First CSA share of the season

Sunday was the first pickup of the season for our CSA. We get the half share and I'm still amazed at the quantity and quality of the veggies. 

A half share!

All week I've been making veggie intensive dishes - stir fry, quiche, salads, etc. Everything has been wonderful! I'm playing around with kohlrabi recipes and think I'm going to try a slaw that looks interesting. I'll let you know how it turns out. 

Catching up on the garden posts - this was May

One of the things that I use this blog for is to track the garden through the season. Which only works if I actually upload the darn pictures and make comments. So here goes - a very heavy photo post that may bore you silly. 

Pictures of the yard & garden on May 20:

Sad patchy grass on front yard 

Lupines just coming in

A few perennial herbs came back: sage, lemon-thyme, oregano

Cooper! 

Mini Iris - only 5 bloomed this year

Magic pansies - survived the winter and bloomed early

Perennials coming in: hosta, foxglove, chives

Pink marble rock surrounded by hosta

And now here it all is Memorial Day weekend (May 28). I picked up my starts from our favorite greenhouse and got busy.

Before weeding and planting (but look at that oregano!) 

Cooper again! And if you look hard right, new pansies. 

Carefully placing the chicken 

Tomatoes, jalapeño, basil 

Finally starting to fill in

I didn't get a lot of variety since I'm still doing a CSA share this summer. But I did plant another garden up on the hill (squash) and I've got the chicken garden going too (old seeds).

Pictures of the temporary coop

Why temporary you ask? Because I'm extremely fortunate to have a good friend who is about to buy a house. A house that has a nice chicken coop. A nice chicken coop that they do not want! Which means that I get to ask more good friends to help me move the thing to our property. But the timing may be strange so I wanted to go ahead and get this one set up just in case I got chickens before I got the new coop. 

The area looks like a bomb went off right now. We've been bringing in dirt and leveling the area. The goal is to make it able to be mowed. In the meantime, I've scattered all the old veggie seed that I had on hand and it's going to be a chicken garden. Meaning, anything growing there will be for the chickens. So far I've got peas, squash, and watermelon coming up. Not bad for 5 year old seed.

Slowly getting more level

I wanted a small covered area over the pop door so that it would keep clear of snow. Since we'd already decided to get rid of the kindling crib (we use surprisingly little kindling so it's easier to just whack a few pieces when necessary rather than stocking it) Chris cut it down and moved it over.

Extremely rickety crib

Careful positioning

 In the meantime, I put down stick-on floor tiles to make it easier to clean the coop.

The dog always helps. She's the small brown spot in the dirt (of course)

While Chris was on his adventure I got busy with the screw gun and the tree loppers. I made a ladder for the pop door.

I may have had too much fun doing this

Set up roost bars at various heights. None of them are directly on top of each other. Hopefully this will A) keep the hens from pooping on each other and B) make it easier for them to hop up to the highest bar. There won't be many hens in this thing so I've got way more roost space than really needed, but it seemed the easiest solution to just wedge branches in there.

Lots of roost space

I was originally just going to lean the old kindling crib over the pop door and let that be good enough for the short time it would exist. But the crib was so wonky and wobbly that I decided to build a new covering out of the parts instead. I also made it easy to remove.

Built but not yet painted

 Oh, and I decided to do some decorating. My poor husband has been trying to get rid of this ladder for years. Many, many years. I've saved it from the burn pile at least twice. The first time I saved it, he discovered I'd painted it and installed it in the camp for use as shelves. The next time, he found it was being used as a plant stand at the side of the house. And now, it's a decorative chicken coop item.

Note the coop cover is now painted too

I buried a planter at the back corner leg, placed some strategic rocks, and planted climbers. Yup, eventually this will be covered with flowers.  And I banged together some bird houses and scattered them on the steps. They'll peek out so cute!

Of course it all looks a bit bleak right now. Until the greens come in and the flowers bloom. Then it'll be awesome. Right up until the chickens destroy it all. At least I'm realistic...

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

This recipe comes from Cook's Illustrated magazine, the Sep/Oct 2013 edition. It was really easy to make and I will definitely be doing it again. Especially now that the CSA is kicking out all the summer veggie share! So, first the pictures (such as they are), then the recipe.

A full gallon of milk needs a big pot

All you need to curdle it - lemon juice and vinegar

Curds forming, whey separating. Nearly done.

After draining - curds dry at edges, wet in center

Ricotta (makes about 2 pounds)

1 gallon pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized or UHT) whole milk
2 teaspoons table salt
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/4 cup white vinegar (may need more so keep it out)

1. Line a colander with a triple layer of cheesecloth. Set it in the sink (or over a massive bowl if you want to save the whey for some reason).
2. Combine lemon juice and vinegar; set aside.
3. Heat milk and salt in dutch oven (I used my 7 1/4 quart and it was just big enough) over M-H heat, stirring frequently (but gently) with rubber spatula to prevent scorching, until temp is 185. (I used a candy thermometer to track the heat rise and then my instant-read thermometer to get the final temp)
4. Remove pot from heat and slowly stir in lemon juice mixture until fully incorporated and mixture curdles (about 15 seconds - yes, seconds. This happens quickly). Let sit undisturbed until mixture fully separates into solid curds and translucent whey, 5 to 10 minutes. If curds do not fully separate and there is still milky whey in the pot, stir in extra vinegar, 1 Tablespoon at a time, and let sit 2 to 3 minutes, until curds separate. (It took about 8 minutes for mine to separate. The liquid looked a bit yellow from the lemon juice, but not milky, so I didn't add any extra vinegar).
5. Gently pour the mixture into the prepared colander. Let sit, undisturbed, until whey has drained from edges of cheese but center is still very moist, about 8 minutes. Working quickly, gently transfer cheese to large bowl, keeping as much whey in center of cheese as possible (ha! whey streamed out like mad when I lifted the cheesecloth- be quick and have that bowl right next to the colander!). Stir well to break up large curds and incorporate whey. Refrigerate ricotta until cold, about 2 hours. Stir before using. May be stored in fridge up to 5 days.

I used regular grocery store whole milk. The end result was a creamy ricotta with none of the graininess that you typically get from store-bought. And since I sometime find recipes that call for ricotta impastata (the "Cadillac" of ricottas - ultra smooth, creamy texture with low moisture), I think this will be a good approximation. I can always drain it a bit more to get the moisture lower if needed.

Chris's latest adventure - ARC from Bermuda to Portsmouth VA

Chris joined the ARC rally for a week-long trip from Bermuda to Portsmouth VA. This is the second time he's done a last-minute sailing trip and it proves to be quite an adventure. Basically, he finds a captain that needs crew, figures out where to meet them, and gets there. After that, it's all up to fate.

Sunny Bermuda

Some ARC boats

Wandering the town

Always in trouble

Fortunately not as much trouble as this guy...

Heading out

The boat

Gorgeous start to the trip

Wow

More wow

Uh, oh...

This isn't good. At all.

A pleasant start to the voyage turned into a bit of a hair-raiser. Two big storms. A broken engine. A generator that wouldn't start. A wind-meter that went kablooie. 

Ominous horizon

A break between storms

A chance to catch their breath 

Next storm moving in

This is what a Coast Guard boat looks like in the dark on heavy seas. It's a cool effect, but it's from wave activity making the lights trail in the moment it takes to snap a photo. In other words, everything is moving out there.

Light show 

What you look like after 6 days with little sleep

Keeping humor during the storm

Snatching a moment of unconsciousness

This is one of those trips that makes you realize that there is a reason they call it an "adventure". But he's home safe and sound now. And will likely find another captain in need of crew.