Sheep shearing and gardening

I finally have a quiet moment to gather my thoughts!  Fresh milk bread is rising (Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book).  I am experimenting with a new way to incubate yogurt that does not take up my oven and require me constantly checking the temperature:

(Heating pad on high covered with towel, mason jar with candy thermometer inside some water that was 110 F when I started, and then covered with towels)

After 1 hour, it is now at 106 F, which is decent.  If it doesn't go below 95 F after 4, this will be my new method!  The heating pad is also a cheap model that doesn't have a safety turn off.  I am not leaving the apartment while this is going on, and the counter is insulated with tiles.  So it should be safe.  Should be.  (After 1 1/2 hours, it is at 104.  I took out the towel between the heating pad and the jar to see if that helps.)

I have almost finished planting.  I have 4 rows left to do of beans and sugar beets, which I will do at my parents' once they have tilled the soil under for me.  The garden out back has three rows left open for transplants.  

 Four trays plus two six packs planted and some have just germinated.

Cucumber seedling and one summer squash getting some sun to harden them off before planting.

Tavie doesn't mind that part of his cage makes a nice table.  He is enjoying his recent shearing in this warm weather!

The garden looks really good right now.  I want the plants that have already come up to be a bit bigger before I go at the weeds.  Half of the garden was just planted and has not yet germinated.

 Lettuce mix

 Kale

 Beets

 Peas

 Green beans

 Sweet onions

 Eggplant, tomatoes, peppers

My beautiful garden space!

I have also been assisting with sheep shearing and fleece sorting and skirting at Kelly Corner Farm.  Jeff Jordan is the best shearer in the state and I learned a lot!

Sheep, rhubarb, and mud

In case you all have been wondering where I have been and what I am up to, I am now constantly busy!  My time is spent either planting/weeding in the garden (which is mostly mud by the time I get out there in the rain), thinking up creative and tasty ways to use the massive amount of rhubarb I have been getting from my parents, and helping out at a sheep and goat farm!  I don't officially work there, but trade some labor for food and fiber.  Jon and I have also started some ambitious hiking.  Last Saturday, we did Mt. Chocorua.  I wore a hiking skirt, which was amazing, and some very old running shoes, which were terrible.  I slipped down many ledges even with Jon helping me, while skinning my knees and twisting my ankle.  Despite that, and a terrible fear of heights that was tested to the max, it was wonderful!  Now that I have some proper hiking boots, we are doing Mt. Washington for our anniversary =)  I am really looking forward to it.

Most of the seeds that I ordered have come.  Greens and most roots have been planted.  Tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers have been transplanted.  I just put onions in this morning.  I have so many things left to plant!  I have three trays of seeds that are just germinating, one that I planted this morning, and one more still to plant.  I'm really hoping for a long, warm season this year.  Otherwise, I will extend my season as much as possible with row cover.  The garden space that my father is letting me use is all ready to go.  Now I just need to get some batteries for my camera to post pictures!

Thunderstorms and husbands in the kitchen.

Last night, Jon made dinner!  After several nights of rather intricate and foreign foods, he said, "I need to show you how to make bachelor food!  You get a piece of meat, a vegetable, and that is it."  And he did.  We had haddock baked in foil, and home fries.  The fish was amazing and the potatoes were decent.  He even cleared the dishes off the table.  It was wonderful!

When I was single, my diet consisted of mac and cheese, pasta-roni, pb+j sandwiches, borscht, bagels, seconds vegetable stir fry, or take out.  I did very little baking or cooking, because I was too busy and didn't want to bother for just myself.  I baked when I could share with other people.  Now that I have someone to feed every day for every meal and my translating comes in bursts, I constantly want to try new things that may or may not take all day in the kitchen.  I see my time right now as a valuable asset to learn about food and gardening.  Whenever we are blessed with a new addition (keep positive thoughts, we hope it is soon!), I know that I will have much less free time.  Of course I will try to keep up with making good food, but it will be much more difficult!

Jon sometimes appreciates my work to make almost everything from scratch.  There are times, like a couple nights ago, where he gets really frustrated.  I tried to serve yogurt as a substitute for sour cream on vareniki (like pierogi).  We went out and bought some sour cream.  I did look up how to make it after that, though, and hope to try it as soon as I can get more milk.  Other times, I overhear him on the phone, "Come stay!  Mary will feed you breakfast.  Its great!  She makes everything from scratch!"

So why don't I just buy it?
1.  I like making things much more difficult than they have to be.
2.  I have a lot of free time.
3.  Raw milk is free right now.
4.  This new hobby is keeping me from going nuts.
5.  I can share my adventures and report if anything is worthwhile!

So anytime that Jon wants to help out, I am ecstatic.  Otherwise, I will continue to wonder what else I can make myself...

By the way, I love coupons, but they rarely help me anymore.  Most of the coupons that I see are for processed foods.  There are people out there that spend next to nothing on groceries, and I really respect that!  It just doesn't work for me.  I would LOVE for there to be more coupons for whole and unprocessed foods!

The thunderstorm last night came in much slower and more powerful than I expected.  It struck what seems to be the antenna twice, sending sparks flying out of wires coming out of the wall in the living room.  Jon and I were both a couple of feet from this when it happened.  There was also small hail!  Today, there is a lot of wind.  I can see the grass moving like waves in the field across the street.  We are supposed to get a frost tomorrow.  I love New England.

Mother's Day Rhubarb Pie

It is hard to believe that we have only been here thirteen days.  Everything is unpacked, early seeds are planted, and I've gone grocery shopping twice.  Our little fridge (as tall as the counter!) is packed with lots of good things.  I am also back to translating.  Things are good.

As today is Mother's Day, I spent most of the day translating, then I visited my mother!  We went to a local food co-op and she picked out a few treats while I...did some grocery shopping.  Might as well save on gas!  We had lots of fun looking at all of the expensive packed foods and figuring out what some of them were.  Our real shopping came from the bulk section.  My mother was amazed at how little things cost in bulk!  I was able to restock my kitchen with:
a.p. flour
w.w. flour
brown rice
brown turbinado sugar
coffee
turtle beans
I also got some really nice looking spinach that was labeled as 'local'.  My mother got some high gluten flour, coffee, and Madagascar vanilla wafers to go with the violet jam that I gave her.  Back at the house, she loaded up my car with glass containers for storing bulk foods better than I have been, a house plant, and some vinegars (a few years ago I made a rosemary vinegar, then forgot about it), and some rhubarb!

I could barely contain my excitement when she said that I could have all that I wanted.  Saying that I love rhubarb does not come close to describing what I feel for the sour stalk of wonderfulness.  While strawberry rhubarb pie is my favorite, strawberries aren't out yet.  So I came home and made a rhubarb pie.  The recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book- basically a bunch of sliced rhubarb, sugar, flour, nutmeg, and a 9" pastry.  It just came out of the oven and the smell is eye-rollingly good.

It is great to have things back to normal.  I planted four rows in the garden on Friday, bought some tomato, eggplant, and pepper seedlings, and planted three trays of seeds in little paper pots.  I am waiting for the end of the month to plant the rest.  There are two or more shipments of seeds coming to me.  My mother said that I could sell whatever I wanted at their farmstand that they didn't already sell.  The summer better be long and normal!  There are also a TON of wild blueberry and strawberry plants in the woods!

My camera is still without batteries, so I took a few pictures with my webcam again.  Better than nothing!  Here is the new apartment, which I call "Barton Cottage" (the chimney make smoke and the hall may be pokey, but it feels like home).

 Massive kitchen!

 Bathroom storage and view

 Hallway

 'Greenhouse'

 Bedroom

 Welcome!

 Rhubarb pie

 My favorite part

 Living room

Kitchen storage, kitchen table on left

I am happy.

Garden plan!

These are my notes for seeds that I will hopefully plant this year!  I still need to buy tomato, pepper, and eggplant seedlings, but I am starting some plants myself in hopes that the season will be long.

Seeds from last year (partial packets), some herbs will be in containers:
arugula
basil
beets
bush beans, green
carrots
chives
cilantro
cucumber, lemon
cucumber, pickling
dill
kale
lettuce blend
marigolds (for pest management)
mesclun mix
oregano
parsley
peas
peppers, bell
peppers, jalapeno
rosemary
sage
summer squash
sunflowers
sweet onions
thyme
tomato, beefsteak
winter squash, butternut
zucchini

Seeds that I am ordering from Gurney's (I'm getting about half off!):
cabbage
carrots
kohlrabi, early white
leeks
onions, bunching
onions, yellow sets
parsnips
pole beans, purple
potatoes, red
rutabaga
shell bean, calypso
spinach
sunflowers
Swiss chard
tomatoes, green zebra
tomatoes, peach
turnip, purple top
winter squash, spaghetti

Seeds from Jung:
basil, cinnamon
beets, sugar
celeriac
celery, zwolsche krul
dried beans, kidney
greens, mustard
lettuce, freckles
melon, moon and stars
melon, vine peach
peppers, carmen
pumpkin, pie
turnip, Tokyo hybrid

Well.  Do you think I've got enough?  I think that we will be eating vegetables and fruit all year long!  I am open to trading for goods or labor, or selling!

And...thank you TanTan!!!

Unpacking, restocking, and garden planning.

Thanks to some awesome family and JenJen, we got everything in a truck, drove three hours, lugged boxes and furniture up a flight of stairs, and unpacked the kitchen and majority of the living room.  We were stocked with some fresh veggies, dry goods, and sandwich things.  We are so grateful for the help, we couldn't have done it without them!

We have spent the last week unpacking the apartment and Jon's two new work spaces there and at my parents', fixing various plumbing issues, getting to know our new landlords, and meeting a lot of new neighbors.  Jon is seeking new leads for work and while I am waiting for a document to translate, I am spending my time planning my garden.

My little notebook is filling up with ideas.  The rain these past few days does not help my eagerness to go out and start planting!  I'd be happy to be out there, but I don't have a raincoat...so I've been planning instead.  I have a bunch of seeds leftover from last year.  Our old apartment was a cave, so I couldn't start any plants early.  I will need to buy some tomato, eggplant, and pepper seedlings.  I might start some seeds in hopes that we have a late season, because I don't want to keep seeds around for too long.  I have a 41' by 44' space in the backyard next to the apple tree.  I also have a garden space at my parents' that I am welcome to use.
-How many seeds can I afford?
-How much are we actually going to eat/preserve?
-Can I sell some at my parents' farmstand?
-Can I grow some staples that I've never grown before?

I am just too excited!  I know that I can handle the work.  My only problems would be affording the seed/seedlings, starting too late, and learning about caring for new plants.  If I can find a cheap source for the seeds I want, find some row cover, and do a ton of research, this is going to be the best garden I've ever done!

For now, I am restocking the kitchen with homemade and natural foods.  I've made yogurt, butter, honey wheat bread (Panera Bread Cookbook), and dehydrated some chives, cherry tomatoes, and scallions.  Rhubarb should be ready in a couple of weeks!  I am going to try dehydrating some.  Dehydrating and canning might be my best resources for preserving produce this year.  We have a mini-fridge with a 2" high freezer at the top.  Fortunately, the kitchen is large and I finally have enough shelf space to store everything.

Time to order some seeds =)