On the farm!

Yesterday afternoon we had perfect outside-work weather. The temps were in the mid-60s and the sky was slightly overcast. We transplanted several varieties of onions and leeks and weeded the garlic and shallots. The interns recently turned in our respective garden plans and have moved on to peer review. I'm reviewing the solanaceous crop plan. Ordering seeds will be next, which means we're about to really get busy and next week's guest speaker is going to talk about small farm business planning. Exciting stuff. In my Organic Crop Production/Sustainable Agriculture course we are currently studying crop rotation and vegetable culture. Yes, it turns out veggies are quite the well-rounded and cultured bunch.

Our onions.


I took this photo for Gavin. He's really into tractors these days.

DIY homebrew

I have to confess, I did not get permission from my beloved before writing this next post, BUT I just can't not write about it anymore. Hello, I've been blogging my way through the past FOUR years!

Keeping in the DIY and sustainable living spirit, my awesome husband took it upon himself to start brewing beer. We love us some frothy adult beverage. It's something he has been wanting to do for as long as I've known him and last month we finally comitted to it. I say "we" only because I encouraged this project and support him in his endeavors. I took no part in the work of it. I must give all credit where credit is due. Currently he uses a beer kit, from a local brew making store, but we've kind of tossed around the idea of eventually growing our own ingredients, such as hops and grains, on our future farm. People will drive past our property and say, "hey, isn't that The Beer Farm?" Love it. Anyhow, his first batch, an Indian Pale Ale (IPA) was highly drinkable and he is looking forward to perfecting it before trying a different variety. The first batch produced 56 bottles of beer, that's about .60 a beer. How's that for Happy Hour? It takes about a month between the brewing and fermenting before we can enjoy Casey's handy work.

Behold, our Bathroom Beer:










The other day I caught Casey browsing cool vintage glass carboys. He's contemplating dabbling into a little wine making, for his lovely bride. Ain't he a peach? I think so.

Farm-to-Market

I'll be moonlighting on another blog during the next several months and well into the summer. As one of the 2011 UTIA Organic Farm-to-Market interns I'll be required to contribute weekly posts about our experience to this Wordpress blog:

UT Market Garden Blog

We'll have a lot of creative freedom, as long as the post is related to sustainable agriculture we're free to write about whatever we want. Last year one of the interns liked to post recipes for some of the vegetables they grew. Others posted about experiences at nearby gardens and farms, for example the vegetable garden at the historical Biltmore estate. Others just posted their thoughts and experiences as they journied through the planning, growing and harvesting season. Like our produce, there will be plenty of variety.

The first post should be up sometime before next Wednesday. My first blog isn't due until the first week of March, but if you're interested in following along as a few others and myself plan an actual farmer's market, right down to choosing crops, testing soil fertility, monitoring and addressing pest issues, planting and growing some great products and insectaries/cover crop, and digging into the actual business of managing a farm-to-market operation, then check us out!

Right now we are currently planning our crops and varieties. My partner and I are in charge of the cucurbits (cucurbitaceae)! That's the melons, squash, cucumbers, and gourd family for the cool kids who aren't plant dorks like me. I haven't reached full-blown geek status yet, but I'm working toward it with great fervency! We'll be starting a lot of our plants in one of the greenhouses here on campus, before transplanting into the field, out on the farm (not on campus). We have an acre plot, divided into four quads. Here are a few photos of the farm from when we were out there a couple of weeks ago. As you can see, currently our acre is covered in cover crop ( a combination of crimson, clover, rye and winter peas).




This former cotton research farm is now exclusively for organic crop production research, so there are other plots with other interesting projects going on simultaneously. The organic farm has been operational for four years. It took three years to achieve USDA organic certification.



It's good stuff and I am utterly THRILLED to have been given an opportunity to participate. We should start planting in April and transplanting all through May. I'm actually gonna grow and sell some vegetables, y'all! Get excited.

The Rediscovery of North America

"Our trouble with the New World--a world that was intended to refuel an Old World which had in some sense grown effete--has been that from the beginning we have imposed, not proposed. We never said to the people or the animals or the plants or the rivers or the mountains: What do you think of this? We said what we thought, and bent to our will whatever resisted. I do not suggest lightly that, or as a kind of romance, that we might have addressed the animals, the trees, the land itself. The idea of this kind of courtesy is more ancient than 'primitive.' And the wisdom of it, the ineffable and subtle interwining of living organisms on the Earth, is confirmed today by molecular biology and atmosphere chemistry. To acknowledge the interdependence is simply a good and wise habit of mind."

-- Barry Lopez, The Rediscovery of North America (1990)

Barry Lopez is an author I have really come to enjoy, especially as I delve deeper into Environmental Ethics. I recently read The Rediscovery of North America for one of my current classes. It's a very short read and thought provoking. I would encourage anyone interested in American history and the repair and preservation of our natural habitat to give it a gander. It can easily be read during a one hour lunch break.

Leftovers

Pumpkin pie for breakfast
Sandwiches for lunch
Never at a loss when its time to munch

Turkey and dumplings for dinner
Man oh man, what a winner

Green beans
for something lean

Birthday cake on Saturday
Thirty-one years
calls for champagne and cheers

Chocolate creme pie for a second dessert
Sweet and rich like alluvial dirt

Blanched kale in the freezer
ready to be patted into cakes
with the leftover mashed potaters

Smothered in an oyster stew
I'm gonna show those leftovers how we do

Farewell Thanksgiving 2010
Until next year
when we'll do it all over again

Post Script, from my Uncle Eloy, a fellow tail-feather shaker.

Thank you Uncle Eloy and to all my other family members and friends who have called just to say "I love you". Mondays are a bit more bearable when it is also one's birthday.




And one last shout out to the holiday of giving thanks, a quote I stole from Meli Faif's blog:

"The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you."
~ John E. Southard

I love that.

Photos and Christmas kick-off coming soon...

Roast chicken, the gift that keeps on giving.

Seriously, how can someone pass up three meals for the price of one? Especially when all one really has to buy is the chicken, because everything else are kitchen staples.

For example:

Frozen organic green and wax beans, your grocery store should have an organic "generic" brand for way less than the real organic brands, at least Kroger does. I try and keep a bag in my freezer for those days when the fresh beans in the produce section just look sad and grumpy.

A bag of new potatoes. Roasted, seasoned potatoes compliment so many classic entrees. If you have 'em so long they start sprouting, throw 'em in some dirt and you'll have like twenty more by mid summer - I write from my own "forgotten in the dark cupboard" experience. Truly, 'taters were my first successful botanical garden experiment, way back when I lived in SA. Who knew potatoes would inspire so much?

A bag of frozen or fresh organic carrots; fresh are perfect for snacking, or get frozen if peeling and slicing is waste of your precious time - I keep both handy, because spare time is a luxury.

Celery, perfect for peanut butter or ranch dipping snacks and goes so well with any soup, roast, or stew - can't go wrong with a bunch of celery in the fridge.

Onions, who doesn't keep an onion around?

Head(s) of garlic (see onion note).

Fresh lemons, don't leave the grocery store without one, or two, or a dozen. Lemons can be used for food making or chemical-free household cleaning solutions - or enjoying a refreshing adult beverage on the back deck.

Basic seasonings like thyme and parsley. Not growing your own and/or can't get fresh? Get the dried. Yeah, there are some herb snobs out there that swear the dried flakey spices bought in the baking aisle were swept up from some factory floor, but sometimes a sista has to make do with what she has and that might only be the factory floor rejects in the baking aisle. No shame here. Although I do try and always get fresh parsley and cilantro if I don't have some already growin' in the garden. Chopped fresh parsley is one of my favorite aromas. Whatever I buy from the store that doesn't get used goes to compost heaven and then is reborn in my vegatable garden the following spring.

Noodles. We all got some kind of noodles in our cupboard and noggin! If you don't got noodles, use rice, wild or prude will work just fine. Noodles and rice are great for soups and/or sides.

So with all the fixins already in your kitch, it's totally easy to splurge on the $10 organic whole chicken, right? Right. Or maybe even inspire one to invest in their own organic, home-grown, backyard, free-range chicken operation? A girl can dream. And don't forget a loaf of good crusty bread from the bakery.

Morrison Manor menu for one whole roasted chicken:

Roast chicken, steamed green beans and hasselback new potatoes on Tuesday, leftovers and/or chicken salad sandwiches on Wednesday and/or Thursday and chicken noodle soup (goodbye awkward carcass I got NO room for you in my fridge) on Thursday and/or Friday. It's a win-win, win situation!



And just for kicks and because it's fall and I had some Italian bread leftover from the chicken salad sandwiches, have a traditional bread pudding with bourbon sauce and vanilla ice cream. It's a great way to start the weekend and/or reminisce about the New Braunfels, TX Wurstfest. I can't believe I'm missing the 50th anniversary of the 10-day salute to sausage. Someone send me some sausage, or at least put on your favorite lederhosen and dance the polka! Happy Friday eve. I think we're going camping again, this time in the Cherokee National Forest. What are all you blogger peeps up to?


Next up in the kitch? I have some organic beef tips that are wishin' to get out of the freezer and into my crockpot for a good beef stew. Gotta put the leftover carrots, papas, onions and celery to good use! I wish my mom were around, I bet I could persuade her to roll out a few tortillas. Mine always come out way to thick and smallish. I got more work to do in that department.