Author Archives: Breeze Hill Farm

Romantic Valentine Meal Done The Local Way

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I have been asked to put together a Romantic Valentine Dinner, using as many local ingredients as possible, to be published in several of our local newspapers. As many of you know, it has been almost 2 years since I have purchased foods from the grocery store..we are an all local foods home these days and that seems to amaze everyone we know. It really isn’t that difficult of a task with so much available all year now. I thought it would be a nice extra for everyone if I posted it to the Blog as an easy reference for others to try it too!

Ok, so here is the menu: Local Leaf Lettuces served with a Lemon-Honey Vinaigrette, Beef Burgundy, Root Vegetable & Butternut Squash Bake, and Fresh Raspberries with Shave Chocolate. Keep reading…here are the recipes…

Lemon-Honey  Vinaigrette

¼ c.        Light oil (EVOO, Canola)

¼ c.        Water

2 T          Lemon Juice

3 T          Local Honey

Salt & Pepper

Mix all ingredients thoroughly and set aside. I do not refrigerate this..takes away from the flavor!

 

Beef Burgundy

This is a super easy recipe and takes only 35 minutes from prep to eat!

2 lbs.      Sirloin (cut into 1 inch cubes)

8 oz.       Fresh Mushrooms

1              Medium Onion

2              Cloves Garlic, minced

½ c.        Butter

¼ c.        Flour (or Cornstarch)

¼ t          Sea Salt

¼ t          Black Pepper

¼ t          Fresh Thyme (chopped)

1/8 c.     Fresh Chopped Parsley

1              Bay Leaf

1 C          Red Burgundy Wine (Pinot Noir)

2 C          Beef Broth

1 C          Pearled Onions

Optional : 2 – 3 slices of crumbled bacon

Combine flour (cornstarch), salt, pepper and one minced garlic clove in a zip lock bag. Add in cubed beef and seal. Shake to coat the beef. Set aside. In a sauce pan, melt ¼ cup of butter, add mushrooms and onion. Sauté until soft. Set aside. Melt remaining ¼ cup of butter in a large sauce pan. Add second clove of minced garlic and coated beef. Brown beef on medium heat. Once the beef has browned, slowly add the Burgundy wine and beef broth. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Add the Thyme and Bay Leaf. You want to see the liquid reduce by about 1/3 and the sauce thicken. Keep simmering and scraping during this process. Towards the end of the simmer process, add the parsley, bacon crumbles and pearled onions. Serve against the Root Veggie & Butternut Squash Bake…it’s great if some gets on it. The combined flavors..yummy!

 

Root Veggie & Butternut Squash Bake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1              Large White Potato, cubed

1              Large Sweet Potato, cubed

1              Large Carrot, cubed

1              Medium Butternut Squash, peeled and cubed

2              Cloves of Garlic, minced

2 T          EVOO

¼ t          Sea Salt

¼ t          Black Pepper

Several pats of butter

Put all ingredients into a zip lock bag..shake to coat. Spread in a flat baking dish and drop a couple of pats of butter on top. Bake until tender (approximately 45 minutes).

With this meal I have chosen not to make a super delectable, over the top fattening desert. Instead, take a couple of handfuls of fresh Raspberries and put in a bowl, shave really expensive Semi Sweet Chocolate on top and sprinkle with confectioners sugar. It’s easy, it’s romantic and sexy to feed to each other and clean up is a breeze!

I hope everyone who tries this loves it..enjoy and remember, with few exceptions, all ingredients can be locally sourced.

 

 

 

simple doorstop [not another sheep!?]

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Reblogged from Sheepy Hollow Farm Life:

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I had a bit of left-over burlap from my recent lampshade makeover. I thought I would use it to re-cover a brick doorstop.

Not much to this project, simply add a little cotton batting and wrap the brick with burlap...as if wrapping a gift. I used a dab of hot glue to hold the seams in-place and then, with needle-and-thread, stitched them down to tidy them up.

Read more… 44 more words

This is such a wonderful idea I just had to share with my readers!!

Changes Underway

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Some people take down their web presence when they are making changes and updates. I probably would if I knew how to! Instead, the next few things that I do to this Blog will be shared with everyone..sorry. Like I said yesterday, bear with me.

So I’m trying to come up with a lot of great content to share with everyone who might be interested in what I have to say and share, along with having a page or two devoted to Local (local Co-op’s, Farmer’s Markets, etc.).

OK, so here we go. Like I said yesterday, if this starts to get on your nerves…there is a comment section right here on the Blog…tell me!!

Take Me Home!

More To Come!!

2012 Where Did It Go?

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Each new year I always find myself wondering where the last year went. 2012 is no exception. Looking at my last Blog entry from March of 2012, I find myself amazed at how life can get in the way of, well, in the way of everything no matter how small or large. Somehow we come out on the other side, dust ourselves off and carry on.

This entry today is not going to be one of those “Holiday Letters” that we so don’t look forward to. We had our stuff..you’ve had your stuff. We all know stuff happens! This entry is more about the upcoming year..the changes that we will be making as far as the farm and business, with a lot of “look at what just happened’s”. I’ve made a couple of appearances  changes today and there will be more to come. One thing that I did was tied the Blog to Facebook. I am going to rely on you all to tell me…STOP!! or keep going with this. Bear with me on this, it may take some time to get everything the way I want it.

That’s it for today. Let’s see how this looks and I’ll get back to making more changes.

Before I forget…Happy New Year!!

Spring Is In The Air..

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Aaaah! Spring! It’s that time of the year when flowers are starting to bloom, trees are budding, the grasses are greening up and the garden is calling.

Now is the time to start moving manure from the barn up to the garden plots and to start tilling that “black gold” into the earth but this year things will be a little different in one of the plots. We have decided to grow potatoes for markets. Soil preparation for these beauties does not include manure as an amendment..so there will be less hauling than in years past. Can’t wait to see the lush green plants starting to pop up!

Each market season we have noticed that Spinach and Carrots are limited, so to do our part in answering the call for more of these foods, we have increased our garden area to add several raised beds for carrots and a second garden spot for spinach. Then of course there will be the usual cast of characters..tomatoes, okra, cukes, squashes, eggplant and lettuces.

On a different note, all of chickens seemed to be loving the warmer weather and longer days already. We have eggs everywhere! Our chickens are totally free range so as a result egg collection closely resembles an Easter Egg hunt each day. That’s OK though it is worth it when we are able to put together a carton of eggs that look like this…

Thank you girls…

Next on the list for our Spring “to do’s” will be sheep shearing. That’s always exciting too..when we get the chance to see what this years growth looks like. By the winter being mild, it doesn’t look like we will have the usual bumper of wool. We will be adding Cashmere this year to our fibers available. Friends of ours are getting out of the cashmere business but they still have 10 goats that need to be combed..so yes, I volunteered to do the combing. Payment for this job..we get the fiber! There will be some pretty cool rovings and yarns available in the fall!

Neeing Hair Cuts...Now!!

Maybe I’m wrong..look at all that wool!

Well that’s all for today. I’m afraid if I keep writing, I’ll wear myself out.

Container Gardening Fans Read This…

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We have come up with a wonderful product for all of those Container Gardening folks out there. It is our new Natural Growers Pack.

What is it and what does it do you may ask? It is a water retention and fertilizer system that is made from 100% all natural and organic materials. When you container garden or grow house plants, you are always faced with watering your plants..even if you are on vacation. Using our pack limits the need to constantly be watering your plants as the natural sheep wool acts as a sponge absorbing water and holding it for longer than just soil. The added bonus..you get a pack of sheep manure compost to add to your soil as a natural fertilizer.

These are all of the supplies you need to use this pack:

The contents of the pack, a container, your plant or seeds, plus soil.

Start with an empty large to extra large container. Line the bottom of the container with the enclosed sheep wool. Now take the wonderfully rich in nutrients package of sheep manure compost and blend it with your soil..place in your container on top of the sheep wool. Add your plant. Water. That’s it..easy peasy!

It is a wonderful system for container vegetable gardening. By using this all natural system you eliminate the need to continuously fertilize your plants too. Your container tomato plants will be the envy of the neighborhood!

The Natural Growers pack is available in our ETSY store, through Fall Line Farms Co-op, Local Roots Co-op, The Great Big Greenhouse in Richmond, VA and more locations are coming soon as we fill orders. You, of course, can buy them direct through me and we will have them at local Farmer’s Markets this Spring and summer.

Do something good for your plants and make Mother Nature smile at the same time..oh yes, and each time you purchase/use one of these Natural Growers Packs you are supporting a small family owned sustainable farm business!

Winter Yesterday..Spring Today

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Isn’t it amazing how unpredictable the weather really can be? Yesterday we had a beautiful snowfall in the morning, followed by a sunny afternoon and ending with another brief snowfall before evening. In a single days time, the pastures are turning green and those Spring flowers that were not already blooming are today showing signs of bloom. We’ve had thunderstorms in February and a steady flow of rainfall this Winter..all will serve the ground well for the growing season. While we need to get the earth tilled to start the gardens, the ground is actually too wet. This will postpone that early harvest we always shoot for but a late harvest is just as beneficial.

We have taken some time off from selling through our local Co-op’s and Winter Farmer’s Markets while we’ve reworked our farm. There will be a lot of changes to some of the products we have sold for years and we are adding a lot of new. We started selling our farm products in our ETSY store. It is slow going but we have had some sales. I’ve started working on the plans for offering workshops throughout Spring and Summer. There are so many things that a person can do to live a more sustainable lifestyle and hopefully these workshops will generate interest from those who are anxious to learn.

That’s all for now. I always promise that I will be better about keep up with Blog posts, let’s see if this time I can really do it!!

 

Giveaway…And The Winner Is!

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OK, here is the list of all entries made on our Blog and Facebook:

“Boom Boom Pow” – Black Eyed Peas

“Linus and Lucy” – Charlie Brown

“Firework” – Katy Perry

“Bad” – Michael Jackson

“Sheep Go To Heaven Goats Go To Hell” – Cake

“You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” – Leo Sayer

“Born This Way” – Lady Gaga

“Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga

“Who Let The Dogs Out” – Baha Men

And the Winner is!!!

“You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”

(submitted by Mugsy via Facebook)

Video Coming Soon!

 

For those who did not win this giveaway..there are other places you can find our Natural Nesting Balls to purchase. http://www.breezehillfarm.com/ordering.aspx Also, in Richmond VA…The Great Big Greenhouse and Yardbirds.

Giveaway

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Hear we go! This is Gryffon (aka Scrap). He is the little goat buckling born a week ago this past Sunday. Being a musical family here, we have decided that Scrap needs a song all his own. Once he has a song, we will add that song to a video of Scrap doing what little goaties do and create his own music video! His song can be any type of music..even Christmas music. It should be fitting of a little critter that at this point weighs about 8 pounds and has enough energy for 5 of him.

So we need for you all to come up with a song. If we choose the song you come up with..you will win 2 of our new Natural Nesting Balls. See one for you and one to give as a gift! You must live in the US to enter this giveaway as we are covering the shipping as well.

So go to the comments for this post and start listing the song you think will best work for Scrap. At days end tomorrow we will go through your suggestions and pick the song that we feel best fits Scrap. Please make sure I have some way to contact you to let you know that you are the winner. We will take care of the shipping details later.

Scrap’s music video will air before Christmas!