Spring Is In The Air!

Flowering Pear - Pyrus Calleryana

 One of the first signs that spring is on it's way is that our flowering pear blooms.  It is really a sight to see, covered in white blooms - which the bees absolutely love.

We love the way it looks - like an earthbound cloud.   Unfortunately, the fragrance of the flowers are a little too pungent - if you know what I mean.
The next time we have a windy day, the petals will be strewn all over the yard and roadway - sort of like white confetti.  And then the limey sagey green leaves are revealed.  

Just Picked - Purple Top Turnips

Purple Top Turnips

Drove out to the farm yesterday to rescue my italian parsley plants before Rick tills the fields under to get ready for our spring planting.  The parsley took so long last year to even come up, I wasn't about to have to wait another 90 days starting from seed.

During my rescue mission, I found the turnips to be of pretty good size too - in fact some were huge! 

I'm going to cook some up - don't think I'll do the leaves although they are edible.   My first turnips for the season!

I will be taking the rest of them to Cowboy Trail Farm so if you've got hankering for turnips - head on over this Saturday or check the Springs Preserve Farmers market on Thursday.

Ireland, Tuscany . . . .Sandy Valley

The Sheep Have Arrived

Every year during the winter, the sheep arrive.  I don't know where from but they come to chew the alfalfa fields down.  They stay for about three months and then they leave.  If you close your eyes, you could be in Ireland, Tuscany, and even Sandy Valley.

Squash?, Yes, Squash Pie

Butternut Squash Pie with Fork Marks

Okay, I should have used a toothpick

When we harvested our butternut squash last October, we still needed to cure them.  Some did well, others not so well.  In an effort to save what was salvagable, I cut off the bad parts, scooped out the seeds, and roasted the flesh for about an hour.  Scooped out the flesh and froze it. 

We had invited friends for dinner and here I go again . .  I wanted to try a squash pie recipe that I found on the internet.  It came from About.com - Southern Food.  Lots of good recipes and you can read the reviews. 

Here's the recipe:

Cowboy Trail Farm CSA Registration Open

Wow, it it really January?  We've been having such warm days it's really hard to believe.  It feels like spring but we know that there's at least one more cold spell before we can officially spring has sprung.

I'm sure you are all craving farm fresh naturally grown produce and not the stuff from down south.  Cowboy Trail Farm has put out their application form for 2012. 

Butternut Squash Curry

Butternut Squash - My Favorite Winter Squash

Tikva invited us for a curry dinner at her house.  I asked what could I bring?  She said anything that's in season.  Well, not a whole lot right now for us at the farm.  But, we did have some butternut squash in storage.  And I was reading the 2012 Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Catalog and remembered seeing a recipe for butternut squash curry.  Hmmm . . .   a good opportunity to try it and it would probably go well with the other curry flavors of the meal.

Do you do this do?  Try a new recipe when you're going to someones home and are meeting some people for the very first time?  Tikva's son and daughter-in-law were visiting from Baltimore. 

When You Get Lemons. . . Make Limoncello!

Believe it or not, you can grow citrus in Las Vegas with a little bit of attention.  Lemons and limes, which we grow in our yard,  will thrive if protected from freezing.   This winter, when it was predicted to go into the 30's we covered our trees with an old bedsheet and Mike even draped some little Christmas lights on them to keep them warm.  

Because of all of his efforts, watering, fertilizing and Christmas lights, we have an abundance of lemons for the second year in a row.  So, what did we do with all those lemons?  Well, some went to friends and some will be made into limoncello.   Here's the recipe - there are lots of variations but I prefer the ones using Everclear instead of vodka.  Molto bene!  Reminds me of Capri . . . . .