The Ladies Made it Safely to Wormfarm!

The Feathery Ladies of the Wormfarm Institute is in Reedsburg, Wisconsin for the 2012 Wormfarm Institute Artist Resident Show.  Opening reception is this Friday, October 12 from 5-8.  The work will be on display until the October 21st at the Woolen Mill Gallery.

Dinner!

Tonight I made soup with the last of the tomatoes for the year, some basil, chard and beans.  I received some Tokyo Bekana and Lettuce in my CSA share today and made a salad with them and added beets that I pickled.

This summer I was dedicated to eating as locally as possible and it has been very rewarding.  I waited all summer for tomatoes and peppers and when August finally rolled around I was happier than ever before to eat a pepper and a tomato!  Spinach comes around in the spring and again in the fall (tasting extra sweet from the frost!).  I am excited to have spinach again.  Sometimes it is nice not having everything I want when I want it.

By next summer I hope to be a master canner and receive a full CSA share instead of the 1/2 CSA share I had this year.  I would receive twice as much veggies and I would can and freeze the other half so that all winter I would have my summer veggies.  This has been a great summer of learning about eating locally and farming!

Farm Friday at Midnight Sun Farm

At Midnight Sun Farm today, we harvested the last of the peppers, since there is to be the first frost tonight that will kill the pepper plant.  It is sad to see summer ending.  Last week we collected the last of the tomatoes.  But if it was summer all the time, I wouldn't love it as much. 

Then!  We harvested potatoes, my favorite to harvest!  Nick took the tractor across the rows to soften the soil; making it easier to dig and bringing the potatoes up closer to the surface.  Harvesting potatoes is similar to digging like a dog.

 My sister, Katie, has been coming with on Fridays.  She loves it as much as me....maybe we could have a small organic farm together called Short Stuff Farm.

Digging for gold/potatoes.

Before I left, I collected some basil to add to the flour mix for Fried Green Tomatoes!

So, I received the new camera in the mail...but it did not take high resolution images so it is on its way back to Kentucky.  Luckily, my unreliable camera decided to work again...for now.  meh.

Also, I regret that the camera was not working while I finished my new piece "The Feathery Ladies of The Wormfarm Institute."  The piece is now in Reedsburg, Wisconisn for The Wormfarm Institute's 2012 Resident Artist Show, opening Friday, October 12, 5-8pm!

Golly, I missed blogging!

Dead Camera

I am as sad as this pup waiting for his friend to come out of the hardware store.

My camera finally died on me after 2 1/2 years of my recklessness.  It never really had a chance since the first day I received it, I took it to the beach and got sand in it.  I am glad it made it this far.  I have a camera in the mail on it's way to me so I will update soon enough!

Placing the Feathery Ladies in Their Places

This is how the ladies and their eggs will be placed onto a big sheet of fabric that will be the blue sky and grassy hills of Wisconsin.  

I made an apple core for Honey because she always came to me in the morning on my way to the farm to have my apple core!

Now all I have to do is finish glueing the backs of everything with wheat flour glue so they don't fray and sew them to the hills and sky.

Finishing Up the Chickens

The Wormfarm Institute 2012 Resident Artist Show will be from October 12-21 and I still have a bit to do for my epic chicken piece.  It's really just a matter of finishing Heneral Lee and sewing the ladies, eggs, and fried eggs to one sheet of fabric but I had better get a move on it!  

Beer Battered Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms!

I try to be healthy most of the time, but sometimes I need to bake a pie and eat the entire thing or fry some zucchini blossoms.

Last Friday on the farm we pulled up the zucchini plants because they were dying and Nick wanted to plant some vegetables for the fall in their place.  I asked to take home the zucchini blossoms since I had remembered eating fried zucchini blossoms when I was in Italy about 6 years ago and they were incredible.

The end result!  The vegan recipe is here on the Messy Vegetarian Cook website.

Homemade Tomato Sauce!

I received 20 pounds of tomatoes a few weeks back.  My Mumah always made a huge batch of tomato sauce each year in the beginning of September with tomatoes she purchased from a nearby farm.  I was excited to make the sauce myself this year.

To get rid of the skin, I had to boil each tomato for 30 seconds then place them in ice, this way the skin peeled right off and didn't burn my fingers.

My tomato destruction station.  A bowl of ice to place the hot tomatoes into, then I cut out the core, scraps to the left, chopped tomatos in the measuring cup.

In the end I had 30 cups of chopped tomatoes and a very messy kitchen.

I threw the 30 cups in my huge pot with the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer for 3 hours.

Now I have 10 meals of sauce in the freezer.  You should come over for spaghetti this winter!

Queen Anne's Lace Jelly!

My friend, Audra, who I work with at the Midnight Sun Farm told me she made Queen Anne's Lace Jelly.  Queen Anne's Lace is a flower that blooms when a carrot goes to seed.  They grow all over the farm from June to August, so I had to make jelly before they were all gone.  I am hoping there will be some flowers left to make one last batch.  This jelly is super delicious!  Thanks, Audra.

The recipe we both used is here on the Farmer's Feast blog.  Make sure to know the difference between Queens Anne's Lace and Poison Hemlock though!

Also!  My friend, Hope and I are planning a canning party soon.  So, if you have ever been interested in learning, but were too afraid (just like I was) and too confused by what you read on the internet, no worries, I will teach you how simple it is!  More details to come!