I've" Bean" Blessed!

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We've "bean" blessed! We don't deserve God's blessings, but His love reaches out to us non-the-less!

As the old hymn goes, "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."

With the leftover beans from last week's markets we

You can hardly see
Charity breaking beans
beside Destany!

canned 74 quarts of beans, and bartered the rest for 6 gallons of raw milk from a neighboring farm. (A double blessing!) I've "bean" blessed with two special helpers, Destany and Shelby. (Isaac's and Caleb's gals) The look on their faces as they came in the door and saw the mountain of beans was priceless! The men had mounded alllllllll the beans on our 12' farmhouse table and it was at least 3 feet high and 8' long! Their gasps led to proclamations of, "I've never seen that many beans in one place!" We worked most of the day, and then said, "That's enough." The pressure canner jiggled well into the night!

The men are pulling up our mulch, discing the ground and getting things cleaned up a bit at both farms. The strawberries will go into the high tunnels this week! I'm looking forward to the strawberry harvest of 2015 since I missed this year's harvest.

300 broilers (meat chickens) being taken to the USDA processing facility on Tuesday. The guys have a count on how many more times they need to be moved! ha ha! It's a lot of work, but these chickens get fresh pasture daily. They also eat bugs, NON-GMO feed, and drink lots and lots of fresh well water daily. We've "bean" blessed with a good chicken season, and want to share it with you! The meat will be available soon! 

I've "bean" blessed to bake lots of pumpkins this week in the

farm kitchen. I hope to make a big batch of pumpkin butter along with some savory breads that make the kitchen smell like...well, FALL! 

The final jamming is done...and we've "bean" blessed with great sales all ready! The blueberry, blackberry, and peach are quicly being snatched up by our customers! We had fun working two long days getting it all done, but it was well worth it! I hope you enjoy it. There are a few jars left of the above jams left and plenty of strawberry. I thought it would sell throughout the winter...not. Get what you want now before it's gone.

Do ya'll make a major switch in your clothing when fall morning temperatures dip below 50 degrees? We need warm clothing working outside in the fall and winter. So this week I switch everyone's clothing, adding "long-handles" (long johns) flannel shirts, and heavy socks to the mix of long sleeved shirts. It's a huge job getting it sorted, marked with the right amount of dots representing who is wearing it, washed, and finally ironed. I've spent the better part of the week working on this project. I finally got it all into the men's and family closets! Yahooo! We've "bean" blessed to see how God provides our clothing from season to season!

One of the racks of clothes that's been washed and hung...
It was just the beginning as I had 11 people's clothes to sort, wash,hang, iron, and put away.

We've "bean" blessed with good harvests this year!

We've "bean" blessed by a great packing crew that
comes out to help each Friday afternoon!

Packing shares!
Next year we pray we'll be in our new packing shed. Life will be very different...and I'll have a
porch again!

Timmy (the Friday Night Farmer) and
Noah wash bundles of sweet turnips! Noah's "bean" blessed by Timmy's friendship, encouragement, and good Christian example!

With me sticking close to the farm this season, someone needed to jump into my shoes at two markets. We've "bean" blessed with Cerina taking

over the Cumberland Sustainable Farmer's Market in Crossville, and Destany and Jeannie working the drop off in Dayton (no store this season). They have all been faithful to represent our Lord and farm each week and I want to say a BIG thank you to them!!

I've "bean" blessed with the Farmer and my Farmer Boys who work diligently for us all every day. They are up before the sun moving chicken pens and caring for their needs, watering the greenhouses, and keep going all day (okay, Noah collapses during his lunch break) providing fresh, nutritious food for us all! Many days it's well into the night before they call it quits, or come driving home from a market in the city. 

There are sooo many blessings in my life! I could go on for days! But I've "bean" blessed the most for how the Lord foresaw my depravity and  provided a way for me to spend eternity with Him in heaven! Jesus Christ was beaten unmercifully, and hung on a cross to pay for my sins and yours. Now, because I have believed on His name, accepted His provision for my sin, and made Him Lord of my life I can live in daily victory over sin!

I've "bean" blessed with eternal life!

Have you? Accept His gift today!

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 

1 Peter 3:23

This Week's Recipes

If you are like me there are days when I pull alllll the vegetables out of my refrigerator and want to use them in a supper! Well, here is a recipe that will work on those evenings. You can also hide vegetables that are harder for some folks to eat in these cheesy patties! It's a clean out the fridge day meal.

Cheesy Roasted Vegetable Patties

2 T. butter/olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1/2 of a medium onion, diced

1 C. assorted vegetables, diced*

1 C. bread crumbs

1 C.  shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 C. Shredded Parmesan Cheese (green shaker if you don't have fresh)

3 eggs, beaten

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Saute onion in oil until clear, add garlic and stir until fragrant. (Do not brown.)

3. If vegetables are wet, pat dry. No extra moisture is needed.

4. In a large bowl combine vegetables, garlicky onions, eggs, bread crumbs, and cheese. Mix well. Add salt and pepper if desired.

5. On a parchment or foil lined cookie sheet (spray foil), form the mixture into 10 patties.

If the mixture is too wet to form a patty, add more bread crumbs. If it's too dry, add another egg.

6.Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

My grandson would eat his with Ranch dressing or catsup. I prefer the taste of cheesy vegetables.

*Try what is in your frig...squash, green beans, turnip, peppers, onions, kale, butternut squash, or what's in your freezer or pantry like corn, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. *

With about 30 cups of pumpkin in my refrigerator I'm getting the pumpkin bread itch! We have our family favorite recipe, but this year I'm going to add some diced apples that just came from the orchard here on the mountain.

Pumpkin Apple Bread

2 1/2 C. flour (we use freshly ground whole wheat)

1 1/2-2 C. sugar or honey 

1 T. pumpkin pie spice

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. sea salt

2 eggs, beaten

1 C. pumpkin puree (if homemade, drain)

1/2 C. coconut oil

2 C. apples, peeled and chopped

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 9" bread pans, or muffin pans.

2. In a mixer or bowl add wet ingredients and mix.

3. Add spices, leavening, then flour. Mix just until the flour is moistened.

4. Add chopped apples and stir briefly.

5. Pour into prepared bread pans.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes (muffins) or 50 minutes for loaves. Test to determine if it's done by inserting a turkey skewer/toothpick. If it comes out clean it's done!

Abundant Blessings!

The Farmer's Wife,

Val

Back to the Roots Restaurant Week

https://www.naturallygrown.org/

Back to the Roots Restaurant Week

is a celebration of Good Food and 

Certified Naturally Grown Farms!

As a Certified Naturally Grown Farm,

we're helping to promote

two local restaurants and a food

truck that have agreed to donate 

a portion of their sales over the weekend

(through the 28th)

to our certifying and supporting 

organization 

Certified Naturally Grown.

The Plaid Apron Cafe

(through the 27th)

(865)247-4640

1210 Kenesaw Ave.

Cafe du Soleil

(through the 25th)

(865)595-0134

416 Clinch Ave.

Tootsie Truck

(through the 28th)

(865)771-8028

*Market Square Farmer's Market*

There are fourteen area farmers that are now Certified Naturally Grown!

Help us by supporting these businesses

to promote and encourage these farms.

Certified Naturally Grown (CNG)

is a peer-review ecological certification that builds farms and community. 

Look for the CNG label at your local 

Farmer's Market!

Because good food is...

Real Food

Non-GMO

Produced with NO Synthetic Chemicals

From a Local Farm, Rooted in Community

Not from a Corprate Conglomerate!

for more information at

www.CNGproud.com/knoxville

THANK YOU!

The Steve Colvin Family

at

www.colvinfamilyfarm.com

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!

Okay, I'm giving in...goodbye summer...
hello fall.

The summer of 2014 will be remembered by the Colvin family as a great year of learning the balance of farming for CSA and the eight farmer's markets we serve...

The year of my accident here on the farm...the helicopter taking me to Chattanooga for emergency treatment...and the long road of recovery that has lasted most of the growing season.

The summer of several good bean harvests...

The summer loved bloomed for my young men that had waited "patiently" on God for His provision...

After a hard 2013, we had plenty for CSA, and on table sales!

We're thankful for a great melon season.

For the first time ever we've been able to harvest and dry the whole garlic crop!
I'm proud of you boys!

We're delighted with our greatest melon year
yet!

2014 will also be known as the year
of the abundant okra harvests!

2014 was a year to sell out of shares early. We really appreciate allllll our faithful share
holders that have supported our growing
family farm.

Peppers galore! We've had all sizes,
shapes, and tastes.

We won several awards for our "best tasting"
tomatoes.

All we can say is that God has been
very good to us, and blessed our farm.

But now, it's fall...and I'm switching mental gears. 

The winter squash have been around awhile, but
now they are part of my kitchen decorations, and
it just feels right somehow.

My personal favorite of the winter squash is
acorn. They look pretty in fall decorations
too.

This picture was taken two weeks ago, so there
is more color now than there was then. We've been
having coool nights and mild days. That's the perfect
recipe for fall colors!

I love to decorate with fall's
bounty. I can change it weekly and have a new
look with colored leaves, baskets, pumpkins, winter
squash, or whatever I see on my walks. This is the time of year that the children help decorate the table with colored leaves...I chose a color a day for
the younger children to hunt for which keeps their eyes trained to spot the new, and pretty changes about them.

The squirrels are busy too!

We are thankful for a record Butternut Squash
harvest. The boys got to fill several galords of them this week. We'll have them throughout the winter for sale at the year-round markets, and on our online store. My youngest children love to find the small ones and bake them for a personal sized lunch treats!

Use Butternut Squash in any recipe that calls for pumpkin. Click this link for directions from my blog on how to bake them easily for use. After baking them you can scoop them out into freezer bags in 2 cup portions as this is the amount most recipes call for.

Here is another of our family's favorites that can be made with pumpkin or squash.  It's called Pumpkin Roll, but I also make it in mini angle flood pans for individual desserts. These too sell out at our markets in Crossville. Any that may happen to bring home are quickly divided up at the next meal. I also make them for Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Roll/ Pumpkin Roll Cake
3 eggs
2/3 C. Pumpkin
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
3/4 C. self rising flour (I make my own)
1 C. sugar

1. 
   1.Grease jelly roll or 1 piece angle food pan. If using a jelly roll pan, line with parchment or wax paper.

2. Mix wet ingredients together in mixer. Add sugar and mix well.
3. Add spices. Mix well.
4. Add flour, mix.
5. Pour into pan and bake at 375 degrees till toothpick inserted comes out clean. (Watch the edges of a thin jelly roll as they burn easily.)
6. Place the pumpkin roll onto a thin towel that has been dusted with confectioners sugar. Roll the towel up to cool. Refrigerate the roll for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
6B. Place the cake onto a cooling rack, and cool completely.

Directions for Pumpkin Roll Cake~ Using a piece of dental floss, cut the cake in half horizontally. Place top half onto the cooling rack. Place the bottom onto the cake plate. Spread a good layer of the filling (below) onto the cut side. Place the top onto the cake. Spread filling over the top, and let it "fall over" the sides. (I do not frost the sides usually.) Garnish the top with a few pecans for a finished look. Serve.

Directions for a Pumpkin Roll ~ Unroll the towel containing your roll cake. Spread filling over the  cake and reroll. (Careful, mine crack easily) Sprinkle with confectioners sugar. "Glue" a few pecans in the center of the roll with some filling. This is an extra special Thanksgiving treat on the farm.

Pumpkin Roll/Cake Filling
1 C. chopped nuts (we use Pecans)
1 C. Confectioners Sugar
1, 8 oz. Cream cheese
1 tablespoon Butter
3 T.  Vanilla

1. Cream butter, cream cheese and vanilla till light.
2. Add confectioners sugar a little at a time. Whip well.
3. Add chopped nuts. Either mix by hand or on slow speed.


Well, now my secret fall recipes are out...but here are a few more ideas I use.
1. Make pumpkin cinnamon rolls by spicing up well drained pumpkin and using it for the filling.
2. Make pumpkin muffins to go with your hearty fall stews and soups. They really round out a meal and fill the "hole" in hungry men.
3. Simply fill a casserole dish with mashed pumpkin or winter squash, and top with mixture of ground nuts, oatmeal, cinnamon, brown sugar (optional), and butter. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

We like to see how God changes His palate in early fall. When the bright yellows and purples dominate in mid-August, we know fall is right around the corner.

Just around the corner is really the lingering thought in most minds here on the farm...fall...a time of more laid back days of harvest (after the remaining 2 CSA deliveries), fewer plantings, school beginning, longer, cooler nights, and God working miracles in the landscape. We all need to keep our eyes open for His finest work will be wrought all around us in the weeks to come. If we're too busy we may miss Him proclaiming His greatness in the orchestra of color painting the mountains and valleys where we live.

Charity encourages everyone to buy a pumpkin this weekend and make her favorite fall treat...

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

2 scant cups brown sugar
1 C. oil
1 1/2 C. cooked, mashed pumpkin
2 eggs
3 C. flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves

1. Cream sugar and oil.
2. Add pumpkin and eggs. Add flour, salt, baking powder, soda, vanilla, and spices. Mix well.
3. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto greased cookie sheet. (Parchment) Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.
4. Make sandwiches from 2 cookies filled with the Whoppie Pie filling below.

Hints for Success

Use Coconut oil and freshly ground whole wheat flour for the exact whoopie pie we sold the last few seasons in Crossville. We always sold out! Choose the size you'd like. I make big ones for market, but used to make tiny ones for my little ones.

Whoopie Pie Filling

1 egg white, beaten
2 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Cup confectioners sugar

1. Mix. Then add one more cup confectioners sugar and 3/4 cup shortening. (This year I'm going to try coconut oil.)
2. Spread a "dab" (ha ha! That's my favorite part!) of filling on the flat side of cooled "cookie".
3. Top with another cookie to form a sandwich.
Savor the taste of fall!

Fall means muffin season in the farmhouse.
We made our first batch of the season this week. Faith Anne made "Wilder Muffins" (thanks again Madeline). She shook some cinnamon sugar on top for a yummy treat for supper. 

Look for your fall favorites at your market this weekend. They make great decorations now, and then winter treats later!

"The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun until the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined." 

Psalm 50:1,2

Abundant Blessings,

The Farmer's Wife,

Val