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Mid-summer making - what's your project?
I attempted French Baguettes this past weekend, and am now gathering up fabric for a sock-monkey-themed baby blanket quilt. Bluefish is running now, so I'm looking forward to grilling up a slab of it and pairing it with a cherry tomato relish. This recipe looks yummy!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jami Nelson on -
I am in today making a fresh basil pasta salad using brown rice pasta (gluten-free as i am sensitive) with grilled tempeh and sun-dried tomatoes and roasted pinenuts. Hope my family likes it!
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Permalink Reply by Michelle Campbell on -
I went peach-picking this weekend, so I'm trying my hand at canning for the first time this week. I canned some slices and some jam, and I have some peach butter in the crock pot while I'm at work today. Here's what I got from the first canning batch: http://www.diggingthedistrict.com/2009/07/peaches-canning.html
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Permalink Reply by Carrie Cox on -
- A shot of the boys next to the "Cherokee Chocolate" tomato plants- I've been playing with milk lately, and learned how to clabber our buttermilk (the type you get after you make the butter). It's turned out SO yummy, so I've been making lots of bread, mashed potatoes, and so on with it. The cool spells we've been having have been perfect weather for it all. We've also been harvesting some "Black Beauty" zucchini from the yard and shredding it up to be used later for Zucchini Bread. Here's a link for the recipe: Let's see - what else?? We've begun gathering seeds from spent cosmos, calendula, and marigold blossoms, and I need to head out and collect some from the mustard greens as well. Have our latest batch of soap curing right now - we were able to use calendula and lavender harvested from our gardens in it, which was really cool. Am searching for a good shampoo bar recipe, so I can make some more of that as well. Want to use some homebrew in it to amp it up some.
Also going to try and turn some old coffee bean sacks into tote/purses, using some freecycled fabric (score!!) for the lining. And, of course, we've got the whole chicken thing going on, trying to convince our town to let us keep chickens. ()
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Permalink Reply by Aliza Ess on -
Late July is way too hot and humid in Baltimore to cook, so I sliced my patty-pan squash very thin and marinated them in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and black pepper. The sourness of the vinegar is very refreshing, the squash still maintain a bit of crunch, and the veggies are perfect as a side salad or on top of pretty much anything for a wonderful summer meal!
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Permalink Reply by Arthur on -
In celebration of our first child, we're going to attempt to make all the bedding for the crib, since it seems to be the same as our sheets, just smaller.
I will also attempt to make my own laundry detergent.
AKGW
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Permalink Reply by mountain mama on -
I am canning cherries,zuccini green beans and prepping for elderberries in a few weeks.Raspberry harvest was unreal.
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Permalink Reply by Jacqueline Church on -
I'm going to attempt yogurt. I love the Greek style yogurt and hate paying nearly $5 for something I think I probably can do here w/o crazy equipment or lots o' tools. Will keep you posted!
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Permalink Reply by overyonder on -
I made my first batch of pickles with the cucumbers overflowing from my garden. used a basic dill recipe from the Joy of Cooking. Can't wait to see how they turn out!
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Permalink Reply by Margaret Beers Oliver on -
Right now I am making a rag rug. Tomorrow I will be trying my hand at making yogurt in my slow cooker.
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Permalink Reply by Dale Dougherty on
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We've got a good crop of berries this year. We've been making boysenberry jam. It has a much redder color than blackberry jam, although the berries look black. (We've also been freezing berries for use later in the season.)
We made several batches by different methods. I'm the expermentalist and my wife's the traditionalist. She used the traditional method of making jam with seven cups of sugar and liquid pectin. I tried a product called "Pomona's Universal Pectin" that allows you to adjust the sugar level as you wish because it's not critical for jelling. (The pectin is activated by calcium, not sugar.) I made one batch with a cup of sugar and another with two cups of sugar. Truth is, sometimes I've ended up with runny jam using this method, but not this time. The resulting jam is more tart and flavorful than the traditional method. My wife says that I'm making a preserve or spread, and that it's not a real jam. I don't care what you call it -- both methods make something tasty and homemade.
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Permalink Reply by pelenaka on -
Nothing really new this Summer except perhaps a few new to me canning recipes such as Victorian BQQ Sauce from the Big Ball Canning Book. Also will be the 1st time making mustard and perhaps ketchup this year if my stash of store bought condiments is depleated.
This past year we really made an effort to not only preserve more food but to actually eat it. We blew threw not only the 200 jars that were canned last Summer & Fall but also another 100 or so from previous canning seasons. This was in addition to what we dehydrated & froze.
Best case scenerio is when I can bring in my total cost for a quart of home canned food for 10¢.
Husband is working on making a very small solar hot water heater for outdoor bathing. Should be interesting since this has been one of the cooler & wetter Summers on record here in Western New York.
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Latest from FARM AID
USDA Issues New Regulations Protecting Contract Farmers
The USDA released regulations (PDF link) this week that will provide new, much-needed protections for contract poultry farmers.Contract farming generally refers to a system in which a farmer raises or grows an agricultural product for a larger company. Contract poultry farmers invest their own money to build poultry barns to company specifications. Under contract, a company delivers the chicks to the grower who uses company feed and medicine to raise the chicks. The company retains ownership of the birds and dictates how the chicks are to be raised. The grown birds then go back to be processed by the poultry company for a previously agreed-upon price based on the birds' weight.
A typical chicken house costs about $300,000 to build, and most companies encourage growers to build at least four houses, for an investment in excess of $1 million. Frequently, growers take out loans covering that entire expense, only to find themselves dropped by the company, often with little or no notice. While there exists the potential for fair contracts in this agricultural system, that has not been the case historically. Contract growers have typically been extremely vulnerable, the contracts tilted against the grower who is subject to the whims of the poultry company. These new regulations issued by the USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration will help change that system.
Under the new rules:
- Companies must provide farmers with a written copy of the contract before the farmer makes an initial investment in his or her poultry houses;
- Contracts with confidentiality clauses must allow farmers to discuss contract offers with federal or state agencies, immediate family members, business associates, farmers who contract with the same company, accounting services hired by the farmer, a lawyer or financial advisor before signing;
- Contracts must state that if a farmer is put on a performance improvement plan (in other words, if they've received a warning that could potentially lead to their contract being terminated), they must be told why, what steps will be taken to help them improve, how they can regain good standing, and the factors that will be used to determine when or if the contract will be terminated;
- Farmers must be notified in writing within 90 days before a contract is terminated, expired, not renewed or not replaced.
"When the company terminated my contract, the company representative left a message on my answering machine saying that the flock of chickens that we had would be our last," Kevin said. "We had no warning. No one should be in that situation."
Mickey Box, a farmer in Berryville, Arkansas, agreed. "Growers have been left in the dark," Mickey said. "When I was put on a performance improvement plan, I knew I could lose my contract. It would have helped to know how I could get back in good standing."
Becky Ceartas, director of the contract agriculture reform program at Farm Aid-funded group Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA (RAFI), said these rules increase fairness, transparency and good business practices.
"Before farmers make the financial commitment to build poultry facilities on their farms, they need to know exactly what's expected and what the terms of that arrangement will be," said Ceartas. "An informed farmer can make better decisions, and that benefits everyone."
Farmers and concerned consumers can get more information about these rules by calling Ceartas at (919) 542-1396 x209 or by visiting www.rafiusa.org.
The Administration will release additional proposed regulations in early 2010 that will deal with other competition and fairness issues in poultry and livestock agriculture—stay tuned!
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