"Our" Christmas Story

We had a Christmas that was right from that movie the Christmas Story! It is always so hard to be away from our families. You would think after 12 years, I would get over it! In the past we have tried many different things to ease the lonliness. We have been invited to people's houses, that helps. I have cooked dinner here, that helps. This year we thought we would go to the Navy Galley for Prime Rib! Holiday and Sunday dinners from 4:30-6 is what was posted. Travis made a phone call, but no one answered. Oh, well....we got there a hair before 5. "oh, we close in 5 minutes....get in here and get all the food you want and then you eat....get your drinks and desserts right now too before they put it away!," The little Phillipino dear urged. So, uneasily, we paid, though we didn't want to be rushed on such an occasion. Upon arriving in line, we saw the carnage. The last of the beef and turkey dripping in fatty juices. Paige drew a blank stare and then I knew we weren't doing "this". We quickly bailed out of there while a fight between the cook staff and cashier ensued. Got our money back and made the trek back to the truck. Now what? Tears started to form, and I tried to push them aside as I thought about how lucky we were to be together this time of year. Still I couldn't wipe away the thoguhts of our extended families together and missing out on all of the holiday hype. We drove through an eerily quiet Silverdale and found ourselves at Shari's! The kids were happy, Travis had a burger....far from the Prime Rib he had his mind set on. It wasn't ideal, but it was "our" Christmas, we will always remember it!

A Local Holiday Season

Well, where did the time go between Thanksgiving and now? I wanted to sit down and write about our wonderful Thanksgiving, but in all of the rush...that dream faded. We took the challenge of eating one dish local and got pretty close to all dishes local. I will give you a rundown of our local fare....

Turkey...35 pounder (we raised him)

Ham...from our pork that we purchased from JJJ Farms

potatoes...ours

stuffing...made from Luigi's bread cubes (the best ever)

gravy...made

brussel sprouts...a gift from Nikki

Rolls...made

green bean casserole....our canned beans

green salad

Sweet potatoes...I have never attempted to grow these, but I would like to try.

Apple Pie...Chelan apples

Pumpkin pie...our pumpkin

So, 8 out of 11 dishes came from here or a local source. Wow, it was amazing. I think our house guests thought we were a little compulsive and crazy as we shot down their attempts to sneak things onto the menu that were not local. But, a challenge is a challenge....and we DID IT!

Autumn's Promise

Whew...what a season. Some people have a count of how many jars of what they have put up, I just put em up. I can try to recall...

I am sure there were at least 80 jars of pickles that I put up (some used as bartering stock for my Chelan goods).
A couple dozen each of green beans and pickled beans.
Some 8 or so jars of delightful plum jam that is as beautiful as it is tasty (can't wait to top brie with it for those Christmas parties),
3 cases of apple sauce, plus the sauce I helped a friend with.
At least 12 pints of tomatoes and 12 quarts, too
We tried ketchup...a couple of brave friends and I...I love it, the fam doesn't.
Travis froze 50 ears of corn on the cob
We have a a fair share of berries of all types
spicy chow chow
lots of frozen peppers before I found a new favorite....
candied jalapenos! ( thanks to my new friend Dodi for her recipe)
dehydrated apples (Thanks, Hanias)
fruit leather
and the clincher....(drum roll, please).......

174 jars of Salsa!
It was great, we converted the October House at Pheasant Fields to our own rustic cannery, complete with propane burners and a trusty Cuisinart! It was Dodi and Merle, Lisa Marie, and I...oh yeah, Nikki dropped in once in a while to be our taster. It took us 9 long hours for the red and another 6 for the green salsa...but, it was a blast! I am now the proud owner of about 5 cases of salsa! I love it!

I entitled this Autumn's Promise because of all those tiring hours of prepping and sowing and weeding and watering and weeding and weeding....the seeds planted held true to their promise and we have abundance people!

Whew...they're gone

Okay, okay, okay. There were a lot of promises made. But face it, sometimes promises are broken. On our farm, they get broken frequently. I know, I know we promised that we would put some pictures up of the broiler chickens and their growth. You would get a picture of them happily tromping through the fields in their tractors, drinking fresh water on demand and frantically consuming all food in sight. Well, at this point I am going to ask you to trust me that all of the above happened right here on the farm. You want proof? Let me just show you the same chickens that are now in the refrigerator weighing in at (drum roll).......7 pounds! What in the? Okay, so not ALL of the chickens were 7 pounds, but the top shelf of the fridge is stacked with seven pounders! Here are the chicken stats:

smallest bird: 4.9 lbs

largest bird: 7.18

average weight: 5.47 lbs

age: 8 weeks, 3 days

"processing" time: 12 hours

# of crew members: 7

# "processed": 65

MVP: Travis

Why was Travis the MVP? Well, he had to work his paying job that day. So, he missed out on all of the fun. But, he is voted MVP for taking care of the flock daily (except for duty days), this includes feeding, watering, and moving the tractor. He has built the tractor, repaired it every time the goats broke in, ripped the tractor apart and rebuilt two smaller ones. Chewed his fingernails to nubs every time the feed prices have jumped, and listened to me complain about the prices. He prepared the processing area, sanitizing every piece of equipment used until 12 am, woke up at 5 to get the water heating up, drove the F250 to pick up the contestants in the lower field. Went to work, called hourly, came home a little early with frosty beverages for all. Thanked God he had to work. Helped me package the birds, weighed them, hauled them to the fridge, cleaned up the area, loaded the borrowed equipment and then he.....took me to dinner. And no, we didn't eat chicken.

Thanks Farmer T!

GREAT PENINSULA FUTURE FEST

Well, from about today until Wednesday I will be on a dead run! This weekend is the GPFF and I will start prepping tomorrow for it, man the booth both days (as well as the PFF/RBF salad booth), Nana and munchkin fly in on Sunday, the big Chicken Fest '08 happens on Monday and Tuesday, KCAA meeting on Tuesday night, and then I will FALL OVER on Wednesday! I hope that you can join up with me! Blessings to all!

A month of Sundays...

WOW! It has been some time since our last post. Life has been busy, but not really in the field. The fields are growing and now we are harvesting...
Garlic
Lettuce
Cabbage (it is HUGE)
Beets
Peas...I think they will never end
Carrots
Potatoes
2 tomatoes!!! (We didn't share with the kids....somethings you have to taste first)

Last night's dinner fare was truly one of our own
Chuckwagon Moose Steak
Potatoes, Carrots, Peas (Creamed)
Sauteed Beets and greens

I can't tell you the feeling when you sit down to a meal and it is all from you sustaining yourself! (Of course, the good Lord has a big part in that, he did give us the tools after all!)

So, what is on for the next few days... More garlic harvest, more of Travis feeding those insanely huge meat birds (processing will begin on the 4th of August), preperation for the GP Future Fest this weekend at Port Gamble...we will be selling our lovely carrots (prepared to eat) at a booth and manning the KCAA booth, and prepping the house for the much anticipated arrival of NANA and a cute little munchkin!

Thanks for checking in on us...be blessed!

Gettin' 'er done!

Oh yesterday was wonderful! I figured after last week at the market with a slim booth, we needed to get some work done around here. So, I hired a couple of sitters and put in a full eight hours! Needless to say, I am feeling like my head is above ground! The sitters were fabulous....they even put away my dishes in the dishwasher! You know you have good help when they put dishes away!

yesterday I...

completed a teacher thank you project - Ry's last day of preschool, she is off to Kindergarten next year (minus her two front teeth, already!) - this required a trip to the local craft store early, early, early

fed and watered all animals

tilled , formed, laid irrigation to, covered with blue mulch, and succesfully planted cucumber beds (I am estimating there are over 60 hills of cucmbers out there - 4 types)

delivered the teacher thank you's - made the teacher cry...and me, too!

seeded hundreds of beets

hit-and-weed(ed) various areas of the field

washed my dirty feet

blessed a friend (more like family) with birthday dinner

dropped by more friends' house on the way home - late

forgot to get eggs...did that with a flashlight

collapsed into bed..sunburn and all!

Juggling

You know, my life often feels like a juggling act. Right now, I am juggling people and things around just so I can get out and PLANT!

We lost our hoop house and our greenhouse split down the middle the other night in a terrible windstorm. Let's not forget the glass screen door that shattered during nature's attack of the Pacific Norhtwest. We had so much going on that in the midst of it all...we left. Well, the greenhouse now resembles "Frankenstine"...never underestimate the power of the almighty duct tape! Travis went out and re-set the hoop house with ease, but the tomatoes did take a beating. And, it looks like a fine excuse to finally get that new screen door that we have been wanting.

So far, we have too many varieties of lettuce in the garden to count, peas that are flowering, spinach that bolted and is not harvestable, lovely garlic, 65 tomato plants in the ground, joi choi, cabbage (red and green), 5 different kinds of potatoes, cabbage, beets that are almost ready, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, sickly cukes (it's so cold), and lastly radishes all in the wonderful soil tonight. Tomorrow we will hopefully get to plant beans and corn!!!

For market on Saturday we will have:

dahlia tubers! 2 for $2
lettuce
radishes?
Paige's painted rocks
beets?

Well, that is all for tonight. You know what they say...the early bird catches the worm (eww)!

Ah hem...

Hello out there....anybody there? *adjusts mike*
Oh okay, uh Hello everyone. Good to see you and thanks for coming. Let me introduce myself and my family (wipes dirt on her pant leg). We are two enthusiastic farmers trying to figure this whole sustainability thingie out. Get comfy...this post is gonna take a while..

We bought a house 2 years ago that has almost 2 acres and well, I guess I don't know what happened, but here we are. Let me attempt to explain.
Shortly after unpacking the boxes, my husband and three beautiful daughters went to the feed store and brought home 10 chicks. I remember telling him, "Hold on there, happy camper...we are NOT farmers....You bought what....we don't even KNOW what to do with a chicken...and just WHO do you think is going to take care of this chicken operation while you go on your submarine vacation for THREE months?" He shoved past me, chickens in hand, and proceeded DOWNSTAIRS with those chicks. It was obvious that he had made up his mind about the chickens. And the kids?....oh yeah, they were SO on his side! They were cuddling those baby chicks, taking them for rides in their strollers...
Meanwhile, I phoned a friend who's husband had pulled the same trick on her a year earlier and borrowed some books. We needed to be informed about what we had already gotten ourselves into.
Well, after carefully reading about our "options", I relaxed a little to the idea and had just settled into my life as a suburban chicken farmer when he brought home FIFTEEN chickens that we, he informed me, were going to eat! Are you kidding me?! Well, pal...the only time I will enter into this WE operation is when I am standing at the stove cooking.....I put my foot down and said, "You are butchering them...I will take the kids and leave that day and come back to a freezer full of chicken...I want NO part in that!"
Well, the chickens began growing and then he left for his 3 month vacation on a US Submarine. I stayed at home and chased away bald eagles and red hawks and threw some seeds into the soil of the small garden plot. Well, pretty soon those chickens that would be ready to butcher in 20 weeks (oops... a minor calculation on the chicken farmer's part) started dying for no particular reason. I began investigating and interrogating the local feed store clerks. Well, it seemed as though Mr. Farmer misinterpreted the part where the chickens would be ready to butcher in EIGHT weeks. So, the reason they were dying was they were ready to be BUTCHERED! I panicked!! It seemed as though I was going to have to "take care" of these chickens. There were 5 left! Most of my friends advised me to just let them die. But, the local farm clerk refered me to a farmer by the name of Nikki Johanson...yep, SHE was a chicken butcherer.
Well, I called her and begged for mercy. And, what do you know...that farmer took a whole Sunday afternoon off and helped me with 5 chickens! Now, most of you don't understand the process it takes to properly "process" chickens. When you get the whole operation up, you want to "take care of" as many chickens as you can...usually at LEAST 25. So, looking back, I am honored to think that she took time away from her own "stuff" to process my measly 5 chickens.
So, that is where it all began and I am excited to share "the rest of the story", but that is for another time...cuz I gotta be gettin outside to those tender little vegies. You know...there is a COLD front movin on in and we are battin the hatches down on our hoop houses...catcha later...