Tag Archives: West HoCo

Beaucoup Precipitation

Posted on October 2, 2012 by AnnieRie

In other words. Lots of rain. Good soaking rain. The kind that pushes us towards a normal year where we don’t have to worry about the well going dry. I am a weather junkie. I love our local weather site, at RIMPO, here in Dayton. As I write, it is telling me we got 1.67 inches of rain today. My gardens love it. Particularly, the mums.

And. the herb gardens, which still have rosemary and thyme on steroids. I will be pushing the limit before harvesting the rosemary to hang and dry. I don’t want to harvest the thyme, as I do like it fresh, and creative wind barriers will keep it going even if we get a few frosts in the next two months. These perennials come back every spring, unless a blizzard buries them.

rosemary

English and silver thyme

The burning bushes have berries, and they are beginning to turn to that brilliant red.

burning bush

The marigolds are hanging in there. The sedum is also blooming out front.

The morning glories are giving up. They are putting out humongous amounts of seed pods, but the last blooms are fading fast. These plants are my best source to attract bees to the garden to pollinate my veggies. Even though they become a huge nuisance because they grow out of control, they do screen the garden and keep the honey bees and the bumblebees happy.

All in all, it was a fairly good summer in my gardens. The herbs went wild. The tomatoes did well, as did the cucumbers. I am about to plant 24 cloves of garlic this week, so next year I should get scapes, spring garlic and garlic to cure. This year I was too late and only got spring garlic. The cloves are ready to go in pots, and in the edge of the herb garden.

Here’s to rainy days, that nourish our gardens. And make our trees grow.

hocofood@@@

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Sweater Weather

Posted on September 29, 2012 by AnnieRie

It definitely feels like October out there. While picking mint, what’s left of it, I had on my fleece vest. Tonight I may indulge in hot cider, since we picked up some at Larriland the other day.

fresh apple cider

I should title this post, Rocking the Crock Pot, since I have put it into overdrive the past few days. I made onion soup, greens twice, and chicken soup, all in the past week. There’s lots of good stuff in the fridge to make quick meals all of next week.

I have gotten where I don’t even measure much anymore when it comes to greens. Just cut them up, add onions and garlic, some broth, balsamic and salt and pepper. If I feel adventurous, I will put in some bacon, but not always. The first batch the other day had bacon.

greens ready to go

Yesterday, I just put in all the greens I had, with a container of black bean soup. Didn’t look that great, but cooked down beautifully. It will be a side dish tonight. Today I am slow cooking lamb in the oven, and roasting beets at the same time. This is the baker’s dozen of the beets I got Thursday. The big ones for a salad or two, and I am going to quick pickle the little ones with a couple of hard boiled eggs.

beets on a bed of kosher salt

I spent time yesterday and today cooking, so that tonight through Tuesday, it will be heat and serve. Tomorrow we are heading out to Sharp’s Farm to get my Halloween decorations. A hay bale, some corn stalks, some gourds and a pumpkin or two.

But, even though it is sweater weather, I found this late blooming lovely gladiolus in the side garden. Summer’s last hurrah?

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Will I See You at the Farm City Celebration?

Posted on September 28, 2012 by AnnieRie

I may be a bit under the weather since getting my flu shot. Amazing how you get sick after getting your shot. But, that won’t stop me from making plans to attend some portion of the Farm Heritage Days this weekend at the Howard County Living Farm Heritage Museum, 12985 Frederick Road, West Friendship, MD across From The Howard County Fairgrounds.

If you want to attend something that brings together the farmers and the city residents of the county, this is the event. The Farm City Celebration overall encompasses two weeks of activities. The celebration at the Museum is a highlight. For those who really want something unique, check out the Rodeo and Bull Blast. Otherwise, come out and see the antique equipment, watch the lawn mower races, attend the bluegrass concerts, or the gospel service Sunday morning. Or the auction. I may be there looking for antique cooking items.

Plus, you can support the rest of the farms and events. There are events at Larriland, Sharp’s (which opens their corn mazes this weekend), Clarks Elioak, TLV, the Conservancy, and Days End as well as this weekend’s event at the Museum site. The pdf brochure is here.

The Fall Festival on the 6th at the Conservancy is part of the celebration.

Have you been to the County Farmers Markets? If so, and you support our local farmers, show them you appreciate them by attending events this weekend or next weekend. Or, just come support the five farmers markets in the county.

hocoblogs@@@

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One of Those Perfect Mornings

Posted on September 25, 2012 by AnnieRie

You know what I mean. The air is crisp. You slept with the windows open. The A/C has been turned off. Here in West County, we have seen temperatures in the 50s at night. Today I threw open all the windows and have the screen door in the kitchen giving us cross breezes in the back of the house.

This is my favorite cooking weather. The kitchen stays cool. It is soup and crock pot stew time. Yesterday I processed the last of the green tomatoes found hiding in the garden. There were another dozen or so that escaped notice when I was there over the weekend. I froze slices of the larger ones. They will come out in the winter to see if I can make that pesto pasta with frozen tomatoes. Some will become fried green tomatoes as a side dish.

flash frozen green tomato slices

All of the little ones and those still left on the windowsill were put together to make tonight’s dinner. I am going to make the pesto and the green tomato sauce, but put it on a whole wheat pizza crust as a variation on the pasta dish I have made numerous times. Might as well get the most out of the green tomatoes.

This morning I did a “twofer” in the food processor. Pesto and ajvar. Just enough of each to use for dinner tonight. I am making the pizza using ajvar on one side and green tomato pesto on the other. Should be interesting. If it works out, I will post pictures. If it is a bust, well, at least I will talk about it.

The pesto.

Parsley and basil combined. Some pine nuts. Parmesan. Two roasted garlic cloves. Salt and white pepper. Olive oil to make it the right consistency. Absolutely no idea how much of any of it. This is where I have fun when I cook. Creating by taste.

The ajvar, that wonderful Serbian spread I discovered a while back.

Again, no measuring. I roasted all the baby eggplant from the CSA, and three small red peppers, the other day and put them away with two roasted garlic cloves in the fridge. This morning I put them in the processor after scraping out the pesto, added balsamic and some olive oil to process, then just to see what would happen, dropped in a small handful of pistachios. Wow, what an interesting kick the nuts added to the spread.

I had my coffee on the patio and listened to the birds, particularly the blue jays who are out harassing a hawk somewhere near here. Loving the changes of color in the meadow, and seeing the first leaves turning.

the meadow in the morning

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That First Hint of Fall

Posted on September 19, 2012 by AnnieRie

Fall is definitely coming. We will hit lows in the 40s sometime this week. I harvested all the tomatoes left in the garden.

the last of the heirlooms

One lonely ripe red fig. A few yellow plums from the ground, where they fell. All the others were green, and will become one more dinner of green tomato pesto pasta, for the little ones. The larger ones will be cut, cored and sliced to freeze. Deep in the winter, I will do my fried green tomato dinner. They fry best when taken directly from the freezer, coated and fried.

The leaves are starting to fall. The wet weather yesterday has them glistening on the deck. Won’t be long until we are sucking up leaves and turning them into compost.

the cherry tree drops leaves earliest

I filled the hummingbird feeder with lots more nectar than normal. I have three hummingbirds that regularly visit. Mom, Dad and a baby girl. The baby was there again this morning, as usual when the camera was inside. She nails that nectar.

The trees and shrubs are full of berries, and acorns on the oaks. You can’t walk in the yard without crunching acorns beneath your feet. The animals are gathering nuts and the birds are feasting on the berries. The crab apples will keep the berries all winter, and attract flocks of cedar waxwings.

Fall is my favorite time of year here, even though I will be busy cleaning up the yard and filling bags to use in our compost, with the extra going to a master gardener that we connected with. We used the rake and take program in the county to do this. We make bags of leaves and bags of grass clippings, then mix the two to get the green/brown ratio. Using the bags over and over until they finally fall apart makes this a fairly less back breaking exercise. We rake everything into a long snaky line, then efficiently and quickly vacuum the yard under our oak, maple and cherry trees.

Vacuuming leaves to turn into compost

I am also keeping an eye on the herbs. The thyme and rosemary will hang in there for quite a while. The basil is giving up the ghost, so to speak and all will be harvested today. I saw the last of the plants drooping over this morning while I was collecting acorns for the Conservancy to use in their critter creations at the Christmas craft fair. I have a carpet of thyme on the ground. I may cut it back and cover the rest, to see how long it stays viable.

Let’s just hope we don’t get snow for Halloween like we did last year.

October 29, 2011

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Markets and Farms

Posted on August 25, 2012 by AnnieRie

I had intended to do a mid summer look at what is happening at local markets and farms, but somehow the month of August got away from me. We are two thirds of the way through the Howard County market season, which will wind down the end of October. I have visited three of the five producer only markets in the county, with most of my visits to Miller Library and HCGH. The other location is Glenwood on Saturdays. Not living near East Columbia, I haven’t been to Cradlerock or Oakland Mills. Many of the vendors go to multiple markets, so with the exception of only five, I have seen the rest.

I like our markets, even though they aren’t huge. They are producer only, and you can get a good assortment of veggies and fruits, bread, meat, coffee, cheese, baked goods, flowers and plants, by visiting them. Their prices are reasonable as well. I try to hit one of them each week, for the things I don’t get in the CSA. Our CSA is almost exclusively veggies, so I have lots of other goodies to buy at the markets. Things like bread from The Breadery.

The Breadery’s lemon rosemary loaf

And, flowers from Greenway Farms.

Celosia

Plus, for me, eggs and meat are an important purchase. Currently, only TLV farm sells meat at our markets, and they sell eggs. Breezy willow also has eggs.

TLV smoked bacon

The markets aren’t my only source of farm fresh goodness. I have been going to England Acres regularly for chicken, eggs, dairy and cheese. When I am there, I do find other bargains like I did today. Peaches, roma tomatoes, gala apples, all $1 a pound. Check out the white peaches. Four peaches. They weighed 3.7 pounds total. One of them weighed a pound. The others just a bit under. One of these lovely peaches will be grilled Monday night, and served with balsamic.

huge white peaches

England Acres is fun, for families there is lots to do. Feed the chickens. Check out the goats. Today, you could pick corn, or dig potatoes. They are five miles west of Mt. Airy, so if you live in West County, they aren’t far at all. I take a cooler and buy meat and dairy. I also hand pick my eggs, still with hay on them, from the basket. This week I got all large eggs. I will be saving them for a week or so, to use for some deviled eggs.

fresh eggs from England Acres chickens

Besides England Acres, we also head out to Larriland when they have new UPick items. We have done blackberries. Blueberries. Strawberries. I will be heading out to get peaches and apples this week. In the fall I will harvest greens to blanch and freeze.

strawberry picking at Larriland

I haven’t made it to Gorman yet, but I hope to get there. For me, this time of year is awesome. All these wonderful good veggies and fruits there for us to enjoy. In the fall I also will go out to Sharp’s Farm for some specialty pumpkins and fall squash. TLV farms also allows you to pick your own pumpkins.

Don’t let the summer and fall get by without experiencing our local farmers. Hit a local farm stand, one where they grow it themselves. Come to the markets. Take the family out to a farm to see the animals and see food right out of the ground. The goats at England Acres would love to see them.

hocofood@@@

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So, How Did I Do at the Fair

Posted on August 10, 2012 by AnnieRie

The Howard County Fair is winding down, with two days left. Tonight is the 4H livestock auction, and if it isn’t thundering, we will be there. We have been out there four days already, and have definitely had our share of fresh lemonade, plus bought Baugher’s peaches at Rizzmull’s.

Rizzmull’s stand at the fair

We always go Sunday morning to see if I got any ribbons for my garden entries. This year my tomatoes were a total bust, as they weren’t ready, or they were way past ready, at the entry date. My Amish paste didn’t get any prizes.

Amish paste heirloom tomato

But, happily I am bringing home my first blue ribbon, to add to my red and yellow ones from previous years. For my herbs, from the garden.

Rosemary, African blue basil and cotton lavender

I also went back Wednesday and entered my last gladiolus from my front yard. Surprise! It won second place, so another red ribbon for flowers that have been blooming for years in our yard. This year they started blooming early, but still had a few left for me to enter the last large one.

My second place winning gladiolus

Sunday morning I get to pick up my ribbons, and my checks, and bring home my containers. In the meantime, here are a few more pictures from wandering the fair on Thursday. I love our county fair. It is small enough to feel cozy, but still has lots to do.

As for my heirloom tomatoes, there’s always next year.

hocoblogs@@@

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Eating Locally Recap

Posted on July 30, 2012 by AnnieRie

A week and two days. Dedicated to eating at least one item a day from MD farms. We did it. It is easy with the goodness from Howard County Farmers Markets, and from a few local farms like England Acres, and from the case at Atwater’s Bakery in Catonsville.

Some of the items I used:

Corn, from England Acres and from TLV Farm, bought at the market

Chevre, from Firefly Farms

Eggs, from TLV and England Acres

Add to that watermelon, cantaloupe, spring mix, feta, smoked cheddar, ground lamb, ground beef patties, onions, and such a variety available here in MD.

Good meals like this one, from Saturday night. Breezy Willow spring mix and Firefly Farms chevre with my tomatoes and basil. Yes, the sockeye came from Alaska, not a local fish, but a great dinner.

Buy Local Week may be over, but the markets are still here. If you want to see great foods available for you in the future, it always helps to buy from our local farmers.

This weekend is the start of the Howard County Fair. There will be local produce and local cheese at the Fair. Support your local farmers and buy from them, if not at the fair, at the county markets.

See you at the Fair. We will be there at least four of the days. A season pass is a bargain if you want to enjoy all the entertainment and just absorb the atmosphere.

hocoblogs@@@

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Three More Days into Buying Locally

Posted on July 28, 2012 by AnnieRie

The nine days will be finished tomorrow. The other two posts for how I started have shown it is simple to find good food from around the Howard County area, by shopping at farm stands and the markets.

Here is the update for Wednesday through Friday. Does farming include crabs?

We did get a few to have as an appetizer Friday night. This is with local lamb from England Acres, served with chocolate stripes tomatoes from my garden coated with a gooey smoked cheddar from Eve’s Cheese.

And yes, I did char the lamb while searing it, but the inside remained a lovely pink. That was dinner Friday night, after the crab appetizer.

Thursday we grazed on homemade salads. Cucumber salad from the garden, with onions from Butler’s Orchard. Ratatouille also included one of their candy onions. The watermelon is from Catonsville market, and feta from Bowling Green Farms.

The colorful potato salad included CSA potatoes and green beans, and was finished with hard boiled eggs from TLV Farms.

In my CSA post prior to this one I talked of making gazpacho on Wednesday which showed up for dinner that night, along with the other two burgers from England Acres farm, and corn from their farm.

Three days. Three dinners. Lots of local foods. Here it is Saturday night and there will be local salad and maybe a dessert if I get the peaches done. The peaches were bought this morning from Lewis Orchards at the Glenwood market, along with some just picked spring mix from Breezy Willow. Both will serve in some way in dinner tonight.

It is one of the pleasures of living here. Hitting the market to see what looks good, and bringing it home to have for dinner the same day.

hocofood@@@

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A Window Full of Sunshine

Posted on July 18, 2012 by AnnieRie

Varieties of tomatoes ripening on the sill

This is my favorite view in the kitchen. Dozens of almost perfectly ripe cherry, grape and pear tomatoes all reaching their peak of ripeness in the morning sun.

And, yes there are larger ripe ones these days.

Orange Blossom Tomatoes

Caspian Pink

The Caspian Pink is a new one for me. It looks wonderful, but I did have to pick it a bit early because it was cracking and I didn’t want a storm to water it down.

Detail of small cracks forming on top

I don’t have any chocolate stripes ripe yet, but they are getting close. They have the most tomatoes on each plant so far. I have three plants of them. Crossing my fingers that they ripen before that forecasted four or five days of rain late next week. The rains last year really watered down the flavors of the heirlooms.

Two weeks from this coming Saturday, the Howard County Fair starts. I will be picking which heirloom has the best taste. That is what I will enter. Taste, not looks, does better in the heirloom category.

The sweet olive is my most productive small tomato so far. They are predominant on the windowsill picture above. They also have a wonderful flavor, but cherry and grape tomatoes are judged on looks alone.

Have you ever entered anything in the fair? This year, besides tomatoes, I will again enter herbs. Definitely the basil, but haven’t chosen the other two yet.

African Blue Basil

This year I am also considering entering some of my photographs, particularly my little feathered friends, like these.

Bluebirds Rule the Bath

Put the Fair on your calendar for something great to do. It runs August 4th through 11th. We get a $20 pass for the entire fair and go almost every day. If you want to see a real hoot, go watch the zero turn mower competition. If you want to see something amazing, go watch the 4Hers show their animals.

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