2nd week of May 2008
For Mother's Day I was surprised with a rhubarb cake baked by my daughter - it was both delicious and thoughtful. I'm so thankful our children are learning some cooking skills as well as taking off with gardening skills. Making newspaper pots is a good activity for children and they have been working on some for starting their watermelons and pumpkins. Hopefully they'll make plenty so I can start some squash and gourds this week. It's been cooler and rainy so all these things will benefit from a head start in the greenhouse.
The milk has been flowing abundantly from Iris and Belle, our family Jerseys, so Olin has been making lots of hard cheese. We started off making batches in two 3 gallon kettles and now have enough to use the 15 gallon cheese tank that fits over the four stove burners. Pictured are the cut curds that are separating from the whey. Though it does take some time, the process is not difficult and the results keep getting tastier. The whey gets used for the chickens and cats to drink, for watering garden plants and some goes to help feed our friend's 3 little pigs.
I'm encouraged by the increased interest in local foods we're hearing from friends and others. Recently we've been invited to supper by two different families who were seeking some input on how to best utilize their yards. One family is figuring out ways to lay out their one acre lot to include a sheep pasture, chicken run, garden, strawberry patch and space for their children to play. Another family is exploring alternatives to mowing their large front lawn and wanted to know some good livestock and fencing options. I also gave a gardening talk for a mother-daughter banquet (pictured is part of my display from my talk), was asked about sharing about seasonal eating for a SS class and had a couple call about coming to see our coldframes. Folks are seeming hungry to start eating closer to home more than ever.
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