One year on the farm

As of last Friday, the Farm has officially seen it's last first birthday. Guess whose?!Olivia is now diligently helping prepare for a brunch in her honor.

Waiting by the door to welcome her guests.

And working on her intelligent conversation topics.

We love you, Olivia! Happy birthday, baby girl.

Sunset

Misadventures in homesteading

Life on the farm is constantly teaching us something new. Unfortunately, the information we gleam from the lessons would have been much better to know in the beginning of the process instead of the middle, but I guess that wouldn't make for nearly as entertaining of a story.

This year our herb garden taught us something very important. Don't plant licorice-flavored herbs near ANYTHING else. Thanks to a Thai basil plant and another random French herb (that of course I don't remember the name of and was never cooked into anything), most of my regular basil has a unwanted licorice quality to it. Licorice pesto? I think not. You would have thought that last years squash-cini would have taught us to really consider how close you plant what. At least squash-cini turned out to be fairly tasty!

As we dable more into the concept of homesteading, I get the feeling that our trail and error days have only just begun.

Food

Thanks to an entry on someone else's blog, I now know why the pictures I take when I'm cooking always look sickly. It's my timing. I work during the day and have kid-time in the evening, which leaves night time for any cooking-binge I get on. Unfortunately my kitchen lightening = poor quality photos of yellow-tinted food. So, I guess you will just have to take my word for how mouth-watering some of our new farm-fresh faves are:


Pepper Jelly - I've eaten it before but never made it myself. Even Allen is singing its praises. Definitely a 10.

Babbaganush - Not only is it a ridiculously fun word to say, but it's another use for eggplants, a vegetable we are always trying to find new ways to eat. Slathered on a fresh slice of bread... delish.

Cucumber Salsa - this one isn't new around here; we've been making it for years. But it's as if during those long winter months I forget just how marvelous and refreshing it is.

Side note: Allen has been cooking some stellar meals straight from the garden. These are just some of the stuff I've been piddling with. His main dishes and sides are another post for another day!

Oh my it's hot.

I think that sums it up. And only leaves us with one option:
Hope all y'all are staying cool.