It's Asparagus Season!!!

I really could be out there picking asparagus everyday.
My 3 year old patch is about 60 feet long by 4 feet wide. This is our first spring to cut spears for eating and we are having asparagus with almost ever meal.
I will start freezing some and then work on a really good Cream of Asparagus soup for the winter months, because I could really see us getting a bit tired of having Asparagus with every meal. I'm not complaining now, but now I see how it can get a bit boring after awhile.
Roasted, tossed with garlic salt and toasted sesame oil is still my favorite! It's like candy!
Photos to come.
Also, Strawberry blossoms a plenty! This is early!

Great Start to the Week!

Sunday after mass, the temps were already reaching 75 degrees. The high was planned for 85 so I had to get my chores done quickly. Two hours spent shoveling chicken poo out of the babies chicken coop, shoveling new hay in the babies coop and adult hen's nesting boxes, lead to an hour of digging up Day Lillies since they were growing in a very inconvenient spot, right in the middle of the lawn (very hard to mow around). I gave the Day Lillies to Sue next door to decorate her side of the barn. She doesn't have free-range hens that eat all her flowers, like we do.
After showering off all the poo, we had dinner Alfresco! With a gorgeous purple sunset, chilled glasses of wine and my favorite chicken recipe of Bobby Flay's, chicken with lemon, cumin, parmesean cheese and a fabulous mango sauce on a bed of cilantro pesto mashed potatoes.
Yummy!

I also came up with another dandelion salad, even better than the last one. This one is adapted from my favorite Mediterranean salads with sliced oranges and olives. Pick your dandelion greens before the plant blooms. Baby greens are best.

3 cups baby dandelion leaves, washed and cut in half.
3 small oranges, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
1very small red onion, sliced thinly
1 cup green olives with pimentos, sliced
5 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
salt & pepper to taste

In a platter, lay greens on bottom and layer sliced oranges, then red onion slices and top with sliced green olives.
Wisk dressing ingredients together and drizzle over salad. Let set about 5 minutes to meld flavors and spoon onto individual plates. Enjoy!!!!!!

By the time Spring is over, you shouldn't have any dandelions left in your yard! Send gifts as thank you's.

Spring salad tonight!

After spending a warm spring day in the garden, transplanting my swiss chard and collard green plants that did not die over the winter and fertilizing the lettuce and beet beds I scanned the edges of the garden fence and noticed how plentiful the dandelions were. Even the dandelions benefited by all that organic fertilizer in our garden. The leaves were tender but very plentiful so I picked a basket full for a salad with dinner.
I was thinking of a sweet maple blasamic dressing to balance the bitter greens.
The dandelions were not bitter at all but crisp and tart. What a treat from a weed!
Spring Dandelion Salad
Salad ingredients:
4 cups, tender dandelion greens washed & torn in half
1 large stalk celery washed and thinly sliced
two kiwis peeled and sliced then halved
1 small granny smith apple peeled and chopped
Dressing ingredients:
equal parts:
Balsamic vinegar
Maple Syrup (the real stuff)
Olive oil (extra Virgin please)
Fresh ground black pepper
Mix all salad ingredients together except the kiwi. Wisk all the dressing ingredients together except the black pepper. Place salad on 4 plates, top with kiwi slices, drizzle with dressing and add black pepper before serving.
So get out there in your lawns and dig up those tender greens while they last!

March 6th and 71 degrees!

With the crazy weather we've been having and early tornados here we decided to get all our tree trimming done. The pecans, pear, apple trees and flowering shrubs are now trimmed and all broken limbs removed. This took several hours under windy conditions. Next time I am wearing a face mask. I got whipped in the face countless times by branches waving in the wild wind.
We trimmed the overgrowth around the pond and removed a few dried stumps to make more room for the water we will no dfoubt get in the spring rains. The malard duck thought this work was interesting and kept swimming by to observe. She's very happy living in both locations, our pond and next door with the boys. She visits our pond during the day and spends the night next door with her beau. Hussy!
For dinner I used the last bag of frozen tomatoes, my home made ricotta cheese, swiss chard, of course and made lasagna layering the chard with the cheese between the noodles. The fresh marinara sauce was outstanding, heavy on the garlic. Yummy!!!! What a treat!

Baby Chicks on the Move!

As I drive around our community I see all the baby cows curled up in the tall grass. A sign that spring is here. 65 degrees yesterday, made a perfect day to move the baby chicks out to the big chicken coop. Steve built a great area for them, separate from the mature ladies, and they are having a blast testing their wings and trying to stay balanced on their roosting pole. The photo at left was their brooder (much too small now). Our mature hens love their new nesting boxes and additional roosting pole that they have all started laying eggs again. We are thrilled. Spring is indeed just around the corner.

Our one lonely female mallard (who moved next door with the males) comes back each morning and quacks up a storm in case any old friends show up.

Steve has begun to plow up the garden. In a week or two I will mix up our first organic fertilizer to add to the soil and begin forming our rows. The fall-planted garlic has already peaked beyond the winter mulch. I can't wait to plant.

Cheese making is coming along, but I need more practice. I can't seem to keep the temps consistent so my curds are not as strong as they need to be. I'll keep trying, becuase Ricotta and mozzarella are good at any time!

In the nice weather on Saturday, we walked up to our back stables to check on our newest addition to the farm, a black and white calico ferrel cat who sneeks down to our deck at night to check for water and food. We noticed the fox den was clean and well used. Time to blow the family out. They fed on our birds for too long last year. Time for a bit of extermination! I just have to find out what to do!

Never a dull moment and always something going on. It's heaven!

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!