Fall Musings

No, it's not quite here.  The cooler nights herald the coming, but, it's not quite here.  Days are still in the heat, the humidity sending the four-legged kids into the shelter of shade or the nearest shallow creek bed to cool. I look forward to fall, and haunt my apple trees in anticipation of the harvest.  Sadly this spring saw the demise of most of the blossoms, and we have one lonely tree blessed with a great harvest. We guard it jealously from the racoons, bears and deer that seem to have no fear of trespassing in the yard.  Should the trees on the "outer sanctum" have been blessed with a full harvest, we might not be so lucky.  The Maremma's are vigilant, spending long nights barking off the interlopers.  They spend their time leisurely draped in the grass, taking turns keeping watch.
The garden seems to be going through a late spurt, with a bountiful harvest of kale, chard, onions and herbs. That being said, I also seem to have a prolific growth of purslane.  I did find a recipe for pickled purslane, and briefly thought about trying it. We are pickling busily, with jars of dills, sweets, sandwich, hot, bread n butters and relishes filling the pantry.  Dried mushrooms, onions and sundried tomatoes are constantly in the drier.
I love this time of year.  I love the harvest preparation for the winter to come.  It is satisfying to see and taste the wonders of our own land.  Shortly, we will have chicken, and in November our pork will be ready.  I know what we eat, how we prepare it, and the sustainability of our small holding.
So, I will have this lazy, hot afternoon to leisurely clean cucumbers, wash eggs and spend time with my favorite four-legged family, giving me the energy to go out there in the world.

The Long Way Home

Much of my time is spent behind the wheel.  My job takes me across the province into every reach, corner and beautiful cranny.  Such as last night however, it is many miles from home.  So often, I just want to stop and take photos of the stunning view, but am driven either by the need to get to the next customer, or just wanting to go home.  I promise myself each time that I will make this trip again, bringing my camera, just for the sheer enjoyment of it.
Yesterday I drove from home through Barry's Bay, Eaganville, through to Smith Fall's, Perth, Peterborough and north home.  It was a long day. By night fall, all I wanted was to be home, curled on the couch. I did manage to get a couple of pictures on route, listen to some wonderful music, and day dream.

Barry's Bay

Renfrew

The Way Home

And so,

the journey winds the darkened road

brings me closer to 

the place my heart resides

that gentle, silent

warmth of home

its dusty ancient gaze from

bubbled glass 

greets me through the haze of

stars

the lowing cows and soft muzzle,

arms

of those that love.

no better place to end my day

At the end of a long work day, nothing makes me happier than arriving home and being greeted by the 4 legged family.  They have none of the foibles that humans do, and their drama is generally manageable.  Tonight I had to pick up feed on route, and was shocked that the price of pig feed had gone up $3.50 a bag in a week! Holy Toledo!  This is not this years corn, feed is being made from last years...jeez, it will make things infinitely more expensive.  And then the price of gas jumped from $1.23 to $1.33!
When I got home, Buster the bull had had enough of the burnt pasture, jumped the fence and began to "mow" the lawn.  End of a bad day, with more headache!
Spent time fixing fences, chasing bulls and then got sprayed by the hose when trying to water the pigs. Yes, I do love farming.
I pat myself on the head, reminding myself that this is a SHORT week. I will get to the weekend quickly.
So, to make myself feel better, I took pictures of the chicks, and Buster, just to compare how much they had grown.

Buster mid February on arrival

Buster today.

Meat Chicks June 18

Same Chicks August 7th.

It was a windy, rainy day.  Perfect for a day trip to the annual Gemboree in Bancroft Ontario. Its a great show for Rock Hounds of all kinds, big and small.  My Daughters' and I drove the 3 1/2 hours through the picturesque Haliburton Highlands, down long winding roads to the hamlet of Bancroft.
We were overwhelmed with the riot of color, sound and crowds.  It was sweltering hot inside the arena, with crowds moving slowly along narrow aisle on aisle of gems, stones, fossils, meteor fragments and geos. Earings, jewelry, art.  It was virtually impossible to take it all in.
A Native Carver caught my eye, with the most beautiful, powerful carvings.  His Eagle had lines of great elegance, and lept out at you.  I asked him if it was okay to take a picture.  He smiled, and said it was his pleasure, but stepped back from the carving.  "no picture of me though...it will capture my soul".  It gave me goosebumps.  His soul was deep within each of the pieces. Quiet humility, power and pride. It made the entire trip worth while.

Busy time on the farm right now.  I am pickling and drying vegetables for the winter.  Cucumber/sweet relish is my all time favorite, and one I make the most of.  So far I have made 36 jars.  Traditional Dill pickles, Hot Horseradish Dills and  Sweet Chunks are made from traditional recipes.  I'd love to do some Sweet Gherkins, but that requires iddy-biddy cucumbers, and 9 days to produce.  A bit labor intensive for me right now.
I have Roma tomatoes drying in my dehydrator, as I love sun-dried tomatoes. I will pack them in olive oil when finished.
Can't wait until the mushrooms are growing, as I dry about 2 gallon jars of them for winter use, along with onions.  This year, I think I will also dehydrate carrots and potatoes.  The dried vegetables from last year retained their flavor, color and were fabulous in soups, stews or roasts.  They kept well, and took up little space.

Today's canning:  Sweet Chunks, Relish and Hot Horseradish Dills.

Top shelf left, Dills and Sweet Sandwich Pickles, Right top shelf, Green Beans, Bottom let, Relish and Sweet Sandwich pickles, Right Bottom, Relish and Dills.

It is important to store the canned goods in a cool dark place.  I always save the boxes the new jars come in so that its easy to keep them sorted and safely stored.  

There is nothing like having delicious food from your garden mid-winter, and they make great gifts too!

Freshly baked Apfel Kuchen.
Nothing in a kitchen can smell yummier than apples and cinnamon baking.  This is a wonderful coffee cake, not too sweet and laden with our own apples.

About

When it says "about us", I find it incredibly daunting.  What "about us" should I write? Who are "us"? Are we interesting?  I guess it's a matter of perspective. 

Thompson Valley Farm is well over a century old. Settled by the Thompson Family in the late 1800's.  They came from Ireland, and spent their years clearing land, working hard and having children.  By the late '50's the farm had fallen idle.  The livestock sold, and buildings left to sit.  When I married into the Thompson's in the late '70's, I brought the first horse back, started  a young family, and dug my heels into re-working this wonderful land.

We have had ebbs and flows.  Sometimes we have more livestock, sometimes we have more gardens; much depends on weather, customer base and changing times.  One thing that has not changed is our desire to provide quality food, organic in nature to our customers.

Hope you will join us for the ongoing saga.