Swarms, Scones and Toddlers!

Wednesday it seemed like the farm was overflowing with people.  At a very busy farm lunch we discussed how lovely it would be to have a second bee colony under our supervision.  Lo and behold, around five o'clock a cloud of bees flew overhead and descended upon one of the evergreens in the driveway.  The swarm stayed there for just under 24 hours and sadly, we were not able to capture it.  With no hive in which to introduce the bees, our gift from nature was a bust.  Nevertheless, that a swarm appeared so punctually suggests there is no shortage of bees in the area--which is good news all around.

Thursday morning upon waking I made some scones for all my adoring fans. The recipe is so simple and the results never fail to impress, however it is not for those on a diet:

• 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 cups stone ground cornmeal
• 2/3 cup sugar 
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons cold butter (a stick and a half)
• 1 cup dried fruit (cherries, crans, raisins)
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• grated zest of one orange
• a dash of almond or vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• juice from the orange

Preheat oven to 400 and lightly grease a cookie sheet. Mix together flour, cornmeal, sugar, powder, soda and salt.  Chop the butter into small pieces and "cut" it into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter, fork, two knives or your fingers.  The butter should be the size of small pebbles and homogeneously incorporated.

Zest the orange by grating it finely, then cut in half and squeeze all the juice into a bowl.  If it's a good orange, eat the juicy pulp.  Chop nuts and dried fruit if it's large.  Stir in zest, chopped nuts and fruit.  Mix in buttermilk just enough to moisten the dough, it needn't be completely evenly combined (if the dough seems excessively dry, you can add a splash more milk). Roll the dough into balls and squish down onto cookie sheet.  Blush with juice and bake for 15 minutes on the top rack.

Pepper planting was back in full swing today and I utilized these bad boys (knee pads) to get down and dirty in the soil without the discomfort of rocks in my knees.  This method lasted about 10 minutes.

Thursday afternoon brought a highly-anticipated visit from lovely Tia and her daughter Nico.  Tia was my painting teacher at the Oxbow school when I was a wayward 16-year-old thug.  We have both since relocated to the Portland area and it has been my utmost pleasure to see her a couple times every year, each time with a bigger, brighter more beautiful child.  

Nico was so interested in all the different types of plants and in learning about the ducks and chickens too.  The amount she already knew astounded me.  For example, she identified a mint plant, told me what it meant for a hen to be "broody" and even knew that the funny floppy red thing on a chicken's head is called a comb.  Color me impressed.

Around 8 o'clock on Thursday I went for a run in the Tillamook forest and found a perfect little swimming spot along Gales Creek that I cannot wait to try out on our next hot day.  I also convinced myself I was being stalked by a cougar!  Luckily, I was not.