I MISS YOU
Flowers For Mom
Category Archives: The Farm
Pond Pictures – Relax and Enjoy
I know what it’s like, too often life gets crazy and busy and we just don’t have time to enjoy the simple beauty that nature has to offer. I try to take a least a few minutes each day to just walk and observe our farm. Today I invite you to join me for some views of our pond. If you were with me these are some of the things I would point out to you.
The honey bees have discovered that the lavender is blossoming. Honey bees and bumble bees love lavender.
My husband and I agree that dragon flies are the coolest insects. We see them in various shapes and sizes and many amazingly beautiful colors. After reading more about dragon flies on this website http://www.dragonfly-site.com/ I’m not surprised at our fascination with them.
This website about dragon flies mating was also very interesting, but definitely left me with questions. https://www.thoughtco.com/how-dragonflies-mate-1968255 My questions were mainly who studied this? and how did they study this?
The dragon flies are not only fascinating to watch, they seem friendly, at times, as they rest on a finger or hitch a ride on a shoulder. They don’t bite or sting and they apparently dine on a lot of less desirable insects.
The above photo, which my husband and I had been referring to as a dragon fly, is actually a damsel fly. Closely related to the dragon fly the damsel flies are also welcomed and admired on our farm.
The honey bees are drinking from the pond. This one is coming in for a landing.
Honey bees are our second favorite insect. We have put a lot of money, time and effort into beekeeping and we are happy to know that our bees have a clean water source.
This year the bees are choosing to drink from an area on the edge of the pond, where we placed rocks last fall. In past years I have seen honey bees drinking on the beach and other areas along the shore.
Turtles, if you were with me you would see more. We have turtles of various sizes and ages who live in the pond, and I saw at least three of them on this day. Apparently turtles are camera shy because as soon as they saw me point the camera in their direction they would submerge and swim away.
Not at all camera shy, this handsome frog was the perfect model. No need to turn him into a prince; we love this little bug eater just the way he is.
This is but a glimpse of the things we would see and the things we would talk about as we spent some time enjoying the beauty of our pond. Thanks for taking a few minutes to relax and enjoy.
Garlic Scapes at Nino Salvaggio International Marketplace
In case you missed my previous post about garlic scapes and are scratching your head thinking garlic what?
Garlic scapes are the seed heads produced by hardneck garlic varieties. They appear in the spring, and if left to grow they will flower and produce dozens of tiny garlic bubils (seeds). Most growers cut the scape off the garlic plant in order to allow the garlic to put more energy into growing a bigger bulb. If cut early the scapes are tender and delicious. They are said to have the same nutritional value as garlic bulbs, and although they possess a milder flavor when cooked, they are a culinary delight. They are great roasted, grilled, stir fried or used raw in dips, salads and pesto. To discover great garlic scape recipes simply do an internet search for garlic scape recipes. They are only available for a short time in the spring but can be preserved by freezing or pickling.
Yesterday I spent many hours cutting and bundling more than 1500 garlic scapes.
This morning my worked paid off as we delivered the garlic scapes to the Nino Salvaggio Saint Clair Shores, Michigan store. http://www.ninosalvaggio.com/
The scapes were set out for sale immediately. It was encouraging that the employees at Nino Salvaggio were eager to learn what the scapes were and how they can be used, and they can now share this information with their customers.
We would like to send out a big thank you to Nino Salvaggio for helping us get our garlic scapes into the hands of those who will use them. If you shop at Nino Salvaggio you, too, might want to let them know that you appreciate their efforts to support local farmers while making quality products available to the customers.
Who’s Eating Our Strawberries?
When we discovered that some of our ripe strawberries were being eaten, before we had a chance to pick them, I assumed it was slugs. Slugs are notorious for invading strawberry patches. I began saving our coffee grounds separate from the other compost and spreading them around the strawberry plants to deter the slugs. Since I didn’t have enough coffee grounds to do them all at once I wasn’t surprised that I was still seeing eaten berries.
Earlier this week while I was watering garlic and my husband was watering strawberries, he called me over to the strawberry patch. “Want to see some baby bunnies?’ he asked. I grabbed my camera.
There are at least four of them. My husband found their nest, a small hole in the ground, hidden in an area where the strawberry plants are thick. It is well camouflaged as are the baby bunnies. They are very difficult to see until they start moving around.
I can’t say for sure that there are no slugs eating the berries, and I have also found a few bugs which I assume are sap beetles, http://extension.psu.edu/plants/gardening/fphg/strawberries/insects-mites/sap-beetle but I suspect the majority of the eaten berries are providing yummy meals to these cute little critters who couldn’t care less about the coffee grounds.
A Year In Growing Garlic Part (VIII) Garlic Scapes
It’s time to start cutting the scapes. The music garlic has formed scapes and we want to cut them while they are still young and tender.
What are garlic scapes???
They are the seed heads produced by hardneck garlic varieties. They appear in the spring, and if left to grow they will flower and produce dozens of tiny garlic bubils (seeds). Most growers cut the scape off the garlic plant in order to allow the garlic to put more energy into growing a bigger bulb. If cut early the scapes are tender and delicious. They are said to have the same nutritional value as garlic bulbs, and although they possess a milder flavor when cooked, they are a culinary delight. They are great roasted, grilled, stir fried or used raw in dips, salads and pesto. To discover great garlic scape recipes simply do an internet search for garlic scape recipes or try the pesto recipe at the bottom of the page. They are only available for a short time in the spring but can be preserved by freezing or pickling.
The above is a photo of a garlic scape forming. If allowed to grow it will probably form a second curl before straightening up and forming a seed head on top.
This photo is some of the scapes I cut last year.
Garlic Scape Pesto
Ingredients:
1 cup garlic scapes (8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into 1⁄4-inch slices
1⁄3 cup walnuts
3⁄4cup olive oil
1⁄4to 1⁄2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1⁄2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Ground black pepper
Method:
1. Place the scapes and walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and blend until well combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly drizzle in the oil and process until integrated.
2. With a rubber spatula, scoop the pesto out of the bowl and into a mixing bowl. Add Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste.
3. Keeps for up to one week in the refrigerator. Also freezes well; the cheese can be added to the pesto after it has thawed.
Makes about 3⁄4 cup.
Garlic scapes are only available for a few short weeks in the spring. If you are looking for scapes sent me an email at ruth20012001@yahoo.com.
Don't Eat It! Soap and Skin Care 