This is last night's supper just before it went into the oven before milking. It was done when we came in and, alas, eaten before I thought to take the "after" photo.
Everything involved was homegrown except the celery, vinegar, some garlic powder (didn't plant any last fall) and a dash of Italian seasoning. It was so much fun to assemble that I can scarcely call it work. The first potatoes of the year, two plants worth, were dug fresh from the bed behind the house and the big sheep pen garden the guys made me this year. One plant was started from some leftover sprouting potatoes that we bought to eat from the supermarket. The other was from seed potatoes we bought to plant. Oddly enough the supermarket hill yielded perfect orbs of potato goodness. The ones from certified seed potatoes were covered with potato scab.
Go figure. Didn't matter anyhow; they were all delicious, but I will dig the scabby ones first before they get too nasty.
Digging potatoes is kind of like treasure hunting to me. You never know what will come out of each hill and the anticipation is worth the sweat.
The carrots are rainbow carrots from Pinetree Garden Seeds. They are simply the best variety we have ever tried and I don't bother with anything else now. I grow them in half 15-gallon acid barrels from the milk house, in a mixture of sand, plain old dirt and compost. They thrive. I love the wet paint scent of a carrot fresh out of the ground....kind of fond of the taste too and not all the ones I pulled made it into the dinner. We are speculating about bringing a clean half barrel indoors this winter and trying to grow some like we do the indoor lettuce. Seems like we can never get enough of them.
The stew beef (I bake stew beef this way when I run out of chuck roast...turns out real tasty and tender) is from that Calbret HH Champion bull I bought the boss for Father's Day a couple of years ago....the one who didn't pass his blood test from the Holstein Association because somebody goofed on his dam's sire. Hated to eat such a well bred animal, but we couldn't use him as intended because the maternal grandsire was Ocean View Extra Special, a bull we used very heavily ourselves. (Right now in my first ten cows there are five by him, Bariole, Bubbles, Camry, Junie and Lemonade.) When we draw a bull of our own to use AI, it needs to be at least somewhat unrelated to most of the animals in the herd. This was just too close bred for comfort.
Anyhow, homegrown is kind of a favorite brand around here and the leftovers were pretty sparse. Now I can't wait for an excuse to dig more potatoes.
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15 comments:
That looks absolutely delicious! I've never seen rainbow carrots before. I'm going to have to try getting some next year and growing them on my deck along with my 'maters, peppers and cukes.
That looks good, I can believe it was demolished in nothing flat!
That's a good idea with the barrels, nobody can get in and eat your hard work but you!
fred looks good!!!!
not raining today !!!!
yey!!!!!
love ya
mappy
Diggity, look at that! Yummers!
BTW, the BEST pics are always the "before" pics. Now if only I could slap a sourdough roll above and below that 5 pound chunk of dinner, I'll be happy! LOL
Hey, excellent idea on the indoor barrel.
Yummmmm.....that looks deliceous. we haven't had new potatoes yet, can't wait. I haven't had the nerve to dig them and see if they are growing.
I've never heard of the rainbow carrots either. I live about 15 minutes from Pinetree Seeds. I'll have to check them out :)
You will have to let us know how the carrots in the barrel works out. Great idea!
You can't beat the homegrown stuff.
I plan on a homegrown meal tomorow.
That looks great! I didn't plant a garden this year, sigh. . . I love PinetreeGarden seeds. I have had luck with sprouted spuds, too. My favorite are Yukon golds.
Nothing better than "local" beef.
You constantly make me miss my garden! Those rainbow carrots are great...and fun! Have you seen the green bush beans that grow purple so you can find them when they are ripe but turn green when you cook them? Love the story of the meat! We couldn't use him for sex so we ate him! LMAO!
My Dad always dug in under the potato vines to get new potatoes out and did not move the vines. The small potatoes kept growing and he just took out the bigger ones.
that really looked delish! need to find out some more about the barrels!
Stacy, it did turn out well...and I really recommend the carrots. They are fun, but very tasty too
Nita, I grow a lot in barrels, for exactly that reason. We end up with a lot of them and they are easily cleaned and food grade, so the guys cut them in half for me, I punch holes in the bottom (on one end there are already holes for the pump to go in so I just take the top out) and grow a lot of stuff in them.
Matt, sure was a nice day, wasn't it. Was great to see you, love you too.
Steve, if only! A sourdough roll was just what it needed.
Deb, wow! Right down the road! I have bought the majority of my seeds there for years. I highly recommend their lettuce mix and winter lettuce mix. They are excellent. I also grow the hot pepper mix for the kids.
Cocked and loaded, sounds good, what are you going to be harvesting?
Moos, I was so surprised at how they turned out. I only planted them because I hate to throw anything out. I also love yukon gold and I think some of the seed potatoes the boss bought me were those. Have to see when they are dug....I can't remember what we put where. lol
sorry you didn't get a garden, but as busy as you folks are.....
IG, yeah, I like those beans! They are lots of fun in salads too and I really like the texture too. didn't grow any this year though. Not having real good luck with our beans for some reason.
Anon, you know I am going to try that. It is really too early to be digging if I want to get all my taters, but we do want some. I actually stuck one bush back in the ground because the upper part was covered with tiny tomatoes. Thanks!
Adrena, we love 'em for lettuce, carrots, herbs, etc. Our soil is so heavy it is hard to grow carrots here, but I can mix sand into the barrels and they turn out straight and crispy. Thanks for visiting and taking time to comment.
Don't you feel bad for,the people who don't get to eat like this? Home grown beef is the best!
You know, jinglebob, I really do. Every once in a while we run out of beef and I have to buy it at the market. Ugh! We milk feed our beeves until about 8 weeks before processing. They turn out pretty good.
YUMMY. I don't have a vegetable garden, but my mom does and grows enough for my brother, sister, and my family, and more to give to the church pantry! Sorry about your bull, he had a purpose, though. I imagine the after photo would have been a platter - licked clean!
Teri, that is great! We all share around in our family, but most of us have gardens so it isn't as much fun.
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