Pretty corny

Well, Mirian had her first two half-days of school, and was pretty happy to get back to see her friends and teachers. She came home the first day expressing such relief that it all seemed familiar and okay- she's had so many changes and challenges, and I was thrilled that school felt like a comfortable place to be for her this year. I've been busy with all of the usual school parental details, including getting Robert ready to start HIGH SCHOOL this coming week! I've been wanting to freeze some corn, and had the chance to get some super-fresh Silver Queen from our farmer friends, the Congleton's. The kids husked the 4 dozen ears, and I blanched and put it up in quart freezer bags. It'll be so nice to have such great corn during the fall and winter months, especially at Thanksgiving. (Mirian couldn't wait, and ate some raw right off the cob!). One of my favorite breakfast recipes is for corn pancakes (from the Farmhouse Cookbook), which we had this morning using some Silver Queen- I hope you love it as much as I do! (Well, maybe I'll start back on that low-carb eating NEXT week!)

Golden Corn Pancakes

1 to 1 and 1/4 c. milk

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter

1 cup fresh corn kernels or good-quality frozen (I've used canned)

1 and 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 to 2 teaspoons mild vegetable oil, such as safflower

1. Combine 1 cup milk, the butter, and the corn in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool to lukewarm.

2. Sift the dry ingredients together onto a piece of waxed paper.

3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until they are well mixed. Add the milk mixture. Then gently stir in the flour mixture, mixing just until it is moistened and thoroughly combined. It should be the consistency of cake batter. Add the remaining milk if the batter is very thick.

4. Brush a large heavy skillet or griddle with the oil, and place it over medium-high heat. When a drop of water sizzles in the pan, pour the batter, 1/4 cup for each pancake, into the skillet. Cook the cakes until bubbles cover the surface and begin to burst, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the cakes and cook for about 30 seconds on the other side. Serve immediately if you can, or keep them warm in a single layer on a platter in a warm oven. (About 1 dozen, 3 to 4 servings).

Pin It Now!

Good neighbors... great gardens

Despite my own poor garden going completely to pot, I have stuck to my goal of trying to eat more fresh and local food. If you've got generous family and neighbors with a big garden, why have one yourself?!! (Ha!) We came back from a recent visit to my parents with bags of tomatoes and huge zucchini from their beautiful garden.

Even better, our wonderful neighbor Melvin is a master gardener and canner, and he frequently shares with us both vegetables and canned goods like pickles and beats. His garden soil is enhanced with our very own alpaca compost, so at least we're contributing a little bit!

I really enjoy the blog Savoring Kentucky, and especially liked this post about some of the Kentucky Governor and First Lady's initiatives to encourage more local eating and therefore enhance Kentucky agriculture and health. There are lots of interesting facts about the impact of even just a little bit more local food consumption.

I hope you're lucky enough to either have a garden or a good neighbor with one, but if not don't forget the local farmer's markets which are at their peak of production right now!

Pin It Now!

Summer Hodge-Podge

We have been in no particular routine around here, just a little bit of this and that. Here's a sampling of what's been keeping us busy! I've been doing a lot of felting and dyeing of yarn and silk. The garden is producing at least a little bit, though it's extremely handicapped by the skyscraper-ish weeds which I've given up on at this point.

The weather has been the prettiest I can EVER remember for a Kentucky summer.... rain every few days, cool nights and highs of 70-80. Heaven.
Last night, we went to the Kentucky Cup Reining Championship at the Kentucky Horse Park. It was the first of several preliminary "trial" events in preparation for the September, 2010 World Equestrian Games. Reining is kind of like dressage, Western-style. (Like most athletic pursuits, equine or otherwise, it looks really easy when someone's super good at it, but it's NOT). We're preparing for the National Elite Alpaca Auction in Leesburg, VA. Check out the two beautiful girls we have consigned (that's our full Accoyo fawn, Noel, above)! Information is available on our farm blog.

Pin It Now!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle... Wow!

I just finished the first non-fiction book I'd read in a while, Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.). I can honestly say that this was a life-changing book for me. Not only did I enjoy it to the point of laughter and even tears at the end, but I found it incredibly interesting, informative, and motivating.

In it, renowned author (and Kentucky native) Barbara Kingsolver documents her family's move from the desert of Arizona to her husband's old family homestead in Virginia where they had spent many summers. Drawing from their heritage, experience, and knowledge of biology, nutrition, and farming, they endeavor to live for one year off of food only of a local origin and what they grow or raise themselves. Although the book is mainly from Barbara's point of view, there are excerpts from her biologist/professor husband and college-age daughter. Some of the funniest and most poignant stories are of the experiences she shares raising the garden and poultry with her youngest daughter, Lily, who starts her own egg business at age 9.

The book is filled with intriguing tidbits about our nation's sick food supply chain, horrible eating habits, need for more diversity in the plants we're raising, and dozens of convincing reasons to eat more local food and raise your own if you can. There are also tons of great recipes, which can be accessed at the book's website. In fact, there are oodles of great resources which I just discovered at the website!

So, this book has me completely energized to have our biggest and best garden ever this year. We have had nice gardens in the past (especially pre-children, when we first moved to the farm and I even sold at the Farmer's Market). But, motivation often seems to dwindle when the weeds hit and the last two summers of drought have presented more challenges than usual. Coming to my aid are the two new women at our farm, Jenny (our energetic alpaca farm manager) and Danna (a smart, young biologist living in our cabin who helps part-time). Ironically, they have both read the book and we've decided that we'll all pitch in and have the garden together.

Determined to raise many heirloom varieties of vegetables, we turned to Local Harvest, a site that offers all kinds of resources for purchasing just about anything that can be raised or made locally. I originally found the site when I was searching out beeswax for sealing the surface of my paintings. The seeds I purchased were primarily from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and Happy Cat Organics- Southern Exposure shipped really quickly, but I'm still awaiting the seeds from Happy Cat Organics. I heard on NPR that seed sales are up by 30% this year, so don't wait if you want a garden. Even container gardening for apartment dwellers can be a major benefit!

I honestly can't recommend this book enough, and besides learning so much from it I truly enjoyed Kingsolver's beautiful writing and plan to read some of her fiction books soon. Times are so uncertain right now, and I am finding myself grasping for some control of our family's destiny in ways that are fulfilling, healthy, and sustainable.

Although I am not ready to become a locavore, we are going to make a concerted effort to do more local eating and buying, just as I am trying to recycle more, use cloth bags for grocery shopping, and other small things that make a difference. We are so very blessed with good health and the soil and resources that are literally right at our feet, and we look forward to hard, honest work and a wonderful harvest this year.

So, have you read the book? Has it motivated you to have a garden or make other changes? What is your favorite thing to raise? (I know, that's like asking who is your favorite child?). I'd love to hear from you!

Pin It Now!

Wanted: Sure Signs of Spring

We have been teased with a few nice days here and there lately but this past weekend, winter slammed us again with very strong, cold winds, followed by rain, snow and plummeting temperatures. I hate to complain about the long winter when it is still February (okay, maybe I don't mind complaining!) as I know that lots of places have much worse weather. I am simply craving spring!
There are signs of it around, though, and every little glimpse makes me feel so good! We have daffodils popping up everywhere....

... and a vigorous alpaca cria was born the other day, a true black male that I think I'll name "Raven."

Cheering me most of all are the seed trays with broccoli and tomatoes sprouting in my studio. More about our big garden plans later this week. I hope that wherever you are, you capture at least a glimpse of sunshine today.

Pin It Now!