Coffee

You ever have the feeling that you are starting to know all the steps and then suddenly find out you are not even dancing to the same song as everyone else? Me either, I don't dance but I imagine it would feel about like I felt on Friday when we discovered Burley Coffee.
Jess and I had gone into town to run a few errands. We decided to stop in at the Ferndale market and see what was new. We picked up a few things and as we were checking out Jess noticed a small menu card for what looked like a sandwich place. The name said Burley but otherwise it wasn't too descriptive. We had to explore a bit to find the address until we came to some buildings near the old malting plant. We found a small nondescript green building with few windows and a sign that read Burley Coffee. Inside we found a bustling coffee shop and deli sandwich place. We asked the girl at the counter how long they had been open and she told us since December. Honestly Cannon Falls isn't that big and I had not noticed a sandwich place and coffee roaster located right on the main drag! I am so slipping. I guess they are trying to avoid publicity for some reason but it is just the sort of place we would like to see in business so I am telling all of you.

As for the garden things are really coming along. Jess and I have been cooking a meal almost everyday directly from the garden. We had some hail last week and that set things back a bit but it wasn't too bad. Some of the toms got beat up and so did the big leaves but otherwise things are looking good. Even my experimental pumpkin seedlings are coming up.

Nocino part deux.

First you have to start with some walnuts that are still green. These are the nuts we gathered down at the Callister farm on Wednesday.You then quarter the nuts and trim off any bruised or damaged areas.



The next three pictures are of us making vin de noix. This is the first time we have tried it but we had so many nuts this year as a result of the Callister's generosity it seemed like a shame not to try.







By the way that is the wine that I racked to secondary back in March.

We made a carboy and a large container of nocino on Friday after work. We ran out of containers and had to go get more bottles at Ikea at the Mall of America Saterday afternoon. I won't do that again.

Below you can see the difference between the batch we made on Friday and the one we made this afternoon. You can see how quickly it darkens.



And here is the final picture of all the batches we got started this weekend.



I think people may get some nocino for christmas this year.

Harvest

A picture of the first major garden harvest.
And if you look close you can see our first 2 apricots! We had them for desert !

Nocino step one.

Well today after work we went down to the Callister Farm in West Concord Minnesota to pick black walnuts for nocino. We met Al Callister this spring at a dinner put on by Slow Food Minnesota and got to talking about walnuts. He mentioned that he had too many and that they were a bit of a nuisance to him. We offered to help him by taking some off his hands for the making of nocino. We made arangements to meet him and his wife at their farm this evening. They were kind enough to give us a tour of their poultry growing and processing operations. After that it was time to pick the unripe walnuts. The apple pickers we purchased earlier this week worked great. First Al helped us to spot them and then Jess and I did our best to get them down. I think we picked for around an hour and we now have more than enough for the next step.

Here is last years nocino post.

Dinner last night

Last night Jess and I made a dinner almost entirely from the garden. We made Fried Kale salad again. I love the taste of Brassicas after they have been exposed to high heat. It doesn't matter if it is deep fried broccoli or pan seared cabbage I just love the taste of them all.
We also made a sort of a frittata meets pizza dish (Fritatza??) out of our eggs and Swiss Chard. We topped that with some Blue Cheese and Antelope sausage made by a friend. We finished the plate off with some steamed Runner beans with butter.

We are hoping for rain tonight but the radar doesn't look promising.
I am also attempting to direct seed some pumpkin seeds. Not sure if I am too late but I thought it would make a neat experiment to plant them into some of the mole hills on the north end of the property.

Picture post!

We are back!

Well we took a quick midsummer vacation to the north western Minnesota lake country this weekend. We had a wonderful time. We enjoyed quite a few trips around the lakes. We looked at the homes and gardens and marveled at the castles. I was happy to see so many gardens with edibles planted. I notice vegetable gardens more these days. I am not sure if there are in fact more of them or if I am just noticing them more frequently. But either way I think it is good.
I also did a bit of fishing as well. I caught a smallish Pike and we poached it in white wine with lemons and red onions. It was quite good. I may have to try and catch more pike in the future.

Illegal Bees

Hope everyone had a great fourth and found some small way to be more independent. Things are moving along well here. All the plants are just loving the sunshine and heat. I started some direct sown cucumbers today. We will have to see how that works out. I also planted four Red Lake current bushes on Saturday. I also finally got my winter squash seeds panted on Saturday as well. That is a full 2 weeks later than last year. Well you do what you can and hope for the best.
The title of this post comes from an article I read last week that highlighted the move to legalize bee keeping in New York city. I think it probably should be legal as long as the bees are kept healthy and safely away from people. So here is a link to the projects web site. Check it out if you get a chance.

Compost.

Compost makes up the major addition to our gardens fertility every year. The majority of that is in the form of aged chicken litter. You see I try and get the most out of everything we buy in and that includes the chicken feed as well. We mostly try to litter our chickens on cut and dried grass clippings but in the winter when they are not outside as much we need to supplement their litter with wood bedding. Usually two to three times a year I clean out the coop and drag the litter out behind the pole barn. Once it is out there I basically leave it to mellow for at least a year and sometimes two. I also add to the compost in and effort to increase the nutritional components. My main additions are charred wood, ash and burned bone.
We have a number of mature trees on our property and that means plenty of sticks for the burn barrel. I used to make charcoal just for the forge but now I make it for the garden as well. I ran across an article on Terra Preta some time ago and ever since I try to add charcoal to my soil when I have a surplus.
I also used that same burn barrel a few years back to dispose of several deer carcasses left over from deer hunting. I burned most of the deer bones by suspending them over the fire which was stoked by the fat from the bones and also some that was left over from the butchering. Afterwords I had an ash that was rich with bone fragments and I figured that would add more nutrients to the pile so I saved the ash and bone to add to the pile.
I also add leaves in the fall to the base of a new pile. Sometimes I also add coffee grounds as well to offset the alkaline nature of the wood ash. That is all. If I get a chance I may turn the pile once or twice a year but that is about it.
In addition to this I also keep a garden compost pile that gets most of the organic matter from the kitchen.

In unrelated news I made a batch of strawberry rhubarb jam this evening and this weekend I dried a ton of dill.

A Night At The Movies

Friday night Jess and I went out to see the movie Food inc. at the Lagoon theater. I have to say it was well made and entertaining film. I don't know that any of the information presented in the film would be new to anyone interested in organic or local foods. People who have read Michael Pollan or Eric Schlosser are pretty much already familiar with most of the material. I do think that it presents the information in a more visceral way. It is one thing to know that Monsanto defends their patents vigorously but quite another to see the face of a farm worker being legally deposed and economically destroyed in the process. It is one thing to know that food safety regulations to be woefully inadequate but it is quite another to see a mother pushing food safety legislation after the death of her child from a food borne illness. It is this more emotional connection that helps to motivate the viewer. But this isn't some PETA shock film designed to offend and scare the audience. The film does also have Joel Salatin and he is the films beacon of optimism and reform. His Polyface farm exists as an excellent example of what else can and should be done. Joel's effervescent personality and awesome hat raise the mood of the film. (seriously I need a hat like that!) If you have the time I recommend that you see the movie and bring someone who might otherwise not see it.

Also good review here from the Boston Globe.