Monthly Archives: April 2012

Rhubarb Muffins for a Rainy Day

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It’s rainy today. Really, really rainy. I have lots of work I could be doing outside in the gardens, but I feel like this kind of rain gives me an excuse to stay inside, get caught up on blogging and reading, and try out a new recipe or two.

Food is growing on the property and it’s been fun to start adding home-grown goods to our meals. We’ve been adding wild stining nettles to our smoothies, mashed potatoes and home-brewed beer experiments for awhile now, but the past few days have given us a chance to harvest and eat some of our rhubarb and radishes too. 

On Saturday I made a rhubarb crumble and while outside taking care of the animals this morning, I harvested some more to try out a rhubarb muffin recipe. (I’m totally growing a new appreciation for the tanginess and tartness of rhubarb – sooo good!).

I did a google search for vegan rhubarb recipes since there are none in my vegan cookbooks. I came across a muffin recipe that I adjusted for the ingredients I had/ wanted to use. They turned out really well (I just gobbled up two of them). The rhubarb pieces add a really wonderful flavour and moisture to them. Here’s the recipe that resulted from my combined google search/ personal adjustments:

Combine:

1 1/2 C diced rhubarb pieces
2/3 C brown sugar
1 1/2 C spelt flour
1/3 C oil 
2/3 C apple sauce
1/3 C almond milk
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp allspice
sprinkle of nutmeg

Pour into greased muffin tins. Bake for 30 mins at 350F. Makes 1 dozen. 

Saying farewell to some farm members

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Matt, Chantalle, son Canaan, and daughter Avi (in Chantalle’s arms) hang out with Thumper, our youngest farm rabbit.

This past month, we experienced a big change at the farm. Matt and Chantalle made the decision to say goodbye to farm life and try out some new adventures as a young family together. Matt grew up on the farm and he and his family have made it their own home for the past few years, so this is a big change, but we’re very happy for them and wish them lots of excitement in their new endeavors. 

Matt, Chantalle, Canaan and baby Avi will be missed, but we’re stoked they’re still in the area so even though they don’t live here anymore, we’ll still be seeing lots of them. We’ll miss Matt for his spur-of-the-moment-inspired-build-a-thons which resulted in things like our herb spiral, refurbished chicken coop and pig pen, and for his knowledge of livestock raising. We’ll miss Chantalle for her experimental goat-cheese-making, sprout-growing, homemade-nettle-and-herbal-tea-concoction-homesteading projects and for her diligent research and interest in farm business opportunities. We’ll miss Canaan for his major cute factor and his undying love for insects of all kinds. And we’ll miss baby Avi for all the sweetness having a baby girl around brings. 

We love you guys and are excited to see where life leads you. Don’t forget to come back for farm work party days! ;)

xo

Our first ducklings

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Spring is very much in the air around here. Flowers are coming up everywhere, peas and bean sprouts are beginning to climb poles, the red crowns of raddishes are revealing themselves in the garden, and baby animals are arriving. 

These MELT-MY-HEART-THEY’RE-SO-ADORABLE ducklings hatched last week. The mother is nesting on the other eggs in the photos, and we’re hoping they hatch as well. They’re our first farm ducklings and we’re totally smitten.