Raising Goslings on The Grassy Knoll Farm

Ella and I have been thoroughly enjoying raising the two goslings we found on the farm a number of weeks ago. They are growing by leaps and bounds, but are still cute and snuggly with both of us. We take them for walks, for swims in the kiddy pool and often let them wander around the house with us. 

My favorite moment with these two happened just this afternoon. We were enjoying some time in the yard, with the setting sun, always watchful to the skies for hawks (we saw two this afternoon circling) when the two goslings wandered over to sit at Ella's feet. I am amazed by their total trust in us. We scoop them up and walk around with them. We plop them down in the pool. Sometimes Ella carries both of them at the same time in her arms so she can quickly get to where they all need to go. All the while, these birds are trusting, still and quiet as we move them about. It is quite remarkable.

We have bonded with these two little loves. We have named them Gossie and Gertie after one of our favorite children's books about goslings.  It will be very difficult to see them go, but they are wild animals, and should return to the wild. We have already starting talking about how to release them, once they are able to care for themselves and protect themselves. They still require the warmth of the heat lamp at night, and need our protection against flying predators. Once their real feathers come in, and they are able to fly away to escape the clutches of hungry predators, then we need to find them a goose family to live with. Luckily we live in such a wonderfully beautiful place where wildlife outnumbers people. I am sure we can find a lovely new home for them. For right now, we will continue to practice being gosling mommas and love and protect these little guys. And I will continue to fill your Instagram and Facebook feeds with adorable pictures!

Farmer's Market Season

Farmer's Market Season starts this Saturday, May 19, 2018 at the Norfolk Farmers Market!

We are so excited to start our summer season of Farmer's Markets with the Norfolk Market. So starts the busyness of the season, planning, baking, making crafts and then more baking in order to fill orders, stock the farm store and have enough to bring to all of our customers at the farmer's markets. Don't worry- we are planning to bring back some of the favorite baked goods you have come to enjoy!

We are also very excited to be able to offer our new and improved Insect and Tick Repellent. A local fisherman, Rob Merly, wrote an excellent review of our all natural bug spray in a fisherman journal in New Hampshire, and so the news of our bug spray has been spreading near and far. Not only is it all natural (you could drink it if you want, and certainly use it on your babies and puppies!) but it apparently also does not degrade your waders! The perfect combination for an avid river fisherman! So useful to protect oursevles and our pets from pesky ticks that spread illness! We can't share the exact recipe, but rest assured that it is made from all natural essential oils and has a lovely scent that is appropriate for all ages and for all types of dogs as well. We spray our house pup everytime he goes out and the ticks don't want to have anything to do with him!

Join us at the Farm Store (Saturday's 9-4pm or Sunday's 9-12pm) and the Norfolk Farmer's Market (Saturday's 10-1pm) throughout the season. Looking forward to seeing you!

Spring has Finally Sprung, Maybe!

We are so excited to see Spring on the Farm again! The winter weather has definitely come to an end and spring showers have been a constant through the month of April. We have had beautiful Saturdays at the Farm Store, and Sundays have been wet and dreary- but that is ok- the showers have brough forth the flowers on the trees, bushes and ground, so who can complain! Finally green grass, leaves are budding, flowers are blooming. We have huge smiles!

Spring also brings babies. We rescued two goslings on our farm last week. Ella has completely taken over their care, and they follow her around like she is their mother. They are awfully sweet. The sweetest part of them is their webbed feet and the little slapping noises they make while they follow Ella all over the house. Ok, well, they also like to snuggle in your arms or on your lap, and that is pretty sweet too.

We put together beautiful herb planters for sale at the farm store. We found lovely terra cotta planters that were telling us they desperately wanted to look pretty with herbs. We obliged and now they have adorned our Farm Store (and some lucky Mother's homes!) with greenery.

The Cherry Trees are in full bloom. It is so exciting to anticipate the little red lovely cherries when you see all of the lovely white blossoms. Even with the rain today the flowers look beautiful.

On the first really warm day, Ella and I cleaned the screen porch and got ready for our annual tradition of painting our toenails. Of course going to a spa sounds good too, but we love the fan gently blowing air from above, the feeling of being outdoors but without the bugs and the overall sense of calmness that comes from sitting back on a porch.

Welcome Spring!

A little post about Hygge

My new favorite word is Hygge. The Danish word means many things, many things to different people.  Hygge promotes coziness and feelings of relaxation and meditation by using light to create atmosphere (preferably candlelight), being present with those around you (turing off your cell phone), creating pleasure with food and drink (YUM!), giving gratitude for those around you, (being thankful is one of those things that is often overlooked but can create such joy) being comfortable with comfy clothes (for someone who wears pantyhose and grown up shoes to work everyday, I love the idea of yoga pants and sweaters) and relaxing with your family and friends (or whoever relaxes you!).

The coziness of my soul in winter when I surround myself with different textured yarns is what Hygge means to me. During wintertime, the bustle of the farm and the bakery slow down enough so that I can relax and think of new things to make and create. I am able to relax from the business of the holiday season, and the stress of the farming season, and just settle in to being myself again, and enjoy my family, time and creativity. Hygge

During our busy season, I long for the cold winter nights to spend time crocheting or creating a new project. This winter I am focusing on warm and cozy articles of cozy warmness including shawls, scarfs and cowls. It has been an experience in crocheting happiness!

I understand that when the farm store opens in the springtime most folks will be shedding the coziness of winter and longing for short sleeves. I anticipate that the coziness that I am creating this winter will not be coveted come spring. However, some of the articles are so beautiful that they will be irresistible despite the thoughts of warmer weather!
 

I tried a new technique this winter called Tunisian Crochet. I watched many a YouTube video to understand what I was doing. It is almost knitting, though folks who knit would probably disagree. Having been unable to teach myself knitting, I opted for Tunisian Crochet. It was alot of fun learning new stitches and working with such a luxiouriusly thick soft yarn. The shawl is beautful. I plan on making others in soft, warm snuggly colors!

Here's to a New Year!

Whew! The holiday season flew by, without a post of thanks and merriment from Berry and Vine! I can say, Happy New Year! I say happy new year until at least the 15th of the month, so I am still on time! Happy New Year and Thank You for making this year so wonderful for us at B&V and The Grassy Knoll Farm!

Even though the holiday season is over, sweet sugar cookies fill our dreams as we start this new year! We put together many a cookie plate and cookie packages this year, not only for Christmas, but also for the farm store and farm truck all season long.

Planning has started for our new season in 2018! We are looking forward to growing, crafting, making and baking for you. I am looking forward to expanding the time I spend on blogging, and bringing you more posts, more recipes and more insight into the farm and the life that revolves around all the growing, crafting, making and baking that happens here.

The Grassy Knoll Farm Test Kitchen will be in full swing this winter, trying new recipes and planning a new treat menu for the farm store, farm truck and even our wholesale friends!

Thank you again, from the bottom of our hearts.

Love,

 Teresa, Jason and Ella Fuller

Babydoll Southdown Sheep Yarn

These lovely all natural colored skeins of wool yarn were made from the wool of our own Babydoll Southdown sheep! Babydoll Southdown sheep fleeces can be made into beautiful wool for lots of different kinds of wool projects. When we started our small flock, we were definitely thinking ahead to the future wool we would be crafting with. Like everyone on the farm, the babydolls have many jobs on the farm, including mowing between the grapevines and fertilizing as they munch. Their wool is a bonus for us, and I am thinking particularly welcomed for them, as they get pretty wooly and need fresh hair cuts each spring.

First, of course, is the shearing. We knew we wouldn't have time to do this ourselves (or the time to learn how to shear). We were lucky enough to have friends who led us to a family owned, "we come to you" sheep shearing service . The father of the business was teaching his sons the trade. This year, two of the sons came to shear our six lovely ladies. I was working at the Farm Store that morning when they stopped by and asked if they could drive up and start the shearing. They headed up, and came right back down a few minutes later. I knew they couldn't possibly be done already. One of the kids looked at me and said, "is the dog going to let us touch the sheep?". I had forgotten that Hughy was in the pen with the sheep instead of being right outside. Of course, Hughy is a ferocious dog when it comes to bears and coyotes, but for humans, he is just one big white teddy bear. Of course Hughy will let them touch and shear the sheep! He just might want to nuzzle and snuggle all the while.

The Babydolls get pretty woolly come spring. Their eyes are almost not visible through all of the fleece.  Babydoll sheep are very gentle and not aggressive. In order to shear them, the shearers sit them up and lean them back like they are sitting in a lounge chair. Immediately, the baby dolls practically go to sleep and let the shearers move them all around and do the business of shearing off their fleeces. They might not like the process of getting the wool removed from their skin, but when it is over, they must feel like a million bucks!

Babydoll sheep are short and small in stature, about 18-24 inches tall. We saved their fleeces for a number of years, before we had enough to bring to the mill for cleaning, carding and spinning. We researched small family owned mills for the perfect fit. We needed a small mill that would procees our fleeces seperate from others so that we only received our own sheep wool. Larger fiber companies can't guarantee that they can keep your fleece seperate. This was important to us. We wanted to be able to label our crafts as being fashioned with the wool from our sheep. 

Still River Mill in Eastford Connecticut 

Still River Mill's Cashmere Goat

We found Still River Mill. The Still River in Eastford Connecticut has historically serviced many woolen mills, starting in the 1800's. The Still River Mill is a family owned business started in 2004. Greg and Deirdre, the owners, raise sheep and goats on their small farm in the village of Eastford and have over 15 years of experience working with a number of different animal fibers. 

Greg and Deirdre wrote, "Our aim is to conform to organic wool processing practices and standards. This means using environmentally friendly, low impact and organic detergents for scouring, organic processing oils, water soluble grease and oil to lubricate the machines and using appropriate treatment of waste water."

We knew that our wool would be safe and be safe for us to use in their trusted hands. They also take care to keep fleeces seperate as they work with them, so we knew that this was the mill for us!

Carding Machine at Still River Mills

To process the wool, the fibers are first cleaned and then carded. The carding machine basically combs the wool to remove any additional dirt or twigs missed during the cleaning process. The carding machine keeps combing the fibers until the fleece is turned into fluffy fiber roving or batts. The roving can then be spun into skeins of yarn. Baby doll wool is in the 19 to 22 micron range, very near to that of cashmere, so it can be used for wool projects which can be worn close to the skin and won't be itchy or uncomfortable. Some of our wool from the baby dolls was not of very high quality, so taking their advice, we elected to keep some as batting which can be used to stuff our handmade wool crocheted animals or can be used in our needle felting projects- our animal on a pinecone series of Christmas ornaments. Some of the wool was kept its natural color and spun into thick, beautiful yarn skeins. Other wool, suitable for spinning, was left as roving. This roving, I am hoping will allow for my friend to teach me the art of spinning!

Strand of Yarn at Still River Mills

Strand Machine at Still River Mills

Not only am I excited for trying my hand at dyeing and spinning the wool, but I am also thrilled to be able to craft using the wool from our baby doll sheep. I look forward to crocheting and needle felting using our wool all winter long. It may not seem like anything too exciting, but for us, growing something from seed, making something from scratch, or crafting with something that we have taken care of, nurtured, helped birth, fed, watered and sheared is pretty cool.

Everybody Loves Blueberries!

Everybody loves blueberries. It is one of our favorite times of the year! Blueberry Time!  We of course, wait with bated breath for the blueberries to ripen. There are many days of waiting once the little green berries appear. We love wandering through the bushes looking at all the beautiful bunches of blueberries, dying for them to ripen. This year we had some fabulous bunches of blueberries that almost looked like bunches of grapes hanging from the bush. We love the fact that we have to protect the bushes from our song bird friends just like we did for the cherry trees. Everyone is waiting for the blueberries to arrive!

Once they ripen, we love picking them and dropping them into our little tin pails (and then rereading our most beloved childrens stories, Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey). We love snacking on them as we move along the blueberry patch. One thing we did not expect however was how much our Australian Shepard Jake would love them. So much in fact that we have caught him snacking on blueberries right off the bushes when he thought no one was looking! Who can blame him?  Apparently, that is my fault, so it shouldn't come as a surprise. Jake not only likes blueberries, but also loves snacking on carrots and green beans (he hasn't figured out how to self pick those out of the garden, yet). One afternoon while I was making lunch, I slipped him a blueberry so he would stop begging, and his love of blueberries began!

We love to put our fresh blueberries in many of our baked goods in the bakery, including these scrumptious hand pies.We use a simple all butter crust, concoct a sweetly seasoned blueberry filling and then smother them in raw sugar to obtain the perfect hand held blueberry pie! We often use any kind of berry we have around the farm. A few weeks ago we had plenty of blackberries from a neighbor and threw those in with some raspberries and blueberries for a mixed berry hand pie. These fly off the shelf at the Farm Store and Farmers Market! They are absolutely the perfect size to eat right out of your hand while you shop at the market.

Putting together a classic blueberry pie is a skill that takes time to develop. There were many failed, runny pies in our past! A couple of tricks that we have used include making the pie crust the night before you want to make the pie, so that the flour, butter and liquid have time to blend together and the gluten has time to rest. The filling needs a little bit of precooking so that it gels and comes together as well. Once the pie is filled, and your top crust is perfectly placed, then we let the whole thing rest in the fridge while the oven preheats. That final resting and cooling, I believe is what helps hold the pie together.

Classic Blueberry Pie

Recipe adapted from The Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book by the Elsen Sisters

The Classic All Butter Crust

(Recipe makes enough for a 9 or 10 inch double crust pie - make the night before you want to make the pie, so the gluten has time to rest and the flavor of the vinegar has time to develop)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 cup cold water

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 cup ice

Stir dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add butter pieces, toss to coat and using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour misture until the butter is the size of peas

Combine water, vinegar and ice (helps to keep the mixture cold- heat is the enemy- you want the butter to stay whole, not melt into the flour). Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons over the flour mixture and cut it in using a scraper or spatula. Slowly add more of the liquid mixture until the dough comes together in a ball with some dry bits still visible. Shape the ball into two discs, flatten each disc in between its own plastic wrap- at this stage, I like to use the rolling pin to flatten the ball inside the plastic wrap, then place in the fridge.

The Blueberry Filling

On pie making day, roll out one disc of dough for the bottom crust, place in your pie pan and put back in the fridge while you prepare the inside of the pie.

1 small baking apple (shredded with a large hole box grater)

6 cups blueberries

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup granulated sugar (we use an organic raw sugar)

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

3 tablespoons ground arrowroot or corn starch

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss till all berries are coated. Take about 2-3 cups of the berry mixture and place in a sauce pan over medium heat until the berries start to break down and the mixture thickens. Once thickened, combine with the other berries. Now, you can fill your pie shell and dress the top of your pie however you would like. We enjoy the weave patterns, sometimes with very thin strips, sometimes with very thick strips of dough. We like a more rustic looking farm pie, so we have very pinched sides that offer up solid, eat with your hand crusts.

Once your pie is together, place back in the fridge for 10-15 minutes as you preheat the oven to 425 F.

Once the oven is ready, brush your pie with one egg wisked with a little water and pinch of salt and sprinkle the entire pie with raw sugar until you think the pie can't take any more sugar on top (trust us- it is fabulous!).

Place the pie on a baking sheet on the lowest rack of the oven for 15 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 375 F, move the pie up to a middle rack and bake for another 20-30 minutes, or until the desired deep golden brown. Again, we like a more rustic looking pie, so we tend to have some edges be very brown.

Completely cool on a wire rack for 2 to 3 hours. Serve warm or at room temperature (preferably with a vanilla bean ice cream- oh! we made that once! Another blog post...). The pie will keep refridgerated for 3 days or at room temperature for 2 days.

I hope that you enjoy making your blueberry pie as much as we do. Enjoy the taste of summer!