Preparation Station

We spent the day preparing for Saturday afternoon's pruning workshop.  We are co-hosting it at our farm with Fine Lines Landscape and Designs.

Ian, Alistair and I prepared some honey for sale in case workshop participants are interested.  We will have farm fresh eggs available too.

Seamus and I mucked out the barns so interested workshoppers can visit with our barn yard friends.  

It is a bit icy out there so we did our best.  We were still unable to dislodge the enormous ice chunk that has been growing around the water pail inside the chicken coop thanks to our very messy ducks.

All that is left to do is to snow shoe a path across the backyard to the apple orchard.  We will let Liam and Seamus tackle that one tomorrow morning.  I am sure workshop participants will appreciate not having to trek through knee deep in snow in order to practice their pruning techniques.

I will also whip up some cinnamon tea biscuits to serve with my favourite hot cinnamon spice tea during the indoor portion of the workshop.  I will leave that until tomorrow morning though so they are really fresh.

After the workshop, the three boys and I are off for March Break with Grandma at the cottage.  We will report on our activities there as well as check in periodically with Ian.  He will be holding down the farm and homestead in our absence.  Stay tuned for the one man farm show.  It is sure to be entertaining - as long as nobody dies...

The Chicken of Bread

Someone once said that chickens are the gateway drug to farming.  This is so true - hens are amazing.  I still remember when my dad took me to get my very first dozen feathery friends.  After starting with layers, I moved on to experiment with egg laying ducks, sheep, a donkey, honey bees, and miniature goats.

In the same way that I find chickens to be beautiful, easy to care for, and producers of something delicious, I have likewise discovered a bread recipe that is the gateway drug to bread making.

I started bread making with naturally leavened sourdough, which in hindsight was not the best idea.  Making good sourdough bread is difficult and can be frustrating.  I liken it to the beekeeping of bread making - it is challenging, but that is a big part of why people like it.  However, it takes time and commitment to master.  Usually I like a challenge but lately I have a lot of things on the go and often only one hand with which to do everything (the other seems to constantly be bouncing Alistair).

As such, I have been seeking a bread recipe that is less like my bees and more like my chickens.  I need something fast and easy enough to make everyday but that also results in a delicious loaf of bread.  I will leave the intricacies of sourdough to sometime in the future when I have more time and patience to commit to the art of naturally leavened bread making.

After much experimenting with yeast breads, I am ready to share my current go-to recipe.  This recipe is designed to make minimal dishes, require very little kneading (none by hand), no starter, and flexible rise times.  The resulting bread is still fantastic - open crumb, nice flavour and a crunchy crust.  Functional and delicious - this is exactly what I need these days.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Gael Glen's Gateway Bread Recipe

In the mixer bowl add:

3 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp sea salt

Using the bread hook, mix everything (I use the KitchenAid mixer) on the lowest speed until combined.

Then mix for 2 minutes on Speed 2.

It makes a wet dough but it should not stick to the bottom of the bowl while mixing.

Scrape the dough into a clean bowl that has been sprayed liberally with cooking spray.

Spray cooking spray into a plastic shower cap (this is great because you can do it with one hand!).

Cover the bowl and let it rise for 8-24 hours (really, whatever is convenient).

Remove the dough from the bowl, stretch and fold and form a boule.  Put the dough ball into a floured banneton and leave it for a second rise.  You can leave at it at room temperature if you want a faster rise or put it in the fridge if you want to keep it overnight to bake the following morning.  I have tried both methods and both work equally well.

When the dough has doubled, preheat the oven and a cast iron dutch oven (or roasting pan) to 450f.  Transfer the dough to parchment paper, score the top, and bake it in the pre-heated dutch oven with the lid on for 30 minutes.  Remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes.

This recipe is very forgiving with rise times which means major flexibility.  You can bake it whenever is convenient for you.  So, if you unexpectedly get called to pick your kid up at school and have to bring him for an impromptu doctor's appointment because he has impetigo  - no problem, the bread can wait.

Like I said, it is the chicken of homemade bread - beautiful, easy and delicious.

Bringing a Little Morocco to Carp

Inspired by Ms. Kerry's post and the fact that carrots were on sale at the grocery store, Moroccan Carrot Soup featured on our dinner menu this week. This soup, served with some fresh bread, made a very easy and healthy meal.  As always I deviated from the recipe instructions slightly.

Gael Glen Farm's Moroccan Carrot Soup

Ingredients
3 lbs carrots, peeled and chopped (Charlie the donkey devoured the peels!)
3 sweet onions
10 small cloves garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
6 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions
Chop carrots and onions and peel garlic.  

Toss in oil and roast in the oven at 350f for two hours.  

Transfer roasted veggies to a blender.  Add broth, spices and salt.  Blend until velvety.  Transfer to a pot and heat on the stove until serving temperature.  

Remove from the heat, squeeze in lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with full-fat yogurt or creme fraiche and hot sauce (if desired).  Enjoy!

I will definitely make this soup again and will be sure to plant a ton of carrots this year so we can make this a regular on our meal rotation.  It was incredibly simple to make, delicious and easy customize individual portions to add a kick of spice (Ian, Seamus and I like it spicy, while Grandma and Liam do not).  A winning recipe on all counts!

My Self Sustainability Challenge

As requests to join Gael Glen's Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program roll in, I remain undecided about whether my child care responsibilities are going to permit me to run one for the 2019 season.  As I continue to ponder, I have adopted a new farm related challenge for myself for the spring and summer months.  Whether this will be in addition to, or instead of, a CSA program remains to be decided.

I am interested in pushing myself to get closer to being a self-sustainable homestead.  My requests for a dairy cow continue to be denied, so we will never be completely self-reliant.  However, since it is so easy to become lazy or distracted, I have decided to formally challenge myself to do better in the area of self-sustainability, particularly in relation to the food we eat and grow.

From March 1 to October 1, 2019, I am going to reduce the amount and variety of foods that I purchase for my household from the grocery store.  Specifically, I am going to eliminate all processed or highly refined foods from our grocery cart. I know that these terms can be ambiguous and triggering for some, but I simply mean moving away from the chips, granola bars, sugary oatmeal packets, store bought cookies, crackers and baked goods, candy and chocolate, soda, store bought ice cream and popsicles, hot dogs, chicken fingers, french fries, school snacks like pudding cups and bear paws, sugary cereal, sugary yogurt, taco shells, cake and pudding mixes, canned soups and salsa, processed cheese slices, Kraft dinner, Zoodles, maple beans, salad dressings, etc.  We do not eat a ton of this stuff but we certainly eat some of it.

For the next several months, I am going to focus on shopping for the raw ingredients that will enable us to eat as much as possible from our gardens, freezers, and pantry.   For example, we will continue to buy milk, cream, butter, plain yogurt and cheese.  From this I can make our own favoured yogurt, creme fraiche and buttermilk as needed.  We will buy flour, bran and oatmeal to make homemade bread, baked goods, etc.  I will eliminate buying sugar (until it is time to feed the bees, of course) and use honey and maple syrup instead.  All meat will come from our freezers.

We will continue to buy fruit that we cannot grow or that is not in season (our boys eat lots of this healthy food) but I will limit buying vegetables in order to focus on eating those that we have grown ourselves.  Every year we grow much more than we use but we have never really focused on meal planning to use the maximum amount of what we grow.  I want to try to eat as much of what we actually produce as possible.  So, if we have peas in the garden that are ready to eat, I will not buy corn on the cob from the store to eat instead, for example.  Even if it looks so golden and juicy and delicious...note to self: plant lots of sweet corn.

This leads into the second component of my challenge: I want to commit to engaging in staggered plantings.  Instead of planting for volume this year, I want to prioritize continuity.  This will ensure a continuous supply of a variety of vegetables for the duration of our growing season.  It is so easy to just plant one huge plot of peas on May 24th and then buy peas from the store before these are ready to harvest and after the harvest is over.  This year, I do not want to buy peas.  Instead, I want to plant a row of peas every week or two throughout the season to ensure a continuous supply.  This sounds easy enough but I know from experience that it is difficult to both leave garden space unplanted at the beginning of the growing season and to keep up the continuous planting all season long.

It is my hope that this self sustainability challenge will motivate me to make healthier choices when grocery shopping as well as to keep up with the planting as the season progresses.  This will hopefully result in healthier meals for my family, reduced grocery bills, and the opportunity to move closer to a self-sufficient farm/homestead.  As with anything farm-related, I expect that this challenge will be a lot of work but who knows when I will have the chance to try something like this again.

What do you think?  Does this sound doable?  Did I miss something?   I am open to suggestions or advice regarding the tenets of my self-sustainability challenge as outlined here.  If anyone else is interested in undertaking this challenge with me - let me know!  Sharing recipes and meal plans or comparing grocery receipts could be very motivating.  Here's to pushing myself to be better and do better.

No potato chips?  Boo.

Gael Glen Skate School

We are continuing to look on the bright side of this seemingly endless winter.  Admittedly, it is pretty awesome to have an ice rink spontaneously form on your front walkway.

Seamus' skating lessons are paying off; this was an easy hour of outdoor entertainment.

Good Fowl Advice

Our fowl are convinced that spring is just around the corner. 

Our hens are laying like crazy!**

We are up to three duck eggs per day!

Heeding the advice of our chickens and ducks to get outside and enjoy the soon-to-be spring sunshine, Ian and I decided to take the boys to explore the sugar bush.  With Ian leaving for India during our maple syrup season this year, we will not be tapping trees; it is simply not a one woman job. Luckily, we have enough syrup to last our family until next spring.

In the meantime, however, we did not want the boys to miss out on the joy of "mapling" (as they call it) so we headed to Fultons' Sugar Camp.  

The boys illustrating the 40:1 sap to syrup ratio.

Since the maple syrup season has not yet started here, the camp was not busy and thus, very enjoyable.  There are some key differences in visiting a sugar shack as compared to going mapling ourselves.

Today, there was no trekking through the thigh deep snow.  All the paths were nicely plowed and we even got to go for a ride on a two horse open sleigh.

Two horse power!
The boys said that these horses, while beautiful,
smelled like "Charlie butt" (aka poop).

Our first sleigh ride as a family of five.

Alistair slept through his first visit to the sugar shack.
He was tucked away warmly in a wrap inside my coat.
Lucky for him, I am sure that there will be many, many more visits in the years to come.

There was a play structure and tobogganing hill for the kids.

 There was a fiddler roaming the camp for our musical enjoyment.  It was almost enough to drown out Liam's complaining about being cold and hungry (seriously, I might need to get a roaming fiddler for the farm too!).

And finally, there was ready made maple taffy. This was very convenient and required the boys to have much less patience compared to when we make it at home.

As it turns out, our fowl did not steer us afoul - it was so nice outside today that we too were almost convinced that spring is near.  Thanks, my fine feathered weather vanes!

** We have a surplus of eggs with all the laying that is going on here in anticipation of spring.  If you are interested in purchasing some farm fresh eggs ($5/dz), please let us know and we can arrange pick up/drop off.

A Dragonerific Celebration

It seems incredible but another year has passed.  Our Seamus is now four years old!  He asked for a dragon-themed party.  With a little teamwork, Ian and I delivered!

 

As fate would have it, the new How to Train Your Dragon movie was just released in theatres.  We took Seamus for his first ever cinematic experience.  He was really good and sat through the whole thing!  Not bad for a kid who does not watch much TV.

The movie was followed up with a birthday lunch.  Seamus asked for tuna fish sandwiches.

Ian and I made him a dragon cupcake cake.

Ian made the cupcakes.

And I decorated them.

And, of course, there was the treat-filled dragon pinata.  The boys bashed it to bits.

It was a wonderful family celebration in honour of a very special little boy.  You may be a stubborn old goat but we sure love you Seamus!  Happy birthday!