My mother-in-law lived on this farm before I did. She loved flowers and gardening. One flower she had adorned the rural electric pole in the farmyard.  The Morning Glory climbed that pole every year.  Its purple blossoms bloomed profusely.

Somewhere along the line after we moved here, the Morning Glory died off.  All that remained was the chicken wire my husband’s mom had mounted on the pole to support the plant.

Over the years we mowed around the electric pole and forgot about the Morning Glory.

One summer, the electric company sent linemen to do some work on our pole.  They dug around it and did whatever needed doing.  They finished their work and we forgot about it.

Later that summer we noticed several clinging plants start to climb the pole.  We did not know what they were, but one fine day a bloom opened to the sun.  It was Grandma’s Morning Glory resurrected!

Apparently the digging the linemen did unearthed seeds that had survived and they could now grow and reproduce again.

We enjoy watching this flower grow and think of dear Grandma.

photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau

I went out to the garden to pick beans and whatever else might be ready to harvest.  The sunshine and blue sky added to the warmth of the task.  A occasional breeze added to my comfort level.

While in the garden I heard the birds chirping and singing.  Occasionally I heard a distant goose honking.  The endearing sounds of the farm surrounded me.

Near the garden is a fenced-in area suitable for our growing chicken population.  I could tell that the cocks were maturing.  Every few moments one of the fifty young roosters experimented with his new found ability to croak out a song.

I got my harvest and enjoyed the new sounds in our farm yard.

As they grow, the roosters’ melodies well grow in confidence and volume.

I have a question for you.  How would you like to wake up to 51 roosters greeting the dawn every day?

Well, that is life here on Heritage Farm.

If you would like a card featuring a rooster, see our store.

photo credit: USDAgov via photopin cc

On our dairy farm, we drink raw milk.  It is delicious!  When the milk comes in, the cream rises to the top of the pitcher.  We skim off the cream.  This happens regularly.  Sometimes the cream sours in the refrigerator.  So, I make bread often just to use up the sour cream.

I have come up with a recipe.  I alter it according to my whims and to the contents of my cupboard.  Salt and sugar amounts may be altered.  You can try adding a favorite spice.  Spiced bread can be shaped into buns.  (I like cardamom.)  Buns can be frosted.  Mmmmm.

Home-made Bread

1 tablespoon yeast, scant
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups sour cream or water
1 tablespoon salt
5-6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons shortening (or 1 T. lard)
1 egg, beaten (opt.)
5-6 cups flour

Combine yeast to 1/2 cup warm water. Let the yeast soften.

Meanwhile, scald sour cream (milk, water or potato water).  When scalded, add salt and sugar.  (You may substitute some of the sugar with an equal amount of molasses, if you like.)  Add shortening or vegetable oil.

Let the water mixture cool enough so that you can hold your finger in the liquid comfortably.  (If it is too hot for comfort, that is your clue that it will kill the yeast, so wait till it is cooler.)  Add cooled, yet still warm liquid to the yeast mixture.

Here you can opt to add a beaten egg to the liquid.  Mix well.

Add 5-6 cups of white flour.  (I use a wooden spoon for stirring while I add the first 4 cups.  Then when the stirring gets tough, I take off my wedding ring.  It is time to knead the dough.)  Knead dough till it feels elastic.  With experience you will learn the right texture for making a soft, high-rising loaf of bread.  (You don’t want it to be too dry because the loaf will be hard-to-rise and, therefore, short and hard after it is baked.  Nor do you also don’t want it to be sticky.  Add enough flour till the dough easy to shape into a large ball.)

Place the ball of dough into a large greased bowl.  Grease top side of dough.  Let rise till double in bulk.  When risen, punch dough down . Shape dough into 2 loaves and place in greased loaf pans.  Let dough rise again.  Bake at 350° F. for 25-30 min. (or till when tapped with a fingertip it sounds hollow.)

When hot from the oven, I brush the crust with butter which makes a soft crust after cooling.

photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau

Sweet corn ripens at this time of year.  We enjoy it on the cob and off the cob.  Our freezer makes a home for the corn till we use it later in the year.

If you have not had the joy of preserving sweet corn in your freezer, let me show you how it is done at our farm.

1. Choose ears that have filled out ears.  Don’t wait too long or they can get mature and starchy and lose their sweetness and tenderness.
2. Shuck the ears.
3. Brush off any excess silk remaining on the ears.

 

 

4. Drop the ears into boiling water.
5. Time them for 5 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

6. Plunge the boiled ears into very cold water for quick cooling.
7. Repeat plunging into fresh cold water if the heat is still in the corn.

 

 

 

 

8. Drain corn.

 

 

 

 

 

9. Cut the tops off of the kernels.  A household knife will do, but there are special corn knives, like the one shown in the photo, that make the cut in one stroke.

10. With the flat blade of a knife, pull up on the cut kernels to scrape out the creamy milk of the corn.
11. Discard the cob.

12. Package the corn in freezer bags.
13.  Fill the bags only 1/2 full.
14. Squeeze out excess air before sealing.   Seal bags.
15. Press the bags of corn to measure about one-inch in thickness.  (If food in the bag measures over one-inch thick it will add to the time when the food will remain warm in the freezer, thereby allowing the any germs present to reproduce increasing the chances of spoilage.)
16. Label the bags with the year that you are doing the preserving.

17. Place the corn packages near the wall of the freezer for fastest freezing.

Now your sweet corn is ready and waiting for your use this winter.  Enjoy!

photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau

Unloading and storing the harvest is another job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wagon comes equipped with a hydraulic lift that enables it to tilt up and dump the grain onto the elevator.

 

 

 

 

 

The elevator may be a noisy tool, but it beats shoveling a crop by hand into the granary.  The paddles act like “moving steps”.  Each paddle raises the precious seed up to the hole in the granary’s roof and deposits it into the bin where it is stored for later use.

That is how this part of the harvest is done.  I hope you enjoyed visiting as we put up the oat crop on Heritage Farm.

photo credit: Bretta Grabau
photo credit: Bretta Grabau
photo credit: Bretta Grabau

Oats lay in the swathe for a few days to dry the miscellaneous weeds and to await a day when the weather is right for combining.

Our neighbor has two combines and brings them both to get the job done.  Having the two work together makes the job a speedy one.

 

 

 

The combine picks up the straw and oats from the swathe and separates the oats from the straw.  It leaves the straw in the field for us to bale at a later time.  The combine has a chamber that hold the oats until it is full.

 

 

 

The oats are unloaded by an auger and put into a wagon.  My husband takes the wagon to the farm to unload and store it in the granary.

photo credit: Bretta Grabau
photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Bretta Grabau