Thursday, October 21, 2010

The Robert Miller Home


My favorite professor in college, Dennis Dailey, held a tour of his home last weekend. It's not just any home either. It's the only house on record in Lawrence to be part of both the Underground Railroad and Quantrill's Raid. The Lawrence Preservation Alliance, of which my husband recently became a board member, sponsored this event at the Robert Miller Home which was built in 1858. Not only has this house been preserved in its original form, but Dennis and his wife have the most incredible collections of time appropriate Kansas paraphernalia. They have tons of framed black and white photos from the late 1800s, a gorgeous Native American beadwork collection and plenty of Jayhawks from all time periods. Many of the collectables were framed with explanations better than many museums I've been to.






This 100 year old barn sits behind the house.


The house sits on 5 acres of land.




An outhouse!


The original builder etched his name and date in 3 bricks on the side of the house, Matthew Shaw, 1859.










Monday, October 18, 2010

Sweat.


The sweat lodge (also called purification ceremony, sweat house, medicine lodge, medicine house, or simply sweat) is a ceremonial sauna and is an important event in some North American First Nations or Native American cultures. There are several styles of sweat lodges that include a domed or oblong hut similar to a wickiup, or even a simple hole dug into the ground and covered with planks or tree trunks. Stones are typically heated in an exterior fire[1] and then placed in a central pit in the ground. (from Wikipedia)

My best friend, Josh, built a sweat lodge for his birthday and invited Chris and I over to participate. It was a beautiful, crisp night. In total, we were probably in the hut for an hour, getting out every 20 minutes or so to give ourselves a break from the heat. In the description above it doesn't mention that you pour water over the hot rocks in order to create a lot of steam. It gets incredibly hot in there and is extremely purifying. Afterwards we lounged around and ate a healthy meal. It was a wonderful evening. Thank you Josh!


Josh built the frame of the hut out of willow branches.


There were 12 river rocks in the fire getting nice and hot.


Josh put mats down for us to sit on.


You cover the frame with tons of blankets which keeps the heat and steam in.


Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Say cheese!


I have this awesome book called Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz and it has many recipes for all things fermented. There's everything from sourdough bread to sauerkraut to wine. I found a recipe in the book for Farmer Cheese and thought I'd give it a go. It was quite easy actually and has encouraged me to explore other recipes in this fabulous book.




First you slow boil a gallon of whole milk. You then take it off the heat and slowly stir in some vinegar. The milk quickly curdles.


You strain off the excess liquid.


You salt it and then add herbs. I added herbes de provence because it's my favorite. I put it on almost everything.


You pull up the corners of the cheesecloth and squeeze out the liquid.


Then I put it between two cutting boards and weighted the top one down. This really squeezes out the excess moisture.



Voila! Homemade cheese!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

The Sphinx.


The other day I had a very special encounter with a Striped Morning Sphinx Moth. At first I thought it was a hummingbird because it was that big! I was doing some investigating about them and what do you know? They are also called Hummingbird Moths. It hovered around my flowers for a solid 20 minutes so that I could get a really good look at it. What a special treat!








I'm not sure what these flowers are, but they are everywhere in my yard. Probably a weed.


Things are definitely coming to a close in the yard as we drift closer to winter. I'm resistant to start tearing things out of the garden although we did dig up the tomato bushes. There is so much to do before the first frost! I have to plant garlic, winterize the pond and the rain barrel, cut back the perennials, dig up bulbs and we want to redesign the garden so that it has a wooden fence. There are just not enough hours in the day!




Can you believe how tall the okra plants are? It's really hard to harvest them. I have to grab a lower branch and pull the top down towards me like I'm loading a catapult. It's a pretty funny sight.


Chris painted these birdhouses. I love them. I think they add a nice splash of color to the yard.




This is all the tomatoes we picked before we tore the plants out. This seems like the right time to learn how to make fried green tomatoes.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Farm Tour


This past weekend I had the chance to go on the 6th annual Kaw Valley Farm Tour. About 20 farms in and around Lawrence are on the tour and you just get in your car and visit the ones you want to see at your own pace. It was the most gorgeous day. My friend, Josh, and I went to 6 different farms, each one completely different from the next.


First off, The West Junior High Garden Project. They have been sponsored by The Merc to have the first school garden in Lawrence. They have a farmer's market twice a week and they use some of the food in their cafeteria!


West Junior High garden. Meticulous!






Our next stop (above) was Moon on the Meadow. It's a certified organic farm inside city limits. She sells to The Merc and at the farmer's market.





There's Jill Elmers watering their fall crop of lettuce.


Next on the list was Vesecky Farm, a 100 year old farmstead that raises turkeys. We actually got to stand in the turkey pen with them. They are so funny (looking)!




Guinea Fowl at Vesecky Farm.


Not sure what kind of bird this is but I like them.


Blossom Trail Bee Farm was next. The owner, Richard Bean, showed us the bee pollen and explained how the hives work.








Here I am at our next stop milking a goat! That was a first for me. This was Landeria Farm. They make delicious goat's milk cheese. We got a private tour from our friend, Holly, who works there. Those goats are so friendly!






The final stop and a great way to end a perfect day was Blue Jacket Vineyard. We tasted a few wines and took a glass out to stroll through the grapevines.






I will definitely be making the Farm Tour a tradition. It was a fabulous day! I'm so proud to live in a community where there is so much bounty!