The smell of haying time!

I saw the hay just down the road from the Millarville Racetrack getting cut on Saturday.  Yay!  It’s hot, it’s windy, it will dry fast maybe get baled without rain.  

  

Haying season is a big deal in rural communities.  It’s part of why farmers are obsessed with the weather.  Around here it starts in early July and can go into September.     I grew up in a haying family and it was all about the bloom on the alfalfa or the timothy, you don’t want it too mature because the leaves and blooms fall off and the nutritional content drops.   But you don’t want to cut too early as there isn’t enough bloom yet.  But is it going to rain?   So do we cut?  What’s the weather forecast?   So you cut with a hay bine- a machine that cuts and then sends the hay through a crimper so it squishes the stems and it dries faster.   

  

Those rows of cut hay in the fields in that fabulous round and round pattern are called swaths.   Once the top half is dry it gets raked.   Sometimes gets raked two swaths into one,  if the crop wasn’t very thick.   Really great hay that was cut at the perfect time and baled without rain often goes into square bales.   These are prime feed for cattle or horses.  Hay that isn’t as good, maybe has a bit of rain, gets rolled up into the big round bales- those big cinnamon buns out in the fields.   Big round bales are great for speed of baling and for feeding cows out in the fields in the winter, but you need machinery to handle them.    My dad and grandpa used to square bale and round bale depending on the quality.   Some farmers round bale great hay because that's the way they like to do it.  There have been a lot of innovations in haying over the last century from loose hay stacked with pitchforks on hay wagons and loaded into the lofts of barns, to square bales that get stooked (stacked in a pyramid on a sled and then dumped off) as the square bales come out.   In this video they are picking the bales up off the field after they’ve been baled.   My dad had a hay hook like this (maybe farmers are part pirate?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNE-845YhQ4

Now there are bale wagons that get driven around the field and pick up the bales, form them into a stack and can unload them into the hayshed.  Then they get picked up again in a stack to deliver.  

 My dad would not have the Popeye arms that he has today with that kind of equipment!  He used to have the hay wagon but then had to unload them out of the hay shed onto trucks or flat decks for delivery.   Sometime he used a hay elevator-  a ramp with a conveyor belt that would carry the bale up to the top.  

It’s still great fun to climb, run and jump from round bale to round bale or to lay on your back on the top of a stack of square bales and stare up at the clouds on a hot summer day.    But only if it’s cool with the farmer or rancher because good hay is like gold.   I see hay as solar power storage.  It’s an amazing process that has humble grasses, and alfalfa turn sun, rain and soil into winter food for cattle, sheep, goats, horses and other herbivores.   Even though humans can’t eat hay these animals have evolved their digestive systems to turn that hay in to meat, milk, fibre and horse love.  

I invite you to take a closer look at the green fields of “just grass”  and the patterns of swaths in the fields.  Take a look at the sky and worry about the haying weather for a minute.   Open the windows wide and breathe in the aroma of drying (curing) hay and give the farmer on the baler a wave.   Thanks for the solar conversion!

Greek Salad

As the weather gets hotter lettuce and spinach and all those lovely greens start to bolt.  These are cool spring weather plants and they don't like heat.  The same thing happens with radishes.    Bolting is when they stop producing leaves and they just sent up stalk that blooms and goes to seed.  I think of it like they send a flag up the flag pole calling for a truce- "Our work here for the season is done- just leave us alone to set seed and reproduce."  Head lettuce such as butter head, romaine and iceberg are around this time of year, but aren't the stars of the market booths.   The real stars this time of year are coming out as cucumbers, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and herbs.   I made a fabulous simple salad last night that was so fresh and easy and yummy that I didn't even think to take a picture and then it was gone.   It was inspired by Greek Salad but was lighter somehow- maybe because it was so fresh.
Everything in it was from the farmers' market.
1 mini cucumber- cut in chunks
1 mini orange pepper- cut in chunks
1 handful of grape tomatoes- cut in half
(all from Kel-lee's greenhouse in Medicine Hat)
two stems of Italian parley and approx 6 rosemary leaves picked from my herb pots and originally purchased from Terra Farms.  - chopped up.
1 green onion- chopped -  Thanks to Mr. Hiebert
2" square chunk of sheep feta from Crystal Springs Cheese
Assorted whole olives from Angela's Olives
Small bit lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice, a splash of olive oil and a grind of black pepper (the only things from the regular grocery store) 
Mix and let sit until the steak is done and eat it up.

Terra Farms

We enjoyed it with a slab of a chuck steak from our side of beef Supper (you've heard me speak of him in hushed tones before)  and some baby potatoes (from Hiebert's)  on the grill.   The potatoes were about 2" across and 3" long - I cut them in half and put them in the microwave for 3 minutes then on the top shelf of the bbq for the same time as the steak.   A little sour cream on top and they melted in the mouth.    

I love, love love, Alberta Strawberries

I love Alberta Strawberries!   I love to pick them at a u-pick.   It’s like a treasure hunt walking or crawling along the row and finding the gorgeous red jewels of flavour.  Shiny red, tiny green seeds,  topped with a green leafy cap- so beautiful.  I buy them at the Farmers’ market from my friend Mr. Hiebert.     Last week he was sheepish because the strawberries were dirty from the rain splashing the soil on the fruit.  All it took was to soak them in the sink for a few minutes in cold water until the soil sank to the bottom and then eat them.   

 

Usually a basket of his strawberries last about one hour after they are in the house.  Later in the season I buy them by the 4L pail and get a chance to freeze some.   If they are dirty wash and dry completely before freezing.  I just cut the stem off and put them in zip lock bags and then they can be made into jam during the winter when I have time, or can be thawed for desserts.   I pulled a bag out of the freezer this spring to make a dessert for the launch of dee Hobsbawn-Smith’s new book Foodshed.   The dessert was a huge hit and no wonder- it has whipped cream as a major ingredient! 

 

It’s called Eton Mess and is super easy to make.   Make or buy meringues and crunch them into pieces.  Intersperse the pieces of meringues with dollops of whipped cream and then fruit- fresh or frozen.   Add layers until you run out of stuff.  If you have parfait glasses you can make individual messes that look so pretty.   Making your own meringues is easy too, but you need some sort of electric beater. 

Meringues

2 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 250F. In a clean glass or stainless steel bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed until foamy and small peaks barely form; gradually beat in the sugar, a spoonful at a time, until all the sugar is incorporated and the mixture holds stiff peaks. It should have the consistency of whipped cream or shaving cream.

Spread onto a foil or parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, until dry. Cool, then crumble to use in Eton mess.

The other must do summer dessert is Strawberry Shortcake.   It can be as simple as scones or cupcakes cut in half- a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, sliced strawberries, add the top and garnish with more whipped cream or ice cream and more strawberries.   Super yummy!

One of my favourite food writers and bloggers is Julie VanRosendaal.  She has a passion for local, fresh, cook from scratch food.  Her blog is called Dinner With Julie and a great resource and fabulous inspiration.  

This is the link to another way to use strawberry and rhubarb - strawberry-rhubarb slab scones-  I haven't tried it yet, but I have big plans for Sunday breakfast.   Let me know if you like it.   http://dinnerwithjulie.com/2012/06/09/strawberry-rhubarb-slab-scones/

One of my best memories of strawberries was on a canoe trip in Northern Ontario where we had been out a long time and hadn’t had fresh food for a few weeks.  I  was carrying a canoe across a portage that was about 1 km long and kept seeing little wild strawberries (about ¼ inch across) peeking out at me from their homes next to the trail.   A person can’t just stop when she has a canoe on her shoulders so I half walked, half ran to the end, dropped the canoe and ate my way back to the beginning one little red jewel at a time.  Not many things can possibly taste that good.