We had an eventful day Monday as we noticed it was do or die time to net one of the cherry trees. Last year the birds ate every single cherry the minute they ripened! We've been determined to not let that happen again this year. The tree itself is about 20 feet tall. Can you imagine trying to wrap a net around something like this? We had a 14x14 net for the top, and a roll of 7x100 netting for the rest of it. Isaac did a lot of climbing around in the tree while I stood on the ground or on the ladder helping. We got about two-thirds of it done and were already patting ourselves on the back for an amazing job done! It was really heating up outside and probably around 90 degrees...when we learned that cherry branches lose some strength when it gets hot (perhaps because they are more dehydrated?). :( Anyway, Isaac was standing on a branch somewhat precariously, thinking "this branch feels spongy," and then, Crack! There it went, the branch with Isaac on it. Somehow he ended up on his back underneath the branch. He jumped right back up though to continue on! I, on the other hand, was a bit too worked up to be very good help! By the next day he said he had "a few random aches and pains" but that was it. Phew, we are lucky! We have at least one more tree (much smaller!) to net, but there will be no more tree climbing around here, at least in the heat! We do really need to get an orchard ladder...saving up our money for that one! Anyway, so the cherries are looking really good, and as long as the birds don't find the gaps in the net, I'm thinking we'll all be munching away on them by next week!
I had an amazing cooking class last saturday at Peaceful Belly farm. I will share one of the appropriate recipes here with you.
One trick I have learned with kale and chard is to just rip the leaves away from the stems with your hands. Fold the leaf in half and pull apart...easy!
Creamed Chard
1 bunch chard, de-stemmed and ribbed, dice up the stems pretty small
1 med. onion
2 cloves garlic
1 pint cream
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
In a large hot skillet, add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan (so it 'runs' quickly around in there). Add the chard leaves and let them wilt. Remove the chard and place in colander in sink. In the same pan add more oil and the onions, garlic, and chard stems. Cook these until tender and dry (add a pinch or two of salt here to help this). Add the cream and reduce until it reduced by half. Ring out the rest of the liquid from the chard leaves with your hands, give them a quick rough chop, and add them to the cream mixture. Season to taste.
And here's another one we made the other night, sans the seeds and almonds...still good!
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced onion
10 ounces fresh spinach - rinsed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
1 quart strawberries - cleaned, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered
Picking up our new commercial cooler from Morning Owl Farm. Thank you Sean, Seth, DC, and Rob!
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Cover, and chill for one hour.
In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries and almonds. Pour dressing over salad, and toss. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Beautiful beautiful lettuce!
New Wash Station we built with materials from our dismantled greenhouse.
The Cherry Tree
Yum!
Yep, he's going to fall out.
So beautiful and tempting!
