Archive for the ‘Owen’ Category

Back Again

Friday, February 6th, 2009

This post marks the beginning of a serious campaign to get back to regular Farmlet entries. We’ve had a busy time recently with my sister and her fiance getting married, as well as the normal business that comes with the height of summer and fielding a very lively little boy. The wedding was loads of fun for all of us, including Owen, who partied and danced until late into the night. The weather was perfect for the big day, the food was delicious, and the bride and groom looked radiant with happiness and love.


Simon and Heather

Notice how the feedies curtain matches the bridesmaids’ dresses

There’s lots going on around here on the Farmlet, and I have no shortage of things that I want to write about. I’ve already started on our year of the Rat wrap-up post, and a list of goals for the Year of the Ox. Yes, I realise I’m a bit behind the pace on these, but I’ll get there eventually!

Happy New Year from the Garden

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

Happy New Year to you all! The garden is wonderful at this time of the year — full of lush green leaves and bright flowers. We are still enjoying fresh salad greens. Amazingly, some of our lettuces and arugula still haven’t bolted yet. We are also feasting on plenty of summer squash (“black beauty” zucchini and tromboncino) and green beans. The potatoes are flowering, and tomatoes, peppers and grape are setting fruit. It feels like a happy New Year, for sure!

Owen loves to be outside in the garden, and already knows what to do with a spade. He’s so busy and keen to help and explore. I’m finding that I have to send him and Kevin off on little adventures if I’m to get much work done.

Some volunteer swan plants have come up in our garden. As luck would have it, one is right outside the kitchen window. Several monarch butterflies have been visiting, and we are seeing the first little caterpillars hatching out. When Owen is a bit older, it will be fun to make a proper butterfly garden together.

Farmlet Style Gin and Tonic and Sausages on Christmas Eve

Thursday, December 25th, 2008

On Christmas Eve, we had some showers earlier in the day and then a mild, almost fine, afternoon. After the weather cleared, while Becky attended to some business in the kitchen, I carried Owen on my back in the babypack and we toured around the farmlet, checking on the animals and generally enjoying our realm. Owen loves to visit the cows and “Moo” at them. It’s true. He sees the cows and lets out a gleeful, “MOOOOO!” as he points at them.

Now, it’s very easy to break a sweat in steamy Northland during the Summer months, and I’d done just that walking up, down and around the farmlet with Owen (~12KG) on my back. Luckily, the last time we were in town, I decided to stop by the liquor warehouse to see if any “Christmas Cheer” was on special; you know, something which might be useful for mixing up adult refreshing beverages. Would you believe me if told you that there was a big yellow “Special” tag on the large green Tanqueray bottle?

Spirits, especially nice ones, are too expensive for me to make much of a habit of, but the thought of a refreshing gin and tonic on a warm Summer afternoon quickly had me heading to the checkout counter with that iconic green bottle of quadruple distilled tipple.


Sadly, I don’t see us being able to produce anything like this on the Farmlet

I’ve rarely encountered a gin and tonic in a bar or restaurant that measured up to my weird standards for this particular drink. They’re usually made with way to much ice and not enough citrus. Additionally, regular highball glasses are too small for the job. Your taste will almost certainly vary, but I like a really good belt of gin and a strong citrus flavour, coupled with the bitter quinine finish of the tonic water. The pint glass is the way to go on this one.

Farmlet Gin and Tonic:

* Fill a pint glass half way with ice

* Slice about 1/3 of a lemon into thin rounds and squeeze over the ice (throw the skins in if you like)

* Slice half a lime into wedges and squeeze over the ice, run a lime wedge around the top of the glass (throw the skins in if you like)

* Pour gin, covering ice and citrus skins

* Top up with premium tonic water

* Stir well


Farmlet lemons and limes bathing in icy gin and tonic water

Wow, that’s a nice drink. It was so nice, in fact, that I had to try another that evening.

It’s hard to describe, but, somehow, these delicious cocktails seem to heighten the anticipation for the meal ahead. Becky was preparing some of our recently homekilled sausages—these with her herb fill—green beans from the garden, and spuddy mash.


Herb sausage dinner

Ahh, it was a very relaxing and enjoyable Christmas Eve.

Henrietta Hamburger. . . An Update From the Cow Paddock

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

Henrietta Hamburger (aka “Sucky”) is looking very plump and tasty, and the time has come to put her into the freezer. I have arranged for the home kill to take place on the 11th of December so that we will have plenty of meat for the holiday season. Henrietta Hamburger has no idea that her days are numbered, and is happily eating spring grass with Rosie and Coco. Meanwhile I am making arrangements with the butcher and gathering ingredients for sausage and black pudding.


Sucky

Kevin, Owen, and I went for an evening walk in the cow paddock to admire the livestock. Owen loves the cows, and crows with excitement when he sees them. He loves to make mooing sounds like a cow! The other day, he managed to pet Rosie through the fence while I was hanging up the laundry nearby. We wish we could get a photo of Owen touching Rosie or Coco, but it’s proving quite difficult to have the camera ready at just the right moment! Kevin and I love to see Owen enjoying the animals on the Farmlet.


Becky and Owen

We are keeping a close eye on Coco, since her calf should be born any day now. Kevin has checked that plenty of salt is available, and has added a little apple cider vinegar to the water trough for her. What about Rosie’s calf? Well, it became apparent a while back that Rosie’s not in calf. (It’s really hard to tell when and whether Rosie’s in heat, and since we only had the bull here for a couple of weeks we knew it was possible she’d missed getting in calf.) Since we don’t milk Rosie, this is not the end of the world, but we certainly wish we were getting another calf to raise for the freezer. If a spare bull is in the area, we might try getting her in calf as soon as possible. Otherwise, we’ll probably just wait and let her and Coco both go to the Red Devon bull again when he comes to see our neighbours’ cows.

Cheese Making Workshop

Saturday, November 15th, 2008

On the 19th of October, Owen and I attended a cheese making workshop at Huapai (near Hellensville). It was a fabulous experience, and I can’t believe that it has taken me nearly a whole month to write about it! The course was held at the home of Alison, who runs the Auckland chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation. Alison’s daughter, Natalie, makes wonderful cheeses and was generous enough to share her expertise by running this workshop.

It was an action-packed day, during which learnt to make cheddar, feta, ricotta, and soft curd cheese. Natalie also discussed how to make yoghurt and kefir. The workshop was set up so that all the participants could get hands-on experience at cheese making. We took turns stirring, checking the temperature, and cutting and handling the curds. Each participant went home with a folder full of clearly explained recipes, tips, and information. Now, I feel so much better prepared to start making cheese at home.

Highlights of the day included the delicious lunch prepared for us by Alison and Natalie, and a chance to sample some of Natalie’s delicious cheeses. The workshop was a neat opportunity to meet some other people with a common interest in good food. . . including a couple of people who I’d already been in touch with through this website.

Natalie was very kind and accommodating about letting me bring Owen to the cheese workshop. All things considered, this arrangement worked out pretty well. Everyone was very kind to Owen, and I don’t think he was too disruptive to the workshop. Still, a lively eleven-month-old does demand quite a lot of attention! In truth, my attention was probably only focused on the cheese making about 50% of the time, and I didn’t manage to meet and chat with the other course participants as much as I’d have liked, either. Owen was happy to stay in the back or front pack for some of the time, but at other times he was very busy trying to kiss the dogs, launch himself off the verandah, or get himself made into a big lump of cheddar cheese. Actually, it was a pretty neat day for Owen in the end. I’m not sure he’s an expert cheese maker yet, but he enjoyed learning all about dogs.


Coco is VERY in-calf

I’m not going to write about the details of making cheese in this post. Rather, I’m going to save that part for when I actually start trying out my new skills at home. Once Coco’s calf is born and Kevin is milking her again, we will finally have lots of lovely fresh raw milk for some exciting cheese projects. We can’t wait! Coco’s udder is springing already, and she looks very big and fat. I am watching her with great anticipation, even though she’s still not actually due to calve for about another week or so. Owen’s favourite foods (aside from breast milk and cod liver oil) are raw milk yoghurt and kefir, so our supply of raw Jersey milk can’t start soon enough!