Wildcard Wednesday: Wildflowers, Nature's Bouquet

Here at Hill Giant Farm we take a pretty laissez faire approach to lawn cutting- as in we don't really have a lawn, but rather one large hay field in front of our house. In about a week or so we will cut it, bale it and the sheep will add it to their winter menu. To some with more of an "in town" sensibility, I'm sure our approach to the front hay field is frustrating. But to us, it just makes sense. Can you imagine cutting 7 acres of lawn?! What a waste of yummy food for the sheep.

What may be missed at first glance is the beautiful array of gorgeous flowers that nature has deposited in this field. We have a flower shop right outside our front door. There are daisies, buttercups, poppies, hyacinth, sweet peas, red clover (beautiful and edible!), snow drops, queen anne's lace, not to mention countless ferns, alfalfa and other lovely greenery. Yes, it is a delightful surprise to go out each day and notice another beautiful flower or fern adorning the front of our house. There are so many of these beautiful, unplanted flowers that the house is often complimented by a lovely, delicate bouquet on the dining room table. Here's a picture of a recent bouquet put together by R, M and our friend SG. What flowers or surprises has nature blessed your lawn with? Tell us, we'd love to hear about it.

Inch by Inch, Row by Row

It's gardening season! Last evening M put the majority of our garden in. As she did so, she kept thinking of this song;  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3FkaN0HQgs. While we haven't figured out how to get our flowers and veggies to sing yet, we do find the garden to be a very rewarding pursuit. In a matter of weeks our grocery bill will significantly decrease as fresh veggies begin to make up the bulk of our diet. There's also various pickles, salsas, and freezer treats to look forward to as well.

 Below is a list of our garden contents so far and some of the ways we look forward to eating it.

Potatoes: we love these mashed, baked, fried, scalloped-if you can think of a way to cook potatoes, chances are we've tried and loved it! 

Green beans: delectible cooked el dante and served with butter melted over them. Their also pretty tasty dilled and canned. We also love to freeze them and pull them out mid winter to dress up a tired pot of soup, or as a treat all on their own. 

Peas: we'd love to freeze these for a fresh treat in the winter, but truthfully, very few of them make it past the door. M eats nearly all of them on sight in the garden!

Beets: we love to pickle the root and the greens are fantastic in salad.

Onions: if it were up to M, they'd be added to everything. We mainly use them in soups and salads.

Swiss Chard: this delicious, often overlooked green is choke full of vitamin D and is great in salads, wilted with butter and garlic, frozen for use in lasagnes and soups. If you've never tried it, you really should. It's delicious, but make sure you buy it while it's small.

Cherry, Roma and Yellow Tomatoes: cherry tomatoes are great for eating and salads. As for the Roma, nothing makes better home made salsa, bruschetta in a jar, or harissa sauce than Roma tomatoes. Our mouths are watering just thinking about it. Yellow tomatoes are a tasty way to dress up a platter salad or to add unique flavour to a bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich. 

Sweet Peppers: these are great raw or sliced and frozen for easy addition to future stir fries, lasagnes, couscous casseroles and soups. 

Hot Peppers: R likes things spicy, so we dry these and he adds them throughout the year to practically everything he eats. He reminds M of his Dad!

Lettuce, Radicchio and Mesculin: there is simply nothing in the world as satisfying as a fresh salad made with brand new, perky lettuce from your own garden. So fresh and full of flavour. Don't believe us? Our local rabbit population agrees too :)

Left to plant are: carrots, radishes, cucumbers and spinach. Did all this talk about fresh food and veggies make you hungry? We hope so. We also hope it inspired you to plant some seeds of your own. Remember, whether it is a small pot of peppers on a verandah, a plot in your backyard or a full scale garden, growing your own veggies is a nutritious and delicious way to save money and improve your overall health. Now, go eat something green and leafy :)

Cat's in the Cradle

Tiger and kittens sleeping.

     We had a lovely surprise at Hill Giant Farm today. This morning, just as we were heading out to the barn our cat, Tiger, went into labour. Over the next 3 hours she delivered 5 healthy, strong kittens. There was a lot of meowing and licking-as well as a good measure of curiosity on the part of our dogs, Allis and Levi, who were certainly not allowed anywhere near mother and kitties.
     Now, if you know us well, you are likely thinking "wait a minute...R and M have a cat?!? R doesn't even like cats!" You're right, he doesn't. The cat scammed us into bringing it home on a cold, wet, awful night during the winter. Seeing its badly matted fur, its bony signs of hunger and what we assumed was dirty grease marks all over it, we decided that the compassionate thing to do was bring her home. Since arriving she has grown on us and we're already pretty fond of the kittens. Tiger, no surprise, is an orange and black cat, and her kittens consist of; 1 orange, 1 black,  and 3 tabby. See the picture below.
     If you know anyone who wants a cat in about 2 months, let us know. We've got 5 free to a good home.

5 Things You've Always Wanted to Know About Chickens

One of the aspects of the farm that we're really enjoying, but that people hardly ever ask us about, are the birds. Currently we have the big birds (our laying hens and 2 roosters) and the little birds (chicks and ducklings). Both are quite interesting-at least we think so. In honour of the "big birds" on our farm, who lately are producing 10-15 eggs/day and generating egg income, here's some interesting things you've (no doubt) always wanted to know about chickens.

We keep Rhode Island Red chickens.

1. How round or oval an egg is depends on how quickly the egg was laid. The slower the hen passes the egg through her, the rounder the egg. It is actually the pressure of the muscles contracting as the egg is passed that gives the egg its pointed top and oval shape.

2. A hot chicken will eat far less than a cool one. This is because eating produces internal heat, further elevating her temperature. The less she eats, the cooler she is. The downsize is that her egg production will suffer as she eats less. 

3. It is estimated that there are over 50 billion chickens being raised around the globe at the present time. That's a lot of chickens!

4. Chickens are omnivores. While it is true that they really enjoy a good junebug, beetle or fly, chickens will also happily dine on delectable treats like yesterday's discarded pepper seeds, carrot peels and other compostable kitchen scraps. This makes chickens easy to keep happy when it comes to dietary considerations.

5. The average chicken can live between 5-10 years (if nature is left to take its course). The oldest chicken to ever live died at 16 from heart failure, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

We hope you've enjoyed this entry and that it will inspire you to learn more about the various species of animals we all depend on for food and nutrition. Have a great day!