SPINNING RETREAT

SPINNING RETREAT AT CRICKET SONG FARM

AUGUST 13th and 14th

EVERYONE IS INVITED

you do not need to be a CSA member

a $20.00 donation  would be appreciated and will be donated to infant heart research

come when you can or come stay the 2 days

bring your camper or tents

and make em' purty cause

an award will be given to the best camp

we are goin' to have a GREAT time----

learning to spin, and  knit, making (easy) booties for the

babies at Primary Children's Hospital

( would each of you please bring a skein or two of yarn to donate for the booties)

AGENDA

Aug. 13th

2:00- 4:00 arrive and set up camp

.

4:00  wool preparation demo:  picking, washing, carding

5:00 FARM WALK---meet the sheep

6:00  supper----please bring your own and a dessert to share with everyone

camp judging

7:00-9:00 drop spindle spinning and instruction

DROP SPINDLES  will cost $25.00 if you would like to purchase one ( I need to know asap so they can be ordered)  EMAIL me  cricketsongfarm@hotmail.com

 a couple of spindles and some wool will be available for use/share

please bring your own equipment and wool roving if you are already a spinner

Aug 14th

6:00 morning chores if you would like to participate----or sleep in lazybones!

9:00  Breakfast-provided-  Spinach Quiche and fruit

10:00 Learn to knit

11:30  we will be making home-made cards to go with the booties

 

1:00  Lunch-- provided--- 

2:00  use your newly acquired knitting skills to make a pair  or two

 of baby booties

6:00 break camp and hit the trail

This is my friend LINDA.  She has a wonderful little store that is stuffed full of spinning and knitting supplies.  It is located at the Cottonwood Store in Enterprise.  Stop by and see her for supplies before you come out to the farm.  Look her up on the Internet....www.rewespinning.com

WE WILL ALSO BE HAVING AN EXCHANGE TABLE FOR THOSE INTERESTED, PLEASE BRING 3 ITEMS TO PLACE ON THE TABLE.    What is an exchange table?  Bring NICE items that are related to spinning or knitting or just fun girly stuff----books, bath salts etc.  Those who bring items will have their names placed in a bowl and then names are drawn out and the person drawn is allowed to pick something from the table.  This is a lot of fun.  My spinning guild does it up north and everyone really enjoys it.

PLEASE R.S.V.P.

just let me know at market

 

DON'T FORGET YOUR CAMP CHAIRS, SUNSCREEN, HATS, JACKETS

Radish Report

                                 I can sum up this week with 3 words starting with W.


1. WEED, WEED, WEED

2.  WORK, WORK, WORK

3.  WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL, WRAIN !!!!

I THANK YOU

Just got home from another day at farmer's market.  I am thankful to have the opportunity to grow you the best food.  It is just picked, full of nutrients, chemical free, and grown with care.  For  the gratitude expressed to me by my CSA members and loyal customers when they stop by my booth or pick up their share.  You folks make me SMILE!!!!

I appreciate those of you who have believed in our sustainable family farm by purchasing a share in our CSA.   We are Southern Utah's longest running CSA.  Established in 1993.  I am humbled by your smiles and thanks as you receive your weeks' delivery.  You can be assured our family takes great pride in growing vegetables that will contribute to your well being.  I often wish I could do more to help others in this crazy world, but have come to realize that feeding families good, NUTRITIONAL, TASTY, DELICIOUS,YUMMY, STUPENDOUS, etc. food is one of the greatest things I can do for others. 

 Better food....... better health.....better health.........better LIFE.......

This year has had a bounty of set backs for us so the shares have not had the variety I would of liked.  I appreciate your cooperation in this and especially for little sister Shelly for providing  some of the veges and fruit. 

Just wanted everyone to know.......

THANKS A BUNCH------BUNDLE-------BASKET-------PICK-UP LOAD-------

SHOOT, LET'S JUST MAKE IT

THANKS A TON!!!!!

JILL   your   FARMHER

HUNDREDS....and I mean  HUNDREDS....... of man hours of weeding go into the gardens each week because of our committment to you   (and our conscience)  of using PURE, natural gardening techniques........no pesticides, chemicals, or FERTILIZERS......just well aged compost made here at the farm

SUGAR SNAPS just waiting to be picked

a PERFECT day

Do you ever have one of those days when everything goes wrong, the car breaks down half-way on your way to your son's wedding and you still have a 2 hour drive, ( and the wedding starts in a little over 3 hours), you drive all the way from Roosevelt to Bunkerville Nevada (about 500 miles one way) to see your sister who is going to show you how to do your blog....and the Internet goes out just minutes before you get there, not just at her house, but the WHOLE town so we couldn't even go to the library.  It was worth the drive however just to see Vicky and her cute little family and all the amazing things she is working on.  Your house gets struck by lightening and fries the pump for the water well, not just once but 3 times we have been hit.  You wake up and overnight the chipmunks and rabbits have wiped out an entire acre of squash,  the 4th of July frost takes down all the tomatoes.   Not complaining, but it is rather humorous around here that things just are always a bit askew.......and if it can go wrong it usually does.......and we just have to laugh about it.  Well, yesterday we had a perfect day.....come to think of it every day in my life is perfect.........., just once in a great while there is a day when absolutely nothing goes wrong.  Yesterday was that day.

We started off 6:00 a.m. with our typical summer morning weather........45 degrees.........and our typical summer morning attire:

winter coats and stocking hats

I didn't have to lug around the bales of hay

my little feller did it for me 

my sweety milked for me

in about 3 hours time

we got 4 rows of this 30x100' patch weeded and All of the 30'x100' bean patch weeded

walked down the lane around 10:00 for breakfast.....ate local cantaloupe to tide us over until the roasted veges were done 

 beautiful peppers I got at market from Janae

mixed with new potatoes, baby beets, onions and carrots

drizzle on enough olive oil to coat well and just a little more cause it tastes sooooo good,  add freshly ground sea salt, and seasonings of choice.    I like Italian.  You might try spicy Cajun, or even use a salad dressing or vinaigrette

Place on a large baking sheet.

Roast in a hot oven--400%--- until the skins are crisp.  Stir often.

Got pounded on by nickle sized hail while the potatoes were cooking.  I was afraid it would beat down all the crops, especially the beans we had just weeded, BUT it didn't last long enough to do much damage.....WHEW!

Here's the best part......... Glen was able to get he and I tickets to see to the matinee production of Les Miserables in Cedar City at the Shakespearean Theater.  I am at a loss of words to even describe the poignant beauty of the production.  Sell your car if you have to and go!

The boys worked hard and got  a couple more walls painted while we were gone.

the vehicle reached a milestone on our way to Cedar

hopefully.......... it will go another

100,000

And to end an already perfect day.  It rained and rained while we were gone!  This is what we came home to

our neighbors road looked like this......hope he can get to work

The evening was spent working in my yard at the house because I didn't have to be at the farm watering. 

I am still smiling.  HOPE you have a perfect day in the near future.

RAIN DROPS are fallin' on my head

buckets hoping to catch a little rain

This past week the rains finally came. It sputtered off and on for several days and Friday night we got a nice little sprinkling.  Saturday morning early (5:00) just  as we began harvesting it began to pour.  Were we upset?  HECK NO.  We put on jackets and went to work.  We laughed, we sang, we twirled a time or two and we got drenched!  It was amazing.  There is just something magical about rain in the desert.  The whole world comes alive before your eyes.  You can hear the plants rejoicing, stretching out their leaves to catch every drop.  The ground shaking off its dusty, drab, layer and cloaking itself in a fresh new gown.  The sage brush fragrance is so pungent you stop and take a huge breath, filling your lungs with it's aroma.  I would have liked to stay and play in the mud-puddles, but we had to load up and get to market.  We quickly changed into dry clothes and made the drive to St. George.  It rained the entire way down! Once again we got soaked as we unloaded the vehicle, but did I care?          HECK NO!

Thanks to all those who braved the storm and came out to support the market.  We as farmers appreciate your support.

CORNER OFFICE with a view

In the south-facing Sun room connected to my little red house, resides my corner office.  It is my place of warmth during the long winter months while I am impatiently waiting for spring.  It is my sanctuary, a place to sit and dream, make goals for the upcoming CSA season, a place to draw and paint.

An old metal army filing cabinet hides my tools, my  desk drawers hold drawings of the gardens  and rotation schedules for the coming year.  I have a soft pillow to sit on. and my drawing pencils, close at hand, are stashed in copper goblets.  White billowy curtains filter the bright sunlight.  A vintage chandelier lights my desk when I come in from the gardens long after dark.

Behind me are my HARVEST MAIDENS

A wooden, hand-carved, 3 layer vegetable tray holds my trinkets, and the hand drawn and colored business cards I am always working on.  I can gaze out my picture windows and see my farm at the end of the long lane.......a destination........  Doves are raising little ones right over my head in the shelter of the eves.

This little corner of my world reminds me to stop long enough to SEE  the beauty around me.

I guess it's not really an office at all. 

Mom's sellin WEED(s) at market

lambs quarter

white goose foot

fat hen

wild spinach

Hold your horses, and don't get your knickers all tied in knots, it's not that kind of weed.  I purposely raise a beautiful patch of weeds to sell at the Farmer's Market.  We have been supplying weeds for the past 5 years with mixed reviews.  Last week I was surprised we sold all the LAMB QUARTER we harvested.  Usually I will have one or two people purchase it, but this week the whole basket sold!  Lamb's quarter, or wild spinach as it is know by, is a leafy, dark green weed full of vitamins and minerals.  It has an extremely long tap root which pulls  nutrients from deep in the soil.,  It is high in Vitamin C and Riboflavin.  1 cup wilted Lambs Quarter. contains high amounts of Vitamin A, Folate, Magnesium, Potassium, Vitamin E, B6, and Thiamine.  It is also referred as white goose foot or fat hen.  It's botanical name is Chenopodium album.  Several years ago my youngest son and I were weeding together early in the morning.  He was half asleep and plopped down by my cultivated 20x30 foot patch of lambs' quarter and began weeding.  I am sure he thought this is a good place to weed without having to exert myself this early in the morning.   " Jake," I said,  "Don't pull the lambs quarter  in that patch.  It's just about ready to take to market."  I wish you could have seen the look on his face when he realized that I actually SOLD the weed at market and that people actually PAID money, cold hard cash, for weeds at market.  I guess that is quite a concept to wrap your mind around when you are 10 years old and it's 5:30 in the morning.  Now it is just a big joke about having a mom who sells weed(s) at the farmer's market.  This week we will have both Lambs Quarter and Dandy-lion Greens.  Be brave and try some!

  I raised my kids on dandy lions.  Making syrup and jelly from the flower heads, sitting in the tall grass eating the fresh picked greens as we made necklaces from the stems.  Weaving the bright flowers into the thick braids of my daughter's hair.  Making wishes before blowing the seeds high in the breeze to be carried away for another sun-shiny day's harvest.  I loved getting the first flowers of spring from tiny hands covered in dirt, a huge smile and accompanied by a hug.   I would have several glasses filled with water and bright cheery yellow flowers lining the window seal above the kitchen sink.  Dandy-lions are welcome in my yard.

LAMBS QUARTER SPREAD

 1/3 c. olives, 1 tsp. mustard, 2 tbs. olive oil

2 cups lamb quarter leaves stripped from stem.  1 small onion, 1 ripe avocado, 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts.

Process in a food processor and serve on your favorite crusty bread.

QUICHE

4 cups leaves

3 eggs

1 3/4 cup milk

1 small shallot

2 cups cheese grated

2 tbs. flour

Saute shallot until tender, add lambs quarter.  Wilt for 3 minutes.  Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.

In a prepared pie crust sprinkle half of the grated cheese.  Place a layer of lambs quarter, a layer of cheese, lambs quarter, pour over eggs and milk mixture.  Top with a thick layer of cheese.

Bake 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Note this is similar to the Spinach Quiche in an earlier blog

WILTED LAMBS QUARTER

Steam lambs quarter lightly.  Plate and drizzle with olive oil

 and fresh minced garlic and seasoning.

LAMBS QUARTER AND FILLO DOUGH PIE

4 cups lambs quarter

2 eggs beaten

9 oz. feta or fresh goat cheese

1/2 c. pine nuts toasted

1/2 cup scallions

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1/2 pound fillo dough

 Strip the leaves off the stems.  Measure out 4 cups.

                                   Saute scallions, add lambs quarter and parsley, wilt for 3 to 5 minutes

Set aside to cool slightly.

In a pie plate lined with parchment paper, layer the fillo dough alternately so when the edges are folded up it will fully in-case the lambs quarter.  Brush with butter between layers.  Crumble 1/2 cup cheese over bottom of pan.  Fold  pine nuts into greens and place over cheese in the bottom of the pie pan.  Salt and Pepper.  Pour eggs over top.  Fold up the edges of the dough, brushing with butter.  Transfer the pie to a large baking sheet and bake in a 375 oven for 35 minutes.

using our farm-fresh eggs and home-made goat cheese makes everything (even weeds ) taste better

DAIRY GOATS

Diamond as a 6 year old.  She was awarded, GRAND-CHAMPION NUBIAN,

 and BEST OF BREED in an ADGA show where this picture was taken..

It has been many years since we have shown in AMERICAN DAIRY GOAT ASSOCIATION shows, however we still have a nice herd of does.

Diamond was killed in the fall after this picture was taken by the neighbors dogs.  I had a pen of over 20 does to choose from and they picked her.  Sad day at our house. We used her buck kid for many years as our herd Sire until he died of old age. 

When purchasing a goat there are several factors that you should consider. 

1.  WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE GOAT.

Are you going to show?  Kids's 4-H PROJECT?  Milk only? Registered or not?  Evaluate the role the goat will have.

2. WHAT BREED OF GOAT DO I PURCHASE? 

Visit several breeders and find out why they have chosen that particulat breed.  Study the pros and cons of every breed.  There is not a breed better than another, they all have specific traits, personalities and functions, find which breeds best fits your needs. 

3.   DO I HAVE PROPER HOUSING, FENCING AND LAND

Goats need a shelter to keep them out of the weather and heat.  Room to jump and play.  Fences that are tall, strong, and sturdy.  Goats are intelligent, can open gates and find a way to escape if at all possible. 

4.  MAKE SURE THE GOATS ARE CAE FREE, TB FREE AND IN GOOD HEALTH

CAE is a debilitating arthritic disease and will spread throughout your herd.  It will eventually kill the animal.  I even question drinking the milk from an infected animal.  These test can be preformed by a local vet.

5. MILK

If the purpose of buying a goat is for milk several considerations need to be made.  How does the udder look, will it hold up to years of milking, it it attached well, are the teats milkable, have there been any infections,  what is the amount of milk produced?  Milk the goat before buying.  Different breeds give different amounts of milk and variable butterfat content.  If you are making cheese the Nubians are highest in butterfat content.  Our girls tested between 6 and 7% in DHIA testing.  The milk is a little sweeter also.  If you are after volume the Saneen give a high volume of milk, but with very lower butter fat.  However my Nubian girls give well over a gallon a day and some even over 2 gallons a day.  The alpine is a dual purpose breed, a good volume of milk, medium range butterfat, they are also the breed most prefered for packing.  The Lamanchas are a little smaller, gentle and moderate milk producers.  We  had our little  miss piggy for many years.   We have had all the breeds in our past 27 years.  We have had more than 25 milkers on the milk string, which we milked by hand.  We prefer the Nubians.  If you are buying a goat to milk, pay the price for a good milker.  Your investment will be returned within a short time.

    

This is PLUM as a 2 year old.  Notice the udder attachment in the fore- udder.  It should blend smoothly into the under-belly.  The rear udder should be well rounded and connected to the thighs.  The teats should be well placed and uniform.  Plum died last year.  She had triplets.  She produced  30+ kids over the years.  Her udder looked the same as the above picture after kidding 14 times and 14 years of milking.  We miss you PLUM.  May your pastures always be green!

SUGAR, on the left, is PLUMS dam.  Sugar always showed against Diamond, giving her a challenge in every ring.  Sugar died year before last at 14 years old also.   I miss her the most.  The life expecancy of a goat is about 9 years unless you spoil them like we do.  Absoutly the best alfalfa hay I can buy, free fed, grain of superior quality and lots of attention.  

6.  BREED TO THE BEST BUCK YOU CAN

Always pay the price for a good breeding.  Many people who have goats do not do any outside breeding to keep disease out of their herds.  Myself included.  There-fore it makes it difficult for those who have goats, but cannot keep a buck.  A.I. is an option.  Check with your local vet and see if it would be available.  You can have a good selection of bucks to choose from.  Please always breed to the best available option.  If we are adding goats to the population lets take our responsibility seriously.