Afton Field Farm is a grass farm. Yes, we are a livestock farm, but grass is our focus and our first priority. If the soil is nourished, enriched, and healthy then, subsequently, the things on that soil will be too- the grass, animals, and the environment.
{current state}
You can use animals to help encourage the growth of the natural grasses. You can see from the photo the area of the pasture we ran the chickens (both layer and broiler) this year. The annual rye grass, which the pasture has been in for awhile for grass seed, is growing back much faster and richer than the further field.
{loaded}
We wanted/needed to speed the process up for our pasture. We spoke to many experts, friends, and fellow farmers that helped us evaluate what would be best to plant. We wanted to reseed because we want our pasture to be a permanent pasture with a mixture of annual, perennial, grasses, legumes, and forbes.
{the mix}
So we loaded up the 4-wheeler with our mix of red clover, white clover, orchard grass, timothy, and tall fescue (endophyte free- apparently there are these little microbe things that can cause the cattle to blot. And we don’t want that, so our fescue is free of those little guys).
{the supplier}
We got the mix from the Glacier’s, who are a local grass seed grower.
{saddle up}
So my cowboy and I saddled up the trusty 4-wheeler,
{the range}
and hit the open range
{spreading}
spreading the glorious pasture mix along the way- and praying that the ground loved it and fosters a great growing environment.
We decided to put no metal in the ground- we simply broadcast the seed over the ground. If the ground isn’t too wet later this winter, we are hoping to put some sheep to work by hoofin’ around and stompin’ the seed deep into the ground.
{glorious!}
It was raining and there were very threatening clouds in the sky when we first rode the bucking bronco out to the pasture, but then the clouds broke and the sun beat down upon us and warmed our souls.
{promise}
And just as we were getting ready to call it a day, we looked out over our field and saw this wonderful sight.
It was the perfect way to end our day- with the promise of protection and blessing on our land. It was spectacular. And I think what I loved most about this moment, was that there are more rainbows that end on our land then any other place I have been to.
It’s a pretty reassuring and joyous feeling :)
We officially finished our broiler chickens for the year!
Oh, it was a beautiful day. I honestly woke up with a pep in my step. The sun was shining through the fog rolling over the field, I was able to get all prepped the day before so I actually sat and enjoyed a cup of coffee before the bustle of the day started, and Tyler and our friend Kyle were able to catch the chickens in the morning in record time.
I must admit that I was in a pretty darn good mood knowing that the end of one thing on the farm was finally here. There is something so refreshing and energizing about having an end to something. The rest is truly energizing. I’m not so thrilled because I dislike butchering, but more because it signifies a new season, a new routine, a new mindset is entering the farm. And I’ll feel the same way when winter ends and spring is upon us, and just the same when summer is reaching our grasp and we kiss spring good-bye until next year.
To celebrate this absolutely glorious fall day I made pumpkin muffins for snack and squash soup for lunch with homemade bread.
And I’ve eaten the leftovers for lunch and dinner the past three days I liked it all so much :)
{cinnamon pumpkin goodness}
These wonderful little morsels I got from smittenkitchen.com (which is from a blog that I check a little too often).
Oh these little buggers were so delicious! There is another recipe that suggests a cream cheese topping. That sounded too good to handle, so I decided I’d wait until next time around to attempt that.
You use canned solid-packed pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice instead of just pumpkin pie filling.
If you have the amazing luxury of having your own espresso machine (which I would be very jealous of and probably invite myself over) you should make a pumpkin latte and have that to dip your muffin in…. mmm. yes please!
{sweet soup}
No, I did not take pictures of the soup making- which I wish I would have because mine did not turn out the great vibrant orange color, but rather more like a slightly orange gravy.
Anywho… first off a confession- I have a problem. A true problem. I may need my husband and friends to intervene during some cooking sessions.
I cannot stay true to a recipe to save my life! Seriously. It takes all my will-power to not add an ingredient the recipe doesn’t call for, or extra spice, or more what-not.
When I get a recipe from someone this really poses a problem, because I love the food I ate from the recipe at my friends house but I have this strong desire to change it- even though I know I already love it. Silly, but true.
So I combined two recipes- of which I had never tried either before, but hey why not try a new recipe for the 12 people you are making lunch for. Sheesh!
This recipe called for ginger and honey which really made my taste-buds dance and this one spiked my interest with having potatoes, onions, and carrots with the squash.
{stock}
I decided to mainly follow the recipe with the potatoes, for no particular reason, and I used my homemade rooster stock as the base. Because the rooster stock seemed to have a little more fat in it then chicken stock, I opted for no heavy cream in the soup. It made the soup not sit so heavy in your stomach, which I think everyone would consider a plus.
Then to dip in the soup I made a french loaf bread. This too, was glorious, if I do say so myself.
Tyler and I got a bread maker for our wedding and I have used that thing almost as much as my coffee maker :) Well, maybe not that often, but I do use it and plan on using it lots this fall and winter. You just let the mixer do the needing and rising and then you form the bread and let the oven do the baking. Its great.
In the mood for soup and have too many squash to know what to do with, check out the recipes. Enjoy!
Well, it’s been a little while. Some how life just took me and swallowed me up whole!
My hair is a little worse for wear, but in general I’m doing all right :) Just haven’t had much time to update you with the happenings around the farm.
Here is a sneak-peak at what will be coming your way. Soon- I hope.
{grass farmers}
Farmer Jones and I needed to give our pasture some varying grasses other than the annual rye grass that it is currently planted in.
I’ll show you the adventure and try and inform you of why we needed to boost the field at Afton.
{canning adventure Part 3}
Rachel and I successfully finished all of our pear canning desires- including our (soon-to-be) famous Dazzel Jam!
{banner mania}
I have been itching to create a new banner for the blog. So I tried taking some photos around the barnyard. Not sure about them though.
I may just have to come knock on your door because I need advice and suggestions from all you crafty and photo genius people out there :)
No guarantees about how life is going to treat me next week (especially after a girls weekend with my friends from college) but I definitely have some things I’d love to share with you.
Until then…
Applesauce. It is a yummy treat to snack on anytime of the year. I actually didn’t even like applesauce until I was entering High School.
I now love, and even crave, the apple-goodness.
{the scene}
Rachel and I made camp in the farm’s cottage kitchen.
Small. Quaint. Romantic. And completely lacking in sufficient counter space.
Neither of us had ever canned anything before (well, I tried strawberry jam earlier this summer and it ended with fermented jam…). Due to our lack of skills and knowledge we gathered our recipes, laptops, and canning cookbook and headed down to one of the local coffee shops to make an organized chart of our canning desires.
{the canning master}
We decided on apple & pear butter, quince jam, apple chutney, apple cinnamon conserve, autumn cranberry pear jam, ginger pear preserve, and of course applesauce.
After making our lists of recipes, food needed, and all the other supplies, we knew we were on our way to becoming canning professionals.
The next day Rachel came over to the farm, car load of canning supplies, and we quickly got to work.
Well, that is, after we had our 2 hour chat over two mugs of coffee :)
{the coring machine}
So once we actually got to the real work, we started by coring all the apples we were going to use. This is a very very handy little gadget. It will save you time and headache; so on my recommendation, purchase or borrow one if you are planning on making any amount of preserve that needs to be cored or peeled.
While doing this we washed and sanitized the jars in the dishwasher.
{swizzle of core-less apples}
Next step: put the swizzles (that’s the technical term) of core-less apples into a huge pot.
{cookin' sauce}
This is the part where the apples are being cooked down and really starting to make your whole house smell marvelous!
{apple masher #1}
Once the apple-goodness has finished cooking, you then need to strain it through a sieve.
We tried this model first. We aren’t sure if we simply didn’t have enough patience or skill, but it just didn’t seem to be efficient enough for us.
{apple masher #2}
So we tried this model. This is what my Grandma used to make her famous applesauce.
Mmmmm….. that applesauce was so good! All she added was a bit of cinnamon, and it tasted fantastic every time!
We had finished all of the steps of preparation to put the sauce in the jars to be canned.
We opened the dishwasher and took some jars out…
to our surprise the jars were filled with soap and dirt sediments. The wonderful addition to our technological-dependent world had failed us! (It may sound like I despise technology, but I really do love it and am thankful for all the advances. However, there are times when my friend and I are trying to be canning pros, that when a machine fails us it really throws a kink in our system.)
We proceeded to freak out for about 10 minutes then reverted back to our grandmother’s tradition: washing our dishes by hand.
Being our desire to become canning wizards, we had the ambitious goal of making not 8, not 12, but 48 pint jars of applesauce (which really may not seem like a lot to some of you true canning divas and dudes out there, but it was ambitious for us new-bees).
We wanted to share the bounty with our friends for the holidays in cute little gift baskets. That’s why we decided it would make sense to not start out small or ask for a real person who had actually successfully canned before to help us. We were doing it for the enjoyment of our friends. We had giving hearts…. and way too much of an ambitious mindset.
We then had to boil the jars in the caner in order to sterilize them properly. This added about an hour to an hour and a half to our time. Not to mention we were getting very low-blood sugars (bad news for both of us- and anyone near us) and we were more then determined to get at least one batch done before our lunch break- especially with our extended coffee break earlier in the morning.
We were totally batty by the end. The last batch we completely forgot to add the lemon juice (supposedly to keep it from browning or something- but we don’t think you actually need it and were told by some that they don’t use it) and cinnamon. It actually turned out to be our most tasty batch :)
{the final sauce}
On our planning day at the coffee shop, we had high hopes of being able to do applesauce and one other canning preserve… however we finished, happy and satisfied with just applesauce- and with enough wind in our sails to finish the rest of the canning projects we had planned.
Everything ended well and we actually did finish, 12 hours later, our goal of 48 pint jars of delicious applesauce to give to our friends and stock our pantry selves.
(Notice how there are a few missing pictures of some of the process between the time we mashed the sauce and the actual finished product :) )
With the crisp air all around us and apples and pears falling from their branches, the desire to preserve all these wonderful little morsels is getting stronger within me.
{the gang: minus Tyler}
My dear friend, Rachel, and I decided that it was definitely necessary to do the old age preserving tradition of canning together- mainly out of the fear of the great unknown world of canning, and therefore leaves you unable to do the task alone.
We both have these dreams of having pantries stalked full, from floorboard to ceiling joist, of jars filled with our labor of love to feast on throughout the year.
Our first project, of many which I will try to document and share , was applesauce.
{step one: gather the fruit}
Farmer Jones and I just purchased some great apple baskets that we got to put into good use.
{studdly apple picker}
As fun as it is climbing up on an apple ladder (which only has three legs, mind you) and literally feeling like you are riding a bull, balancing and hanging on for dear life, while you not only try and reach for the ripe fruit on the tree but also hold an apple basket that is half the size of you…
We successfully wrangled Farmer Jones into the harvest party and volunteered him for the task of climbing the ladder.
There is something that is so attractive about a hunk of a man working hard and using his skills and bravery for the damsel he loves. :)
{apple dog}
Both Toby and Bula enjoyed helping us gather the fruit for the adventures that were to come.
{yup, apples}
The harvesting went splendidly!
We were invigorated, energized, and full of anticipation for the canning adventures that were awaiting us; which I will be sharing with you over the next couple days/weeks.
It depends on how quickly we recover from the spectacle we had when we actually made and canned the applesauce, but we’ll leave that story for next time…
Today was a glorious fall day. The air was crisp, the sun was shinning, and there was just a general buzz of happiness floating around the farm.
{diggin' the bounty}
I worked on pulling up all the onions we had planted earlier in the year. It went pretty fast and I have to say I enjoyed it much more then pulling weeds- which you can tell by the mass amounts of weeds in the picture :)
After all of your work you actually get to eat these; whereas weeds you just get to throw them in a pile.
Although, I’ve heard that there are some weeds that are edible. I am incredibly intrigued by this but have refrained from throwing some good hardy weeds into the dinner mix due to the potential of poisoning my hubby, myself, and any unassuming dinner guests.
{helper dogs}
So after Toby-bears and Bula-bears helped me in the garden, we all headed down to the field to help Farmer Jones put broilers into their pens.
{free birds}
These are the bottomless pens we put the broiler chickens in for the last four weeks of their lives. We load up those yellow crates with chickens and bring them down to their designated pen.
They love being out on that fresh grass.
It is pretty humorous to watch them explore their new world, they’re not quite sure what to do with themselves or where they are, but they like it whatever it is.
{good-boy scrittchies}
Toby-bears was there helping load the birds. He is such a good helper- which means he gets his good-boy scrittchies.
I believe that scrittchies are Toby’s real motivation for being a working farm dog.
Can you blame him?
{good-girl helper}
Bula-bears really likes getting close and personal to her farm work.
{ Vanna-Bula}
Bula being Vanna White of the farm showing off the chicken pens in a row with the layer chicken hoop houses in the background.
She’s lookin’ pretty darn good. I may get pushed out of my role as farm model because of this beauty…
Toby is the master at giving tours of the farm, but Bula is learning quickly and follows close behind Toby to learn all the tricks of the trade.
Though she is doing quite well, she tuckers out and has to lay down every time we stop and then doesn’t notice when we leave that location. But what can you say, she’s old and new to this whole farming thing.
{apples in my basket}
Later in the morning a friend came over and helped pick apples and pears. We are planning on making apple and pear sauce later this week.
But I’ll save sharing the fun times we had today for a later time in the near future.
I would like to point out the stylish plaid shirt under the overalls I am wearing. I was into this whole farming thing and decided it was very appropriate and the perfect day to strut around in my best farm get-up.
I was just missing the hat. Maybe next time :)
The farmers’ market is a fun Saturday outing for kids of all ages. Usually it is a bit more enjoyable when the sun is shinning and everyone is frolicking down the street from booth to booth.
But days like today, when it literally starts a torrential down pour in a matter of seconds- not minutes, seconds- the market is more entertaining than enjoyable for the vendors as people run for cover, dodge puddles, and juggle their goodies around as they attempt to get their hood on or umbrella up as fast as possible.
{splish-splash}
I was completely entertained today by my visit from my favorite customers (you’re not technically supposed to have favorite customers, but like I’ve said in previous posts, I’m techi-challenged, so I think that excuses me from the unsaid rule)
My little friends came marching up to the booth; one with a huge grin on her face, the other with a sausage-on-a-stick in hand, both with brightly colored and matching dresses, tights, raincoats, and the all important part of the ensemble, rain boots!
{rain boots to boot}
After making a comment about how great I thought their boots were, the girls proceeded to demonstrate the only purpose there is to own and therefore wear rain boots- and that is puddle jumping.
I think they’ve had much experience in their young lives in jumping in puddles because they were amazingly good at it.
They were so good at it in fact, I secretly wished I had worn my rain boots so I could join them. Hopefully next time ;)
{worm holding}
After purchasing their weekly chicken, the girls led their mom over to the worm farm across the way exclaiming, “Ooh Mom! I want to go hold the worms!”
Now, I can’t say that those words have ever, or will ever, come from my lips; however after giggling to myself about how cute they were, I found myself envious of the childhood they are experiencing.
I mean they actually desire to be in the elements of nature, meeting and spending time with farmers, and holding worms- and I think they are no more than the ripe ol’ age of five.
I enjoy their contagious joy for simple delightful pleasures- even in the pouring down rain. I hope to continue to be infected by them and can pass that on to my kids.
Thanks little ladies! :)
Fall is by far my favorite time of year.
There is so much goodness in fall. Harvesting all the goodies from the land, crisp fresh morning air, warm yummies to fill your tummy. Tyler and I got married in October- on the most beautifully and perfect sunny fall day- and that brings me so much joy to be able to celebrate my favorite life moment during my favorite season.
{kevin meyers photography}
With having almost completed my first year as an official farmer, there is one activity that makes me kick my heels higher than any other as we enter into this glorious autumn season.
And that is the end of the broiler chicken operation for the year.
{lauren hurt photography}
Now, I honestly do enjoy the chickens, all parts of the operation actually. The waking up and feeding them every morning, watering them throughout a hot day, visiting with them, topping off their feeders, and saying goodnight in the evening.
{lauren hurt photography}
Even the butchering.
Ya, I know. A city girl who grew up with one cat and no real agriculture or farm awareness does in fact enjoy processing the chickens.
The butchering takes the most energy and time out of me. And though I do enjoy being that close to where my food comes from and having the confidence that my food has been humanely and naturally treated from beginning to end of their life and has added to the health of the land, I get a huge grin on my face when October rolls around.
There are only a couple more butcher dates left this season, and to celebrate we’ve been enjoying the bounty of the land.
{lauren hurt photography}
{laurne hurt photography}
These grapes are glorious!!! We have quite a few different varieties and each are spectacular! We didn’t know if our vines would even produce, but we were pleasantly surprised.
{lauren hurt photography}
We were also very surprised when we saw actual corn growing on our 3 foot tall stalks!! Usually corn stalks are 8 feet. Its pretty hilarious to look out at our stunted corn. But you know what? They taste sweet, are crisp, perfectly yellow or white, and are completely splendid!
Our garden has much room for improvement over the years (but who’s doesn’t :) ) but for our first garden during the first year on our new land, it’s going pretty darn well.
So, with the enjoyment of the broiler season coming to an end we start up with the fullness of fall.
Happy fall to you all!
I’ve been working with and changing some things on the ol’ blog and I have come to the realization that if I don’t have at least 4 hours I don’t get the task done that I’m working on- and not out of lack of desire, mind you.
Example: I decided that I wanted to change the theme of my blog layout.
Simple enough, right?
Wrong.
After 40 minutes figuring out that you just have to go to the “adjust size” in the “tools” column to change the pixel size of your pdf file, I still was left with a headache and an oversize banner.
On the bright side, I do know how to change the theme of my blog and many other things in relation to enhancing things on the space, and today at the Farmers’ Market I was able to talk with another blogger about my issue and she said she would spend sometime helping the techi challenged farmer :)
Soon enough I’ll have that nice fitting banner at the top of the blog. I have a team of people helping me out and I know we can conquer!
