Pigs, Pigs and More Pigs!

OK, I know that I am on the verge of sounding like a creepy, bragging grandmother (creepy because we aren’t talking about children here – you know the type…) but our pigs just seem to have a knack for getting into the headlines of this blog. 

Wednesday morning, just like any other day, Brayden went out to feed and water the pigs and came back with two things; a bundle in his shirt and a very strange look of love on his face.  

“Did you collect eggs already”? I asked, a bit hopeful that the girls were back in the saddle laying a bit better.  “Nope!” was all he could muster through the goofy smile on his mug.  I’m sure you can tell from this picture that he is more than a bit smitten. 

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Now I admit that this pig things was sprung on me and catching me a bit off guard but I’ve been a trooper, actually falling in like with the wee things.  But come on, two pigs turned into four, four turned into thirteen and now four more!!  We are overrun with piggys.  I feel like I’m going back to farming school and learning more about pigs than I ever wanted to know.  I guess the first thing I need to figure out is – Is it something in the water???

 

               Well, here they are, four more wriggly things to be named.

 

 

 

Juicy Pub-Style Burgers

 

In my younger days I could have been considered to be quite an adventurous soul and when the opportunity presented itself to travel to England with Don Williams I knew, of course, that I would have to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road, in the wrong side of the car in order to really experience life outside of North America.

After spending a glorious month driving around England and Scotland, the “pub” has remained deeply entrenched in my psyche and even after all these long and many years I still get a euphoric buzz whenever I hear the word. 

Although I am certain that somewhere in the world there could be bad pubs, bad pub food and even bad pub-goers I have never experienced anything but the romantic greatness associated with the word and this recipe is no exception. 

Being in the business of raising great beef I am always pouring over meatish recipes and burger recipes are as wide flung as they come.  Some call for just the basics; salt, pepper and maybe some onions.  The other end of the spectrum calls for chopped black olives, feta cheese and oregano all stuffed neatly into the center of two patties but this one contains a twist, Butter.  Leave it to the genius’s at America’s Test Kitchen to start playing with melted butter and adding it to the meat before it’s cooked.  I know that many burger joints moisten their burgers and steaks with butter just at that ultra critical moment as it leaves the oven but this recipe calls for melting the butter first adding it to the cold meat in order to allow it to mix throughout the meat and then resolidify. 

Here was my first attempt which was extremely well received by Brayden, Rhayna and Katie.  I have made this recipe several times since, never changed a thing and put the same delicious burger before hungry carnivores.  I really love recipes like that.  Simple and foolproof! 

The pub sauce is a must.  Don’t skip it.  It’s easy, quick and keeps in the fridge for a good month. 

From America’s Test Kitchen - Juicy Pub-Style Burgers

Serves 4

2 lbs ground meat – anything from burger to sirloin (See note)

4tbs unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Salt and pepper

1ts oil

4 hamburger buns

1.  Place oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 300 degrees. Drizzle butter over ground meat and add 1 ts pepper.  Gently toss with a fork to combine.  Divide meat into 4 patties, lightly packing the meat. Gently flatten the patties ¾” thick and about 4 ½” in diameter.  Refrigerate patties until ready to cook.  Patties can be refrigerated, covered, for up to one day)

2. Season one side of patties liberally with salt and pepper.  Using spatula, flip patties and season other side.  Heat oil in 12 inch skillet over high heat until just smoking.  Using spatula, transfer burgers to skillet and cook without moving for 2 minutes.  Using spatula, flip burgers and cook for 2 minutes longer.   Transfer patties to rimmed baking sheet and bake until burgers register 125 degrees for medium-rare and 130 degrees for medium, 3-6 minutes. 
3. Transfer burgers to plate and let rest for 5 minutes.  Transfer to rolls and add desired toppings.  Serve and enjoy

Note: ATK used hand ground sirloin steaks which were trimmed and cut into ½ pieces and processed in a food processor.  I have always used ground beef and the burgers turned out perfect.

Pub-style Sauce

¾ cup mayo

2 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs dark brown sugar

1 tbs Worcestershire sauce

1 tbs minced chives

1 medium garlic clove minced

¾ ts pepper

Whisk all ingredients together

Figs in the South

 

My Mom, pictured here with her beloved fig, has as green a thumb as anyone I ever met.  She didn’t grow up growing things but since the day I bought her the first of many antique roses it was all we could do to keep her out of the garden. 

My mom’s fig is like one of the children.   She babies it like you might see a mother with her “little” quarterback “baby”.  Although a typhoon couldn’t harm this tree she still cares for it as she did when it was nothing more than a twig brought from the “Fig Man” in Indiana. 

What we have found to be true about figs is that they love the south and are very much content with a good, wide open spot 

in average soil.  Take care of them for the first couple of years by covering them with some burlap stuffed with leaves as a good winter coat and after that they can withstand the coldest of winters.   Keep them watered when dry but don’t overwater. There is no need to apply fertilizer as they seem to be able to get all they require from average soils and a tender nurturing nana.  

Now that we have finally convinced Mom that her baby doesn’t need all the TLC she continues to foster on it we have found her propagating more babies with great success.  This year she will have three fig trees for sale for $12.00 each.  They are two years old and are now old enough to go straight into the garden. 

Figs usually appear the third or fourth year of life.  Now, at the ripe old age of 5 this member of the family contributes many nutrients to our diet by ripening about 200 figs and we’re still counting. 

 

If you are interested in growing figs of your own just email Debbie and we will let you know if there are any wee ones available for adoption. 

The Beauty of Doing What You Love

“Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are 



hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” 

- Rumi

Good to the Grain

This week I pulled out Kim Boyce's lovely cookbook, Good to the Grain and together with a wonderful post from one of my favorite blogs,   Cannelle et Vanille and Aran's post about her now famous Summer Berry and Yogurt pie I was reminded of Catherine's review of this brilliant book and thought it was time to bring that review back for an encore.

Photo used with permission
copyright of Aran Goyoaga
Summer Berry and Yogurt Tart

What I love about Good to the Grain, as well as the recipes on Aran's blog is the vast array of grains utilized in their recipes.  The busier I get the more I tend to reach for the unbleached, unbromated flour from Wheat Montana always dreaming of the day when I can slow down, pull out the Nutrimill and grind some fresh grains again.  I'm really making it seem worst than it is.  I do grind about 15 cups of whole wheat for my weekly 4 loaves of sandwich bread but for the extras it always seems that I am in too much of a hurry and just stick my hand into the bag and pull out the old standby.

Kim's book and Aran's blog are perfect examples of how people I will never meet become guides in my day and how willingly and without the slightest hint of protest I let them lead me to a quiet place of sensibility. It's funny how beauty always forces me to slow down.  I suppose it shocks the senses into eye-opening reality and we finally notice that we stepped onto the treadmill and forgot to get off.

As a mom I love to make delicious, healthy treats for deserts but as a farming mom the days just never seem to open up that sliver of time I need to stop and bake something luscious, beautiful and healthy.  That is about to change!

                               Summer Berry and Yogurt Tart by Aran Goyoaga
                                                                                           Makes a 9-inch tart

Photo used with permission
copyright of Aran Goyoaga 

PASTRY DOUGH2/3 cups (90 g) superfine brown rice flour (or regular brown rice flour but the superfine gives it a nicer and less grainy texture)
1/2 cup (60 g) millet flour
1/4 cup (30 g) cornstarch
1 tablespoon natural cane sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
8 tablespoons (110 g) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
6 to 7 tablespoons ice water

Combine the first five ingredients in the food processor and pulse to aerate. Add the diced butter and pulse ten times until the butter is the size of peas. Add the ice water and pulse until it comes together. It will not form a ball. Transfer the dough to your work surface and knead a couple of times. Wrap it in plastic wrap, flatten it, and form it into a disk. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Dust your preferably cold work surface with superfine brown rice flour. Roll the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Fill a 9-inch tart mold with the dough. Cut off excess and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Lightly dock the bottom of the tart dough with a fork. Cover it with parchment paper and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove beans and bake for another 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to 350F (180C).

BERRY AND YOGURT FILLING
1/4 cup (50 g) natural cane sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 eggs
3 tablespoons almond flour
1/2 cup (125 ml) whole-milk yogurt (I love sheep’s milk yogurt)
1/2 cup (125 ml) whole milk
2 cups (280 g) summer berries (blueberries, currants, red and black raspberries, blackberries, strawberries… or even stone fruit)

Combine the sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and rub them between your fingers until very fragrant. Add the eggs and whisk. Add the almond flour and whisk until lump free. Whisk in the yogurt and milk until smooth.

Pour the mixture into the prebaked tart. Top with the berries.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the custard is set. Let the tart cool for 15 minutes before cutting.

Keep on the look out for Aran's book Small Plates and Sweet Treats - 

When Pigs Fly

For 20 years I have gradually coasted down that slippery slope from homesteading to full time farming and through all those stages I have never had single pig wallowing in my muck.  Oh how times have changed!  Brayden decided that he would like try his hand at raising pigs and presented the idea by explaining all the wonderful things a pig could do on the farm.  They are great at composting and excel at rooting up small trees which could help us to open up the brushy areas around our pastures while still leaving all the large trees that provide shade for our animals.

OK, one pig wouldn't be too bad.  Well, pigs turn out to be social creatures - who would have known, so the number quickly increased to two pigs.

The Homesteading Way to increase stock is to barter or trade with another farmer so I put out the word that we were interested in pigs and had a Scottish Highland up for trade.  Andy Roddick quickly raised his hand and put up four pigs as a fair trade.  Did you notice how we went from two to four pigs?  It's obviously the frog in boiling water syndrome happening here and before I knew it Andy loaded up the pigs, all thirteen of them, and made the trek from Blackbird Heritage Farm to River Cottage Farm and through the generosity of a farmer who always wants the other to come out ahead we were thrust into the business of pork.

I have to admit that I love the pigs. They are very social and come running whenever you enter the scene which always makes you feel loved, even if you wouldn't hug a pig to save your life.

We plan to use the pigs to renovate pastures and root up areas that are damaged by left over rolls of hay.  We will move them through the wooded areas and utilize their bulldozing snouts to turn the gardens. We will keep you posted on how Polly, Chester, Guenevere, Apollo and Athena and the rest of the yet unnamed pigs work and live on River Cottage Farm.

Returning to Blogging Life

I believe that being too busy to lay in the hammock or to drink my coffee in the garden should be considered as close to sinful as did the Desert Fathers of long ago.  They believed that sloth was not so much a condition of laziness but more a failure to see God in all that we encounter.  "Take from me the spirit of Sloth" in the beautiful prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian in the 4th century was more a call to awakening our sleeping senses than a cracking of the whip for longer work hours.  This spring our work load has been busier than we like and I had only to see the lag between blogs to be bombarded by the flashback of three months of long, hard work and little, if any, rest for body and soul.

So far this summer we put in 1400ft of water line with spigots and permanent waters every 300ft for stress-free drinking for the livestock.   We planted and maintained 16 raised garden beds, 20 heirloom fruit trees, 20 blueberry bushes, 25 raspberry bushes, three grape vines, 50 asparagus plants, 50 artichokes and 300 square feet of herbs.  200 broilers were moved around our farm daily in a bit of a bovine/poultry waltz where the two moved as one but were forbidden any actual contact.

100 baby Rhode Island Red chickens are now roaming freely around the gardens keeping them as weed free as possible.  We have 400 broilers at different stages of life growing on the pastures right now.




 I keep reminding myself that they are fertilizing our fields so that I will not have spend another $1500 this fall to bring in chicken poop to balance the nutrients for the microbiology in the soil that is River Cottage Farm.  All that fertilizing comes with the task of building a new portable chicken coop for every 50 chickens.  Thankfully our wood reserves comes from construction companies who are happy to have left overs repurposed rather than sent to landfills.

All the months of planning for 4400ft of new fencing has been more work than I like to remember.  With several badly planned pastures under my belt I am determined not to make the same mistakes again.  Now the real hard work begins with Brayden digging holes for all the cedar posts, stringing wire and hanging gates. When the fences are completed our mere four pastures will become 12 distinct paddocks for rotationally grazing all our livestock.

Thankfully the three of us keep each other as balanced as possible and we have a strict plan to slow down and smell the roses.

Time To Plant Peas - Again!

                   

Note: This post was originally published last year, but it bears repeating since peas can be planted for spring and fall harvest.

When it comes to fresh-from-the-garden vegetables that cause you swear off grocery store knock-offs, peas are at the top of the list. Fresh from the pod, peas are exquisite! They are easy to grow, easy to pick and if you have never eaten a fresh pea still in the pod, you are in for a great treat. Now is the time to plant peas for a fall harvest.

Peas don't require much in the way of fussiness. Good, well drained soil and a good sturdy trellis or fence to climb on are the components of good pea-keeping. Well rotted compost will ensure loads of thick pods but don't fertilize much more than that or you will get more vines and less pods.

Here is a bed that begged to be a the resting place of 200 pea seeds; long, straight and thin. I opened up the soil with a U-bar so no tilling was necessary and set a good straight trench in the middle of the bed. I plant my peas in single rows on each side of the proposed space for the fence. I have tried the double rows in the past with less than desirable results each time so I stick with the tried and true single row.

I filled the trench with compost and planted the peas 3-4" apart with my two rows a mere 8 inches apart. Once the peas were spaced in the row I covered with the loosened dirt and began the work of putting up the trellis. 

Peas can and will climb so be sure to set up a fence or trellis. In the past I have tried fence posts with string - don't try it - it doesn't work. I have tried utilizing corral panels from the co-op and they were great for shorter beds. They come in 16 foot lengths, are inexpensive and last forever. For a longer bed though, I felt that I had to use actual fencing. We strung it tight with two t-posts which is very important for picking time. You don't want the weight of the peas to pull the trellis over.

Once that hard work was over we transplanted spinach on one side and planted lettuce seeds on the other. As long as you keep the peas twining up the trellis you can keep weeds out of the bed by planting another crop on each side. Remember that mother nature will try to cover the soil if you don't. Also the lettuce and spinach will shade the soil and I will need much less water to maintain the growth of peas. As we get closer to picking I will post several recipes for fresh peas!

For your own garden we still have few different varieties of pea seeds for sale in the store. You will even find some varieties that thrive in pots for those who want the delicious taste of fresh peas but lack the space. So, there's a pea for everyone.

Have Fun!