The Real Dirt On Farmer John. Seen it? If you’re a buy local enthusiast, an aspiring homesteader, or someone just looking for a neat little piece of entertainment, check it out. It’s another documentary we got through ZIP, one I hadn’t previously heard of, but wow. What a surprise. It tracks one man’s journey through farming, with some of the most incredible old film footage and emotional roller coaster rides. John eventually creates an incredible, inspiring CSA called Angelic Organics. (Live anywhere near Caledonia, Illinois?).
There is some incredible footage of barn raising; both his old family farm barn and of the new one. Such an incredibly powerful thing to behold. The community coming together for a project. What an experience for adults and children alike. I was moved to tears by the footage and hope that whenever we do build out here, that we can create a space with energy and effort like that… Things are so messed up; people’s private lives and private spaces are more accessible than ever, more legislated than ever; just as much as we are pushed into public territory we are also that much removed from personal interaction. Just another reason we are going to pass on public school for the kids, a move we hope will bring them a more diverse and meaningful social, communal and educational life experience. (My homeschool nay-saying friends say “but how will they be prepared for the real world?!” I hear that as “how will they fit into society.” And my answer is that I sincerely hope my children will not fit, because fitting is just another word for disappearing into the system). I want that barn raising energy imprinted in my kids.
Got a pair of new to me prescription sunglasses today. They belonged to my mother and are relics from her Hippy-Jewish-Girl-With-An-Afro phase. Hilarious and practical.
So, I’ve got milk! Lots of it. A person who got a herd of milking sheep lost his buyer, and offered it to me. I hummed and hawed for a minute, but I’ve decided to take the lot. Cheddar a hoy! This oughta mark the end of our store bought cheese days. It’ll be good preparation for me for when we get our own small goat herd filled out and in full swing. With so much milk coming in I will have to get adventurous and try different cheeses and keep it happening. It’s a little intimidating due to the time commitment, but I am awfully excited. I’ve got my first few gallons defrosting now.
And in non-local food news, Seville oranges are in season, so I’m all set to start in on this 2 day recipe I’ve gotten. Very excited, we do love marmalade and this will be my first time making it.
I have a long time dream of making my own cheese. We always milked our own (neighbor’s) cows for milk growing up and I still remember hand churning the cream into butter (there is NOTHING that tastes better than hand-churned butter..nothing…) but we never really made our own cheese. And goat cheese is my favorite!
And btw, home-schooling is a wonderful experience. My folks home-schooled me (and my six younger siblings) all the way through high-school. I definitely plan on home-schooling once I have kids. I was one of only a few people I knew who was still excited about going to school by the time I got to college, even at the Ivy school I went to… If you ever want to talk home-schooling, drop me a note. Brooklyn.suicide@gmail.com
I’ve seen it and loved it. Saw it a couple of years ago when I subscribed to a similar postal rental service. The documentaries always seemed to come quickest so I hoovered up loads but that was deffo a fav.
I’m another home schooler, I left permanently at 12 and still reached university level at the same time as my peers. I wish I’d never gone, all my schooling experiences were negative, damaging and IMO completely pointless from an educational point of view. So I’m personally very anti it, most of my cousins were also home schooled, as a family it just doesn’t seem to work for us. My sister (aged 15) is the odd one out who seems to love the social side although I would say educationally they are failing her epically. Anyway, I could rant all day and night about this. Great decision and one I hope I can make for my future kidlets.
mmmmmmmm……. marmalade!
SEND CHEESE…to heck with my evil diet. SEND CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’ll send you dandelion jelly back
Huhhhhhhhh….you KNOW you want to try it…:)
I hated school. I actually went to a ‘good’ school, one of the top in the country, and I hated it. Don’t they say school days are supposed to be the best time of you life or something as a kid? Everyone seemed to be having fun though. Maybe it was me, who knows, but I know my brother also had a horrid time and got bullied relentlessly by his peers and sadistic gym teachers, another free spirit almost completely crushed by ‘the system’.
Mmmmmm marmalade! Here in Jersey we have this stuff called Black Butter… if you haven’t heard of it, I think you’d get a kick out of it. Not only does it taste amazing and is locally produced, it traditionally rallies the local community, old and young to make it every year. The women would peel the apples (we’re talking hundreds) whilst the men gather the wood to keep the fire burning for 30 (!!) hours solid. They’d heat apple cider, adding in the peeled apples, sugar, lemons, spices and liquorice… They have to stir it continuously and if it burns on the bottom is ruined!! Eventually its done (they do some weird dollop test thing to see if its the right consistency) and then it is jarred up and again everyone helps. It tastes like Christmas. Om nom nom. It’s amazing. I just want to send some to everyone. I love it so much.
not truly on topic here, but ive been meaning to pick your brain-I have a pretty large deer sirloin roast in my freezer and no idea what to do with it. Ive been very good about using the ground deer and ground lamb we got this year, but im stumped on how to cook this huge deer roast, and the last thing i want to happen is to eff it up and have it go uneaten!! Crockpot maybe?
Both our girls are being homeschooled. Got to a agree with you on the ‘disappearing’ thing. I disappeared. Did what I had to to get by.
Big part of me thinks I would have done better to drop out and get my GED.
My daughters are going at their own pace, which is ahead of their grade. My five year old can multiply and divide. My oldest reads and writes. Even in the accelerated program she was being stifled. Now she’s kicking ass. I can’t imagine the downshift she’d have to do if she went back to regular school.
I meant to say my oldest reads and writes voraciously.( she was reading before she was three)
Hey Arkay!
I’ve got next to no experience cooking venison! I’ve been getting better cooking beef roasts though – I kept finding my crock pot roasts left a bit to be desired, but doing the dry oven method (sealing it super hot and then letting it cook) seems to be working out pretty nicely – just giving it a spice rub.
Let me know how it goes. Scott is planning on hunting next season for the first time, so I’ll be learning the deer ropes then!
The best roasting technique for red meats is as follows……
Season the outside of the roast including rock, coarse, or kosher salt, not table (old school cooking says that salting meat before it is cooked will dry it out. This couldn’t be further from the truth)
Insert meat thermometer into centre of roast.
Put into a preheated 200 degree oven.
This is a slow roasting technique that gives you a super tender meat and is amazing if you like your meat rare, medium rare or medium. What happens when you put a roast in a really hot oven to seal and then cook anywhere between 325 and 400 degrees (these are the recommended temps) is the outside of the roast gets cooks first and fast while the inside is rarer. By cooking it at a lower heat for a longer time, not only does the meat breakdown making it more tender but the roast will be cooked more evenly. For rare cook to 140 degree internal temp, med rare 150 degrees and 160 for med. Pull out and let stand/rest for 10 mins.
I promise you can’t mess this up…..in fact because of the longer lower temp you can cook lower quality cuts (not that I recommend this)and still get a nice roast.
I worked as a manager at a very high end steakhouse and the chef there taught me how to “roast”
I use a crockpot…Put it in with some beef stock. Cook until it falls apart, drain, mix with bbq sauce. HEAVEN on a bun!
The thing you have to watch out for roasting venison is because it’s so lean it dries out quickly. I have tried the dry method with deer and it’s 50/50. Mostly since there is no marbling of the meat. Braising is a better way to go if you want to use the oven, you really do NEED the liquid.
Our main meat source is venison, and we process our own. So I have a little experience with it
i have heard that you need to lard the roast-so far the method that sounds the best for that is making small cuts all over the roast and inserting small pieces of frozen fatty bacon and then cooking as directed.
my main thing is just not screwing up this meat-its at least a 7 lb roast, and i just hate to have it go to waste. beef is very easy for me, i have mastered cooking beef-but venison is new territory.
Another thing you could do is slice it thin for stir fry. I use a marinade made up of 1/2 cup soy sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, sugar (about 1T), hot peper flakes, 1/2 cup of water. That’s a rough guess, I sort of mix it on the fly. Make enough to cover the sliced meat. Marinate at least an hour, longer is better. Then after you do the stir fry pour in some of the marinade into the pan and mix with thickener (i use corn starch). Makes an EXCELLENT brown sauce.
I find most deer roasts to be better cut thin and cooked that way. I also slice it thin and make minute steaks as well.
Depending on how many you are feeding at one time, I’d half the roast and make more than one meal with it.
Y’all are awesome.
Charley — I’ll be emailing you!
Ashley, do report back on the home-schooling stuff. We have chatted about it, but it is seriously frowned upon in the UK – almost to the point of victimisation. Apparently, home-schooling is just a way of hiding child abuse. I think we may let Leo go to school and carefully monitor how things are going. If he loves it, I would be loathe to take him out, but if it is causing problems then I think home-schooling will be a serious option.
And seriously, you have to share some of your time management skills with me. I don’t know how you get through what you do. Some days, I don’t even manage to shower before Leo is in bed, never mind actually doing productive stuff!
They think you’re locking your child in your house if you home school here too. People also get really defensive about the public school system (even though they also slag it constantly!)
Definitely not the popular choice, but I am hoping it works for us! If you are considering it, I recommend picking up:
The Well-Adjusted Child: The Social Benefits of Homeschooling by Rachel Gathercole. Great book.
Don’t think for a minute I am a time management guru. My house is a total disaster. Today I cleaned the coat rack and boot mat at the front door. That is literally the only part of the house that does not look like it was looted. I am days unshowered, smell terrible and my son is also crusted in every meal he ate today. And I have easily 6 loads of laundry in limbo.
But I do have marmalade and cheese! Ha!
Dude – I LOVE your shades … how fun to recycle good vintage mommy stuff! My mom always wore giant BLUE shades …not so stylish. Hahah.
Mmmm cheese.
YAYAYAYAYAYA! My comment worked! YAYAYAYAY!
Congrats on deciding to home school. I’m sure your kids will be inquisitive and well-educated. Home-schooling, like out-schooling, can be good and bad, all depending on the teachers and curriculum.
Cheese-making seems so fun to me.
i know this post was from some time ago….but i’m assuming you get notice when someone leaves a comment…..but i live about 20 minutes away from caledonia, illinois. i’ve never heard of angelic organics & am thankful i stumbled upon it. i used to be on iam years ago & ran across your blog from shannon’s page. anyway….let me know if i can be of any help.