Chickens,chickens and more chickens!

I love chickens! This is the one farmyard delight I could never be without! Not just because of the fresh eggs but the enormous amusement one gets from watching them scratch about. Some can become quite friendly and down right loyal, following you around the garden clucking softly, or greeting you in the morning when you have brought their breakfast. With the many amazing breeds available there is something for everyone. From the backyard keeper to the bird fancier.

We chose our particular breeds due to their durability(must withstand cold new England winters) and their docile temperaments, for our childrens sake. One of my favorites is the Buff Orpington, a rather large bird with glossy blonde plumage and a fantastic personality. Another variety we added was the Americauna or Easter Egg chicken. This lovely bird produces an egg in a variety of shades ranging from green to aqua. The ever popular Barred Rock was a no brainer as they are dedicated layers and quite mellow. We also have a couple Blue Andalusian. A lovely slate grey chicken but on the smaller side and quite skittish, they produce a nice white egg.

                                                               Pretty Americauna

                                                               Blue Andalusian

                                                                All in a days work!

A perfect fresh egg. Note the yolk sitting high on the whites and the deep orange color.

As our main group is approaching their year old mark we started a few new chicks just before Christmas. Housing them in the basement under a red heat lamp. They are growing very fast and will be ready to take the step out to the shed now their feathers have come through. Thank goodness as cleaning their pen is a biweekly activity right now!! Not for the faint of heart.

Autumn and Cornish Pasties

Flag of Cornwall

Autumn has to be my favorite time of the year. When the sun sets lower in the sky and seems to dust the earth in a golden glow, the crisp air carrying the vibrant leaves and all those wonderful warming dishes one can start to prepare...its magic!
Along with the end of the year harvest such as broccoli, kale and pumpkins one can also delight in late carrots, potatoes and swede (rutabaga). One of the dishes I like to make for a Sunday evening supper is a Cornish Pastie. As my family comes from the county of Cornwall in the west of England, I grew up feasting on this national dish. My aunt was by far the best at it and would start with a homemade shortcrust pastry stuffed with garden potatoes, onions, swede and local beef. The only accompaniment would be HP Sauce and salt and pepper. She would make them so large you would have to save half for the next days lunch, which was great as they were so good cold with a dollop of Colemans Mustard and a homemade pickled onion. (recipe to follow)
Pasties were originally made for the local miners by their wives. The sturdy shortcrust casing held up well and meant the men had no need for a knife and fork. One of the practices was to put apple in the end corner for a "dessert" effect. But most of the time the end corner was usually tossed as it was too sooty from the miners hands to eat!
Here I have included my families recipe for the Cornish Pastie. I make them a little smaller than my aunties as my children find them a little more manageable! You can also use store bought pastry to save time.

Makes 4 pasties.

For the short crust pastry:

14 oz plain all purpose flour

8oz butter chilled but not hard

4-6 tablespoons cold water

Place flour and butter with a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Rub until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Add water until the dough binds together. Wrap in saran wrap and chill for a minimum of 30 minutes.

For the filling:

One large potato peeled and diced

One medium onion diced

Part of a swede diced

1 lb stewing beef cubed

salt and pepper

Divide the dough into 4 sections and roll out on a lightly floured board to resemble a salad plate.

Then place some of the potato and swede down the middle first, topped with a small amount of onion then some beef. The beef should always be on the top as the juices will soak the vegetable as it cooks. Before pinching the crust together to enclose the filling generously sprinkle salt and pepper. Once the pastie is pinched closed send it to a greased baking sheet and glaze with a beaten free range egg. Repeat three more times. Send the pasties to a preheated oven at 375 for 1/2 an hour, then reduce heat to 350 for another hour. Serve with brussel sprouts or veg of choice.

Throughout the summer season there has been an abundance of mushrooms on our property. From fairy circles in the lawn to quite unique specimens scattered on the forest floor. With such a plethora I am seriously considering farming fungi! Although I have yet to identify a tasty morsel just collecting and observing this unusual life form has been enjoyable. Learning that these objects are neither plant nor animal but a whole Kingdom of their own is remarkable. That the mushroom itself is the reproductive part of the organism and that its life stages are complex to say the least!

Here I have snapped a few specimens that I have collected. Waiting for a chanterelle or morel in the future!

mid summer harvest

With the onset of mid summer, the long warm days have yielded a delicious crop of luscious tomatoes, mouth watering zucchini, crisp cucumbers and red hot chili peppers which have delighted my husband and his salsa! The broccoli is coming on well but the snap peas are slowly on the decline and I have noticed many of the fruit have been gnawed at by an unwanted garden pest... there has been a presence of slugs among the zucchs which has me nervous. I remember an old remedy, that I am trying, of tossing eggshells amongst your plants. The idea being the slug cannot cross the sharp trap without causing much bodily harm! I have plucked a few by hand and thrown to the chickens who in turn cackle in sheer pleasure.

The basil has taken off in the herb garden and I can finally dedicate some time to my favorite sauce of summer, PESTO! Unfortunately our garlic did not fare well so i am relegated to either store bought or if lucky some lovely specimens found at the farmers market. I find having pesto available, either fresh or frozen enviably allows for an assortment of menu options. Not just pleasurable on pasta, I like to smear it on sliced sourdough bread with a touch of real mayonnaise accented by a plump slice of garden tomato and some roast chicken for a very nice picnic sandwich. Or drizzled over fresh mozzarella and heirloom tomato salad. Another practice is tossing it with cooked cold shrimp over mescalin greens and avocado.

Here is a nice basic recipe for pesto but of course one can substitute ingredients to their liking. I have used garlic scapes instead of garlic and walnuts instead of pine nuts other additions and modifications have been done but I think the traditional is by far the best!

2 cups fresh basil rinsed and patted dry

1/2 cup good quality olive oil

1/3 cup pine nuts

1/3 cup pecorino cheese

dash of sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

blend in the cuisinart until desired consistency.

Today I released my new "queen" that I purchased through the PCBA.  About a month ago half of my hive swarmed with the old queen and left me pondering what to do next. This had been one of my biggest fears.  As I released her today the bees seemed to hum so loudly... cheers of gratitude!  We will see in the coming months their progress.

moments of beekeeping

This one is going east..

..and this one is going west!

Beekeeping
by Hannah

SWARM!! SWARM!!

The beginnings

We purchased our 3.5 acre home last August and are in the throws of renovating the 111 year old farmhouse. We have updated the windows and renovated the kitchen and bathrooms, as they were stuck in the 1950's! But we are settling in now and enjoying the fruits of our labor, literally!  The girls are busy harvesting peas and cucumbers from the veggie patch and pinching some beautiful early blueberries. The bees are quite active with a high nectar flow so I am hoping we get some honey come harvest time (first year bees are usually low in honey yield). The chickens are about ready to lay and are donning some wonderful plumage, cant wait to share some photos of the first eggs!