Friday, April 29, 2011

Recycle, Reuse, and Reduce.


We have been Spring Cleaning in preparation for our opening. We learn something new every day at the farm. This week it was hauling “Scrap” as they say, to the metal buyers. Have you ever done this before?
We take our little trailer and away we go into the land of metal.
Once you arrive the first thing you notice is stuff everywhere: iron, metal, aluminum, wiring, cooper, and things we could not identify.
The workers are fast, they weigh, sort, run the forklift, and take a picture (with some unreal computer system) of everything passing over the scale. It is lots of action, noises, and this funny little horn system. The security is tight because of all the metal theft, so be prepared to produce I.D., be on camera and a recorded picture of the rig you come in.

My hope is I was not doing something embarrassing when all the pictures were being snapped.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Yellow Plum - Pineapple Jam


  1. Wash and pit plum - Do not peel
  2. Grind finely (put in blender)
  3. Put into kettle: 3/14 cups plums
1 can crushed pineapple (20 oz) – Do not drain
¼ cup Lemon juice and 1 package mcp pectin

4.       Stir thoroughly  to dissolve pectin
5.       Bring to boil (Stir constantly)
6.       Add 8 ½ cups sugar (pre measure + dump quickly)
7.       Mix well
8.       Bring to a full rolling boil that can’t be stirred down
9.       Add ¼ teaspoon marq. Or Wesson oil to prevent foaming
10.   Boil hard exactly 4 minutes – Stirring constantly
11.   Remove from heat, skin foam + pour into clean jars / no lids
12.   Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath



Jam

Our first jam we sold in our stand was peach. It is still one of our favorites. It is made by a local jam maker with local fruit from our orchard. We started selling jam in 1998. We now offer strawberry, blackberry, boysenberry, marionberry, raspberry, plum, peach and apricot.

This season we will be adding pepper jelly and apple butter.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Our Stand Will Be OPEN

May 6, 13, 20, and 27 (Fridays only in May)
10am – 5pm
Beef, pork, oatmeal cookies, jam, oatmeal, farm fresh eggs & unique gift.
New displays & new creation each week

Spring at the Farm

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Feel Good Quote

"For beautiful
eyes, look for the
good in others;  for
beautiful lips,
speak only words of
kindness;  and for
poise, walk with the
knowledge that you
are never alone."
Audrey Hepburn

Monday, April 18, 2011

Spring Day 2011











We welcome the sunshine this morning. Don't you just have more energy when you wake up to one of those crisp, clear, sun filled days? As I make this post, I can hear the birds in the oak tree ouside of my offfice, boy are there a couple of "bossy bettys" in the group.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Mud Boots

This  is the time of year when we all get ready to pull off the mud boots and wear something else, anything else! Although, like all the things in life that change, the rubber boot has come along way baby. When I    started wearing them you had basic black and army green. And remember how cold your feet got? Now we have color and insulation! Thank goodness there is no film footage of me doing a faceplant in the mud a couple of weeks ago. There I was in my cute little muck boots, plowing through the mud (without a tractor) with my feet, using my arms like some big windmill, trying to stay balanced. The rain water and our clay soil had made this wonderful mixture of yuck. I took a step, but my foot and boot did not come with me, hence the faceplant. For once I did not have a crowd of onlookers.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Zucchini Relish

10 Cups ground Zucchini – (grind with food grinder)

4 Cups onion
4 Tablespoons salt
Mix and let stand overnight, drain rinse with cold water and drain again
also 2 ¼ cup Vinegar
6 Cups sugar
2 tsp. celery seed
½ tsp. Black pepper
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. Dry mustard
1 large green paper – chopped
1 large red paper – chopped
And a few drops of green food coloring cook for 30min and seal in Sterile jars.
Stir often to keep from Sticking
Hot pock 15 minutes

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Beef and Berry BIG LUNCH

June 17th, friday, will be our beef and berry BIG LUNCH. It will be a lunch to savor, see you noon to 6 p.m. Tickets will go on sale May first.