The one thing we like about making our own bread, is that we have control over what goes in it. No preservatives or chemicals. Pure, natural bread...the way it should be.
Whole wheat bread that you buy in the store is nothing compared to the whole wheat and grain bread we make here on the farm.
We use Bob's Red Mill flours, and add 10 grain flour for more flavor. It creates a delicious and nutrtious bread for sandwiches. We also use it for dipping in our home made soups.
Just once, try making your own bread. You'll love the difference.
Laundry Day
The sun is shinning, and the laundry basket is full. Guess it's time to wash the clothes.
In this house, we don't have a dryer. We either hang them out in the fresh air, or use clothes racks. Mostly the latter during these cold months of winter. Some of the lighter weight items do dry outside, but I hang most of the clothes on racks by the woodstove. They dry overnight, and I save a ton of money by not using a dryer. Friendly on the wallet, and on the environment.
While most people are using a automatic washer, we use a 1945 Maytag Wringer Washer. It is a bit more work, but in the long run, I have more control over it. I control exactly how much water I need to the drop. I control how long it runs, or I can shut it off for things to soak. It has a cast iron, porcelin tub, so there is no way for clothes to get rust stains from soaking. We have been using it now for 4 years, and I can't imagine going back to a "modern" day washer.
The blessing about my washer...I will bet my Maytag is around much longer than any Maytag on the market today.
In this house, we don't have a dryer. We either hang them out in the fresh air, or use clothes racks. Mostly the latter during these cold months of winter. Some of the lighter weight items do dry outside, but I hang most of the clothes on racks by the woodstove. They dry overnight, and I save a ton of money by not using a dryer. Friendly on the wallet, and on the environment.
While most people are using a automatic washer, we use a 1945 Maytag Wringer Washer. It is a bit more work, but in the long run, I have more control over it. I control exactly how much water I need to the drop. I control how long it runs, or I can shut it off for things to soak. It has a cast iron, porcelin tub, so there is no way for clothes to get rust stains from soaking. We have been using it now for 4 years, and I can't imagine going back to a "modern" day washer.
The blessing about my washer...I will bet my Maytag is around much longer than any Maytag on the market today.
Go Ahead and Snow
They are calling it The Groundhog Day Blizzard.
When we look out the back window towards the gardens, it looks like someone held a white sheet across the window. You have to look past all those flakes coming down to even see the scarecrow now.
Let is snow. It doesn't really matter to us. We are keeping busy in our harvest kitchen working on packaging up orders, taking photos, and working on our next product debut.
This week, we debuted Rejuvenating Night Cream, and Herbal Infused Oils. By Monday of next week, our Elderflower Day Cream will be ready to be shipped as well. We have a few more products that will be debuting soon too.
We enjoy the simple life. We enjoy working from home. It does make for a nice commute to work, no matter what the weather is outside. The only problem we see...you can't call your boss and tell them you are stuck in your yard and can't get to work.
When we look out the back window towards the gardens, it looks like someone held a white sheet across the window. You have to look past all those flakes coming down to even see the scarecrow now.
Let is snow. It doesn't really matter to us. We are keeping busy in our harvest kitchen working on packaging up orders, taking photos, and working on our next product debut.
This week, we debuted Rejuvenating Night Cream, and Herbal Infused Oils. By Monday of next week, our Elderflower Day Cream will be ready to be shipped as well. We have a few more products that will be debuting soon too.
We enjoy the simple life. We enjoy working from home. It does make for a nice commute to work, no matter what the weather is outside. The only problem we see...you can't call your boss and tell them you are stuck in your yard and can't get to work.
Organic Heirloom Veggies
Life is bit slow around here in the winter, and it gives us a much needed break from the summer schedule of planting, weeding and harvesting.
It is a good time to read up on organic farming methods, and peruse over new seed catalogs.
At this time of year, we start to plan out our garden on paper. Come planting time, this does make the job a little easier...just a little. A least we know where we are going to plant most things.
This year, we of course will focus on organic heirloom again, but we are thinking of trying out a couple of new tomatoes. We like the looks and sound of the Striped Cavern from Johnny's Seeds. They are bell pepper shaped, and are hollow which will make for a great stuffed tomato. They will probably sell well at the farmers markets as well. Folks like to try new things, and we will give them a recipe for the stuffing part.
Now, we just have to wait until the snow melts, the gardens are plowed and we can put our "garden" on paper to the test.
Busy Month of May
Cloverleaf Farm is buzzing with activity.
May is our time for getting the fields and gardens ready for planting.
We specialize in heirloom organic produce and get our seeds from Johnny's Selected Seeds in Albion Maine. Since Albion is only about 3 hours away, normally we make the journey to get our seeds and make a weekend out of it. This year, we have so much to do, we decided to just have them shipped.
We worked on the lilac garden this weekend. We are moving the lilacs to another area in order to eradicate the bittersweet out of our yard. Bittersweet may be a beautiful plant, but it is too invasive to have on a farm. The new location of the lilacs will actually give us a privacy barrier when they grow in.
Today, we will go to Remick Farm Museum and pay our deposit on the piglets. The piglets will arrive about the third week of June. We had been searching for Tamworth piglets. These piglets are half Tamworth.
Pyewacket the cat is sure to give birth in the next couple weeks. It will be interesting to see how many kittens she has. We are not sure who the father is. She is not telling. She disappeared for a whole week back in the beginning of April. We thought we had lost her for good. Now, we know what she was up to.
Nick and Nora Charles Bunnies are still a bit people shy. We pick them up and handle them daily to get them use to humans. Nick seems to be a bit more trusting then Nora.
Our new chicks arrived on Friday. We will be selling organic chicken by the pound this summer. They are peeping away under their heat lamp in the pantry. It is hard to believe that they will be ready for the freezer by mid July.
The hens have been busy making our daily supply of eggs. We get about 4 dozen a day. We have wholesaled some eggs to a local store, and we sell the rest at our farm stand.
Farmers Market starts up in two weeks. We were hoping to do more than one this year, but I have not heard back from the one in Wolfeboro.
Summer will soon be upon us. For us this means fresh organic food right out of the garden...who could ask for more.
May is our time for getting the fields and gardens ready for planting.
We specialize in heirloom organic produce and get our seeds from Johnny's Selected Seeds in Albion Maine. Since Albion is only about 3 hours away, normally we make the journey to get our seeds and make a weekend out of it. This year, we have so much to do, we decided to just have them shipped.
We worked on the lilac garden this weekend. We are moving the lilacs to another area in order to eradicate the bittersweet out of our yard. Bittersweet may be a beautiful plant, but it is too invasive to have on a farm. The new location of the lilacs will actually give us a privacy barrier when they grow in.
Today, we will go to Remick Farm Museum and pay our deposit on the piglets. The piglets will arrive about the third week of June. We had been searching for Tamworth piglets. These piglets are half Tamworth.
Pyewacket the cat is sure to give birth in the next couple weeks. It will be interesting to see how many kittens she has. We are not sure who the father is. She is not telling. She disappeared for a whole week back in the beginning of April. We thought we had lost her for good. Now, we know what she was up to.
Nick and Nora Charles Bunnies are still a bit people shy. We pick them up and handle them daily to get them use to humans. Nick seems to be a bit more trusting then Nora.
Our new chicks arrived on Friday. We will be selling organic chicken by the pound this summer. They are peeping away under their heat lamp in the pantry. It is hard to believe that they will be ready for the freezer by mid July.
The hens have been busy making our daily supply of eggs. We get about 4 dozen a day. We have wholesaled some eggs to a local store, and we sell the rest at our farm stand.
Farmers Market starts up in two weeks. We were hoping to do more than one this year, but I have not heard back from the one in Wolfeboro.
Summer will soon be upon us. For us this means fresh organic food right out of the garden...who could ask for more.
Fixing the Coop
Yesterday, was indeed an unseasonal day. It got up to be over 90 in the sun. Of course that was the day I choose to fix the chicken pen and coop. The fence post have leaned, and it made the fence lean in right along with it. The chickens learned they could sit on it like a hammock. It was actually kind of funny to watch. After I fixed it up, they all looked at me as if to say "hey, you ruined our nesting hammock.
Along with fixing up the pen, came cleaning and fixing up the coop. They love to make a mess scratching around.
I also cleaned up the raspberry orchard. I can't believe how much hay mulch we had put down. They are budding now, and I can't wait for fresh raspberries.
By 7, I was ready for bed.
Along with fixing up the pen, came cleaning and fixing up the coop. They love to make a mess scratching around.
I also cleaned up the raspberry orchard. I can't believe how much hay mulch we had put down. They are budding now, and I can't wait for fresh raspberries.
By 7, I was ready for bed.
Back to the Past
When we bought Cloverleaf Farm a couple years ago, luckily there wasn't many renovations to do. Not any majors one anyway.
We started by doing small things like replacing the ugly plastic lights with 1800's replica lighting. I could not believe anyone would put a fluorescent light fixture in the bedroom. EEee Gads it was horrible. It looked like a space ship getting to land on the bed.
We then moved on to simple projects like wallpapering the ell. I don't think it had been touched since 1930 something. The back of the door was so dirty, it looked like it had been burnt. The ell came out beautiful. It still looks like 1930 something, only with cleaner wallpaper.
We then started the downstairs powder room. We still haven't finished that. It got to be spring, and I wanted to be outdoors in the gardens. I guess we can get back to it now.
Big projects haven't really been started yet. We plan on redoing the kitchen and date it back to the late 30's early 40's.
We have started to collect items from different eras for throughout the house.
We started by doing small things like replacing the ugly plastic lights with 1800's replica lighting. I could not believe anyone would put a fluorescent light fixture in the bedroom. EEee Gads it was horrible. It looked like a space ship getting to land on the bed.
We then moved on to simple projects like wallpapering the ell. I don't think it had been touched since 1930 something. The back of the door was so dirty, it looked like it had been burnt. The ell came out beautiful. It still looks like 1930 something, only with cleaner wallpaper.
We then started the downstairs powder room. We still haven't finished that. It got to be spring, and I wanted to be outdoors in the gardens. I guess we can get back to it now.
Big projects haven't really been started yet. We plan on redoing the kitchen and date it back to the late 30's early 40's.
We have started to collect items from different eras for throughout the house.
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