As I sat hand grinding my whole-wheat flour this morning, I thought back to last week’s visit from my sister-in-law, Laraine. She was stopping by after taking the compass test to get back into our local community college. Over a cup of coffee she shared with us her desire to finally get her degree, something she’s always wanted to accomplish. She’s whittling away at her bucket list.
A bucket list.
Do I have a bucket list? I’m kind of jealous of her. I feel like I’m missing out on something. So I go through a whole week of soul searching and it hits me like a brick wall this morning. I’m living my bucket list and always have. Day by day. The contentment I feel on this little patch of earth is my bucket list. I can’t think of a class to take, a place to travel, to or a job that I’d rather be doing. The best to Laraine! Remember, if you can tackle that piano you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.
You can tell it’s spring, my mind is going in several directions, so bear with me. First, of all the spinach, lettuce, radishes, and turnips are up in the greenhouse. To this I will add the 60 broccoli and cabbage plants. Needing to get them out of the back room and into the ground, I try to pick a time when there will be a couple of cloudy days so they won’t transpire. Shouldn’t be to hard to find that rainy day.
My niece, Kim, wrote me an e-mail asking about purchasing asparagus at a CSA farm and the cost. For those of you who don’t know, a CSA farm is an abbreviation for Community Supported Agriculture. They’re wonderful! A win-win situation for all involved. Like with anything you get involved in these days you must thoroughly research the farm’s reputation. It allows the farmer to do what they love and allows the customer to reap the benefits of enjoying locally grown produce in season. To obtain more information on CSAs in your area log onto localharvest.org/csa, also check out pickyourown.org. Your area offers a host of orchards and you-pick farms.
Back to the asparagus. This is one vegetable I would plant. For one, it’s a perennial, which means you plant it once and it keeps coming back year after year. The investment is small. For 30 crowns (roots) in the E&R catalog it’s $32.50 and they produce for about 20 years. I have a patch with about that many that provides for three households with enough for us all to freeze. It really requires very little care and there’s nothing like the flavor. I love to stir-fry it with fresh cut garlic in a little olive oil.
I have to punch down the whole-wheat honey bread that’s rising on the wood furnace and put it into loaf pans.
The following recipe makes three loaves and it’s delicious. Take three cups warm water (about 110 degrees), and to this add two packages of yeast, 1/3 cup of honey, and five cups regular flour (all-purpose, unbleached, or bread). Mix well and let set 30 minutes in a warm place until big and bubbly. Next, mix three tablespoons of butter, another 1/3 cup honey, a tablespoon of salt, and 3½ cups of whole-wheat flour. Knead until it’s just pulling away from the counter. You want it a little tacky. Knead about 10 minutes. Put into greased bowl and let it rise until doubled. Punch down and divide into three loaves rise again. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. I like to use a digital thermometer for an internal reading of 190 degrees.
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