Canning with Queen

Holy crap! It has been forever since I've blogged. There are a few reasons for this. One is that so much is in progress but nothing is really completed: the patio is finished but the grass seed isn't even sprouting yet, the fence around the garden is up but not painted....I could go on and on and on. Another reason is that who wants another garden update!?!  I mean I get crazy excited about my baby melons, but don't expect anyone else to be. But to me the main reason I've haven't been writing is that we've seen so many of the people I feel like I'm writing to this spring, summer, fall, that all my stories fell redundant! I mean how many jokes about giant lamb testicles are there really?


I have also been thinking about changing format of this blog a bit. Obviously we aren't really traveling any where anytime soon (expect for Ohio and after 3 visits in the next 3 months, I think I may be done going there forever!), but I do have a ton of fresh food, so why not write about what we're doing with our bountiful harvests? So I'm going to give this a go. It's harder than it sounds, since it is usually after I make something I think 'Oh, I should have taken pictures and blogged this' and I don't do things like make dinner regularly.

 A random aside: Sometimes I feel like I'm running for (and winning!) the Worst Housewife Award (let's be real-I'm pretty much a housewife and most days I am cool with it). To win this award I don't so things like make dinner or put laundry away. I feel my best event is 'Ignoring that the kitchen is a mess, even though I was the one got everything dirty'. Which actually brings me to what I'm doing this morning. Canning jam. The biggest con on making jam is that I'm in the kitchen for hours and I actually clean the kitchen, since I can't really go anywhere else and there is only so much dancing with Queen, Abba and a little Nancy and Lee one can do at 10 am! I'm sure I have points deducted for both the bad dancing and the cleaning.

Yesterday we went blackberry picking and came back with 3 gallons of blackberries! Really there is nothing else to do but make jam today! I also have a ton of rhubarb in the freezer from the garden so that is how 'Blackbarb jam' was born! This is essentially David Lebovitz's Rhubarb Strawberry Jam with blackberries and not really following the directions. PS: Everything I've ever made using a David Lebovitz recipe has been great! And honestly his book 'The Perfect Scoop' is hotter than '50 Shades of Grey'-I mean Date, Rum, Pecan Ice Cream or Raspberry-Champagne Sorbet-yes please!! (maybe I need to get out more!) Blackbarb Jam



8 cups of blackberries
8 cups of rhubarb, trimmed and sliced into 1/2-inch (2cm) pieces
5 1/2 cups sugar
zest and juice of one lemon
pinch of salt
1 package of pectin

1. In a large pot, mix the rhubarb, berries. Cook, covered, stirring frequently over moderate heat, until the rhubarb is cooked through and thoroughly tender. It should take about 15 minutes (mine took longer since my rhubarb was still frozen-ish)

2. Add the sugar, lemon juice, and salt, and cook, uncovered, skimming off and discarding any foam that rises to the surface, until the jam is thick and passes the wrinkle test.

3. Stir in the pectin, get your can on. 

If this doesn't end up being delicious, I still have 2 1/2 gallons of blackberries and 24 cups of rhubarb to work with! Maybe I'll make some popsicles or syrup next!

Spring: Everything is growing!

On this cloudy, grey, rainy, snow-ish spring day, it's hard to not just curl up by the fire and dream of the bright, sunny days of summer. But then you remember-it's Chicks Days! Yup, it's that time of year again. I was hoping that we could incubate our own eggs this year, but with our little rooster still being slightly smaller than our pretty large hens, it seems he is not getting his job done! Oh well, maybe next year. At least that gives us a chance to add some new super cute chicks to our brood.


This year to add to our Bovan and Australorp chickens, we got three Barred Rocks and three Ameraucanas. The Barred Rocks are nothing unusual. They'll be large black and white hens that lay brown eggs. If they had the Ameraucanas last year, I would have gotten them! Each chicken is going to look a little different. Right now they are light, medium and dark colored, and I have no idea how they are going to end up looking. But the really cool thing is that they are going to lay blue or green eggs! I can't wait until they start laying!


I forgot how little day old chicks are! It will be fun to watch how much these little ladies change so quickly. At least they aren't living in the house like last year! This is one of the days I love having a garage.



And every day the lambs are getting bigger. They are almost as big as BJ now and he does NOT like that! At least that means that pretty soon he'll be completely ignoring them. I actually have to go feed them soon-16 ounces of delicious formula! Ok, I'm back! There is not much cuter than feeding adorable lambs with 22 ounce Arrogant Bastard beer bottles! For the first week or so the lambs were living in the shop in the garage, but they have advanced to living out in the barn with the chickens, who they seem to happily coexist with.


Everything is growing in the greenhouse! We have finally have had a salad with delicious radishes from the greenhouse! Along with yummy greens growing bigger in the greenhouse, so are the weeds, so I seem to spend every moment out there pulling more and more weeds. I keep telling myself that it was only since November that it hasn't been pasture and that this isn't a battle I have to win this weekend, but it doesn't mean I don't want to win!


All of this is great, but still I can't wait for summer!

Ellen has a little lamb...actually 2 little lambs!

Ellen had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb, Ellen had a little lamb, whose fleece was black as coal!

Their names are Blanket and Baab (like Bob but with a little extra Baa!) and they are so freaking adorable!


So what are we doing with a couple lambs? Well, last Tuesday I got an unexpected email from Keith saying 'Do you want a couple bummer lambs?'. After I googled what bummer lambs meant (lambs orphaned by their mama's), I said of course we do! Why not right!? Sure, we don't know anything about lambs, we are totally unprepared for getting more animals, and they need to be fed frequently and we both are pretty busy during the day, but sure why not! One of the lambs mama's had triplets and she couldn't support all three and the other one, well we don't really know the story, but he needed a mama. And I'm the mama.


Being the mama is kind of fun and kind of demanding. The first few days (we got the lambs when they were 4 and 6 days old), we were feeding them every four hours. Now I'm feeding them 4 times a day and in just a few days it'll be down to 3 times a day. They are being bottle fed with a lamb milk replacer and sometimes there's a little fresh cow's milk thrown in for extra richness (we got a gallon of milk from a friend's milk cow that just has a calf) and have a little lamb chow grain mix available.

They are so adorable and cuddly! We take pretty much every opportunity to cuddle with them!



Yes, they are cute. Yes, they are cuddly. Yes, we are going to eat them. While they are living a posh life on our little farm, we will be fattening them up for dinner. They won't be cute little lambs forever! In a few months they will look more like big sheep than sweet lambs and I don't think it'll be to difficult. Of course I say that, but I know that I don't want to be around when it all goes down.

Today they are 9 and 11 days old. Everyday they are a little bigger, a little steadier on their feet. More pictures will follow!

Maui Part II

We start our drive on the epic Hana Highway with an amazing stop: Mama's Fish House, considered the best restaurant on the island and I can attest to the fact that it is amazing! I even got a lei with dinner (insert jokes here) and a beautiful black pearl dessert.


After an amazing meal of fresh fish and nice night at the Inn, we actually got on the road. While we were in Maui we had a number of people tell us how terrible the drive was but they never really said why. Our theory was that they did the drive, a very windy 100 miles roundtrip, in one day and yes that would be kind of terrible. But we had loads of time to stop on the way. Our first stop was Na‘ili‘ili-haele (4 Waterfalls Hike)-can you tell this is the entrance to the hike?


The first waterfall was pretty easy to get to, just a short hike through an incredible bamboo forest. Then we started climbing, up ropes and make shift ladders to the other waterfalls and pools, even a bit of swimming to make it to the fourth pool! And the adventure begins!



Next stop was at the Garden of Eden Botanical Arboretum, sounds a little presumptuous right? Actually, no not really. This place was amazinginly beautiful! There were so many plants and trees that we had never seen before and they were so impressive. And at least most of the trees bearing fruit stated wheather they were edible or not, so Keith and I would know what not eat off the ground.



After we got to the end of the road in Hana and got to our amazing rental house (more about that later) we did a great little hike in the Haleakala National Park in the area known as Seven Sacred Pools, but not really the hike they want you to do.


This trail wasn't very well marked and after a bit of trespassing across a taro farm we found what we were looking for. I really have no idea of the name of the waterfall and pool where we ended up, but I do know we were only people there and had a blast!



These next pictures do absolutely no justice to the Venus Pools. After going to this pool, Keith started seriously talking about moving to Maui. The hike to this pool was a little hairy, but completely worth it. This beautiful brackish pool is both warm and cold and it is crystal clear. The roaring ocean pounding just outside the pool, and all the rugged scenery surrounding the area is absolutely breathtaking.



While in Hana we stated at the only place to stay, according to me! The Hamoa Bay House. If you can't find me, that's where I'll be! With a tree full of ripe star fruit in the front yard, an amazing view of the beach and just generally being a wonderfully relaxing place, I just want to go back!



One of the best things about our time in De Young Maui Estate was happy hour! Yes, we actually drank from coconuts and it was delicious!


We're back to reality now and all I can hope is that this suntan can keep me warm all winter long!

Maui: In two parts

Let's start with the posh bit, shall we? Because really is there any other way to describe the Ritz-Carton Kapalua? I'd say no!

With amenities that include a golf cart ride down to the beach instead of walking 2 minutes (no I never did that!) and somehow almost all the staff knows your name (I came here to get away from everyone knowing me!), you know you're some where fancy.

What to do at a fancy resort? While Keith was spending his mornings getting updated on fun things like gastroenterology, infectious diseases I had very hard decisions to make-beach or pool or beach. We had two options for beaches. The D.T. Fleming beach was part of the resort but still open to the public and one would think it would be a little crowded, but NO! Until about 10am I had that beach almost all to myself!

But because we are in Maui, I did have a slightly better choice: the Oneloa Bay beach. It was almost exactly the same distance walk from the resort AND on a very popular walking route and somehow no one and I mean no one! is on this beach! Loved it! Oh and another perk of sitting on the beach all day in Maui-you can whale watch from the beach. Just sit there and look out and you'll see humpback whales jumping out the water. It was amazing.

And of course there's the pools at the resort that were surprisingly quiet even with kids running around...or maybe it was just that I had my ipod cranked up all the way ;-)

As a slight break from laying on the beach, one afternoon we went on a small adventure to the Olivine Pools-a series of tide pools that are deep enough to swim in but it's still a little freaky because a surf with massive waves that are crashing right behind you.



Let's go back to the whales! On our last day at the resort, before we took off to do some real (kind of) adventuring, we went on a whale watch with the Pacific Whale Foundation . We saw more whales than we saw when we went whale watching in Tonga, but in Tonga we got a lot closer! Still is was amazing to see multiple sets of mama and calf whales playing and jumping out of the water!


Now, lets get as far off the beaten path as we can, while still eating as much delicious food as possible!

Winter Farm Update

But is it really winter? Do you guys remember last winter? I don't think I'll ever forget last winter! Exactly one year ago we finally got water back after two weeks of frozen pipes. We had a bunch of snow, frigid temperatures and were living in a double wide that was so cold that it felt like a tent had to have better insulation. Today, the sun is shining, there's barely any snow and it's supposed to get up to the mid to high 30s, just like yesterday and the day before. On days like today it can get up to 65 degrees in the greenhouse, granted it still gets really cold at night, like 3 degrees cold!


We do have a few things growing in the greenhouse, albeit slowly. I just need days to be a little longer days full of sunshine and of course warmer temps would be lovely. I'm hoping that by mid-February we will be eating salad greens, kale, spinach, arugula and hopefully radishes from the greenhouse. It'll be a little longer wait for beets and ages still for leeks and broccoli.

And of course I'm planning for the spring! Last year by April I had tomatoes, green beans, and and a whole bunch of other stuff growing in the old greenhouse. I may have started things a little early this year, but I've already started peppers and eggplants. It has taken almost a month for them to even to sprout, but now almost too many of them have! I'm hoping to have them planted in containers by April (depending on weather of course!) in our little greenhouse and maybe by August we'll have an insane amount of 4-6 different kinds of peppers and eggplants.

A year ago we did not have chickens and I barely remember life without them! We are getting 6-7 eggs a day. We keep waiting for the day that it's going to be too cold and they are going to go on strike and in preparation we have been keeping a back stock of eggs. Our inventory keeps getting bigger (right now we're at 6 1/2 dozen!) and the hens just keep laying! Maybe it's because they're happy that they have a rooster again!


As I may have mentioned out old, huge rooster started attacking people, so he had to go, if ya know what I mean. A friend brought a baby chick over that she was pretty sure was a rooster. I named him Gandalf the Grey in hopes that he would grow into the name. Then a few things happened that confused us. We got a few eggs that looked like the kind of eggs a hen lays when she is first starting out, then we got an incredibility small egg. It was that super small egg that convinced us that our rooster must actually be a hen....damn! We wanted a rooster to start incubating and raising chicks in the spring-where are we going to get a new rooster in the middle of winter!

Well, we were wrong. Our rooster we thought was a hen is a rooster. How to we know this? Even though he is still smaller then all of our hens, he's started doing things that only a rooster would do. No, he's not crowing yet, but lets say that I don't think we need to worry about having fertilized eggs to incubate this spring!


And then there's Fang II. He is ever present, constantly following me around while I'm outside and doing his best to slip inside. He's really good at getting inside and his Christmas present was a day and night napping in the house. Now he thinks that where's he's supposed to be and the constant scratching on the door is getting pretty annoying!


Inside we have a little arboretum going on! This was a great Christmas for trees! I got both a dwarf fig tree and a meyer lemon tree. They both look kind of sad right now, but I will nurse them to be amazing trees (I hope!)


I'm so glad Keith puts up with all of this! I can't wait for this spring and summer when we have veggies growing all over the place, not just little baby sprouts!

Merry Christmas!

Thinking about writing this, it felt like I was going to write one of those holiday newsletters that no one actually reads the whole way through-maybe that's how this always read. With days full of work and evenings full of getting ready for Christmas there just hasn't been time to write anything.

On Sunday December 5th, Keith got up early to go on his first hunting trip with his friends Nic and Ed. Keith was pretty certain that he was going to come home empty handed and looked at this trip as a learning experience. At least he looks good in camo!


Long story short, Keith came home with an elk! I'm sure if you haven't heard the story yet, Keith will be happy to tell you! I've heard it a number of times, but I know I still can't do it justice! Keith shot a 2 (ish) year old female elk at about 3 in afternoon. It was his first shot on his first hunting trip! It starts to get dark here at about 4 so Keith, Ed, and Nic worked fast in the dark and cold to butcher this huge animal (at least 500 lbs!). Keith brought it home in 5 different game bags that we hung in the shop in the garage.



So you can take your elk to be 'processed', but we know Keith won't let someone else do that! For the next week and half or so our kitchen was butchering central and our whole house smelled like meat!



Keith even hand ground all the meat! We got about 45 thick steaks, 30+ pounds of ground meat, and at least a dozen huge roasts-it's amazing and our freezer is a bit overwhelmed!


And BJ got a huge elk bone to munch on!


And that's that-we have over 200lbs of elk in the freezer and it is delicious!

This house lends itself to wanting to go crazy decorating for Christmas. This year we have the biggest Christmas tree I have ever seen and it was not easy to get in the house.


We cut this massive tree down from our backyard. It had been planted too closely to a couple other trees and a bush that were all slowly strangling each other the bigger they got. The tree didn't look that big outside-inside it looks huge.


We only had enough decorations for the top half of the tree-or a regular size tree-so it took some time to get it all trimmed. Finally, we got it done!



The greenhouse is going well, I'll write about it ad nauseum sometime soon!

Merry Christmas to everyone! Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday and that everything we shipped arrived on time! We'll be hanging out at home feasting on delicious prime rib, drinking too much wine, and eating way to many sweets.