Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Picking favourites

While I'm pleased with all of the lambs we've produced this year, it's hard not to have favourites. 

Here she is. 




Here she is with her twin sister and her mother FLK 354T. They'll turn 3 months old on August 5th.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Weed Control

Field with weed control.


Field without. 

 Oxeye daisies - a whole lot of them.

Our weed control.

 



 

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Fast food

A little something I threw together the other night. It took about 20 minutes tops, to make and that included a trip out to the garden.

I call it...
BBQ'd rib eye with a warm salad of greens and new potatoes...cause that's what it is.


Why? Because we are over run with greens right now. It doesn't matter what's for dinner - greens come with it. The other night I was feeling especially creative and came up with this on the fly. Here's the "recipe".

Barbecue a steak (or any other protein you've got kicking around).

Cut some little baby potatoes in half and start frying them in a pan with a bit of duck fat (or any other fat/oil you've got kicking around. Note to self - cook another duck and replenish duck fat supply. 

Finish the steak and let it rest. Resting it means you won't be running in and out the door trying to watch it and the greens all at the same time AND the foodies swear it gives you a better steak. I'm still on the fence about that part.

Head out to the garden and thin one of the "greens" rows. Right now that means beet greens, chinese greens, or chard. It's all the same. It's all green.

These won that night





While you're out there, pick a few green onions, or if you are lucky like us, pick a few wandering onions. 




Wash the lot and chop it up.  

When the potatoes are tender, throw in the greens and onions as well as some salt an pepper. Toss them around a bit to wilt them, then add some red wine vinegar and some maple syrup to taste. You're looking for a sweet and sour kind of dressing and not a ton of it. 

Pile it on a plate, put the steak on top and your done. Looks great, tastes great, and there's only one pan to clean up. 

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

It's a tradition

We've got a sizable clump of lovage in the garden. I have to admit that I don't really use it for much. Some years I don't use it for anything. It just sits there and grows. Every year I'm amazed at how it grows, and every year I force Travis, who's a big guy, to stand beside the clump so I can take a picture. While Travis doesn't look forward to the annual "take a picture of you beside the lovage " tradition like Thanksgiving turkeys, Christmas trees and Birthday cakes, he is a cooperative guy. 


He's over 6'3" and the lovage is at least a couple of feet taller than that. Right after we take the picture we perform the annual "cut the seed heads off the lovage" ceremony. We added that ceremony to the tradition after we discovered that lovage spreads like crazy if you don't do something about the seed heads.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Back country litter

The trails behind our place are just littered with this...





 Just imagine the smell...