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Sunday, February 19, 2012

Roasted Carrots with Thyme

Carrots are abundant right now and mostly everyone loves to eat them raw around here.  In fact, Chris never likes them cooked.  However, these aren't "store" carrots and with that in mind, I thought I would try roasting them and see what everyone thought.  They were a big hit!  Here's how I made them.  Keep in mind you can change the flavors very easily by changing the herb or seasoning according to your own tastes.


Here's what you will need:

2 bunches small farm carrots (about 2 pounds)
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Fresh thyme



Fresh Thyme













Start by turning oven to 400 degrees.  Chop tops off carrots and throw in a roasting pan.  Lightly coat the carrots with olive oil and salt and strip a few sprigs of thyme. Toss everything together in the pan.



When oven reaches 400, place pan in oven.  Check carrots about every 10 minutes, shaking pan to move them around.  When carrots appear caramelized (brown but not burnt) and they are slightly wrinkled up, removed them from oven and enjoy.  This probably takes about 30 minutes.

Finished dish

Thursday, February 16, 2012

  Well, it's been a longer break from posting than what I had intended.  Hopefully, you all will forgive me!  It is getting really busy on the farm with planting season getting nearer, a building to remodel, and schooling to attend.  We have many projects going on and we are really working hard at doing what we can to get things right the first time.
 
  The picture above is our chicken tractor.  It is the model Chris built last year with some minor modifications, mostly to make it lighter.  The chickens just got moved in this picture and they are happy.  It's a win-win situation for us.  They have some new green material to eat and that means less grass clumps to pull out when we till these plots up.

  Behind the chicken tractor in this picture is a plot of garlic.  We planted it last fall and we are pretty excited about it.  We had some beautiful garlic last year and it was started in the spring, so the fall plantings ought to do really well.  You can look forward to having some tasty and different varieties of garlic this summer.

  Interestingly, there are many varieties of garlic, yet commercial varieties, (what you would find in the grocery store), are limited to one or two types.  We hope to have plenty of the standard garlic you are used to purchasing in the store, but we also will have a few gourmet varieties, which we are looking forward to sampling right along with you.  These will be limited, because it takes time for a new garlic type to adapt to the soil and weather conditions before it produces to it's maximum potential.

  We are doing a lot of planning right now, and hopefully that will show and soon translate to more tasty veggies and eggs and more that we can provide for all of you.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Well, it feels like spring is here outside today.  I can barely stand to sit by the window at this computer.  (Maybe I should have taken it outside to write!)

Who can resist the urge to dig in the dirt a little on a day like this?  Not me.  That's my hand in the photo, and look what it dug up---beautiful "Little Fingers" carrots!  They may seem small, but that's a good thing.    These carrots are for snacking, and are meant to be picked at 3 to 3 1/2 inches.  Don't tell anyone, but snack on them I did!  Crunchy and sweet, and so cute!

We pulled the plastic of all of our our winter trial hoops today.  It's nice to have a clear view of how everything inside fared.  We have learned a lot.  For instance, "Little Fingers" carrots do well in the hoops, once they are painfully weeded by hubby early on.  Arugula does well, too, and is a favorite of ours for a winter salad.

Garlic chives, well, we never got a single one to grow!  Disappointing, for sure.  We tried to get them to sprout at least twice, but nothing.  On the other hand, cilantro is thriving!  I hope some of you like it...

Our China Winter Radishes are here in this pick.  They did very well as you can see.


The store is coming along nicely.  There is plenty more to do but be assured that we are working feverishly to get things finished.