Pick me a blueberry! If you don't have kids or you're not familiar, that's a quote from the wonderful book Jamberry by Bruce Degen.
It's berry season! Well it's been berry season, but strawberries are almost over for the season. But raspberries are in season now and blueberry picking is gaining momentum. Blackberry season will be here before we know it!
So here's where you can pick some tasty berries (here are my favorites):
I swear, I'm around here somewhere. This rain has totally gotten to me. I haven't been able to be in my garden and I've been cooped up inside with two preschoolers! That alone is enough to drive anyone bonkers!
So my apologies for the posts being sparse. I haven't even been able to pull together any fully local meals...I've lost my groove! Sun come out, please!
My eldest celebrated her 4th birthday this week, so we've been busy running around with family. Also, we've been dealing with behavioral issues etc, so my plan as of now, is to go on a gluten and casein free diet for a period of time to see what results we get. I would love any support, tips, recipes, websites etc that you may know of. It's a bit of a daunting task, but if it will help her thrive, then I'm willing to put in the effort!
I have been doing a few things pertaining to living locally though! I have canned 12 jars of strawberry jam with berries I picked from Butternut Farms. I've blanched and froze a few pounds of broccoli for future use. I've also make a few jars (now in the freezer) of garlic scape pesto. I've been stocking up on popcorn kernels. I harvested the first snow peas from my garden today, and I have tomatos and peppers on their way!
It also looks as though we may be the new parents of 6 Ancona pullets in the next few weeks. Time to whip the chicken run together and tweak the shed into a home for the hens! I can't wait for fresh eggs from my own backyard! The pullets will come from from Yellow House Farm.
So hopefully July will yield more local living and definitely more sunshine. Keep those fingers crossed!
How is everyone else hanging in there? How are you surviving the dreary weather?
Finally I can share information with you regarding the 2009 Barrington Farm Tour Day!! It will be held Sunday June 28th from 10 am - 3 pm with nine different farms participating throughout Barrington.
Participating farms include:
Download and print a brochure and map: Barrington Farm Tour Day (.pdf)
Also, at Yellow House Farm there will be a table with information regarding the first annual “Natural Heritage Agricultural Fair” September 12th, 2009. Be sure to make at stop at Yellow House Farm for this exciting information...as well as to see the amazing flocks of heritage chickens and more!
Read more...
Butternut Farm in Farmington, NH will be hosting their fall festival on Sunday October 19 from 11 am - 2 pm. They'll have pick-your-own apples, a selection of food as well as free wagon rides, pumpkin decorating, free candy apples, face painting and more.
Be sure to check the fall festival link and stop by for a nice fall event. Also a reminder that Applecrest Orchards in Hampton Falls, NH has their weekend festivals till the end of October. More information here.
Happy apple picking!
I wanted to announce on my blog that the Eat Local Challenge will be taking place in the month of October. Eat local for a whole month, you say... Well, you get to make up your own rules with what you think you can realistically do. I do want to encourage you to sign up for the challenge and strive for at least one full local meal per week. And if you want to do the full month, go for it!
Honestly, with me having two busy little ones and not much time to shop locally, I think I will be aiming for at least one fully local meal per week. Ideally, with no children, I'd probably be able to do the full month, but I'll sign up for what I can do. I think I'll also commit to dining at local mom & pop restaurants, no restaurant chains, McDonald's etc... My end goal is to eat as locally as I can, so everyday I'll try to incorporate something local.
Try to think outside the box on this one and let me share with you some great resources.
Local Food Co-op (contact Lenore, she is extremely friendly and this seems like a great way for us busy people to have one set place to order and pick up local goods. Also, if anyone is interested in possibly having me, or someone else, pick up your order in Brentwood for a nominal fee (price of gas or less) with a pick up in Rochester, NH, e-mail me.)
Warren Farm - they have a full field of PYO tomatoes for $1/lb. This would make great crockpot pasta sauce, salsa, or to put on top of your pizza. This is a great local bargain.
Butternut Farm - everyone knows I'm a die hard Butternut Farm fan! $.89/lb for apples. Think about all that yummy apple crisp or applesauce you can make!
Seacoast Harvest - your local food guide
Seacoast Growers Association - a list of a few local farmer's markets. Most are open through the middle of October.
I'm going to be blogging soon about a new place to get raw milk in Milton, NH. At the Thirteen Colonies Farm (near the NH Farm Museum), one gallon of raw milk is only $4 with a $5 bottle deposit. Stand by for that post! There's also Brookford Farm for raw milk, yogurt, quark cheese, cream, eggs and meat.
(**I no longer advocate Thirteen Colonies Farm. Please direct your raw milk business to Brookford Farm. I am not saying that Thirteen Colonies milk is unsafe, I do not know that, but for me and a few others, their practices seem a bit off. If you have further questions, feel free to e-mail me.)
So your mission, if you choose to accept, is to head over to the Eat Local Challenge website and sign up for the October challenge and get thinking on ways you can incorporate more local foods into your menus. And be sure to keep checking my blog for updates, recipes, events, ideas and more on how to live locally. You can do this by joining as a Follower of my blog or by signing up for e-mail updates.
Get ready for a challenge! We can do it!
Yesterday the kiddos and I went to the Exeter Farmer's Market for the first time. Due to Steve's work shift and the kids nap schedule, it has made it tough for us to get to the Exeter market. I was quite pleased to make it before closing time yesterday! I picked up some wonderful local maple syrup (I prefer Grade B, but be sure to find a maple syrup supplier who will let you taste test first, this is what sold me on the product!), I also bought a head of cauliflower and plan to make Sarah's Roasted Cauliflower and last but not least, I bought some local bacon from Kellie Brook Farm in Greenland, NH. I can't wait for local eggs and bacon this weekend!
Anyway, moving on to what this post is truly about! The great fall festivals that Applecrest Farm Orchards in Hampton Falls, NH hosts. These festivals run every Saturday and Sunday from the first weekend in September till mid-October. Some of the activities include:
I've heard a few of you have an bumper crop of tomatoes. I have a ton of cherry tomatoes, but that has no relevance on today's post. I need to find a recipe for cherry tomatoes!
Anyway, I do plan on picking my tomatoes this year at Warren Farm in Barrington, NH. They have a pick-your-own tomato patch with tons of varieties and they only cost $1/lb!
...the letter "A". For apple that is!
I made a gutsy move and chose to bring both the toddlers to the apple orchard by myself. Gasp! I was just hoping and praying they'd sit in the wagon for the most part. Our destination was, yet again, the wonderful Butternut Farm in Farmington, NH. Jonamac's, MacIntosh and Ginger Gold's are ready for picking now and through the weekend. MacIntosh apples should be around for the next couple weeks. Note that Butternut Farm has a great automated daily message of what's ripe for picking if you call (603) 335-4705. I highly suggest you call prior to going over to see what's ripe and check the picking hours.
Anyway, the trip went over surprisingly well and the kids got out of the wagon a few times to pick some apples and plums. Here they are in their wagon enjoying apples (I must have had 10 apples with bite marks in them!)
Like I said earlier I also picked some plums, which I have no clue what I'm going to do with. Are there any good plum recipes? Maybe I'll just eat them! Haha! :)
One of my goals it to perfect a homemade pie crust recipe so I can make an amazing homemade apple pie. Does anyone have any pie crust recipes that are tried and true that they want to share? I haven't decided which recipe from my cookbooks I want to try yet. But first I need to get a pastry blender to cut in my butter! The knife and fork method didn't work too well on the peach crisp I made!
So after this rainy weekend is over you should head over to the farm and pick some of the first apples of the season. I'm actually excited for fall now and it was actually FUN to take the kids to the orchard and share with them the love of apple picking (and eating while picking) in New England.
Ok, I'll leave you with a few more pics of my kiddos (yes there are also sheep and chickens to visit at Butternut Farm). And don't forget to check out the apple chart I posted about. It'll help you to know which apples to pick for eating, baking or both.
I stopped by Butternut Farm today and picked over 25 pounds of peaches! I'm going to peel them and put them up in the freezer for baking and winter eating.
This is how you peel peaches the easy way: Peach Peeling. I however learned that peaches must truly be ripe before trying to blanch and peel! Oh did I fight with some of those peach skins and when they're not so ripe, they don't pull away from the pit so easily.
So, I have many more peaches sitting out and when they're ripe, I'll start blanching again and hope for better results. I really do think blanching works for peeling since I did have one or two peaches who peeled nicely.
Does anyone have any great peach recipes? I probably have 2-4 cups sliced up now. I'd love some recipes!
...keeps the doctor away, right? Apples are now coming into season so it's time to get picking! Oh my, does that mean fall is upon us, already?! Yowsers, did the summer fly by!
Today I was e-mailed the The Prepared Pantry newsletter and in it was a wonderful apple chart. It covers all sorts of apple varieties and how to use them and their flavors. Wonderful to have around to see which varieties should be eaten plain and what can be baked or both. Be sure to bookmark this apple chart!
Also, The Prepared Pantry has a free baking e-book delivered once every week for 8 weeks. And their newsletter is nice too. They do sell baking items and mixes, but there are loads of recipes and helpful tips mixed it. Give it a try, it's a wealth of information.
Don't forget that Butternut Farm is picking apples as of now and I'm sure there are many more pick-your-own apple farms gearing up to open now. Yahoo for apple season!
(Apple Jacket picture from JacquelineKnits ltd. on Etsy. Available for $12 each. (I want one now!))
Be sure to check out Berrybog Farm's awesome weblog! As I mentioned previously, I was there last week picking berries and had my photo taken.
So grab your pail and head out to the farm and pick some nice blueberries then snag one of my blueberry recipes and indulge!
And if you're coming from the Berrybog Blog, welcome and I hope you'll stick around!
Have a great Tuesday everyone!
Oh man was the picking glorious this morning! The berries hung off the bushes like bunches of grapes. I picked just over 10 lbs and I am planning on going back for one more round.
I picked up their Berrybogg Farm blueberry cookbook (only $3). I'm excited to try their blueberry lemon cake. I'll also be making some more Verry Berry Muffins.
There are plenty more blueberries (and blackberries, which I snagged 1/2 pint) that are ripening so make sure to head on over to get some berries for recipes or to freeze for the winter. Happy picking!
(Oh and scroll down for my Dover farmer's market haul post from today as well.)
Wednesday morning I'm off for some blueberry picking at Berrybogg Farm in Strafford, NH. Supposedly the crop has held up through the rain and the bushes are in need of picking. I hope to pick at least 10 lbs. Anyone else go blueberry picking this season? I've already been once to Locke's Blueberry Farm in Barnstead, NH. I picked 7 lbs when I was there. My two kiddos love blueberries though, so I need many more pounds to sustain them through the winter (and all the yummy blueberry recipes I'm finding)!
So I'll update everyone Wednesday afternoon with how picking went and how many pounds I picked. I am also planning on stopping at the Dover Farmer's Market (open from 2 pm - 6 pm). If anyone is interested the Dover, Exeter and Portsmouth farmer's markets will be having canning demonstrations. I want to pick up one of the fact sheets that discusses how to store all the vegetables and produce. Someday I may get into canning or at least freezing my produce for the winter months.
I hope everyone is having a fabulous week!
I had the pleasure to stop by Butternut Farm in Farmington, NH last week. Right now they have "pick your own" peaches, plums, blueberries, apples and tomatoes. The great thing about the farm is that they provide all their containers free of charge. So you don't have to go rummaging around the house trying to find containers!
Check out the nice peaches I picked:
So head on out soon and pick some nice fresh fruit and support your local farmer! It's a great way to get some fresh fruit in the house and let me tell you, the peaches are delicious!
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