Farm Share « So what? Sew buttons!

This and That

September 22, 2008 at 1:51 am | In Cookery, Crafty, Farm Share, Sewing | 4 Comments

We are still getting produce from the farm. I now have more potatoes in my cellar than I imagine we’ll ever eat, but that’s ok. In fact, it occured to me that we can now easily make potato prints, a craft I’m sure Clark will love! This week we had a wonderful purple and orange dinner–beets with goat cheese, sliced carrots, and these gorgeous purpley blue potatoes, which had a very creamy texture and delicious taste. Look how colorful:

I’m excited because the winter squashes are coming in. So far we’ve had delicata, a yummy variety that was good with brown sugar and butter (because really, what is not good with brown sugar and butter??). I’m waiting eagerly for the butternut squashes, because they are one of my very favorite vegetables.

I’ve been working on some sewing-a small quilt for Tabitha made from some squares I bought a while back from www.fabricbliss.com . So far it is the best thing I’ve ever made, which I attribute entirely to the fact that I did not cut the fabric myself, but used these 5 inch squares. I’m going to hand tie each square, rather than do regular quilting. I think it will be a charming look with the patchwork. I’m also working on another poncho, which I am experimenting with. I decided to do this one with fringe and then make actual buttons and buttonholes instead of sewing together the main seam. Which leads me to now, poking around on the internet looking to find a solution to why the automatic buttonhole maker foot is not feeding my fabric through. I have no answers and am pretty frustrated. The Kenmore manual is dreadful, but I have followed all the steps. So I’m taking a break until tomorrow. In the meantime I am aware more than ever that there are a million sewing and cooking blogs out there.

Speaking of which…I’ve encouraged my mom to start a blog to show some of her handiwork and she’s gotten some entries up. Check out these funky cool dolls she made for me when Paul and I got married and also this little Santa she whipped up this weekend. I am definitely going to try my hand at embroidering.

Also in the works, egg cup pincushions! I’ll save the description for when I actually make one, which will hopefully be tomorrow.

Hints of Fall

August 24, 2008 at 1:22 am | In Basic Musings, Cookery, Farm Share | 2 Comments

Our days may still be hot, but fall is definitely on its way. For a few mornings now it’s been cool enough that when I wake up I have a nice cup of tea. The other morning I even put on jeans and Clark wore a sweatshirt for an early morning bagel run. Last night and tonight I heard Canada geese honking a big ruckus in the sky. But the biggest sign of all? Take a look at our big maple tree. Way up high there is a little cluster of rogue leaves that have already turned red!!

Weekends are still finding me trying to preserve our farm bounty. Tonight another 6 pints of tomato sauce (done again with the tomato press) are in the canner as I type, boiling away.

I also have some hot peppers and bell peppers to chop up and put in the freezer. The cherry tomatoes I have roasted with whole cloves of garlic, and I’m going to freeze those for shorter term use. Some of it we already had with pasta and it was delicious.

I haven’t been writing here as much as I’d like to, but I do have a little store of photos to put up.

Here is one of the purple asters that I love. I think they look like a child’s (or mine!) drawing!:

Last time I was a little down on my garden, but I have to say that the happy reverse of that is that I have lots of ideas for next year. For example, I’ve really enjoyed seeing small sunflowers around our porch, so next year I’ll plant a whole mess of them.

I forgot to post this on Garden Blogger Bloom Day. These satellite dishes (as Paul calls them) have really taken over like crazy. I think we will actually have to remove some from the pond–as you can see they are quite crowded with the water lilies.

Here it is with some sweet white alyssum which has unexpectedly flourished.

Not much new crafty-wise, though I did get a lovely book out of the library called Pretty Little Pincushions, and now I can’t wait to make one. (And, all the contributors seem to have their own blogs and etsy shops, so now I will be trolling those.) Also, I’m going to make Tabitha a little poncho for the fall. I figure at its easiest it’s a square with a hole for your head, at it’s fanciest I can sew on embellishments, finish the edges, and make a hood.

I’ll end with some Clark and Tabby pics. We had a disappointing session with a photographer today at Target. Only got four pictures and we only ordered 1!! Late this afternoon we all went to the playground and I believe I got some nicer pictures of them than he did (so there!) and so I will share them

Coops and Canning

August 11, 2008 at 2:30 am | In Basic Musings, Farm Share | 9 Comments

We had at one time planted blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry bushes. Sadly, all we’ve got established is the blackberry one and blackberries are not my favorite of the berry. I always think I’ll like them more than I do. They are ripe and look so shiny and pretty, though, so I figured we’d better start eating them. And what better way to disguise the occasional sourness of them, than to stick them into a sweet treat? I made Lemon Bread and stirred in the blackberries that I’d picked. Cooked in the bread (which, let’s face it, is cake) only the sweetness remained and they were a delicious complement to the sweet tang of this buttery cake with a lemon-sugar glaze. In praise of a juicer and a zester. You just can’t beat these two things when it comes to doing anything with citrus. I don’t care if a reamer is smaller or a box grater does the job just fine. These two things do the job better. And it always makes me feel old fashioned to use my glass juicer and then pour the juice into a measuring cup.

This week at the farm we got 8 lbs of regular red tomatoes, 5 lbs. of heirloom tomatoes (I chose one 2 lb yellow one!), plus cherry tomatoes. I decided to try making and canning salsa. I’ve always had my reservations about this because while I love a freshly chopped up salsa, to can it it must be heated and simmered, so then you’ve got is sort of mushy and cooked. Which I guess is what it’s like when you buy it jarred at the store. My recipe yielded 4 1/2 pints and 1 pint and they look pretty good. I’m getting a bit swifter at the canning process and looking forward to trying some other things.

The Chicken Coop is finished! Well, a few tiny details remain, but the structure is essentially finished and we painted it this week. Clark helped. He enjoyed it very much but still has paint on him and won’t let me scrub it off. I’m delighted with the color green we chose and think it looks quite snug and cozy. I am also thrilled that Paul found an old door by the side of the road which we are using for our coop’s door. It pleased me because I seem to constantly read about people finding and repurposing doors, windows, wood, etc. I’m under the impression that we should have been able to build our whole coop out of reclaimed stuff instead of plywood from Home Depot. But honestly, where are people finding all this cast off wood?? We are attending our county 4H Fair this week and that is where we are planning on getting our starter chickens. I’m so excited!

First Farm Pick Up!

May 24, 2008 at 1:33 pm | In Cookery, Farm Share | 3 Comments

On Thursday we had our first pickup at our new CSA farm. We switched to this new farm when we went pumpkin picking at it last October and saw that they were a CSA farm. Apparently it was their first year, which is why we hadn’t know about it before. We promptly signed up for this summer and are so delighted with it. The reason for the switch is that the previous farm we used was a half hour away and this one is a mile and a half down the road! At 6 o’clock we were picking our own herbs and at 6:30 we were eating them in our dinner!

Here’s what we got: one big head of lettuce, one bag of spinach, one bag of mesclun mix, one bag of some other spring greens, six radishes, and 18 heads of broccoli. Let me repeat that: 18 heads of broccoli. Now, these are not supermarket sized heads-some were only 3 inches across. But it’s still a lot of broccoli. Pick your own herbs included garlic chives, chives, sage, cilantro, and thyme. I just picked what I thought I might use for a couple meals this week. Here’s what we’ve been eating with it:

Thursday night: steamed broccoli, salad with a mix of all the greens, and then I chopped up sage and garlic chives and spread them on turkey cutlets brushed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. I grilled the cutlets and they were delicious. A great first farm dinner!

Friday: I steamed and pureed some broccoli and fed it to Tabitha-her first taste of broccoli. She loved it! For our dinner we had more big salad and this lovely concoction: I steamed and then pureed half a head of cauliflower and some broccoli. While it was pureeing I put in a small spoonful of scallion cream cheese, a glug of milk, and a little cheddar cheese. Then I poured it into a baking dish and on top sprinkled a mixture of bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and cheddar cheese. Baked until the top was golden. It was very delicious and creamy, but held it’s shape quite well. I found it needed a little salting at the table, though.

Although I am hesitant I feel I should try the radishes as Liz prepares them, like a tea sandwich. Although Clark showed this initial enthusiasm for the radishes, he refused to actually taste them.

I’m also planning on using more of the broccoli for that delicious- but-in-no-way-good-for-you broccoli “salad” that involves bacon, cheddar cheese, red onion, and a dressing involving mayonnaise, vinegar, and sugar. I’ll be bringing it to a Memorial Day barbecue on Monday.

All in all we’re excited about our new farm share!