Sometimes It Has Its Advantages

Not splitting the farm share is usually mildly dangerous - I end up with way too much food and a finite amount of time with which to cope with it. Sometimes, though, it's good to not have to split the share. This time of year, as the farm is ramping up, the share is enough for a couple of meals rather than one, and the strawberry distribution is fairly generous.

This week, the strawberry distribution was FOUR QUARTS. No kidding.

That was enough for a batch of jam and a heaping mound of berries to eat. I made a batch of strawberry jam - 9 jars - and will set aside 2 jars for the Fair, 1 jar for the nurse who brings me eggs, and I will send another jar to Brasil with my friend.  [For Fair purposes, 5 cups crushed strawberries, 7 cups sugar, 1 package Sure Jel Pectin.]

Here's the rest of the share this week: 1 bunch Hakurei turnips, 3 stems of broccoli, 1 bunch Komatsuna greens, 0.75 pounds of fresh spinach (more than you might think), 8 radishes, 14 garlic scapes, 1 pint snow peas, and a small bunch each of dill and cilantro. I'm stockpiling the garlic scapes so I can pickle them - last year I made pesto and then froze little bags of it (more on that in a minute) and then just chopped the scapes and froze those, too. This year, since I still have some of all that in the freezer, pickling them seems like a nice idea. I might roast the turnips, if we don't eat them raw in the next few days.

I made my own version of maast-o khiar: I mixed 1 package of the garlic scape pesto into 3 cups of yogurt (I made another gallon the other day, this is one container out of 6) and added chopped, peeled cucumbers. It's a little too garlicky so, when I got home from the farm, I tossed in some fresh dill. Maybe it needs salt and pepper but I'll wait until we eat it to figure that out. We'll have it for dinner with lamb chops from that spring lamb share, pita bread, and some raw snow peas and strawberries. Sounds like a lovely dinner to me!

Tidying Up

Today, after work, I had a little time to get some yardwork done and then I went out to check on the bees. I'd been able to leave them to their own devices these past few days because the weather has been good, and I wanted to take out the feeding bowl and the empty queen cage. While I was there, I stuck the camera into the hive and took a few pictures. Clearly, they are making progress. I wasn't about to pull out a comb and start examining it so I don't know whether or not there are the beginnings of a brood in there somewhere. I certainly hope so!

The front of the hive is to the left in the photo.

Anyway, I removed the bowl of honey water that had a few bees on it, but I hadn't refilled it since Tuesday and there was still some there, so it seemed like they didn't really need it anymore. There were a lot of dead bees in the bowl, I guess they drowned in honey. I suppose there are worse ways to go.

In other news, I brought a jar of strawberry rhubarb jam to the nurse who brings me eggs, and brought home a dozen local fresh eggs to enjoy.  Always a good deal!

Another Bartering Opportunity

A few months ago, I started a new job.  The really cool thing is that I work with newborn babies and their happy families.  It's a breath of fresh air.  An added bonus is that it is at a hospital closer to home, a place I worked at about 18 years ago as a moonlighter.  Some of the nurses remember me from then.  Others remembered me from when I had my kids there.  And then there are new nurses for me to get to know and we often find out we have things in common.

One nurse raises horses, sheep, and chickens.  She and her family have shown the sheep at the Topsfield Fair for a long time.  I'm quite certain I've seen her at the Fair when we went through the sheep barn.  This year, for sure, I'll be making a point to go find her!  As we were talking recently we ended up discussing my jam-making and arranged a barter.  She brought me a dozen eggs and, when I get strawberries in June, I'll bring her a jar of strawberry jam.  A little delayed gratification for her; I got to enjoy the eggs today!

In our quest to get the perfect soft-boiled egg, today I boiled the water and put the (cold) eggs in.  After 30 seconds I dropped the heat to the lowest setting and let the eggs sit in the hot water for another 5 minutes and 30 seconds.  6 minutes total, and they were, indeed, perfect.  And incredibly tasty.

In other news, I used the yogurt I'd made from the powdered culture to make a second batch and it came out with exactly the right texture.  I left it on the heating pad for about 9 hours, maybe those extra 2 hours helped it firm up a little.  Since I'm keeping a tally of how many batches I can get out of one packet, so far we are at 2.

Fresh Eggs for Jam!

These made it home safely in the pannier on my husband's bike!

Yesterday we received half a dozen eggs from my husband's coworker in return for a jar of jam I sent her way a few weeks ago.  Whenever we get fresh eggs like this, I try to use them for eating straight rather than baking, since we can appreciate their flavor better.  This morning we had soft boiled eggs with toast for breakfast.

Apparently, all summer long her 8 hens each laid an egg a day, so she was inundated with eggs.  However, all of the sudden they apparently decided to go on a holiday, or something, so after she'd promised me some, her hens stopped laying.  I don't mind.  They're worth the wait!

Bartering

The 13 year old has been taking archery for a year, and we get supplies at an archery shop much closer to the stables than home.  I was there last Friday, picking up arrows, and joined in a conversation about deer season.  Somehow the conversation ended with the shop proprietor asking me if I'd like some venison.  I said, "If some venison fell into my lap, I wouldn't say 'no.'"  So he offered to bring me some, I offered to pay for it, and he said he'd just give it to me since he had to empty out his freezer in time for this season.

Well, I wasn't one to take something without at least some compensation, so the next day I went back with a cooler and some jars of preserves:  strawberry jam, hot pepper sauce, and eggplant caponata.  Unfortunately, he'd forgotten his cooler!  We made arrangements for me to stop by today and the venison is now in my possession.  I've never cooked venison before so this will be an interesting experiment!  Thus far, there has been a request for a pie, with which I shall try to comply.

I'm also in the middle of a jam for eggs barter as well with a woman who works with my husband.  He brought her a jar of jam from me (raspberry) and, when her hens cooperate, a dozen eggs will be coming our way.