Empty nesting

Jessie left a week ago. Louella left in August. Fiona left in September and is settling in at college.
Even my spring kids are kids no longer, but are goatie teens with raging hormones.
I miss my girls of summer.

What do they read to kids these days?

During a conversation with Jessie the other day, I realized that I was always referencing the Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House series.

Then I got thinking about other books from my childhood that were about what you might term survivalist skills: Swiss Family Robinson, My Side of the Mountain. And later on, anything by Helen and Scott Nearing,

These should be required reading for anyone considering farming. Heck, they should be required reading to any kids growing up. Which begs the question: what are they reading to kids these days???

Butter Trials

My apprentice Jessie and I have been talking all week about the components that would go into a truly local Thanksgiving. I've realized that butter is one area that I need to Get Real Get Maine in... so we've been conducting butter trials all week. We found some at the Coop that's made in Brooks, not too far away, as well as Kate's butter from Old Orchard Beach. But our biggest triumph of the week is that we made butter on Friday! It was so easy -- we bought two quarts of cream, put it in a gallon jar to ripen at room temp for the day, added a touch of MM starter at the beginning. When we got home from market, we took turns shaking the jar, wondering how long it would take, and all of a sudden, there was butter!!! We got 5 8-oz tubs out of two quarts of cream when we were all done. I don't think it was exactly a pound, as it felt lighter than that, and the butter seemed slightly whipped. But the bottom line is that we did it, it was fun, it was delicious, and now we can wow our families with butter at Thanksgiving!

Now I just need to find those Maine nuts to replace the pecan pie..... I need a recipe for a nut pie with either sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds?

Customer Fatigue

Customer Fatigue is a new term we came up with this season at farmers' market to describe that reaction you get when the 100 thousandth customer asks the same question AGAIN.
Here for your entertainment is a list of those questions:
1. Do you have to milk the goats twice a day?
2. How much milk does a goat give?
3. Do you eat your goats?
4. Is your farm organic?
5. Is this cheese pasteurized?
6. Can we come visit the farm?
7. Will this cheese be OK in my hot car for ten hours while I drive back to (---fill in the blank ---)?
8. Is this cheese vegetarian?
9. Where is Appleton?
10. What is chevre?
I'm not sure what to do with this list, but some days it sure is hard to smile with the answer.

Goodbye, Summer!

Goodbye, summer! Goodbye super-apprentice, Louella! Goodbye daughter Fiona, off to college! Goodbye summer customers at farmers' markets. Goodbye warm nights and owls hooting and crickets chirping and Perseid meteorshowers.

Goodbye flies in the barn, and goodbye summer traffic!

Welcome crisp fall mornings, red maple leaves, geese flying. Welcome pumpkins, apples, squash, cranberries, turkey. Welcome Orion in the early morning sky.

The best animal on our farm

The best animal on our farm is Jenny the barn cat. She came to us 13 years ago, pregnant, and had to be at least two years old at that time. She has seen several generations of goats come and go, and outlasted most of them, as well as three dogs. She never asks for a thing, except for a full bowl of crunchies. When her bowl is empty, she will gently remind me with just a look. She has given us six kittens, lots of loving, and squeaky purrs. She never complains, always comes home, and loves to show off the hot snacks she catches around the barn. This winter, perhaps I will allow her to come in from the cold. After all, we are both old and gray, and the winters are getting colder.

Thoughts on being a lifelong Localvore

I have to admit that I am a little puzzled at the new excitement surrounding eating locally. This is what I have done all my adult life. This is my family legacy modelled to me by my grandmother, who raised a large family during the depression and wartime, and continued by my uncle on the farm in NH. I can’t remember the last Thanksgiving we ate a turkey purchased other than from the local turkey farm or grown on ours. One of my greatest pleasures in life is to sit down to a meal grown totally by us or by our friends and family. I got into a huge argument last summer with a man at farmers’ market who insisted that I must go to the grocery store for something, and all I could come up with was detergent, olive oil and salt. And even salt I could get locally.
Worried about food contamination? Eat local.
Worried about disruption to the food supply caused by weather extremes? Eat local.
Worried about real flavor in your food? Eat local.
Worried about your carbon footprint? Eat local.
Duh.