Plowing with Pigs
Last week, two new members joined the Chiot’s Run family. They will be put to good use eating up the extra veggies from the garden and scraps from the kitchen. They’ll also be utilized to work up new garden areas and to clear some of our wooded areas of it’s underbrush.
So far, we’re really enjoying having them around. They’ve already come in very handy at clearing out the freezer of any food that was a little past prime for human consumption. This week, we’ll be putting up an electric fence for them and setting them free into the areas they’ll be in charge of clearing.
Have you ever kept a hog?
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Cultivate Simple 30: Everybody to the Limit
An honest and unrehearsed discussion about trying to live a more simple life. This is episode 30 and today we are talking about finding your limits.
What’s for Breakfast
HVNC pancake fundraiser at The Alna Store
A big thanks to a few of our supporters
Erin Staub, an illustrator we met at a local wassailing party. Check out her Etsy store.
Maggie from Porcupine Hollow Farm sent me a lovely hydrangea for my garden. Can’t wait for it to bloom in a few years.
Brian’s Geeky Corner
When searching with Google, narrow your search by using ‘site:’ to find results in a specific website.
Books of the Week
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:27:46 — 61.0MB)
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Quote of the Day: Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd
Having time at one’s own command is perhaps the greatest luxury any human being can enjoy. Most people wait for it until the end of their working lives; too often, then, the special savor of it is brief or already lost entirely.
Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd in Living Seasonally: The Kitchen Garden and the Table at North Hill
I was thinking about this quote earlier this week as I took a few days of much needed vacation. In fact, it was so much of a vacation, I didn’t even check my e-mail for 2 entire days. This never happens, even when I’m traveling on vacation.
What did I do with my days of vacation? I spent time with a friend, we drove to a few lighthouses nearby and we took a day trip to to Acadia National Park.
After a very hectic and busy spring, a few days of time away were very nice. Too bad it couldn’t have been more, I opened my e-mail yesterday to find many pressing things that needed added to my to-do list for this coming week.
What would you do if you had time at your own command?
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The Sweets
A few of you have been asking about the little black feral cat that made the trip with us. She was kept in the house for two weeks after we arrived before being transitioned to the garage. She adjusted very well, making herself right at home. We didn’t see her much at first, she was a tad timid in her new environment. After a month or two she was back her usually self.
I’ve been seeing little offerings of moles in the driveway and tiny mouse heads in the garage, so I know she’s working hard. Now that spring is here and I’m working the garden, she’s usually close on my heels hoping to get some attention while I’m working.
While she’s partially tame, she still retained her wild feral roots. If you’re just visiting you’ll probably never see her, in fact she’s even timid around Mr Chiots. She is tame enough to want to sit in my lap on a rare occasion.
Have you ever had a feral cat?
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Friday Favorite: Greens
I have to admit, I used to be among the folks that didn’t like cooked greens. Fresh salads have always been welcome on my plate, but cooked greens were too slimy for me. That is, until I cooked them myself, in the proper way.
There really is nothing better than garden fresh greens, cooked the right way with butter and garlic. Earlier this week we enjoyed cooked mustard greens. They were so good I could have eaten a whole plate full. Since I grow mustard as a cover crop in the garden, there’s always a nice crop of it somewhere. It’s quite easy to mow off the top of the patch with a knife for a meal.
How did I make them? I harvested a couple pounds worth, boiled it in salted water for 5 minutes, dunked it in cold water to stop the cooking, then into a colander it went. After a bit of squeezing to remove most of the moisture, into a cast iron skillet it went which already contained minced garlic that had been fried to a golden grown in a few Tablespoons of butter. A quick stir to warm the greens and they’re done. Easy Peasy and so delicious.
Do you like cooked greens?
