Preparations for Spring Begin While Garden Sleeps

The holidays season on the farm was sunny, bright and 50 degrees. With our mild winter so far, the chickens are still laying and having a great time out in the sun.
Our Christmas Eve feast consisted of the gift of venison from Derek. I marinated it in blueberry pulp, left from making the sauce, 6 garlic cloves, Thyme, red wine and olive oil for 8 hours. Then roasted it for 1 1/2 hours and served it with Blueberry Barbeque Sauce, my own recipe. I also made a potato gratin with Gruyere cheese and layered with swiss chard (from the garden of course). Brussell Sprouts added the green to the plate as well.

The Blueberry Barbeque Sauce is the tastiest thing I've made yet. A bit tart with a hint of chili, great on chicken, pork and venison! It's even better than my Ginger Pear Marmalade. I won't share the recipe but you can order an 8 oz jar of it for yourself ($6.00 per jar) by going to epitherrienfarms@gmail.com and place your order. Shipping costs vary or just arrange for drop off.

I have placed our order for our new chickens. They will be delivered the first week of February. An earlier delivery than last year. They should be old enough to withstand any heat the summer can bring. 25 assorted heritage layers will soon be joining the farm. I can't wait!

Seeds and plants will be ordered by end of January as well. Onions and Potatoes will be first to go in. This year I will plant red, white and blue potatoes to be ready for the 4th of July holiday!
Who wouldn't want a red, white and blue potato salad at their pic-nic!

Seasons Greetings From the Farm

As the cold sunny days are passing, we are already planning for our next growing season and hope the winter will be a mild one.

2011 was a much improved year and we all have a lot to be thankful for. Steve's been working all year at a heated frenzy to catch up from the slow winter of 2010-2011. He lost so much work because of the harsh winter that he felt 60 hours a week was necessary. Thankfully he was able to catch up and his business is expanding south (good thing with these gas prices). He also sub-contracted for a commercial construction and paint company as a crew supervisor.

The farm is doing well. This year our pond was stocked by the MO Dept of Conservation and the veggies were plentiful even though the tomatoes and cucumbers were a disappointment. The summer was too wet, then too hot. For our Thanksgiving feast we picked 3 baskets of gems that we included in the dinner: leeks, beets, lettuce, carrots, purple cauliflower and radishes. It's now December and I am still picking lettuce, beets and swiss chard. Fresh eggs too of course from the hens.

USTA Missouri Valley is still as satisfying as ever. Steve was able to travel with me to Palm Springs and has since become my "ace" volunteer. A week in the sun for pennies doesn't hurt either. This year he plans to join me in NY for the US Open!

I have also begun to work with our team of programmers, creating better, faster and mobile- friendly systems for TennisLink Leagues. Who knew? 5 years ago, I couldn't use a flash drive, now I am a subject matter expert! Ha Ha!

Derek has moved back to Kansas City after two years in San Diego CA. The struggles in such an expensive city just became too much. He's back working for the same company that Steve also worked for. He's kept up with his hunting and our Christmas Table will be centered by the roast venison. Yummy!

Willie has been working in his field this year as an electrical engineer at Sunnen Systems which build circuits for many types of machines. He is living in St Louis where he graduated from SLU and attended one year of graduate school. His girlfriend Lexie is still in law school but will gradute this spring.

The 3 cats are doing great! Blackie is slowly making friends with Patch and Rex, since she likes to come in from the cold more often that ever now, especially since she discovered the big food bowl, just inside the back door. We are still mourning the passing of Stubby, our blind but amazing cat. We think of her often and hope she rests peacefully in kitty heaven.

We are blessed in many ways and hope your blessing grow like a garden this year.

Have a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season!

God Bless!