Dear friends,
At Thanksgiving we had a lovely time with Kira home form College and are watching soccer world cup most nights. It is raining and I am making cheese after mucking out the cow barn for two hours. I was worried there would not be enough manure for all the projects, but the fork has not hit the ground when I tried. There is plenty, just need a window of frozen ground, no snow to get it out.
Two weeks ago I was going to roll up the sides of the high tunnel all the way to the top and had forgotten that it did not have boards on the top holding it on the top center down because we had put new plastic on. those boards go on the first time you roll up the first side and fasten the top as you can get to it. I had rolled both sides up simultaneously as I had students helping that day and the one side got caught under a pie and had pulled the back side diagonally across instead of rolling evenly up. What a nightmare at 3pm, 1 1/2 hrs before dark and snow to come. What to do? Take it all down, but if would have been too heavy to move or roll up and the mice would have had a field day with it on the ground for the winter. I called my honey and he came over and we were able to wiggle it back by rolling the pipes back down, stepping on them as they held the bottom the rolled on plastic and he had a lot of momentum to force the whole sheet back into position. It took another hour and was past dark when I got the last of it secured safe on the top. We had to move the CSA delivery to the next day.
The deer seem to get into the garden every night. All is harvested and the overwinter spinach is covered. I invested into 50 more 12' fence post and the SLU-Greenhouse students helped me drill the holes with a rented fence hole digger and to carry them (heavy) into the holes. I had rented the one man digger the day before and dug 8 hole and was totally exhausted because it is not just the weight of the soil pulling out of the hole but he engine on top of the machine. I was so glad the students were able to come before the ground was frozen for the winter and spring. We put two people on the digger and two on carrying the posts together. The local farmer Tom who brought the posts just whupped them off his truck. I thought I was strong, but this is another dimension. I guess if you work with posts all day long they become easy.
The cows are settling in for winter with most the pastures closed off to not over graze, compact it and keep the deer out. They get hay, some veggies (grade C) and some minerals and vitamins. We get 2-2 1/2 gallons/day which makes for nice big cheeses.
The fall CSA will go till Christmas week, the student CSA till December 6th. I am thinking about the winter CSA. I am going to Germany January 11-February 12th. I could to two drop offs in January and then keep going after I am back. Let me know if you are interested.
The green leafs you are getting these weeks are broccoli leafs. They are delicious if cooked enough. Some Birdsfooters like them just turned dark green cooked and they are kind of chewy then. We had some broccoli planted too late that did not make heads, but good greens. I hope you enjoy them as we do, dark green!
Here is a sesame dressing we like to marinade them in:
Birdsfoot Sesame dressing:
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of nice vinegar
1/2 cup of water
1/8 cup or less of soy sauce
1-2 cloves of garlic or pureed garlic scapes
1/8 cup of tahini or toasted sesame seeds
pepper)
1/2 minced onions
a little honey or maple syrup
mix all and marinade coked greens like chard, kale spinach for some time. ( I like my kale cooked soft and gray, not green and crunchy that's German)
have a good week, peace, Dulli
At Thanksgiving we had a lovely time with Kira home form College and are watching soccer world cup most nights. It is raining and I am making cheese after mucking out the cow barn for two hours. I was worried there would not be enough manure for all the projects, but the fork has not hit the ground when I tried. There is plenty, just need a window of frozen ground, no snow to get it out.
Two weeks ago I was going to roll up the sides of the high tunnel all the way to the top and had forgotten that it did not have boards on the top holding it on the top center down because we had put new plastic on. those boards go on the first time you roll up the first side and fasten the top as you can get to it. I had rolled both sides up simultaneously as I had students helping that day and the one side got caught under a pie and had pulled the back side diagonally across instead of rolling evenly up. What a nightmare at 3pm, 1 1/2 hrs before dark and snow to come. What to do? Take it all down, but if would have been too heavy to move or roll up and the mice would have had a field day with it on the ground for the winter. I called my honey and he came over and we were able to wiggle it back by rolling the pipes back down, stepping on them as they held the bottom the rolled on plastic and he had a lot of momentum to force the whole sheet back into position. It took another hour and was past dark when I got the last of it secured safe on the top. We had to move the CSA delivery to the next day.
The deer seem to get into the garden every night. All is harvested and the overwinter spinach is covered. I invested into 50 more 12' fence post and the SLU-Greenhouse students helped me drill the holes with a rented fence hole digger and to carry them (heavy) into the holes. I had rented the one man digger the day before and dug 8 hole and was totally exhausted because it is not just the weight of the soil pulling out of the hole but he engine on top of the machine. I was so glad the students were able to come before the ground was frozen for the winter and spring. We put two people on the digger and two on carrying the posts together. The local farmer Tom who brought the posts just whupped them off his truck. I thought I was strong, but this is another dimension. I guess if you work with posts all day long they become easy.
The cows are settling in for winter with most the pastures closed off to not over graze, compact it and keep the deer out. They get hay, some veggies (grade C) and some minerals and vitamins. We get 2-2 1/2 gallons/day which makes for nice big cheeses.
The fall CSA will go till Christmas week, the student CSA till December 6th. I am thinking about the winter CSA. I am going to Germany January 11-February 12th. I could to two drop offs in January and then keep going after I am back. Let me know if you are interested.
The green leafs you are getting these weeks are broccoli leafs. They are delicious if cooked enough. Some Birdsfooters like them just turned dark green cooked and they are kind of chewy then. We had some broccoli planted too late that did not make heads, but good greens. I hope you enjoy them as we do, dark green!
Here is a sesame dressing we like to marinade them in:
Birdsfoot Sesame dressing:
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of nice vinegar
1/2 cup of water
1/8 cup or less of soy sauce
1-2 cloves of garlic or pureed garlic scapes
1/8 cup of tahini or toasted sesame seeds
pepper)
1/2 minced onions
a little honey or maple syrup
mix all and marinade coked greens like chard, kale spinach for some time. ( I like my kale cooked soft and gray, not green and crunchy that's German)
have a good week, peace, Dulli
