For more information check out the Access CVU website. The May 4th date listed is full, but there will be another class offered on May 18th if there is enough interest.

chevre and pickled peas

]]> http://trilliumhillfarm.com/2010/03/08/cheese-anyone/feed/ 0 armstrongse IMG_6192 http://trilliumhillfarm.com/2010/03/03/cheesy-ode-to-early-spring/ http://trilliumhillfarm.com/2010/03/03/cheesy-ode-to-early-spring/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:34:44 +0000 armstrongse http://trilliumhillfarm.com/?p=510 ]]> Taking goats for a walk- they eat browse high and low,

Chickens bask in the sun and eat bugs under snow.

We work on construction projects inside and out:

Before we go a-sugaring about.

Tap the trees,

Scrub the pan,

Clean out old birds’ nests.

Can the syrup,

Harvest the spinach,

Before you have a rest.

(or a really big sandwich).

Happy early Spring!

In my mind once sugaring starts, chaos ensues: I lose touch with my friends, I am completely exhausted (which James will tell you might be accompanied by a touch of grumpiness), and my life becomes a disorganized mess.  For the past two years sugaring and goat kidding have overlapped (literally, me running down from the sugarhouse to iodine the kids’ umbilical cords), and overlapped again with the start of the gardening season.

Then I remember that spring (like all seasons, an avid blog reader pointed out to me recently) is my FAVORITE time of year!! And it is, at the very least, the most magical. Can you think of a better morning than waking up at 3am to check on your incredibly pregnant goat, finding her in the stages just before kidding and hunkering down in a warm pile of hay to coo encouraging words to her while she pushes out gorgeous twin baby goats? Follow that by milking and chores, gathering sap, more milking, feeding and then boiling sugar into the evening. It really is the best time of year.

I think I get nervous about spring because it means I’m really in it. Right now I am planning it, making my living mostly by different means, but in the spring, I jump into this soup of farming and all I can do is float along. But along the way I get to enjoy the taste of sap and the smell of the sugarbush; the new buds on the trees, the magic of birth, the sowing of seeds, the first sips of syrup and milk. It’s hard not to write poetry about it. And I guess that’s it- when life is truly beautiful you tend not to have any control over the situation. In the winter we spend so much time planning and thinking about how we’ll do things differently and thinking we can control the way things will work. And then, when it all starts in late February we just have to jump in and let go- it’s a total mind shift- and we hope that we’ve got our lives in order enough to withstand the soup.

I’m looking forward to it, but the micro-manager in me is a little apprehensive. Mostly I am feeling grateful for my community for encouraging me to dive in.

PS. And here is a Soup Recipe (although more wintery than springy) for those of you who were hoping that’s what this post would be about. Its my favorite squash recipe (and my very own!)

TANGY BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

-2 medium butternut squashes cut and peeled

-4 Tbl butter

-1 medium onion or 1 shallot

-1 clove garlic

-1 Tbl fresh ginger

-3 cups plain yogurt

-salt and pepper to taste.

DIRECTIONS

Boil squash in one quart of water until squash is thoroughly cooked- about 45 minutes.

Finely chop garlic, onion and ginger

In a small skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and ginger. Sautee until onion is translucent- approximately five minutes.

Add the butter mix to the squash; stir until well blended.

Let the soup simmer for 1o minutes, turn off heat and add yogurt. Mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you have a tool to puree the soup it is recommended (but still delicious if you don’t!). Wait until the soup has cooled some before you puree.