Thanksgiving with my FARMILY

.... and the events following. (I am so sorry I didn't post this right away. I typed this the week following Thanksgiving, I didn't post it because I kept trying to upload some pictures that my slow computer refused to upload.)

The food was AMAZING!!!!!!!!! We cooked a 32 # turkey and a goose. Geese are filled with lots of golden fat, so since there was so much we used it on both birds. The goose meat is a little tougher compare to turkey. However both were moist and delicious! Instead of thin turkey breast slices we had turkey stakes. There was hardly any leftovers after 27 people had dished up. We also had mashed sweet potatoes. I LOVE sweet potatoes now. They are incredible!!! We also had Pomegranate Jell-o.... since this is an uncommon dish I will explain how it is made. First you must get all of the pomegranate seeds out of there skin, then you pour Lime jell-o (with the hot water added) over the seeds. You only want enough jell-o to hold the pomegranates together. Then you let chill. This is extremely yummy! We had rolls from Bon Breads Co. (another vendor at the farmer's market we attend each week.) Laura made the best stuffing I have ever tasted. I will get the recipe. There was also a green salad with walnuts, feta cheese, pomegranates, peppers, onions, and various other good things, with a pomegranate vinaigrette. Needless to say it was really tasty. For dessert there was lots of pecan pie, pumpkin pie, a sweet potato pie, an apple pie, and a chocolate pie. I will also get the recipes for these.
When they brought out the pie Nella said "Why is no body getting a slice yet?" I replied "we were waiting for the whipped cream or ice cream." Her eyes then went big and she said "dessert on dessert....wow!" (all of this in a French accent which I cannot type.) This was Nella's first experience with Thanksgiving. France does not have this holiday. Nella says "that is because the French know how to eat really well everyday." Nella also said in France they don't get why Americans make such a big deal over a turkey. For when ever they make it in France it is always dry and flavorless. Ours was quite the opposite.

After we all finished eating the games began. Laura and Monte have made it a tradition to have competitions with Pilgrim-ish types of games... Archery, horse shoe tossing, blow dart shooting, rock climbing, and the grand finale who can get the most wood chopped in 2 minutes. So we were divided into teams with each of the Bledsoe children being team captains. I was on Brad's team (Brad is Laura and Monte's youngest son. I think he is 23.) with Jared's two sons Caleb (5) and little Jared (3). I feel bad that Brad's team was made up entirely of people we aren't as good at any of the events except for him. The first game was horse shoe tossing, Caleb was our team member to do this event. Then there was archery... I was to represent our team in this. I got a total of 2 points I got one of four arrows into the straw bale... a fair distance from the paper plate target, on the very edge of the straw bale. :) Sheepish grin. Then there was the wood chopping event... (we had to do this next while there was still light.) This was Laura's cunning plan years ago to get lots of fire wood chopped...she is always voting for 5 minutes for each competitor. The afore mentioned competitors (The Bledsoe children) would not do it if it was longer than 2 minutes. The rules are to the wood has to be able to fit into the wood stove in the house to count, also who ever gets the most weight of wood in the 2 minutes is the winner. First to chop was the oldest Jimmy (He is the long standing champion of the wood pile.) He got 180 lbs. Then Becca (second oldest) was up she chopped 80 lbs. Jared got 150 lbs. Daniel got 130 lbs. Brad got 125 lbs (I think that is the right number.) So once again Jimmy takes the championship.
The next game was the blow darts. Little Jared's turn. After all of these events Jimmy and Jared were tied. So they had to do rock climbing to brake the tie. Monte has a rock climbing wall in the garage. The rules were to touch the highest hand hold with as few hand holds as possible. Foot holds didn't count, and using the wall also didn't count. Jimmy made it up in 5 hand holds because he used the cracks in the wall as hand holds. When it was Jared's turn Becca said that Jimmy had been strategic. Little Jared instantly said "No! Uncle Jimmy was sneaky." And Caleb kept saying "You can do it Dad. You just gotta be tough and use your hands and feet." (Jared is a cop so hearing his son say "you gotta be tough" was just cute.)
Thanksgiving here on the farm is definitely fun and memorable.

The following day (Friday) we went up into the Cedar City Mountains to cut a Christmas tree. We actually cut 5. Two were for Jimmy, one was for us, and the last was for Monte's parents.
The most glorious part of this adventure was hitting Matt in the face with a snowball twice!
(I can't upload the pictures at this time so for the time being you will just have to wait a little longer. I have some great pictures of this event.)

On Saturday (the next day) Me and Nella went and saw Tangled.

On Monday Monte began building a Brick oven!!! It took 2.5 weeks to make. And the pizza that comes out of it is supper YUMMY!

After this statement the actual dates of things have left my memory.

I have made soooooo many soil blocks. There is a tiny 1 inch soil block maker that makes 20 at a time. The trays we fill with this size can hold 850+ ..... and then there is the 2 inch tray that holds 50. To plant in the big trays you need a headlamp to see the seeds and the soil blocks that still need seeds. it takes about 2 hrs if you are doing it by yourself. I think I have made over 6 large trays of soil blocks and have helped seed most of them.

Quail Hollow Farm also had it's annual seed exchange. So the day before we filled so many little seed pouches I almost went crazy! I did grab a packet of each of the different types of seeds. So maybe next year you can taste some of the things I have been talking about.

I can't remember if when I last wrote about washing lettuce and arugula I mentioned that we wash them in a washing machine on the front lawn. Well we don't actually wash them in it we wash all the dirt of in a sink and then put the greens in the washer to spin out all the excess water on them so that they will keep longer.

I have also made lots of Yummy Pomegranate Jelly. The other day I had a slightly distressing adventure while making it. One batch of pomegranate jelly uses 5 cups pomegranate juice, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 pkg pectin, and 7 cups sugar. We usually double the batch when ever we make it. Well I made one double batch and put all but 2 cups of sugar in... because the bag was empty. So I had to run downstairs, spent 3 minutes finding more sugar..... Well this double batch of jelly(14 small-ish jars) did not set up right. It is more like a mix of pomegranate jelly and syrup.

After I made this there was 5 cups of pomegranate juice left, so I poured it in to the big pot, then I put 1/2 cup lemon juice and 2 pkgs of pectin. Oh dear! so this batch turned out very jelled.

We no longer have our cow. We now have 12 baby white bunnies and 8 black baby bunnies. They are soooooooooooooooo cute.

Holy Cow!

First of I must apologize for not getting to this sooner. My computer can sometimes be very slow. So to catch up on the last three weeks of my life. .... Or maybe just the last two because I can't really remember 3 weeks ago.

On Tuesday of last week we got a cow! She is a large beautiful brown and white Irish or Scottish breed. We may not actually keep her because Monte is not happy about Laura getting a cow. Plus she isn't giving quite as much milk as we expected because she got sick.... (she somehow got into the chickens grain and ate too much.) She is doing better now. She was given to Laura on an experiment type of agreement. If Laura decided that the extra hay and work was worth it we could keep the cow... if not... the original owner will take her back into his herd. All the cow's milk will be turned into cheese and butter and our own cream.

That same Tuesday we also pulled out all the rest of the remaining tomato bushes. Which was kind of sad because they were just starting to get some green tomatoes growing.... and then we got an early frost.

Katie Jickling is no longer one of the interns here. :( She has gone off to have more adventures.

We canned some green beans sometime during this last week. Our green beans plants are pretty much gone because of the frost as well.

Laura's brother Steve is staying here for a little while. He is an AMAZING guitarist. He will play Bach on the guitar all day. It is wonderful to listen to.

Last Friday we put up a hoop house over the peppers in hopes that they will again begin to flourish. For those who might be confused at "What is a Hoop House?" the best way I can describe it... it is like a greenhouse that you can move. You take curved poles all along the row... secure them into the ground and pull a plastic sheet over them. Once the sheet is in place you anchor that to the ground as well. We used large boards, bars, and sandbags.

Monday of this week we processed all of our turkeys (15) all of our geese (3) (:D) and all but 3 of our roosters (18) plus an accidental hen. ( the interns who were catching the roosters ... me and Matt didn't know at first to look for spurs. We just looked at the large comb and grabbed it. However after it was dead we discovered an egg inside that was ready to lay, and some undeveloped eggs.) Opps.
We had at least 4 turkeys that weighed 30 lbs.... after all the feathers had been plucked, and it's inside had been hollowed out. The farm is very quite now. It is kind of strange.

There is also a new wwoofer! Her name is Nella, she is 29 and from France!!!!! She seems like an Awesome person. She will only be here for 3 weeks.

When I first got here I heard all about the joys of washing lettuce in the winter. I am now experiencing it. Romaine Mix, Spinach, and Arugula, are the ones I have now helped with for the last few weeks. Your hands get so cold dealing with wet greens and there is usually a cold wind now to add to the numb fingers. I think it would be funny if there was a tractor that honked the word Arugula like the old cars that sound like "Alugggggga... Alugggggggggggaaaaa". I am thinking of making a picture book with this idea. First of all tractors don't honk. I still think it would be fun!

I have read some very good books while being here. The ones Laura has assigned me are.... Real Food by Nina Planck Animal, Vegetable, Miricle by Barbara Kingsolver, Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart. All of these books are really good and you should read them. Then there are the books I have just pulled off of Laura's shelves.... Laddie by Gene Stratton-Porter, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and I have just started reading John Halifax, Gentleman by Miss Mulock

I believe this is all I have to say for the time being. I hope to do another blog this week dedicated to how thanksgiving was on the farm. ttfn

Since today is Thanksgiving.... Have a happy and thankful one!

"If I be Waspish best beware my Sting."

The title of this post is from Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. Today I was harvesting our pomegranates with Jordan..... at one bush I cut off the pomegranate and heard buzzing. The buzzing came from some wasps. I have now been stung for the first time in my life. My arm is now feeling slightly numb. Hence .... "If I be waspish best beware my sting."

Now to go back two weeks.
Tuesday the 19th we were planting cabbages and we borrowed some planting devices from the High School Agriculture Farm . They are a pretty fun tool to use. They look sort of like a pogo stick. This is a tool that makes transplanting very easy. You stick it in the ground, put a plant in the opening on top and it slides down then you shut the handles and it puts it in a perfect sized hole. We had two of these planter things so it became a race with us interns. It became a Farm Olympics Event.

Thursday 21st after market and karate we had two people from the singles ward come over and we were divided into teams and played Pictionary . I have discovered that I get really into games. It was a lot of fun! At one point us girls had to draw Moscow, the cow I drew ended up looking more like a pig.

On Friday the 22nd we canned pears. I also helped volunteer at the Ragnar Race. The Ragna r Race from what I understand is a long race that goes over two days, twelve runners in each team. It is kind of like a relay race in someways. Monte was running in the race and Laura was one of the driver's for the team.
When me and Jordan arrived at our shift (which was to be from 1:30pm to 8:30pm) they were almost done so we loaded up the trailer and were done in an hour and a half.
Because Laura and Monte wouldn't be back that night I was put in charge of making sure the milking got done. Mat left the bucket filled with eggs on the seat of the ranger, (It is just easier to carry the milk and the eggs up in the ranger.) As I was going up the hill back to the house, the ranger stalled and began to roll back down the hill. The bucket with eggs fell out, and several eggs broke. Mat says there were only about 32 eggs to start with. Well I broke all but 8. To top things off the ranger wouldn't start. Katie called down is everything okay? After I had told her of my trauma she told me to come up and we will sort things out. I walked up the rest of the way and entered the house in tears. Mat went back down and carried the milk can up, (it had about 3 gallons of milk in it, and Mat carried it up a slightly steep hill.) Mat and Katie told me there was no use crying over cracked eggs.

On Saturday the 23rd Katie and I ran down to do chores in the morning and were pleasantly surprised to see Jordan in the okra already harvesting and all of our chores done.
I told Jordan that doing this had earned him a good many brownie points. He asked if it was enough for a batch of brownies? I made some Cookie Dough Brownies the following Tuesday evening. They turned out very well and yummy! The Recipe follows.....

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Brownies: (adapted from Hershey’s Kitchens)

1 c. butter

3/4 c. Hershey’s cocoa

2 1/4 c. granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Prepare 13×9″ baking pan by laying a piece of foil in the bottom and up the sides. Spray with cooking spray or butter the foil.

Melt 2 sticks of butter in a medium saucepan; add cocoa, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Add sugar, salt, eggs, and vanilla; beat with a spoon until combined. Add flour and baking powder; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread batter into pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Until toothpick comes out clean or the top bounces back when you pat it. Allow brownies to cool completely before moving on to the next step.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Filling: (adapted from Taste of Home)

1 c. butter, softened

1 c. packed light brown sugar

1/2 c. granulated sugar

4 Tbsp. milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine first 5 ingredients in a mixing bowl and cream together. Add flour and stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread in an even layer on top of cooled brownies. Chill before adding chocolate glaze.

Chocolate Glaze:

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 Tbsp. Crisco shortening

Melt chocolate with shortening and stir until smooth. Spread over chilled cookie dough layer.

Add chopped walnuts on top.



(back to Saturday) After we finished the daily harvest Katie and I went to Bite of Las Vegas. My first time attending a live concert. I got to see Ryan Star, Plain White T's, K'NAAN, Sara Bareilles, and Switchfoot. My favorite performer was K'NAAN. I actually missed most of Ryan Star. Sara Bareilles lost many points in my opinion because she swore in between each song. The first time she swore she was like "Oh there are children here so I shouldn't swear." Then she used even fouler words the rest of the time. The only song I really liked of Plain White T's was their song Rhythm of Love. Switchfoot is definitely not my style of music. I could feel the ground shaking beneath my feet because it was so loud. However I did have a lot of fun with Katie the whole time. And I am glad to have had the experience.

Sunday 24th Katie came to church with us. Katie is a Christian, and it was her first time ever attending an L.D.S. church.

I can't think of anything of importance of this last week except the things that happened on Friday.
Friday 29th was the big Shareholder Potluck. All day we were cleaning up the farm. The Patterson's came and decorated the farm and made it look AWESOME! All the food was delicious!!!! Laura made the yummiest pumpkin bread I have ever tasted. As soon as I get the recipe I will post it on here. We has a fire going....(on the website it said bonfire, what it really was.... was only about 3 logs.) the evening was chilly. In fact every morning and evening now is chilly enough to want a jacket and gloves. I had never imagined that Nevada got slightly cold.

Every day we have to harvest green beans. Two picture books always come in my head as I am harvesting.... the first being Cowboy and Octopus with the line... " I cooked all my favorites for you. Here's beans and bacon, bacon and beans, and here's beans with just a little bit of bacon." the second being Skippyjon Jones with several of the lines that the Los Chimichangos say.
As we are scooting along the walkway path harvesting we usually get bean leaves or beans sticking to our shirts or shorts. So one of the common phrases between us now is "sitting on beans". Mat jokes that he is going to make an album with that title. The next album would be called "Better than Beans" because after harvesting the never ending row of beans anything is better than beans.

Lots of good moments over various vegetables.


ttfn

PUMPKINS!!!

On Friday we harvested around 200 pumpkins from the high school agriculture farm. Pumpkins you want to harvest with as much of the stem as possible. After picking all of these pumpkins I suddenly wanted to carve one. There are no leaves changing color to show that it is fall, but we do have bright orange pumpkins and other winter squash. On our table at market we have Moapa Squash, Spaghetti Squash, Butternut Squash, Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkins, Long Island Cheese Pumpkins, and Musk De Provence Pumpkins. The Long Island Cheese Pumpkins are called this because they look like a wheel of cheese.
(I just got this picture off of the internet.)

Both the Long Island Cheese and the Musk De Provence (I might be spelling the second one wrong because I know you pronounce it with a French accent and I am not sure of French spelling.) are Heirloom variety, and are very dense and are really good for cooking.

At Market the most likely way of selling pumpkins is if you see a child standing by the adult with the money. If the child sees the pumpkins they want one... after all Halloween is coming up and you have to have a jack-o-lantern on your porch. I love seeing the little kids with the pumpkins! A toddler sitting in a stroller holding a large pumpkin that they can't even fit their arms around is a really cute sight.
It's funny the kids often go for the little pumpkins instead of the large.

We actually had three markets this week. We had our usual one on Thursday, and then we had two others on Saturday at the exact same time. So we divided and conquered. We went to the first location which was a Lobster Festival... (I have no idea why there would be a lobster festival in the middle of the desert.) we ran a bunch of pumpkins, melons, and honey in, set up, left Jordan there to run the table while we went to set up at the next location. The next place was harder to find and we had to do a lot of U-Turns. When we got there the closest parking was probably a 1/4 of a mile away from where our table was to be setup. Well 1/4 of a mile by the time you hauled everything from the trailer down the spot and back up to the trailer to get more. Now just imagine carrying at least 50 pumpkins as well as the melons and honey that we still had in the trailer this distance. I am now slightly sore to say the least. Me, Mat, and Katie stayed at this market. We probably only sold 10-12 pumpkins.

I also went to Valley of Fire with Mat and Katie this week. Apparently it is a National Park, which I did not know until just this week. We went on the trail Mouses Tank and saw some petroglyph's along the way.
(both of these images are just copied off of google images, once I get the pictures off of my camera I will have a picture of me in front of the petroglyph's.)
Mouse was in Indian who hid here in the 1800. I don't know if there is really any other water source in the Valley of Fire.
We also saw the white domes and the rainbow vista. It is a very beautiful place. And want to explore more of it with a better camera, and my family.

My chores this week were Pigs, and Turkeys. So I got to muck out their pens on Friday morning. I think this is worse then doing the kitty litter. It smells worse. Turkeys actually smell worse than pigs.

One of our pigs has practically chewed off the other two pigs ears. You can tell which pig is the culprit because his ears are absolutely perfect still.

Last night we had lobster for dinner. While I was washing something Mat came up beside me and started talking to me. I looked over at him to answer his question and instead shrieked. He had been holding a lobster body right by my face waiting for me to look at him and see the lobster a hand's width away. Mat can be so vexing sometimes.

Thats all for this week. ttfn.

Planting and Other Cool Things

I have a new roommate! Her name is Katie Jickling. She is also a WWOOF-er like Mat. She is from Vermont (which is really cool). This is the first farm she has wwoofed at. She is a very nice girl, and I am glad to have another girl my age around.

Last Monday we had RAIN!!! Everyone got slightly drenched at least once, Monte got soaked twice. Me and Katie had been making 2 inch soil blocks and transplanting plants that were in 1 inch soil blocks into these new soil blocks. It began to pour. When the sky decides to rain here it really rains. We all ran up to the house, and began preparing some Roma Tomatoes to roast with herbs and olive oil. There was a break in the rain so Monte and Laura went down to finish some rows. It began to pour again. It was delightful to see the rain, then we started to worry that it might wash out some of the things we had just planted, or the pelting rain would ruin the delicate swiss chard or other greens.

Doing tomatoes this time was a lot of fun. The tomato process consisted of putting the tomatoes in boiling water until their skins began to split, putting them in ice water (these first two steps make it easier to peel.) , then we had to peel them, cut them in half, and get all the seeds out of the seed cavity and put them in a bowl until Laura was ready to do the next bit with them.
Since there were four of us working on the tomatoes there wasn't room enough at the sink. So I put a bowl and a bucket on the counter. One was for the finished tomatoes and the other was for the skins and seeds to take down to the pigs or chickens. Mat and Jordon supplied much entertainment during the entire process. I am actually being teased a good portion of everyday. I am not quite sure how to respond. Mat kept mixing the two containers up and accusing me for putting two many things out. Mat and Jordon also would try to come up with new creations (these creations were often a half peeled tomato that they said looked like a pirate or anything else that came to mind.) with the skins.... one was a bat, one was a turtle, or making a mustache with the skin or putting the skin over their nose to make themselves look like clowns. They also had contests of who could get the longest unbroken peel from one tomato. Me and Katie laughed along with them but remained focused and accomplished a bit more. We were listening to various CDs the entire time which added to the fun. I have come to the conclusion that boys can make tedious tasks amusing.
After we were done with the tomatoes Laura would put them on a cookie tray with wax paper, drizzle olive oil all over them, some chopped garlic and thyme. Then they would be baked (or roasted) until slightly crisp. These are way yummier than potato chips. Once you taste one you can never say "just one more." unless that one is the last on the tray.

Another thing me and Katie did this same Monday before the downpour.... We were on making one of the gates rabbit proof. This required digging under the gate deep enough to put a beam of wood down in, then covering the wood back up. This was no easy task, considering the soil was almost as solid as cement, and required the use of a pick ax. My shoulders were definitely feeling it for a few days after.

On Tuesday I decided to take advantage of one of the opportunities at my finger tips and learn karate from Monte. Monte is in the karate hall of fame. He teaches a class every Tuesday and Thursday evening. Mat, Katie and me are all new students. I know it is going to be hard in many ways but also good for me. My hardest part is putting the needed force behind a move. I don't want to hurt any of the blue or green belts that help do the teaching, I have been told that they can handle the kicks or punches, but I still am uncomfortable doing them. Karate I believe will help me to draw more distinct boundary lines, as well as increase my confidence, strength, and most likely many more things that I am not even aware of yet.
I am glad that Monte is willing to have us in his class and teach us.

Also on Tuesday we went to neighbor's house and picked a LOT of olives. Olives are super nasty after just picking them. In order to eat them with out gaging you have to soak them in a lye /water brine for several weeks and then do some other things with them. They were probably the first thing I have helped pick from a tree that I have not been tempted to snack on during the picking. Mulberries, figs, apples, pears, etc have all been really good and several end up in my tummy, olives all went in to the harvest bushels.

Yesterday Monte had the boys helping with making rows and me and Katie were transplanting small little plants into these rows. We did four rows and each row had probably 186 plants in it. So we figure we planted around 744 plants give or take a few. We planted Brunswick Cabbage, Tete Noir Cabbage, Long Island Improved Brussle Sprouts and a variety of Broccoli that I can't remember it's name.

I have been informed that I say "aygg" instead of egg. And I say Ornery "onrey" ( as in rhymes with henry). I have also been told that before I say anything I give it a preface.

I have a new favorite melon. It is in the musk melon family (meaning it is in the same category as Honey Dew, Cantalope, etc). It is called a Crenshaw melon. It has a dark green rind and a peach/ pinkish flesh. So sweet and YUMMY!!!! We have been harvesting these melons at the High School Agriculture Farm. Reasons... 1. They have a lot of land with a lot of crops and not a large enough market. 2. We need over 100 melons for our share baskets, and even though we are getting some melons from our farm it is not giving us over 100 melons each week.
So we have gone and harvested all cantaloupes and other muskmelons. I also really like the Anna muskmelon. It looks exactly like a cantaloupe except with a white flesh that is similar to a honey dew.

Our Swiss Chard plants seem to have survived the heat and are looking good enough to continue to harvest.

We got two new goats this week. One of them is pregnant and is due to have her kids in two weeks!!!! I can hardly wait for more baby goats!

To entertain ourselves while planting or weeding we have done riddles and played 20 questions. If you have any good riddles I would love to know them.

ttfn.

farm pictures at last!

In this picture is Monte Bledsoe, Hannah Christenson (holding baby Hiedi) Kylee Edwards (holding baby Rocky) and Me (holding Mabeline)


This is when we went to Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. Me, (one of our share holders) Jason Labahn, Hannah, and Kylee.

At the Molto Vegas Farmer's Market, modeling our BEAUTIFUL table.


setting up the table still. Laura Bledsoe is making a cheat sheet of prices for us at the market.

We were Mulberry savages. I was trying to look serious like a Indian Warrior, hence my bleak expression. In this picture there is Bethany McClain, Kylee Edwards holding a snake that she caught, Amelia Demille, Jennifer Demille, and me.

I am holding Franswa, Bethany is holding Mableine (I think) and Kylee is holding Dolly (it might be Mableine).

I will have more pictures later on. This is all for now. I hope you enjoyed looking at these pictures.


Please forgive me for not doing a post this week on farm life.

ttfn

Likes and Dislikes about farming

Today after Market Monte asked each of us what was our favorite aspect of farming and what was our least favorite.

When I first started working here my least favorite was easy to name quickly... weeding and the heat. Now I think my least of what I love would be longer then my list of dislikes. I thought about this question for a good portion of the drive home (which takes an hour). And I thought it would be good to answer this question in full on my blog.

Dislikes:

1. I don't like cutting up onions and peppers to dehydrate (especially when I am doing it alone and there is at least two bushels).
2. I don't like sorting through rotting onions.
3. I don't like the smell of the turkey or chicken water.
4. I don't like doing the rabbit chores when the mister has been on and turned the area into a nasty muddy swamp.
5. I don't like being the only intern.
6. I don't like to harvest produce that 1. makes you itch. 2. has slight thorns that are painful. 3. that makes you smell like that vegetable all day and longer. 4. turns your hands black. 5. that is like a jungle and makes you feel terrible when you step on a vine that has been growing in the walkway.
7. I don't like it when it gets too hot and there is no shade, breeze, rain, etc.

Likes:

1. I love watching the day begin.
2. I love being a witness of the sunrise.
3. I love the quiet and stillness of the morning.
4. I love the peace that you feel on the farm.
5. I love the beauty that I can see each day.
6. I love seeing rows and rows of things I helped plant or weed flourishing.
7. I love seeing the garden or farm grow.
8. I love the baby goats (even though they are not really babies anymore).
9. I love having little pigs.
10. I love the freshness of everything.
11. I love being able to use farm fresh eggs that are AMAZING and everybody wants.
12. I love seeing the things I harvested arranged on the table at market and people taking pictures of our table because everything looks so beautiful.
13. I love seeing the things I harvested turned into beautiful meals or preserves.
14. I love canning or pickling.
15. I love how everything tastes.
16. I love having more interns here.
17. I love how I have changed.
18. I love the person I have become.
19. I love the experiences I have been able to have.
20. I love everything I have learned.
21. I love eating the vegetables that I helped with in so many ways.
22. I love being connected to the land again.
23. I love being a farm girl.
24. I love growing good healthy food for others, and hearing their praise.
25. I love the feeling of accomplishment and knowing I did a good day's work.
26. I love knowing that I deserve the sleep at night.
27. I love being a little tanner.
28. I love that my hair is no longer getting darker but lighter.
29. I love the confidence I have gained.
30. I love gathering beautiful eggs of all sizes and colors each night.
31. I love hand-milking some of the goats.
32. I love how beautiful each night is and how full the sky is with stars.
33. I love the cooler weather.
34. I love the people I get to be around, and the conversations that take place with each person.
35. I love being more aware of real food. And knowing that I am making a difference for the better by being here.

I'm sure my list could go on but I also think you might be getting bored reading an unending list. In short... I love this farm and I love being here. I can hardly wait till I am ready to start my own farm and be like Laura and Monte and help the world to become more of a farming people again.

There is something so amazing that takes place inside of you when you plant, weed, harvest, and become part of the land. I don't know how to describe it, you feel like you are more of a part of something that is worth something and will make a difference.

I use a blow-dryer on a chicken

Since I am later then I meant to be on this post there is a lot to write about, or in your case read about.

The Saturday before last Saturday we went to the bus stop in Las Vegas and picked up our two new interns. One is Mat Kessler He is from New York. He is also in the WWOOF program (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) so he has worked on a farm in Hawaii and a goat farm in Israel. The other new intern is Jordan Sorenson. He is from Provo UT. I don't know much else about either of them. So far they are proving quick learners and hard workers. I love having more company while doing anything on the farm. Both of them are also super nice.

After picking them up we went to DW BISTRO (one of the owners and the chef often come to the farmer's market and love Quail Hollow Farm's produce and people.) If you are ever in Las Vegas I recommend eating here. I think it might have been the yummiest food I have ever had in my life. Instead of ordering something off of the menu the chef Ricardo suggested we do a tasting. We didn't decide on any of the food we just told Ricardo to bring what ever he thought we would like the most. I believe it was four courses and then a dessert. All the plates that were brought out were small portions so we had room for everything. Each bite was so full of the perfect combinations of flavor that it seemed to melt on your tongue. I can't remember what everything was called but I know the first thing was a Mango sorbet to wet the palate, then it was a pasta type of salad with basil and pesto and cherry tomatoes, then there was steak, then there was a fish dish. Dessert was the best Carrot cake I have ever tasted in my life. One word for this meal... Heavenly. I could probably use more words but will leave it as is.

On Tuesday we had to do 20 of our chickens. (by "do" I mean butcher.) If you do not want to read anything relating to the process of this event feel free to skip to the next paragraph. We secure the chickens in these little upside-down cones and tie the chickens feet at the top with a wire. Monte would then slit their throats, this also helps the chickens to be less bloody for the rest of the stuff because all the blood drains to their head. Well I now know why we have to secure them in the cones with wire before we do this. One of the wires was not as tight as we thought and the chicken scooted out and fell on the ground and did flips. Instead of seeing a headless chicken running around I saw a dead chicken do flips. GROSS! I am sorry if I made you hungry in the last paragraph and made you sick in this paragraph, but I figure if anyone else out there wants to be a farmer you need to know the gross as well as the good. After they are dead they are plunged into boiling hot water with a drop of dish soap in it. The dish soap will help the feather plucking process. They are then moved to the plucker machine. Monte will cut off their feet and head before this. The plucker gets almost everything. We have to hand pluck the rest. This is what I volunteered for. I plucked the chickens then passed them on to have their innards pulled out. They were then given back to me and I rinsed them thoroughly inside and out and then put them in a cooler filled with ice water. And the chicken process is done.. I'm sure you are very glad.

Shares started again last week so on Harvest Day there was LOTS to Harvest. We have a 115 shareholders right now and may get more. To give you a glimpse of how much we harvested I will tell you the amount of beets that we needed. 120 bundles all with 4-5 good sized beets. That is a lot of beets to pull out of the muddy ground and then wash. Happily since shares started Kim and Sandy have returned. They are two of our share holders that help during share season. They are two delightful women, also very unique and interesting.

Sunday I found scorpion # 2 in my room. Same size as the last one... probably the size of my palm in length. Out of all the rooms in the house WHY MINE? I hate scorpions! Again Monte came to my rescue and killed it, he then looked under the bottom drawers of the dresser to see if there was a nest... which their wasn't (thank goodness!). More motivation to keep my room perfectly clean always. And as my own defense my room was not too untidy this week (nothing was on the floor), but I have decided to be better (all surfaces clean as well).

Monday (yesterday) we went to this apple orchard in the middle of no-where, a little oasis spot in the desert. We picked 8 bushels of Johnathon, 8 bushels of Winesap, 8 bushels of Golden Delicious, and 8 bushels of Red Delicious. These we will sell at market and put into the shares. We then shook a few trees and gathered 9 bushels of Johnathons for apple sauce and apple butter. I stepped outside my comfort zone and actually climbed several of the trees. I did not go very high like Matt or Jordon but I did actually get inside the tree. This is an accomplishment for me. For picking apples you need the nifty apple picker tool. A pole with a kind of open cage at one end. The cage bit has a little bit of cushioning at the bottom of it and blunted curved hooks at the top of half of it. You use the pole to give your arm more length and the hooks you might call metal fingers. The hooks help break it off of the stem and then it catches it in it's cage thing so that the apples don't fall far and bruise. I don't know if this explanation made any sense but I tried.

Oh last Saturday we also got 3 little pigs... or piglets. We put them in the goat pen, because our pig pen has onions hanging up in it drying. It is the funniest thing to see 3 little pigs chasing 8 big goats around the pen. Our goats didn't know what to do about these new arrivals. So if a pig approached the goats they all ran the other way. If one pig was standing on one side of the feeder, the goats would eat from the other side or not eat until the pigs had wandered off somewhere else. The goats are now getting used to the pigs so they don't re-act as much as they used to. One little pig is black with a white stripe on his back that continues on his leg. I named this little pig Percy (i.e. Sir Percival Blakeney a.k.a. The Scarlet Pimpernel). The second little pig is brown with white spots on his backside, Jordon named this one Pumba. The third little pig is brown with a white stripe and Matt named him Piggy. I suggested they all have "P" names that way there is better alliteration. I had thought of Percy and Pierre but couldn't think of a third name starting with P. So they just decided we would each get one pig to name.

Now for the story that relates to the title of this post. I used a blow-dryer on a chicken. I am sure you all are wondering whats the meaning of this, or what is the story behind this title. It is actually not too exciting but made a great title. Last night as I was doing evening chores I noticed a sad wet hen sitting in the goat water. Often the chickens will stand on the edge of the goat's water tub to get a drink, if the tub is slightly empty they bend farther and fall in and can't get out because they float and their feet can't touch the bottom to give them a boost up and out. Well this chicken had been in there for some time because we had been gone picking apples and weren't there to fish it out after it had fallen in. Now chickens can get hypothermia and die after they are fished out and don't warm up. So I used a blow dryer on this chicken for probably the equalevent of 10 minutes. I have never seen a half naked chicken (due to being pecked at) look so fluffy. Well she lived and so I didn't have to pick up any dead chickens this morning. I was so happy.

Oh.... I almost forgot to mention I got my Young Woman Medalion on Sunday becaue I finally finished my personal progross (I was a little later then I had planned on being)!!!

TTFAW (Ta Ta For Another Week) TTFN :D

It was my birthday, shout hooray!

I apologize for not doing a post last week. On Wednesday September 1st I turned 18!!!! Wednesday is out harvest day to get ready for Market. Somehow we managed to finish all the harvesting by 9:00 am. (it usually takes us until 1:00 or 2:00 before we are done, and then we have to wash the vegetables.) How could my birthday possibly get any better? One of our share holders who comes and helps out on harvest day during the share seasons had come with a nectarine crisp for my birthday cake. She also brought this yummy mac 'n' cheese casserole. Jen and Amelia had filled my room with balloons, and made me a poster with lots of yummy candy-bars. Laura and Monte gave me this awesome book called The Backyard Homestead that tells you how to start your own farm with only 1/4 of an acre. I have been thinking a lot lately of starting my own small farm when I have a house of my own, this book makes me want to do this even more! I had 18 candles on my nectarine crisp and blew them all out in one breath. I shall not say what I wished for...for everyone who know about wishes knows they will not come true if you tell anyone. Jen and Amelia also gave me a 1/2 gallon water bottle, which is very nice to have when you are working outside in the heat for a long amount of time. All in all my birthday was great!

As far as adventures go for this week... On the mornings of Thursday September 2nd, and Saturday September 4th we found 17 dead chickens and 4 dead turkeys between the two days put together. We found a spot by the fence with a large hole dug underneath. Meaning we have a dog problem. Coyotes only kill one or two chickens and drag them off, dogs kill just for the fun of it and leave all the dead fowl. I believe all of our turkeys were already reserved for thanksgiving, each turkey costs $120.00, and since there were four dead turkeys thanks to the dogs that is a lot of money down the drain.

My family came down on Saturday evening and left early Monday morning. I loved every minute they were here! That was their birthday present to me (and a few other things). I think they were all slightly shocked at how I have changed. I used to be a girl who hated going to petting zoo's because they smelled so bad, I would NEVER have touched a living clucking chicken let alone a dead one, I didn't go outside often (in my little sister's words I never went outside unless forced by her.) anyways the list could go on a great deal longer if you asked them. Now I am definitely a farm girl. I still don't like the way the animals smell but I am used to it now. I feel like my confidence has increased by being here. I love the title of farm girl. I love how I have changed. My Mom says the true me has finally come out of hiding. Well I love this new Lark!

Jen and Amelia are no longer coming each week because they are now going to BYU-I. Two new interns are due to arrive sometime later this week.

I pickled 53 pints and 3 quarts of okra this week. I love seeing the bushel I harvested turned into these beautiful jars of pickled okra. Each jar has one jalapeño pepper, a couple sprigs of fresh dill, a clove of fresh garlic, and as much okra as will fit into the jar, then there is also the pickling brine. I enjoy canning! I like how pickled okra tastes too. ;)

The weather is getting so much nicer. It hasn't gone over 100 degrees for the last few days, and there has been wind or cloud cover. I am loving this weather! I hope it stays. My dear readers you would probably say that 100 degrees is still far too hot, but when the norm for the last few weeks has been 120, 100 feels so good.

If you are having summer squash coming on now... a really yummy way to have it is to stuff the squash with a sausage mixture, it is heavenly. And you can also eat the squash blossoms. (Our squash blossoms go so fast at market.) The most common way to eat squash blossoms is to stuff them with a soft cheese and herbs, dip them in a type of batter (Monte did an egg batter) and then to fry them. There is one word to describe the finished product.... YUMMY!
I hope this gives you some ideas to enjoy the season of squash produce.

This is all for this week. TTFN.

Startling Incounters with Unexpected Creatures

I have now had several adventures that involve little creatures I was not expecting. I will start of with the more mild ones and then move onto the more adventuresome ones.

The other day I went to the turkey pen to dump out their nasty dirty water and re-fill it. When I got to their pen I noticed a dove fluttering all over trying to get out. I have no idea how that dove got in there, the turkey pen has a fence all around and a tarp over it that doesn't have a hole a dove could fit through. Anyways I caught the dove and stroked it for a bit then let it go. This is the most mild adventure.

I was downstairs in my room reading and I kept hearing this scratching noise. For the life of me I could not find where the noise was coming from, for it stopped every time I stood and looked for it. It almost sounded like a bug of some sort climbing through papers. So I re-organized my papers and cleaned a bit. Well still no sign of the culprit of the noise. Then for some odd reason I looked down at my pair of high-heels, there in the instep of my shoe was the culprit. It was a large gray beetle that had some how managed to get in my shoe and was trying to get out. The scratching noise was coming from his insect legs attempting to climb up the satin inside of my shoe. Sends shivers up my spine.

I was scooping out various grains to take to the chickens. I reached the scooper in one bag and saw something jump. I thought it was a leaf that might have blown in. I don't know why I would have thought that given the lack of wind here. Anyways I reached in again and the thing moved again. This time I decided to take a closer look. Any guesses as to what it was? I'll give you a hint. "Squeak squeak" Yep, it was a little mouse. Laura and Monte were both out of town, so I had to deal with it myself. I didn't know what to do, so I just used the scooper to lift it out of the bag and then a dumped it out and it ran off somewhere.

Today was the most alarming one. Since today was market day, I try to look nicer. I lifted up my hamper of clean clothes that I still need to put away, and dumped it on my bed so that I could find the shirt I wanted to wear. I soon found it. And then I looked over to where I had had the hamper. Can you guess what I saw there? Laura says they have only come into the house very rarely. Think also that I am in the desert. It is also one of the star symbols you might have been born under. Any more guesses? Alright hold your horses I will tell you what it was. It was a scorpion. Thankfully Monte was not out of town. I called upstairs asking "How do you kill a scorpion that is in your room?" He called back down "you squash it." I thought I can deal with mice and bugs, and maybe spiders, but I cannot deal with this scorpion. I didn't have to. Monte came down and killed it. He took a metal pole and squashed it's head and the tail curled around the pole as if one last attempt to sting what ever was killing it. Shudders up and down my spine to think that that poisonous thing was in my room, under my clean laundry.

Those are all my adventure currently that involve little unexpected creatures. I don't want anymore for a LONG time.

I have a funny story to tell now about a goat. It is my week to milk the goats. We have this milking platform that can do two goats at a time. When one goat finishes we take them back to the pen and get another one. On Tuesday night I took one back to get the next one. As I approached the gate I called out "who's next?" And Bella did a baseball skid up to the gate. I am not familiar with the baseball terms so please forgive me in this explanation. Picture a baseball game, and the person who just swung the bat is running to the bases but will be out soon if he doesn't touch the base within seconds so he does this kind of slide/skid to the base. That is what Bella did. I didn't know goats could even do that. It was hilarious to behold.

Because of the egg re-call the government are going to try to make more regulations to meet to be a chicken farmer. It is very vexing because that is one of the last things we need more of. More regulations can hurt the small farmer who does things properly. What we need is not more regulations but open doors to see how those factory chickens are raised and vote with our dollar what food we buy. People should have the right to see how the food the consume is raised. We don't need more rules. We went to this meeting today where someone who represents the agriculture committee in Washington was going to be present. She didn't really listen to a word the local farmers said, she just turned everything we said around. She said the bill for more regulations will probably pass soon and then they will get together and decide on what exactly those rules/regulations might be. At least this is what I understood of it, I was not fully present I will admit, because I believe part of my subconscious was beginning to doze. I do however know that our free country is becoming more socialist every day and with every bill that seems to be passed. I worry for our country.

In a lecture I re-listened to this last Friday while I was cutting peppers. The speaker said there are four lost ideals of America. I may paraphrase a lot, because I don't remember the exact way he said it, I just remember the gist of what he said. In fact some of you may know exactly which lecture I am quoting and know how to explain it much better, and may even think I am ruining and missing the point of what the speaker said. I apologize in advance now. These four things help maintain freedom. Freedom is the fifth thing and the only thing we still seem to remember. The first word we have forgotten that makes America what it was is Georgic. Georgic means to own the land. America used to be mainly independent people, people who owned their land and owned their businesses. And because they were these independent people, a georgic society they could make more of in impact on the nation's outcome. The second was the word Providence, which was more then just believing in a Higher Power, it was believing in that God and that he had given you a purpose/ mission in life. The third forgotten word is Liber. Liber is the root word for Liberty and Library. To be liber means you are educated, and you use that education to make a difference. Anyone can read and write but what they do with that education can be the difference between a liber person and just a well educated person. The fourth word was Public Virtue. Is what you do to help society become better, to change the world for the better. Where you give of yourself to make this change. The last word is Freedom. This word we are also forgetting slowly.
Soon America may be nothing left but a memory of what was.

The things I am learning here are more then just farming. I am learning in some ways how to be one of the needed leaders at this time of crisis. I am learning things here that I need to know for my future family, and my country.
I am so thankful that The Lord lit this spark inside of me when my sister told me about this farm.

"And whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Giving thanks unto God and the Father by him." -Colossians 3:17
I am truly thankful to be here at this time!

The Girl I mean to Be...

In case some of you readers of this blog are getting tired of reading about picking cucumbers, cutting peppers, chicken drama, etc.... I decided to do this post on some of the reasons why I am here, and the woman I mean to become.

• I have just re-started reading my core book, and in the first couple of chapters it keeps saying... "And it came to pass that we did gather together whatsoever things we should carry into the wilderness, and all the remainder of our provisions which the Lord had given unto us; and we did take seed of every kind that we might carry into the wilderness." Here I am learning about seeds. I am learning when to plant them what to look for when I harvest and how to save seeds. In fact there is this one watermelon that the Bledsoes call Indian Cave Watermelon because these seeds in a leather pouch were found in a cave around these parts.
• I am learning how to work hard.
• I am learning about nutrition.

After reading Laddie by Gene Stratton-Porter I had a clearer understanding of why I am here and what part of my life's mission might be. A little backround on what I am about to discribe. I have always been drawn to the thought of being like the accomplished lady described in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Which if you are unfamiliar with it is at the part where Jane is sick at the Bingly's and Lizzy is there. It simply says ..."No one can really be esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this she must posess a certain air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address, and expressions or the word will be but half deserved. All this she must posess, and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading."

Yet Gene Stratton-Porter also has a description of what a lady is and what a women should aspire to be. Gene Stratton-Porter's is more lengthy yet I think every word is important. Laddie's Mother is talking to this gentleman who I can't remember his name I just know it starts with a "P". "Anyone in petticoats is not a lady by no means! A lady must be gentle by nature, and rearing. She must know all there is to learn from books, have wide experience to cover all emergencies, she must be steeped in social graces, and diplomatic by nature. She must rise unruffled to any emergency, never wound, never offend, always help and heal. She must be perfect in deportment, virtue, wifehood and motherhood. She must be graceful, pleasing, and beautiful. She must have much leisure to perfect herself in learning graces and arts-.... when I think of the life a women must lead in order to be truly a lady, when I think of the life I have been forced to live to do my share in making this home, and rearing these children, the contrast is too great. ... Believe me, my highest aspiration is to be a clean, thrifty housekeeper, a bountiful cook, a faithful wife, a sympathetic mother. That is life work for any woman, and to be a good women is the greatest thing on earth. Never mind the ladies, if you can honestly say of me, she is a good woman, you have paid me the highest possible tribute. To be a good wife and mother is the end toward which I aspire. To hold the respect and love of my husband is the greatest object of my life."
Mr. P. : "Then you have succeeded. You stand a monument to wifehood; and your children prove your idea of motherhood. ... How in this world have you managed it?" Laddie's mother: "By educating ourselves before their coming and with them afterward. Self-control, study, work, joy of life, satisfaction with what we have had, never-ending strife to go higher, and to do better. ... Before any daughter has left our home for one of her own, she has been taught all I know of cleanliness about a house, cookery, sewing, tending the sick, bathing and dressing the new born. She has to bake bread, pie, cake, and cook any meat or vegetable we have. ... They can knit, darn, patch, tuck, hem, and embroider, set a hen and plant a garden. I go on vacation and leave each of them to keep house for her father a month before she enters a home of her own."

I want to know these things. I want to be like this. I feel that part of my life's mission is to help Women be women again. Children to be children. Men to be men. I can do all of these if I strive to be the woman that has just been described by Jane Austen and Gene Stratton-Porter. I feel I can learn a good bit of those things here at the farm. I don't believe this is just my romantic side wanting to go back in time. I think it is partly because when a society is simple in many ways they are more willing to turn to the Lord. I think that my Heavenly Father has put these desires in my heart for a reason. I actually feel more alive every time I read, say or write these characteristics.


If you are still wanting to read news from the farm here it is....

• Our best milking goat Uno died last week. We had to put her down, she had an infection that wasn't healing, and she was miserable. She wouldn't eat or drink.
• I cut up another two bushels of peppers last week.
• Tomatoes are getting fewer!!!!
• This week Jen, Amelia, and I sorted through a TON of onions, and tied them in bundles to hang to dry. Some on the bottom of the pile were starting to mold. Rotting onions smell sooooooooooo NASTY!
• There was a storm that lasted 15 minutes but felt like 5. In those few minutes we got 0.6 inches of rain. And usually the average rain fall here if I understood correctly is 4 inches every year. I might be wrong, cause my memory is disagreeing with itself. I have never seen a storm like it. There was lightning, wind, rain, and hail. You couldn't see past 3 feet in front of you. It came and then was gone as sudden as it had come.
• Several of the turkeys have figured out how to fly over their fence. During the storm our chicken coop rolled over a couple of times and squashed 3 chickens. (not going to go into any more detail.)
  
• We are no longer bottle feeding any of the baby goats, they have all moved in with the big goats and are now eating hay.
• Wild rabbits better stay hidden and out of the garden/farm because Monte takes his gun down every morning and evening. After working on a farm you don't like the story of Peter Rabbit as much and you sympathize with Mr. McGregor more.
• I think my favorite type of watermelon is the YELLOW verity. And this IS watermelon. Working on the farm you realize that there are Many verities of every vegetable or fruit.

I believe that is all to report. I apologize that this is so late for last weeks post.
Despite all the difficulties and adventures of farm life, I love it here.

ttfn :D

The Plank of Putrescence

In the barn, in by the rabbits is a plank of putrescence. I like the alliteration. When ever I walk across it I think of the part in The Princess Bride where the hag in her dream is insulting her. The plank of wood is over a muddy mass (again good alliteration :D) . We have to turn misters on by the rabbits so that they do not overheat. The moisture + the rabbit poop + the baby chick's poop + the regular dirt = GROSSNESS! YUCK! FILTH! PUTRESCENCE! etc... I think it is why I dislike doing the rabbits the most.

I have had slightly interesting and traumatic adventures this week. On Saturday morning I woke up at around 5:45 am. When I got upstairs I heard this constant beeping. The vehicle I use to drive the milk back up was beeping non-stop. I could not figure out why and how to make it stop. I was tired and stressed because Laura and Monte had left for a family reunion on Friday. So finally it stopped I don't know how it stopped it just did. Then I went down to milk. I can now catch Uno or Una (the goat I have previously mentioned being vexing because she never would let me catch her.) without having to go around the goat pen a bunch of times. Uno is usually our best milker, but for some reason she isn't filling up at all. To add to my traumatic adventures the milker stopped working as well. I have had to hand milk all of the remaining eight goats.

In case you want my mailing address.... it is PO. Box 688 Overton Nevada 89040

I have cut up probably almost two bushels of peppers this weekend to put in the dehydrator. This week I have harvested Okra, more cucumbers, onions, beets... to name a few. Okra flowers are so pretty!

This post is really short but this is all the news I have to tell. I encourage you all to buy whatever you can from local farmer's markets. It is worth it when it comes to taste.

Oh.... our table at market made it into one of the Las Vegas magazines. You can see the two other interns and my fingernails. :D isn't fame grand!

Until next week... this is all.

I am a lass, a farming lass!

To start off with possibly the thing of most significance.... I am now the only intern. So the work is harder not just because it is only me doing it and so it takes longer, but more because of lack of company, lack of someone to talk to. It is also getting hotter here.

I have been harvesting Armenian and pickling cucumbers everyday this week. The white onions I harvested this week for market were huge. Each onion weighed a good pound all by it's self. I think some of the favorites that people are buying from market right now are... Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes, Honey (I think the honey is my favorite. mmmm so sweet and yummy.) , come to think of it everything on the market table is someone's favorite. And we haven't had that much produce left over at the end of market because a restaurant buys what ever is left so I can't actually think what sells the most, I know that the first three things I listed are big hits, but other than that I can't say.

Happily there have been very few chicken deaths compare to last week when there had been 7 I had to pick up. There is however this Rooster that is near driving me crazy. He somehow made it out of the pen two weeks ago and is still evading all of my attempts to catch him. I try every time I go and do chores to catch him and end up just giving up after I chase him all around the pen he is suppose to be in.

I think I'll take the time to kind of describe the spread of the farm. I would draw a diagram but don't know how here, so you will have to use your imagination and try to visualize what I am saying. I want you to imagine a horizontal rectangle divided into fourths vertically. The four columns that you just made are the plots, plot A, plot B, plot C, and you guessed it plot D. However looking straight at it D would be in the first column and A in the last.
Plots C and D are just vegetable rows, (the rows are horizontal) plots A and B are not entirely vegetable rows. The top half of B is the goat pen (this has all the female goats) and the largest chicken pen. Plot A has a movable chicken pen at the top, (movable so that we can put it on various done rows for them to eat the weeds, etc...) The middle part of plot A is vegetables, the bottom is the second movable chicken pen. (this is the pen that I have chased the frustrating loose rooster around everyday twice a day.) Then if you put a long skinny horizontal rectangle beneath the one I have just explained. That is where the Billy goats are. And if you put a square above plots A and B the barn is right above plot B it has the rabbits, chicks, and the baby goats as well as various tools. A little further up is the greenhouse. Above plot A is the currently empty pig pen and the turkey pen. I hope this gives you some kind of visual of my surroundings. I also hope it was understandable.

I got to cut up a LOT of peppers to put in the dehydrator. I got to cut up and sauce a LOT of tomatoes. I got to make a LOT of soil blocks (12 trays that each hold 55 blocks) (they have a soil block maker that makes 4 at a time. Laura also makes her own soil for the soil blocks out of various things including our compost, I don't know all the names of the things she uses yet. It seems to work though.) We think there might be a mouse eating the shoots of green that are coming up in the greenhouse, because we saw the shoots one day and the next we saw what looked to be bitten off shoots.

There are two big glass crocks of dill pickles being made. They have to ferment for three weeks, and then they will be ready to eat. They have now been on the kitchen counter for two weeks so only one more to go.

Someone asked me what was a sun spot on a tomato? If any of the rest of you who read this blog are wondering the same thing. The answer is simply a sun burn on a tomato that is white instead of red. ;)

To finish this post..... I just read my new absolute favorite book. Laddie a true blue story by Gene Stratton-Porter. If you have not read this book you NEED to. I loved it soooooooo much. It is part of the reason I named this post "I am a Lass, a farming lass!". This book has so many profound insights. There was one chapter where I was writing in my common place book practically every other paragraph. I love the story line of it! By the last couple of pages I had this huge grin on my face that one couldn't help noticing. I shan't tell a thing about the plot or anything, because you must read it yourself and have the delight of reading every bit of it without someone telling you what to expect. And I have the tendency to be trying to explain a book's plot and giving a blow by blow of everything that happens.

Fowl Adventures

This week my duties are once again feeding the fowl. On Monday I went to feed and water the turkeys and two were dead. So now all we have are two hen turkeys, we did have three hen turkeys and one tom turkey. Where we keep the chicken grain happens to be on a ant hill, not any ant hill but one that is swarming with red sugar ants. You can't stand there for very long. On Wednesday I found a dead chicken in the coop, and one beneath the coop. I got to put those in an empty grain bag to take up later for the dumpster. Some of the glories of farm life. They are dying because it is so hot outside. Another type of fowl adventure is with the geese. There is this one goose that will start approaching you hissing kind of low to the ground, and if he comes up to you he will start beating his wings and biting the hem of your shorts. If you push him away he will just come back again. However if you grab him around the neck and hold him back and then you just throw him across the field. (I learned this trick from one of the interns who has been here for almost a year) The goose will then leave you alone. There is only one Rooster I still fear. His name is Philippe. His back spurs have been cut off, but sometimes he just comes toward you and it is scary! Kylee (the intern with all the advice) says that the way to stop him from rushing at you is to grab him by his legs and hold him upside-down. She says she is the reason his spurs were cut. Chickens also don't lay as many eggs when it is hot like this. The lack of eggs is very vexing to more then just us farmers. Every Thursday at market people always ask "are there any more eggs?" and we have to say "No."

This week was actually the last week for shares until the autumn crop comes in. We will still go to market but we won't have to harvest as much!!!

Kylee left today. So now there is just me and Hannah interning. Hannah will be leaving on Tuesday. I am very sad about this. Last night we went horse back riding. A lady in the ward heard that Hannah loved horses and invited us to go over and ride. So all of us interns did it as kind of a final fun thing with all three of us. It was the first time I have ever ridden a horse. I even trotted a little bit. It hurts to sit down now. A couple of things I learned..... If you are tense the horse can feel it and will think it can do what ever it wants. You have to be calm, confident, in control. Just think of the horse as a car, you are the one steering. I had a lot of fun!

After Market we made our final share deliveries to Nora's Wine Bar (an Italian Restaurant) Geo (the chef who usually buys what ever vegetables we have left over from market) wanted us to taste some of his dishes that he uses our produce for. We gladly accepted this invitation to dine. He brought us out two types of pasta that had cheese in it made from our goat's milk. I googled the menu and this dish sounded like one of the things that was brought out to us: Papardella alla Luisa Papardelle, sausage, sundried tomatoes, & cream . The food was sooooooooo good. TONS better than Olive Garden! Then gelato was brought out to us that is also made from our goat's milk. The gelato flavors were.... Honey Basil, Chocolate Hazelnut, Pistachio, and two others that I can't think of the flavors. I tasted the honey basil and the hazelnut. They were both HEAVENLY!!! I however liked the Honey Basil the best. He said people don't often choose that one because they think that the basil will make it weird. But oh my goodness gracious... the flavor was AMAZING!!!!!!! It instantly became a favorite. If any of you are in Las Vegas you should go to Nora's and order the honey basil.

This is all for this week. ttfn.

"Isn't it a beautiful day?" "No it ain't."

My title for this post comes from a picture book called Cowboy & Octopus by Jon Scieszka My definition of beautiful day has changed immensely from what it was in Rexburg Idaho. In Rexburg a beautiful day is when the sun is shining, a bright blue sky, a gentle cool breeze. In Overton Nevada a beautiful day is cloud cover, a cool breeze, a sprinkling of rain. I am definitely starting to feel the summer heat.

We have started planting the fall crop. We have made beds of several verities of squash, as well as a couple of Watermelon plants. I always thought that watermelon was a summer fruit because one typically has it on the 4th of July.

The tomatoes are starting to be less-ish. Which makes me very happy. Cucumbers are growing in abundance though. So today for a snack I cut up one Armenian Cucumber, Early Girl Tomato, and a gold tomato (that I can't remember the name of) put them on a plate all pretty, and poured some Zesty Italian dressing on it. All it lacked was diced cream cheese to be perfect.

The milking machine has decided to be either R--e--a--l--y S--l--o--w! or just not work. So we have started having to milk by hand. It gets so tiring. I am discovering yet another couple of muscles that I never knew existed in my body. I have been told that your arms can become very toned just by milking goats. Kylee and Hannah (the two other interns with me) are much faster milkers than I am. Last night was my first time milking by hand, and they have both had more practice.

On Thursday after market... us interns had an amazing opportunity. One of Quail Hollow Farm's share holders is a teacher at this chef school. He invited us to come to Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. So we went. In just 10 minutes you can make a dish of food look like an art piece. Going and watching them cook such BEAUTIFUL dishes using the vegetables that I helped pick gave me a new perspective on what and why I pick. Only our share holder's class used Quail Hollow Farm produce. As each student came up to get a couple of cherry tomatoes out of the bag I kept thinking... I hope they don't find slightly cracked ones that are oozing juices. Or... I hope that one didn't have a small bug bite, or sunspot. Our shareholder had also given a small lecture to each of his students saying... "If we mistreat these vegetables by cutting them wrong or anything we are wasting the efforts that the farmers take to grow and harvest these vegetables." ( I am paraphrasing what he said.) This little thing he said also made me more think that if I as the farmer am careless about the produce I harvest I am wasting the time of anyone who cooks with it. Jason Labahn (our shareholder) then took us interns on a tour of the school. One chef in training offered us some fresh peanut butter cookies (they were still warm) they were the Yummiest Peanut Butter cookies I have ever tasted. Also because it was Thursday the catering class always does a buffet style thing for everyone in the school. So we got to go through the line and fill up a little plate with yummy finger food delights. Kylee remembers their French names, I don't though so I will just say what some of my favorites were. There was Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms, Roast Duck on this type of cracker, Quail Egg also on a yummy cracker, and several others that are not coming to mind. The ones I have mentioned though were my top 3 favorites starting with my least favorite going to my absolute favorite. Quail Eggs are soooooooooooo YUMMY!!!! In Jason's class we got to taste scallops and bass. Both were cooked so heavenly. They used our leeks, cherry tomatoes, and either our peppers or onions I can't remember which. Being there made me want to go there and learn how to make food look so beautiful and taste so good. One thing I did learn is that you always want at least two fingers width around the edge of the plate that the food doesn't touch. It makes the food stand out more on the plate and you don't eat too much.

Today I was looking at a Tasha Tudor book and I have decided that what I want when I have a house of my own is... a cottage that looks like a Thomas Kinkade cottage, a large garden like Tasha Tudor's with dress-ups from various time periods, a farm with vegetables and goats (goats are pretty easy to take care of), a cow (I just want the cream, cause I like goats milk better but they don't have cream), some chickens and pigs (for the eggs and meat you can get from them), etc. It would be a TON of work but just think how picturesque it sounds. I know I want to be more self sustainable. And after beginning to read a book called Real Food and watching movies like... Food Inc., The Future of our Food, Fresh, etc. I really don't want to eat a lot of the food we buy in grocery stores. I recommend each of these movies and this book. However be forewarned you will never look at food the same, and you will be wanting to find farmer's markets close to where you live. Plus food from your garden tastes a zillion times better than the produce you buy at the store. The produce from the store is like buying the image of the food and tasting bland.

I have discovered utter bliss in so many little things here on the farm. At Dusk I like to sit on the front porch reading or writing feeling a warm breeze on my face gazing at my surroundings, contemplating life and it's goodness, and thanking my Heavenly Father for the experiences I am having. That is contented bliss. And riding down on the tractor at dawn to do chores is also morning bliss. Then there is every night when I lay my head on my pillow that is perpetual bliss. Or stepping out of the shower feeling clean again that is absolute bliss. Drinking a tall glass of ice water is bliss too. Coming in to an air-condition house after finishing working is likewise bliss. If you are an editor you would probably sat that I have overused the word bliss. I apologize. It is just my word of choice right now as I am writing this.

This is all I have to say for this week. Instead of saying "See ya later, alligator." I am going to say..."got to go, tomato." It's kind of cheesy I know, but it works.

Tomatoes, tomatoes, and more tomatoes!

I have harvested sooooooooooooo many tomatoes. Last Saturday we had a tomato tasting jubilee. Over 60 people came tasted 20 different types of tomatoes, judged which one was the yummiest. There was also a Salsa contest to see who brought the best salsa. This event even made the front page of the local newspaper. Which I don't think is that hard to do because nothing much happens in little Overton NV. I now understand the term digging, or swimming through tomatoes. You really have to dig through Juliet plants and any other tomato plant for that matter. I have picked so many tomatoes now that every time I see a tomato I think of Lauren Child's book I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato (You say it with a British accent and it is more fun.) Some of the favorite tomatoes were... (drum roll please) Italian Heirlooms, Sun Sugar, Gold Medal.
All Cherry size tomatoes mixed together make a wonderful bruschetta (which if you are unfamiliar with what that is in other name for it could be Heaven on Bread. It is tomatoes with onion, basil, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, on toasted bread, and then if you add some cheese it is so yummy. ) Some Cherry tomatoes are ... Black Cherry, Brown Berry, Gold Pear, Red Pear, Juliet, Sun Sugar. These are all the ones coming to mind right now.

I'm sure you don't want to hear any more about tomatoes so I will move on to other things of import.

I have now caught chickens. I feel very Lagaan-ish when I do this. If you have seen the movie you will know why. If you haven't seen the movie I suggest you get on Netflix or go to the library and get it right away.

For Father's day dinner instead of going to the store and buying the meat, you just go out to the farm.... we caught 4 roosters. Monte did the gross part that I will not describe, and me and Hannah (one of the other interns) helped pluck all the feathers off. Not one of my favorite duties. Rooster meat is tougher than chicken meat. We had Saffron Chicken(rooster) with rice.

I have now milked the goats. Did you know that goat's milk is the closest to mother's milk and is there for the healthiest for us to drink. I enjoy milking the goats, except for one goat by the name of Una who must very much dislike me. All the other goats will behave with me, not Una. She will work with any one else but not me, tis very frustrating.
We have 2 new baby goats since the last time I wrote, each was born on a Sunday, 0ne week apart. They have beautiful coloring. I think it is called the swiss alpine look. One is named Greta, the other Rocky.

This week my chores have been feeding the Chickens and the Turkeys and gathering the eggs. Chickens smell so bad. I much prefer dealing with the goats. Did you know that chickens will eat their own eggs. I discovered this after dropping an egg and all the chickens rushed to it. You would never have known an egg had fallen. Monte says that sometimes they like their eggs so much that they will break them on purpose.
Chickens are a great weed cleaner-upper. You leave them in a couple of rows where the crop is already done, they eat the rest of the produce of those rows along with all the weeds, they eat the bugs, and they fertilize the soil for the next thing you plant. I am all for weeding less. (wink wink)

I helped out at the farmer's market this week. It is in someways funner than doing the deliveries because there is more going on, but to tell you the truth I think I prefer the deliveries.
On the way home from the farmer's market I saw the Lord's hand so many times blessing us. Let me tell you a little back round to these miracles.
First... Monte was gone this week doing a High Adventure with all of the 14-15 year old boys in the stake. So because he was gone the car instantly had issues. On Tuesday we discovered a flat tire, however 2 of the girls who come and help out knew how to fix that.
On Thursday on the way home from deliveries and the market the car started smoking like crazy. So we pulled over to the side of the road. Laura's brother Steve was with us and said "Someone who knows Laura is going to pull over and give all of the girls a ride home."
We had plenty of ice-water in the back that had been keeping the milk cool. We had a couple vegetables in the trailer that one could just munch on, and I had a book with me. How can this Day possibly get any better?! Oh and Laura's father-in-law was on his way to pick us up and get the car help. Well after waiting for about 15 minutes this car pulls over. Steve instantly said "There is the ride for the girls." I didn't think so, I thought it was just some person pulling over to see if they could help, then I saw the person get out of the car and who should it be but this lady who comes over every Wednesday to help us harvest. HOW CAN THIS DAY POSSIBLY GET ANY BETTER?! Steve had been right that was our ride home. Everyone got home safe. I know that the Lord was watching over us.

It is now late and I must go to bed so that I can arise EARLY in the morning. ttfn!

Almost a full week on the Farm

Even though it hasn't been a full week it feels like it has been.

First off... I will probably only be posting something once a week. Likely on Thursdays.
Second... I will not have any pictures until I can load them on the computer which might be a while.

So now onto news from the farm:

Work begins at 5:00am. My chores for this week are...

• Feed the goats, (which consists of giving the nanny goats 9 flakes of hay, and the billy goats 4 flakes of hay.) ( did you know that the big bushels of hay divides into sections called flakes. This was something new to me.) There are a couple mama goats and some kids that are too big for bottled milk now. And there are four billy goats.
  
• Feed the pigs ( 2 flakes of hay and 2 scoops of corny stuff that also is fed to the chickens.) There are only 2 pigs.
• (This is my favorite chore) Feed the 3 baby goats. (Bottle of milk.) The baby goats names are Dolly(she is all white), Mapleine (she is white with a brown area all over her back half that looks like someone poured syrup on her) , and Franswa (He is my favorite. He is white and black, and he has two knobs that will be big horns someday.) I have decided that if ever I get two baby goats I will name them Patrica and Poloco (after the book by this person called G is for Goat.)
  

After the morning chores, I weeded 3 rows of peppers. "Oh my heart" weeding is HARD! Not because the ground is hard (where I was weeding the ground was moist and soft) Weeding is hard because you are out in the HOT sun and you are stooping constantly.

I got to peel artichokes today and get them down to just the heart, and get all the fur out of the centers which is apparently the "choke" part of an artichoke.

5 Gratitudes for 6/7/2010:
1. I am thankful the Lord answered my prayers and sent a gentle breeze the whole time we were working outside.
2. I am thankful for how yummy fresh goats milk tastes
3. I am thankful for new friends
4. I am thankful for the muscles I am now discovering by how painful it is to move.
5. I am thankful for the cold of Rexburg now.

Day 2:

My body is getting used to waking up at around 4:45 each morning. It's like my inner clock knows it is time to wake up I just want to resist it though.

When baby goats drink milk they wag their tails. I have decided I LOVE BABY GOATS!!!

After the morning chores we went to pick Mulberries. For some reason I always thought mulberries grew on bushes not trees with branches so high you need a ladder. On the way there I saw Peacocks cross the street. Who would have thunk that one would see such a sight. Back to the berry adventure. Mulberries are REALLY YUMMY! I like them even better than Raspberries (gasp in shock) maybe even better than huckleberries (horror). Laura left Kylee, Bethany, Amelia, Jennifer, and me picking and she went to do something else. Well... while she was gone we ran out of mulberries we could reach; so we all became savages or Indians with berry stripes on our faces. Kylee even picked up a feather and put it in her hair. Kylee's camera was in the car so when Laura came back we got a picture. I will send you the picture eventually. Kylee is quite adventuresome. As we were getting in the car to go back to the farm we saw a black and white striped snake slithering over the path. Kylee caught it with her bare hands.

After berry picking we came back to the farm and harvested tomatoes, squash, and onions. I feel kind of like a turtle compare to the other girls. In the time it took me to pick 10 onions they had all picked 20+.


5 Gratitudes for 6/8/2010:
1. I am thankful for rides on the tractor up and down the hill to the farm. (this only happens when we have chores. The tractor is taken down to carry the full can of milk back up, and someone can stand by the driver or sit in the scoop thing. I don't know it's technical term.)
2. I am thankful for naps in the afternoon
3. I am thankful for good yummy food. (I think my body is adjusting to not having sugar.)
4. I am thankful to be clean. ( I took a shower this afternoon and it was so refreshing. One can get so dusty and sweaty in only a matter of minutes when you are doing farm stuff.
5. I am thankful for clean socks


Day 3:

Today I helped harvest Swiss Chard, Squash, Beet Greens, and Green Beans. It was a busy day today because tomorrow everything goes into the baskets and to the market. There are 90 + shareholders who each get a basket. The rest of the stuff is sold at the farmers fresh food market.

If you looked at my hands right now you would think that they were dirty, however I have washed them several times the brown just remains. I keep thinking of hobbit fingers every time I look at my hands.

Today while we were sorting and washing what we had harvested. Sandy and Porter (two people who come and help on Harvest day) had to go back down to the field during one of the hottest parts of the day to pick some more Swiss Chard; because some of the ones that I had picked didn't look that pretty (thanks to Chicken pecking, and accidental holes that my fingers caused as I picked them.)

5 Gratitudes for 6/9/2010:
1. I am thankful that I just read Ether 12 especially verses 25,37
2. I am thankful for my Heavenly Father's love for me, and the manifestation of this love
3. I am thankful for new memories to always look back on.
4. I am thankful that my body is adjusting to little or no sugar
5. I am thankful for the knowledge I am capable of doing everything on the farm. I just need to learn how to do it.


Day 4:

This morning was crazy! We were frantically filling the baskets and loading the trailer to head to Las Vegas. (about an hour south of Overton.)
When we reached our destination we set up the farmer's market table (the market is from 10:00am -1:00pm.) then I went with Monte Bledsoe to deliver the baskets to 3 locations.

5 Gratitudes for 6/10/2010:
1. I am thankful for the experience I had.
2. I am thankful that I felt more comfortable in Las Vegas this time compare to how I felt when I was there 2 years ago
3. I am thankful to finally be able to post something about the farm on this blog
4. I am thankful for how much I earn each week
5. I am thankful to go to bed early tonight, well earlier than usual

I will be interning....

In about two more weeks I will be working as an intern on a small CSA (Community Supported Agricultural) farm in Overton Nevada. The farm is called Quail Hollow, and is owned and operated by Monte and Laura Bledsoe. I am so Excited!!!! Me and my parents drove out there on the first of May. It was like you crested a hill in the desert and saw an oasis. It's this valley of green. The Bledsoe's house is yellow kind of like the house in Disney's Summer Magic starring Hayley Mills. The house is on a hill, you go down this hill to get to their farm. They have this back porch that looks over their farm and is facing west so you have an excellent view of sunsets over a farm. It is beautiful. Since I haven't actually started there yet, I am only talking about what it looks like. I like to think of myself being like Martitia from the book They Loved to Laugh by Kathryn Worth. If you haven't read this book you should. It is one of my favorites.