bake until cheese is melted. You can freeze this before baking and have it to pull out on a hectic evening.
*Tis the season to enjoy a good night sleep. During the growing and marketing season we may get to bed in the early hours of morning and need to be up at 5 a.m. This winter I've enjoyed reading before bedtime with a cup of tea by me, snuggled under my quilts. When the alarm goes off at 5:45 a.m. I get to decide if I want to get up. Mostly I discipline myself to get up and meet with my Lord, but on weekends, this can be pushed back a half hour to an hour without mishap. It's hard to describe this wintertime blessing!
More leisurely breakfasts have been fun also! I have been having fun on Friday mornings trying special recipes. The Recipe Girl at Recipegirl.com inspired me with this treat for last Friday's breakfast!
Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
Pancakes:
1 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 cup milk
1 T. canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cinnamon Filling:
1/2 c. butter, melted
3/4 c. brown sugar, packed
1 T. ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Glaze:
4 T. butter
2 oz. cream cheese
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 t. vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Prepare pancake batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Whisk in milk, oil and egg, JUST until moistened ( a few lumps are fine).
2. In a medium bowl, mix butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the filling into a small zip baggies and set aside IN THE REFRIGERATOR. This will help it to thicken to toothpaste consistency.
3. In a medium, microwave safe bowl, heat butter and cream cheese until melted. Whisk together until smooth; whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla extract; set aside.
4. Heat large skillet or griddle over medium-low heat. Spray with nonstick spray (or lightly oil). I like to pour my batter into a water pitcher to pour to desired size, but the recipe girl calls for a whopping 3/4 C. of batter for each pancake. Snip the corner of your baggie of filling and squeeze a spiral of the filling onto the top of the pancake. When bubbles begin to appear on the surface, flip carefully with a thin spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a baking sheet or platter and keep in a warm oven until ready to serve.
5. When ready to serve, spoon warmed glaze onto the top of each pancake.
Comments: I made the pancake filling with Ideal (Xyilitol, a natural sweetener). This helped cut down on the sugar content. I used regular confectioners sugar for the glaze. My first ones were a bit messy as I tired making them with 3/4 c. of batter...too much! So I recommend much less! I made a 5 times batch as I was serving 18 scrambled eggs with this, and had more than enough glaze, so don't be tempted to double the glaze just to have enough. There is a great tutorial on making the swirl filling here http://www.recipegirl.com/2011/11/09/gingerbread-cinnamon-roll-pancakes/ HAVE FUN!
*Like all home schooling Mommas know, tis the season for lessons. We're busy these frosty mornings doing the book work the government requires. I do believe though that my children learn more "on their own". Their love of learning keeps me on my toes! Right now we're exploring space. Complicated unit study? Chapter in a textbook? No, I simply fanned the flame of interest... first directing my little ones (Jr. High on down to kindergarten) to the book shelf that holds our non fiction books on space, astrology, and biographies of astronauts to answer a few questions that had cropped up. This only excited them more, so I visited the local library and checked out about 75 books on the subject. I put them in a huge Longerberger Laundry basket which we call the book basket. The children know the basket is FULL of exciting stories, the answers to their questions, and recipes related to the topic we're delving into! This Thursday we'll have a space themed supper, oral reports, stories and then we'll have a constellation party outside. These books aren't read on school time...we "don't have the time" for the extras since we school as we do now...don't ask...but the children love to learn during these long, dark evenings...just don't tell them "we're doing school"! (Six of us just huddled into the downstairs bathroom to watch Noah (13) do a science experiment. He showed how water travels through water using a Pringle (that had somehow made its appearance in our home) container filled with water, and a flashlight...no assignment, just a love to learn. smile) (Update...since it takes me so long to get one of these blogs out, we've had our space night all ready. We used meatloaf to form a space lab (carrot sticks connected the parts) which "floated" on the milky way (mashed potatoes), made cinnamon star toasts, and for dessert we splurged and made saturn ice cream cookies. (Freeze balls of orange sherbet and make sugar cookies. When serving, slice the sherbet balls in half and put a sugar cookie in between the halves.) The table was decorated with pictures of famous astronauts and Lego Apollo spaceships. We had a fun time reading the reports and imagining life in space.)
*Tis the season to prepare. Last week we bought 3 used greenhouses about an hour and a half from the farm. Yesterday all the men (that left Levi (6) out) went there and took the greenhouses down. It was a LONG day of hard work! This "school field trip" taught my boys how men really work...not just on the farm, but wherever the Lord calls you to. Now we'll have our temporary packing shed, an equipment shed, and the needed greenhouse! Praise God for HIS provision! Now all we have to do is put them all up!
*Tis the season for getting realistic about our capabilities on the farm for the 2012 season. It is extremely hard for Adam and Caleb to face the reality of what we are able to do, in contrast to what they dream could happen. It's sort of like my dream garden...what we could do may not be what we can do. It's all up to you. If you haven't signed up for your share yet, PLEASE DO. Equipment needs are critical right now as we plan our field crops. We're planting in the greenhouse like we have certain pieces of planting and cultivation equipment. We are, Lord willing, growing past the plant and water by hand stage of farming. We're experiencing the growing pains this winter...so please if you can, do your part. Pray first, as we are that the Lord would send the shareholders HE wants us to serve. Then sign yourselves up! Lastly, please spread the word! We have brochures that you can hand out to your family, church, or clubs. Just ask! Lastly, I want to say a big, "thank you" before the season even begins. Thank you to the Lord, who I KNOW is faithful, and to ya'll who support this small family farm.
*Tis also the season to consider our hearts before God before it's too late.. Jesus said, " I am the way the truth and the life, no man cometh to the Father but by me." John 14:6. Do you know Jesus?...or better said, Does HE KNOW YOU? Write or call us if you'd like to know more about our Saviour, THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD Jesus Christ.
If you are saved, is there anything in your life that gets more attention than our Saviour? A daily time reading the King James Bible will be essential to your strength to live for Jesus Christ each day. Let's be found faithful!
"To every thing there is a season...a time to plant..." Ecclesiastes 3:1
Abundant Blessings,
The Farmer's Wife
