We accidentally discovered this new way to cook beets. The kids loved them, and so did the company who doesn’t like beets!
Beet Fries
Pony rides. Strawberry Smoothies. Farming demonstrations. The Saturday before Father’s Day was busy at Front Porch Farm this year!
Our second annual Farm Festival and Garden Tour was the busiest yet, with more than 100 people coming through to see the farm and and tour the garden.
The Summit Spirits 4-H club was on hand to give pony rides–a popular item with the kids!
All our John Deere equipment was shiny clean and on display. We even had our own personal fly-over courtesy of a pilot friend.
Strawberry smoothies were a favorite “seasonally-inspired” menu item under the white tent where Kristen Six from Lovitt Restaurant created not only smoothies, but strawberry spinach salad with fresh goat cheese and a honey vinaigrette (and a sourdough roll!), and the ever-popular strawberry shortcake with homemade biscuits.
The featured farming demonstrations were creating our own potting soil that we make into soil blocks, transplanting soil blocks into the garden, and making raised garden beds with the special attachment we have for our John Deere tractor.
The weather cooperated–but just barely. It rained for a few minutes, but mostly it was pleasantly overcast and slightly windy, making it neither hot nor cold (strange for the third Saturday in June!).
We so enjoyed getting to visit with many of you in a more leisurely manner than the store and farmer’s markets provide. And it sounded like you had fun, as well!
As one of you said, “It was so nice, because when I came to your garden, it was like summer, even though it was still spring in my garden.”
Look for more pictures at our Facebook photo album. Watch for videos of some of the demonstrations coming to our YouTube channel, as well.
Thanks to our ticket vendors: Lovitt Restaurant, Colville Big R, Colville Chamber, and Akers United Drug in Chewelah.
After having pickled rhubarb on a spinach salad at Lovitt Restaurant recently, I decided I had to try pickling some of the abundant rhubarb in our garden. Little did I know it would be so easy! I found a recipe from Mother Earth News, and tried modifying it to be sugar-free. (Check out their recipe for ideas on adding some spices like cloves, allspice, ginger, and chili peppers.) In my searching, I discovered that you have to treat pickled rhubarb as “refrigerator pickles” because rhubarb goes to mush when canned. However, I’d like to try freezing it in the pickle “syrup” and see how that works, as well!
Here is the simple version of pickled rhubarb — add spices and seasonings as you desire!
chicken and strawberry salad with pickled rhubarb
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Ever heard of a chicken tractor? The concept originated with Joel Salatin, as a way to keep his chickens confined while letting them eat the weeds between his garden rows. Now, chicken tractors are used for everything from back-yard chicken … Continue reading
Sift flour, baking powder, salt, allspice, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Set aside. Beat the egg in a separate bowl, add the squash puree, maple syrup or molasses, milk, and butter. Blend in the dry ingredients to form a smooth batter. To make each pancake, spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter onto a lightly greased preheated griddle, flatten with a spoon to about ½ inch thickness, and cook until the bottom side is golden brown (3-4 minutes). Turn and cook on the other side until golden brown (approx. 5 minutes longer). Grease griddle as needed to prevent burning. Serve immediately.
896 Hwy. 395 South
Addy, WA 99101
509-684-0180
mail@frontporchfarm.net
frontporchfarm.net
