Drawing a Blank

Excitement is building. This past week gifted us with quite a whirlwind of weather. Rain, Snow, Mud, -20-degree mornings, and now the warmth of the sun kissing the ground; melting away ice and brightening the ambitions of the cattle to venture out to the cornstalks to munch and lounge in the warm rays.

Last night I was asked by a young lady not familiar with farm life what my typical day looked like…and quite honestly, my mind drew a complete blank. You see, I knew that this past week had some very busy days that really took it out of me, but I also had days that were pretty low key and were mostly focused on making sure everything was alright, taking care of basics and drinking lots of coffee. By the time the end of the week rolled around everything was just a blur without much differentiation between one day and the next. As we inch closer to spring the longer working days will increase, as well as the work that needs to be done. Fences will need to be repaired after being loosened by snow and ice, water lines checked for leaks, fields prepped and tractors and equipment serviced before they enter into the realm of harder, heavier work. Calves will need to be vaccinated and castrated before the heat and flies arrive, and at some point I will have to break out the old manure spreaders to clean out the feed yards and add some nutrients to the soil. I will also have to learn how to do some things for the first time, such as setting up the old John Deere planter to plant my first field of organic corn, and actually learning to cultivate it later on. It’ll be fun but could very easily end up being a complete disaster. My dad always would remind whenever I would feel overwhelmed with what I would have to do that “the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.” That’s sound advice.

*My Dad Getting Our John Deere 7000 Planter Ready a few Springs ago*

It's quite exciting to always be searching for that right balance between present coolness and the anxieties of what lays before us. Finding the balance between taking care of those things that are currently right in front of you, and being ready for the things to come. It’s an art, that if practiced well gets better with time. Enjoy the process.

RECIPE

~PORK BOWL~

Ingredients:

2 pounds of Ground Pork

1 onion (I used a red onion, but whatever you like is great!)

1 Carrot

1/2 head of cabbage

1/2 Red Pepper

3-4 cloves of garlic

Ground ginger

Cumin

Curry Powder

Soy Sauce

Kosher Salt

Rice

Eggs

The Process:

I started off by roughly chopping my veggies, and then marinating them in some soy sauce for a while. I thinly sliced up my cabbage, rough chopped my onion, and thinly sliced/shaved my carrot (using a normal vegetable peeler.

*Onions and Carrots and Red Pepper soaking in Soy Sauce*

After the veggies were chopped I crushed my garlic cloves, and set them in a bowl with the spices that would be used, and whisked together a quick sauce using soy sauce, honey and siracha. A good balance between salt, sweet, and spice.

*Honey, Soy Sauce, and Siracha. Play with it to find the ratios that work best for you!*

I then started browning my pork, and started my white rice in the rice cooker. Once the Pork was browned I added the mix of pepper, onion, and carrot. They cooked together until the onions were cooked down then I added the garlic and spices until I could smell the garlic in the air, after which I added the sauce mixture, and then the chopped cabbage. I covered the pan to let the steam cook the cabbage and turned the heat down from a medium high to a medium low.

While that was steaming I took a small pan and melted a little butter cracked a few eggs, scrambling them until cooked through and then removed from the heat. After a few minutes, I tasted the cabbage to make sure it was cooked through. The rice finished cooking, I removed the lid and fluffed the rice with a fork to make sure that it wouldn’t be too moist. After a few minutes of the rice resting and letting off its steam, I returned the pan with eggs to some heat and portioned out my rice into that pan making sure to incorporate the eggs into the rice and added a few splashes of soy sauce. I put the mixture into a bowl and topped it off with the ground pork and veggies. It was super delicious and had a good balance of protein, fiber, and carbohydrates.

*Finished Product! I topped it off with some green onions~*

Thank you for Checking out this Blog! If you have any questions, or would like to share a recipe feel to contact Andrew! Your support of this Farm and it’s work are so much appreciated~ be sure to check out the online farm store to see what we have for you~ Much Thanks & Peace- Andrew

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