Welcome Fall!

Greetings all you farm followers and welcome to any new friends. I am so very sorry that I have been absent for almost two months! So many family situations are in the works that my time seems to have been stolen away! The cooler temperatures here in the Upstate of SC are very welcomed by our family. Born in NYC and raised in NJ I was quite accustomed to the cooler temperatures most of the year. We did endure our share of hot summers but nothing like the southern heat and humidity. However, that all being said I love it here. Most of the folks I meet are kind and considerate, not being hurried along like so many of the dear folks in the North. We still have family up in that area and when I return for a visit I can understand the higher levels of stress they seem to be carrying upon their shoulders. So it is a quick reminder of the privileges I have been given by God to live in peace and serenity here.

We have purchased a new Gulf Coast ram from up in Connecticut in late August and we also picked up two ewes on Saturday from a farm in Georgia in a flock dispersal. We hope to raise a good size flock for meat and fiber with this very endangered breed. We will be updating the web pages over the next few weeks to reflect the seasonal changes and the new additions.

Our milk cow Summer is nearing the end of her lactation so our milk supply is decreasing it seems daily. It is funny because it never fails that when supply is low, demand is great and vice versa. But I do enjoy the slowing down of the work pace on the farm. We do not advertise our milk for sale since we have not jumped through all the so called legal hoops and in no way do I desire to become a raw milk dairy. There are enough good farmers struggling in this country but we do help a few folks who through whatever crisis they find themselves need grass fed A2/A2 raw milk. Being a retired Nurse I use the utmost aseptic techniques I know to provide a safe and healthy product. Our cows are routinely tested for disease and we maintain a closed herd here. There are no areas that are off limits to all who visit here, we are transparent as can be. Bio security is important but we work around what we can to give folks an understanding of what we do. We do not allow ignorance on this farm. We make sure folks are fully educated and responsible for their own health.

The Bake Shop has been sadly inactive for these past few months, though I bake privately for some so I continue to bake in that capacity. Reasons are numerous but I refuse to put out any product that I cannot truly say is excellent. Time is important with artisan baking especially with the Ancient grains I use so I cannot in all good conscience put out inferior products. That being said Thanksgiving will soon be upon us and Lord willing I will open the shop to supply the necessities for all those who desire our Einkorn products.There are sooo many great things to bake for those who either due to time constraints of their own or simply not skilled enough desire to have. So watch the Bake Shop inventory to see what is available under the SC Cottage baking law.

So if you have hung on till this point in the blog post then I say “Thank You”! Please feel free to respond to this post. We have so much vying for time these days and we live in such a mean society that my desire is to offer a place to learn and be shown kindness and respect no matter who or what you are. I will include a recipe for a lovely Pumpkin Spice Bundt cake recipe courtesy of Jovial Foods. It is DELICIOUS!

Einkorn Pumpkin Spice Bundt cake

8 tbsps (113g) butter, melted

1 c. (225g) pumpkin puree

1/4 c. (50g) olive oil

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

pinch of nutmeg, cloves and cardamon

1 3/4c (210g) Einkorn all-purpose flour

2 tsps baking powder

1/2 tsp each of baking soda and sea salt

4 large eggs

1 c (200g) sugar

You can either dust this cake with confectionary sugar when COMPLETELY cool or use the following glaze recipe.

Glaze:

1 c (120 g) confectionary sugar

1/8 tsp ground each of cinnamon and ginger or 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tbsps water

Grease and flour a 12 cup bundt pan. Preheat over to 350 degrees.

In a medium sized bowl whip together the melted butter, pumpkin puree, and the spices. In a small bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer add the 4 eggs. Mix at low speed till eggs are beat well. Add the 1 cup of sugar and beat on medium high speed till eggs are pale yellow and fluffy. Detach the bowl from the mixer and fold in the dry/wet ingredients alternately in 3 separate additions using a spatula. Make sure all the ingredients are blended well. Pour contents into prepared bundt pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until tooth pick inserted in comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes. Then flip onto a wire cooling rack and let cool for an hour or till completely cooled. Dust with powdered sugar or make the glaze from the recipe above. If cake is not completely cooled the toppings of choice will be absorbed into the warm cake so let it cool not matter how hard you are tempted! Or if you do not need icing go ahead and grab a slice!

Welcome August!

Good morning farm followers! I cannot believe it is August 13th already! Wow this year is literally flying by! August has proven to be quite hot and very wet just as July has been. God has given me many things to do so my days are filled, but we need to remind ourselves that business does not mean productive. As you read through the information pages of this website you know we raise Gulf Coast sheep. These are a critically endangered breed of sheep simply because folks just are not raising them. They are really great sheep! They have lovely fleeces which can be used in many applications. Their meat is mildly tasting, not gamey or over powering. We keep them as "grass fed"as possible and whenever grain is fed to them it it always ORGANIC. No compromises here simply because we know that grain is heavily sprayed with man made chemical fertilizers and pesticides and it is not worth it. Our health and the health of others matters. We want children to grow strong and healthy. We want to see their beautiful brains develop to be a blessing to society in whatever capacity God gives them. So we farm with a purpose and we trust God continues His hand of blessing upon us to make a difference. The Bake Shop and the Farm Store have been quiet these last few weeks. Baking is happening but on a smaller scale. I never want to bake "just because" I want to create nutritious food, food with a mission to make us strong and bless our bodies with things good for us. I so want to tell the world about Ancient grains and how much they are missing when they do not avail themselves of the pure goodness of them. But I wait patiently for whatever opportunity I am given. Until then I work, and study, and trust! Lord willing we will be traveling up to Connecticut to pick up a new Ram for the Ewes on Friday. It is a 17 hour drive but I trust we will learn much on our journey. We will post new pictures of this special new male on the farm next week so stayed tuned! OK folks have a good rest of your day. May August be a month of joy and blessings to you all.
 

Summer wanes on...

Good morning farm followers! Wanted to stop in and give an update on what all is going on around here. Summer is in full swing and it has been very hot and quite wet this month. I am thankful though because there are so many dry places across this land they would gladly swap a place with me. Got some fresh organic peaches, Bing and Rainier cherries as well as some lovely organic rhubarb from a company I have been doing business with for well over ten years. Azure Standard in Dufur, Oregon. I am all about buying and supporting local but when local cannot or will not meet my standard and I cannot do it myself then I do the next best thing and that is imitate the Proverbs 31 woman and get it from afar. Azure has wonderful organic produce which the majority is grown by themselves. These folks were organic before organic had to be a buzz word! So when they have fruits and veggies in season I am all for it. Thankfully we have a Co op that delivers monthly so I can get my goods without too much of a hassle. Hopefully some of these lovely fruits/veggies will make an appearance in the Bake Shop before weeks end. Life gets pretty hectic around here. Some days I wish I could replicate myself just so I would have help. :-) My dear friend and food photographer Jessica Gray has finished up snapping beautiful images of all I asked her to do. I will get the new photos uploaded ASAP. The only slow down for me is that the photos she took are so awesome it is hard to choose just one. Been working on some yogurt cultures hopefully I will get the different varieties going so I can incorporate that into my product line. I would ask that if anyone would like to purchase freshly baked Ancient grain bakery products from our shop please message me. I try to be available almost every day so in order to offer the best of the best I would appreciate advanced ordering. You do not need to pay for anything until pick up but I want to make sure Einkorn, Red Fife and Mr. Abruzzi rye look their best! I mailed some goodies to Michigan and they are to arrive by Friday. Will know then how shelf stable these products can be. I have had a few requests to possibly ship some products. This is a test of possibly doing that. Well I have rambled on enough. Looking to continue providing quality to you all so your lives will be quality living!

Cottage Bakeshop Updates

Good afternoon on this lovely Sunday afternoon. We are thankful for Sundays around this farm since we rest from our labors and nourish our souls. Today we celebrated the baptism of our 19th grandchild. Such a blessing, so as I sit here and reflect on the gracious God we have I bless Him for all the wonderful folks who came to the Bakeshop this week. We do so desire to see folks come and learn about how food can be nourishing and good for you once again. Einkorn as many of you know is the staple grain of which I bake and I am excited to add new things to our product line. We are blessed in this nation with such an abundance of seasonal fruits and veggies.  It is such a privilege that their appearance is on the food scene now and I can hardly wait to showcase them in the little Bakeshop. On the Farm store side we will have some fresh organically grown local tomatoes and cucumbers that we would love to get an opportunity to sell. Cherries are very available now so hopefully we can get some cherry type breads and scones baked up as well as a crostata or two! Well enough said today! Thank you for reading my blog and hopefully we can be blessing to you this week.

Farm Store Update

Greetings all you fine farm followers! Over the weekend we participated in the Upstate Farm Tour here in SC. Well over 250 folks visited our farm and bake shop. We are so very, very thankful for each and everyone of you. We trust you learned something and that perhaps even been inspired to do something to contribute to better food in your life. We will officially open the Bake Shop June 18, 2018. Given the response over the weekend I need to replenish my supplies and get on a schedule of baking. Many of you folks have asked for specific items and I am working on a page on this website to put each item and its price with a small description. Hopefully that will keep everyone more informed. Please put your contact information in a message so that I can respond appropriately to everyone and keep better track of each inquiry I get. We are always open to suggestion here so please feel free to give feedback where appropriate. Many have asked if I can teach a class or perhaps speak at some function they attend. Like everything in our lives we evaluate each situation as they are brought on the scene of life. We want what we say or teach to matter so before I commit to anything I want to make sure it will be useful and filled with good instruction and exhortation. Thank you all again for all your kindness. It is appreciated! We think that opening the store from 8-5 Mon-Sat. is a good beginning! So Lord willing we will see you then! Enjoy your day!