morning light on the big tree

I took this at about 8:30AM this morning - it is the sunrise on the big Norway maple tree that faces East.  I'm heading to Detroit + on to Maine this weekend, so won't be posting anything new for a week or so.

cheeses, waxed

Both the gouda and Monterray jack cheeses I made over the past few weeks got a coat of wax - I use food grade wax, and nothing makes a bigger mess of your kitchen - stubborn little drips of wax everywhere...

These two wheels will take a long nap through the winter, becoming ripe some time next Spring

sky study #20

October 22, 2010

pepper jack

Michelle and I made a beautiful 10 pound wheel of pepper jack, with peppers were from the garden.

NYC reprezent

Power sister Michelle visited from New York City this weekend - we had a great time despite the rain on Saturday

Pumpkin-o-rama on the Mission Peninsula

At the antique shop

Stirring the cheese curd!

carrot sunflower burgers

Sue's Carrot Sunflower Burgers

3 cups grated raw carrot

2 cups ground sunflower seeds (just put carrots and sunflower seeds in the food processor together)

2 eggs

2/3 cup ground flax seed

season with southwest seasoning blend, salt, pepper

1/4 up sesame seeds

Add just enough water to hold dough together, form patties and coat them in cornmeal.  Pan fry in some oil.

I served mine with cole slaw from the garden and home made pickles!

sky study #19

October 18, 2010

a little history

My friend Bob Andersen in Detroit has been looking up old Michigan census records, and found the Dean family who settled this farm in the mid-1800s.  I put a faint red circle around the details (double click to open the image in a separate, larger window), but you can clearly read the names of the family members who were living here in 1920.  They included Frank + Allie Dean, who were the original homesteaders of the land.  Kingsley was called Paradise Township at that time, which couldn't be a more appropriate name.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Mike Kurta Jr., born October 17, 1937

walks, waffles and the Honda

Power friends Andy, Leigh, Andrew + Julia came up for a Fall farm weekend and we had a blast!

Waffle breakfast

All ages motorcycle rumble

Walking in the woods

Out in the pasture

I love when friends visit the farm and can share all the peace and beauty here.

Fall colors up North

Traverse City + the bay

monster egg update

It was a double-yolker!

sky study #18

October 11, 2010

monster egg

Whitey laid this enormous 3" egg this morning

Hot peppers! Check 'em and see...dried on top of the cage of Bunny Lee...

Come on baby, do you do more than dance?

my first Michigan cheese

Just pulled this wheel of gouda with cumin seed from the mould this morning.  It's the first large wheel of cheese I've made since living here.  Now it will spend a day in brine and then age for a few weeks before being waxed and taking a nap for several months.  Boss Mouse lives!

why Pucci is almost 14 years old

I feed Pucci dog stew, which I make from whey, the byproduct of the cheese making process.  Whey is highly nutritious - just read the labels on your protein powder and power bars.  I make dog food about once a month, and have for all the years I've had Pucci.  I add all kinds of vegetables and brown rice, seaweed, the kitchen sink - it smells good, it costs almost nothing, and she couldn't be healthier.  It's the way people fed domestic animals years ago, with kitchen scraps and fresh food.  I reject any nonsense about animals not eating "people" food - she's the healthiest old dog in the whole world.  

sky study #17

October 8, 2010

French feast!

Megan and I had a French food dinner party last night - clockwise from the top:  potatoes au gratin, radishes with salt and toasts, cheese souffle, green beans and asiago baguette!  We also made an apple tatin and drank prosecco with concord grapes - c'est bon!

Megan with squash eyes

rogues

The hens laid 5 eggs under a big pine tree near the back of the house over the past few days.  I discovered the nest and took all of the eggs, and today will begin their training.  How do you get chickens to lay eggs where you want them to, inside their coop?  There are several ways.  First, don't let them outside until late morning - most hens lay their eggs before noon.  Make their nesting boxes really appealing, with lots of clean fluffy bedding, and place a few eggs, or even golf balls, where you want them to lay, and they will get the idea.  

Goldie, Red + Red

so pretty

the final harvest - I'm serious this time

This is the very last of the vegetables from the garden - we've had frost the past two nights, so this is what I salvaged that was still in good shape.  All of the green tomatoes I've picked ripen up just fine on the windowsills.

pumpkins + gourds

My Fall display under the historic sign

more hot sauce

I made almost a gallon of this sauce - it's kind of like thick Tabasco, sweet and tomatoey

Then I made 4 cups of this....the most insane hot sauce I have ever had.  20+ habanero peppers, cilantro, garlic - it tastes great, if you can get past the heat.  

sky study #16

October 1, 2010

the death of my chore pants

I've worn the same pair of chore pants when doing farm work since 2008.  You don't even want to know the fluids and filth they have come in contact with over the years.  Today I was climbing up in the rafters of the chicken coop checking if they had laid eggs in any weird places, when RRRRIP!  The ass tore out of them, full on pants-splitter.  Yes, that is bright pink underwear.

the Outhouse

My farm didn't have indoor plumbing until the mid-1950s;  before that you used this outhouse, which used to sit in the back yard.  The former owner thought it was "tacky" and paid a neighbor to take it away to his own yard, where it has sat out of use and in disrepair for years.  My neighbor kindly brought it back over yesterday, where it belongs.  I put it behind the small barn, and want to get it working again.  

Nothing sets a romantic mood like visiting the outhouse with your date, and lucky for you mine is a two-seater!