Utilizing Everything We can

Where have we been? No blog post for several days? Well, things are moving along here at Fernwood, fast and furious you might say. We did get a day off ( Monday) to do some hiking. More on this adventure later, along with pictures. We’ll share the location and the wonderful gal that hiked along with us once we get all the pictures together.
The gardens here are providing us with a bounty. Fresh vegetables with every meal, and then the surplus being preserved for winter. This week we made jars and jars of garlic scape pesto. How do we make it? Here’s the recipe:
20 or so garlic scapes
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup almonds ( or another nut you prefer)
2/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt to taste.
Put all of the ingredients into the food processor or blender with steel blade. Puree until fairly smooth, maybe a bit chunky if you like it that way. Season to taste with salt.
This will also freeze well. We love it on pizza, on pasta, and drizzled onto freshly steamed vegetables.
We have also been mining the soil from the chicken’s run. After letting layers and layers of chicken poop, straw, bedding hay, and leaves, to decompose, it has become a nutrient rich soil source. Throughout the year we will spread the chicken’s outdoor run with organic matter ( of the above mentioned minus the poop, they provide that themselves). A year or so later we begin excavating it to spread on the display beds and into the vegetable gardens. The chickens love when we start digging up their yard. Lots and lots of earthworms and beetles surface for them to dine on. They love rooting through the newly turned earth. After we’ve gathered enough to spread on the garden beds, we begin the process all over again. Even our weeds from the garden go into the chicken run. The chickens will feast on the green shoots and seeds and the rest will compost into the soil. We’re always trying to utilize everything here that we grow or produce. From grass clippings to garlic scapes, they all find their way into something useful.

Sempervivum

The display beds and the nursery are bringing us a feast for the eyes. Pure delight. These flowers are from one of the many Sempervivums we grow. Lovely, I think. We hope the summer is going well for all, that your gardens are providing wonderful blooms and foliage, that the vegetable gardens are producing delicious fresh food , and that you too are finding a moment to sneak away and enjoy these summer days.