ST. FIACRE'S FARM
  • Shop
    • Tea >
      • Clearance
      • Herbal Tea
      • Black Tea
      • Green Tea
      • Rooibos Tea
      • Chai Tea Blends
      • Wellness Teas
      • Iced Tea Favorites
      • FarmHouse Teas
      • Winter & Christmas Teas >
        • Fall Tea Favorites
    • Kombucha Teas & Flavorings >
      • 1st Ferment Kombucha Teas
      • Kombucha Flavoring Packs (2nd Ferment)
      • Kombucha Flavoring Kits
    • Drinking Chocolate
    • Natural Skin Care >
      • Salves & Balms
      • Lip Balms
    • Gift Sets
    • Tea Accessories
    • Artisan Foods
    • Spice Blends
  • Tea Club
    • Join the Club
    • Gift A Subscription
    • Tea Subscription Members Area
  • Blog
    • Videos
    • Recipes
    • Brewing Kombucha
    • Farm Updates
    • Milling Flour
    • Nutrition
  • About
    • Events
    • Meet our Farms
    • Retail Locations
    • Press
    • Herbal Classes
    • Contact >
      • Wholesale
    • Disclaimers >
      • Disclosure
      • Medical Disclaimer
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of Service >
        • Gift Subscriptions

Down on the Farm - March 2016

3/29/2016

0 Comments

 
March will be finishing up here soon and April is headed on in. We have also had some beautiful sun breaks but a whole lot of that liquid sunshine has been coming our way. That along with a thunderstorm or two and all the plants are looking vividly green and the leaves on the trees are coming on out. Many of the trees and plants are blooming, Spring is here for sure!
Picture
Picture
Picture
Check out all the blossoms on those cherry plum trees!!!
Picture
Picture
Picture

In the hoop house...

Picture
Not too much change in the hoop house through the month. We had some good planting weather in February with plenty of sunshine. Since then its been wet, very wet with not much sun and most of our seedlings and plants are fairy stagnant for now. The cool weather crops don't seem to mind too much and there are still plenty of bugs after our tiny plants.
Picture
The radishes are coming along here and there. We seem to have some bugs enjoying them before we get to them. The joy of gardening ;)
Picture
Our musclin salad mix is coming up here and there. Enough so that we are using some in our salad mix. Looks like its time to interplant a bit more seed for those bare spots. Also time to bring the salt out for those lovely Oregon slugs!
Picture
Baby kale, a favorite in our parts and it seems hard to keep enough of it around. These little spouts are near ready to harvest which means its time to get our third section of kale going!
Picture
Overwintered cabbage seems be doing more sprouting up than out. But it sure is beautiful! Those green sprouts in-between which look like two blades of grass are baby onions which should help keep bugs off of our cabbage.

Whats growing outside...

Picture
Our currant bush is blooming for the first time! We had a bush many many years ago and moved right when it finally was producing enough berries to do something with. Sadly we never took it with us so we are excited to have this new bush blooming.
Picture
No its not grass ;) Our chives have made a come back after being without water through our hot summer and having the chickens scratching around them. A nice little plant to have outside our door for fresh garnish.
Picture
Spearmint, no killing this stuff. No one would know this was two little small plants from the store only a couple of years ago. Time to dehydrate and add to our Bloom'n Hibiscus Tea!!

The farm animals ...

Picture
Hi Rosco... yes you can have some yummy grain but after the chickens get theirs!
Picture
Feeding frenzy... what happens when their feeder doesn't get filled!

The Fermentation Station ... 

Picture
This week we start a new adventure in our kombucha brewing. Sadly our homemade starter from GT's Kombucha turned into a vinegar scoby and we have been drinking vinegar for a few weeks :( Thankfully we received a Tibetan Scoby that is working out wonderfully. Much better tasting! We are second fermenting the tea here with some Pinot Noir grapes from Thistle Hill Vineyards.
Picture
Picture
Our new baby socby and the mother that was shared with us a couple weeks ago. Looking good and health waiting for their new batch of tea!
Picture
Time for continuous brew kombucha tea!
Picture
Despite our vinegar kombucha its still mighty fizzy and active. This one sort of surprised us with a lot of fizz! Flavored with elderberries, rose hips and ginger.

In the farm kitchen...

Picture
My first attempt at a lemon merging pie. It turned out tasty but needs some work on getting the layers to stay together. One way of many to use all those farm eggs!
Picture
Naturally fermented sourdough hot cross buns (old school variety without the fruit and sweet stuff) for Good Friday.
Picture
Picture
Eggs, Eggs, Eggs, and more Eggs! Go chickens go! We had quite the amount of meals with eggs in them last week I might say. Its time to get our little egg stand down at the end of the farm driveway.
Picture
Dinner... salad and quiche ;) Minus the chicken poo.. thats just how you know the eggs fresh!
Picture
Naturally fermented sourdough bread for the Feast of Saint Patrick to go with our Vegetarian Irish Stew and Green Matcha Shortbread.

What's New in the Farm Store and
​Behind the Scenes

Picture
A new batch of Granny's Everything Salve great for cuts, scrapes, bumps, sore muscles, burns and more! A family recipe handed down many generations, order your tin today!
Picture
Our Lymph Salve seems very popular this month. Great for use on the skin where ever lymph nodes are present such as the neck glands, arm pits and popular with those fighting breast cancer.
Picture
In the coming months we will be switching our loose leaf teas over to this lovely stand up bags. A lovely way to see all the tea leaves and herbs as well as resealable for easy use.
Picture
The melting pot... no not the fondue chocolate kind. This concoction is a new batch of Arnica Salve melting away great for bumps and bruises with lovely ingredients such as coconut oil, arnica and shea butter.
Picture
In-between days of rain and more rain we got occasional sun in which we took advantage of to stain wooden crates for our display at the Salem Saturday Market! We will be there in April on the 9th. If you are local come by and say hi!

Thanks for visiting our little family farm ...

Picture
0 Comments

Down on the Farm - February 2016

2/26/2016

1 Comment

 

Farm Animals … 

Picture
Farm Girl #2 was enjoying a visit with our pigmy goat, Rosco, through our newly fenced pasture. Nothing brings us more joy than to see our children running around in their rain boots enjoying God's green earth and the creatures that He created.
Picture
Picture
The children were not the only one enjoying the newly fenced pasture. Our two pigmy goats and our chickens are rather fond of their free ranging time.
Picture
Some chicken thinks she is going to get into the greenhouse and enjoy some treats. I think not!

Foodstuffs & Farm Kitchen … 

Picture
I'm not sure about you all but I always enjoy seeing people's kitchens and how they are organized especially if they do a lot of cooking/baking and preserving! Here is a little peek at our farm kitchen where we bake our wild yeasted sourdough bread, brew our kombucha, preserve our garden produce and make our herbal teas and salves.
Picture
Speaking of kombucha here is a weeks worth of brew. Our flavor experiments this round include Apple Pie, Lemongrass Hibiscus, Cayenne Ginger and Elderberry Lavender. I think the Elderberry won this round. But the Cayenne Ginger came in handy when we caught head colds! Worked great :)
Picture
This is NOT a ferment… or at least it was not intended to be. We started placing all of our orange peels in vinegar to use as a homemade cleaner. It seems to be forming a scoby on top though so who knows. Time to strain and use!
Picture
Our many warm weather days this month had us out in the green house more than inside the farm house. This is what happened the day I decided to plant starts and forgot about my bread. It was more than ready to go in the oven!
Picture
Spring is here down on the farm and we have plenty of greens for our nightly salad! Chickory, beet leaves, spinach and kale, oh my! Nothing "beets" home grown greens! Except for maybe some free range pastured chicken eggs and daily baked sour dough bread. God has sent abundant gifts and we are thankful!
Picture
What's the difference in free range pastured eggs… checkout the color in this weeks quiche! This is dairy free so all the color is from those bright yellow pastured yokes! Thanks Henny Penny, Boss, Thinner the Red, Thinner the Black and the rest of our egg laying crew!

In the Greenhouse … 

Picture
We planted snap peas the start of February and here they come up already just the first week into the month! Lov'n that sunshine!
Picture
And another week later…. they are growing like 'weeds'…
Picture
The Greenhouse the beginning of February from the front end… our first set of peas as pictured above are in the farm back middle row, the others are a week later or so. Plenty of beets, chicory, spinach, lettuce, and rutabagas in the back.
Picture
Grow peas grow! They seem as anxious for spring as the rest of us!
Picture
Time to put some string up for those peas to start climbing! Praying we have a great harvest with plenty to put up in the freezer.
Picture
Oh sunshine how we love you!
Picture
Our first cutting of greens for our nightly salad. The most tender kale we have had with some huge spinach leaves!
Picture
Nothing more pretty than full garden boxes in the greenhouse!
Picture
One of my favorite places to be, working in God's soil with His plants out in the sunshine!
Picture
Starting our summer plants to go in the outdoor garden. Zucchini, asparagus, buttercup squash, spaghetti squash, tomatoes, purple and green tomatillos with more seeds on the way.
Picture

In the Farm Store … 

Picture
We are happy to announce that all of our handcrafted herbal products are now available in our very own herbal farm store! Click this picture to visit or the link at the top of the page.
Picture
A fresh batch of Orange Jasmine Green Tea is in our shop. This robust tea has a light fruity twist with goji berries that are sure to pack a great nutrient punch!
Picture
We made up a large batch of our super useful Baby Bum and Body Balm. This is the all natural and organic diaper rash cream to have! Also great to use on cradle cap or dry skin batches on your baby or any other loved one. Click photo to read more.

From our family and farm to yours...

May your family enjoy all the blessings God sends and hopefully He has sent some sunshine your way today. Thanks for visiting our little family farm!
Picture
1 Comment

Simply Sourdough - A Tutorial

1/5/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
~*~ This post contains affiliate links, we receive a small percentage from readers who purchase via our links. Thank you for helping to support our blog and our farm! ~*~
"The chief things for man's life is water and bread, and clothing, and a house to cover shame." Ecclesiasticus XXIX, 27. Today we are sharing our recipe for the staff of life, that foodstuff that man has had for thousands of years, bread. But in our day and age bread seems to be on the list of things not to eat. It seems there may be many reasons for that as the type of bread many tend to eat in our time is different from what use to be eaten. In our previous blog post on Milling At Home Joseph Husslein S.J. Ph D. shows how just by the way wheat is milled takes our "staff of life" and turns it into something other than a healthful food stuff. 

Going down Father Fahey's list of 12 Factors of Proper Nutrition we are going to touch on numbers 10 and 11 today with our sourdough tutorial: proper preparation of food and proper cooking of food.

What is so special about sourdough bread? According to the all knowing Wikipedia, "Sourdough is the fermentation of dough using naturally occurring lactobacilli and yeast." Prior to the use of commercial yeast (bread yeast typically purchased for bread making) sourdough starter was how families baked their daily bread. Sourdough starter uses a natural leaving that takes the naturally occurring yeast from the air when flour and water are mixed together. This is what makes the bread rise in a sour dough recipe. Most sourdough breads purchased or served in a restaurant do not use this method but add other agents to mimic the flavor of sourdough.

Why is all of this important? Sourdough starter not only makes the bread rise without having to purchase a commercial man made yeast but it also helps to make bread more nutritional. The lactobacilli (the yeasts and bacterias) digest the sugars in the wheat, they give off gas in the process making the bubbles in the starter/bread dough which make it rise. When these lactobacilli eat the sugars they are "pre-digesting" the bread for us which makes it easier for us to digest. It also prepares the nutrients in the wheat for us so that we get more out of our wheat than we would have had these bacteria and yeasts not started the job for us. This study from the US National Library of Medicine shows that souring the bead reduces gluten and may be helpful to those who are gluten intolerant. In our own personal experience we don't have the bloating that is associated with eating yeasted bread and the whole wheat sourdough also ties us over to the next meal much longer. When we have gone back to a commercial yeasted bread we feel as if we didn't eat much and continue to feel hungry, in return eating more.

So without further ado, we present our family sourdough recipe. This recipe has been a labor of love in the making for about 4 years. One downside to sourdough is that it isn't a scientifically made commercial yeast. Meaning that it isn't a straight forward consistent item to use in the kitchen. It has been said that sourdough making is an art and there are as many ways to use this lovely starter as there are recipes in Russia for borsch, recipes in the US for potato salad and recipes in Bulgaria for Shopska Salad (as every country has its dish! Our children are adopted from these…). With that I will say this recipe might not work for every starter and every situation but it is what has been working for our family for 6 months almost without fail after 4 years of many sourdough bricks! I must also send a thank you to all those family members who have helped give tips along the way! To my sister-in-laws, cousin and aunt who put up with all my questioning and probing. This recipe is a combination of all of those tips and much reading and research. 

Grind your Wheat!
​(Or Sub Store bought)

Picture
Picture
Picture
~*~ Important to note that this recipe starts the night before I want to bake bread, more on timing options will be discussed at the end of this post.  ~*~

download printable Recipe here

Step 1- Grind 6 cups Wheat or skip this step for pre ground flour
This recipe makes two large loaves. I grind about 6 cups of organic hard red wheat berries which I order from Azure Standard but any hard red wheat will do. If you are buying pre ground flour from the store (Winco, Roth's, Fred Myer) I would recommend getting Bob's Red Mill brand of whole wheat.

​
To grind wheat please follow the directions that came with the mill that you have. We started out with a hand crank Wondermill Jr. mostly because we thought it would be great to have something that didn't require power. Then the official wheat grinder became tired and so we invested in our lovely electric wheat grinder, the Nutrimill, which we have had about 6 years now.

Measure out the starter

Picture
Picture
Step 2- Measure out 1 1/2 cups Sourdough Starter
After trying to make our own starter from scratch (just flour and water, feeding equal amounts for a week) we opted to just purchase a starter from Cultures for Health. In this tutorial we are using their Whole Wheat Desem Starter which has worked great for us. I've killed it twice I think but always save some, dehydrated, for back up. Either follow the directions for the Cultures for Health starter, make your own or get some from a friend. Perhaps another post will be up on all those details. For the purpose of this tutorial though have your starter ready to go, fed at least 1-3 days before. We like to keep ours in the fridge. I take out what I need then feed it equal parts flour and water enough to fill my canning jar and put it right back in the fridge.

Measure out 1 to 1 1/2 cups of sourdough starter into a large glass bowl (sourdough will eat stuff stuck in plastic bowls and metal is a debatable material).

Add flour, starter and water

Picture
Step 3- Add 2 cups flour, 2 cups purified water to the 1 1/2 cups sourdough starter

To the bowl which you placed your sourdough starter add 2 cups of your ground or bought whole wheat flour and 2 cups of filtered or purified water. City water/tap water won't work well for this as the chorine that is added and other chemicals isn't good for the sourdough starter and may kill the only thing you have to rise your bread. Mix until well incorporated. Let this set for 8-12 hours. I mix mine before bed about 9:30 pm the night BEFORE I want to bake. Then the lactobacilli have plenty of time to do their thing (eat those sugars and digest the gluten). At about 9:30 am the next morning I move on. This step takes about 5-10 minutes. I cover my bowl with an Uber lid or any reusable bowl lid that doesn't seal tight like these. I was using plastic wrap but when you make bread every day or every other day it just seemed like an unnecessary waste. A cloth towel works ok but in the summer fruit flies snuck their way in.

Mix in the remainder of ingredients

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Step 4- Add 1/4 cup raw honey, 2 cups of filtered water, 2 tsp sea salt & 6-7 cups of whole wheat flour.

After the sponge (mix of water, flour, starter) has sat 8-12 hours I dump it into my Kitchen Aid mixer and add 2 cups of filtered water (again the starter likes pure water), 1/4 cup of raw honey (the best kind to use with the most nutrition, local if possible), and 2 tsp. of sea salt (we prefer RealSalt full of minerals and no additives). I give the mixer a little short run to blend that together then add my 6-7 cups of flour. The flour amount depends on how watery your starter was, how fresh your flour is (more flour if fresh less if bought) and the how warm or cold the weather is. The dough should be wet but shouldn't make a squishy should when you pinch it. Sourdough prefers a wet dough and you can usually add some later in the process but you don't want it too wet or the bread won't rise well. The fourth picture in the set above shows how it should look. This will probably be more wet than a dough that is made with yeast at this point. The whole wheat takes a while to soak up the water so it will need to be more wet.

Once you have your flour mixed in I rinse out the large bowl that was used for the sponge and give it a quick wipe down with a clean cloth napkin. Pour about 1 1/2 tbl. of oil in the bowl to grease it. Then transfer the dough from the mixer into that large bowl. I cover it with my Uber lid and let it sit about 4 hours. The timing on this will also depend on the warmth or coolness of the house. On cold days it might go longer than 4 hours though generally that doesn't happen with ours. On hot summer days I have to watch it, it could go in an hour or so. If its really cold sometimes it gets to snug close to the wood stove. It can also be placed in the fridge if the baker will be busy longer than 4 hours. (Read I ran to town and didn't make it back ;)  ). The coolness of the fridge will slowdown the fermenting process and give the baker some extra time.

At any rate, no matter your condition you are essentially looking for your dough to rise double in size for it to be ready.
Picture
Picture

Knead dough and shape

Picture
Step 5- Knead dough, shape and place in bread pans.

After your dough has doubled in size (for me, the size of the bowl I use and my Uber lid this means when it pushes the Uber lid off the bowl). Once that happens I get out my trusty, could-not-do-without, Pampered Chef Pastry Mat (one of my favorite kitchen tools can you tell?!) I dump out my dough on an oiled mat (if my dough is too wet I use flour instead of oil) and use a pastry knife to cut my dough in half so I have equal parts for two loaves (or close to equal). 

I knead the dough, flattening it out and folding it over itself until it has a nice smooth elastic feeling to it. I estimate this takes less than 5 minutes for each ball of dough. The sourdough starter does such a good job at digesting the gluten that it almost kneads it for me. I usually knead one half let it rest while I knead the other. Let the second set rest while I shape the other into a loaf.
Picture
Picture
To shape the loaf I turn the ball of dough on its smooth top side, and then flatten it and shape it with my fingers into a rectangle. I then slowly roll from the top to the front making sure to push down slightly as I roll to keep air bubbles from showing up and creating holes in the loaf when it bakes.
Picture
Picture
Once it is rolled and folded I tuck in the ends, flip it over and make sure the seam is sealed by pinching it together. Then rub some olive oil on the top to keep it from drying out and in the summer it keeps the fruit flies off. I grease my Good Cook Stoneware Bread pans with olive oil and place the shaped loaves in the pans to rise a second time. While the Good Cook Stoneware is working great for us they are wearing down on me after 4+ years and I have some Pampered Chef Stoneware Bread Pans on my wish list! Why stoneware? It cooks really well, very evenly, holds heat well, makes a nice crispy golden brown outside and its made natural materials that won't leach into the food that is baking in it. Just a few reasons we love stoneware!

Picture
Picture

Bake that beautiful staff of life

Picture
Picture
Step 6- Bake both loaves at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

For our average oven this tempature and time are perfect, every time. Everyones ovens are different though so a good tempature for bread is about 190 degrees on a meat thermometer. When the bread is done I remove it and then turn it out of the pan onto a baking rack to let it cool. I brush some olive oil over the top for a little less rustic look and it browns the top a bit while it cools.

​You could slice right away but the longer it has the cool the better. Hot bread (which is really hard not to cut right into!) will be super moist and will mush together when you try to cut it. A couple of hours would probably be the perfect amount of time to wait. This recipe makes a great sandwich bread. Its very hearty, healthy and simple!

Not everyone is home all day long to bake bread and I admit that timing was really a lot of what took me 4 years to figure this out. For those that work baking many loaves on a Saturday and then freezing them (pre sliced) would be an option. One could also place the dough while in the first rise stage (in the bowl before shaping) in the fridge and then take out when home from work to shape for the last rise. What ever schedule works for your family this bread is a healthful blessing!
Picture

download the printable recipe here

2 Comments

down on the farm - last week of september

9/24/2014

1 Comment

 

In the farm shop … 

Ok so these are not in our shop yet but they should be this coming week. Also coming soon are a line of lip balms and a few more salves as we gear up for the Stayton Christmas and Craft Bazaar on December 6th. Also coming soon are a few tea infusers to use with our loose leaf teas and sample sizes. Please keep a look out in our shop for new items!
Picture
Warming Chai is great for fall and winter (even iced for summer and spring!) A great daily help for protection against cold/flu season and many of the herbs work as a digestive aide. Perfect with some milk (non dairy is our favorite) and a natural sweetener such as real maple syrup, raw honey etc. Even the children love it!
Picture
A warming green tea, this Orange Jasmine is similar to Tazo's Orange Blossom Tea. Complete with calming chamomile and sweet goji berries.

In the greenhouse … 

Picture
We have been having overly warm weather here in Oregon but the rain has shown up this week. I think many of us Oregonian's are welcoming the cooler weather.
Picture
Last week we shared with you the greenhouse once the plastic went up and over. And just a week later….
Picture
… and here we are a week later, talk about some happy plants! They have doubled or more in size and are coming along just great.
Picture
Our radishes that are getting close to harvest!
Picture
Rutabagas!
Picture
Carrots! and a some lettuce that snuck in ...
Picture
Very happy lettuce!
Picture
Sadly all that warm heat we ended up with some surface mold which hopefully by removing and adding some cinnamon we can clear up. We will have to get air moving through their better next time there is so much heat.

 In the kitchen … 

Picture
Whole Wheat Freshly Ground Sugar Cookies for the Feast of St. Linus
Picture
Our first vegetable ferment- cabbage, carrot and zucchini sauerkraut. Day 2 brings us some bubbles and life… we will let you know next week how it went.
Picture
This picture is way more forgiving that this weeks kitchen flop (Sourdough Pizza Ring). I forgot I usually make braids on a silicon sheet on the pan I'm using to bake and went and filled this then tried to move it. Half of it just fell apart. Thanks to St. Anthony it was still edible!
Picture
Our tomatoes are turing red in a hurry so we put them to use this week …
Picture
Chopped and into the crock pot they go!
Picture
A few hours later and a stick blender and we have tomato sauce! Next time I need to cook out some of the water or add tomato paste as it was a little watery.
Picture
Canning… Marionberry/Raspberry Jam
Picture
Herbed Sourdough Breadsticks read for the oven...
Picture
Curried Pumpkin Soup with leftover Herbed Sourdough Bread sticks…. a great lunch for a cold (cooler) day.
1 Comment

down on the farm - last week of august

8/28/2014

4 Comments

 

The Hoop House … 

Picture
The sides/doors are going up on the hoop house! A few more weeks and it should be closed in just in time for fall.
Picture
2/3 of the green house are planted with hopes of finishing up the end of this week. So far we have 3 kinds of lettuce started, carrots, cilantro and kale.
Picture
We have baby lettuce! Its exciting to see something growing in the hoop house!

In the Garden … 

Picture
Amongst the grassy field lies our small pumpkin patch with a few large pumpkins.
Picture
This one takes the cake from the four that are growing. Nice big and round… has me wishing I would have planted pie pumpkins to eat though this should give some pretty good snacking seeds!
Picture
Red Hot Chili Peppers and I don't mean the band. Our two loaded plants are ripening up and getting ready to fill our spice cupboard.
Picture

farm animals … 

Picture
Our newest batch of kittens are getting big! Look at all those BLUE eyes!!! A few weeks from now they will be finding new homes and we will be back down to "just" our 6 cats…..

in the kitchen …. 

Picture
The lavender finally was processed and the stems were turned into fire starters using a left over burlap rice bag and some twine.
Picture
Our sourdough is really happy lately with the double batches of english muffins and so it made for some good cinnamon rolls. Fresh whole ground wheat sour dough- refined sugar and dairy free. Some coconut sugar fills the middle with a little drizzle of raw honey and lots of cinnamon. A double batch of these did not last long around here… especially with their carmel coating on the bottom. Thanks GNOWFGLINS for a super recipe!
Picture
Sour dough on the rise for that double batch of english muffins. Its so fun to see those large air bubbles and happy starter… that means good muffins!
Picture
We canned the last batch of peaches this week with one jar failing… we enjoyed it for breakfast. A good trial to see (now that we are done) perhaps a bit more honey would have made these peaches better.

In the farm store … 

Picture
We have been working on adding teas to our shop this week in anticipation of our grand opening on Saturday. Check out our Bloom'n Hibiscus Blend great for cooling off in the last days of summer. Especially good iced with some raw honey this red blend also goes great with lemonade. Click picture for pricing and details.
Picture
Farmer's Wife blend is perfect for the woman of the house featuring green rooibos and nettle leaf with some bloom'n sweetness! For more details click on the picture.
4 Comments

This Week at the farm- first week of june 2014

6/6/2014

2 Comments

 
Picture
One of our newly planted lavender plants is very lively compared to the others, its in full bloom and beautiful!
Picture
This week we spent some time getting our herbal creations ready to go up on the shop, meet the first round of salves… Lavender Lemongrass Garden Salve. I've been testing it this week after some time in the yard. Click the picture to view more.

The "farm" animals

Picture
After our trip to the strawberry patch this week we found a few of the felines soaking in the sun on the side porch. The calico one is Oscar and I don't think the gray twins have been named yet. I'll have to ask the cat naming department.
Picture
The black kitten is named Bob.

This week in the garden (ours and thiers!)

Picture
This week we took a trip to a local farm and picked strawberries. They sure are yummy!
Picture
Picture
While we were at the local farm we picked up some free range eggs. Love all the colors! Our chicken coop is still in need of repair, perhaps a summer project.
Picture
This week was spent working some more on our Mary Garden. A very weedy and rocky hill slope we dream of turning into tiered herb/flower beds.
Picture
A little bit of bark and weeding goes a long way.
Picture
The calendula are coming up! So excited for those, they are a great herbal healing flower and they are named after the Blessed Mother as they are from the Marigold family.

in the dehydrator

Picture
Sliced banana's, they were on sale at the store this week. It also occupied some bored hands slicing bananas.
Picture
Store bought parsley, our herb garden is small yet and we needed to resupply the spice rack.

in the bakery (aka kitchen)

Picture
Sourdough whole wheat tortillas for dinner. Salves in waiting in the background and some wheat berries.
Picture
Whole Wheat Sourdough Strawberry Shortcake with our freshly ground wheat and fresh picked strawberries. Sugar and diary free - Click to check out the tutorial.
2 Comments

Sourdough strawberry shortcake - dairy & sugar free - tutorial

6/5/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
Earlier this week we made a trip to Fresh to You, a local CSA farm that has a u-pick Strawberry patch. It was neat to get to see some of their 15 acre farm and spend an hour or so in their strawberry patch, which is much more lively than our poor strawberry box suffering from a spring transplant. Perhaps next year we will get our own box of berries from our yard like the box we brought home from Fresh to You!
Picture
Our red berry treasure, along with some other treats- fresh free range eggs and chocolate covered hazelnuts!
Picture
Picture

sourdough strawberry shortcake tutorial

With so many yummy fresh strawberries they were screaming SHORTCAKE! at me. That and they were so perfectly ripe they needed to be used in quick order, so for dessert we had Sourdough Strawberry Shortcake and the rest of the berries are going to be made into jam. This recipe was adapted from GNOWFGLINS sourdough biscuit recipe from their Sourdough E-Course.
Recipe serves about 6-8 people
Ingredients:
3-4 cups  strawberries; washed, hulled & sliced
2-4 t/l organic sugar (for sugar free replace with maple syrup, honey or other sweetener of choice)
1 can full fat coconut cream (We used Trader Joe's Coconut Creme)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the shortcake:
6 tbl solid Coconut Oil 

2 1/2 c. Freshly Ground Soft White Wheat Flour (or if store bought whole wheat pastry flour)

1/2 c. sourdough starter 

3/4 c. Organic Soy Milk (water works as well as any other type of milk)

1 1/2 tsp non-aluminum baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

 2 tbl. organic sugar 
(for sugar free replace with maple syrup, honey or other sweetener of choice.)

1/4 tsp. sea salt (I used Real Salt in this recipe)

grind those wheat berries!

First mill your soft white wheat berries so that you have your 2 1/2 cups of white whole wheat flour. On average when milling wheat berries your flour will be double of the amount of berries that you put in the mill. So if you need 2 1/2 cups of flour 1 1/4 cups of wheat berries should get you that amount. I believe I milled 4 cups here that gave me about twice what I actually needed. With extra just pop it in the freezer and it will stay fresh for a week or more. Grinding your own wheat provides you with lots of vitamins and minerals and makes this dessert even more healthy than it already is. Before you move on pop your can of coconut creme into the fridge or even the night before would be best.
Picture

Mix in sugar and salt

After your wheat is ground, or perhaps you have measured out your store bough whole wheat pastry flour mix it with the 2 tbl. sugar and the 1/4 tsp of sea salt. Sprinkle the sugar and salt over the flour and then mix in thoroughly with a fork, pastry fork, measuring spoon… what ever is handy!
Picture
Picture

Add in the coconut oil… 

Measure out the 6 tbl. of coconut oil. I measure most things by eye, which gets me into trouble some times, at any rate I used a regular tablespoon (one used to eat with) and scooped out what looked like 6 tablespoons. If your coconut oil is not solid before making this recipe pop it in the refrigerator or the freezer for a few minutes before using.

Once your oil is measured out cut it in with a pastry knife or two butter knives… if all else fails fingers work too. Cut it in until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Picture
Picture

now for the fermentation… 

Its time to ferment our shortcake and give it optimal nutrition by breaking down the phytic acid in the wheat, along with the gluten making this tasty treat more digestible. Measure out your 1/2 cup of sourdough starter. Mine this time around was very thick, a little dark on top and very hungry. It was a warm day and looked like it could have used an extra meal. Normally the consistency of my sourdough starter is more watery than this but this worked just fine by adding a little bit more liquid… say 1/8 of a cup or so. Adjust your sourdough starter accordingly. Make sure to feed your starter with equal parts of flour and water after you take from it what you need for this recipe.
Picture

Add the liquid

Once you have measured out your sour dough starter now its time to add your liquid. Using a 2 cup measuring cup makes it easy to add the liquid to your starter and mix it well before adding it to your other dough ingredients. Add your choice of 3/4 c. liquid. Here we used organic soy milk and added about 1/8 c. more to accommodate our dry starter.
Picture
Mix the liquid with your starter throughly so that it is well incorporated. For sourdough to work the starter must be spread through out the entire mass of dough to get a good even rise and fermentation.
Picture

add liquid to dough

In your flour and coconut oil crumbles, make a well in the center and add your liquid mix of sourdough starter and milk. Gently fold in making sure not to mix/stir in the liquid or you will end up with runny soupy dough. Stop when the sourdough mixture is JUST mixed in and form a rugged ball with your dough.

When your dough has been mixed as above, cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let your dough ferment for 4-8 hours depending on how quickly your sour dough is working and the tempature of your house. If its warm as it was at our house the other day it only took 2-3 hours. It had a little more motivation sitting outside. Just make sure if you put it out in the sun that you keep an eye on an critters looking to take a bite.  Such as say a really hungry cat, or some of the two legged kind over anxious for their dessert. Really uncooked sourdough is not very tasty… 
Picture
Picture

Slice up those strawberries!

While this time around I had my trusty kitchen helper, anxious to learn how to cook, slice up our berries… now would be a good time to get those berries sliced. Add your 2-4 tbl. of organic sugar and let them juice a bit. If you want mash them up a little with your pastry knife to speed up the juicing process. For those of you going sugar free either substitute sugar with your dry sweetener or mash up the berries and add a bit of maple syrup or raw honey. Or if you have really good sweet berries perhaps no sweeter at all!
Picture

fermented and ready to bake

Its been 4-8 hours (in our hot sunny day case… 2-3 hours) and our sour dough is fermented and ready to go. How does one know its ready? It will have doubled in size or close to. Your dough will have gone from wet almost too wet, to just moist and looking a little puffy. It will have more of a smooth texture and perhaps a slight sour smell to it though ours was not to that point yet so it could have gone longer if need be. 

If at this point something comes up you can stick the dough in the refrigerator to slow down the fermenting process. It will continue to ferment but at a much slower rate so make sure to use it as soon as you are able. If disaster strikes and there is no way to finish your shortcake then wrap it up in plastic wrap and stick it in the freezer. Just make sure to bring to room temperature before using.

The next step is to spring on the 1 1/2 tsp. of non-aluminum baking powder and the 1/2 tsp. of baking soda. Gently fold in the dry ingredients but do not mix. It will turn into kind of a wet ball and then you can place it in your pie plate for baking. (Or cut for single cakes, like biscuits, place in muffin pans for shortcake cupcakes, even stick in a mini loaf pan for slicing…) Make sure to grease and flour the pan that you are using. 
Picture
Picture
With your fingers, and if really sticky maybe some wax paper, pat down the dough evenly into a greased and floured pie plate. Here we are using a stone ware pie place which I love, they cook so evenly! If you want sprinkle some organic sugar over the top. Pop your shortcake into a pre-heated 450 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes. When done it will be golden brown and puffed and when a toothpick is inserted it will come out clean. 
Picture
Picture

whip the cream and put it together

I apologize as I forgot the pictures while whipping the coconut cream. The best way to whip coconut cream is to make sure first that it is full fat because the fat is what whips and the less there is the harder it is to whip. The second most important thing is to make sure it is cold. Putting the can in the refrigerator (not the freezer, tried that once and it did not work out at all) over night so that the fat can separate from the liquid and make it easy to remove only the fat for your coconut whip. 

Now if you are like me and don't plan that far ahead sometimes the Trader Joe's coconut creme (in the brown can) will whip fine with the liquid in it, sometimes it is already separated at the bottom of the can but it just depends on the can purchased. This time around we had some left over in the refrigerator so it was nice and cold.

Separate the liquid from your creme by scooping the cream out and the liquid should be at the bottom of the can. Once your cream is out whip as you would cows milk whipping cream until the peaks are slightly stiff. Add 1 tsp. of vanilla about half way through and if you want a little powdered sugar, we didn't use the sugar this time around.
Picture
Picture
Once your shortcake has cooled slice (if in cake form) and then cut in half. Place your sliced berries in-between and top with some of your coconut creme. Now its time to enjoy!
1 Comment

 Sourdough english muffins

5/19/2014

3 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Our family started using a sour dough starter about 2 years ago. I forget now how we stumbled upon it but my sister in law and I traded tips on sourdough back and forth for some time. I took a sour dough course online and since then we have been making several things with our starter.

When we started I tried to make my own starter from scratch and after many failed attempts and brick loafs I bought a boxed starter from Cultures for Health. From there on out things went much better. Once a week or more we have sour dough pancakes which are super easy to make and very tasty. We noticed with those right away that we didn't 'feel like a pancake' after eating them like we usually did with the white flour non-sourdough pancakes we had eaten for years . These freshly ground whole wheat sour dough not only tasted better but was easier to digest. We have also had sourdough cake, sourdough pie crust, sourdough muffins, and of course sourdough bread which I'm still trying to master. Today I wanted to share our sourdough English muffins as a favor to a friend that requested it, who would like to make them as well.


Ingredients: (Recipe makes appox. 8-12 muffins)
- 1 cup Active Sour Dough Starter (we are using a whole wheat one in this recipe, though any should do)
- 4-5 cups of freshly ground hard red winter wheat
- 2 cups of milk (here we are using Organic soy but any non-dairy milk or water will work)
- 2 TBL raw honey
- 2 tsp baking soda
-2 tsp sea salt (We love using Real Salt)


A quick note about the flour used in this recipe. If you have a starter that uses a flour other than whole wheat you are welcome to use that type of flour to make your english muffins as sour dough starters prefer the flour they are use to being fed when making baked goods out of it. The starter may act differently if a different type of flour is used. We have always fed ours with hard red winter wheat as when we tried to feed it hard red spring wheat the starter did not grow as well or act as we needed it to. Store bought wheat will work as well but again it may act differently than you see here. 


Freshly milled flour is the best way to utilize all the lovely nutrients that God placed in the wheat berry. Store bought flour, even whole wheat, has the bran and other parts removed to help keep it shelf stable otherwise it would go rancid quickly. The more that the flour you use is in its natural form the more health benefits you will get from it. We have been blessed with a Nutrimill for grinding wheat but have also previously used a Wondermill Jr. which is not electric. I'm afraid our wheat grinders got worn out and that is when we welcomed the electric mill. I highly recommend the Nutrimill, it has done a wonderful and consistent job. Our wheat berries are ordered from Azure Standard and sometimes we get them in the bulk section at Winco who usually carries Wheat Montana brand but our starter has been finicky with that on occasion so we stick with Azure for the most part.

The first step to making Sourdough English Muffins….


The night before or early in the morning mix your 1 cup of active sourdough starter (it does not have to be in its bubbly risen state as with bread but it should have been feed in the last 12 hours or so) with your 2 cups of milk. Once mixed well you will have sort of a thick looking milk with specs from your flour.

Picture
Next….
Add your flour, starting with 3-4 cups. Mix that well and see how sticky or dry your dough is. It will change depending on the freshness of your flour, which flour you are using and how wet your starter was. You want to add enough flour that the dough comes off the mixer bowl but make sure it is still sticky to the touch. Whole wheat flour is going to suck up some of the moisture but later on you will be adding honey that will make it sticky too so it will take some practice. Always err on the side of too wet, you can add it later even though it won't ferment but you can't take it out and will have dry muffins. The dough show here below the pictures is still just a little bit sticky, so I'll add just a little more flour, maybe 1 tablespoon or so.
Picture
Mix it up some more…


While sourdough English muffins don't need to be kneaded, a part I love, I do knead them a little in the mixer. Now that we added our flour I let the mixer knead the dough for a couple of minutes until it all comes off the edge of the bowl and starts to form a nice ball of dough. A quick tip! Make sure that you either wash the mixer/spoon right away or put it in water to soak. Sourdough starter is like glue and is very hard to get off if left to dry. Now its time to take a break! 
Picture
Let the dough ferment…


Sourdough is not like commercial yeast in that it will take one hour to rise and then be ready. Sour dough works on its own time fermenting the dough as it rests. I find that my starter takes about 4 hours, some others say theirs will go 12 hours or something in-between. I have found though that if I let mine go past 4-6 hours that it usually starts to deflate so it will depend on the temperature of the room that the dough is in and how active your sourdough is. 

If its a cold day I like to part it on a little chair in front of the wood stove, or on top of the dehydrater and turn it on low to warm it up or on the back of the stove if I'm baking and heat is coming out of the vent there. The top of the refrigerator is also a warm spot, or even out on the porch if its a sunny day (with plastic wrap over the top or a towel to keep out bugs, and kids fingers! )

Time to get cook'n!


Now that it has been 4 hours or so the sourdough has risen to about double its size. Warm up your griddle and/or frying pan to about 375 degrees. We have an electric griddle that takes care of this size recipe pretty easily with only a couple left for a second round.

Its now time to add the 2 tablespoons of raw honey, 2 teaspoons of baking soda and 2 teaspoons of sea salt. Sprinkle that over the top of your dough and put the mixing attachment back on and mix until all the new items are evenly mixed in. (If you placed your dough in a different bowl its just fine to move it back to the mixing bowl)

Once those are all mixed together, dump your dough out onto a rolling service that is well floured (according to how sticky your dough is). If you want you can use a rolling pin and roll your dough out to about 1/2 inch thick. Usually I just pat out our dough because the amount is rather small and its less to clean that way! Using a biscuit cutter or as we use, a wide mouth canning lid, cut out your muffins. Place your muffins on the griddle or frying pan and cook on a med. low heat until they are nice and brown on one side. About 10-15 minutes or so depending on the consistency of your dough. Then turn the muffins over and do the same to the other side making sure the middles of the muffins on the outside are not squishy before taking them off the griddle. 

Let cool and then slice and toast! They make great mini sandwiches, toast, mini pizzas and more. We mostly use this recipe for the bread in our house because they are simple and easy to make with just a little bit of planning ahead. Enjoy!
3 Comments

    Living Healthy with Tea

    adoptive family, adoption, catholic family blog, catholic farming, family tea time, tea party, large family photo ideas, tea party photo ideas, bridal shower photo booth, tea time attire, tea hats

    Welcome to our Family Tea Farm!

     Howdy from our farm to your home!  It is said that the, "farm is the nursery of the family," and that "the family is the nursery of the nation."  We hope you enjoy your visit to our blog as we share with you the happenings on our little "nursery". Thank you for following us on our journey and watching us GROW! Read more about our farm HERE.

    teavana tea steeper, teavana tea infuser, tea strainer, tea steeper, making tea, tea infuser, loose tea strainer
    tea leaf dishes, tea party cookies, cooking with tea, tea recipes, tea party recipes, what to have for tea, tea drink recipes, tea as a spice,
    herbs and natural remedies, organic herbal products, buy medicinal herbs, herbs online, natural herbal products, herbal health products, herbal products online, organic herbal remedies, natural healing herbs

    Follow us on Instagram!

    Categories

    All
    6 Weeks To Ditching The Grocery Store
    7 Reasons For Eating Seasonably
    About Our Family
    Agri-Industry
    Angelus
    Appetizers
    Aronia Berries
    Aswaganda
    Baking
    Behind The Scenes
    Benefits Of Green Tea
    Benefits Of Herbal Tea
    Blackberry Leaf
    Bleaching
    Borage
    Bread
    Breakfast
    Breakfast Recipes
    Brewing Iced TEa
    Brewing Sun Tea
    Buying Local
    Calendula
    Calories
    Canning Jars
    Cast Iron
    Catholic
    Chamomile
    Cheese
    Cherry City Chai Tea
    Chicken Coop
    Chickens/Eggs
    Children And Farming
    Cinnamon
    Coastal Cranberry Spice
    Coffee Replacements
    Comfrey
    Condiments
    Cooking From Storage
    Cooking With Tea
    Corporations And Food
    Culinary Herbs
    Cultured Foods
    DDT
    Dehydrating
    Deodorant
    Dessert Recipes
    Ditch The Grocery Store
    DIY Food
    DIY Greenhouse
    DIY Skin Care
    Down On The Farm
    Drink Recipes
    Dr. Philip Norman
    Dr. Winston Price
    Eating In Season: Fall
    Eating In Season: Winter
    Eat In Season
    Eat In Season: Fall
    Eat In Season: Spring
    Eat In Season: Summer
    Eat Local
    Echinacea
    Edible Flowers
    Education
    Einkorn
    Ethnic Foods
    Failure In The Garden
    Fall Recipes
    Farmer's Market
    Farmhouse Recipes
    Farm Kitchen Tour
    Farm Life
    Farm Tour
    Feast Days
    Fermentation
    Food Additives
    Four Seasons
    Free Downloads
    From Scratch
    Fruit
    Gardening
    Genmaicha Green Tea
    Ginger
    Gingko Biloba
    Gluten
    Gluten Free
    Goats
    God's Gym
    Gourmet Food Products
    Grand Opening Week
    Greenhouse
    Green Tea
    Grinding Corn
    Grinding Wheat
    Growing From Seed
    Growing In Winter
    Growing Lavender
    Growing Your Own Food
    Guest Posts
    Gunpowder Green TEa
    Harvest Time
    Haskaps
    Health Studies
    Herbal Baby Care
    Herbal Care
    Herbal Coffee
    Herbal DIY
    Herbal Gardening
    Herbal Infant Care
    Herbal Medicine
    Herbs And Plants
    Hibiscus Tea
    History
    Holiday Gift Giving
    Homeschooling
    Homestead Skills
    Homogenized Milk
    Hoop House
    Hospitals And Health
    How To Brew Tea
    How To Say Our Name
    How To Videos
    Infusing
    Interviews
    Jasmine Green Tea
    Know Your Tea
    Know Your Tea Farmer
    Kombucha
    Lambs
    Lavender
    Lemon Balm
    Licorice Root
    Liebster Award
    Lip Balms
    Local Food
    Local Herbal Tea
    Local Tea
    Made In Oregon
    Main Dish Recipes
    Marshmallow Root
    Matcha
    Matcha Green Tea
    Materia Medica
    Meatless Recipes
    Meat Recipes
    Medicinal
    Medicinal Herbs
    Menu Planner
    Milling
    Monograph Monday
    Name Days
    New Products
    New Tea Blends
    No Grocery Store
    Nutrition
    Nutritional Health Prevention
    Nutrition History
    Oregon Farms
    Our Daily Bread
    Patron Of Gardner's
    Patron Of Herbalists
    Pentecost
    Peppermint Tea
    Permaculture
    Planting
    Preservatives
    Preserving Food
    Pressure Cooker
    Printables
    Processed Foods
    Product Reviews
    Pumpkins
    Quick Breads
    Quick Win Wendesday
    Raw Milk
    Recipes
    Rotating Pastures
    Sage
    Salves
    Sauerkraut
    Saving Money
    Savory Recipes
    Savory Scones
    Scone Recipes
    Seasonal Eating
    Self-Suffeciency
    Sencha Green TEa
    Sheep
    Side Dish Recipes
    Skin Care
    Skin Care Recipes
    Small Biz Interviews
    Soap
    Sourdough
    Spinach
    Sprouted Wheat
    Squash
    Steeping Tea
    Steeping Times
    St. Fiacre
    St. Nicholas Day
    Stock Fence
    Stoneware
    St. Valentine
    Sugar Free
    Sugar Scrub
    Sunday Is God's Day
    Sustainable Living
    Tea
    Tea Blends
    Tea Club
    Tea For Acid Reflux
    Tea For Anxiety
    Tea For Colds
    Tea For Energy
    Tea For Heart Health
    Tea For Men
    Tea For Sore Throat
    Tea For Stress
    Tea For Weight Loss
    Tea For Women
    Tea Infusers
    Tea Ingredients
    Tea Mail
    Tea Of The Month
    Tea Pairings
    Tea Press Review
    Tea Recipes
    Tea Reviews
    Tea Skin Care
    Tea Stories
    Tea Studio
    Tea Time
    Tisane Tea Tuesday
    Traditions
    Turmeric
    Tutorials
    Video
    Videos
    Vitamins
    Vlog Trailer
    Von Trapp
    Week In Pictures
    Wheat
    Whole Foods
    Wild Harvesting
    Willamette Berry Pie Tea
    Winter Gardening
    Winter Greens
    Young Farmer Friday
    Zucchini

    Archives

    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

    RSS Feed

    Contributor at the Homestead Bloggers Network
    Winter and Christmas Organic Loose Leaf Teas
    Monthly Organic Tea Subscription
    Kombucha Teas and Kombucha Flavorings
Find it on the Farm!

Shop

Blog

Events

About 
​

Contact
Affiliate Program

Tea Club

Recipes

Classes
Picture
Newsletter

Subscribe to get:coupons, offers, be the first to know what is happening down on the farm.
Subscribe to Newsletter

©2019  St.Fiacre's Farm L.L.C.  | Privacy policy |  disclaimer |  disclosure | terms 

Photos used under Creative Commons from OXLAEY.com, International Livestock Research Institute, blmurch, Wine Dharma, Brian PDX, digiyesica, @lattefarsan, alui0000, BryonLippincott, thrivingmom, snowpea&bokchoi, m01229, Ambernectar 13, Sir. Mo, Thirteen Of Clubs, kurafire, tinyfroglet, grongar, SarahSphar, Lisagnes, Nina J. G.
  • Shop
    • Tea >
      • Clearance
      • Herbal Tea
      • Black Tea
      • Green Tea
      • Rooibos Tea
      • Chai Tea Blends
      • Wellness Teas
      • Iced Tea Favorites
      • FarmHouse Teas
      • Winter & Christmas Teas >
        • Fall Tea Favorites
    • Kombucha Teas & Flavorings >
      • 1st Ferment Kombucha Teas
      • Kombucha Flavoring Packs (2nd Ferment)
      • Kombucha Flavoring Kits
    • Drinking Chocolate
    • Natural Skin Care >
      • Salves & Balms
      • Lip Balms
    • Gift Sets
    • Tea Accessories
    • Artisan Foods
    • Spice Blends
  • Tea Club
    • Join the Club
    • Gift A Subscription
    • Tea Subscription Members Area
  • Blog
    • Videos
    • Recipes
    • Brewing Kombucha
    • Farm Updates
    • Milling Flour
    • Nutrition
  • About
    • Events
    • Meet our Farms
    • Retail Locations
    • Press
    • Herbal Classes
    • Contact >
      • Wholesale
    • Disclaimers >
      • Disclosure
      • Medical Disclaimer
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of Service >
        • Gift Subscriptions
Live Chat Support ×

Connecting

You: ::content::
::agent_name:: ::content::
::content::
::content::