One Lone Allium

When we first moved here, I went a bit garden crazy. Besides bringing back some of the gardens that were a mess, I went ahead and dug out some more dirt, added lots of perennials and then watched them grow. Digging was fun and creative and hard work. It's easy to dig a garden. Not exactly easy but good hard work. Taking a space in the yard, thinking about the sunlight, the terrain, what it could be. Now that is really fun, isn't it? Think, think, think about the possibilities of a beautiful garden full of flowers and greenery. 

Taking the step to actually do it isn't too hard, considering you are physically capable. Muscle building, yes - all that digging and not being able to move the next day. Adding compost, picking plants, dreaming and then doing. It's all good. And then life gets in the way and you realized you have created all this extra work for yourself taking care of new gardens, weeding, maintaining. Yikes! What was I thinking. That's about where I was three years ago after establishing a bunch of new perennial beds. 

New things came up...... the sunflower field, the farmer's markets, the sheep and lamb meat biz, the studio renovation, the farm classes. I decided to let it all go back to whatever it wanted to be. I just couldn't do it all. Not enough time in the day and I had lost interest and went onto other things. Guilt? Maybe a tad bit but I got over it quickly. When I saw this lone allium poking its head up amongst the overgrown grass....

 

.....I thought back to what I had built and then let go. It's okay I decided some time ago. Sometimes you just have to let go, not feel the pressure to keep it all going. And that's where I am today.... doing what I can, not having it all perfect. (Let's just say far from perfect!) I have been reading and enjoying a book by Joan Dye Gussow called Growing, Older. Heard about her via and article in the NYT a bit ago. Check it out along with her other classic This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Gardener which I have on my to read list for this summer. My mom is reading Gardening for a Lifetime by Sydney Eddison, another book I want to read when I'm not outside this summer. My friend Gwen alerted me to it and Mom is loving it. 

Short week everyone - make it a good one!

Greek Lamburgers for the Memorial Day Holiday

First off, don't forget to sign up for the May Giveaway here. Memorial Day is approaching.... Let's just say right upon us. We did the Amherst Common Farmers Market on Saturday and had a great time sharing our lamb and recipes with many, many customers old and new. The market was jammed. At the same time, the Massachusetts Sheep and Wool Festival was going on (still is) up in Cummington. I'm hoping they are having a great time.

In the U.S., it seems most families turn to the grill on May 31st (or the appointed Monday Memorial Day Holiday) for burgers, dogs, and steaks. Shake up your guests' choices (or just your very own tastebuds) with Greek Spiced Lamburgers. Yummy! Really yummy. I was cooking these things at 9 a.m. and couldn't wait til noon so I could eat one!

Greek Flavored Burgers

1 pound ground lamb
1/4 cup parsley
1/4 cup mint
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried oregano
fresh ground pepper

Place the parsley, mint, and garlic in a food processor and chop until fine. Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Form into 4 patties. 

 

Grill. 

Serve with red onions, feta cheese, and black olive tapenade topped with the yogurt sauce below on pita bread or a bun as shown.

Yogurt Sauce:

1 cup (8 oz) yogurt - preferably Greek
1 small cucumber - peeled, seeded and finely diced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon dried dill or fresh if available
1 minced garlic clove (for garlic lovers)

Note: Raw garlic adds a real bite (good or bad? depending on your taste)

Peel cuke and cut lengthwise in half. Scoop out seeds. Salt and let sit for 1/2 hour. Rinse salt off. Chop into small pieces about 1/4" in pieces. Combine all ingredients in bowl and let sit. Serve with burger as a sauce.

Oh boy is this yogurt sauce delicious! Understatement. I've doused it on chicken and lamb and used it as salad dressing on greens. Astoundingly good. I leave out the garlic even though I am one of the biggest garlic fans on this planet. I like the freshness of the cukes, lemons, and dill just plain.

My burger buns came from 7 South Bakery (our good friends - the bakers Kay and Michael). Find a similar recipe you can make and bake here on the Epicurious website if you have the energy. Me, I'll just use theirs. 

5 Year Blogiversary May Giveaway! Deadline May 31st, 2011

I'm in a bit of a knitting funk...... How bout you? The weather should be warm, the garden should be planted, but the rain hampered everything. My garden is crying out for attention, not to mention the sunflower field that is underwater and who knows when will be dry enough to plant. It just seems that this time of year, I'd much rather be outside that chained to some needles. I suppose in the hotter parts of the U.S. where you have to spend the summers inside in air conditioning, knitting production for some of you may increase?  At any rate, I do what needs to be done and fit in the rest of the stuff around it. 

Last year at this time, we were just beginning our studio renovation project! Boy am I glad that isn't happening this year. It's great to be able to use the porch every meal and look out upon the lambs and chickens doing what they do. Looking forward to the first "Getting Stitched on the Farm" Class at the end of July. Full class - very exciting! I still have five spots left in the Sept 10-11 class and one space available for the Oct 1-2. Check it out here.

Explore the Farm Class Website HERE.

I'm a couple of months into my 5th year of blogging. When I thought about this back in March, I asked some good friends of mine for some gifts for all of you to help promote them also. I was so overwhelmed by the generosity and ran many giveaways. But then I tired of it because I felt so many people who entered were just there for the chance of winning some yarn or books. I decided to hold back some of the prizes for later so that I would be able to offer them to all of you who stick around month in and month out. And these prizes are GREAT!

I've got today's giveaway and a second one coming up in June. Here's what we have for you today! Courtesy of Kathy Elkins (Co-Owner and Podcaster extraordinaire) and the fine folks at Webs in nearby Northampton, my next winner will receive 13 skeins of their Valley Yarns Superwash DK in a lovely basil color. 

Along with the yarn, the next winner will receive matching circular and straight needles to knit this gorgeous yarn with and a handy dandy Webs tape measure. 

From my friends at Sixth and Spring who publish beautiful knitting books (they are the publisher of my latest book Color By Kristin) I'm thrilled to include some of their newest, highly sought after titles including 

1. Knitopedia, a book that was at least 5 years in the making. It is a must for every knitter's shelf.

2. Rosemary Drysdale's Entrelac. This book is so popular that it went immediately back to print. I got to see some of the samples from it when I was at Webs one afternoon when Rosemary was teaching. What you can learn to knit from it is amazing!

3. Susan Levin's ColorSense. This book is a great tool for all of you who feel color challenged.

 

And lastly, I've got some of my Best Foot Forward self-striping sock yarn donated by the fine folks at Westminster Fibers, producers of the yarn. You'll get 5 different balls of yarn - each ball will make 1 pair of adult socks! Wow.

Here's how you enter. Answer the following question and leave the answer in the Comments section of this blog?

Does your knitting, crocheting or crafting increase or decrease in the summer months? What craft or hobby do you like to do best during the summer?

U.S. Addresses only and PLEASE leave an easy way to get a hold of you! 

Contest ends Midnight of May 31st. Good luck everyone!

Pink Petal Carpet and a Bunny Visit

I've just packed Kimberly Nicado Reynolds, XRX's and Stitches' Markets' Social Media Director, into her rental car and pushed her down the road to visit Melissa Morgan-Oakes chicken farm which is one town from here. From sheep to chickens..... she's seeing it all here in western Massachusetts along with a bit of yarn. Follow her adventures here.

It's been raining for days but last night the sun finally broke through. I'm going to spend a good part of the day moving chicken manure to my garden which is still a ways from planting considering the water we have gotten. It is nothing compared to others, I know.... but it is wearing on us farmers up here and I can only imagine the crops and animals which have been lost in the midwest. My thoughts are with you all. 

The blooming of every kind of shrub has been cut short. The other day I was out in the rain and noticed a pink carpet under the ornamental crab apple tree. Beautiful petals and color gone for another year. 

And then this happened.... How incredible - a growing lamb walking across a pink petal carpet. I couldn't stop thinking about it. 

The rain came and I knew I wouldn't have much photo opp but I kept waiting for it to break. Although these aren't quite as I envisioned the photos in my mind, they are pretty surreal. I'm so used to seeing sheep set amongst green or brown or tan.

 To see them on a pink carpet was quite fun.

Chihuly in Boston at the MFA

One advantage of taking Julia to the doctor in Boston frequently is that sometimes we can fit in some shopping, eating, or visits to the great culture that is to be found in Boston. Last week, we went to the MFA to see the Chihuly Exhibit. That's my niece Olivia's glass orbs in front of the postcard below.

If you have the chance 

 

to visit it this summer.....

 

Go! I loved the textile references.

It is spectacular!

Huge and over the top!

 

How do they do it? Can you imagine crating and shipping all this glass? It blows my mind. Absolutely fabulous. You can see some great videos about the making of the exhibit including how they built this green glass tower here on the MFA's website. Go! You won't be sorry.

The Color has Returned

After a long, cold, snowy winter, the colors have returned to the farm! I'm loving it. Sweet little violets....

and dandelions - the sign of healthy soil......

 

The cats are always curious when I am lying on the ground... as Tommie was the other day. Man, what the heck is she doing now?

Leyden Glen Lamb will be...

at the Amherst Farmers Market from 7:30 to 1:30 Saturday the 21st of May. Come visit us and all the Mt. Holyoke, Amherst, and Hampshire College Grads.

Homemade Pita Bread and Lamb Koftas with Yogurt Sauce

For many years I worked in Lowell, Massachusetts where there was a thriving Greek community. Pat Chew, the woman who owned Classic Elite Yarns and for whom I worked for 16 years, was a great cook. Pat loved to eat and entertain more than anyone I knew. Frequently, she would throw some kind of party over the weekend at her beach house which she naturally overcooked for. I would get a call from her on Monday morning.... "Tell everyone not to eat. I'm bringing some leftover leg of lamb and salad. I'm stopping by Joseph's to pick up some fresh pita." You can't imagine how many times I heard the same speech. Pat would arrive, the pita bread still warm and we would all dig in. It was one of those perks of the job.

Fresh pita bread is an amazing thing. It is soft and pliable and oh, so delicious. I got so spoiled. If pita bread is more than a day old, it just isn't that great. Since I have moved to the western part of the state, I no longer have the opportunity to buy fresh pita. It sits on the grocery shelves for days and by the time I bring it home, it is like a piece of cardboard. It seems like every time I need pita for a recipe, it isn't available at my grocery store. Like the other day....

I was in need of pita for my newest recipe and it was not to be found. I dug out my Baking with Julia to see if the master had a recipe for it. And of course, Julia and Dorie did. I've been doing a lot of bread baking this winter and have conquered my fear of yeast. I was skeptical to say the least but I followed the instructions to the letter, doubting myself the entire way. After the proper rise, I split the dough in half, rolled it into 8 balls and then used my rolling pin to flatten it. My oven was pre-heated to 450 with a pizza stone in it. I spritzed the top of each pita with water, put two on the stone, shut the oven and crossed my fingers. Five minutes later I had the most amazing puffy little loaves of pita! Wow - it made my day! FYI - Smitten Kitchen has a homemade pita bread recipe here. Give it a try if you feel adventurous.

So now on to my next lamb recipe.... Lamb Koftas with Yogurt Sauce! A kofta is a small spiced meatball made from ground meat. You can use any ground meat (turkey, beef, chicken or even fish) but traditionally in the Middle East koftas are made from lamb. I first found this recipe in our local Greenfield Recorder via the Associated Press. It is quick and easy to make and you can prepare everything ahead of time, pulling together a meal in minutes. (That is assuming you don't have to make your own pita bread!) Lamb koftas are different take on traditional burgers making them fun for a barbeque where you want to introduce your friends to the flavor of lamb. 

The yogurt sauce is so good you’ll just want to drink it or use it as a salad dressing. This recipe is the closest I have found to replicating the taste of a lamb gyro although it is much friendlier for the home cook. It is not necessary to grill the koftas - they taste just as good baked or broiled. This recipe serves 4. The koftas could also be shaped into mini-meatballs, baked, and served as a appetizer with the yogurt dipping sauce on the side. Feel free to vary the spices depending on your likes. 

For Koftas
1 pound ground lamb
1 small onion, chopped
2 pieces bread - preferably crusty white bread torn into pieces (or 1/2 cup unseasoned bread crumbs)
1/2 cup parsley
1/4 cup mint
2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon each cumin, cinnamon, ginger, and salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 Tablespoon red curry paste (optional but a nice addition, find it in the Chinese food aisle)
1 large egg

For sandwich:
4 large pita breads
2 tomatoes chopped into small dice
lettuce leaves, torn

For Yogurt Sauce:
1 cup (8 oz) yogurt - preferably Greek
1 small cucumber - peeled, seeded and finely diced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon dried dill or fresh if available
1 minced garlic clove (for garlic lovers)

Place bread in food processor and pulse until it forms a fine crumb. (Alternately, use 1/2 cup bread crumbs.) Add onion, parsley, mint, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper and pulse until mixed and finely chopped. Beat the egg in a separate large bowl.  Add the ground lamb and the bread, onion and herb mixture to the egg and mix well with your hands.

Shape into oblong balls (resembling small sausages using about 2 Tablespoons/kofta) and place in refrigerator for 1/2 hour if you have time. (The chilling will help to keep the koftas together when grilling.)

 

Bake, broil or grill depending on your preferences.

Yogurt Sauce: Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and let sit to combine the flavors. Serve it chilled.

To assemble: Insert three koftas into a piece of pita bread. Top with chopped tomatoes and lettuce. Drizzle with the Yogurt Sauce.

Flowering in the Rain

The rain can't stop the blooming. Our orchard is loaded with blooming apple trees. It is cold and rainy and I'm not sure the bees are working as hard as usual. It is too darn chilly but at least there isn't snow! The gray days are dragging on but everywhere I look, there is beautiful, cheerful color! Love this.....

time of.....

year....

at.....

the..... 

farm!

Busy Busy Farming, Cooking, and Photographing

Things are humming around here as always. It just seems that they are really gearing up as fast as the grass is growing. As our lamb biz has begun to grow (aka take over my life), I've had to put my latent sales and market hat back on - this time for lamb meat, not yarn. It's always about the sheep here - whether caring for, cooking with or knitting with wool. This Farmers Market season, we have been guest vendors at the Amherst Common Saturday Market a few times. 

We are notified on Friday morning and show up on Saturday. It's short notice but we jump at the chance every time we get invited. The Amherst Common Farmers Market is in its 39th year and there is a dedicated following of customers. It is actually great fun meating (OMG, did I just type that?) adventurous cooks and eaters who love supporting local farmers. I love sharing our healthy, farm-raised lamb with them. 

We have been next to Little Pond Farm who sells cut flowers and Side Hill Farm, the local cow milk dairy and yogurt company. Good company, for sure. Olympia, the paper mache life size sheep, goes with us and she makes the display colorful.  There are lots of wonderful farms represented and it is a fabulous place to be. If you are interested in knowing when we are there, check our LEYDEN GLEN LAMB FACEBOOK PAGE. I update it with our schedule every week. Or just "like us" if you aren't local for fun.

Each week, I work on a new lamb recipe. This has been a challenge because I also have been trying to photograph them. Unlike yarn, food ages quickly and I'm trying to make it appealing. I am always up for a challenge though so it is a fun one. That said, I've been reading a few food blogs and discovered "food photography blogs" too! I did find a new book by Helene Dujardin called Plate to Pixel. It is easy to understand and if you are interested in improving your blog photos (whether they be food or YARN and KNITTING related) buy this book! It will really improve your photography - if that is a goal of yours!

The food blogging world is a bit different than the knitting world. For goodness sakes - there are food blogging conferences all over the place, including on-line. Although this will not become a food blog, I do expect to bring those bits of my life into it. And so on that note, here's a snap of the scene out our door yesterday in between the torrential downpours. 

The front lamb is one of our little bottle lambs named Lacey who is still tame and friendly, even after being out on pasture for over a month now. Very sweet. 

Most of the lambs head away from me when I enter the field. It ends up that I get a lot of sheep backsides!

Thanks to Food News Journal for including my post on Mahboubeh, Persian Tulips and Lamb and Rhubarb Stew on their site on Monday! Off to help move some sheep.

Ten Things......

Not to say at a Farmers Market via The Chicago Tribune via Food News Journal.

Our rhubarb is growing and I'm about to go into a rhubarb frenzy. Tell me - how did the bugs get the leaves already!

Love this time of year! All that voluptuousness....

A Farm Dog's Life

I cannot imagine living my life here on this sheep farm without having a Border Collie or two. Currently, the dogs of Leyden Glen Farm are Phoebe (front - 11 years) and Nessie (back - 6 years). 

Our dogs work hard but they genuinely love their work and live to work. There is nothing like the joy in watching a farm dog do their rounds. They joyfully accompany whoever is outside in sun, rain, snow and sleet. Nothing bothers them. As we walk around, I watch them - making sure everything is in its place.... that everything is right with the farm.

 

A great day for our Collies is going out for a walk with one of their people, checking out the stock, and generally living life. There are doggie special spots to each of the fields and woods we travel, places where they can get into a bit of mischief and mud, like the little sheep watering hole.

And then, when Mom isn't quite looking, there is the perfect way to top off each day if you are a farm dog.

 

 

 

A good roll in the manure..... Aaahhhh - you didn't see that did you Mom?

"Boy, was that ever great!"

 

Sheep Art at The Fosse Gallery now until May 31st

If I had the chance to visit the UK in the next month, I would make a special trip to The Fosse Gallery in  Gloucestershire. There is a special exhibit called Rams, Lambs, Tups, and Ewes and it looks fabulous. If you are like me and can't get there, make sure you check out the entire show on their beautiful website. I can dream, so can you! Have a look!

Ursula McCannell ARCA WICA - Wooley with Maisie and Tom