Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Middle of August

Well, the milking without Maggie is going pretty well. Four goats and Coco in the morning. Three goats and Coco in the evening. Maybe all this exercise is preparing me for a future in arm wrestling. Sweet.

I should mention that the four o'clocks and the nicotania by the back door offer up a very fragrant way to milk. So sweet.

It has been hot and humid here with building clouds, wind and rain around 4:30 every afternoon. Rainy season. Just about the time our clothes are halfway dry the rain comes. This afternoon the sky turned dark and a blustery wind blew in. Delicious. I wanted to go stand outside on the front porch to feel every ion of energy but had to take a shower and get ready for Tuesday night Bible study. Hope I get another chance to do so later this week.

We ate the last chuck roast of the season for supper. Made a slightly weird sauce for braising, definitely not in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. We called it Bouef de Jardin. Onions, garlic, tomatillos, tomatoes, peppers, salt, pepper, a little homemade grape jelly, soy sauce, cumin and mustard. Weird, but good. Mashed potatoes, courtesy of Patrick, yellow squash au gratin made with cream, butter, onions and chevre. The last corn from Rachel and Jason's garden and some peaches. We are trying to find as many different ways to cook yellow squash as possible since we are eating it everyday. Same with the tomatillos. Those are one crazy vegetable/fruit. Maybe we should make chutney with them? Green salsa?

The goat hooves need to be trimmed. I think some of the sheep have fly strike. Need someone to help me examine them. Relatively easy to treat, just need muscle power to tackle them and get them to be still. Baby lambs need tails docked. Do I castrate them or leave them intact? Decisions, decisions. Garden is in need of weeding, as usual. Time to plant onions, turnips, soon broccoli and brussel sprouts. Kendall, a friend of a friend, has expressed the desire to intern on the farm for a couple of weeks. Seems like as good a time as any. But is he sure he wants to spend so much time shoveling manure and weeding the garden? Guess we shall see!

Off to bed, read a couple of chapters, sleep, then back to the milking parlor.

Good night all!

2 comments:

Beth said...

Your posts often make me hungry, Ginger. That sauce sounded interesting---like something my husband might like. He loves to experiment with unlikely co-ingredients. Sometimes it works...sometimes it doesn't. We also are eating summer squash every day. Last night, in soup. Tonight, probably sauteed with butter and onions.

morebutter said...

definitely make salsa verde!