Nipping Jack Frost does not yet threaten, but I’ve decided to go ahead and finish harvesting several items in the fall garden. Basil is first; picking just new-ish leaves, usually lateral to the flowers that have developed on many branches, I’m plucking away rather haphazardly before pushing the now woody stalks through the shredder. I’ll dry this basil rather than turn it into pesto – plenty of that is waiting to be unearthed from the entirely disorganized chest freezer of garden goodies.
Lavender flower stems hang from my garden stall, and I dream of planting Provencal rows to entice future bee residents. Lavender has the Proustian effect of nuzzling my childhood body into my grandmothers bosom for a great hug. If I had grown more than single pots of oregano, thyme, tarragon and mint, I’d set to drying these. As they are, I’ll bring the pots inside for winter and hope to find sunny, south-facing windows to see them through until next spring.
Notice little Bucky, the male calf in the photo. Despite adding feed to his diet, I hold little hope for a brisket off of this fella. Just look at his hips! Hopefully no-one from PETA sees this page; I’d be unjustlly accused of mal-nourishing the little bugger. As it stands, he and his sister are two mores lessons in breed selection. Simply put, don’t buy a cow that likes to make milk if you want to eat a great big hunking backstrap sort of cut. More than one person has told me that if I want them to get big and juicy, I just have to feed them more; I’m not interested in feeding my calves extensive (shipped from far away, grown unsustainably) grain selections when the whole point was to have some grass fed meat. I’ll just grin my dopey Green Acres smile and get on with it. Better selection next time. I do hold out hope for decent meat stock.
Related Posts:
Recent Comments