Scenes from the Farm, Our Vegetable Garden, and One BIG Koi

The picture above is the entrance to our vegetable garden. Above that are scenes from the back 5 acres. We love walking from our house through the field into the "Back", as it's fondly referred to, and into the big pasture that has the pond and a small island. It's a great walk for the dogs too. Just last week I caught a glimpse of the very large Koi fish that lives in the pond. It was released there many years ago by my dad and we occasionally glimpse its bright orange color from above on the hill. I also saw baby ducks and their mom. Yo Bear jumped in the water (after the fish, I think) I quickly called him out and snapped some pictures of the Koi. It looked to be 8-12 inches long. Sorry the pictures don't do it justice. WOW!

View from Above: Langley and the Saratoga Passage

We go on a walk just about every evening. Today we got a spectacular view from a private road that overlooks Langley and has quite a water view. The sky was just clearing up as the sun was setting and we got some interesting pictures of the clouds.

Hearty Spinach & Two Lentil Soup

I baked chicken last night and I like to use the leftover bones to make soup the next day. So today I made lentil soup from the chicken stock I cooked up. I am calling it 'two' lentil soup because I love mixing the small pink lentils with the bigger brown ones. With all the good vegetables and protein-packed lentils in this soup, it is incredibly satisfying. I begin by cooking the bones in 2-4 quarts of water for 2 or more hours. Decide how much soup you want leftover and add the amount of water accordingly. I based the ingredient amounts off of using 3 quarts of water. The soup is a perfect balance between watery and thick, if you like it at either end of the spectrum, add more or less water (or beans!).

Strain the bones out of the soup water after a minimum of 2 hours on medium boil. Add these ingredients:

1 1/2 cup brown lentils
1 cup small pink lentils
2 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves

Now chop up these ingredients and add them after the lentils have cooked for 15-20 minutes:

5 stalks of celery, chopped
5 carrots, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, put through a garlic press
1 onion chopped

Cook above ingredients until done to your liking, make sure the lentils are fully cooked! It takes about 1 hour to cook after you add the lentils). Now add these ingredients: (The spinach gets added to the soup after you have turned off the heat. By the time you serve the soup and eat it, the spinach will be soft and will also retain its spectacular color)

2 TBS tamari or soy sauce
2-4 cups spinach, chopped

You can serve this soup as the one and only dish or have some crusty bread on the side to dip into the lentils. If you have guests, make a salad too.

The Mermaids

Garlic Herbed Chicken in a Clay Pot & Spinach-Parmesan Salad

This is an easy dinner you can put in the oven a few hours early and then sit back with a good book and relax while the delicious aroma permeates the air. I like to make wild rice and a salad with it. Our spinach in the garden is really coming up and so I made a Parmesan-Spinach salad to pair with the chicken.

Chicken:
3 1/2 to 4 pound whole chicken, washed and patted dry
5 cloves of garlic, put through a garlic press
2 TBS fresh thyme
2 TBS fresh sage
3/4 cup milk, I used almond milk
1 TBS olive oil

Soak the clay pot in water for 5 to 10 minutes before putting it in the oven. After it has soaked pour milk in the bottom of the clay pot, put the whole chicken in the milk then push the diced herbs and garlic (put through a press) under the chicken skin, save some garlic and herbs to sprinkle on the top of the chicken. Pour 1 TBS olive oil over the chicken, cover with clay lid and put in oven. Turn oven on to 375F*, and cook for about 2 hours.
*I do not preheat the oven, as the clay pot should heat up slowly.
* You may also put carrots, potatoes, and other vegetables in with the chicken.
In the last 3-5 minutes of cooking, turn oven on broil and brown the top of the chicken. Keep an eye on the chicken though! It cooks fast on broil.

Chickens on the Farm and the Eagle

We have about 30 chickens and we sell approximately 5 dozen eggs a week. I say we have 'about' 30 chickens because we also have a very friendly eagle in the neighborhood who swoops down to pick up dinner occasionally. Our chickens have free run of about 1/4 acre. This time of the year the chickens are the most productive egg layers. As the days become shorter the chickens lay fewer and fewer eggs, in a natural ebb and flow.
Our chickens are free to roam and eat anything within their large enclosure. We also feed them our food scraps, yard & garden debris, and chicken layer pellets.
We also have a rooster who protects the flock. We went up to the barn to feed the chickens and noticed the rooster was missing all of his beautiful tail feathers! This legs were scratched up and he looked like he had put up a real fight. We believe the eagle or perhaps a smaller falcon tried to pick him up and he got away.
We have Rhode Island Reds, Golden Comets, Black Australop, Ameraucanas, Buff Orpington, Barred Plymouth Rock, & Light Brahma. Here are some pictures of our chickens.

Garden Fresh Quiche with Tuna: Using Spinach and Chard from the Garden (with a wheat & gluten free crust)

We are getting a lot of eggs from our chickens this time of the year. They lay the most eggs during the lightest time of the year. Our garden is also beginning to offer us some beautiful bounty. I planted later than usual this year, as it has been rainy and cold and I have been busy enjoying my little Stella, who is now 4 months old. So here is a recipe that you can enjoy using in season ingredients. It's lots of fun to get the ingredients from your own garden and your own chickens or you can get them at the farmers market. This recipe is for one quiche pie and serves from 2 to 4 people, depending on the portion size. I like to make two pies and have leftovers.

Quiche filling:
2 cups chard, chop small
2 cups spinach, chop small
1/2 cup or 3 carrots chopped small
1 can of tuna
2 TBS mayo
1/2 pound sheep feta, or other high quality feta

Egg Mixture:
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk and it was great!)

Pie Crust:
1/3 stick cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cup flour, I use quinoa flakes, a quick cooking cereal, it is wheat and gluten free
pinch of salt
Up to 3 TBS water

Mix butter and quinoa flakes in a blender and then add salt and water as needed. Press crust into a buttered 9-inch pan. I slowly work the crust from the center of the pi dish to the sides and then up the sides.

Stir Fry the carrots, chard, spinach. Herat a pan on medium. Begin with some oliveoil and then add carrots, chopped small. Cook for 5 minutes then add chard and spinach. Cover and turn temperature to low. Cook for 2-4 minutes, just enought o soften the chard and spinach.
Set aside.

Put the Two Together: Preheat oven to 375F
Now you have the crust ready and the ingredients set aside and cut to the right size. Crumble the feta on the crust. Cheese is the first ingredient to go on the pie. It helps make a moisture barrier. Spread the feta evenly over the crust. Put the crust with feta in the preheated 375F oven for 5 minutes to melt cheese and harden the crust a little.










Remove from the oven and place the stir fried carrots, chard and spinach over the feta / cheese. Reserve a small handful of greens to put on the pie right before you place it in the oven.









Mix one can of tuna with 2 TBS mayo. Spread the tuna over the stir fry ingredients on the quiche.










Mix 4 eggs with 1 1/2 cups milk. Pour the egg & milk mixture in the quiche (on top of the greens and tuna. Sprinkle the top of the quiche with the leftover greens to make it look pretty.










Now put it in the preheated oven on 375F. Cook for 35-45 minutes or until the middle and sides of the quiche are firm, not watery. Here's the final product:

Langley at Night