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Here is my latest newsletter from the website... Growing Food
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Our yard is begining to be covered with those beautiful, **Visit my etsy store...www.farmsteadorganic.etsy.com! |
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Here is the latest addition in my Peasant Food series... You can read all of them at www.fromfieldsandgardens.com . These recipes and ideas are meant to encourage and assist you in providing cheap and nutritious meals for your family during these difficult economic times. Although, if your like me, you have been pinching your pennies for many years now. The key is to think outside of the box! You must escape the mind-set of modern America and learn how to enjoy simple fare as they did generations ago. It can be done, and it can even be fun!
After a long winter of eating salted meats, heavy breads, and beans the country peasant folk sure looked forward to foraging for green food in the warm spring weather! They knew of the benefits these green veggies offered them, too. These leafy herbs cleaned out the winter sludge and gave their bodies a much needed "spring cleaning"! We would be wise to follow this tradition! Not to mention the economics of foraging! What are these greens that I am talking about? A few of the more common ones, but no means an exhaustive list, are stinging nettle, dandelion, spinach, arugula, endive, and a variety of lettuces. These are all full of antioxidants, flavonoids, phytochemicals, fiber and nutrients. They are blood purifiers that build the body back up with vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin c and iron. After just a few weeks of consuming these seed bearing herbs, folks tend to feel much more energetic and experience a feeling of well being. Rich in cholorphyll, too, these foods are powerful disease fighters. Eat as many as you want! You'll never gain an ounce and if you introduce large quantities into your diet, you will probably find that you lose several pounds. If you don't want to forage, these plants are so easy to cultivate in a small garden or in containers. They grow very fast, too! So, how do you prepare these leafy greens, besides of course, a nice, big green salad? Several ways exist. One popular dish is wilted greens. Simply take your large handful of greens and sautee them in a bit of butter or olive oil until wilted. Season them good with sea salt and pepper and a squeeze of citrus juice. If you want to, you can even boil the fresh greens in a few cups of water and simmer for 15 minutes and consume the water as a spring tonic. But, have you considered spring soups? Soups are so simple and very enjoyable in the springtime when the weather can still carry a bit of chill in the air. Spinach or Nettle Soup 4 cups chopped spinach or stinging nettle (pick young plants and wear gloves!) 6 cups veggie broth 1 large sauteed onion several sauteed garlic cloves sea salt and pepper 1 cup raw cream Bring all ingredients (except cream) to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes covered. Add cream and run through a blender. Season well and serve warm with a small dollup of kefir sour cream and some pretty herbs.
Cheap and nutritious...did I mention quick and easy? Enjoy!
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Tragedy struck our little farm over the weekend. One of our baby goats died in a horrible accident. She was born just last week. The last kid of the season...and a girl! We were so happy to have one more girl since most of our kids had been boys. On a dairy farm, the girls are the only ones who get to make this their permanent home. In a few weeks, we will sell all of the little boys and it won't be nearly as fun this summer unless a few girls are still left in the barn. This baby was named Apple Dumpling and she was a sweety! Besides her, we only have one other girl this year. So, you can imagine the horrible grief that all of my children are feeling. It would have been sad and upsetting no matter what goat it would have been, but Apple Dumpling was going to be a member of the family and we all knew it the moment she was born. The details of the accident are ugly. I am sharing this all as a lesson to be learned. In fact, it is a rather common incident that happens on farms. Little Apple Dumpling drowned in a 5 gallon bucket of water. I had been dumping out the water buckets that were too full ever since the begining of kidding season. I reminded everyone that this was a potential accident waiting to happen. But, it does no good to point fingers now. It was an accident. The hysteria that resulted was not pretty....children sobbing and throwing themselves on their beds, parents arguing about the water buckets being filled to the top. I called my sister, as I always do when something bad has happend because we have the strange ability to make eachother laugh in the midst of turmoil. She asked me if I was ready to leave the farm for a small apartment or townhouse somewhere yet. I replied that the thought was seriously on my mind. Farm life can be an emotional roller coaster, and often is. Thankfully, some family members had invited us over for homemade fruit sorbet (which, by the way, is delicious!). At first, I called and told them that we could not possibly make it. The children were so distraught. They were wise enough to call back and encourage us to come. Once there, we were all able to relax and think of other things. The fruit was so good...frozen and run through a Champion juicer. We stayed far longer than we should have, or would have, but I think that we were avoiding the return home. Sure enough, as we pulled into the driveway I could see the fallen looks return to my children's faces as they gazed out to the barn. I felt my own heart sink into the pit of my stomach. We headed into the house and got ready for bed. Nobody said much. I heard some sniffles. Gabi, my five year old, climbed right into the middle of my bed and fell asleep. I left her there. As I curled up next to her and pulled the covers up around us, I prayed that God would comfort the bleeding hearts of my children. As I prayed, I was reminded of another farm accident that took place some 85 years ago... My great-great grandparents immigrated here from Poland/Germany almost 94 years ago. My great-grandmother, Helena, was only 5 years old and still vividly remembers the boat ride over the ocean. They moved to a farm in Michigan and Xavier and Anastasia Konkol began raising what became a large family of 9 children. One day, however, tradgedy struck the farm in a far more horrible manner than that of simply losing a baby goat. The horror of that day still lurks in the memory of my great-grandmother and she is not anxious to talk about it, but has shared details with me of what took place, although I am sure that much of it is locked within her heart and held on to privately. The family was busy with chores and going about the daily routine. My grandmother remembers them all being told to stop and look for little Monica, who was just a two year old toddler. She had wandered off. Suddenly, I imagine, that hysteria took place. Somebody, who it was my grandmother has never said, found Monica upside down in a 5 gallon bucket of water. It was too late to do anything. She had drowned. As I write this, my heart is writhed with pain, just as it was last night as I reflected on this story that is a part of my family heritage. Back then, things were different. The doctor was called out to the farm. The death was confirmed. The doctor then left little Monica with her family for the night, to return the next morning. My grandmother has spoken tenderly of how her mother wrapped Monica up in a blanket and slept, holding her in her arms through the night...although, I doubt she slept. When we moved to this farm, my grandmother actually mentioned to me never to leave buckets of water around...I knew why. Better a baby goat than a child for the rest of my family to learn this hard lesson. Don't leave 5 gallon buckets full of water where accidents can occur...which is just about anywhere. Death is ugly. Lets face it. Whenever I hear of a death taking place or an animal on our farm dies, I am reminded of previous losses. I wondered last night how much of the pain that my children were feeling was even because of the little goat. Oddly, two of them mentioned to me that it was awful, but not as awful as when Papa died... Had the baby goat irritated a scar that has not yet healed from when my father died less than two years ago? When someone dies, we must accept the fact that life will go on yet never be the same again. Change can really stink, especially for some. I am a person who does not like change. Death changes things. But, praise be to Yahweh. He made a way so that death does not have to destroy. It can only destroy us if we choose to let it. I grew up never having to deal with death. Nobody ever died. It was not until I was 18 that my grandfather died. Until then, I had never grieved the death of a family member. It was horrible. I hypervenilated at the visitation. I was totally unprepared. The year before we had lost our family dog and my dad made us all shut our eyes and not even look at her. He even cried. He buried her alone and didn't want us to experience it. But, my dad had experienced death. He lost his brother when he was only seven. His brother was six and it was a freak accident that left my dad scarred for life emotionally. He could not deal with death. When his grandpa died I was only 3 or 4 years old. It is one of my earliest memories. My dad sobbing uncontrollably. He feared death and hated it. My beloved grandpa (my mother's father) has been cursed with death during his lifetime. He lost his oldest brother in a tragic train accident when (my grandpa) was 5 years old. He still remembers the wreck. He was in it. His mother was injured in the accident and died a few years later. He found her. His father choked to death on a piece of steak a few year later. He was left an orphan, the youngest of four surviving boys. Later on, he would lose a daughter. My aunt died when she was not yet 3 years old. My grandfather is very familiar with death. Over the years, he has buried all but one of his brothers and several of his good friends. He gets a far away look in his eyes when a death takes place. He gets teary eyed when he talks with me about the animal deaths on his farm through the years. Even the deaths of dogs makes him sad. Amazing, considering how many deaths he has experienced in his life. He is familiar with grief, but it still causes pain. Doesn't it always? It is not an emotion that becomes comfortable over time. I don't want for my children to fear death. I hope that I am handling these experiences properly and that they are learning and growing from them. I don't want death to be something that they can't handle. But how do parents teach these things? I do believe that living on a farm has helped them to cope better. Grief is not a foreign emotion that they are unfamiliar with. They have lost cats, kittens, goats, chickens, and more deeply felt was the death of their papa. They know that they might not see their pets again in heaven, but that they will see Papa again. They have been taught that some people, if they chose to follow their own way rather than follow Messiah, will not go to Heaven but to a place of darkness, seperated from Yahweh. Death, for many, can be a welcomed relief from pain. It is not the end. We will go on. This life is only the begining of something much better. I allow my children to imagine the little goat frolicking around in green pastures with the Great Shepherd. Wether this is true or not is up for debate and I plead neutrality on the issue. I do not see any harm in allowing my youngest children this comfort. I have told them that I can't promise that they will see those pets again. My son, Nicholas, is convinced that the spirits of some animals do go on in Heaven. They are the lions and the lambs that someday the children will lead. He talks about being a shepherd in Heaven and how he will ride upon the back of a dinosaur. How do I argue with him? I have come to the conclusion that whether it is true or not is not that important in the scheme of things. They have the minds of children. When they grow up, they will reason as adults. Besides, once they get to Heaven, I don't think they will care anymore, so why burden them with it now? So, what are the lessons learned here? #1. Death is unavoidable! #2 Accidents are avoidable! #3 Don't fear death. Make sure you are ready to embrace it. It is the end of life on earth, but the begining of eternity...
Shalom!
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Here is another article from my Peasant Food page. These recipes are meant to help us survive the blistering grocery bills and rising food costs! I hope you appreciate them! I'll be adding more to the page at the site, www.fromfieldsandgardens.com. Also, if any of you are interested, I am selling my goat milk products on Etsy.com...if you have never checked this site out, you really should! It is all handmade stuff. My shop is www.farmsteadorganics.etsy.com It is great place for crafty moms to make a little extra cash... The Peasant Potato Oh, potato! I don't know how I would have fed my family for all of these years with next to nothing to spend on groceries, without the comforting potato. It is a comfort food, isn't it? I think so. Did you know that the potato's scientific name , Solanum tuberosum, is derived from the latin word meaning "soothing"? Some health gurus will tell you that you should avoid potatoes. They are high in carbohydrates and, some say, do not encourage better health. Well, I disagree emphatically! Potatoes are a very good source of vitamin C, vitamin B6, copper, potassuim, manganese, and dietary fiber! Potatoes contain a variety of phytonutrients that have antioxidant activity and they also contain newly identified blood pressure-lowering compounds called kukoamines. The starchiness of potatoes also makes it easy to digest, soothing to tummies, and very filling. In a pinch, potatoes can serve as a main course meal. So many different varieties exist of edible potatoes. If you plant a garden, why not expirement with fingerlings, red, yellow, or even blue potatoes? If you purchase potatoes from the grocery store, this is one food where it may be worth it to buy organic. Try to get a good price on the largest bag you can purchase. A 50 pound bag of organic potatoes would be a smart purchase! They can be stored for months in a cool cellar. Potatoes should not be exposed to sun because they can develop the toxic alkaloid, solanine. If you notice green spots on your potatoes, cut the cut the green spots out before you eat them. You should eat potatoes with the skins left on them in order to get the most nutritional value. Potatoes can be prepared in so many ways. Boiled new potatoes with butter and real sour cream topped with chives is a simply delicious meal during the summer. Baked potatoes can be topped with shredded cheese and herbs and serve as a main course if you add a bit of ground beef as a topping, too. How about sliced potatoes sauteed in coconut oil and seasoned with herbs and a squeeze of lemon juice? You are limited only by your imagination when it comes to preparing this cheap, simple, nutritious food. If you can grow your own, all the better. Potatoes can be grown simply in a black garbage can or bag filled with straw and seed potatoes! If you have a large yard, break up a small garden spot just for growing potatoes. In the fall, you can harvest them all and store them in a cool cellar for the long winter! You can't get much cheaper than that!
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We are all looking for help with the grocery budget these days, am I right? Well, here is one of my articles from the Peasant Food page on my site...
Brown rice, not white rice, is one of the healthiest foods you can consume! More than that, it is also easy to find at most grocery stores, can be bought in bulk, and is very cheap. It is so versatile and can be used in numerous different ways. I suggest purchasing organic brown rice. It is still cheap, and you are getting a much more nutritional product. Frankly, I am becoming very concerned about genetically modified foods, so when possible, buy organic. Brown rice has only the outermost layer, the hull, removed, and therefore contains much more nutritional value than white rice, which has been completely milled. White rice has significantly less nutritional value and must be enriched before it can be sold. It has all of its dietary fiber and essential fatty acids destroyed during processing and most of its vitamins destroyed. Brown rice still contains all of the original nutrients. In some Asian countries, where rice is a staple, the word "to eat", literally means, "to eat rice"! Brown rice is easy to prepare. You simply add two to three parts liquid to one part rice. I suggest cooking a large quantity of rice and keeping it refrigerated. You can then add it to meals during the week. You can cook the rice in any kind of stock or water. You can also add millet and lentils to the rice. Add a chopped onion, too. This mixture can be seasoned heavily with herbs and spices and some diced chicken and used to fill tortillas. Top with sour cream and salsa! You can also add the mixture to additional stock and make a fantastic stew. Or sautee veggies and mix together with the rice. Fill a casserole dish and top with shredded cheese. Warm in the oven and serve as a main dish. Brown rice can be served as simply or as dressed up as you like! The list of possible recipes is much too long! How about warming up your cooked rice (that has been cooked in water), and adding cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and honey. Top this with almonds and raisins and pour milk over the top. When the pantry is very bare and money is tight, cook your rice in a chicken or beef broth. Season this with herbs, sea salt, and a large diced onion. This can be a filling and very nutritious meal on its own. Serve the rice with a green salad, a loaf of homemade sourdough bread, and a scoop of cottage cheese. You could also cook the rice in fish stock and add kelp powder! Brown rice should be in the pantry of every budget minded, health minded cook. It is another staple ingredient. If you have brown rice, you will never lack for a decent meal.
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Many children don't like to take herbal remedies. For most of them, herbs are unfamiliar and the fear of the unknown will keep them from wanting to take a sip from that steamy mug of tea or take the drops of tincture under the tounge. So, here are some tips that will help you to get your children on the road with you to better health and less medical intervention. #1. Stick with the more child friendly herbs that are less bitter and better tasting. These would include chamomile, rose hips, lemongrass, nettle, red clover, catnip, peppermint, lemon balm, licorice, oats, slippery elm, marsh mallow, elderflower & berry, ginger, and dill. Any other herbs that must be given can be disguised in a blend with some of these and in smaller amounts. The above herbs are safe for children and pose no threat of dangerous side effects. Keep in mind, this is only a partial list of the many wonderful herbs that are suitable for children. #2. Disguise tinctures in a glass of fresh apple, pear, or orange juice. #3. Make herbal tea popsicles by making a stong infusion of herbs and diluting it with 50% fresh fruit juice. Freeze these in molds until solid. #4. Make sweet syrups by making a very concentrated herbal infusion, simmer on the stove until it is thick and strong. Strain herbs out and add one cup of honey, maple syrup, vegetable glycerine, or fruit juice to each pint of liquid herbal infusion. Refrigerate for up to 2 months. #5. Give your children herbal baths. Wrap your herbs up in a cotton rag and tie the ends together to form a sort of "tea bag". Let the herbs simmer and brew in a very warm tub. You can also add one cup of sea salt or finely ground oats and let them soak for 20 to 30 minutes. If you can get them to sip on a cup of peppermint & chamomile tea while they are soaking, all the better! #6. Make herbal candy! Simply grind up some dried fruits in the food processor, add some honey and shredded coconut, and mix in your powdered herbs well. Roll these into balls and store in the refrigerator. Remember, if you begin giving your children herbs when they are very young, they will grow up liking them. Babies who are given sips of chamomile tea won't fight you when they are older. It is the same with other foods. My youngest son, Quinn, is the only one of my children who enjoys plain kefir because he has taken it since he was just a baby. The others still insist on mixing in a bit of honey. Train up a child in the way he should go... |
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Our kidding season has begun! Snow Flurry delivered twins, one buckling and one doeling, all by herself yesterday morning! We were suprised to find her with her babies! Last year she delivered late...this year she was four days early. They are all in good health and both babies are creamy white. It looks like the little girl will have blue eyes, too. The children named them Shneehopli and Turk (Heidi). We already have a Shwanlii...Flurry's doeling from last spring. They are waiting for a brown one to name Barlii.
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We have one Nubian doe in our herd of Nigerian Dwarfs. She is almost 2 years old now. She spent over one month in November with our buck and appeared to be in heat when we put them together. We left him with her, just to be sure that she was bred. Well, our Nigerians are obviously pregnant because they get so fat, and they always get the pregnancy "pooch", but Buttercup looks no different at all. We can't tell if she is pregnant or not. She has not shown signs of having a cycle over the winter, but she shows no signs of pregnancy, either. Any ideas? I hate to waste the money to have the vet come out and check her. My son, Benjamin, had a brilliant idea...."Just get on the computer and punch in 'is my goat bred dot com'"! That sure gave me a laugh!
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