Turkey Tracks: August Dinner

Turkey Tracks: August 25, 2013

August Dinner

On Friday I pick up my produce from my CSA (Community Shared Agriculture). We CSA members are now at the point where we are getting A LOT of food. As I put away the food, I isolated these ingredients for my supper.

I LOVE Romano green beans. They are my favorites. (Well, ok, I like the haricot verts, too. And the Dragon’s Tongue. And the Providers.) After the CSA, I came home and made a fresh bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich–on gluten free bread–Sami’s–and saved the bacon grease. Lard is really good for you, actually. By keeping the grease on the stove from lunch to dinner, I was creating an asset to use later.

That purple veggie is a kolhrabi. They also come in green. They’re good grated or sliced thinly and sautéed. They’re nice, too, diced and thrown into a lighter summer veggie soup.

First, I cut up the eggplant, put it into a colander over a bowl, and salted it.

Next, I made a fresh salad–made by grating the kohlrabi and some of these tender new carrots. I added in some corn I took off the cob a few days ago–I always cook extra corn and reserve the kernels for salads this time of year. Again, that’s creating an asset for later. I shaved in some parsley. And over it all, I poured a mustardy, garlicky vinaigrette. I keep that kind of salad dressing all made out on the counter–where it just gets better and better. It’s another asset. The salad went into the frig to mellow out. (It is good for several days.)

Next, I washed and snapped the Romano beans and put them into a saucepan with some of the bacon grease, water, and some salt. I wanted them “Southern Style”–or cooked until soft.

Then, I cut up all my lovely vegetables and put them into the cast-iron skillet where I fried the bacon. i also added a lump of unrefined coconut oil, which is so, so good for you and very, very stable–unlike frying with olive oil. (I reserve olive oil now mostly for eating on salads.)

What you see in this pan is the following: the eggplant, the fresh onion, yellow squash, zucchini squash, some fava beans i soaked in salted water and peeled (assets, yes, bukt boy are they a lot of work), and some sliced new potatoes. Add some good sea salt.

When the veggies had cooked down a bit, I added the tomato and some basil, some chive, and some mint from the garden. Maybe some tarragon, too. (An herb garden is a major asset.) I don’t know what it is about mint in this kind of dish, but it’s delicious. See the color developing?

It’s your call as to when you think the dish is ready. Here’s how far I took this batch–and the flavor was deep and rich and gorgeous. I shaved in some parsley to finish it.

Meanwhile, I had put chicken thighs into the oven–dressed with butter and lemon slices.

When the chicken was done–I poured myself a glass of orange/cucumber/lemon/rosemary infused water. (You can see I need to make more sauerkraut–which is chock full of enzymes and probiotics. I try to eat a little every day of one of these lacto-fermented veggie concoctions.)

And here’s my plate of beautiful, beautiful summer food:

I should have added one of the lacto-fermented dill pickles i just took out of the crock and refrigerated. The roasted lemon slices carmelize, become sweet, and are delicious.

Best of all, I will have at least two meals to reheat and enjoy–or some fun foods to have for lunch.

And, look, folks. Not a recipe in sight. This kind of cooking is my most favorite. You cook, simply, what is in season because that’s all you need to do. The fresh, wonderful food will do the rest for you.

Turkey Tracks: Gardens in the Watershed: The Dorolenna Farm

Turkey Tracks: August 23, 2013

Gardens in the Watershed:

The Dorolenna Farm

This farm was Giovanna McCarthy’s and my last stop on this years Gardens in the Watershed Tour, hosted and planned by The Georges River Land Trust.

In every garden, Giovanna and I learned so much more than each of us–both avid gardeners–knew. Our creativity was sparked, and we both went home feeling we had spent our day quite well.

Andrew and Victoria Marshall have owned this 250-acre farm for seven years. It’s beautiful land, with a mixture of forest and pasture. The homestead dates to 1840 and is one of the few remaining farmsteads of the “Frye Mountain community which populated the area until the 1930s.

Dorolenna Farm is “certified organic and produces vegetables, tree fruit, pasture-raised poultry, cut flowers, and forest products for local markets.”

The barn is GORGEOUS. (I love barns.) The Marshalls built the barn in 2009 from wood harvested, milled, and cut on their farm. The barn was raised on-site. (Wish I’d been there.)

Here’s a picture of what must be the original part of the house–on the right.

Here’s a long at the house and how it spreads out against the hill. The barn is on the other side of the house, and I did not get a picture of it. By this time of the day, Giovanna and I were tired and hot, and I, at least, got lazy with my camera. I think I was a little on overload at this point too.

Pastured poultry is one of the farm’s crops. That process happens in stages where each chicken cohort gets raised together through all the steps until time for harvest. There were chicken tractors out on the pasture holding the different age groups. These would get moved every day so that the chickens have access to fresh grass, bugs, and are out of their own poop. And the tractors protect them from predators.

Here are a group of babies just starting out:

It’s so fun to watch baby chickens at this age. They eat, run around, then flop down in a pile to sleep for a bit.

The chicken barn is on the road to the house, so one walks along the road that winds through forest. You can see the old rock wall where the early settlers cleared this land and planted it. Rock walls like this one are frequently seen in Maine woods–reminders of another era.

The gardens around the house were quite lovely. Here’s my favorite shot of delphiniums against the sky:

Fields near the house were planted to potatoes–which make a beautiful, richly colored green plant that has blooms.

Turkey Tracks: Black Trumpet Video

Turkey Tracks: August 23, 2013

Black Trumpet Video

Well, I don’t quite know what I did to make the video work.

I’ve been doing what I think of as a “computer dance”–reading instructions from WordPress, trying to find out how to clean out the browser stash, the cookie stash, etc. And to figure out whether or not to use Google Chrome as the default setting…

Whatever I did, the video now loaded. Yeah!

What you see at first in the video is Rosie Chickie. She’s the remaining survivor of the fox attack of this spring, and she follows me everywhere in the yard.

Turkey Tracks: Camp Lovey

Turkey Tracks: August 22, 2013

Camp Lovey

I had my two grandsons, 8 1/2 and almost 10, here in Maine for two weeks on my own.

It was glorious.

They did the Camden Yacht Club sailing camp in the mornings–even swimming in the cold harbor water every day.

And Camp Lovey the rest of the time.

Mike and Tami brought the girls up at the end of the two weeks for a week–which went by really fast.

Mike brought the boys up, and I picked them up in Portland. We went to Acadia the next day, I think, and all were enchanted with the views from the top of Cadillac Mountain.

The boys loved exploring all the rocks and the nooks and crannies that the ledges offered:

Afterwards, we stopped at the Co-op in Belfast for food and at Baywrap for ice cream:

John and I had planned to get kayaks for the children last summer. He even ventured out to price them. So this summer, I undertook that task with the help of the boys. Together we could load the kayaks on the car. I got cold feet about sending them out alone on the river, where I knew they would quickly be off and running and a long way away from me, so we got Maine Sports (very kindly) to help install a “J” bar so we could carry my big kayak as well.

Unfortunately, our weather was cool enough that we only got to use the kayaks one time–and even them we got caught in the rain. It was still a good day.

The boys loved poking around the tidal pools that line our shores. And, looking for “sea glass”–which is now mostly just plain glass shards–is another favorite pastime. These pictures were taken at Rockland Harbor.

Here’s what a shallow tidal pool looks like:

And much time was spent skipping “good” rocks, such as this one:

We took the girls back, and they, too, enjoyed their time on this beach. In fact, all four children went swimming in the cold water and in all their clothes!!! They won’t forget that dip any time soon.

The boys went to the state quilting show–Pine Tree Quilt Guild–with me on a Saturday. I posted that earlier, but here, again, is their favorite quilt:

We all went to Moose Crossing State Park one day–a beautiful place just north of Belfast:

Moose Crossing beach has some rather big rocks. Bo spent some time rearranging them.

And Talula and Kelly spent a lot of time wading through the tidal pools. I had gotten lazy with the camera at this point, so don’t have this picture of them anywhere but in my mind. But here’s one of Talula:

I always do a lot of cooking with the children–and this year was no exception. Here are Maryann and Mina making our dinner salad:

Fortunately for me and for the chickens, the children love to collect the Japanese Beetles from the raspberries and beans and feed them to the chickens. This year they became fascinated with dragonflies. Here’s a BIG one on Bo’s hand:

We went to Monhegan Island for two days and a night–staying at the Monhegan House Inn. Here are Bo and Mina in Port Clyde waiting to board the boat to go out to the island:

Here is Mina, swinging on a downhill swing on the island:

Here are my four kiddos, waiting to board the boat home from Monhegan:

On the way home, the boat captain took us by an island filled with sunning seals:

We were all enchanted.

This trip was the end of Camp Lovey, as everyone departed for the long drive home to South Carolina a day or so later–especially as we got even MORE rain.

Turkey Tracks: Gardens in the Watershed: Atkinson/Stich Successional Garden

Turkey Tracks: August 21, 2013

Successional Garden of Bo Atkinson and Alda Stich

The Atkinson/Stich Successional Garden has been forty-two years in the making. Bo builds the alternative structures and Alda creates the fragrant perennial flower collections–fields of them. A friend told me Alda did all the flowers for one of her children’s wedding–and that they were lovely. Alda pioneered regional sales of fragrant perennial flower collections.

Out on the road, Bo has put up a sign that attempts to explain his structures:

And here is the whimsical outer wall on the road through which the visitor passes:

I wish my grandchildren had been with me for this garden visit. They, as I did, would have loved it:

Here’s the view of the house, which sits just beyond the wall:

I loved this curved woodwork.

And:

The back of the house has a grape-vine covered verandah that is cool and inviting–especially on the very hot day when we came to this garden. People had gathered there to visit and enjoy one another.

This garden is designed to work with nature, not against it. And Bo’s structures attempt the same goal. Here is the building to the right of the house where seedlings are nurtured and protected:

Both Bo and Alda work to encourage local bird, frog and beneficial insect habitats. There was a small pond with an arching bridge that led to a structure on the left side of the property. Paths snaked through Alda’s fields of flowers. I left feeling that these folks were living in concert with their surroundings–and that whatever they did to the land were attempts to enhance its natural habits.

Turkey Tracks: Black Trumpet Mushrooms

Turkey Tracks: August 20, 2013

Black Trumpet Mushrooms

Mushrooming is something I really like to do.

And I have not been in the woods mushrooming much in the past two years.

Here’s a whole basket of Black Trumpet mushrooms, some Golden Chanterelle mushrooms, and a few puffball mushrooms–all of which I found at the end of last week. The puffballs are white and are lost in the basket in this picture. There is no puffball that is poisonous, but I would not eat any mushroom that has grown in an area that has been sprayed with any kind of chemical. So, avoid sprayed lawns and golf courses.

I have a very nice video that I can’t get to upload–telling you how difficult these mushrooms are to see growing on the forest floor among the dried leaves of last year. You don’t see the dark stems–what you see you see by looking straight down–and if you look at the tops of these mushrooms, you will see they appear as a light grey/brown.

Here’s what the pile looks like on the kitchen counter. Now you can see the puffballs.

The Golden Chanterelles smell like apricots–and all of these mushrooms are delicious sautéed in a little butter or duck fat and added to a cream sauce, scrambled eggs with a bit of cheese, and soups and stews.

I cleaned the trumpets–you have to snip the ends, open them a bit, and scrape out any debris or critter that has lodged in the funnel. Mostly they are pretty clean.

I dried all but a few of the trumpets and ate the rest with a rich lamb stock I had going in the kitchen.

Yummo!!!

Turkey Tracks: Monhegan Island with the Kiddos

Turkey Tracks: August 14, 2013

Monhegan Island with the Kiddos

Here’s one of my favorite pics of the summer visit with my four oldest grandchildren and my son Michael and his wife Tami.

We were on the dock at Monhegan Island, which is over an hour away from the coast and departure town of Port Clyde (where The Russians are Coming was filmed.) Monhegan Island is an artist colony and is a charming place to visit.

We spent two days and a night–and stayed at The Monhegan House, which has, also, a lovely dining room. (The chef made a delicious chocolate cake for Maryann’s birthday.)

We celebrated Maryann Enright’s 73rd birthday–and remembered John Enright’s August 12th birthday. John, Maryann, and I made this trip a few years back–before he got sick–with Bryan and Corinne Enright.

I sat on the porch and read and read and knitted and knitted–and watched folks come and go. The others hiked and explored. Monhegan has quite a few fairy houses–which enchants the children and their Great Aunt Maryann.

Turkey Tracks: Gardens in the Watershed: Garden of Linda and John Shepard

Turkey Tracks: August 14, 2013

Gardens in the Watershed: Garden of LInda and John Shepard

The Shepard garden is spectacular–bursting with colorful beds, smooth green lawn paths, fruit trees, and vegetable gardens. The fields leading to the garden are filled with wildflowers–which have been spectacular this summer.

Also important is the fact that Linda Shepard is a quilter with an established body of very fine work and a studio to showcase it. You can just see Giovanna inside Linda’s studio.

Linda’s quilts are featured and sold on her web site–and I encourage you to go there and take a look at her interesting, inventive body of work: www.linda-shepard.com.

Meanwhile, here are a few of her quilts–though my pictures of them are not great:

And one of my very favorites, a happy pig:

Linda and John started their garden in 1984–at which time the backyard was overgrown and wild except for four old apple trees. Artist LInda likes “the relaxed informality of country gardens” which includes contrasting heights and rampant color. Here are some views:

And this pic of a very pink hydrangea!

This garden is such a gift of beauty–it feels like the essence of summer with its riot of color, its buzzing bees, and its well-tended vegetables.

Turkey Tracks: Back to the Blog

Turkey Tracks: August 12, 2013

Back to the Blog

Hi Folks!

I’ve missed you all and hope you have missed me!

My oldest son brought the two oldest grandchildren, Bo and Kelly, to Maine on July 20th and returned to Charleston to the rest of his family. The boys attended a sailing camp here in the mornings and “Camp Lovey” in the afternoons and evenings.

While Mike was here I showed him the way to Acadia. Here are the boys at the top of Cadillac Mountain–with its 360-degree views of the coast and land.

Here’s Kelly jumping fissures in the rocks:

During Camp Lovey I had a blast with them–and I think they had fun with me. We swam, kayaked, played games (they learned how to play Hearts with me), watched movies, and cooked a lot of good food. We were somewhat challenged by the weather as we’ve had a really cool and rainy summer.

We had one nice kayak trip on the river–during which Kelly ran into a bank of bushes and saw a wolf snarling at him. We determined that he’d seen either a coyote or a very large grey fox–the latter has been seen along that side of the river all summer. Kelly learned to paddle a whole lot better after that incident.

Mike returned with Tami and the girls (Talula and Mina), and they spent a little over a week. We went out to Monhegan Island to celebrate Great Aunt Maryann’s birthday–and to remember John’s. But that’s a tale for another day.

Turkey Tracks: Gardens of Tina Marriner and Robert Pearse

Turkey Tracks: July 16, 2013

Sunday July 14 was the annual Georges Valley Land Trust Garden Tour: “Gardens in the Watershed.” It was such a treat to see this year’s seven gardens–each one special and wonderful. So, come along with me for some of the highlights of the day. I am listing each garden separately as there would be too, too many pictures otherwise.

Gardens of Tina Marriner and Robert Pearse

A few years ago, I noticed that someone up the hill was creating a whole lot of new gardens.

Over the years I slowed the car, complimented the tall, slender, dark-haired woman on her project, and waved.

Sunday I met her close up and enjoyed that meeting so much. She has been watching a crow family over the last weeks as they raise their one chick. We could hear him crying in the background for food from his parents all the while we talked.

Tina Marriner is growing sunflowers for the market. She will plant 15,000 sunflowers this year, of 39 different kinds.

They are spectacular, of course. Here’s a bed of one kind–the house belongs to Tina’s neighbor across Howe Hill Road.

Here’s Tina herself in the volunteer tent:

Here’s some sense of the scale of her sunflower gardens. There are also beds behind me, including a huge round one filled with sunflowers just about to bloom.

There are lots of deer on Howe Hill. Tina is using mothballs in small red cans mounted on sticks to discourage them:

Here’s a close-up of the arrangement:

To the left of these beds is a small pond. Big fat frogs were sunning themselves on the surface. The house is on the other side of the trees to the right.

Here’s the house–note the solar panels. We’re seeing more and more of them up here in Maine.

Here’s the gorgeous view from the house:

Look at how Tina is growing Sweet Peas–which are probably my all-time favorite flowers: Plastic ribbed sheets hung with wire for the peas to climb.

What a treat to see this property. Tina’s Facebook page is “Tina’s Cut Flowers” if you want to see what she’s up to.

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