Summer updates

As August rolls in, it's good to see some of the projects here coming into fruition. The garden needs very little work these days, aside from the occasional hour or two of watering, weeding, and picking Japenese beetles. I was worried that the shade would be too much, but the tomatoes are coming in strong. While most are still small and green, we've harvested a few Brandywine and Black Krim (both of which I would highly recommend). The bell peppers and jalapenos have fruited, the beets are coming along well, and the pole beans (green beans) seem to be spreading nicely, though they haven't flowered yet.

Our heavy thicket of tomatoes

One perfect bell pepper

 We finally called it quits with our cauliflower and broccoli patch, and the Brussels sprouts and cabbage are close behind. A nightly invader destroyed a ten or so leaves at a time from the plants, and during the day, the small green worms from innocent white moths devoured the insides. We were able to shoo away the rabbit or squirrel at night by spreading garlic powder around the beds occasionally, and we hand-picked as many worms as we could daily, but alas the damage had been done, and nothing came of the plants. Nonetheless, our sheepish chickens enjoyed picking over the plants and finding all of the hidden worms.

A torn up and nearly dead broccoli plant

The chicken pen is finished at last! Since our coyote problem from last month, we kept the chickens in the coop during the day while we covered the nearby dog pen with rolls of chicken wire. We had some leftover wire fencing from the garden that I used to thread the chicken wire together, creating a gap-free shelter for the little buggers while still allowing them to spend their days outside. We then dug a foot out from the base of the pen and buried chicken wire along the perimeter, foiling any attempts to dig into the pen. We removed the tiny chicken door from the back of the coop and replaced it with a small (and at first extremely frightening) tunnel that led into the pen. After some successful baiting with some cracked corn tossed into the pen, the little guys finally relented and settled into their new area. Now they can come and go as they please, and we're able to leave for a few days here and there without having to arrange for letting them in and out.

The unsightly but functional chicken pen

We recently found that a) we love chanterelle mushrooms and b) chanterelle mushrooms grow like crazy in the forests around our property. After some initial hesitation and uncertainty that these gobs of mushrooms truly were what I suspected they were (smooth chanterelles, mostly), I threw them in a pan and made one of the best tasting things I've eaten in a long time. Meanwhile our mushroom logs are still sitting quietly behind the barn without any sign of a mushroom. 

Wild chanterelles in our woods

This is the recipe we've liked for the mushrooms:

Dry saute method for chanterelles (roughly 10 ounces after trimming):

Wipe off any dirt from the mushrooms, trim off the base and any dark places, and cut them into manageable bites. (Don't wash them or they'll suck up all the water, steaming as they cook.)

Put them in a frying pan with no butter or oil over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring often. (They'll sweat the little moisture they have, concentrating their flavor and opening them up for some butter. Lightly salting here would help them release the moisture a bit better, though I've heard early salting also leads to less flavor, so pick your poison.)

Add 1 Tbsp butter and saute for 2-3 minutes. A dash of pepper, a dash of salt, and enjoy.