Bread and Beans Night

The aromatic base sautee

     onions

     fennel

     raisins

     parsley

     carrots

     olive oil, salt and pepper

Bread and Beans night

     basic aromatic sautee, above

     cooked brown and black beans

     tomato paste or sauce

     additional water

     one small spoon of honey

     African curry spice

     
Hi Winnie and Steve,

It is almost a new year.  I don't recall that we ever literally spent New Years Eve together -- I wish we had.  Now, 2009 is just a few days off.  Most times, we just stay at home for a quiet evening.  Tonight we had a casual gathering in the barn for what is starting to be called "Bread and Beans Night."  We've done this several times now.  It started because of bread baking days when several people were around the ranch.  In the summer, I would bake bread and have enough to deliver a few loaves to neighbors.  But in the winter, it is already dark by the time the bread is out of the oven and a bit cooled.  I never feel like getting in the car after dark to deliver bread.  So, I thought with extra people around and extra bread around, I could make a pot of beans and fill up those of us who wanted to settle in for a casual meal.  It most often is the young organic farmers, family and friends -- some combination thereof.

I tell you, beans sure seem to be on our menu a lot these days -- I'm probably getting in a rut.  I keep delaying trips to go grocery shopping in Santa Cruz -- squeezing every last possibility out of the dried beans from Phipps Ranch.  This is so convenient as Phipps is quite close by.  As I mentioned before, my garden greens are dwindling so quickly I am going to have to start buying greens and vegetables once again at farmer's market.  I need to plant three or four times as much winter greens next August or September in order to stay afloat with the produce from my own garden through a winter.

The winter light was so beautiful today.  Six mallards are now living on the pond.  A Great Blue Heron also is coming around the pond.  The coyotes are coming in quite close.  The bobcats look fat and happy this winter.  With all the economic woes, nature seems like the most abundant and awesome gift imaginable.

Thinking of you.  Donna

Greens

Brussel sprouts

Brussel sprout sautee

sauteed onions, brussel sprouts, carrots

cooked Gigande beans

cooked wild rice mixture

olive oil, salt, pepper

Hi Winnie and Steve,

Well, we're getting that rain we needed which is great for the plants. Rainy weather is challenging, to say the least, since we have three dogs -- three nice muddy dogs.  We still do the hike each day so their bellies have a mixture of mud and grit.  I'm trying to remember how you dealt with winter with your dog?  I have a vague recollection that you tied a long line to his collar so he could roam off the front steps -- I'm now wondering if that was an effort to keep him somewhat clean in the winter.  Right now, I could understand that 100%.

When I think back to my original thought about grains, beans and greens, I realize how important a variety of greens is to me.  Right now things are getting to be "slim pickin's " out in the garden.  Yet with almost any meal that is being prepared, I think to myself "What greens will I add?"  So fortunately, there is still some Curly Blue Kale and Bright Lights Chard and King Noble Spinach.  A local farmer grows brussel sprouts, and I found some in town the other day -- uncommon to see them on the stalk.

The new garden is now entirely fenced, and I am eager for the time to get into it with the shaping of new beds and the planting of new seeds.  I wonder, "Is it way too big?  Will it be too much food for the two of us?"  But this quote from Gardening at the Dragon's Gate reassures me.

"Give with gift-bestowing hands to the lonely and the stranger,

to wandering gardeners and to old friends.  For the benefit of

all beings, give the harvest away."

Thinking of you.  Donna

Winter Work

Our friend Ken working with irrigation

John and Mike of Fifth Crow Farm planting strawberries

Paul discing his field for cover crop planting

Dear Winnie and Steve,

A storm is due to come in tomorrow or the next day, and frankly we are looking forward to being home bound for a few days.  As winter work on the farm goes on, I am realizing that winter is not a complete down time as I would have expected.  So many things need to be done months ahead of the hoped for results.  For example, the beautiful strawberries that will come next spring and summer need to be planted right now.  The same is true for garlic.  Cover crops get planted now to direct nitrogen into the soil so that the ground can be disced and planted with vegetables in the spring.  The winter Sonora wheat has been planted.  Everything needs watering if the rains are not steady which means irrigation projects.   For those involved in the long days of labor it can be physically tiring.  And yet I definitely feel the sense of camaraderie from shared work and accomplishment.

It seems all of us here at this time are involved in some endeavors where we are trying to do something  we may not have done before.  That's where collaboration can be helpful.  As I look toward the larger garden and growing more of our food I sometimes think, "How will I know how to plan out and grow all this stuff?"  Mostly I just trust that I will find a way.  Bill Coperthwaite in A Handmade Life says, 

"Expert knowledge is certainly needed in every area, but

too little concern has been given to the value of stumbling.

If enough people are searching -- stumbling as they may,

we will make many discoveries, and the stumbling 

diminishes as our searching skills get honed with 

practice."

Thinking of you.  Donna

Pantries

The Pantry -- corn for polenta

Polenta with vegetables

  sauteed onions and carrots

   brussel sprouts

   tomato paste

  paprika, oregano, salt and pepper

  olive oil

Hi Winnie and Steve,

We've been fortunate enough to have many nice sunny days, but the mornings are quite cold with frost.  I feel a little guilty saying "quite cold" when I know how Maine can be in the winter!  It is cold enough that I know planting seeds is out of the question, and yet I am in the middle of getting the new garden space laid out.  I spent an evening looking over seed offerings online -- the possible things we enjoy eating for the months ahead.  The greens and vegetables I have are getting more sparse -- the kale hangs in there and of course chard and romaine plus a few others.  So, I turn to the pantry quite a bit, and I am remembering the corn more and grinding some for polenta -- always a great winter dish.

While a good many projects are going on right now at the ranch, I am also aware that a momentum can build with the desire to get more done -- such a fine balance to maintain.  I saw a quote that was lovely in terms of allowing the mind and body to sink into slowness or repose.

I have done without electricity and tend the fireplace and

stove myself.  Evenings I light the old lamps.  There is no

running water and I pump water from the well.  I chop the

wood and cook the food.  These simple acts make man simple;

and how difficult it is to be simple.

Carl Jung

Winter Squash Encores

Whole roasted Musque de Provence

The deep orange flesh of Musque de Provence

Musque de Provence Bisque

     roasted Musque de Provence squash

     sauteed onions and dried apricots

     water, and a dab of cream (optional)

     all pureed

     drizzle with walnut oil and parsely and salt

Hi Winnie and Steve,

This morning we had a frost.  The top of the picnic tables out in the garden, the truck roof and the house roof were all covered with a frost.  When you live in coastal California, that is about the closest you are going to get to a winter wonderland as we head into the Christmas season.  I recall being in your farm house in Maine during the winter.  The icicles hung off the rain gutters and would drip during the daylight hours.  We slept in your upstairs bedroom that was tiny and cozy under the rafters.  I recall the quilts and the old house being a bit cold in the winter.  We jumped in that bed and tried to warm ourselves under the covers with our warm breath.  You guys were so used to these conditions.  I remember you being in nice heavy sweaters and corduroy pants -- very practical, which was one of the characteristics I so admired about New Englanders.

I was practical too with the winter squash from the last post -- we used the last of it up tonight. This was the very large Musque de Provence.  I even measured it to make sure it was going to fit whole in my AGA oven -- just barely.  The squash was 13" across.  I'm not sure about the weight, but it roasted up just fine. Since friends were visiting, it was the perfect time to tackle such a large squash. The first night it was prepared as winter squash bisque. Today at lunch it was a mashed bed of squash flesh with spiced beans and greens on top.  At dinner tonight it was cubed into the risotto.  And the last of it was mixed with eggs, milk and spices for a dessert.  Phew!  So, maybe I did learn some good practicality from my lovely New England friends.  

As a beginner gardener, I am struck by how long it takes to grow a vegetable -- except for a radish.  This squash was so special that I will definitely plant it next spring, yet it takes 125 days for maturity!

Lots of love.  Donna 

Staples of Winter

Musque de Provence winter squash

Roasted Kubocha winter squash

Winter squash topped with beans

     mashed roasted winter squash with butter

     cooked Borlotto beans

     sauteed leeks

     kale

     celery

     tomato paste, olive oil, salt and pepper

     
Hi Winnie and Steve,

Well, December has arrived ever so quickly -- so I guess it really is winter now.  Sometimes on the mild days it still feels so much like fall.  I've noticed that I have started putting much of my food on one section of my kitchen counter.  When it comes time to make a meal, I look at the food on this one section of kitchen counter and think about what is possible.  When I say I am putting things on the counter, obviously I am talking about the things that do not need refrigeration.  But, it is surprising how many things that might be.  This week I had on the counter -- pears, apples, garlic, onions, winter squash, nuts, lemons, tangerines -- yes, my counter does get crowded.  While not on the counter, there are things up above on the open shelving of my cupboard.  My eye wanders up quickly to these items which are also part of my staples -- beans, raisins (which I am really enjoying putting in the beans), brown rice and corn for polenta.

I ran an errand down to Pie Ranch, and Jered asked if I could take the eggs for the CSA program back up to our ranch.  We are the drop-off point for the egg CSA in the winter.  I was thrilled when I was rewarded a "delivery fee" with some Pie Ranch winter squash.  One squash is called Musque de Provence.  It is so beautiful, and I have never made that squash before -- really looking forward to it.  Winter squash is one of the best and easiest staples as it last for weeks or months -- pierce once with a knife and roast whole in the oven for one hour --voila!  In our local community I love the sense of sharing, helping, loaning and general neighborliness that exists -- that is also why I happen to have apples and lemons on my counter -- neighbors.  We just received a book of Wendell Berry poems.  One section expresses a lovely process.

     He goes shadowy into the local woods,

     and brightly into the local meadows and croplands.

     He goes to the care of neighbors,

     he goes into the care of neighbors.

Thinking of you.  Donna