Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

This is a delicious soup that combines all the ingredients available in the fall.
First, go to the herb garden and clip a bunch of purple sage. Actually you can use any color of sage, it just happens that purple is what is growing now in our garden!


Put the sage into some water until you are ready to use it.


Gather the rest of the ingredients together. Keep in mind that I doubled this recipe when I made it because the freezer is a wonderful source of fast food!


Now it is time to start chopping 4 medium onions. You can use any color, but again, purple is what was on the farm today.


Once the onions are cooking in some butter and a little olive oil in the soup pot, start cutting the 2 butternut squash. They are easier to cut than pumpkins and the butternut have small seed cavities. I found it easier to cut then in half and then in slices before peeling.


Add the butternut squash to the soup pot with the onions and let them cook together on low heat for about 10 minutes.


While you are waiting, core and chop 2 apples, and mince about 4 or 5 leaves of the sage. Then add them to the soup pot.


Next add 10 cups of chicken stock. If you don't have homemade chicken stock this one is a good stand in and it isn't too salty. These two boxes contain 8 cups, so just add two cups of water.


Once the chicken stock is in the pot, bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer. Let the soup simmer until the vegetables and fruit are soft.


Get the blender ready for the puree party! You will also need an extra pan to put the puree into while you blend the next batch.


After all of the soup has been pureed, combine the silky smooth tastiness back into the soup pot for the final touches of seasoning with salt, pepper, and Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute! (Thanks Mom!)~


Serve with biscuits fresh out of the oven and peach butter, or crusty bread and butter. Enjoy with your family over candle light!

Garden Clean Up

Last weekend we cleared the end of the produce out of the garden and it is hard to believe there was still so much happening in the middle of October: Tomatillos, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, watermelon, cantaloupe, zucchini, eggplant, squash, and pumpkins. You may see some vegetables not listed too!


The basil went into Eggplant Parmesan and there was enough goodies to make two batches, one for dinner and the other for the freezer! The tomatoes are being eaten everyday and the green tomatoes were stored in the refrigerator and will be taken out one or two at a time to ripen. The cherry tomatoes are being eaten like candy and we left two of the bushes up until it freezes.


The variety of vegies left will make at least two good batches of garden sauce. This is basically a spaghetti sauce, but it just depends on what is ripe in the garden what the ingredients will be in the sauce. The one little trick used, though is a piece of fruit. It can be an apple chopped up or a couple of plums added to the sauce that will offer an extra layer of flavor. The pumpkins are being put to good use decorating the farm fences and baking in the oven for pumpkin bread, pie, or cookies.



Once all of the garden goodness was picked and stored away, the tractor came out of the barn and we turned the plants into the soil. We also put some chicken manure and barn litter on the garden to be turned under also. The chickens will work the garden all winter long getting the bugs, weed seeds and any leftover tomatoes they fins! We also add another layer or two of straw and manure from the stalls in throughout the fall and winter to enrich the soil. Now the rains are here and it's time for walnuts!

Got Eggs?

The hens have decided to lay their eggs anywhere but in the nesting boxes lately. So we are looking in every little nook and cranny to find these delicious treats! A couple of hens decided they would nest near the tractor. I sure am glad we were persistent in finding these beauties. Once they were collected, the hens quit laying in this spot.


Then one of the feeders was getting heavily used, so we put some straw in it to make a more desirable nest. The girls were lining up for this location, location, location!


The rabbit cage has been the latest hot spot for nesters. It is the funniest idea that the rabbit cage once used for bunnies, then became part of the chick mobile, has now become a nest cage! The door is latched open so the hens can't get trapped inside. The only challenge is reaching with a long enough wooden spoon!


The amazing egg hunt is well worth it when the reward is so tasty! Anybody want to help gather the eggs?~

Field Corn Harvest

Our neighbor grows acres and acres of corn. Some of it is sweet corn, some is field corn and some is even a-MAZE-ing corn! There is about 275 acres of corn all around our small farm. At this time of year, the farmer harvests the field corn which is 10-12 feet tall, into silage or chop which is chopped up bits of corn stalk and ears of corn. This corn ferments and turns into a delicious treat for the milk cows.


Before picture...you can see our barn at the far end of the picture.


Going...


Going...


Going...


Gone!
Nutrients will be returned to the soil with the green miracle, otherwise known as manure! Cover crops will be grown, hay will be baled and by June the corn will be sprouting again.

Acorn Squash!

Yum! Acorn squash is one of the garden treats that feels like and tastes like dessert! Don't let its decorative look fool you. Cut it open and start cooking!
Here is the acorn squash freshly sliced open. You do have to use a little muscle, just be patient.


Once it is open, scrape out the seeds and save them for drying for next year's garden or you can rinse, salt and roast just like a pumpkin seed! Back to the baking. Rub a little olive oil on the inside flesh to keep the squash from drying out.


Place it face side down in the pan and add some water to the bottom to keep it from scorching. Roast at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.


Remove from the oven and see the wonderful sweetness browning in the bottom of the pan? That is from the natural sugar in the squash.


The outer shell will become quite stiff from roasting. Scrape out the soft, yellow inside.


Once both shells are scraped out and the squash is placed in a bowl, add a dab of butter, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a handful of raisins. Mix well with a spoon and serve with dinner!