Spring Produce

Good news for all the locavores! The Asparagus and Rhubarb are ready!
I bought both at two Penn Yan roadside stands today! Cream of Asparagus
Soup for dinner....

Trout for dinner

Yesterday's dinner was a real treat! Trout given to us by a good friend from the Cuba NY area and prepared by our son John! It was superb! The trout were really fresh tasting which I attribute not just to the chef, but also the way they were frozen. All of the trout were put into a bag of water and froze solid. It does take a day ahead in the fridge to thaw out, but so worth the wait!! There is a great website to help find places to fish near you. Check out http://www.great-lakes.org/fish_ny.html

Dandelion Greens!

Spring is really here! John picked Dandelion greens down the pasture lane today and enjoyed them for lunch. A little vinegar, minced garlic, and a nice dollop of homemade cultured butter on top! Wow! They were fantastic!!

Some Like It Raw

Very interesting article on the New York Magazine web site,Restaurants section: http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/65483/
Raw milk is gaining in popularity as the number of farms with permits to sell rose: 29 in New York (up from nineteen in 2007), and 100 in Pennsylvania (up from 35 in 2005).

Check out the article!

Chives

The chives are up! We had our first chives and potatoes last night! What a great way to liven up potatoes in the spring! I am very anxious for our first harvest of baby red potatoes, but in the meantime adding fresh minced chives is fantastic!

Finally

The seeds are up!! Pictured are my broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kale seeds!

Peas!

What a huge surprise March and April have been, here in the Finger Lakes. John was able to prepare the garden over the Easter weekend. Usually we are well into May before this can happen. Today I planted heirloom Alaska Peas, two 44 ft. rows, with a chicken wire fence in between the two for climbing. Peas are my favorite vegetable and getting it done today was pretty exciting. I think I am going to try and plant a vegetable a day. Spinach, Chard, Onions, Lettuce, Radishes, and New Potatoes should all do well now. Well I have been told anyway. I have never planted this early and am really looking at this early spring as a sign of great gardening year ahead! :)

Food

Usually people who like to eat food, like to talk about food, cook food, shop for food, touch food, grow food, smell food, and lastly read about food! I found a book I wanted to share. I have not had a chance to purchase and read myself, but hope to very soon. -'The Town That Food Saved-How One Community Found Vitality In Local Food', by Ben Hewitt. Here is a link to read more about it, http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/slow_food/blog_post/hardwick_vt_the_town_that_food_saved/ Now how about those two blog friends with food books of mine....how are you liking your books? Post me a comment....

The Rooster

Today the 'Old Man' died. I am speaking of our old rooster. He was a son of our favorite rooster, 'Starbucks'. Born here on our farm, he did a great job, for numerous years, keeping the hens safe and in order. Many days went by that we took him for granted, but he will surely be missed.

Thank You Finger Lakes Times!

Thank You to the Finger Lakes Times and reporter/editor Susan Clark Porter for the nice article about the blog! The article was titled Locavore for 60 days, featured in their Life by the Lake section in the Sunday edition. I also visited them online at http://www.fltimes.com/ The Living by the Lake section features local; restaurants, events, wine recommendations, and several other community related topics.

Thanks for promoting our beautiful and bountiful area!

Quotation

"By choosing to buy food grown locally and sustainably,in ways that are healthy and humane, I had woven myself into a community that cares about the same things. As a community, we share not only a commitment to protect our natural resources, but an appreciation for the value of food itself, a love for its taste and beauty and the deep pleasure it can bring by connecting us to time and place, the seasons, and the cycle of nature." Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food

Seeds

All of the non-gmo seeds arrived this week! I had hoped to have them planted in their seed trays two weeks ago, but maybe I am still not too late!? We will see. It does look like I got carried away and ordered too many! :) My goal is to make it through this winter with enough vegtables and with a large selection of vegtables until the next garden. I am feeling pretty excited and anxious as we seem to be having an early spring here in the Finger Lakes! One can dream!

Cultured Butter

I have made homemade butter several times since I started getting my milk at Galens Homestead Acres, Clifton Springs, NY. Using the cream that rises to the top of the raw milk has produced some very sweet tasting butter that melts instantly in your mouth. Making the butter turned out to be very easy and very fast. After reading about cultured butter I wanted to see the taste difference. Cultured dairy products are known to lower cholesterol and protect against bone loss, not to mention provide beneficial bacteria. The cream sits out at room temperature 8 hours before making the butter. The cultured butter is just as silky, but has a slight sour taste that compliments the sweet flavor of the butter. I lightly salted mine. Perfect! Now I just wished I had a dairy cow.

I'm Back

It has been two weeks since I last posted. In that time I have had a few days and a few social gatherings that I let myself be tempted eating foods that are not real, much less local. Each time I felt bad the next morning. It made me remember what I used to feel like all the time. Most of the foods that bothered me might not be considered that terrible by the average person. I ate white bread, potatoe chips, pasta, and pretzels. I physically and mentally felt a difference that lasted about 24 hours. I have decided to stay focused on real, local food as much as possible. I will add to my original list of coffee and spices: olives/olive oil, vinegar, sea food, cocoa powder and citrus. With these additions I feel I can really make it until garden and local produce time! As I write this I am feeling better already :)

60 Days

I can hardly believe sixty days have gone by since I started this eating adventure! I have learned a massive amount of knowledge concerning food, myself and my community. There is no question what I eat affects me daily. I have not felt this good in a long time. My skin is better, I have more energy and I have lost eight pounds without any extra physical exercise. Clearly processed foods, processed oils, refined sugar, and refined flour are not good for me. I am not going to stop eating local and want to keep working toward eating only real food. This month I would like to tackle buying and starting heirloom/non gmo seeds for the garden and also purchase a grain mill to grind local wheat. I will keep the blog going and post my endeavors! Here's to an exciting 2010!!!

Quotation

"There seem to be but three ways for a nation to acquire wealth. The first is by war, as the Romans did, in plundering their neighbors. This is robbery. The second by commerce, which is generally cheating. The third by agriculture, the only honest way, wherein man receives a real increase of the seed thrown into the ground, in a kind of continual miracle, wrought by the hand of God in his favor, as a reward for his innocent life and his virtuous industry." -Benjamin Franklin

Sweet Corn

Last summer we grew sweet corn for the first time on our place. It was a huge learning experience, not to mention a lot of work come harvest time. I believe Ellie,Ben and I will never look at an ear of corn on the cob quite the same way again! We picked several hundred dozen ears, freezing a lot and selling a lot at the local produce auction in Penn Yan, New York. Growing the corn and reading the Omnivore's Dilemma at the same time has really brought the subjects of genetically modified seeds and corn subsidies to life. No doubt this is part of the inspiration to grow all Heritage/Non GMO plants this year for me.

Tonight I made a corn souffle using our corn and eggs and local milk,and butter. What a great dish, fluffy and with a nice crust on top. We ate this with local cabbage, potatoes and one of the meat hens I raised over the summer. Let it snow.....

Another Great Web Site

If you have not been to the Slow Food USA site you should take a minute and check it out. It is loaded with great information and truly inspiring. There are links to follow them on Face Book and Twitter as well. What is Slow Food? "Slow Food is an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment." You have to love it! Biggest surprise on the site for me; we grow one of the 200 foods in danger of extinction, the Shagbark Hickory Nut. Guess who will be harvesting as many as she can this season!
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/

Vinegar

Finding local vinegar has really been a challenge. After searching on-line I did find a great blueberry vinegar from Cherry Knoll Farm. I ordered it through the mail and it arrived two days later! Very speedy service! I have been using if for salad with a local first cold pressed grape seed oil. It is very good and with the local feta outstanding! Ben and John found the bottle and it is now almost empty. They are true vinegar aficionados and I have even seen John drink it straight out of the bottle! :) You can find this vinegar at http://www.cherryknollfarm.com/ Listed on-line are several local stores that carry it as well!

Smoked Trout

What a treat! John smoked local trout with hickory and oak yesterday. We have a friend who generously gives us frozen trout! The fish is froze in a large bag filled with water. This is a perfect method as after they thaw out they look beautiful! We served these with a homemade Horseradish sauce on the side. Really great room temperature or cold!