Second week on the farm

LaFonda and her tongue

My second week at Squash Blossom Farm felt a bit more real. In some ways I like knowing what will be coming next - mixing dough for the bread on Thursday evenings, baking like mad on Fridays, farmers market on Saturdays. Things feel more solid somehow when I know what to expect. But it also means I use up a lot of brain space worrying and trying to bring the future under my control. Less expectation lets me enjoy the present a bit more, I think.

My goal is to get the baking down to such a science that I can crank it all out quickly and have plenty of time to work on animal- and garden-related stuff. I love baking, and I'm glad I can contribute what experience and skill I have in that area, but I'm doing this for the farm experience and need to make sure I get a lot of it.

Upcoming things I'm super excited about:

• LaFonda's baby, due early June, and all the ensuing milk-related activity. 
• Chicks! Only two weeks to wait for extreme cuteness.
• Transplanting all the seedlings into the ground. 
• Not burning any more bread (or at least learning how to deal with mistakes a bit better - no use crying over burnt cardamom braids).
• The potential addition of more farm animals (possibly maybe goats!).
• All the fruit. There are tons and tons of raspberry canes and fruit bushes.
• Bigger muscles. 

The animals are just so excellent. I love watching Zinnie (young and playful dog) interact with Orange (beautiful and awesome cat). Zinnie puts a lot of effort into engaging Orange in play, and it seems like he's annoyed and trying to ignore her, but then after a couple minutes he'll tear after her and chase her around the yard. Or they'll walk side by side and Orange will bump his head against Zinnie's chin. It's ridiculous. 

A great addition this week to the animal life were the orioles and hummingbirds. I'm not sure if I've ever seen an oriole before. Their orange is so bright they almost look like cartoons. I need to get some hummingbird feeders for my yard and put out orange halves and jelly to see if I can lure any orioles. 

Poet, the black cat, has become my new best friend. She's very demanding of affection, and I like that in a cat. 

When I was playing fetch with Zinnie, Cocoa, the older dog, got excited and wanted to join in. But Zinnie would beat her to the stick every single time. So while Zinnie was running off to fetch, I put a nice stick in Cocoa's mouth so she could participate a little, only for Zinnie to come bounding back and tear it out of Cocoa's mouth. I told Zinnie that wasn't very nice, but I don't think she cared. 

All kinds of delicious things

Baking went pretty well this week, but I have all sorts of ideas for how I can do things better and faster. I'll do whatever I can to maximize use of the tiny oven, and I will definitely use a stand mixer for the fancy breads instead of kneading by hand. I figure that will shave off at least an hour, since I can be getting ingredients ready for the next thing while the mixer's kneading one batch. On Friday I made:

• Chocolate chip cookies (30)
• Chocolate ganache cupcakes with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream and fruit (24)
• Walnut beer bread (6)
• Cardamom braids (6) - overbaked them - they looked beautiful, but half of them had burnt bottoms
• Dough for turnovers and tarts - messed up the tart dough by accidentally doubling the butter

And I helped Roger make 18 loaves each of white, whole wheat, and multi-grain sourdough. He came up with a much better way to mix the dough, and we cranked all this out pretty quickly. Next week I'm going to start the baking myself before he gets home from work so we don't have to bake until 10:30 p.m. or later.

Since baking isn't all I do, here's the garden- and farm-related stuff I did:

• Moved seedling trays out of Susan's office and into the barn, by the windows.They're looking very good.
• Weeded the radishes and lettuce in the greenhouse and potted up some more volunteer cilantro.
• Planted a cherry tree and two pear trees and replanted a dead pear tree that had sprouts growing from the root graft out in the woods to see if it might grow.
• Helped Susan dig around the garden shed to fence it off. Last year, Nutmeg (their sweet and naughty dog who passed away a couple months ago) was trying to get at rabbits underneath the shed and dug a lot of stuff up. Here's hoping the rabbits can't get under there now.
• Washed a lot of eggs.

Overall, it was a great week. Strange 80-degree weather on Thursday. I'm trying to make myself take breaks and fit in some relaxation, since I'm only supposed to work 30 hours. Mornings are nice, with time to have a latte (they have a really nice espresso maker) and do a little reading.

Goats and a latte

Thanks to the intro chapter in Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats, my expectations about raising goats are effectively managed. I will not expect them to trim grass or eat tin cans, and if they're naughty that's my own darn fault. 

Sunsets are stunning behind the pines, and I need to try to get up early enough at least one day next week to watch the sun rise. Susan gave me a tour of the woods, and it's like having a state park in the backyard. Daily morning walks are going to become a requirement, and I'm going to try to fit in a bike ride or two each week. Every time I take in the view or even just pause for a minute, I'm filled with gratitude that I'm able to be there.