learning to be human, since 1984
food production
Photos of Last Year’s Harvest
Apr 3rd
Last summer my girlfriend and I organized and planted a community garden. We planted close to 50 different varieties of vegetables, greens, herbs, and flowers. Here are just a few photos of the harvest. I’ll be posting videos & more photos soon!
Meet the Animals
Feb 26th
The family is away, and I’m doing chores in their stead. Really, it’s just feeding the animals, so I figured I’d post some photos:
First and foremost, Goldie the farm dog. She also goes by Goldie Arf. You’re the man now, arf.
The cows are very thirsty! And very much ungulates. They nudge and moo if one cow is taking too long at the watering area. Reminds me of kindergarten. Large, hairy, hay-eating, wet-nosed kindergarten.
And now, the pigs. Also ungulates, and quite smelly. Soon they’ll have their own portable A-frame shelter for the spring/summer/fall. I’m not sure if they’ll come in for winter as they do now, but all the farm animals are pastured. For some animals, like the cows, this means they just eat the grass. The chickens get to dig around for grubs and insects, and also are supplemented with organic grain feed (seeds, corn, etc). The pigs pasture as well and get scraps from here an there. No meat though, especially not other pigs.
I don’t know their names yet, but the mother above is bred every year. Most of the resulting piglets (usually 8-10) are sold off, but they keep two or three for food. Its processed at Dayland Meats, where they cut it into chops, bacon, hams, shoulder, and other tasty morsels of piggy goodness.
There are currently three pigs, and we’re actively looking for a boar with which to breed the mother. This means either we buy the boar, or a fee is charged for breeding. If the farm does buy one, it will most likely be sold off – granted a profit is made on the sale of the resultant piglets. Enough talk. Here’s another pig photo:
And now, my favorites: the baby chicks. These little ones are about 3 weeks old. In a factory farm, that means they’ve reached middle age. Most factory farmed chickens don’t make it past the 6 week mark. Stoney Acres carefully chooses the breeds of chicken, selecting from rare breeds specialized for meat, eggs, or both. This year, the farm is producing eggs as well as chickens for meat, so we’ve got a few varieties of chickens. I’ll write a more specific chicken post in the weeks to come. For now, cute photos:
There will definitely be more to come. I will probably start blogging about farm stuff on the farm’s website, http://www.stoneyacresfarm.net. In addition to the photographed animals, there are also goats, getting honey bees shipped soon, and there’s talk of sheep for meat and wool. Lots to learn and look forward to.
How to Make Scones (and my family uncomfortable)
Sep 19th
I’ll try to be short and sweet. Scones are amazing – these are flaky and fabulously rich. Sweet and brilliant with milk, coffee, or tea – you’d be a fool to not make your own. Just work fast and keep your ingredients cold! You’ll get a flaky, biscuit-like scone every time.
You’ll need:
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups of all purpose flour; I used 1¾C AP and ¼C whole wheat pastry flour. The softer the flour, the better – try cake flour if you’ve got it.
- ½ cup of granulated sugar
- ½ cup of currants
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Other Ingredients - a stick of butter (4 ounces = 8 tablespoons), frozen
- ¾ cup of heavy cream
You’ll also need:
- two bowls, about 4 quarts each
- a cheese (or other type of) grater
- a zester/microplaner
- a whisk
- a spatula
- rolling pin
- cutting board
- sharp knife
- a baking sheet (half pans work nicely)
- wax paper
- measuring cups/spoons
- one granny, or a resident-old-person
- And as always, clean hands (and likewise, all other tools)
Here’s how to do it:
- Working very quickly, grate the frozen butter into a bowl. Yes, with a cheese grater. You can very lightly coat the grater with oil to keep the butter from sticking, though its coldness should help. Once grated, return the curly butter to the freezer to firm up-about 20 minutes. Your hands really know how to melt butter’s heart.
- Mix the dry shit in a bowl. Use a wisk if you care to; use your hands if you don’t give a **** ’cause you a gansta. A scone-making gangsta. And don’t forget the salt and lemon zest, mother******.
- Okay, I don’t know what happened there. Take that cold butter out of the freezer and mix it into the dry ingredients. Coat the butter with flour, using your fingertips to gently and quickly mash it all together. You want to work fast so the butter doesn’t melt.
- At this point, you’ll have a flaky-flourish thing going on. Perfect time to add the heavy cream. It’s probably best to use a spatula here, unless you like having objectionably sticky fingers (until you realize how sticky AND tasty they are).
- Once the cream is incorporated evenly, you’ll have a flaky but workable mass of dough – flour your hands and give it a few good kneads to bring it all together. Flour your cutting board or clean work surface, as well as your rolling pin. Roll that ****er out to about ½ an inch thick. Place on wax paper and into the freezer to cool for about 5-10 minutes or until firm but workable.
- Flour your surface again and fold the dough into thirds. Roll it back to about ½ an inch thick and give it a turn, folding into thirds again. Do this two more times. This is how we build those flaky layers! If the dough starts getting soft, toss it back on the wax paper and into the freezer.
- The final roll should remain about one inch thick. Preheat your oven to 450°F and let the dough cool down one last time in the freezer. When the oven’s nice ‘n’ toasty, take your dough out and cut into into quarters, and cut each quarter once, yielding 8 triangle-ish scones. Lightly coat them with softened or melted butter.
- Place onto a baking sheet and into the oven for about 20 minutes, or until they start to get brownish. The good ol’ toothpick-trick can also be employed; they’ll feel a hint soft but will firm up as they cool. Remove to a rack to cool for about 10-15 minutes.
- Enjoy, with your *****-*** granny, or *****-*** granny substitute.
Summer Garden 2009
Jun 20th
Some friends and I, as well as neighbors, have started a community garden. I won’t disclose the location, but, know this: it is awesome. There’s about 200 by 50 feet of usable area – most of which has been planted. In the ground and growing are:
- spinach
- collards
- mustards
- brazing mix
- broccoli
- brussels sprouts
- cabbage
- cauliflower
- carrots
- peas
- radishes
- beets
- swiss chard (two kinds)
- turnips
- celeriac
- bush beans
- cucumbers (two kinds)
- squash
- zucchini
- potatoes
- leeks
- onions
- tomatoes (several varieties)
- peppers (several varieties)
- eggplant
- tomatillo
- cilantro
- thyme
- oregano
- basil
- kale
- zinias
- sunflowers
- lillies
- other flowers
We’re hoping to have a few neighborhood BBQs featuring food from the garden – but that probably won’t be until closer to August or September. I hope to have pictures up soon!
Morbier, Mozzarella and Chevre – Oh My!
Jun 16th
I’m losing count of how many times I start a post with “It’s been awhile since I last wrote”. But it has.
And since then, I’ve fallen into the rabbit-hole universe of cheese-making.
It started with a trip to Minors, to get some gear for the community garden my friends and I are working in. Already on the North-West side of town, we stopped at Larry’s Market – and met the man himself. He offered us countless varieties: Marieke Foenegreek Gouda, blue, mobay, dill havarti, and others – from all over Europe and Wisconsin.
And then I saw it – the morbier (not to be confused with mobay, though they look similar). Sitting in the case, the black-ash dividing the morning from the evening milk, I couldn’t resist trying it again; and how could Larry refuse to comply?
The strong, almost acrid flavor was still there. But unlike the first time I tried it, the richness and depth of flavor in the milk were the most notable features. I still don’t regard it as a favorite cheese, but it certainly verifies my suspicions that the cheese case at the Downer Sendik’s is:
- A) poorly and irregularly stocked
- B) not sufficiently refrigerated
-or-
Whatever the (cheese) case, I probably won’t shy from morbier again, unless it’s at Sendik’s.
While at Larry’s, I mentioned a friend whose parents owns Saxon Creamery, in Cleveland, WI. Larry and his son talked up Mr. and Mrs. Heimerl, and said that Jerry would be in the following day. Five minutes later, he walks out of the back of the shop, so we tried their famous Big Ed variety. Amazing. Creamy and almost sweet, but with a sharpness that only a good aging can add.
I was hooked. I started reading cheese-making books, frequenting websites, watching both small and large batch cheese-making videos. I already regularly made my own yogurt – goat milk paneer didn’t seem harder. And in fact, it was easier to strain because the curd is larger.
While at an acquaintance’s birthday gathering, I discovered her husband makes his own cheeses, and works at the Wisconsin Cheese Mart. We discussed designs for cheese presses, and building earthen caves for aging our creations. All surrounding activity seemed to hum like timelapse video footage. Not surprisingly, the birthday-woman was not want of interest.
I stopped by the shop after a co-worker told me about the Sartori Merlot Cheese – which I regret expressing skepticism towards. But I bought some, and it was tasty, as were the goudas, the petit frère, and most notably, the Pleasant Ridge Reserve, which I’m told is made with unpasteurized milk from cows that graze on different cover crops each year.
Two weeks ago I stayed in central Wisconsin for several days, near Wausau. While shopping in town at Farm & Home , I happened upon a New England Cheesemaking kit for just shy of $20, and cheese and other dairy cultures. I also hope to visit The CheeseMaker, in Cedarburg. In the next several months down the yellow brick (cheddar, perhaps?) cheese road, I hope to make:
- mozzarella
- chevre
- a cheese press
- a cheese cave
- some sort of hard cheese…maybe cheddar
- gruyère (someday)
I’ve got a few raw milk sources, getting more gear, and support and enthusiasm from friends and family. I’ll post the results, perhaps!
Sauerkraut Update #1
Feb 10th
I took a peek at the slowly fermenting cabbage today and decided that it wasn’t going to ferment fast enough. The pieces I cut were closer to 3/8 of an inch to ½ an inch, rather than the ¼ inch I described in the original post. My apologies.
I grabbed my biggest wooden spoon—mind you, it is in fact quite large—and proceeded to mash and bash the cabbage until it exuded more water. After 5-10 minutes, I stopped and replaced the bag. A nice brine now slightly covers the cabbage and things should go slightly faster. I’ll update in a few days!
Oh, and the smell is divine. Nice and pungent and cabbagey. Not gross, but definitely not sterile. I. Love. Food.