Countdown: One more week

I didn't give any written updates of last week, therefor, I have no idea what I did last week!

I know we finally finished haying the garlic field, meaning that we are done in the lower field! About a month of work and it's finally finished! The rest of that week is… an abyss in my memory. I went to Kate's that weekend and then got back to the farm on Monday which is when we OH YEAH I remember the end of the previous week. We planted HT1 with transplanted peas, lettuce, beets, chard and spinach. I still don't remember what we did on Friday though.

So, anyway.

This week consisted of tilling, planting, cooking, pulling and hanging lettuce to dry for seeds, and a long action-packed weekend.

The most notable achievement on the farm for me was roasting my first bird and making gravy. It was a very tasty faux thanksgiving dinner. I surprised myself with how well the chicken came out!

I brined it with lemon, apple, lime and onions. Roasted it in a bed of garlic, onion, celery and carrots and stuffed it with the brining companions.

It was amazingly tender. Cutting off the drumsticks was unnecessary since the meat came right off the bone. It was juicy and yummy and the perfect texture. I'd say a serious success.

The gravy was not my favorite, and I did have a little trouble getting the texture right, but all-in-all, it was pretty good. I definitely need more practice with it, but I did indeed made perfectly palatable gravy. It really wasn't bad, just very winey tasting (which I like, but I'm used to a darker flavor).

I surprised myself when I first opened the chicken. I've always been a little ooked out with blood in my meat and I've never wanted to be around when my parents prepared meat. So the fact I was able to handle the bird with my bare hands and stick my hand into it to pull out the neck, heart, and liver is amazing.By the way, liver feels… interesting. Rubbery and smooth.

The other exciting part of the week was the tilling and planting of shallots. Thursday morning I had a mission. It was to get those shallots in the ground as quickly as possible because that afternoon I was heading to the city to begin my super packed and crazy weekend. So I ran out while Tess had breakfast to see if the tiller was attached to the 2 wheeled tractor. Unfortunately, it was not. This meant we would have to use the mantis, which is a smaller hand tiller that packs a lot of power but is exhausting and takes much longer than the big tiller attachment.

So I decided to screw the mantis, and try to figure out how to change attachments. Let's just say it was a feat of memory and chance, and we were able to till upper Edgar thoroughly with the 2 wheeled tractor tiller in and hour and a half. The feelings of euphoria and achievement were overwhelming. I was so terribly proud of Tess and I. We were even able to get all the shallots planted by 10:45. It was an incredible feat. Something we didn't even know we were capable of.

So I was able to take a shower, eat lunch (leftover chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy that I made!), pack, and get on the rd. by 12:30. Unfortunately, I had problems with gas and debit cards so I didn't get to the city until 3. Regardless, I made it there with plenty of time to get my bearings and gather the troops for the blue man show that we were going to see for free that night.

And I will continue the explanation of the long weekend on my next post.

By the way…I'll have to start packing my room in the farm house. I don't think I'm ready!

Also, this happened at some point.