Tuesday is Happening!: Rock Bottom

We started out as Rock Bottom Homestead (Rock Bottom Farm was not here then, though they seem lovely and do pigs, etc., and we’ve backed away from using our homestead name for business because they are doing well with it…) and were excited to recuperate an old mostly-volunteer orchard. Our property told us it wanted to do fruit (the lump of grapevines were shaped and loved, the blackberry hedge in the back was prolific, there were smatterings of black and red raspberry everywhere, and yes, the first year there were so many apples on our mix of 2 dozen trees). The ground seemed rich, water was plentiful (maybe a little too plentiful), and though we are on the north-slope, that seemed to protect us from some of the common ills. It’s a pretty property. It’s got a nice strip of woods to forage for mushrooms, blueberries, and wild plants (solomon and false solomon’s seal, winter/checkerberry, juniper) and a sugarbush.

So, we put in 2 dozen more apple trees, half a dozen pears, a couple of peaches, plums, beach plums, hazelnuts, chestnuts, a half a dozen white grapes, white/gold raspberry, elderberry, mulberry, and a couple of lowbush blueberry. We tried to garden in the back field the first year but it was too far from the water source — it was very successful even though I three-sistered with the wrong plants (I used Strawberry Popcorn which was a smaller plant, and my beans were giant and heavy and tried to pull them all down, my summer squash below were all the lovely strange shaped ones, which come to find out — we didn’t like very much), we had loads of squash and tomatoes, potatoes and beans, I put in an asparagus and a sunchoke bed, moved all the rhubarbs around and companion planted the crap out of the garden. We put garlic and daffodils all around the apple trees and planted ‘guild’ beds in the orchard (happy stuff for pollinators and apple tree health — comfrey, boneset, blue false indigo, wild bee balm, etc.).

Then we put in a swale at the top of the hill (from a possible spring or just a thoroughfare for the winter melt) to stop the water from pooling in our backyard and overflowing into the basement. We moved the garden down the hill further and made it bigger, in the last couple of years we added more veggie beds and beds for flowers, a giant pea trellis, a pumpkin bed and doubled everything. We tried a couple of grain beds (they failed) and a fenced in circular dye/medicinal plant garden (which failed). And tried to sell flowers but it wasn’t for us. Despite 3 years of drought, many of the fruit trees and friends survived (definitely had some poor casualties, drought brings other struggles like more disease, pests, and well, drought) and then this year it’s been a rainforest!

Everything is so lush, we cannot keep up with it. It’s a jungle in there! We sized down the garden because of the time we spend at the store this year (hoping to have more time for the homestead come next year) but the tomatoes, peppers, beans, dahlia’s, and tatsoi are going nuts. The climbing dry beans are stunning, and the cukes and sunflowers are doing well. We lost all of the eggplant to beetles and the one side of the garden is dense with crabgrass, many of this years flowers did not make it into the garden (but are sadly still hanging on, still in their jiffy pots on the side, zinnia’s with tiny blooms, flamingo celosia with tiny pink tips, herbs potbound but seeding). And we took some time off from having chickens (and though I miss the romance of them, I might not go back…my chicken coop can become a new tool shed, can’t it?).

We’ve decided next year (with this January’s plan) to pretend we are reviving a derelict property and see if we can’t at least prioritize in a new way. I’m thinking more perennial beds for medicinals and teas. More wildflower fields and less fretting. It’s all about ‘appropriate framing’ – ha! Stone Broke is a step up from Rock Bottom, right? May you find new ways to frame old problems.

Duendesday: Baker in Progress…

{life with a curious and crazy 13 yr old}

D has been helping out in the kitchen, getting her hands floury, learning some fun new skills. And the baker has been navigating the humidity levels and weather changes, trying out new breads and finessing previous projects (developing a recipe for both naturally-leavened/fully-fermented and large-scale is quite a process). Homeschool at its finest — following a recipe, measuring, calculating, mixing, packaging, baking, selling, and delivering.

And the baker never hesitates to nerd out on the particulars — the history of levain, the behavior of starter/bread/the ovens, the recuperation of wheat in Maine, life before (and after) refrigeration, the problems with commercial wheat (drying with glyphosate) and the health-misunderstandings of gluten (again, primarily glyphosate and secondary, our high inflammation lifestyles/lack of physical lives, far down the line is the actual inability to process gluten proteins — for most, it is the monocultured simplified structures of white flour, the chemical processing on all levels, and the baker’s yeast which retards beneficial enzymes = the lack of living food in our diets).

I step in for the socio-political, anthropological, and philosophy of bread (From Scott Nearing to Pyotr Kropotkin, Helen Todd to Nietzsche, Peter Schumann to Victor Hugo), hearths (and the suppression of womyn, burned as witches in their own kitchens), self-sufficiency and guild-communities, economy and ecology of, and the importance of feeding the mind as well as the body.

She’s learning skills, both in thinking and doing. Handshaping, rattan basket, pan loaves, pizza doughs. She’s going to be working in the back at least one to two days a week now, earning her keep. Just to get inspired, she’s currently baking 2-Bite Apple Pies. mmmmm…

Monday’s Musings

Nine Good Things (because 9 is my list number, for so many reasons, and because this week I need to count some good things…)

  • The fog was beautiful this morning, the sun was impossible to see but came through in the pictures. There were Maximillian Sunflowers, and a variety of Sunflowers in the garden, below the Sweet Pea trellis, amidst the tower of beans. There were dewy spider webs hanging like ornaments from the apple trees, also decorated with apples — so many apples.
  • I had an amazing fresh naturally-leavened Sesame bagel with plant butter and cold-smoked atlantic salmon; my favorite breakfast, with a cup of Earl Grey: that is the way I mean to go on.
  • I’m almost done with this beast of a dissertation, I choose today to finish (I hope, I’m setting this intention). There is a rumor that if I finish today, I get Two Fat Cats cupcakes tomorrow (likely the best cupcakes in the WORLD!). Nearing will speak with Morton, Morton with Arendt, Arendt with Leslie Feinberg, Feinberg with Dread Scott, Scott with Bookchin, Bookchin with Paul Kingsnorth, Kingsnorth with Penny Rimbaud, Rimbaud with Caygill, Caygill with Ana Mendieta…it’s a tea party.
  • My peach is arting her face off — watercolor delight, new brushes, new paints, new paper from her kitty-sitting job. Play = work, work = knowledge, knowledge = the world.
  • When I am done today, we will have Summer roasted veggies on rice or maybe with farro, yes, farro — it is one of our favorite meals and makes us all happy.
  • The baker is renewing his interest and abilities in making little poetry books (yes, of his marvelous poetry and bookmaking skills), it will be a lovely series, I can’t wait. And yes, I swear it all makes the bread taste better.
  • I, too, have an art series that is slowly progressing, in its phases. Same methodologies, new techniques — it might look very new to you who have seen my work before but to me, it is a continuing story. I’m happy to work when I can.
  • This full moon, it’s a Blue Moon (the 2nd in the month), and a Supermoon — no wonder I feel sensitive, slightly off but not fully unpleasantly so. I’m trying to breathe deeply, more, with awareness. Sleep is full of dreams as this moon is an omen of great change, time to transvaluate…
  • I got lost in the wytchy aisles last night of the craft hell-store, inspired to harness all the energies I can (but not with plastic, it’s all plastic) for this coming season. I look forward to welcoming my positive ancestors to the shop (and you and yours).

A Muse for Monday

The Roundabout
~ Ken Noyle

We ride the roundabout,
Our penny paid
By some unthanked philanthropist.
Round we go, round we go,
Merrily we hold the pole–
Rise and fall,
Drunk with the blaring calliope.
Our horse,
Our horse has flaring nostrils.
Its mane flies frozen in the wind.
Its eyes are bold, fixed straight ahead,
Its saddle gold, its tassels red,
Its gallop carved in wide midstride,
Its dappled sides quite free from sweat.
Round we ride the roundabout,
The other horses synchronized–
Some rise, some fall, some prance ahead,
Some stay behind,
And some flank us as we ride.

Faster and faster whirls the sound,
The outside blurs, we hold on tight,
But now our mind imbues our horse with life–
Its sweaty flanks now steam,
Its nostrils snort,
Its bloodshot eyes roll wildly in its head.

Now is the time
To let the reins flow through the hands
With careful sensitivity,
Or else the bit will cut our steed
And it may rear up on the pole
Which skewers it to the whirling roundabout.

We stare ahead,
But if you dare to tear away your gaze
You’ll see the giddy, whirling mass–
The maelstrom around us,
The abyss beneath the skirting board.

And, as we slow,
The spinning space become the flaking paint,
The tinsel drapes, the chintzy signs.
Now some riders must dismount
And leave the golden roundabout
And stand there helpless,
Watching as it gathers speed again,
Whirling and spinning,
The riders crouched against the wind,
Faces aglow, looking ahead,
Forgetting that they’re running in a circle,
Thinking the front lies straight ahead
And that they’re riding wild and free
Covering a thousand leagues–
And not the roundabout’s periphery.

As for me,
I’ll wait until the ride creaks to a halt
And proffer up my secret penny
And ride again.
But I’ll switch mounts,
For the horses, I’ve learned,
Are only made of wood,
But wow!
That unicorn is something else again–
I’ll ride him,
Not just round and round,
But out into the stars.

Recipe Thursday: Drunken Noodle

A wonderful member recently gave us a generous helping of Thai Basil they grew. Oh! Such a lovely and heady gift. The baker took one sniff and begged for Drunken Noodle (Veranda in Portland is his favorite). I’ve had this Thai dish and I like it but I’ve never made it. So, in true Rock Bottom fashion, I winged it based on a culmination of recipes I researched. It turned out great – the baker was happy, the Thai Basil was amazing, fun was had by all.

As usual, I like malleable recipes based on whatever we have on hand. We went to the Farmer’s Market in hopes of veggies to add, we found some lovely banana peppers (a lovely bouquet), fresh tomatoes, green onions, and rainbow carrots but we would have also been happy with broccolini/broccoli/raab, the tatsoi in the garden, fresh peas in or out of the pod/snow peas, any kind or color pepper. Any wide noodle will work, not necessarily just the traditional rice noodle (some recipes used linguine – that could work, but we like it as wide as possible). And we happened to have the smattering of strange sauces in our pantry (soy/amino acids, fish, & oyster) and tubes of cilantro and lemongrass (I hate the plastic aspect but I love the ease and less waste of the tube – like the genius who made metal tube tomato paste and smashed anchovies). The amount of spice is up to you, my child likes some but not a ton (but she liked mixing up the sauce). We made it with local beef tips but it would be great with any meat or tofu or no meat.

I hope this pleases you and showcases the loveliness of Thai Basil! See what happiness gifts can bring – if we all grew one thing and shared it, we’d be a community garden…

Stone Broke Drunken Noodle
Serves 4-6

For the dish:

  • 1.50lb of beef sirloin tips, cut against the grain in 1/4″ thick pieces
  • 1 Large scallion/Green Onion, chopped small (saving some chopped greens for garnish, if desired)
  • 4 thin new Carrots or 2 large, any color, chopped on a bias (diagonally)
  • 4 tennis ball sized fresh Tomatoes, cut into wedges
  • 2 cups Green Peppers (we got long Cubanelle style, but Bell works, too), chopped big and rough
  • 1.5 cups or a really big handful of Thai Basil, removing big stems, ripping big leaves (leave a few out for garnish)
  • 2 Tbsp (or 2 big cloves) minced Garlic
  • 2 Tbsp frying oil (something mild, Grapeseed, Canola, etc)
  • 1 lb Extra Wide Egg Noodle, cooked per package directions, set aside
  • 1 Lime, cut into wedges (optional for serving)

For the Sauce:

  • 2 Tbsp Oyster sauce (to substitute, double the fish sauce and add more soy to taste)
  • 2 Tbsp Soy sauce/Amino Acids
  • 2 Tbsp Water
  • 1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
  • 1 Tbsp Cilantro (in a tube, or fresh minced, if fresh save a little for garnish, if desired)
  • 4 tsp runny Honey (can warm thicker honey to soften) or use 2 tsp OG cane sugar
  • 2 tsp Lemongrass (in a tube, or 1-2″ chunk, minced)
  • 2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
  • 1 tsp Ground Ginger
  • (optional) add 1 Tbsp Sriracha or other Hot Sauce

Cook noodles according to package and set aside. Whisk sauce ingredients all together and set aside.

In a wide bottom pot or wok, heat the oil over High heat, add the Carrots and Scallions and fry for 2 minutes or until the edges of the Carrots start to get golden, add in the Peppers (or Peas or Broccoli) and Garlic and fry for 2 minutes. Then add the meat or tofu and cook until edges are crispy (for meat, you will have to move it more often to evaporate extra liquid, for tofu, let sit a little longer before stirring – using a stiff spatula). When meat is cooked to your liking 4-5 minutes, add the sauce and cook 1 minute more, stirring to combine and incorporate.

Take pan off of heat and add Basil and Tomatoes, cover and let sit 2 minutes. Then mix with Noodles, cover and let sit another 2 minutes. Stir again and serve, adding more Thai Basil, Cilantro, Green Onion, and Lime as garnish, if desired.

Special Edition: Happenings and what not…

Our week has been a little topsy-turvy and it’s been hard to get the blog submissions on the ‘proper days’, but I don’t want to deprive you of all the news. We had a big corporate order of bagels which went swimmingly and today we have a few extra ‘surprise’ bagels, mmmmm, sourdough bagels. I spent my late teen/early adult years in NJ so bagels are important to me (ha!) and I love J’s bagels.

Today we are hosting the first Homeschool Newspaper Club (2-4pm)to brainstorm and organize. I think homeschoolers have a lot of great contacts and things they are interested in learning more about that would make great articles for the community. And I was the editor of my very ‘analog’ school newspaper back in the day (way way back) so I have some skills. Tomorrow night is Artwalk Gardiner and we will be here with Late Nite Art and ‘Scouts’ (mini baguettes in Classic and Charlie the Chocolate Bread) to try and buy until 8:30pm.

We’re updating the website so check us out there for new and exciting articulations of what, how, and why we do what we do.

The homestead, our starting point and hub, is flush with apples. We’ll be pressing apples soon, picking blackberries, and hopefully drying the last batches of herbs for Winter teas. We’ll be getting the Seed Swap drawers back up at the store by the Autumnal Equinox (and hopefully getting to the Common Ground Fair), and the seed catalogs out for drooling and dreaming.

I’m just going to enjoy my few but lovely flowers peeking out on the sunny days.

Recipe Thursday: Pozole con Pollo

I think the last recipe was a Summer stew of some sort, for which I apologize (ish). Both because summer and stew don’t seem like good friends (a point we would obviously argue), and because, well, I already did that — but in my defense, you don’t really want to hear about the millions of salads we have been eating. They aren’t super exciting to share, but are very satisfying, fresh, and summery: every week seems to bring new ingredients to the salad — we started off with greens, shoots, and radish now moving into greens with cukes and tomatoes, and I know there are golden beets in today’s CSA for which I had salad plans…and with the plethora of ridiculously delicious Fiore oils and vinegars, a little Pumpkin Vine Valley goat feta, and some toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds, we are in salad heaven, sometimes with a piece of local meat, fish, eggs, or a smattering of chick peas, and a slice of sourdough bread, dinner has been pretty easy peasy.

Though on our day off (Wednesday), we’ve been trying to make something more involved. Recently we had folks over and did a lovely saffron turkey over the firepit with the end of last years frozen nightshades for a fire-roasted ratatouille, it was all divine. Last week we had responsibly sourced bone-in pork chops (there was a time when D would only eat meat ‘on the bone’) with jasmine, brown, and manoomin rice (thank you, Forager’s Harvest! They hand-harvest this wild rice in canoes with the Indigenous folk, and dry it over the fire. All from Wisconsin and Minnesota lakes and rivers — it is so rich and fortifying), and salad. But most of the time we eat pretty simply, summer classics (hippie hotdogs & fries, homemade pizza, stir fry) or we snack for dinner (some nights we work too late to think about dinner — Soulemama taught me long ago that it’s ok if it’s popcorn for dinner once in awhile).

This summer stew hit all the right notes for us since we’ve been dreaming of New Mexico again. J & I (pre-D) loved it out there (we lived South for awhile, came back East and tried the Northern part of the state which worked out a lot better for us…sorry, Billy the Kid). We loved the food, the air, the people, the sky, the river, the birds…and in both places, the chilis…oh, those green chilis…J loved all the family dishes — pozole, frito pie, menudo (‘stomach stew’ made with tripe), whereas I’m a tamale/chili rellenos kind of gal (though there was a breakfast place that made fresh biscuits with green chili gravy that was out of this world). I struggled with pozole as it can be served a little bland and then you add all your ‘things’ to make it rich (and I was always a little thrown by firm hominy, I don’t like it too firm or too soft), additives like salsa verde (or rojo, you can xmas it up, too!), queso fresco or other cheese, lime, onion, cilantro, avocado, lettuce, radish, jalapeno, pepitas, tortillas or sopaipillas, etc. Typically, it is a slow simmered pork stock with hominy.

I tried to make it last year for J and it was ok, it didn’t thrill me but I could see the potential. This week, I decided to use the semi-cooked frozen hominy I saved and try again, with chicken, beans, tomatillos, and poblanos. I found a couple of great ‘starter’ recipes, landing on a lovely combination that tickled our Taos fancy. This is a keeper. You can still go that one step further and make sopaipillas or fry-bread, or eat with tortilla chips, or soft flour tortillas, whatever you wish. I can tell you that we had extra Parmesan sourdough, and oh, darn, we had to eat it up with this…it’s a rough life.

Pozole con Pollo
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

  • 1-2lbs responsible Chicken parts (I used a quarter breast w/ wing)
  • 12 Tomatillos, papery skin peeled, then washed
  • 2 Poblano Peppers (I suppose you could use Green Bell if you don’t want any heat but these are not too spicy, just enough to give good flavor and a warmy-ness)
  • 1 Medium White or Yellow Onion (peel outer skin and halve or cut into 3 pieces)
  • 4 cups Chicken Broth (either container or whip up some yourself, keep chicken parts in a bag in the freezer, adding in ends of carrots, celery, onion, herbs until ready to make broth, boil gently for a bit, strain, use), plus 4 cups water
  • 4 cups ‘cooked’ Hominy (either canned or pre-cooked, alternatively you can set up the day before, cook like you would dry beans, then can replace water above with hominy water)
  • 1 cup and a half of Pinto beans (equals 1 can, drained, rinsed)
  • 2 Tablespoons Garlic, minced (or chopped small)
  • 2 teaspoons Cumin seed
  • 2 teaspoons Sea Salt (or to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon Aleppo Pepper (or something stronger if you want more heat, like Chipotle, or Ancho, or powdered Green Chili)
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 2 Tablespoons of oil of choice (I used Avocado oil for this, to start things off), and a little for roasting veggies (I used Olive Oil for that)
  • Additives: Queso Fresco, Cilantro, Chopped Green Onion, Lime wedges, Avocado slices (or any of the suggestions above)

Instructions:

  • Broil (or grill, or high heat roast), a sheetpan with the onion, tomatillos, and poblanos (drizzled with a little oil) — until the poblano and tomatillo skins are scorched and the edges of the onions are darkened, set aside to cool a bit (about 10 min, at the most)
  • In a heavy-bottomed pot, over Med-High heat, add starter oil (2 Tbsp Avocado or Olive Oil, etc) then Cumin seed, after about a minute or so, add Garlic, stir for a minute. Then add chicken, skin side down. Brown chicken, turning/stirring occasionally to not burn seed or garlic. If it looks like the seed/garlic are darkening too quickly, move on to next step.
  • Add broth, water, Bay Leaf, and Hominy to pot. Bring to slow boil and let actively simmer with the lid slightly askew for about 40 minutes. Remove Chicken to cool a bit.
  • Meanwhile, if the veggies are cool enough to handle, peel the charred Poblano skin from the Peppers and discard, pull the stem (and hopefully, the seeds will pop out with it, or slice lengthwise and scrape seeds out and discard). In a food processor or blender, puree the Peppers, Tomatillos, and Onion. Then add it to the Hominy in the pot.
  • Take the Chicken, pick the meat from the bones if necessary, and shred. Then add it to the pot with the Beans, Salt, and Chili Pepper spice (Aleppo, in our case, a lot of flavor but little heat).
  • Heat through, check the Hominy for preferred texture and add Salt if necessary.
  • Serve in wide bowls with as little or a lot of broth as you like, adding favorite toppings (crumbled Queso, Lime, Avocado, and Green Onions for us!) and serving with rice, bread, tortilla see above for more ideas).

Enjoy! It’s both fresh tasting and filling. Hominy-success!