Farm Meats, Charcuterie, Cold Storage, Hunting

I placed an order for pig this wk, just in time for the fall rush to get GOOD QUALITY meat in the freezer.
We ordered from Country Quality Meats, a shop just by Bon Accord that my farmer, Nelson of Rose Ridge Land and Cattle, does all his beef through (the BEST all beef pepperoni! I slice it real thin and put it on top of pizza to crisp up. YUM!)
The service there is great and since I've already tasted their work through Nelson's products I know what I'm getting.

The bags and bags and BAGS of rescued apples that currently fill my freezer are being turned into applesauce this wknd. With the crabs being used for crabapple jelly and rose hip jelly (still need apple to set the jelly, naturally anyways)

Meaning, rm in my freezer! Unfortuately, it won't last long. I still have farm chickens that we butchered this summer in my mom's freezer and my sister is taking the cow to butcher this wknd, meaning Octoberish I'll need to make more rm. Plus, my 2/3 of a hog.

Eep! I need another freezer...

Anyways, I'm currently devouring "Charcuterie" by Ruhlman and Polcyn (got my order from Chapters in the mail today!). I really really REALLY want to make homemade kielbasa for a family holiday this yr!
Maybe if I really get my act together I can do some for Thanksgiving... But a more realistic goal would be Christmas.
Especially since my mother's coldrm should be reaching a good temp now... I want to try my hand at aged cheese. I have succeeded in doing fresh cheese, but to be able to serve my own cheddar with homemade sausage and preserves and home-dried local fruits... wouldn't that just be amazing?
Well, I think so!

And it's decided that we're going to rearrange our rental townhouse basement --
(yes, they really don't care what we do to the place as long as it's in one piece and adds to the "value" of the house. they've stopped putting money into them because in 10-15-20yrs they'll be torn down to make way for an LRT line)
-- so Zac's tools and workbench will be where my photography studio (portable studio) is and then we're going to put in a modest coldrm with an even more modest "curing closet" on the side.
I need just enough space to hold potatoes, jars of preserves, etc in the coldroom. And then a closet big enough to hang a rack of charcuterie and a shelf for cheeses. With room for a coldair humidifier, temp and humidty gauges, cuz i'm a big novice and super nervous about messing something up O_o *eep!*

I'm so excited for everything it's hard to keep it all in! :D


I renewed my WIN card today too. Online. It was sweet!
I've been nagging my man (that would be the elusive Zac) to get his firearms licesense and go out with the guys or my sister hunting, and he took the firearms course, and then didn't do his paperwork. That was 2 summers ago.
So, I made the decision that I would start hunting. I'm already willing to clean and butcher it all myself (even though the biggest thing I've ever cleaned and butchered is a chicken), why not hunt it myself too?
Alberta Hunter Education offers a course online (you'd have to take the test in person... somewhere. probably a library. that's where I'll have to take my FoodSafety Course final, when I'm finished the online modules that is), so I would probably do that and then phone up one of the 1/2dz firearms instructors in my hometown area and do that one day/wknd.

So, next fall. I'm hoping to be ready for next fall. *fingers crossed*

Day at the Acreage

Today, being the day after Londyn's FIRST BIRTHDAY!, we went out to Grannie and Papa's at the last minute to do some gardening and food-stuffs.

We picked blueberries at Kathy's farm (my mom's friend. my mom being Grannie :) ). My sister Kristy and her son and our Aunt and Baba and Gido (Grandma and Grandpa for non-ukrainian types) came too for the last haul of the season.
Kristy brought up a couple BIG bags of corn from her trip to southern alberta earlier this wknd and Grannie and I made MY FAVORITE! corn relish and then frozen the rest of the blanched kernals.
From the apples Zac's grandma gave us and the sweet yellow plums from our friend Vala we made apple-plum sauce. Canned that for my little Londyn. She LOVES! applesauce :D

Now we're going through the process of doing a pig order for the fall through Country Quality Meats (Bon Accord). My good friend Nelson of Rose Ridge Land and Cattle gets his beef done there as well as all the smokies and jerky and sausages (and now weiners too! very good on the bbq :) ). He gave them a glowing revue and the pork that goes into his mixed meat sausages comes from the farmer's they deal with. All his products are BEYOND! excellent, so there's no reason to doubt the quality of the meats :)

I'm taking him a jar of my FAVORITE! corn relish for his sound advice :)

The Garden is Up and Growing!

Spinach up, check.
Lettuce up, check.
Beans up, check.
Peas up, check.
Carrots up, check. (though some silly person ended up planting them all in a clump...i still dont know how that happened...)
Beets up, check.
Onions up, check.
Potatoes up, check.
Tomatoes planted and making fruit, check!

YAY! by the end of July I should be able to start getting a nice little haul out of my garden plot.

There was thunderstorms and big fat raindrops and a little bit of hail yesterday evening... my spinach has thus been pinned to the dirt and the lettuce looks a little beaten, but I see a full recovery in their future. The rest of the garden was none the worse for wear this morning.

Here's some pics of my upcoming bounty :)

Almost ready to eat!

The fat raindrops and a touch of hail flattened my spinach... but it'll recover.

Mmmmmmm... peas :)

Tops of the onions growing high to the sunshine! And some wicked tall (in need of larger hills...) potatoes in the background.

Fresh beans are one of my favorite summer treats!


My sister Kristy and our aunt attended the Summer Mushroom course last weekend. Ate puffballs and whatnot :) We'd all like to take the Fall course as well, but it wasn't on the list yet when we were registering and now it's all full up... next year maybe...

Nelson of Rose Ridge Land and Cattle is attending a Market at the Edmonton Garrison tomorrow. Londyn and I will make a stop there to sample some wares on our way out to see my parents for the long weekend. Mmmmmmm, farmer's market goodies...

- DJK

Mushrooms and RoseRidge on Global!

Had the mycology course at the Devonian Gardens a couple weeks ago (yes, I'm behind on my blogging) and it was quite informative (as all courses should be).
We learned how to use our books to id mushrooms, which species are mostly likely to be edible and which ones in our area which can be easily identified by viewable physical characteristics only.

REMEMBER! Only consume a mushroom when ALL the characteristics match! very important.

One of the biggest things I learned was the "Brown Tops" that we collect out at the farm when spring is wet and hot (above 20C for more than a couple days with lots of moisture) aren't Brown Morels. They're Verpas. Which are similar to morels, in look and taste, and yes, are a tasty edible mushroom :)

Mike, our instructor, teaches a Spring Summer and Fall course every year and they ALWAYS fill up. If you're interested in forging, be sure to sign up fast! It's definitely worth it :)

In local news, Nelson Boychuck of Rose Ridge Land and Cattle (link on right hand side) was in an "Eating Local" segment on Global News Edmonton this evening.
I'm so proud of him!!! Of course, now my -not so secret- supplier of great local beef and grains and eggs, etc has been let loose on the world!
But I know he can handle it ;)

Way ta-go Nelson!

Thoughts of Spring Run Through My Head...

Let's start with a link from Canadian Living website on...
Wild Edibles in Canada

If you're a mushroom fan, like my family :), then you better sign up with the Devonian Gardens just south of Edmonton for one (or BOTH!) of their mushroom courses.
Mike Schulz is hosting a Spring Mushrooms May 28th, and a Summer Mushrooms June 25th. Both are already starting to fill up!

We moved to a new townhouse this fall, with our baby girl Londyn. This one has enough green space that I can have a garden! yay!!
I've already started planning what I want to grow (peppers, tomatoes, herbs, strawberries, onions, garlic, beans, radishes, turnips, lettuce, potatoes, corn, squash, pumpkin, beets... ) and how to build my planters.
Not everything will go in ground planters, some I'm planning for pots. My herbs I want to do in pots on a stand that I can move inside during winter so I can have them all year round. I even have a spot picked out in the living room for it :)

If you've read any previous posts you know that we're using cloth diapers. It's so easy I don't know why more people don't use them. As long as you have a washer and dryer at your disposal (we do a small load a day) then you save SO much $$$$$!
I decided to use Mother-Ease diapers. It's a Canadian company that is owned and manufactured out of Ontario. The styles and colours are great and I haven't had any problems with them leaking. Londyn is now just over 4months old.

Nelson and Maria at Rose Ridge Land and Cattle have invited us out for coffee and a tour of the farm this spring, right when all the calves are running around and Londyn will be old enough to be excited about it. She already loves to "pet" our kitten, Miss Harley Quinn. By the time we're out at the farm she'll be 7 or 8 months old and ready to explore, in her own special way from Daddy's arms lol

And that's all for now, as I watch more snow fall upon Edmonton, adding to the pile we got last week. I hope that means lots of moisture for the fields this spring... :)

Farmer's Market Season!

Zachary and I went to our first farmer's market of the year last week. We usually go to the Beverly Market (118ave 40st) on Tuesday evening and then hit up the Baseline and Festival Place Markets (Sherwood Park) on Wednesday.
They all share a couple of common vendors, Beverly is the smallest of the 3 and Festival Place is definitely the largest and most crowded.

One of our favorite farmers, Nelson of Rose Ridge Land and Cattle, is at the Beverly Market and Baseline Market. We try to stop by and say hi and chit-chat at least once a week. He has the BEST smokies and he offers a variety of beef products as well as grains. They even mill their own flour on the farm :)

I enjoy stopping to chat with Nelson, not only because he's a Thorhild native like myself, but also because he is VERY aware of living a local lifestyle. Most of his business comes from people who support local farmers and in these "hard economic" times I'm amazed that he says business is booming more than ever right now!
Why is that strange?
It costs more, up front, to live a local lifestyle. You buy a whole beef in the spring to be delivered in the fall and that's the beef you have all year. Our purchase from Nelson last year was $2.90/lb (if i remember correctly) coming to a a total of just over $1600.
You have to purchase/grow all your fruits, berries and veggies in the summer and then can, freeze, dry, etc to have all year round.

It's a lot more work and cash in the spring and summer months.
But it really does save money and effort during the rest of the year, as long as you plan to continue the rotation and SAVE up the money to make your big purchases.

Kristy (my oldest sister and fellow poster on this blog :) ) is raising chickens this year. You have to go out every morning and water and feed them, and then either pay to take them to a butcher or do it yourself.
Our Baba and Gido (Grandma and Grandpa for non-Ukrainians) used to have chickens every summer and I remember us all getting together to butcher, pluck, clean and freeze probably 100 chickens every fall. We would all help, the younger kids chasing the chickens, Baba boiling them to loosen the feathers, Uncles plucking them on the wheelie machine (it was quite the contraption), Aunts pin-feathering, singeing, cutting off the feet, and then cleaning the inners out (gross, but necessary).
Yes, it was quite the family bonding experience :)

And now Kristy is continuing the tradition. Teaching her son, and my child one day as well, where our food comes from and how to prepare it for storage. And then, of course, how to COOK IT! :D lol