Newborn Blessing

Twenty minutes old… meet Blessing…. Sadie’s first delivery. Great new Mama!

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A Ton of Beer

Congratulations Charlie!! I couldn’t be happier for your win. Outstanding weigh-in. You really outdid yourself this year champ!

My friend Charlie, our local weather guru accepting his award for the largest pumpkin grown this year, topping off at a little more than a ton! 2080 lbs to be exact.

My giant pumpkin mentor and who graciously shared his winning seed with me a couple of years ago. One Happy Grower

A ton of pumpkin

Charlie is our local weather forecaster, and in addition to being our chief meteorologist and predicting our weather patterns, he and his family have a hobby of growing pumpkins.. big big giant pumpkins. He’s been doing this for a number of years on his farm and has won in previous years.. but none compare to this years monster! LOL

Well, it turns out in addition to his fantastic win.. a local micro brewery the Saco River Brewery, approached Charlie into to collaborating with them to make the world’s largest fermentation vessel! So yesterday they turned his 2,080 lb prize winning pumpkin into a beer fermenter! LOL I just love this story! After all is said and done, the brewery said they anticipate it being out on the shelves by this Christmas. Imagine that! Woohoo!

This is where the seed extraction took place..

Needed a sawz-all to cut through this baby

LOL and here we have our very brave seed extractor, Charlie. I was fearing he’d fall in! 😃 I’m already envisioning memes being designed for the bottle label LOL something catchy ya know.. like Two Buns & a Pumpkin Pale Ale! 😂

And by last night.. fermentation had begun. Pretty remarkable!! My family and friends are going to just love this story and Xmas gifts this year!

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Just Peachy

I went over to my peach farming friends farm yesterday to pick before the season ends… then spent the rest of the day in the kitchen processing much… spectacular fruits.. huge, juicy and so tasty! Some were frozen, some went into jars of goodness, some I used to bake a cake.. many were munched on as I cooked. LOL! And lastly I tried out a new recipe for dinner. Yum!

Where to begin? Hmmm

Spiced peaches

Peach salsa

Habanero peach jam

Peach amaretto pound cake

Dinner experiment…. peach bourbon glazed shrimp that turned out delicious!

No cooking today.. the humidity is back with low 90’s temps. So I walked very early this morn and plan to park this body on the beach today, and maybe paddle around a bit. Stay cool. 😎

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Singular Sensation

Now isn’t this better than looking at someone’s toe-nail fungus infected foot?? LOL! Gawd, I surely hope so! 😇

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Haying Season

Couldn’t ask for better weather for this June’s haying season.

Second cutting

Baled a week later

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Apple Season

Saturday was such a nice October day, I decided to go visit my friend, Art at their apple orchard to pick up some of his honey crisp apples and cider that we just love around here, this time of year.

It was nice and also, not so nice catching up with all the news of the markets with him, as since I’d decided to retire from vending/managing at our local markets for the past eighteen years.. I’ve just been steering clear of them this past year. Memories and Covid restrictions being the main reasons.. but moreso, the overall feel of the marketplace had changed so drastically in the last year and a half, it was just the right decision for me.

In retrospect I made the right decision when I did.. never knowing that Covid would be on our doorstep the following Spring, and all the headaches and frustration for many that followed, both for the farmers/ growers and the dedicated customers. Art’s main product are apples, peaches, blueberries and cider. My main products were veggies, herbs, cut flowers, herbal soaps, baked goodies, canned and pickled goods. People go to the markets to hand select their chosen favorites vs. a grocery store’s selection of age old pre-bagged selections… that’s always been the appeal of a farmers market… fresh is best! Locally grown is best! Knowing your farmer is best! Sampling goods and certainly in my case of herbal soaps.. smelling is or was a marvelous selling feature!

I can’t tell you how many apples I’ve sampled over the past many years, before making my selection. I could easily make Art crazy LOL.. but he always knew at the end of the day.. that I’d always bring him something fresh baked as a thank you for his patience. 😊

The local mandated theme is no touching, smelling ( though that goes without saying as you are wearing a mask)! nor tasting of any product. You tell the vendor what you’re looking for or want and they, the vendor picks it out for you or it’s already been packaged for purchasing. No crowds in booths.. no crowds mulling about catching up with their neighbors – farmers markets have historically been a great venued meeting place… but nowadays some markets even require you to make an in advance, appointment to shop. Pure craziness! 🙃

Thinking about my own products, I would have been hard pressed to continue on, or make choices of what I needed to focus on versus what I’d weekly bring to my two markets to sell. I literally sold case after case of certain items I’d bring weekly, they were that popular. But also I was fully aware that those cases were sold because I gave out so many samples each week.. even to repeat customers. It was a great marketing tool… it sold them on the goods once they sampled them! Conservatively, I’d venture to guess, speaking for myself.. I’d have to bet I sold 60-70% of my finished goods, due to the fact that I gave out free samples… or that most people’s sense of taste and smell is the clincher! So I got to thinking after my conversation with Art, how much I’d be losing in sales, under the present restrictions… and I’d probably need to re- think just what I prepared.

At the time, one of the markets that I managed.. we had a no duplicity rule of goods. It made it fair for everyone. I mean, it made no sense to me to have six vendors all selling chocolate chip cookies now did it? No duplicity allowed everyone, some sales, rather than none at all.

I think if I were still growing for market today, I’d surely be reconsidering what I was going to be harvesting solely for market. Rather, I’d be focusing on what the other farmers weren’t growing and bringing to the table weekly is what I’d be filling my fields with, instead. I do miss my market friends.. but as purely as luck would have it.. I made the right choice when I did. I have no regrets, but many very warm memories and now have the time to farm leisurely, enjoying every aspect of it… well, except for the deer, the woodchucks and wild turkeys! 😄

I feel so badly for the farmers of today, and applaud them their decision to continue on for as long as they possibly can, and somehow make a profit, when the profit margin is already so low. So please folks.. no matter where in the country you’re located.. support your local farmers, because without them you won’t have fresh foods you want to be raising your families on.

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One Happy Grower

Congratulations, Charlie! WTG! 🎃🎃🎃 My giant pumpkin mentor and who graciously shared his winning seed with me.

Mine didn’t grow to nearly Charlie’s winning size.. but pretty hefty nontheless!

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Berry Delicious Shortcake

June must be the sweetest time of the year. This is the time of year we take to the open strawberry fields and pick til our fingers are red and our backs are broken. And this year, the fields are plentiful with huge scrumptiously delicious berries! I suppose drought conditions have their perks.

So, on this very cool and dry morning,I picked strawberries for tonite’s dessert…strawberry shortcake, tomorrow’s cereal and afternoon smoothies.
Then I’ll go back in a few days and pick more to make jams and to fill my freezer for a taste of spring in the height of our winter. I’m also going to try my hand at making fruit sorbets this summer if all goes as planned.

Strawberry Balsamic Jam

Strawberry picking has become my favorite season these last few years for me–though, I’m pretty keen on our blueberry season as well–but fresh, just picked strawberries are just soooo good! I just had my cast removed from my fall and still hobbling along in a half cast, but my good friend Marianne came along to give me a helping hand picking. Thanks so much my friend!

To me, the most important part of a strawberry shortcake, besides having beautiful strawberries is the shortcake. Wouldn’t you want a moist, sweet flavor of a cake, mixed with the buttery, flakiness of a pastry. These biscuits are so moist on the inside they will almost seem like they are not cooked- but they are! The top is biscuity ( is that even a word?) and has a nice sugary crust. Paired with a vanilla scented whipped cream and fresh strawberries, well it’s just a delicious treat. Your friends and family will just love them!

Be sure to save this recipe.. as blueberry, raspberry and peach season will be along soon, too! Can you tell I have a thing for fruit shortcake desserts?! 😁 Heck, yes!

Strawberry Shortcake

2 cups flour
3 TBLS sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup cold butter, cut up into small pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups fresh strawberries, stems removed and halved
3 TBLS sugar

Whipped Cream
1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
2 TBLS white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

The Berries

Take two cups of the sliced strawberries and add them to a bowl. Sprinkle them with the 3 TBLS of sugar, and leave them to meld.

Shortcake Biscuit

In a food processor, add the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Pulse to combine. Pulse in the cold butter and mix until the dough has a coarse crumb texture.
In a separate bowl, combine the cream and the vanilla. Add this to the wet ingredients and pulse to combine. The dough will be moist and crumbly. Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Press the dough together with your hands until it forms a disc of dough. Cut it into 6 pieces, and gently form them into circles.

Place the shortcakes onto a silpat or parchment lined sheet pan. Gently brush the tops with a little leftover cream and sprinkle them with sugar. Bake the shortcakes for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool at least slightly before cutting them in half horizontally.

Now remove the top of the shortcake and spoon about a half cup of the strawberries and juices onto the bottom of the cake. Top those berries with a big dollop of whipped cream. Place the top on the shortcake, and add another half cup of sliced strawberries, another smaller dollop of whipped cream and garnish the top each with a strawberry, and serve. You’d think you have died and gone to strawberry fields heaven! 🍓😊

Berry Delicious Shortcake

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Five Islands

A perfect day to head north to one of my fave haunts. Picked up a few trays of seedlings, had a scrumptious lunch, and picked up one small piece of garden statuary. All in all, a great day!

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Sweet Luigi

Sweet Luigi 💕 Best little wether we ever had.

Sweet Luigi

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