They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
Tuesday: the last full day before Pierce Co Fair starts. It was also a Monday, because on Monday we were too busy to Monday, due to baking for fair, and taking stuff to fair grounds for turn in, and decorating at the fair grounds. But Monday is the sort of thing that cannot be indefinitely… Continue reading Elderberries, beans, crabapples
Last week was the first elderberry picking of the year. I did a second picking Monday morning, early. The dried elderberries from last weekend are done, so we transfer them into a bowl and put the next batch in. The previous batch yielded almost a quart after drying. We found that if the clusters are… Continue reading Elderberries, Basil, Baking and Brewing.
"Look Daddy! I'm a stwirrel!" "Tan I help you took?" When was the last time you had a squirrel cook you potato-water griddle cakes for breakfast? Tuesday morning we got over to the farm for another picking of blackberries. The big thornless blackberries are a little the worse for wear at the moment. We are… Continue reading Blackberries, First Elderberries, and Drought problems.
Not everything can be woodworking around here. There are too many other things that need to be done. For instance the raspberries are coming on fast, And when we checked on the blackberries, some of them were ripening. They always ripen from the end of the branch first. In every cluster the most distal berry… Continue reading Garden and Orchard Update.
Monday was a bit of an off day. Mommy and Daddy both had to work, but Auntie Mate was here to shepherd the kids through school. They did a great job being good for her. On Tuesday, we tried to get the house back into the normal swing of things, and to push ahead on… Continue reading Elderberry Elixir
Sometimes people may wonder why so much of our time is spent in making food. Don't we know that we can just go to the store and buy the same stuff, cheaper and faster? No mess, no prep, just pop it in the oven. Or the microwave. Then you don't even have to wash dishes.… Continue reading Farm Food. Bread, Mama Mac, Elderberry Cordial
Miscellaneous food projects from the last few days. We started a new batch of elderberry elixir. 1/3rd quart jar of gently crushed elderberries (we used the silicone spatula so as not to risk crushing the seeds. 1/3rd 100 proof vodka. 1/3rd honey (with a cinnamon stick and a chunk of ginger root. We stuck it… Continue reading More Farm Food
This was the first year we have gotten a decent crop of elderberries from the farm. So far we have only been harvesting from the black elder shrub, and have already gotten a huge haul. These are the elderberries we pruned back to the stump in early 2024. They grew out shoots in 2024, and… Continue reading Elderberries.
We pruned our elderberries back to the stumps earlier this year, (along with the mature cherries, which, incidentally, produced a much better crop this year than they did last year). Look at that majestic shrub! And the two purple-leaf varieties are doing quite well too. What we have learned from this is that the Elderberry… Continue reading Younger Berries
Little Farm in the Big City 