small grains

I wanted to share more photos from our small farm in Shutesbury, particularly of the grain trials we're doing.  Here are the oats, and some spring-planted Glenn wheat:

 

I had planned a lot more photos for this post, but had so many wonderful visitors at the bakery today that I didn't have time to get them in!  So more to come very very soon. 

To answer a burning question from CSA members, here is one really great cookbook that covers all the grains we're growing (plus more!), with basic cooking info and some really delicious, creative recipes.  It's Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass.
And here is the (slightly altered recipe) for baked beans I mentioned last time, taken from Cooking from Quilt Country by Marcia Adams. 
Baked Beans from Scratch (serves 6 - generously)
1 pound navy beans or Boston brown beans (more on this below)
pinch of baking soda
1/4 pound salt pork or bacon (optional)
1 onion, chopped
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup molasses or maple syrup

Soak the beans overnight in water to cover.  Do not drain.  The next day, bring to a boil and add the baking soda.  Lower the heat, skim the foam, and simmer, partially covered, about 20 minutes, or until the skins peel back when blown on.  Drain, reserving cooking liquid in a separate container.
Preheat oven to 300 F.  Place bacon or salt pork in bottom of a bean pot or deep 2 qt ceramic casserole (a metal pan works fine, and I've also done this in a crock pot from this point on).  To the drained beans, add the remaining ingredients; mix well.  Pour bean mixture into pan, add enough of the bean liquid to cover.  Bake, covered, for 4-6 hours.  Keep checking, adding more liquid as necessary so the beans remain covered at all times.  Do not stir, because this will make the beans break and become mushy.  Cook until tender.  Yum!

So, the original recipe calls for navy beans, but you can bet your britches that the original Boston Baked Beans were made with . . . Boston Favorite beans.  Which we planted this year, with seed obtained from the fabulous Seed Savers Exchange.  Can't wait to make my baked beans with the real thing this winter.  

We have a subscription to Orion Magazine at the bakery, and each issue really blows me away with its fresh ideas and well-crafted essays and poetry.  How lucky are we to have such a wonderful magazine made locally (and completely ad free!)?  Last issue's article "The Barbaric Heart " by Curtis White has really stayed with me.  It discusses capitalism as a modern form of barbarianism, and that the antidote to this is beauty, and thoughtfulness.  The whole article can now be read online here, but I particularly wanted to share this excerpt:

 "What we want is the beautiful. We say it with a smile on our faces when we go for a hike, or when we visit an “eco-friendly” town full of bike paths and locally owned shops with a mountain vista in the background. We do not say of such places, “I’m grooving on this system’s ecological balance.” Or, “The Green Economy is working well.” We say, “It’s beautiful here!” And yet when we set out to make our most public arguments for nature, we seem almost embarrassed to say that what convinces us is the argument of the beautiful. The thoughtfulness of the beautiful. In fact, I’m embarrassed right now!"

This weekend, we're making strawberry-rhubarb jam, and building a horse stall!  Giddyup.  Here's wishing you a handmade, beautiful weekend.

Comments

[Heather]

Thanks for the book suggestion. We'd just discovered it on our own, and it's really a great resource! Thanks for the recipe as well. Can't wait to try it.