Sweetie, the mighty hunter

Here is my mighty hunter.

The Rat

Over the summer, I started seeing evidence of a rat in my barn. I was confused because I have a barn cat. I consulted my friend Xuni who cultivated rats in her barn basement. Xuni told me that her cats would prey on the babies but not the larger ones. She suggested trapping. I got big rat glue traps…no luck. I decided it wasn’t a rat but a chipmunk.

This morning I found these remains. I guess I did have a rat, a well fed one at that.

The rear portion is six inches. My barn cat ate at least 4 inches between the neck and mid section.

Jarradale Squash

 

A little less than a year ago, I put my seed order together.  Besides butternut and acorn squash, I decided I should plant a winter squash.  Now it’s not like my family eats squash, it is mostly just me.  But the idea of a squash that I could put in my root cellar and have it keep all winter was intriguing.  If the world as we know it ended (think of Life as We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer), I’d have a decent amount of food set aside for my family and my animals.  I also had fond memories of my stepfather growing great big blue hubbard squashes.  I can remember them in the field and I can remember trying to carry them after harvest.  I do not remember my mother cooking them but I assume she did. 

I order most of my seeds from Pine Tree Garden Seeds .  They offered a 10 pound blue squash from Australia called Jarradale that sounded interesting.  I planted it.  It spread across my front lawn.  It grew up my deer fence.  I harvested over twenty beautiful blue pumpkin looking squashes (of course, if not for my black walnuts, I probably would have harvested 100).

I have given a few away to my friends.  Driving through New England last week, I had the urge to drop one off to the vegan (I didn’t).  I forgot to bring one for Thanksgiving in Maine.  (Whoops…I have been brain dead lately.)  No one has cooked one until today.  This afternoon, kept company by my friend Karen (who has one sitting on her counter too), I chopped and chopped and peeledand peeled.  I put the cut up squash in my new green apple dutch oven (courtesy of Farmgirl fare) and plopped it on the woodstove to cook.

I added butter and sea salt and my own maple syrup.  I tasted it and found it completely different than butternut with the same ingredients.  Blander I thought at first and added more salt and maple syrup.  But as I tasted it again and again, I realized it was more subtle.  Hmmmm.

 

We had it at dinner and I put 7 sides in the freezer for later.  Just one squash….14 more to go, not to mention all the butternut and acorn stored under my bed!

Quiet time…

In one month, the baby goats will start to arrive.  Right now is the quietest time on the farm.  The pigs went to the butcher last weekend.  Because of darkness and molting, the chickens are not laying…no egg customers.  I am milking one goat and this is enough just for the family…no cheesemaking..no goat shares.  The garden has been put to bed.  With this quiet time, it is time to start the farm blog….