Vintage Home and Farm

Today was the first day of crabbing season.  It was also the first time we've taken our boat out since moving here three years ago, and so it was quite an event for us!  Unbelievably, the dock wasn't very busy for opening day. It was a cool, cloudy and windy day and the water was a bit choppy. We ended up only spending a couple hours on the water but amazingly still caught just over one limit.  Our five traps had captured about a dozen crab total, but several had to be tossed back due to being either too small or females. Friends of ours suggested cleaning the live crab before cooking them. (We used to always cook the crab in a big pot first, and then clean and shell them. Cleaning them first while live results in sweeter-tasting crab meat.) To figure out how exactly to clean a live crab, we researched online and chose to follow the steps demonstrated in the video below. Live backing is demonstrated about 4:30 minutes into the video.  As you can imagine, smash...

Our garden has five areas: the spring garden that contains brassicas, peas and lettuce; the summer garden with squash, beans, corn and tomatoes; the perennial garden with herbs, asparagus, artichokes, and rhubarb; the berry garden with raspberries, blueberries and red currants.  Above and below are a few photos from the summer garden. Above, corn and pole beans are growing together in the first two rows, followed by two rows of bush beans.  We should have plenty of beans for canning.  Tomatoes are climbing up a cattle panel fence. Many different kinds of winter and summer squash were planted this year.  Some of the squash is blooming and we've already picked a zucchini. In the herb garden, the borage is now in bloom.  Bees are loving the brilliant blue flowers. Yesterday we pulled out a couple beds of lettuce that had bolted, which gave us space today to do some more planting. We figured if we were no longer going to eat it, no sense leaving it in the garden....

What makes a garden a success? For us, we know that our garden has been successful when we've eaten from it for most of our meals and when we've preserved food for the remainder of the year. By late June, we are able to harvest potatoes, cabbage, onion tops, carrots, herbs and many other veggies that can be used in all our meals.  For example, the other day I made potato salad with onion tops and potatoes from the garden along with hard boiled eggs from our hens.  I also made coleslaw using cabbage, shredded carrots and onion tops from the garden. Friends who planted in our garden dug up some of their purple potatoes and shared them with us.  I used them to make homemade french fries for serving with our hamburgers tonight.  The unusual purple-colored fries were absolutely delicious!  We also ate beet tops that I steamed and then sprinkled with Himalayan salt. Our family ate every bite! Home grown food is so fresh and delicious. I can't imagine a better way to e...

Have you ever seen a cuter sleeping dog? We never get tired of seeing Mojo curled up in the old recliner. She is the world's most pampered pooch. Only 12 more days to go in our photo series, "30 Days on the Farm."  We hope you are enjoying this peek into our country way of life.  If you have suggestions for future articles, please leave a comment...

We're midway through the 30 days of photos and I was struggling to decide what to post.  Then I spotted our daughter and my husband in the golf cart.  Our daughter is old enough and very interested in learning to drive.  We figured a golf cart was a good way to ease her into it, and it's been fun seeing her driving her little "car". She's been practicing in our driveway and around the neighborhood. She's also driven on the golf course a bit. Worried mama stands outside waiting for her to make sure she does okay and gets back safely.  Sometimes one of us goes along for the ride.

This is the first year that we've grown borage.  The leaves and flowers of the borage plant can be used to make tea, which is known for helping reduce fever, cough and depression.  The fresh leaves can also be enjoyed in salads and used in iced tea; their taste is very similar to cucumber.  In fact, there are an amazing number of uses for this versatile plant once you start reading about it. I was just reading that the leaves should be harvested before the flowers on the plant have opened. After the flower opens, the leaves become bitter.  While most of our borage plants do have flower buds forming on them now, only a couple of the flowers have opened.  I tasted one of the leaves this morning and it still tastes tender and like cucumber.  So I quickly got busy picking most of the leaves off the plants. Borage is an unusual plant.  The leaves and flowers are very prickly. There are tiny hairs all over the plants including the outside of the flower buds....

One of the greatest challenges I've had in baking with sourdough starter or commercial yeast is getting the dough to rise enough, especially in our chilly house.  Even in the summertime our house is on the cool side thanks to the insulation provided by our thick knotty pine walls.  One day as I was putting away a seedling heat mat after having started some garden plants indoors, it occurred to me that such a heat mat could have other purposes. How would it work on bread dough? We bought an extra seedling heat mat for using in the kitchen.  A few weeks ago I wrapped the mat around a bowl that had sourdough bread rising in it. The results were amazing.  I ended up with a beautiful loaf that had risen perfectly. The seedling heat mat works wonders on cinnamon rolls, too. I wrapped the mat around the bowl of dough during the proofing phase, and then once the rolls were in the pan I put the seedling heat mat under the pan as well.  Both times, I covered the doug...