Chocolate Box Cottage Diary Vol. 1
Week 32: August 13, 2021

This week feels like a continuation of last, and I suppose that is entirely correct. Preserving season begins with small harvests spaced out between weeks: a tray of berries to freeze and herbs to dry for food and medicine.

It starts small, but soon turns into an avalanche and no matter how well-prepared I think I am, it is always overwhelming.

Sam and I went back to our favorite picking spot and picked another 2 1/2 gallons of huckleberries. I made a double batch of Huckleberry Lime Jam with Pomona’s pectin. The flavor is a delight and so is the fact that it is mostly fruit and very little sugar when compared to using traditional pectin.

It was a pleasure to add eleven jars of delicious jam to the pantry shelf, minus the one we ate immediately with a loaf of Farmhouse White Bread made with Dakota Pioneer Everlasting Yeast.

Preserving Season Begins with a Trickle of Berries and Herbs ~

The generous bounty of a harvest kitchen always warms my heart. In addition to bread and jam, there are plump zucchinis to turn into Zucchini Velvet Soup base for the freezer and a nearly-full basket of Dragon Tongue beans; yellow with vivid purple streaks, the beans will be eaten and shared.

Find the Zucchini Velvet Soup base recipe here: https://staging.chocolateboxcottage.tv/recipe-box/zucchini-velvet-soup/

Freezing Huckleberries ~

Blackberries, blackberries, and more blackberries…

I could pick 2 gallons every other day, given the time. My goal is to freeze 10 gallons of blackberries every summer. This takes us through oatmeal mornings, berry muffins, cobblers and crisps, with plenty for jam or to make into syrup for waffles and pancakes.

Homemade Berry Fruit Leather ~

Using (eating) what was stored in preserving season is part of the natural cycle.

Berries remaining in the freezer when berry picking season rolls around again are converted into Fruit Leather rolls, a jammy, sweet portable treat the whole family loves.

Berries are best picked in the cool of the morning, before the sun softens them. Still, I end up with berry-stained fingers. I don’t really mind. Being able to step outside and pick berries in summer reminds me of my childhood and imparts contentment.

August 2021 Walkabout ~

A walkabout is just what it sounds like. A walk about our homeplace, notebook in hand, a time to notice what is happening with the landscape, the plants, trees, and animals. Sam and I do this at the beginning of each month.

While Sam and I have long done occasional walkabouts together, usually on Sundays, I credit Donna Sullivan Smith, herbalist and founder of Miss Magnolias Moxie’s Learning Community, with bringing clarity and purpose to these fun excursions.

Donna provides a monthly list of questions to ask ourselves as we wander our property. It is a great tool for getting acquainted with your property and/or neighborhood’s resources. I’ll drop a link to Donna’s learning community below and invite you to join us!

https://missmagnoliasmoxie.mn.co/feed

Overgrown Cucumbers ~

One more aspect of preserving season is making use of imperfect product.

If you garden, sooner or later you end up with overgrown cucumbers. These cucumbers, believe it or not, are PICKLING cucumbers.

Pickling cucumbers are meant to be harvested small, 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) long, while their skins are thin and tender and before the seeds have a chance to toughen. Young cucumbers make crispy pickles, which is what we all want!

Still, there are uses for overgrown cucumbers. One of them is a quick curry, not at all authentic, but quite delicious with poached fish or chicken.

Feel free to leave your ideas for using overgrown cucumbers in the comments below. I read every one and appreciate your ideas.

Fennel Appreciation ~

I leave you with this picture of our fennel planting. The umbels (flower heads) are in various stages of readiness: some are blooming, to the enjoyment of pollinators and Swallowtail butterflies, others are heavy with seeds ripe for picking.

Fennel seeds are what give many sausages and Italian and Indian dishes their signature flavor. Mild, slightly sweet fennel seed is occasionally compared to anise. Fennel bulbs are edible and delicious, also. Do you use fennel in your kitchen or apothecary?

This may not be what some would consider a pretty picture, but knowing the delights and benefits of fennel surely increase its attractiveness!

Blessings to you this week, Michele

Ps. Click the link below to read last week’s Cottage Diary entry.

https://staging.chocolateboxcottage.tv/cottage-diary/the-land-of-berries/

Week 29 July 24, 2021

This fourth week of July included a beehive check for us newbie beekeepers, a regular supply of duck eggs, and a Very Important Birthday.

A Very Important Birthday ~

Let’s start with the Very Important Birthday: my stepdad, Rolly Griffith turned 90! I appreciate Rolly more than words can describe. He is a rock for our family and he is so good to my Mom. Rolly says he is so grateful to have had two great loves in his life: his first wife of 54 years, Shirley, who passed away in 2005, and my Mom, his second wife of 15 years.

He is a good listener, such a rare quality, and a good counselor.

We celebrated Rolly at a gigantic birthday party at a local park this weekend. I got to meet relatives I had never met before!

Beehive Check at Chocolate Box Cottage ~

Our beehive is situated in the middle of our small home orchard, surrounded by fruit trees: apricot, peach, Italian plum, cherry, and apples.

The chickens currently have run of the orchard. Time will tell whether this is a good choice or not. We may change the fencing at some point.

We had ups and downs with keeping bees since we began in 2017. We lost one colony when we moved the hive from our previous home in Central Point to Chocolate Box Cottage, so we had to start over.

Today we wanted to see how the bees are doing and check on the status of honey production.

Do you grow your own herbs and spices?

Here is part of my annual supply of dried oregano. My goal is to pack 2 quart jars full of dried leaves every year. We use it all.

The small apothecary style jar belongs in my spice drawer. Yes, I have a spice drawer, not a spice rack. Keeping spices in a drawer protects them from sunlight and keeps them cool, prolonging their freshness.

Sam and I joke that one of the reasons we haven’t caught the plague is that we eat so much oregano! Oregano has antimicrobial, antiviral, and expectorant qualities, among others. It really is a powerhouse herb!

Find spice jars like mine here: https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/s/vibe-spice-jars

Duck Eggs in Gem-like Hues ~

We are now blessed with duck eggs, thanks to three shimmery black Indian Runner hens and two drakes. I find it fascinating that each duck hen lays a different colored egg, though they are all the same breed.

We have not eaten fried duck eggs yet, but I have used them in baking cookies and muffins.

Blackberry Season is Almost Here ~

I have picked berries every summer since I was a little girl of 4 or 5 years old. So far there are just a handful of ripe berries at a time.

Cooking & Preserving From the Garden ~

The harvests provide inspiration for meals. Some of it doesn’t make it to the kitchen. Kale, blackberries, basil (green and purple) yellow crookneck squash, green and yellow zucchini, peppers, tomatillos, cherry tomatoes, calendula (edible petals), and Barese melon cucumbers.

Walking into the garden and deciding what to eat based on what is ripe is my favorite style of cooking!

As our kids were growing up, we brought them into the garden. They each had a raised bed or pot of their own to tend, depending on age.

At mealtimes, we talked about the food on our plates. Whether it came from our garden, was foraged, or bought at a farm or the store.

Recipe for Spiralized Zucchini Butter Spaghetti: https://staging.chocolateboxcottage.tv/recipe-box/spiralized-zucchini-butter-spaghetti/

Wood Shed Update ~

The back wall of the wood shed is made from reclaimed aluminum sheets. Used pallets line the floor beneath the neatly stacked firewood. Oak posts came from our pasture. See the mound of bark surrounding the posts? We are deciding how best to utilize it.

From the Oven ~

This is the bread of my ancestors. Bread ecipes and instructions for creating an Everlasting Yeast bread starter will be included in my book, along with variations.

Farewell ~

Thank you for visiting Chocolate Box Cottage ~ see you next week!

Chocolate Box Cottage Diary Vol. 1
Week 28: July 16, 2021

Happy third week of July! This week was characterized by blackberry pie, zucchini every day, and everlasting yeast. And ducks! Don’t forget the ducks.

After a fun and productive Project Week , Sam went back to work and I resumed the farm chores he had taken on while he was home.

Generally I get up in the morning and take care of the animals first thing, before my Bible reading and cup of tea. That includes feeding and letting the chickens out of the henhouse, saying good morning to the sheep and giving them a treat, checking on the rabbits, and watering the garden/pots/anything else that needs water. And don’t forget the cats and dogs.

The week began on Sunday with a potluck at church in honor of Joyce Dierking, a teacher and friend who returned from a 2-year service term in Papua New Guinea. I wanted to bake a pie, so I pulled a bag of last summer’s blackberries from the freezer.

I generally pick 8-12 gallons of blackberries in the summer to freeze. Sam helps on weekends when he can. Now that it is July, the remaining berries need to be used up.

Zucchini season has begun, and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

Every so often I walk the tomato beds and tuck any stray vines inside the wire cages. This supports good quality fruit. Tomatoes in that rest on the ground are normally nibbled by hoards of hungry, big-eared field mice that call Chocolate Box Cottage home.

Adding more 60 degree diamond star blocks to the quilt in progress!

On weekend evenings we either eat on the porch, if it’s cool enough, or at the tea table in the living room. It’s special enough to feel like a date. We love C.A.T. Salad with Coconut Battered Fish!

Every year I try to invent at least one more crave-worthy zucchini recipe. This one looks promising, so watch for a recipe soon!

Here you go! Recipe for Spiralized Zucchini Butter Spaghetti here.

I just washed the jar, and doesn’t it look presentable? Normally it would be coated with glops and globs. If you look closely you can see tiny bubbles in the everlasting yeast.

These waffles are made with sourdough, or to be more precise, Everlasting Yeast, a leavener common with German-from-Russia pioneers in the Dakotas. Make your own Crock Pot Apple Butter with windfall fruit, farmstead fruit, or store-bought fruit.

One brave duck peeks out the henhouse door after his or her first night in the coop. My friend Jenna gifted us 5 Indian Runner ducks. I gave her some zucchini and I think we were both happy.

Porcelain Princess pumpkin is a hybrid, so I won’t be saving seeds from it, but will enjoy the beautiful pink 7-10 lb (3.5 kg) pumpkins for desserts and decorations.

Bee yard bouquet: St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) and wild daisies. These aren’t weeds, the flowers provide food for nearby honeybee hives. I use St. John’s wort in skin-soothing salves and make an herbal glycerite to combat the winter blues.

I hope you enjoyed a cup of your favorite beverage along with our visit. See you next time!

Blessings,
Michele