We lost Martin, our fierce and loving tomcat, this weekend. When we moved to the farm, he greeted and befriended us immediately, as he did with all visitors. He made us feel at home and has been a fixture here: sauntering around, basking in the sun, and relentlessly asking for and giving love. We will miss him.
The lack of storms in the forecast is troubling. We are grateful for the return of the fog and a break from the deep frost but we need water to replenish us all. This week in our morning circle, we are reading a poem by Ursula LeGuin (included below) to collectively call for the rain.
We have freshly cleaned and milled rye flour in the barn now. We are excited to bake with it and hope you enjoy it as well.
We hope you can join us for the harvest festival this Saturday from 11-3! Make wreaths and other crafts, eat pumpkin pie, and help us give thanks for the summer abundance.
Winter store hours begin this week! We will close at 6 pm until the time changes again in March.
To the Rain by Ursula K. LeGuin
Mother rain, manifold, measureless,
falling on fallow, on field and forest,
on house-roof, low hovel, high tower,
downwelling waters all-washing, wider
than cities, softer than sisterhood, vaster
than countrysides, calming, recalling:
return to us, teaching our troubled
souls in your ceaseless descent
to fall, to be fellow, to feel to the root,
to sink in, to heal, to sweeten the sea.
Martin big and strong when we first met him (and with both eyes)!
This week’s pick list:
Broccoli
Collards
Cabbage
Winter squash
Kale
Beets
Chard
Potatoes
Parsley
Carrots
Lettuce
Radish
Turnips
Rutabaga
Kohlrabi
Celeriac
Celery
Onions
Leeks
Garlic
Sunflower heads for seed
Dried tea herbs
Dried ground peppers
Revolution Bread only available Friday
Swedish Rye Cookie Recipe, from 101cookbooks.com
1 cup rye flour
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup fine grain natural cane sugar, sifted
large grain sugar (for sprinkling)
organic powdered sugar (for snow)
Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium-sized bowl combine the flours and salt. Set aside. In an electric mixer (or by hand) beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy, add the butter and do the same, mixing until the two are well combined. Beat in the sugar and mix until well incorporated. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir only long enough to combine the two. The dough should no longer be dusty looking. Turn the dough out onto the counter, knead once or twice to bring it together, shape into a ball, flatten, wrap in plastic and chill it in a refrigerator.
Heat your oven to 350F degrees, and arrange the racks in the top and bottom thirds.. When you are ready to roll out your cookies do so on a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness, and cut into shapes with the cookie cutter of your choice. Place on the prepared baking sheets an inch apart, and sprinkle each cookie with a bit of large-grain sugar. Bake for six or seven minutes, just until cookies are fragrant, and getting a bit golden at the edges - avoid over-baking or they will come out on the dry side. Allow to cool, and dust cookies with a bit of powdered sugar.