516
Hi Everyone,
The week finally arrived—the final week before our first Farm to Table Dinner! There was still so much to do, and we wondered if we would get it all done. The week started off on a sad note, as we had to take one of our Jersey heifers to the butcher. It was new territory for us. I have heard of heifers that would not breed—but we never had one. Paisley was three years old and had spent a whole year with the bull—but never got bred. The vet said that there was nothing wrong with her, yet she went into heat on a regular basis. I have a slight feeling that she just never would stand still enough for the bull. We had planned to get milk from her for years to come; instead she shall provide us with meat. Paisley wasn’t exactly the sweetest cow, but she wasn’t the meanest either. She really didn’t like to be petted for she would throw her head at you in an attempt to push you away. It is amazing how each cow has their own personality—for America (our milk cow) loves to be petted and loved on.
A few weeks ago a fellow YouTuber “Breaking New Roots” came by to do a Farm Tour interview of us and our farm. Her video went live yesterday and you can check it out here.
I had everything planted in the garden that I needed to get planted, so come Monday I was ready to work in the courtyard and other flower beds around the farm yard. The weather was pretty enough to move the tender plants off the porch and out for the rain to water them and the sun to bless them. All was going smoothly until I reached my two large pots of aloe—well, the pots really were not that big but the aloe had multiplied so much that they hung over the edges by about a foot. Mom had been wanting me to trim back the aloe plants for months—but it looked like an impossible job that I really wasn’t interested in. Then as I was cleaning up the porch I just happened to notice that one pot wouldn’t stand up straight, but instead wanted to roll over. I found out that the roots had busted through the bottom of the plastic pot. So I started pulling out the extra large pieces—and then I decided to replant the rest of it. On the other aloe plant pot I pulled out the pieces that hung over the edge and left all the new growth that was coming up in the middle. This process left the pots looking very nice—but the porch was a disaster. I put all the good pieces in a bucket and then Steve stuffed the rest into garbage bags. Then we went back to weeding in the flower beds. We both got into fights with the rose bushes as we pulled the weeds out from under them and trimmed back some straggly plants that were taking over one of the rose bushes. While we worked in the courtyard, Mom worked on getting the sides on the hay wagon before the dinner on Saturday. Papa and my brother-in-law went after a few loads of hay for the cows and sheep.
Mom and I got the milking done Tuesday morning and then she headed to the barn to help Papa work on the hay wagon. I headed to the milk house to bottle kefir. Then I headed to town to do some shopping. I desperately needed water pitchers for the dinner—and Jane Crow needed some new clothes, and I wanted some fresh flowers for the courtyard. I had found some water carafes online—but the reviews said that a lot of the times they arrived broken. So I wanted to purchase them locally. Finding clothes for Jane Crow was pretty easy thanks to the Dollar Tree and Goodwill—but neither place was helpful in finding glass pitchers for the water and lemonade. I tried Walmart—but I NEVER find what I need in there anymore. I gave up on glassware and headed to Lowes for some flowers. I found some petunias and dianthus on the clearance racks, and then some Dahlias, Delphiniums and a pot of mixed spring flowers satisfied my flower cravings. When I got home I told my parents that I couldn’t find anything for the water. Papa nonchalantly said that he guessed we would just have to use the half gallon mason jars—but Mom and I both said that they were too bulky and hard to pour from. While I ate my lunch (mine was later than my parents because I had to finish making yogurt) I searched for glass pitchers and the first picture that popped up was a half-gallon canning jar with a plastic lid that had a pour spout and a sturdy handle. Since our drinking glasses were canning jar mugs we all decided that the half gallon canning jars would make great water pitchers with the new lids—so I ordered 10. Once the egg party was over Steve and I headed to the garden to harvest the lettuce. The heads were so large and crisp and would be perfect for the Farm to Table Dinner.
As Wednesday rolled around the list of things to do was growing and I was ready to sacrifice my “relaxation day” in order to get a lot done—but my body had other plans. I wanted to clean bathrooms, vacuum the house, make a huge batch of yogurt, and bottle a batch of kombucha and make more—all after Mom and I milked the cows and packed the orders for the Jacksonville delivery. Then my body gave a cry of distress and I knew that I must relax or I would never make it through the weekend. I had to make the yogurt and the kombucha—but the cleaning could wait. It was a good choice, and I woke up with more energy Thursday morning.
As soon as we were done milking the cows Thursday morning we processed chickens—until about 3:30. Then Mom and Papa went to the barn to finish the hay wagon. Steve mowed and used the weed eater and I headed to the garden to harvest. I had to harvest mustard greens, carrots, green onions, spinach, and Swiss chard for the Farm to Table Dinner—and enough of it to feed 30 people! It was close to 5:30 by the time I got inside and I needed to vacuum and dust our guest bedroom and clean the guest shower—for my Aunt Patti and Uncle Jimmie were due to arrive any minute in order to spend the weekend with us and attend our Farm to Table Dinner. I got the room vacuumed and was heading to clean the shower when my sister Nichole arrived. I told her to come and sit in the bathroom with me while I cleaned. Then I dusted the bedroom and just as I was walking out of the room my Uncle was coming down the hallway carrying their luggage—I had accomplished everything just in the nick of time. My sister stayed for dinner so she could visit with everyone too. Then later as we were all getting ready to relax for the evening I remembered that the yogurt was ready to come out of the incubator and go to the cooler. So I asked Papa if he would take the yogurt over to the walk-in cooler. A little while later I was being questioned about the consistency of the yogurt—it had separated into curds and whey. I was devastated for I had made five gallons worth of yogurt and I had forgotten to add the culture—it was all ruined! Mom said that it wasn’t worth getting upset over and making myself sick—BUT I had two customers coming the next day to get yogurt and Brett (our chef for the dinner) would be by the next morning to pick up the food supplies—and he needed yogurt to marinade the chicken. How was I supposed to supply the yogurt now? Then I remembered that two customers did not show up Wednesday—which means that there were two extra yogurts, and they would take care of the two customers that would come by Friday morning, but what about Brett? It just so happens that when there is extra yogurt milk I pour it into a jar for us to eat—and I had one of those in the fridge unused. The Lord had truly provided. I would just have to make more yogurts on Friday to cover the Saturday orders.
Friday dawned a warm spring day. It was beautiful outside—which was good for there was so much to do. Once the milking was done I bottled the kefir, made more yogurts, and took care of customers. Everyone else headed to the barn. All week we had watched the weather forecast—and rain was predicted for our event. We prayed and prayed that God would not let it rain—and while we hoped for the best, we also knew that it could rain before and after our event and the picnic tables would be a problem if we had the dinner in our front yard overlooking the farm as we had originally planned. Mom and I both came to the conclusion that we needed a rain proof place to hold the event so that we didn’t have to worry about setting up or tearing down in the rain. We had the option of the hay barn—or the new lean to on the side of the hay barn. Mom said that the hay barn would be too dusty, and the lean-to would be better because it has a concrete floor. The lean-to just happened to be full of equipment and odds and ends. So the day was spent emptying the lean-to and getting the last of the picnic tables sanded. Papa told Mom that she could not even attempt to stain the last two picnic tables for there just wasn’t enough time. Once the last table was sanded then they set them up in the lean-to and then we all helped Papa string the lights around the ceiling. When night fell the place looked so beautiful and the lighting was perfect. The hay wagon did get finished Thursday night and so after lunch on Friday they loaded the hay on it and then we took it for its maiden voyage—a trial run of the route that we would be taking during our farm tour during our dinner. It was very comfortable and it was so high up that we could see down into fields that I hadn’t seen the middle of in a while. I spent the day unpacking boxes. For weeks I have spent a lot of time sitting at the computer looking for and ordering dishes, utensils, paper goods, lights, tablecloths, table runners and whatever else we might need to serve dinner to 30 people. The boxes poured in and we piled them on the broken golf-cart—for we had no time to open them and no place to put everything once we opened them. It was now the day before the dinner and those boxes needed to be unpacked and all the dishes and utensils needed to be washed. We ran about four loads thru the dishwasher—but there was still so many dishes left that we had to break down and have them washed by hand. It was a late night, but things were starting to take shape.
Saturday was cloudy and overcast, but the temperatures were perfect. We milked the cows and did the morning chores and then we had to pack the Gainesville order. The chickens that we had processed were ready to be moved to the freezer, and the eggs needed to be rearranged in the cooler. It was time to start washing the tablecloths and table runners so that the tables could get set. The chef and his crew arrived around 1:30 and they got all their stuff set up and the pizza oven fired up. I spent my afternoon in the poultry kitchen using the four compartmental sink to wash all the greens—mustard, chard, spinach, and lettuce. It took hours! I saw the clock at 3:00 and moaned for I was still washing greens and the napkins still needed to be ironed and the flowers still needed to be picked for the tables—and everyone would be here in an hour. To my delight Mom headed inside to iron the napkins, while I continued to wash the greens. Then it began to rain! UGH! It wasn’t hard—but it was raining. I finished the greens around 3:30, and then we learned that the lemonade was missing in action and we needed to serve it in 30 minutes. I quickly grabbed a quart jug of lemon juice out of the freezer and got it thawed up real quick. Then we grabbed some maple syrup and some water and the lemonade was finished just in time. The rain had stopped for just a bit and all the guests had arrived and were in the barn lean-to at the tables—and then the heavens opened up and it poured! This gave us all a chance to finish the last minute details like setting up the nibble board welcome station, cleaning up my mess from washing all the greens, and finish ironing the napkins. When I checked the weather map I could tell that as soon as the rain quit it was done for the night. We had a 30 minute delay in starting, but the rest of the evening was dry. Once the rain stopped I went over and invited everyone into the Poultry kitchen to enjoy some Maple lemonade, Stuffed eggs, and honey roasted pecans. Then we headed outside toward the hay wagon. Thankfully the hay wagon was in the barn so the hay didn’t get wet. Right before we all loaded onto the wagon the chef met us with the first hors d'oeuvre—Fish Ceviche with Tostones (fried green plantains). Then we all loaded up onto the hay wagon—including the one lady who was three months shy of 100, and had never been on a hayride before. It was then time to head out around the farm. We drove past the sheep that were happily grazing in a green grass field just across from the hay barn and lean-to. Next we drove past the garden and then we stopped at the milk cows so that Papa could send the cows out to green pasture to eat and separate the calves for the night. We then headed on down field past the egg laying chickens, and around the pond, up the hill and through the chestnut orchard. As we exited the chestnuts we drove pass another mobile chicken tractor where the guard dogs, Yasha and Aliya, were camping out. Lastly we drove past the milk cows as they were eating their fresh green grass, and our last thing to see was the broiler chickens and their mobile hoop houses. We then headed back to the hay barn lean-to, and before we got off the hay wagon the chef and his crew came aboard and passed out the second hors d'oeuvre—Beef Flank steak Crostini.
It was now time to be seated at the tables—five picnic tables draped with willow green tablecloths and happy spring table runners. To my delight the middle of the table was finally graced with bouquets of yellow daffodils and chartreuse green pepper weed. While everyone was enjoying the nibble boards I made a quick last minute dash out to the garden to pick some flowers. Jenny (Brett’s wife) asked me around 4:00 (while it was raining outside) how I was doing. I told her I was fine, but that I was bummed that there were no flowers for the tables. She said that I should have told her and she could have brought some. I told her that I had the flowers—they were just still in the garden. She offered to go out in the rain to pick the flowers, but I would have none of it. I tried to be content without them—but my heart was very disappointed for flowers are one of my ways of showing hospitality to my guests. Then when the rain stopped and I saw that everyone was occupied I knew that my moment had arrived to go harvest those beloved flowers. The photographer for the night was very pleased when the flowers arrived for she had commented that the tables would look better with flowers.
When we all sat down at the tables there was homemade bread, butter, whipped lardo, and chicken liver pate waiting for us. I had never tried whipped lardo or pate before, and I really enjoyed them. I usually do not enjoy liver, but decided that if you had to eat it that was the way to get it down. The second course was a pumpkin-carrot-ginger soup—all ingredients that we have grown here on the farm. When we were done with our soup they brought out plates of salad with toasted walnuts and citrus vinaigrette. Dinner arrived family style—Bowls of garlicky sautéed mustard greens and Swiss chard, platters of Rice and Orzo pilaf topped with Yogurt marinated chicken kabobs, and hot skillets of wood fired shrimp with tomato and feta cheese were all placed on each table. To drink we had a hibiscus/kombucha mocktail. Yes, we were getting full, but the dessert plates arrived with the most perfectly light dessert—Ricotta Cheesecake topped with whipped cream and strawberry jam. It just melted in your mouth and didn’t feel like it took up any more space in your already full tummy. It was the perfect ending to a perfectly delightful evening. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and was asking when we would be doing another one—and all we could say was soon! The nice thing about the meal was that everything was made from scratch from the best ingredients from our farm and a few surrounding farms.
The dinner was over at 8:00 and then as one helper said—“The night has just begun!” Yes, he was right for now we had to clean up everything and wash all the dishes—all 30 dinner plates, 30 salad plates, 30 dessert plates, 30 bread and butter plates, 5 serving bowls, 5 serving platter, 5 skillets, mixing bowls, and other dishes. The glasses and the utensils we decided to run through the dishwasher. When it came to clean up—I think that we lacked a few hands. Everyone was extremely busy, but somethings just couldn’t get done. I am sure that we will be spending the next few days getting everything put back together and finding a place to store all our new dinnerware. We were asked if all the work we put into the event was worth it—and we said “YES”. It was a total success and we look forward to doing many more—just have to check the calendars. I will let you know when we figure it out.
Serving you with Gladness,
Tiare