End of an Era

Hmmm, what exactly are we talking about here? Looks more like a crazy technicolor hurricane than an era or anything else for that matter. So any guesses as to what exactly this is? Come on, share...you guys are creative!

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So the picture above represents an accumulation of more than six years worth of crochet cotton. Why in the world would anyone need such a thing? Well, for the first 5 years we were at the farm I made crocheted market bags. I made a lot of market bags...A LOT! HUNDREDS...literally! And sold them at our booth at the market. They were a nice complement to the vegetables, they were bright, pretty colors and they didn't wilt in the sun.

But then the re-usable grocery bag trend hit and anyone could pick up a perfectly usable, sturdy bag at their grocery store (or Menards, the state fair and just about everywhere else). And thus the bottom fell out of the of the "Market Bag" market . But that was ok, really! I was tired of making them and I had learned to spin by then and was considering selling my handspun yarn instead. Done!

So back to that crochet cotton. As with almost any project, there are leftovers...little bits, too much to throw away, but not enough to be really useful. So you stuff them in a container and occasionally wonder what to do with them.  So today was that day when I wondered...and there was an idea. So I pulled out the tote full of cotton and sat down at my yarn ball winder (good thing I got the jumbo-size!) and spent most of the morning winding all those bits of brightly colored cotton into this enormous ball.

Next I oiled up my wheel and pulled out some white Shetland wool and whomped out some lumpy, bumpy (really Maggie, it is!) thick and thin singles to ply against the crazy clash of colored cotton. Really, the whole thing was so much more sedate than it sounds...I was listening to Simon & Garfunkel as I was doing it so that tells you something. But now I have this new yarn to take to market on Saturday and I'm calling it "End of an Era" yarn since it wraps up the nearly endless days of crocheting market bags quite nicely. Its fun and fresh and will go with absolutely anything! And given the size of that ball of cotton...there should be plenty to come!

**Added 12/15/10 **
Here's a pic of some of the finished yarn ready to go to market. Its not a great pic, but you get the idea.

You just never know...

Saturday as the mad rush that was the opening farmers market was winding down, I grabbed my hat (those of you in the know, know which hat) and ducked across the street to show off my fine chapeau to our friends at Vanderploeg's Bakery. As I was donning my hand-knit finery and entertaining Marcie, a customer walked up and asked to take my picture. Um well, why not..."sure, go ahead."
And then the day proceeded as normally (for us) and we packed up and went home. Got to spend some quality time with my sister and nephews, went to bed at 9pm. It was a good, though exhausting day.

Then Sunday evening, after my sister had returned home, she sent me an email saying a friend had forwarded her a blog link and it was "Too Funny!"

So always up for a good laugh, I clicked on the link. Ohhhhh....well, um...here, see for yourself:
Opening Day

What fun, a blog about the market and and local foods.
So of course I left a comment, and the author sent me a very kind email, from which we have started up a conversation. Its a small world out there, it was true back in our theatre lives and is certainly true in the Local Foods scene. What fun to find another like-minded person who enjoys locally grown foods, supports the farmers market and has a sense of humor!

Oh, and the fun continued on the follow-up posting as well:
be careful what you post

Too funny indeed! Thanks Amy, for the shared laugh!

Pinched Hummus

No, I didn't steal hummus from Gateway Market or anything. Though I've recently been craving it just about enough to do so.

Sometime during our "All-Out-Bash-Opening-Farmers-Market" on Saturday, Sean stepped out of the booth for 2 minutes and grabbed a couple loaves of bread from our favorite bakery at the market...ah sweet mystery of life, I do love that bread! I know, I know, I can make my own bread, only theirs is so damn good and I don't have to bake it. And at this time of the year that is critical.

So I had good bread, I wanted hummus...good hummus.

Then today I was pinching back trays and trays of basil starts and it hit me...hummus with basil. Oh yeah, that's exactly what I want!
I grabbed a few different recipes from the internet, plugged in my food processor and away we went.
Needless to say, tonight's supper was bread and hummus...period. Sometimes life is very, very good!

BGF Hummus

5 garlic cloves, minced and then mashed
1 cup basil trimmings (or leaves)
2 15-oz cans of chickpeas, drained
2/3 cup of tahini
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil, plus a bit more
1/2 teaspoon of salt

In a food processor, combine the mashed garlic, basil and a shot of olive oil.
Process until it looks like a loose pesto.
Add garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, water and remaining olive oil.
Process until smooth. Add salt, starting at a half a teaspoon, to taste.

Delicious with good bread, fresh veggies or chips.
Freezes well.
Makes about 3 cups.

Spring Doin's

You know, if I could bear to blog without including pictures, I might be more timely in my updates. I often think... "oh, I should blog about that" and then never get around to taking a picture of whatever the subject might be, and thus it never makes it to the blog and I go weeks without updating. (nice excuse, huh?)

Here's what we've been up to recently:

I wish there was some way to include scents on the computer. Because right now the farm smells like this...(seriously, the fragrance wafting on the wind is simply amazing!)

It has been a busy couple of weeks since my last post. We recently returned from our encore performance of "Potatopalooza" in the gardens. I was starting to think we might never get through them all. We planted about 1,000 row feet of seed potatoes, all by hand. I know other farms do more, and more power to them! This is enough for me.

The big high tunnel is coming along and should be in good shape for the opening farmers market on May 1. This tunnel contains chard, choi, salad greens, radishes, spinach and arugula.
Just a week ago I was in a mild panic thinking that the crops wouldn't be ready in time. But as usual, I was just being angst-y. Today I harvested these, and in two weeks they will be perfect on the market table.
We've also been laying out and prepping beds for planting. Just yesterday, the first seeds went into the fields. We are by no means ahead of schedule, but as of yesterday, we are caught up and on schedule.

Other recent things worth mentioning:

• The Fruit Tree Grafting class at Seed Savers was marvelous! We'll see how well we put the new knowledge to work.
• We are getting more than 10 dozen eggs a day. There is a limit to how many eggs two people can eat.
• The Blue and Luci show continues to be good entertainment. They are quite the pair, I wish I had video to share as photos don't due them justice. Luckily the "interest in the chickens" seems to have waned, hopefully permanently.
• We've have some wonderful folks come out and volunteer their time to do a "working visit" to the farm. Big thanks to Maggie, Terri, Linda, Dawn, Michelle and Danelle for their time and willingness to "work and learn".

I'm sure there is more to share, but I'm tapped out for now. Will write another update soon and hopefully it will include stories of morels we've found (not yet, though).

Going Topless at Market

No, its not what you are thinking, it was too damn cold for that!

Yesterday was not a banner day at the farmers market. It was cold and windy, though the sun was out most of the morning. Several market tents tried to make an arial escape early in the day and throughout the morning you could hear the crash of various products, signage and shelving hitting the ground. We gave it up as foolish early in the experience and just took the top off the tent. It looks a little odd, but still allows us to post all our signage and keep our hanging displays without risk of damage to the tent or passers-by. Just think of it as a market booth with a sunroof!

Huge thanks to our customers that braved the cold wind and came out anyway.

We hope next week will bring better weather for the market.

Saucing and Synching

Its been an interesting week on the farm. We are getting ready for the downtown DM Harvest Market, so there has been much jam-making, produce harvesting and root-crop cleaning.

On top of all that it has gotten COLD! So cold that the outdoor cooler where the apples are stored is at risk of freezing, so that means its applesauce making time. So far we've put up approximately 30 quarts of applesauce for our own consumption and for making into apple butter to sell. I love applesauce made from Jonathan apples, its wonderfully tasty and a beautiful color to boot!

How did I ever make applesauce before the Squeezo!?!

I also had another recording session for the storytelling program at the radio station on Thursday. This was a particularly fun one as we started learning to engineer our own program. Its been a long time since I ran a sound board, but with this technology, the computer does a lot of the fiddly work for you. So really it is more learning the software, than learning about the equipment. Big thanks to Ron Sorenson for nursing this program along until we can manage it on our own.

Recording studio at KFMG