Sunday, August 4, 2013

The First Ball Of Yarn

ITS A BALL !


The Farmer and The Farmers Wife have been busy spinning.
Finally there is a ball of yarn to show for the work.
The Farmers Only Daughter knitted a bit of the yarn.


Its a bit uneven but its the first attempt.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Spinning Yarn

SPINNING YARN

The Farmer spins yarn
No not spins a yarn he actually spins yarn
After years of not making use of the sheep's wool he has invested in a spinning wheel.


A DIZ was another addition to the fiber arsenal
The rovings that The Farmer made previously were a bit uneven
A house key and later a cardboard piece with a hole punched in it didn't do the trick


This little beauty makes the spinning much easier
With a nice even roving there are less surprises to deal with.


The Farmer And The Farmers Wife took turns taking the machine for a ride
An E-Spinner was chosen to take the feet out of the learning curve
One day, after getting the hang of the hands they will try a treadle machine


All the rovings that The Farmer made were spun up on Saturday morning.
So its back to the wool combs to make more.


The two very nice gentlemen at 
 in Jordan Ontario were very helpful
The machine was ordered and arrived 5 days later
A short lesson on how to spin was given
An invitation to Sundays Spin In was offered as well
Unfortunately its garlic season so 
The Farmer and The Farmers Wife were unable to attend
Another time they will make time


The Farmer And The Farmers Wife agree that this is an addictive little machine

Next post may be on plying yarn in the lazy kate

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Wool Combs

Wool Combs

Well The Farmer finally buckled to the pressure to not waste wool.
The sheep must be sheared yearly but The Farmer doesn't use the wool.
Till now that is.

The post master thought for sure The Farmer had become a friend to the birds.
With the shape of this package who could blame him.



Wool Combs from Benjamin Green Studio


Ben is proud enough of his work to sign it.
The Farmer thinks that's a good sign.


Just clamp to the counter and he is ready to comb.


One comb gets placed in the holder.


Fleece gets added


Now comb through with the other comb taking little bits at a time.


When the fibers are transferred to the hand held comb switch it with the one in the holder.


After three or four combings it looks very soft and uniform.


Pulling it bit by bit through a small hole makes a roving ready to spin into yarn.
The Farmer used an old house key for this job.


So there you have it all The Farmer needs now is a spinner.
That will be a future blog.


Ben designed a nice tool.
The dark walnut accents give it a classic look.

Garlic 2013

The Garlic Harvest 2013

First the scapes were ready


So The Farmer and The Farmers Wife picked them.
Most of them went to Churchhill Natural Meats for Scape Pesto Sausage.
It was fantastic!


 Then came the garlic harvest


Many tractor buckets full


 The Roots and Stems were trimmed and the bulbs cleaned


 The Farmer moved the garlic patch this year.
Unfortunately the nutrient level was not high enough.
The product is smaller this year but no disease.


 Laid into bins one lair deep to dry.
This year will only add up to 50 bins.

 
Though The Farmer is a bit disappointed in the size he is happy with the flavour.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Lawn Mowing Alternative

 The Farmer Hates Cutting Grass
Especially when the pasture is short
As you can see the sheep have eaten the pasture down


 No Problem
Step in temporary fence posts


A cable with clamps
Attach one end to the live wire of the electric fence


 Attach the other to the temporary fence


 Voila Nine little lawn mowers
And no gasoline required


The Farmer has plans to move this around to different locations as needed

Friday, April 19, 2013

Coconut Chicken

Coconut Chicken has been on The Farmers mind all week
The Farmers Friend posted the recipe on facebook
The Farmers Friend was announcing that
The Farmers Friends Wife was making the dish for supper
The Farmer has been obsessed ever since
So today he stopped at Pupo's Grocery in Welland
Boneless skinless were on sale this week

A small bag of sweetened coconut


One coffee grinder


Pulse till fine


Add bread crumbs to coconut in a baking dish
Never measure just wing it til you like the mix


 Slice the chicken in strips


 Dredge them in flower


 Flower all of them before the next step


 Now into beaten egg on the way to the bread crumb coconut mix


 Cover them completely with the mixture


 A parchment paper covered cookie sheet will help the cleanup
Convection at 350 f for 1/2 hour then flip
Another 5 to 10 minutes should do the trick


Just enough to get a golden tinge


A bit of hot chili sauce on the side takes the edge off the coconut


Some leftover fish crisp mix came in handy 
There was just a bit of extra chicken


Fish crisp is meant to be fried so these have a bit of powder on them
Not a problem for The Farmers Family
Baked is much healthier


All in all a wonderful recipe
Tasty and moist just the way you would want chicken

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Brown Work Socks

Work Socks Anyone

The Farmer has been called back to the factory!
Layoff over.
:-(
Onions and shallots are in
Arugula, peas and radishes seeded
Electric fence installed
And
Enough work socks made
Here are some pics of the latest ones




Please excuse The Farmers dirty pair 
added to the drying new ones just for the pic