Peach Picking and Harvest

Looking down on the peach tree! Tim is standing on top of the car port as the tree has produced so much fruit this year, it is easier to pick from above!

This lovely tree is loaded no matter how you look at it!

Up close, the peaches are tree ripened and beautiful. They are super juicy and very sweet. We don't know what variety of peach the tree is, but it seems to be an earlier ripener, cling free, easy to peal and disease resistant.

Picking the low to the ground peaches and waiting for the next call for a full bucket from above.

Three bushels were lined up ready to go, but it wasn't enough!

As soon as the bushel baskets were filled the peaches were taken inside to immediately cool.

Off the roof and hauling bushels into the house.

One little tree and two pickers later we had more than 200 pounds of peaches ready to eat fresh, can, make into jam, peach butter, dehydrate, and a fresh peach cobbler for the evening! 

Happy Independence Day!

Celebrating the Fourth of July with a strawberry rhubarb slab pie!! We picked over eight pounds of rhubarb last week and there is nothing likes its fresh, clean flavor to make a pot of jam, rhubarb bread or a stars and stripes strawberry rhubarb pie!

Cookie cutter stars helped cut out the pie pastry to make the decorations. A sprinkling of sugar on top of the crust always make a pie feel like a celebration no matter what time of year it is!

These are strawberry rhubarb custard cups topped with meringue. They had stewed strawberries and rhubarb on the bottom, vanilla custard in the middle and fluffy white meringue on top. It is a light, juicy sweet treat for summer time!

Aiden enjoying an applesauce popsicle in front of all of the other goodies!  Cool treats on hot, hot  days are important and today is over 90' and a little sultry for Southern Oregon, so it feels even warmer to a dry heat region!

Picking the first of the peppers which are happily ready today! The sweet banana peppers, basil, zucchini, and another handful of cherry tomatoes are ready in the garden!

Anna came out to help and then ate the peppers right off the vine along with her mom. They also ate the tomatoes in the garden! A fresh ripened tomato is so hard to resist!

Knee high by the Fourth of July? I guess we are at least shoulder high by the Fourth of July with our 'Blood Red' and 'Smoke Signals' corn. This is a good start for corn at our latitude and it is growing with vigor!

A happy family of garden helpers! Anna and Aiden love coming to the garden and they always smell the dill, basil, and cilantro! They also get to taste any treasure that is ready to be eaten in the garden.

Anna showing Papa and Peter the garden collection from the day: 12 banana peppers, 8 cherry tomatoes, several sprigs of basil, and 3 zucchini! They all went on to the lunch table.

Back to the kitchen, Ryan is cutting out polenta stars to keep with the festive theme today! His favorite part was nibbling up the left over stars! See the hardboiled eggs waiting in the background?

Anna loves to make deviled eggs. She knows each step and is ready to make them anytime they come over. Today there were 12 eggs boiled for the lunch table. After Jolene peeled the eggs, Anna was ready to do her magic!

The final touch is a sprinkling of dill.

And of course the best presentation is Anna's wonderfully sweet smile!

Anna's brother's couldn't wait to taster her eggs and as always, they are so encouraging and kind and complimentary! Along with the deviled eggs, we had star shaped polenta with basil, garden sauce with Parmesan cheese melted on top,  green salad with strawberries, cucumbers, and zucchini, and sweet banana peppers. 

After lunch we peeked a the four baby birds in the nest.

Anna age 7, Ryan age 10, Tyler age 9, Aiden age 5! Such happy sweet kids and ready helpers on the farm.

A summer day in July. There is enough shade to find a cool spot!

Celebrating Independence Day, liberty, justice and FREEDOM for all! What a wonderful way to spend a day remembering America's Birthday. America, America, God shed his grace on thee...~~ 

Stone Soup and Candy Cane Ice Cream Sandwiches

Gathering together is the best part of Christmas or anytime of year! After our Alaska Family made it to Southern Oregon, cousins and sisters and Aunties and Uncle gathered for an evening meal.

There was plenty of activity in every corner of the old farmhouse! Anna was showing her skills of jump roping with her handmade jump rope. She made it in her first grade class. Brother Tyler is trying to master and I.Q. peg game and Cousin Ada is busy with a book.

In the kitchen, Evelyn and Cousin Ryan were getting reacquainted with the help of beautiful Mama/Auntie Karyn. Evelyn Rose LOVES her cousins and delights with squeals of joy when she sees them.

A little one on one pal time! Only ten years apart and what fun to watch the cousins mingle.

Finally dinner is ready. We decided to eat in shifts as it would be easier on this night. Stone Soup, by request of Aiden was made for dinner.

Ada was very surprised to find a stone in her soup...she actually found an agate, even better! The soup is made with all of the garden goodies and any left overs that were found in the fridge. There was homegrown applesauce and some quinoa, corn, and vegie chip scoopers for fun.

Aiden loves the soup and always returns the stone so that we can make it again!

Evelyn enjoying dried pears in her Daddy's arms. Those dried pears are great teething rings! Her hair stands up at attention most of the time right now and it is so darling.

Cousins gathered together at the table for a simple meal.

And then the dessert!  Candy cane ice cream sandwiches! Homemade oatmeal cookies from Jojo's recipe filled with pink candy cane ice cream. Creamy, sweet fun!

Sweet Anna loves it all!

Then the grown ups got to eat and Nana and Papa played with the littlest one of all! So many special times gathering together on the farm ~

Alaska Babes are Here!

They are here! After waking up at 2:45 am Alaska time, carrying luggage, carseats, babies, and gear to the airplane our precious Christmas girls have arrived...Daddy too!

You would think there would be some sleeping on the plane, but with all of the take off and landing, people everywhere and so many to greet, these little ones barely closed their eyes on the flights to Southern Oregon!

Such seasoned and good travelers at this tender young age. Who can resist those so very kissable cheeks?!!

Finally a little nap time slumber comes for sweet, sweet Mama and her babies. Just in time for Christmas! xo

Turkey Butchering Prep

There is a lot of behind the scene prep that goes into a turkey harvest! First things first: Raise some great birds! We raised ours on pasture grass with plenty of protection from wild predators. They were fed organic high protein turkey rations and organic cracked corn, garden vegies, plenty of greens, melons their favorite was cantaloupe, apples, and fresh water daily. Turkeys have a voracious appetite!!

This year we raised Bourbon Red heritage turkeys that originally gained popularity in the 1930's and 1940's from Bourbon County, Kentucky. They are striking red-brown with white stripes on the wing tips and tail feathers. The other turkeys we raised this year are Chocolate turkeys. These brown turkeys came to America from the France and were quite popular until the Civil War. They are the color of milk chocolate and the purest of the breed have no mottled coloring at all, just milky brown feathers. Both breed are are making a recovery in numbers and are also part of the Slow Food Movement: Know where your food comes from and understand the connection between food on the table and the field where it grows. The turkeys hatched on May 7, 2013. Typically heritage turkeys grow much slower than a grocery store turkey and 7 months would bring them closer to full maturity. But it is close to Thanksgiving, so we used this Veteran's Day Weekend to begin the harvest. The turkeys were about 6 months old.

Clean and sanitize the kitchen before you go out to harvest. This means counters are clear, sink is scrubbed cleaned, all dishes are washed, and then use your favorite sanitizer. We use a dilluted bleach solution in the sink and let it sit for 15 minutes, then rinse clear and vinegar wipe down on the counter tops. Remember to also clear shelves in the refrigerator for storing the turkeys after butchering.

The kitchen is left ready for the birds. Have clean pans usually a broiler pan or 11 x 14 will be large enough for a turkey and will fit on the shelf for the refrigerator resting.

Meanwhile, Tim was outside making our set up for the harvest in an easy to move, one station to the next, circle. Here he is testing the temperature of the water. We use a three burner camp stove with the long legs removed and set it up on bricks. The water can on top is a 20 gallon metal garbage can used only for this purpose. The water is heated to about 160 degrees F for scalding the birds to help making plucking easier. It takes about one and a half hours to heat this mighty tank! Be sure to have a pair of heavy duty rubber "dishwashing" gloves available. We picked up a pair of purple gloves because they were the cheapest! They were worth every purple penny! The gloves allow dipping of the birds without getting scalded or splashed. Also, squeeze a big drop of dish soap into the scalding tank. By displacing surface tension, the soap helps keep oils and feathers out of the way.

Here Tim is at the "kill cones". We mounted stainless steel cones on a sturdy post for this purpose. The turkeys are hung upside down in a calming position and then they bleed out.

You can never have too many knives on butchering day. We keep the knife sharpener handy and have several pre sharpened knives ready to handle the cleaning and evisceration. Other supplies on the table: Cutting board Pans Pot for organ meat and gizzard Wash tub with dishsoap and hot water Towels for drying hands Kitchen shears Pitcher for dipping in water Cleave Kill knife (Buckmaster knife from Brother Billy) Cooking spray, recommended to spray down cones to help with clean up Meat thermometer to test water temperature Kitchen clock Ball of twine Needle nose plyers Eye glasses Water proof apron is wonderful for all involved in the butchering

We used the kitchen clock to gauge the amount time being spent on each bird and to help monitor the propane for heating the water. The twine was handy but not necessary. Also not visible is a 5 gallon bucket lined with a tall kitchen garbage bags to catch the entrails.

Our plucking station was an extension and bendable ladder with a shackle wired to the top rung. A commercial sized garbage back lines the vessel to catch the feathers at plucking. A hose with spray attachment is just out of sight here. It was used to rinse the nearly plucked turkey clean from feathers.

Finally, back to where we started the circuit view and note a back up propane tank was ready. We needed it too! Don't forget the matches or lighting torch. This can help with removing hair on the turkey skin as well as keeping the fire burning.

The whole outside set up. The turkey food was removed the night before to help clear systems and the turkeys were kept inside the barn. It took both of us to catch the turkeys and hold them. Be sure to wear leather gloves as turkeys have long sharp nails needed for scratching for bugs. Be sure to send your gratitude to the turkey for its purposeful nourishment.

One of the Bourbon Red turkeys. When holding the turkey is it important to secure the bird with one hand around both feet and then support the body. The turkeys are quite calm in this position.

In the kitchen, the turkeys were cleaned and rinsed and stored in a pan in the refrigerator to allow them to rest. This is also called aging, but allows meat to relax. We stored the turkeys covered over night.

In the morning turkeys were inspected, removed from pan and wrapped in a heavy freezer bag. The bags were ordered from a meat processing supply house. We used 18" by 30" bags. Then they were wrapped in wax lined butcher paper. The turkeys will be stored one more day in the refrigerator before going into the deep freeze.

Finish with labeling the turkeys with pound and type for reference later. Thinking about enjoying a homegrown, slow food heritage turkey for your next family celebration? Get in touch with your local farmers or better yet, grow a few for yourself!