Welcome! I'm happy you stopped by. I hope that you find something useful here to aid you on your journey!
July 11, 2014 - Another warm day on the way!
We've had a couple of comfortable days, which is something we can all be thankful for in Kansas in July. We're headed back into the 90+ degree area today and tomorrow, though. I'm going to have to consider watering the garden again. We've had about two inches of rain in the last seven days. If we don't get more in the next 48 hours, it'll be time to pull out the garden hoses again.
Conventional wisdom says: Water one inch per week. Increase that by 1/2 an inch for every ten degrees that the average daily temperature is above 60º F. There's an entire, complicated formula for calculating how much water you need, but basically if the days are in the:
- 60s, water 1 inch per week
- 70s, water 1 1/2 inches per week
- 80s, water 2 inches per week
- 90s, water 2 1/2 inches per week.
Oh, and one inch of rain roughly equals 15 gallons of water per 25-ft garden row.
We flood irrigate, using a 50 gallon barrel with a hose outlet to measure flow. We fill the barrel, then water until it's empty, then refill it and start over. It's a little time-consuming, but low-tech (cheap!). You can also time how long it takes to fill a 5-gallon bucket from your hydrant, then multiply that time by 3 for running 15 gallons.
If you use a sprinkler, put a cake pan in the garden row and see how long your sprinkler takes to put an inch of water in the pan!
About me:
My name is Theresa, aka "Tree" to some longtime friends and a few relatives.
I'm a (mostly) stay-at-home-mom of two. My passions include my family, my faith, and living in a simple manner that respects the blessings we have been given.
You have visited the land and watered it; greatly have you enriched it. God’s watercourses are filled; you have prepared the grain.You have crowned the year with your bounty, and your paths overflow with a rich harvest; The untilled meadows overflow with it, and rejoicing clothes the hills.
Psalms 65: 10, 12-13
Our Dear Daughter took the above picture. I was looking for a photo of a wheat field, and when I saw it, I was inspired to sketch the image in the top photo, changing the soybeans in the photo to wheat. But I still wanted to share the photo she had taken!
Summer Dining From the Farm
Pancakes
I've been thinking about wheat this week. The Kansas wheat harvest is in process. It's my favorite crop to see in the fields, and it's the grain that I favor in my kitchen.
There are a lot of different ways that we use wheat in our kitchen. I go through cycles when I bake every Thursday without fail. Then I have days, weeks, when the call of the garden is too powerful to ignore, and I spend all day outside.
Today I thought I would share with you a recipe that I have used for many years. The original recipe came from the Tassajara Bread Book, an awesome book of baking recipes (not just bread). I've modified it somewhat.
1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour 2/3 cup soy flour
3 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs 2 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Sift all your dry ingredients into a bowl. Combine the wet ingredients in another bowl. Mix the two together in the larger bowl. Cook on hot griddle, flipping when there are numerous bubbles on top of the cooking batter, but before the edges start to appear dry.
Okay, now for additional notes:
In place of the whole wheat flour, we sometimes use a flour that I've ground from 7-Grain Cereal that we buy in bulk and keep in our freezer. When I use that, I have to let it sit for 30 minutes to allow the flour to absorb the liquid a bit, so it sticks together better.
You can separate your eggs, adding the yolks with the wet ingredients, then beating the whites until stiff. Fold the beaten egg whites into the batter after combining the wet and dry ingredients. This is extra work, but makes for thicker pancakes. If you're making waffles, you definitely need to beat the egg whites!
I've made this recipe with water instead of milk. The texture is a little different, but they're still edible.
Instead of oil, I've used melted butter (1 stick). I've also used applesauce.
Almost Maple Syrup
I discovered this recipe recently and wish I'd had it forever. We are constantly running out of pancake syrup. I don't like the cheap fake stuff from the store, mostly because it is just corn syrup with coloring and flavoring, and a bunch of preservatives. I love real maple syrup, but it is not cheap. (Still waiting for those maple trees in our yard to get big enough to tap!)
In the meantime, you can make a cheater syrup by taking 1 cup each of brown sugar, white sugar, and water. Bring it to a boil. Make sure you have a pan that will handle it boiling up. Keep it at a boil for two minutes, stirring constantly. After two minutes, remove from heat and add 1 tsp. of flavoring. Maple would be the most common, but we like vanilla and also root beer flavoring. You can divide the batch in half and put a half teaspoon of flavoring in each part, so you have two different flavors from one batch.
Protein
Now, I can not just eat carbs for breakfast. It makes me feel fuzzy and unable to focus until lunchtime. I need protein of some kind along with the pancakes and syrup.
Eggs are usually the fast-and-simple protein of choice for me. With our hens, we almost always have eggs on hand. It doesn't take much to cook them. And even though every member of our household likes them a different way, everyone will eat them. (Reminds me of a Baby Blues cartoon, "The early bird gets the worm, then has to cook it five different ways!")
My favorite way to prepare eggs is Medium Basted. Start with your skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Add a spritz of cooking spray. Crack your eggs into the pan. Allow the eggs to cook, uncovered until the whites are mostly set (meaning they're white instead of clear). Have a lid ready. Now pour about 2 tablespoons of water into the skillet and quickly cover with the lid. Leave the heat on for about 30 more seconds. Then turn off the heat, leaving the lid on for another minute or so. When you do lift the lid, the whites should be set, the yolks should be soft, but with a white film on them. Carefully transfer them to the plate and season to taste.
That's all there is to it.
Now you've had a good breakfast with carbs for quick energy and protein for longer fulfillment. Have a great morning!