HAY: Your body and soul are worthy of nourishment. Why have we been taught to feel guilty about that? (Maybe because it sells diet books, but sheep can’t read!) Let food bring you joy. We all need more joy—especially right now. Dig in, dear friends.
— Ms. Mama Sheepie, who needs a name (going with Shakespeare characters, if you want to send suggestions!)
Here’s What’s Happening At Good Spirits Farm
Whew, the weather is refusing to cooperate. We tried to put the turkeys out on pasture last week, but it has rained every single day. They’re still little and we’re afraid they’ll get too cold if they’re wet. (They have shelter, but they’re not always smart enough to stand under the shelter when it rains.) I’ve been hand-carrying 20 turkeys in and out of the house twice a day so they can spend nights inside where it’s dry. Come on, sunshine!
Best laid plans and all that: I know last week I said I was going to put in my fall beets and radishes, etc, and then…all kinds of farm problems cropped up and the seeds are still sitting on my counter, waiting for me to get around to them. Sigh. Maybe this weekend?
Juliet and her buddy Puck have really bonded, which was exactly the result we were hoping for. Juliet LOVES having a buddy, and I feel so happy watching them play together. This week we’re going to try and integrate the pair back into the main herd. I will miss having a backyard sheep, but she deserves to be part of a flock. She’ll always be my baby, though (and both of us know it).
Here’s What I Loved This WeekThis tomato pie recipe, which is like summer served up on flakey pastry. I altered the recipe a bit, roasting my tomatoes in the oven (about 25 min at 400 degrees) to concentrate their flavor and draw out moisture. I also used store-bought pie dough (because I’m running a farm here and this recipe does have quite a few steps), and swapped in chopped pepperoncini (the only canned pepper I had) for the pimentos. It was superb.
Throwing in a recommendation for my friend Sam’s tomato pie recipe that was on the cover of Food & Wine! https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/roasted-curry-tomato-pie
Constance, perchance? Hermione is another good one, though likely to be confused with another literary character.