The summer rains have begun, the regular drenching each evening that turns the pastures into emerald green swards of luscious grass. It’s been so many months since I have really been rained on, I had almost forgotten the warm-but-wet-to-the skin feeling. I was stuck in a good, drenching rain over the weekend, one of those…
Author: toadstoolsfairyrings
The Patisserie
We have had the best summer crafty project going lately – in the summer I always like to have something fun to work on that we didn’t get time for during the rest of the year. Summer here is like the deep winter of other climes. The weather and bugs make you want to lethargically…
Born Before A Storm
Last Friday I noticed April bleating now and then while I was milking Matilda. This isn’t unusual – often the goats will stand around and bleat piteously at me in hopes that I will realize how sad and deprived they are and move the entire container of milking ration over for them to gobble up. …
Plenty From The Garden
The season has turned, from being one where we watch the tiny flowers and fruits and wonder just when they will be ready to harvest, to where I have to make several trips out of the garden with armloads of vegetables. There is a considerable shift on our table, as well. Late spring meals tend…
HARICOTS VERTS A LA LYONNAISE: Lyon-style Green Beans
R. Blondeau details three ways that beans are prepared: as green beans before the seeds develop (haricots verts), or after the seeds develop as shelly beans (haricots ecosses, or husked beans), or as dry beans. Snap beans (called le mange-tout) are tender enough to be eaten whole, seeds and husks. I had two kinds of…
The Tadpoles
We are expecting goat babies to be born any day now, but in the meantime, there have been thousands of unanticipated babies that appeared last week. Last Friday we had friends out to the farm. The weather was so sticky and hot, we filled up a huge galvanized water trough for the kids to splash…
A Small Task
The coriander in the garden has all gone to seed. Some years I will be so busy with things, I leave it to moulder and keel back over into the earth. This year I noticed it, drying beside the calendula, and pulled some of the stalks. It was difficult to pick the seeds off the…
POMMES DE TERRE AU FROMAGE: Potatoes With Cheese
This is the last recipe featuring potatoes for the year – for our garden, at least, the season is over, and all the potatoes dug and eaten. The provisions have shifted to fresher, lighter, greener offerings – green beans, tomatoes, summer squash – and so the recipe testing here must vary accordingly. While we have…
Something new at last
I love the way vegetables sneak up on you. When you first plant the seeds, the harvest seems so vague and far away. The little plants start out so small, and for a long time it seems they will never get any bigger. Then suddenly there they are – all ready to pick, hiding away…
Onions!
Some tears were shed this week as we harvested the onions to make space for the Dudley farm corn, which will hopefully be planted this weekend. These onions are strong, and I unthinkingly rubbed one of my eyes after pulling several armfuls. We got a lot of each kind – red, white and yellow,…
POTAGE AUX QUENELLES: Soup With Dumplings
This recipe caught my eye as I was translating the soups section, because it sounded so unusual. Last week I made a large pot of rich beef broth, and had broth and marrow from the bones on hand – a perfect opportunity to try it out. Of course I wasn’t sure at all what it…
Toadstools And Fairy Rings 