Friday, July 13th
Attention! Natalie Constance Brubaker cooked a chicken soup! Yes, that is correct...I, Natalie Constance Brubaker, cooked a chicken soup. I never thought the day would come when I would cook a meal that involved meat of any kind...and there you go!
We all take turns cooking lunch for everyone on the farm. On Friday, Holger just happened to be out of town and left his chicken soup to me. I was quite worried and very frantic about the whole thing after experiencing the grand feasts the others had prepared. The day before, Holger had boiled the chicken carcass (shiver) and it was my job to pull the pieces off the bones (double shiver). I almost had a few tears come out of my caruncule (that is the pink fleshy thing on the corners of our eyes, in case you were wondering) when I pulled off the skin, fat, and cartilage. Anyway, besides this traumatizing event I was able to pull the whole thing together with potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, peas, dill, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper. Amazing! And it tasted like chicken soup! Looks like Natalie is gonna become a (de) bone-a-thighed chicken chef.
Ok, so besides the whole chicken thing...Friday was HARVEST DAY! This means that everyone starts early in the morn harvesting all the veggies to be sold at market the next day. Apparently these days are long and tiring, but I really enjoyed it. I learned how to harvest lettuce, which really just involves pulling lettuce leaves off the plants. The farm doesn't sell heads of lettuce...just bags of mixed lettuce...which means that you can keep using the same plant for leaves as new ones grow in. It is best to pick the leaves close to the stalk so that they keep better. The salad gets washed twice to make sure all the slugs get out...then it is weighed and bagged. The final step is to add edible flowers for beautiful color and taste. It was also my job to harvest the edible flowers: jolly (julie?) jump ups, nasturtiums, shungiku, borage, and violets (yes the same violets growing in your backyard GA folks! Go eat em!)
Saturday, July 15th
Market Day! We got up around 7 to load up the trucks with all our veggies and to make flower arrangements to be sold as well. There are two markets we go to...one in Sooke (the town the farm is in) and one in Victoria. Renae and I prepared to head all the way to Victoria (about 45 min maybe). We got there around 9 and began setting up. No one is allowed to purchase anything until the bell rings at 10 o'clock. It was crazy to see all these people standing in front of the table waiting to buy the best stuff before everyone else. Once the bell rings it is loco! There was such a long line to purchase our veggies! In the attempt to help Renae I tried to take other costumers. As a woman was buying some shelling peas I went to go give her change...I opened the box and realized...I didn't know what any of the coins were worth!! I hadn't even had a chance to get Canadian money of my own yet, and had no idea what all the coins were! So I frantically called Renae over to help me out...and the lady asked me where I was from..."the states" I said sheepishly. And even after all that, I still gave the lady the wrong change. Five quarters instead of five dimes. Don't you think she would have said something! She ripped and innocent united statsian farmer girl off...just so she could buy some extra carrots are something. bleh.
Sunday, July 15th
Cob building! Holger is a master builder, especially alternative construction. So on Sunday, the plan was to help Edward, the chef for a famous hotel called the Harbor House, build and outdoor cob oven. He is a really great guy who buys a lot of our produce for his extravagant meals. It was a community building event where everyone came together to help build, drink beer, and hang out. Edward had also planned to fix a fabulous meal...which was probably more the incentive for us all to go.
No, cob construction is not made out of corn cobs! I already asked. It is a mix of clay, sand, and sometimes straw. The best part is that all of it is mixed by foot. Yes, my uncle Doug and I became master cob mixers/dancers. I will have to put a picture up soon once I figure it out.
Anyway, I won't go into the whole building process, but it was pretty neat. During part of it Doug and I went to pick seaweed to dry out for soups and snacks. The water in the ocean was really cold...I mean warm (according to my uncle). We picked a couple buckets of this brown seaweed called Nori (spelling?) - it is the same seaweed used in sushi. We headed back to help out more with the oven...and after lots of stomping in mud and beer drinking, we were served with a delicious meal of tuna (barely cooked...sushi grade), salad from the farm, roasted potatoes, kale...and a bunch of other yummy things.
It was a full day and we headed home in the evening.
Monday, July 16th
I have my first blister! Spent the morning weeding asparagus that had become overgrown with weeds. After lunch, I learned how to make seed blocks to germinate seeds in. I won't go into all the details...but basically there is a gadget that allows you to make those compacted little soil squares to put seeds in. Marika showed me how to put the little lettuce seeds in the little holes. It is gonna be my job to water them and watch them germinate. Hopefully it will work out!
Attention! Natalie Constance Brubaker cooked a chicken soup! Yes, that is correct...I, Natalie Constance Brubaker, cooked a chicken soup. I never thought the day would come when I would cook a meal that involved meat of any kind...and there you go!
We all take turns cooking lunch for everyone on the farm. On Friday, Holger just happened to be out of town and left his chicken soup to me. I was quite worried and very frantic about the whole thing after experiencing the grand feasts the others had prepared. The day before, Holger had boiled the chicken carcass (shiver) and it was my job to pull the pieces off the bones (double shiver). I almost had a few tears come out of my caruncule (that is the pink fleshy thing on the corners of our eyes, in case you were wondering) when I pulled off the skin, fat, and cartilage. Anyway, besides this traumatizing event I was able to pull the whole thing together with potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, peas, dill, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper. Amazing! And it tasted like chicken soup! Looks like Natalie is gonna become a (de) bone-a-thighed chicken chef.
Ok, so besides the whole chicken thing...Friday was HARVEST DAY! This means that everyone starts early in the morn harvesting all the veggies to be sold at market the next day. Apparently these days are long and tiring, but I really enjoyed it. I learned how to harvest lettuce, which really just involves pulling lettuce leaves off the plants. The farm doesn't sell heads of lettuce...just bags of mixed lettuce...which means that you can keep using the same plant for leaves as new ones grow in. It is best to pick the leaves close to the stalk so that they keep better. The salad gets washed twice to make sure all the slugs get out...then it is weighed and bagged. The final step is to add edible flowers for beautiful color and taste. It was also my job to harvest the edible flowers: jolly (julie?) jump ups, nasturtiums, shungiku, borage, and violets (yes the same violets growing in your backyard GA folks! Go eat em!)
Saturday, July 15th
Market Day! We got up around 7 to load up the trucks with all our veggies and to make flower arrangements to be sold as well. There are two markets we go to...one in Sooke (the town the farm is in) and one in Victoria. Renae and I prepared to head all the way to Victoria (about 45 min maybe). We got there around 9 and began setting up. No one is allowed to purchase anything until the bell rings at 10 o'clock. It was crazy to see all these people standing in front of the table waiting to buy the best stuff before everyone else. Once the bell rings it is loco! There was such a long line to purchase our veggies! In the attempt to help Renae I tried to take other costumers. As a woman was buying some shelling peas I went to go give her change...I opened the box and realized...I didn't know what any of the coins were worth!! I hadn't even had a chance to get Canadian money of my own yet, and had no idea what all the coins were! So I frantically called Renae over to help me out...and the lady asked me where I was from..."the states" I said sheepishly. And even after all that, I still gave the lady the wrong change. Five quarters instead of five dimes. Don't you think she would have said something! She ripped and innocent united statsian farmer girl off...just so she could buy some extra carrots are something. bleh.
Sunday, July 15th
Cob building! Holger is a master builder, especially alternative construction. So on Sunday, the plan was to help Edward, the chef for a famous hotel called the Harbor House, build and outdoor cob oven. He is a really great guy who buys a lot of our produce for his extravagant meals. It was a community building event where everyone came together to help build, drink beer, and hang out. Edward had also planned to fix a fabulous meal...which was probably more the incentive for us all to go.
No, cob construction is not made out of corn cobs! I already asked. It is a mix of clay, sand, and sometimes straw. The best part is that all of it is mixed by foot. Yes, my uncle Doug and I became master cob mixers/dancers. I will have to put a picture up soon once I figure it out.
Anyway, I won't go into the whole building process, but it was pretty neat. During part of it Doug and I went to pick seaweed to dry out for soups and snacks. The water in the ocean was really cold...I mean warm (according to my uncle). We picked a couple buckets of this brown seaweed called Nori (spelling?) - it is the same seaweed used in sushi. We headed back to help out more with the oven...and after lots of stomping in mud and beer drinking, we were served with a delicious meal of tuna (barely cooked...sushi grade), salad from the farm, roasted potatoes, kale...and a bunch of other yummy things.
It was a full day and we headed home in the evening.
Monday, July 16th
I have my first blister! Spent the morning weeding asparagus that had become overgrown with weeds. After lunch, I learned how to make seed blocks to germinate seeds in. I won't go into all the details...but basically there is a gadget that allows you to make those compacted little soil squares to put seeds in. Marika showed me how to put the little lettuce seeds in the little holes. It is gonna be my job to water them and watch them germinate. Hopefully it will work out!
1 comment:
Wasn't cob WONDERFUL!!! you should find fun pictures on the internet because with cob you can do anything and it's infinitely inspiring to look at what others have done. by the by, i'm very proud of the chicken experience...i make dustin do ANYTHING having to do with meat. bleck.
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