My Cup, er, Freezer Runneth Over...

From the City...

Currently in my freezer, I have:

9 bags of pureed peaches

7 bags of tomato sauce

3 bags of applesauce

2 giant bags of blueberries

2 giant bags of corn 

2 bags of basil 

and a whack of fresh pork from Mark

I visited the market near our place and bought, 1/2 bushel of tomatoes, a basket of onions, garlic and basil and rainbow swiss chard.  All of this cost me a total of $18 which is good for me but not so great for farmers.  I blanched the tomatoes, processed the basil, chard and onions and garlic and then went ahead and made a ton of tomato sauce.  I left the seeds in because I didn't have the patience to mill them out plus the italian recipe that I was following said to leave them in so that is exactly what I did.

I then ladle in ziplock bags increments of about 3 to 4 cups.  Roughly enough for a dinner and a lunch the next day or a medium sized lasagna. I then lay them flat on a baking sheet so they freeze nice and thin making them defrost faster and take up less space in my freezer.  Stacked for picture sack.  

Labeled.  

I'm heading back to the market again this weekend cause it looks like I'm gonna need to sauce some more.  Seven bags just isn't enough for our little family.

Waiting on Spring...

From the country...

...with the few more precious minutes of light we have been having lately, the tom turkeys have taking it upon themselves to start off the official War of the Toms. As a result, lots of scrapping has ensued, waterers overturned, snood pinching, carnucle chewing, and necks in twined in fits of dominance. I guess it is time to separate them into pens, give them a bunch of ladies and hope for the best. Maybe they will turn their aggression into passion and just get it on. Maybe I should play them some Marvin Gaye.....

Cold Weather Chickens and Turkeys....

From the country...

The chickens in the barn seem to be fairing this cold snap pretty well. Our barn is unheated so it is up to the critters to generate their own heat along with some extra bedding. I do feel bad though when the temps dip into those frigid temps like last night (a whopping -25!). The hens seem to bear the cold better then the roosters and some breeds of roosters do better than others in terms of their combs getting frostbitten. A neat tidbit of information I have recently learned is that birds puff their feathers out in the cold which traps in warm air around their bodies, which in tern keeps them from freezing. The comb and waddle is another issue, the bigger they are the harder they get hit with frost bite. The best thing to do when sourcing your breeds is to find a more hardy breed of chicken with smaller combs and waddles.

The odd ball in this photo is a turkey that I saved from the turkey pen in the fall. For some reason the other male turkeys didn't like the look of him. They beat him up so badly, I thought he was a goner but he rose from the grave (I babied him along for a while...) and now he has his home, lodging with the chickens where he seems to be enjoying himself. Lets not get ahead of ourselves here, this gobbler is not a pet but an Easter treat. I kept him because he was too badly beaten to sell and wanted to plump him up for the spring.... a nice Easter turkey for the table. My breeding stock of turkeys (all 17 of them) are in another part of the barn and seem to be overwintering even better then the chickens. They are such hardy birds, conserving all their energy for the spring and hopefully getting ready for some spring hanky panky.

Right now we are feeding the chickens and turkeys a mixture of their daily grain blend with non GMO whole grain corn. The corn helps them to generate more heat and add some fat to their bones. We also found a score from a local brewery who is setting us up with free fermented brewery grains from the beer making process. This is a great relationship where we get some free fodder for the livestock and the brewery doesn't have to pay to take it to the landfill. It gives the poultry something to play with and a nice supplement to our daily feeding regime that hopefully cuts down on our feed costs. On top of all that, the poultry enjoys our table compost scraps.

The winter is a trying time for all outdoor animals, they just set thier dials to survival mode and wait for warmer days...

Beating the Winter Blues...

From the City:

(Picture: Ruby in the warm July Sunshine, Kensington Market)

So i've fought it for as long as I can, I've pretended, I've ignored it, I've even worn really bright clothes to work (think turquoise pants, a green hoodie and a purple headband), but alas I'm coming to terms with it, I have a serious case of the winter blues. I'm not usually one to experience the winter blues but this year I'm feeling it more than ever. I go to work in the dark and I come home at night in the dark, I am sick to death of taking ten minutes to put on all the winter gear and another ten minutes to take it all off and lastly I'm so tired of being stuck in the house because it's too cold to go anywhere.

what to do, hope to cope??

Here are some tips that I found online:

1. Get Exercise: exercise releases feel good chemicals that improve your mood as well you have more energy when you exercise. Note to self: Go to at least one yoga class this week, don't sleep in and waste the whole day watching movies on the couch

2. Eat a Healthy Diet: avoid processed foods because they zap your energy levels and further affect your mood causing depression, lack of concentration and mood swings.

3. Get Some Sun: Sunlight not only gives us vitamin D but it also improves our mood. Note to Self: Force yourself to go outside, stop being a hermit.

4. Avoid Binge Drinking (5 or more drinks): alcohol is a depressant and rather than improving your mood, it actually makes you feel worse. Note to self: don't binge drink.

5. Treat Yourself: Have something to look forward to that will keep you motivated. Note to self: book a massage for this weekend, do it!

6. Relax: Spend a few minutes everyday doing nothing. Try to meditate, go to bed early, do some yoga, read a magazine, cuddle with a certain special someone. Try to do something that doesn't involve your television, laptop (my weakness) or cellphone.

7. Embrace the Season: Go outside and do something fun. Try new winter activities that you've never done before.

8. Sleep: Try to get 7-8 hrs of sleep a night. Try to include naps when you can, a short 10-30 min. of shut eye can be all you need to re-energize your day.

Hope these tips help you survive the last few grueling weeks of winter.

Sprouts, sprouts and more sprouts!

From the country...

As a project for the off-season I have been sprouting micro greens/sprouts for market and CSA customers (through Kawartha Ecological Growers which is a multi farm CSA, check out the website kawarthaecologicalgrowers.com). Trying to make a buck on the farm especially in the winter can be a daunting task. So instead of sourcing an off farm job I am sprouting anything I can (and cleaning my Mother’s house for cash- thanks Mom!)

I have been experimenting with sunflower, broccoli raab, arugula, various pulses, radish etc and sprouting both in soil and in a bucket. It has been good for the farmer in me to continue growing through the winter BUT not as nice as spending the day early spring in a warm greenhouse. The growing I currently am doing is of course inside under fluorescent lights (although one day a heated greenhouse for all year growing is a goal…). It is rewarding though, eating local greens in the dead of winter. A first for me this year is growing and eating pulse sprouts (lentils, garbanzo beans, peas). After sprouting (which usually takes 2-3 days) you can eat them raw, in salad, finish a pot of hearty soup with a couple handfuls, and cook them for other preparations. Once sprouted the cooking time is less then half the time as if cooked from dry. I like to mix my sprouts altogether (pulses, greens and sprouts) and toss in a light vinaigrette. They boys even like them too!

I guess you could say I have gone a bit sprout crazy, I’ve been sprouting grains for the chickens and turkeys too! They devour every last grain I throw to them and the next day I might even get another egg or two in thanks.

The sprouting of seeds is one of the most fascinating natural phenomena. From this minuscule appendage, tiny part of a seed even tinier, is born the plant. That this sprout has exceptional nutritional value is thus not surprising. But even more remarkable is the ability of this sprout to produce a whole range of substances- principally vitamins and enzymes- that are completely absent, or present in small amounts, in the unsprouted seed. The seed becomes hardly recognizable and transforms itself into something new, which is less energetic but richer in nutrients. Claude Aubert Dis- Moi Comment Tu Cuisines.em>