SUMMER IS OFFICALLY HERE

Today, June 21st is the official first day of summer!!! Thank goodness it has finally arrived.
The fruit and vegetable gardens are doing well, even though it is a real struggle to keep up with the weeding and watering. The last bit of rain we had, caused another crop of weeds even though I have a thick layer of straw in between my vegetable rows. I just get the bean section weed free and then I look over to the tomato and pepper section and that needs tending. But that is the world of farming. Have you ever seen a hammock in the yard of a farmer?? Or should I say have you ever seen a farmer lying in a hammock?
The only time Frank and I sit down is when we are exhausted at the end of the day. We have two favorite spots to sit, in the last light before evening. We either sit in front of the garden shed to look at the fruit trees or we sit in front of the sorting shed and marvel at the vegetable gardens or just to listen to nature around us.
around us.
In early spring, Windmill Farm and Pick a Peck of Pickles went into a joint venture where we would grow beets and beans for them to be used in their jarred vegetables sold in the Bay Area. Our beets became ready this last week and Eileen came and picked them up. In a few weeks, our beans will be ready to be canned by Pick A Peck of Pickles. Check out their website and facebook at: http://www.pickapeckpickles.com/

We had a wonderful Father’s Day weekend. Our children and grand children came to stay the weekend. Celli had an idea to go for a nice drive to look at Forbestown, in Butte County. It was a wonderful, fairly short drive and we were so surprised to find the Forbestown Museum open. I would like to highly recommend this Museum to everyone!!! The tour guides were dressed up in period costume; there is a 3 story museum full of items donated by local families that were used by the families from Forbestown. And then in the back is a town built, replicating all the types of businesses that would be seen in a 1800s-to early 1900s working town. There was a Wells Fargo Bank; a Jail; a Cigar/Grocery Store; a laundry business, a blacksmith, a church a schoolhouse, complete with a working bell and many more buildings and mining and lumber artifacts. All the buildings had furniture, pictures, rugs, and items showing people what was used during that time. And in the center of the “town” a few of the museum guides prepared ice cream sundaes or cones for the visitors. It was a delightful place for all ages to enjoy and a place that we will go back many times to in the future.
When we got home from our little trip, for dinner, the grand kids helped me pick some fresh green beans; fresh squash, cut some basil, pulled up some carrots and onions, picked a few cabbages and picked peaches all from our garden. We cooked the squash with some butter, our onions and the fresh basil. In another pan we sautéed our onions with garlic and bacon and about 5 minutes before the meat was ready, we put in the fresh green beans, mixed them up with the bacon, garlic and onions and put a lid on it to cook. They weren’t cooked too soft, just crunchy enough. I shredded the cabbage, mixed some red wine and white vinegar, mayo, a little sugar into it, salt and pepper, celery salt, and made this old fashioned cabbage salad. Some people put shredded carrots in these types of salads too but I didn’t add them this time. Carli and Collin had eaten most of my carrots before we even got them back to the house. The peaches were sliced and we had such a wonderful dinner that had only been picked within 45 minutes before we ate them. The fathers, mothers and kids all had a great day.
Enjoying the fruits of our labor gives our soul the best rewards with the added bonus of having your grand kids participate and learn about how food is grown and the flavor it has when it is freshly picked.
Life is wonderful here at Windmill Farm.