Last year was a blur. I don't remember many of the insignificant happenings, maybe because my life seemed to be overpowered with death and sadness. I attended too many funerals. Shed too many tears. Sat in too many waiting rooms, waiting for bad news to filter through the white noise to my conscience.
Among the most devastating events was the passing of my father. I still can't bring myself to listen to the last voice mail message I have saved on my phone from him. There are many weekends when I feel like I am forgetting to do something, forgetting to head to the nursing home or pick up supplies he has requested over the phone. I constantly experience moments of guilt because I haven't visited, and then I remember, he's not there. He doesn't need my help, or a new Spring wreath for his room anymore. I have carried this with me since August 11th. The guilt and sadness have festered deep in my soul and dragged me down into my darkest depths. My limbs have felt dead some days, limp and numb.
Shortly after my father passed I had to make one of the hardest decisions, to put down our first dog. He had been with us since a pup. Twelve years. Pre-kids. He owned a piece of my heart that I will never get back. I still cry when I think about him. The way he used to melt my stress away by tucking himself behind the crook of my knees when I was lying on the couch after a long day. Or the way he would tilt his head and reach his giraffe size tongue onto the dinner table hoping to catch the small crumb that had been dropped by the kids. I still have his collar in the front seat of my car. My kids have asked if they can remove it, and I tell them it's there so that he is always with me, home or away.
I have often heard the expression, "time heals the heart". My heart is healing and my days are becoming lighter. I look back now and realize that I missed many of the small things life had to offer last year. Things that should be appreciated but are often overlooked when life becomes a burden. Wandering through my garden pulling weeds. Walking the dog. Watching the birds. Today was a gift. Seventy-five degrees on March 9th doesn't happen too often in New England. So I enjoyed every insignificant moment today with it's sunshine and warmth. After work, I found my garden clippers and pruned our peach tree. A job that I overlooked last year in my blur. I clipped off all the dead and weak limbs on our peach so that hopefully it will flourish in the months to come.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Maple Season
The light lingers now, allowing for a trudge through the woods tonight to collect the sap from the buckets. The snow is still deep, despite the fact that we haven't had any fresh storms in about a week and a half and the temps have climbed into the mid 40's the last few days. The snow is packed on the trail but occasionally my rubber muck boots will sink into 2 1/2 feet of snow making it slow and arduous to get from run to run. It's a good workout.
Maple season marks the beginning of spring on Bolduc Farms. Winter's grip has loosened and the sun's rays warm the trees and thaw the stream bed. We still have a ways to go but it's a start. This weekend will hopefully be the first of several boiling weekends. All the hard work and collecting during the week will pay off with a light golden syrup, usually the sweetest and lightest batch of the season. We are hoping for a good yield this year, but with the late start, the seasoned veterans have already warned of a short run this year. If we can get between 3 and 5 gallons for the farm we will be doing good. Thank goodness syrup isn't our bread and butter.
Maple season marks the beginning of spring on Bolduc Farms. Winter's grip has loosened and the sun's rays warm the trees and thaw the stream bed. We still have a ways to go but it's a start. This weekend will hopefully be the first of several boiling weekends. All the hard work and collecting during the week will pay off with a light golden syrup, usually the sweetest and lightest batch of the season. We are hoping for a good yield this year, but with the late start, the seasoned veterans have already warned of a short run this year. If we can get between 3 and 5 gallons for the farm we will be doing good. Thank goodness syrup isn't our bread and butter.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
DIRT
It's the end of April and this month has proven to be a slow start to Spring. The last piles of snow are finally gone and our vernal stream bubbles along through the normally dry creek bed adorned by blooming red Trilliums and Round-Lobed Hepatica. The days are getting longer allowing for more time puttering in the garden beds after work. I walk my yard every evening serenaded by tree frogs and barred owls calling to each other deep in the woods. It's a time of renewal, for the sleeping soil and for my soul. Digging in the dirt is the best therapy.
This year Bolduc Farms is adding a few new crops, incorporating 2 varieties of hops and 2 varieties of strawberries. I invested in 25 bare root strawberry plants and converted one of the existing vegetable beds into a strawberry and herb garden. I plan on mixing perennial and annual herbs in with our 2 varieties of berries. Centennial and Cascade hops, both cold hardy species for the Northeast, will grace the Southern side of the house where we will build a permanent trellis once we are sure they have taken hold. After they are established we hope that the vines will produce enough hops for us to use for home brewing.
The 2nd weekend in April the sun finally warmed the soil enough to thaw out the last of the permafrost and I was able to turn over the raised beds and pull up the carrots and parsnips that had wintered over. The Snap and Snow peas are poking through the ground this week, their wrinkled lime green tops polka dotting the 4 foot rows. If the weather cooperates I'll put my leeks and fennel outside to start to acclimate them to the cool temps before I plant them in the ground. It's been a slow start but it's New England and when you live in New Hampshire you get used to dealing with whatever Mother Nature decides to throw your way. Based on April, I won't plant my warm weather vegetables until Memorial day or after and will hope that we have an extended growing season to make up for the cool early spring temperatures that have lingered entering May 1st.
This year Bolduc Farms is adding a few new crops, incorporating 2 varieties of hops and 2 varieties of strawberries. I invested in 25 bare root strawberry plants and converted one of the existing vegetable beds into a strawberry and herb garden. I plan on mixing perennial and annual herbs in with our 2 varieties of berries. Centennial and Cascade hops, both cold hardy species for the Northeast, will grace the Southern side of the house where we will build a permanent trellis once we are sure they have taken hold. After they are established we hope that the vines will produce enough hops for us to use for home brewing.
The 2nd weekend in April the sun finally warmed the soil enough to thaw out the last of the permafrost and I was able to turn over the raised beds and pull up the carrots and parsnips that had wintered over. The Snap and Snow peas are poking through the ground this week, their wrinkled lime green tops polka dotting the 4 foot rows. If the weather cooperates I'll put my leeks and fennel outside to start to acclimate them to the cool temps before I plant them in the ground. It's been a slow start but it's New England and when you live in New Hampshire you get used to dealing with whatever Mother Nature decides to throw your way. Based on April, I won't plant my warm weather vegetables until Memorial day or after and will hope that we have an extended growing season to make up for the cool early spring temperatures that have lingered entering May 1st.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Bread - For the Mind and Body
There is nothing more satisfying to me than making my own bread. I can't fully explain the reason why this is, only that making bread grounds me. Perhaps it is the fact that it is a full day process and it slows me down enough to appreciate all the small pleasures in life.
Three years ago I made my first trip up to Norwich VT to visit the King Arthur Baking Co and take a bread making class. Not only did I fall in love with the idea of making my own bread, I fell in love with the process. Bread making is a learned craft, the ingredients are simple, the process is complex. Flour, water, salt, yeast. Mix them together over the course of 18 hours and the outcome is a rustic looking boule with a chewy, flavorful crust and a soft body with medium to large air pockets to sink your butter and jam into. I acutally prefer my bread the day after it is baked, it has a more robust flavor and a denser texture opposed to when it first comes out of the oven and cools.
Sunday is bread making day. My standby recipe makes two large loaves of bread. If we don't give one to the neighbors or family, two loaves will last us until Friday, just in time to start the process over on Saturday night.
Basic Artisan Bread
Poolish - mix the night before
3 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
2 1/4 cup warm water
1/8 teaspoon of yeast
Mix the ingredients together in a large bowl and cover with celophane. The mixture should look like a thick pudding consistancy.
Dough - mix approx 12-15 hours after mixing the poolish
3 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1 1/4 cup warm water
1 TBLS + 1 tsp Sea Salt
3/4 tsp yeast
all your poolish you mixed the night before
Combine the flour, warm water, sea salt and yeast with the poolish and mix together by hand until ingredients are all incorporated and your dough looks shaggy. Cover and set your timer for 20 minutes. When your timer goes off, uncover the dough and give it a few folds. (Folds = taking the top edge of the dough and folding it up and over the bottom half) I fold my bread right in the bowl. If your bowl isn't big enough you will need to take it out and fold it on the counter and then gently place it back in the bowl so that it can rest another 20 minutes. Repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 sets of folds in the first hour after mixing your final dough. By now your dough should have some form and structure. If pressed lightly with your finger it should bounce back slightly.
Let your dough rise in a warm room for 2 hours or until doubled in size.
Shaping and Proofing your Bread
After letting your dough rise for 2 hours, gently scrape it out onto a floured surface and divide in half. The dough will be sticky so dust the top lightly with flour before dividing it with a bench scraper or sharp knife.
Gently fold the dough like a letter until you have a square, then fold the 4 corners into the center. Flip the dough over and cup the sides with your hand gently forming it into a round ball. Place the dough in a small colunder or basket lined with a floured towel and cover (seams should be facing down in the basket).
Proof for 1 hour. Set your timer for 15 minutes and then start warming your oven.
You'll want to bake your bread in a bread cloche or dutch oven with a cover. If you have neither then you can use a pizza stone. Place your baking surface (cover as well if using a cloche or dutch oven) in your oven and set to 450 degrees. Heat for 45 minutes before baking your bread.
After you have proofed your bread it will be ready to bake. If you are baking your loaves seperately then place the 2nd loaf in the fridge 20 minutes prior to putting the first loaf into the oven. This way the 2nd loaf won't be over proofed by the time you go to bake it.
Carefully uncover your bread cloche or dutch over. Gently roll the shaped loaf into your hands so that the seams are facing up. Place in the cloche or dutch oven and place the cover over the bread. Bake for 30 minutes then remove the cover and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until browned to your liking.
Three years ago I made my first trip up to Norwich VT to visit the King Arthur Baking Co and take a bread making class. Not only did I fall in love with the idea of making my own bread, I fell in love with the process. Bread making is a learned craft, the ingredients are simple, the process is complex. Flour, water, salt, yeast. Mix them together over the course of 18 hours and the outcome is a rustic looking boule with a chewy, flavorful crust and a soft body with medium to large air pockets to sink your butter and jam into. I acutally prefer my bread the day after it is baked, it has a more robust flavor and a denser texture opposed to when it first comes out of the oven and cools.
Sunday is bread making day. My standby recipe makes two large loaves of bread. If we don't give one to the neighbors or family, two loaves will last us until Friday, just in time to start the process over on Saturday night.
Basic Artisan Bread
Poolish - mix the night before
3 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
2 1/4 cup warm water
1/8 teaspoon of yeast
Mix the ingredients together in a large bowl and cover with celophane. The mixture should look like a thick pudding consistancy.
Dough - mix approx 12-15 hours after mixing the poolish
3 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1 1/4 cup warm water
1 TBLS + 1 tsp Sea Salt
3/4 tsp yeast
all your poolish you mixed the night before
Combine the flour, warm water, sea salt and yeast with the poolish and mix together by hand until ingredients are all incorporated and your dough looks shaggy. Cover and set your timer for 20 minutes. When your timer goes off, uncover the dough and give it a few folds. (Folds = taking the top edge of the dough and folding it up and over the bottom half) I fold my bread right in the bowl. If your bowl isn't big enough you will need to take it out and fold it on the counter and then gently place it back in the bowl so that it can rest another 20 minutes. Repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 sets of folds in the first hour after mixing your final dough. By now your dough should have some form and structure. If pressed lightly with your finger it should bounce back slightly.
Let your dough rise in a warm room for 2 hours or until doubled in size.
Shaping and Proofing your Bread
After letting your dough rise for 2 hours, gently scrape it out onto a floured surface and divide in half. The dough will be sticky so dust the top lightly with flour before dividing it with a bench scraper or sharp knife.
Gently fold the dough like a letter until you have a square, then fold the 4 corners into the center. Flip the dough over and cup the sides with your hand gently forming it into a round ball. Place the dough in a small colunder or basket lined with a floured towel and cover (seams should be facing down in the basket).
Proof for 1 hour. Set your timer for 15 minutes and then start warming your oven.
You'll want to bake your bread in a bread cloche or dutch oven with a cover. If you have neither then you can use a pizza stone. Place your baking surface (cover as well if using a cloche or dutch oven) in your oven and set to 450 degrees. Heat for 45 minutes before baking your bread.
After you have proofed your bread it will be ready to bake. If you are baking your loaves seperately then place the 2nd loaf in the fridge 20 minutes prior to putting the first loaf into the oven. This way the 2nd loaf won't be over proofed by the time you go to bake it.
Carefully uncover your bread cloche or dutch over. Gently roll the shaped loaf into your hands so that the seams are facing up. Place in the cloche or dutch oven and place the cover over the bread. Bake for 30 minutes then remove the cover and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until browned to your liking.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
The Beginning.....
As some of you know, or don't, I have always wanted to be a farmer. I have no explanation for this other than there may be some repressed genes in my ancestry in which farming was either a chosen lifestyle or something that just had to be done to get by. I never knew my grandfather on my fathers side, but I have been told that he was a cattle rancher in Arkansas. My grandpa on my mothers side, at the ripe old age of 91, still tells me stories of when he was a kid, living on the North Shore in Lynn, raising chickens in his back yard. So from what I can gather there is a bit of farming history on both sides of my family that may have trickled down to me. None the less it is in my blood and I can't ignore the pull to want to live off the land we have and to become as self sufficient as possible.
When we chose to move to Deerfield NH my husband thought I was crazy. "Live out in the middle of nowhere in the woods" he said. I was drawn to Deerfield because of both it's agriculture as well as it's wilderness. While I would have loved to have more pasture and land I am happy with the 3 1/2 acres we sit on now. It has given me a chance to ease into a lifestyle that is conducive to farming without getting too excited and thus overwhelmed because I have taken on more projects than I should have. If we had moved to a house where a pasture and barn were already existing and the projects endless my farming blood might have thinned out quickly and in turn I would have burnt myself out. Starting small has also been helpful because my hubby has grown to love living in the woods and now enjoys all the seasons for what they bring.
When I decided to start to start blogging I needed to come up with a theme that would serve several purposes. I needed it to be fun for me since I was the one who was delving into my writing again and sharing with all of you. I needed it to be interesting to someone who wasn't me, hopefully you're still reading at this point. And I needed it to be helpful; in the sense that I could chronologically document my farming adventure as well as teach others about living a sustainable lifestyle, eating healthy and local, and backyard farming. So hopefully this will allow me to learn more about what I am after at Bolduc Farms and maybe you all can share with me your ideas and knowledge. So begins the story of Bolduc Farms.....
When we chose to move to Deerfield NH my husband thought I was crazy. "Live out in the middle of nowhere in the woods" he said. I was drawn to Deerfield because of both it's agriculture as well as it's wilderness. While I would have loved to have more pasture and land I am happy with the 3 1/2 acres we sit on now. It has given me a chance to ease into a lifestyle that is conducive to farming without getting too excited and thus overwhelmed because I have taken on more projects than I should have. If we had moved to a house where a pasture and barn were already existing and the projects endless my farming blood might have thinned out quickly and in turn I would have burnt myself out. Starting small has also been helpful because my hubby has grown to love living in the woods and now enjoys all the seasons for what they bring.
When I decided to start to start blogging I needed to come up with a theme that would serve several purposes. I needed it to be fun for me since I was the one who was delving into my writing again and sharing with all of you. I needed it to be interesting to someone who wasn't me, hopefully you're still reading at this point. And I needed it to be helpful; in the sense that I could chronologically document my farming adventure as well as teach others about living a sustainable lifestyle, eating healthy and local, and backyard farming. So hopefully this will allow me to learn more about what I am after at Bolduc Farms and maybe you all can share with me your ideas and knowledge. So begins the story of Bolduc Farms.....
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