Making Sauerkraut – 2016

They say that your tastebuds change over time.  While that’s probably true, there are certain foods that, as a kid, I just wasn’t interested in even trying.  Sauerkraut is one of those things.  As a kid, it looked gross, smelled gross, and I was sure it tasted gross and was not going to even try it.

As an adult, I decided to give it a chance.  We grow cabbage and when we harvest it, we make lots of cole slaw, cooked cabbage as a side dish, and our favorite way to eat cabbage: we chop it and mix with ground meat and spices and make homemade egg rolls.  One other thing we do is make sauerkraut.  Sauerkraut has numerous health benefits, among them:

Ø  Good source of Vitamin C, A, K, and B,

Ø  Provides iron, copper magnesium and calcium,

Ø  Contains lots of fiber and aids in digestion,

Ø  Boosts your immune system,

Ø  Provides Energy

We have Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions cookbook and follow these simple directions to make 1 quart of sauerkraut (expand recipe as needed):

·         Cabbage

·         1 Tablespoon salt

·         4 Tablespoons whey

First we go out to the garden and pick a nice bid head of cabbage, peeling off the outer leaves and sharing those with the cows.  Sometimes we have to pick a few slugs off of the inner leaves as they like to get in there and feast on the big head.

Nice, big, fat head of cabbage

Then I remove the hard stem and chop up the cabbage into small pieces, putting the cabbage in a large bowl and adding the salt and whey.  The whey is a by-product of making yogurt (kefir) and we always have some in the fridge.  Then, using the head of a meat tenderizer, I begin pounding on the cabbage in the bowl.  Over and over I beat the cabbage, bruising the leaves, causing it to release the juices contained within.  I continue banging on the cabbage for about 10 minutes, so I guess you can say that the act of making sauerkraut has health benefits as well in the form of cardiovascular health and stress-reduction.

Crushing the Cabbage

Next I spoon the cabbage, whey, salt mixture into a wide mouth quart-sized canning jar, packing it in tightly so that the liquid appears at the top of the jar, but allowing 1 inch head space at the top.

Packing sauerkraut into wide mouth jars

Finally, I screw the lid to the jars on tightly and store at room temperature for 3 days, labeling the date on the top of the jar lids.

Sitting at room temperature for 3 days

After three days, I’ll place them in the fridge.  Sauerkraut can be eaten immediately, but we find that it tastes better with age and we try to postpone eating it until it has been in cold storage for a couple of months.  Making sauerkraut has become an annual event for us and we look forward to making and eating it, especially during the hot days of summer as it serves as the cold, fizzy sauerkraut is a refreshing appetizer!

A Collective Loss of Hope

Image Credit

Now that is a sobering blog title.  It sounds ominous, somber and depressing.  My intent with this blog has always been to celebrate the agrarian way of life, honoring my God, and reminiscing about ‘antique virtues and values” that seem to be going the way of the dodo bird and the woolly mammoth.  Journaling a collection of my oftentimes rambling and jumbled thoughts has always been therapeutic to me.

I have always striven to avoid the mention of politics in this medium and, although I certainly have opinions, I aim to continue that.  I read an article in the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago that has stuck with me, marinating in my subconsciousness and I’d like to talk about it a little today.  The article, I think, contains a powerful feeling that can be felt by all political stripes, including Democrats, Republicans, Republicrats, Democans, Elephants, Donkeys, and Elephonkeys alike.  The article was written by Peggy Noonan.  I grew up in the 1980’s and remember her as a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan.

The article I’m speaking of is one entitled, “That moment when 2016 hits you” and can be found by clicking this link: The Moment When 2016 Hits You

Here are a few excerpts from the article:

‘I felt a wave of sadness,’ said one friend. This year’s politics have that effect on a lot of Americans.

Another political veteran, my friend John, also had his Moment during the New Hampshire primary. Out door-knocking for Jeb Bush, “I was struck as I walked along a neighborhood using the app that described the voters in each house. So many multigenerational families of odd collections of ages in houses with missing roof shingles or shutters askew or paint peeling. Cars needing repair.”  What was the story inside those houses? Unemployment, he thought, elder care, divorce, custody battles. “It was easy to see a collective loss of hope in a once-thriving town.” He sensed “years of neglect and sadness. Something is brewing.”

Okay, it’s me again.  You see the underlined portion of the verbiage below?  I look around and see the same thing.  Of course there are exceptions to this.  There are plenty of people who have secure jobs, all the trappings of material success, and seem, at least from the outside, to be genuinely happy and optimistic.  But there is a large portion of the populace that feels that their best days are behind them, that the potential of having a better standard of living than the generations before them is out of reach.  Incomes are stagnant if not dropping.  Layoffs have forced people into jobs for which they are overqualified for and underpaid. 

When things break, they don’t get repaired OR people get themselves further into debt.  I researched Americans’ indebtedness and discovered that as of May 2016, the average American household credit card debt is $5,700.  But when you exclude those households that pay their credit cards off in full at the end of each month, the average credit card debt for these households is $16,048!  Here's the supporting link: Americans in Debt

People see no way out.  At Our Maker’s Acres Family Farm, we live in rural America where the major industries are agriculture and the oil patch.  The economic outlook isn’t particularly rosy.  Maybe things are better in your “neck of the woods?”

In a related vein, I read that April 2016 marked the twelfth straight month of record gun sales.  More and more people are taking classes for their concealed handgun license.  I checked Smith & Wesson stock on Google Finance and saw that its stock price has appreciated 556.8% over the past 5 years.  Smith & Wesson Stock Chart

People are scared.  You can feel it.  Fellow citizens medicate themselves to numb their senses to the situations they find themselves in.  We keep ourselves busy as we frenetically rush about at a pace that would rival that of a hummingbird – so busy we don’t pause to think, or enjoy the simple pleasures such as a sunrise or sunset or stars on a crisp fall evening.  We don’t soak in and relish the gentle evening breeze while swinging under the boughs of an oak tree or under the front porch.  Most importantly, we don’t pray to our Creator and request His guidance, His wisdom, His deliverance from our hopelessness, our bondage, or our fears.

Back to Ms. Noonan’s article.  She finished it up like this:

And a sob welled up and I literally put my hands to my face and sobbed, silently, for I suppose a minute.

Because my country is in trouble.

Because I felt anguish at all the estrangements.

Because some things that shouldn’t have changed have changed.

You’ll feel better the next day, I promise, but you won’t be able to tell yourself that this is history as usual anymore. This is big, what we’re living through.

Because too much is being lost.

She is a great writer.  I remember her speech as given by President Ronald Reagan after the Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster back in 1986.  I remember watching it while at college.  I remember in it, the President directly spoke to school children and encouraged the nation, despite the loss, to keep moving forward, advancing.  I remember feeling encouraged even in the midst of great sorrow.  Ms. Noonan’s Wall Street Journal article doesn’t leave me with such encouragement about the future.  Nor does it give a roadmap out.

Yes, our country is in trouble.  Yes, a lot has changed and a lot is being lost.  Yes, I am sad about the predicament that our country is in and the trajectory of our future, and I suppose I mourn about it most because I think our wounds are largely self-inflicted.  But, I’ll tell you this.  All is not lost, and I won’t succumb to fear of the future and I certainly will not lose hope.

On the subject of fear, hopelessness, and despair, my God tells me in Joshua 1:9:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.  

There is no strong man or strong woman that can save us.  Only God.  We’re not in this alone.  Our hearts should not be troubled.  Families on bended knee, shoulder to shoulder in communities across our land need to repent and humbly fix our eyes upon Him.  It is only then when believers can see healing and restoration.  If we have a “collective loss of hope,” we need to turn to the God of Hope who tells us in Romans 15:13:

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

2016 Meat Birds at Eleven Weeks Old

So tick tock, tick tock...  Time for the Red Rangers keeps on ticking.  The Cornish Cross Meat Birds are all frozen solid in our freezer.  Red Rangers take up to four weeks longer to mature.  They are eleven weeks old now and time for our weekly weigh-in.  I carried our Red Ranger Rooster by the feet to the garage where I have the kitchen scale set up.

It is warming up here in mid-May and I could feel the heat of the bird as I carried him.  He flapped his wings and settled down as I set him on my messy workbench strewn with tools.

Week 11 Weigh in

As you know the goal is 6 pounds.   Let's put 'Ol Boy on the scale and see the results of another week of food, grass, and growth...

Biggest Loser?  Hope not...

This week, 'Ol Red tipped the scale at 4 pounds and 13 ounces.

Four Pounds and 13 ounces

The days are getting longer and when I put the red ranger back in the chicken tractors with all of his compadres, it looks like their living conditions are quite good.  Sunshine is streaming in, green grass beneath their feet, a raingutter with chick grower in it and a waterer with plenty of fresh, clean water to drink.  Happy, healthy birds, to be sure.

Red Rangers in the Chicken Tractor

So here is our comparison table so we can track the growth from week to week as the butcher date approaches.  We can see that the Red Ranger gained one half pound over the last week.

So, we can say with pretty good confidence that we'll be butchering in two weeks, three weeks at the latest.  I was discussing with Tricia that it is going to be hot butchering in a couple (or three) weeks and the flies will be out in full force, necessitating a fan.  Although it is fun to raise your own food, it involves time each day feeding them, watering them and pushing the chicken tractor to fresh grass.  It will be a welcome break to not have to do that everyday!

A Work of Art

This blog post is quite the quantum leap from yesterday's post about getting down in the dirt and digging up potatoes.  Today we're going to get ourselves cleaned up and get cultured and critique some art.  Years ago there was an art exhibit in New Orleans featuring the artwork of French impressionist Edgar Degas.  Our daughter Laura Lee really likes Degas art - always has.

So when her art professor in her college class assigned the class a senior art project, Laura knew exactly what she wanted to do.  The assignment was for the students to 'become the artwork' of their favorite painting.  Sounds kinda intriguing, does it not?  Laura and her good friend decided that they would 'become' the Degas painting, "Two Dancers Entering the Stage".  Here is the painting:

Edgar Degas' painting, "Two Dancers Entering the Stage"

So the girls got busy and painted the backdrop on a sheet.  Then they got dancing outfits and painted both the tights and dance skirts and even painted themselves so that they would look like a painting. They stood in front of the backdrop that they painted and posed like the two dancers in the original painting and had a friend snap a photo of them.

I think the results were stunning.  What do you think?

Living replica of Degas' work (Laura Lee on right)

Pretty cool, huh?  She got an A+ on her final art project of her senior year in college and is set to graduate on Friday, May 13th.

Oh, here are the subjects of the painting once they stepped off of the canvas:

Stepped right off the canvas

Mom & Dad are proud of their creative girl!

Digging up Potatoes – 2016

Back on February 13^th we planted potatoes in our garden.  We like to plant both the Lasoda Red as well as Yukon Gold varieties.  We purchase the seed potatoes at our local feed store, but we also plant some of our own potatoes that we’ve saved over the course of the year in our potato bin in which the eyes have sprouted long shoots and the potatoes themselves are shriveled.  They’re not good for eating, of course, but they’ll grow more potatoes.  

I’ll cut up the seed potatoes into chunks, each containing a sprouted eye and allow them to ‘scab over’ for a couple of days.  I counted 168 individual seed potatoes. Then I simply put them in the ground.  This year we achieved 100% germination on the potatoes.  I mulched them with live oak leaves to discourage weed competition and top dressed with some chicken litter.  The potatoes flourished.  I mean they really put on a lot of vegetative growth, but the important growth is going on underneath the soil.

My garden planner told me to be checking for maturity in about 90 days.  Unfortunately, we experienced a good bit of rain in late April/early May and the potatoes that I planted on the lower side of the garden turned yellow and sickly.  To keep those potatoes from rotting in the muddy ground, we dug those up about a week ago.  A few were rotten and when we picked them, they squished in our hands, and were nasty smelling.  Most were okay, though.

Yesterday, I got my digging fork out and assembled my potato digging crew to dig up the remainder of the potatoes that were planted on the high sided of the garden.  We always like digging potatoes.  It’s like digging for buried treasure.  We started on one end of the row and I would turn over the soil and Russ, Benjamin and Tricia would unearth the potatoes and throw them in a big blue tub.

Tater diggers

The soil was rich and dark-colored, just teeming with earthworms.  We did run into some fire ants that had invaded the garden.  We raced to dig them and pick them from the dirt before they could bite us, but we weren’t very successful.  Potatoes of all different sizes were unearthed. 

Unearthing buried treasure!

We kept filling the bucket as we worked our way up and down all the rows.

Filling the Bucket

The red potatoes were by far the better producers in terms of quantity, while the Yukon Gold potatoes, while they didn’t produce as many, they produced potatoes of nicer size.

A nice Yukon Gold 'baker'

When all was said and done, we straightened up our aching backs and carried the tubs of potatoes back to the house where we’ll put the potatoes into milk crates and store them in the dark pantry. 

Potato Harvest Results - Spring 2016

We’ve learned through experience not to wash them and to keep them in a dark place and as cool as possible.  By following that practice, we’ve been able to almost make our potato inventory last year round.  I’ll need to plant the Fall potato crop a little earlier this year as the last ones were affected by the freeze.

I weighed the full potato harvest, minus a few that we ate fresh out of the ground cooked with some green beans, and our Spring Potato crop yield totaled 144 pounds.  We planted 10 pounds of red potatoes and 5 pounds of Yukon gold potatoes.  So a total of 15 pounds of seed potatoes yielded about 150 pounds of potatoes.  Looking at it another way, each pound of seed potatoes, on average, produces 10 pounds of potatoes to eat.  As I mentioned earlier, we planted 168 "pieces" of seed potatoes that yielded 144 pounds of potatoes to eat, so that tells us that that each 'seed' or piece of potato planted will yield, on average 0.85 pounds of potatoes to eat.  

That was great information to learn and we’ll certainly enjoy eating the potatoes that we dug, but that doesn’t compare to the memories and fun we had digging them up!

Happy Mother's Day

Proverbs 1:8-9

⁸ My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

⁹ For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

Today is the day that we celebrate and honor our mothers.  I've been very blessed to have a GREAT Mom!  She modeled servanthood, selflessness, love and lots of hard work to me and my siblings. Today we had an opportunity to spend a relaxing Sunday afternoon enjoying a tasty meal and conversation and serving my mom and also serving my wife.
 

Me & My Mom

I have also been blessed to have a GREAT wife and Mother of my children.  The Youth Group at church today wrote a song and sang it to their mothers and then presented them with a rose.  Here is Tricia with our kids after the service ended, as they surround her and show their love and appreciation for who she is and what she does.

Laura Lee, Tricia, Benjamin and Russ

Happy Mother's Day!  I love you Mom and I love you Tricia!

2016 Meat Birds at Ten Weeks Old

The Cornish Cross Meat birds have all been processed and are in the freezer.  We have Twenty-some odd birds left - the Red Rangers.  They generally take about four additional weeks to reach maturity. So let's check in and see how they are growing. Remember that 6 pounds is our goal.  Last week, for some strange reason, they didn't gain an ounce.  They look a bit bigger this week.

Red Ranger Rooster

I only had one bird to bring to the scale this week, so it went a little quicker locating the marked bird than in previous weeks.  Russ placed old Red up on the scale that we had set up in the back yard.

Big Red's Weigh-in

Last week this old boy weighed 2 pounds 15 ounces.  This week (WOW!) he weighed 4 pounds 5 ounces.  That is extraordinary.  He gained 1 pound and 6 ounces.  That is incredible!  All I can think is that the Red Rangers are taking advantage of not having all the competition from the Cornish Cross chickens to get to the feed in the feed trough.  As a result they are eating more and growing more.

4 pounds 5 ounces

I hope this means that we'll be able to butcher all of the Red Rangers in two weeks, but I'd like to butcher all of them rather than doing two separate batches like we did with the Cornish Cross birds. So that means that to get them ALL to the 6 pound level, most likely it will take three more weeks of growth.  We'll know better at next week's weigh in.