tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11654234527943386042024-03-05T08:01:11.559-08:00Brooks Hobby FarmCorporate professionals by day and farmers by evening and weekend. The trials and joys of balancing work, family, gardening and raising animals in Clark County, WA.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger282125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-51445125819493317212021-07-05T14:15:00.002-07:002021-07-05T14:15:17.605-07:00Preserving KaleKale is a great, easy veggie to grow in any garden and it's easy to preserve. I like a flat leaf kale for preserving. This year I grew purple leaf kale, as well as a curly leaf for fresh eating.Before you start ... wash out the sink and get your equipment read. Large pot, metal colander, slotted spoon, towels, ziplock baggies and sharpie.Here are the steps for processing kale:1.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-9553292903303260772021-03-20T19:17:00.001-07:002021-03-20T19:17:43.822-07:00And so it beginsI don't remember a time when I didn't garden. As a child, I remember walking barefoot in my parent's garden after they tilled. I remember planting seeds without knowing what I was planting.In college, at my first apartment, I planted a tomato in the landscaping strip. I did it without asking for permission. No one said a word. I got a nice crop of tomatoes and made Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-3122709259138125812021-03-20T19:05:00.007-07:002021-03-20T19:05:56.316-07:00I'm a little sore All that soil had to be moved, one wheelbarrow load at a time, into the garden beds. Shovel 10 scoops in to wheelbarrow. Push into garden. Dump over the raised bed. Lift wheelbarrow to get all the soil out. Repeat. Then smooth out with a rake. Do it all again. It took 3 days, and 24 ibuprophen, for me and Jeremy to fill the boxes all the way Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-34821968727338131462021-03-20T18:54:00.003-07:002021-03-20T18:54:56.564-07:00Holy Dirt Batman! 15 yards! That is a lot of soil. Steaming, smelly soil. Moving into the garden beds is going to be a bit of a challenge.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-29686603658461266352021-03-20T18:52:00.001-07:002021-03-20T18:52:37.278-07:00New Garden About 5 years ago, we planted apples trees at our cabin. Here in Packwood we have hundreds of elk that call the Cowlitz River valley home. A herd of 30 walk through our yard almost daily. If you know anything about elk, they graze indiscriminately. If they bite into something they don't like, they pull it up and leave it dead on the ground. Pretty much nothing Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-8599477861661576092021-03-20T16:56:00.000-07:002021-03-20T16:56:04.540-07:00New AdventureFor 13 years we lived on a small farm in rural Clark County, Washington. This blog chronicles the adventures raising sheep, chickens, pigs and turkeys. Grown veggies and fruit. Battling the elements. My daughter grew up on the farm. She was 2 1/2 when we moved to the farm and 16 when we left. Many joys, many tears.In 2017, I made a mental list of everything Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-65903663242871859562020-04-13T21:49:00.000-07:002020-04-13T21:52:23.289-07:00Homemade Doggy Chow
My pup recently ate a 200 mg Ibuprofen. She only weighs 15 lbs! We had an emergency trip to the vet for induced vomiting followed by activate charcoal. She is doing fine but her tummy is still woozy.
I'm not a vet and I don't play one on TV. But I did do a bunch of highly reliable internet research before making a homemade dog food. Here is the recipe.
Chicken and Veggie Loaf Dog Food
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-88379671803988580072020-01-25T16:05:00.000-08:002020-01-25T16:05:09.169-08:00Container Gardening
I have always had a garden, or at the very least a tomato plant in the landscaping strip outside my apartment in college. The garden at the hobby farm was the best garden though! I was huge and fertile and produce plenty of food for our family.
When we chose to move off the farm (for multiple reasons including the state a repairs needed on the farm house), we moved into a small Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-1620186891829508562020-01-25T15:05:00.001-08:002020-01-25T15:07:15.344-08:00QuiltingWhile we are between farming adventures, I've had little share in our blog. I hope that will change soon, as we are expecting to move in the next 6 months. Until then, we are living in a small suburban house and yard. I did recently complete a project that is more homesteading-like.
Backstory ... I love to sew. When Jordan was young, I made lots of clothes for her. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-30397009846901560192016-10-29T20:10:00.000-07:002016-10-29T20:10:23.518-07:00Saying Good byeWe had to say good bye to a friend today.
Junior and his brother Buddy were the first two animals we brought to the farm. We moved here 2005. The farm was owned by a family who ran horses in the pastures. We spent the first year moving fences, reseeding the pastures and prepping for animals. Then in the spring of 2006 we found a couple of rams for sale at a near-by farm.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-23037995233913067372016-08-21T17:41:00.001-07:002016-08-21T17:41:47.520-07:00Way too many eggs!This time of year (summer) the eggs are coming fast and furious! I already posted about how to freeze eggs for use in baking over the winter. Here is another idea.
My mother-in-law, Barb, is always trying new recipes. She found a delicious recipe for making 12 "egg cups" that you freeze and pull out to eat individually whenever. It's perfect for breakfast when we are in aUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-45257887408364298192016-06-05T18:25:00.001-07:002016-06-05T18:25:27.836-07:00How to Acquire ChickensApparently, all I have to do is starting thinking about getting a few more chickens and magically they appear. Not really magically, but they came to me nonetheless.
We've had a lot of attrition this year. The chickens are locked in their coop at night - dusk to dawn - but are completely free range during the day. They have 4 acres at their disposal and make good use of all of Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-69824599396603955922016-06-04T15:54:00.001-07:002016-06-04T15:54:40.966-07:00Hottest Day of the YearThe hottest day of the year has come very early! There's a saying in the Pacific Northwest that summer starts on July 5th. Typically in the month of June the temperature may creep towards 90 F once in a while, but it rains every few days and the evenings are still cold. So we don't worry about shearing the sheep until late June.
It's June 4th and the temperature is going to hitUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-28099837844143170692015-11-13T11:44:00.000-08:002015-11-13T11:44:17.281-08:00Frank the Squirrel is a Bastard!I get it. Squirrels are storing up for winter. And everyone loves an easy meal. But they are stealing more cracked corn and oats than the chicken and sheep are eating. And we are on a budget!
It started a couple months back. We keep the scratch and oats and chicken feed in plastic garbage cans under the pole barn between the chicken coop and sheep stalls. Every day when I came Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-37508011998690238652015-08-16T22:11:00.002-07:002015-08-16T22:11:59.272-07:00Apple SauceI talk to a lot of people who are nervous about preserving food. It's understandable. Can you say botulism?! In reality, preserving food can be really easy. In the past I've posted instructions for simple preservation, like freezing and making jams. But a great beginner's step into food preservation is to make apple sauce.
It's mid August now and the apple harvest Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-85775384489989367922014-09-04T22:39:00.004-07:002014-09-04T22:40:11.629-07:00Funny Bee StoryIt's been a few years since we've had honey bees at our place. We've tried three times. Two were bought from the store and the third swarm adopted us. But I think that we don't have a warm enough place for them because every winter they die.
That's not the funny part.
The first time we tried honey bees on our property, we let our neighbors know. Not all the neighbors, asUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-50374926518972515642014-03-04T19:27:00.002-08:002014-03-04T19:27:37.495-08:002014 SeedsIt's that time of year again. Actually, I'm a little late. I've been really enjoying winter, skiing most weekends, and not thinking about the garden. But it's warmed up and the chickens are laying again, so spring is here. And ... the Territorial Seed Company catalog came in the mail Saturday. Gardener porn.
Last year, I saved seeds from my corn, green beans, wax Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-86651666280269942822014-02-02T17:43:00.001-08:002014-02-02T20:49:33.883-08:00Big Game Gluten-Free DinnerI love to try new recipes! I will take an excuse to dig through websites, Pinterest, cook books, newspaper clippings, you name it to create a meal. Any excuse :-) We found out that Jordan's youngest cousin is allergic to gluten, dairy, eggs and citrus. Challenge accepted!
The Big Game is this weekend. I always make meatball subs and then try new stuff. Here is the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-33292804350975834902013-11-24T17:28:00.001-08:002021-11-20T09:51:21.609-08:00Turkey Day Game Plan!!!!!!Thanksgiving is awesome! But it is very stressful getting everything done and on the table. Here's a game plan to get you through.
First, getting the meal prepared should be part of the festivities and everyone should be involved, including the kids and the men. The kitchen should be full of people and telling stories and tasting and craziness. Mistakes will happen and will Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-48324465009741826922013-11-22T08:25:00.002-08:002014-11-17T20:23:53.126-08:00Traditional, Homemade Thanksgiving Dinner - Installment #8: Potato RollsThere is one thing that you make that everyone raves about. It's the thing you are always asked to bring. It's the first thing to get devoured. My "thing" is potato rolls. The problem is that my "thing" takes an entire day to make. So I only make them on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The recipe comes from my Grandma Charlotte Emigh. She developed this bread Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-64902171589468304302013-11-22T07:08:00.001-08:002014-11-17T20:18:58.151-08:00Traditional, Homemade Thanksgiving Dinner - Installment #7: Jello SaladLast night I met with some ladies for a pre-holiday drink. And a major topic of discussion was the upcoming Thanksgiving meal. Turned out that all of us have mid-western roots. My family comes from Ohio. So we were all commiserating about the infamous casseroles and "salads" that have been passed down.
Lora's family boasts a "coke salad" which is jello made with Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-54487404593209621492013-11-20T21:56:00.000-08:002013-11-20T21:56:13.907-08:00Traditional, Homemade Thanksgiving Dinner - Installment #6: Pumpkin PieOk, I have a huge admission to make here. Even though I make lots statements about cooking from scratch, there is one thing I just can't get right and thus I buy pre-made every time. And that is ... pie crust.
Stop laughing. Pie crust is hard to get right.
My mom can do it. Her crust comes out nice and flaky. Mine shrinks, get's thick, doesn't cook all the way Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-14544773951169138502013-11-18T20:36:00.001-08:002013-11-18T20:36:29.341-08:00Traditional, Homemade Thanksgiving Dinner - Installment #5: Candied YamsCandied yams get two responses at my house - "Another helping please!" And "Keep that stuff away from my plate!" I'm not kidding. Either you love it or you hate it. I'm in the love it camp. In fact, I like there to be extras so I can have it for breakfast the next morning ... followed by a slice of pie. This recipe is for about 8 side-dish-sized servings. You Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-16117962479303318272013-11-17T09:27:00.002-08:002013-11-17T16:13:20.554-08:00Traditional, Homemade Thanksgiving Dinner - Installment #4: Mashed PotatoesMashed potatoes are one of the more simple side dishes to make. However, it seems like people can really mess up the tatters. So here are my suggestions for nice, fluffy, flavorful potatoes:
1. Use Yukon Gold potatoes because they make better mashed potatoes then Russet or reds.
2. Use 5 lbs of potatoes for 10 people. Mashed potatoes aren't great as leftovers, so Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165423452794338604.post-7954607064985779452013-11-14T18:58:00.000-08:002016-11-20T08:58:04.875-08:00Traditional, Homemade Thanksgiving Dinner - Installment #3 - Stuffing (aka Dressing)This is one of those Thanksgiving side dishes that I can't see why people don't make from scratch. Seriously, it's bread, some veggies and herbs. No need for those boxed versions. Here is how you do it.
First you need stale bread or "day old" bread. At our house no one likes the heals of the loaf. So I stick the heals in the freezer in a bag and keep until Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0