Merry Mount Muted

Exploring new arrivals, the greening garden, the sigh of a summer day at Merry Mount. (And a summer solstice party recipe at the end.)

 

 

 

In memory of Sweetie:

 Here's to summer, and the summer solstice!

Green Apple, Macadamia, Quinoa Salad

Salad:

1 cup uncooked quinoa (rinsed, even if it says pre-rinsed)

1/2 cup roasted macadamia nuts or toasted slivered almonds

2 scallions, sliced

1 green apple, diced

1 green pepper diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 jalapeno, diced

Dressing:

Juice of 2 small limes

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T red wine vinegar

1 t honey

2 T greek plain yogurt

1 T olive oil

salt and pepper

Garnish:

3 T chopped cilantro or parsley

1/2 avocado, diced

Cook quinoa in 2 c water in rice cooker. Allow to cool. Combine all salad ingredients. Shake together dressing ingredients, adding more lime if needed. Pour over salad. Garnish w/ cilantro and avocado.

What's New, Pussycat?

Why, thank you for asking, Tom Jones; as a matter of fact, there's quite a lot new at the Merry farm! The beautiful green-eyed pussycat, above, named Moocher, has a quartet of adorable, fuzzy, mewing babies in her little box in the garage. Moocher's a barn cat that  showed up at Merry Mount last fall, and she's happily keeping close watch on her new brood.

But those tiny kittens aren't the only piece of the what's-new-at-the-farm pie. There's a whole lot of newness to ooh and aahh over. Let's take a little look, shall we?

Most impressively, there is a chicken coop. . . a real, live, cozy chicken house all ready for some soon-to-arrive feathered friends.

The coop was crafted out of one corner of the old barn, most impressively by Rett's own hands, with a lot of help and guidance from her son's super-handy friend Quinten. See the nesting box below?

 And the beautiful roosting box?

Rett even built a wall to keep the critters in their own little corner of the barn! Tongue-and-groove paneling, thanks to salvaged lumber from an old out-building.

 And once the hens are at Merry Mount, Rett can gather the eggs like this!

Here's their door to the chicken-pasture! Rett has some hens on hold at a farm about an  hour away -- she's gettin' fancy ones like Plymouth Rock and Buffington.

In the meantime, however, Rett was pining for a feathered friend, so she bought a couple of canaries. Canaries that laid eggs. And one hatched! Here's the scrawny little baby canary that lives with his parents on the sun porch!

 

There's a brand-new garden plot ready for a-planting! Lettuce and spinach and corn, oh my!

Herbs are growing in pots by the house.

Perennials are reappearing everywhere.

 

And in the farmer's fields surrounding Merry Mount, little corn plants are popping up in linear rows that stretch as far as the eye can see.

After a long winter of icy trips to Merry Mount, with snow swirling around the barren fields, a gloriously gorgeous Memorial weekend visit was a treat. Truly!

Old friends gathered from Missouri and Indiana and from up the road in Columbus.

The doggies were happy.

 

And the late afternoon sun cast a golden hue.

 

Oh Merry Mount, how olive you!

 Later, the guys fired up the grill.

 And we enjoyed a lovely dinner al fresco.

 Sesame noodles (recipe below), grilled shrimp, and grilled veggie kabobs.

Good food, good friends and the best setting ever!

The sun set on a perfect day, then a canopy of twinkling stars appeared overhead.

The next morning, Robert was inspired to capture the magic of Merry Mount like this:

Morning Music

In the dewy hour
     before the farmhouse wakes
and the white clapboard sides
     harden into view,

the trilling finches and the bickering jays
     taunt and tease the slow-footed Sun,

'til roused.

he reaches West to paint again
     the eave and roof and rail
               a fresh vermillion.

Merry Mount 2014
Robert Bode

'Til next time!  Here's the recipe for Sesame Noodles:

1/4 cup light or gluten free soy sauce
2 T red wine vinegar
juice of one lime
6 tablespoons cold water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
6 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
12 ounces dried angel hair pasta or linguine, cooked al dente

scallions, slivered red bell pepper, sesame seeds
lime wedges, fresh cilantro

Place first 7 ingredients in food processor and blend on high until well blended, about 1 minute. Add peanut butter and blend. Add oils on low speed.

Place thge pasta in a large bowl and toss with 1 1/2 cups of the sauce. Add scallions, red bell pepper and sesame seeds. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with a lime wedge.

Merry Transitions Ahead: A Preview of What's to Come

There's a lot of change afoot down at Merry Mount, though everything's sort of at the start-up stages at the moment. Rio and I traveled to the farm last weekend on a Saturday filled with sheets of pouring rain, followed by sleet and finally snow. Was not really a pretty sight, but it's always a happy thing to be at the Merry farm!

 Rett is trying to will spring to come with a pot of pretty pansies, but even they had to come indoors overnight.

At least we were treated to a beautiful morning, with the dawn sun stretching long, beautiful shadows across the (still) cold fields.

Rett is looking forward to seeing what little plants and perennials survived the long winter, and which ones will soon be popping their heads up in the beds surrounding the towering maple tree outside of the sunporch. And Pat can't wait to see if the just-last-fall-planted fruit trees -- including cherry, pear, plum and chestnut -- will soon be showing signs of life.

But there's more exciting transitions on the horizon at little Merry Mount.

This will be a rose garden next summer! ("After" pictures in about six months!)

And this, well, it's the perfect place for Rett's upcoming ginormous garden! Think green beans, tomatoes, lettuce, corn, peppers, cucumbers, melons, potatoes and onions! (More "after" pics in the summer.)

Perhaps a pasture?

And of course the biggest restoration yet -- the barn!!!

Thanks to some expert help from Rett's and Pat's son's friends, the old barn is going through a huge transformation. It had been stuffed to the gills with lumber salvaged from another outbuilding, which has now been removed and will be repurposed.

Some cute little stalls have been cleaned out. . . soon to be home to an adorable goat or mini-donkey perhaps? The chicken coop will also take up residence in a corner of the barn. Think fresh eggs!

And parts of the roof and siding are being rebuilt. Just in time for a glorious summer!

In the meantime, Rio enjoyed hanging out in the yard.

And we had a lovely dinner of brown rice and lentil rolls, capped off with some luscious (and gluten free) coconut macaroons with mini chocolate chips and chopped salted almonds. They tasted like an Almond Joy! (Pat even had one for breakfast the next morning.)

Goat Cheese, Lentil and Brown Rice Rolls

Butter for the baking dish
6 large Swiss chard leaves
salt

Filling:
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 packed cup baby arugula leaves, chopped
1 cup goat cheese (8 oz) at room temp
1 cup cooked green lentils
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 26-oz jar marinara sauce
1/2 cup grated Premsan
2 T. olive oil

Preheat oven to 400. Butter a 9 x 13 glass baking dish; set aside.

Remove thick stem from center of each chard leaf. Cut each leaf in half lengthwise. Trim end from leaves to make each half-leaf about 7 x 5 inches. bring a pot of salted water to boil; add chard and cook for 10 seconds. Remove and rise with cold water; drain on paper towels and set aside.

For filling: in med bowl, mix together the brown rice, arugula, goat cheese, lentils, mint, olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic. Season with add'l salt and pepper if desired.

Spoon 1/3 cup of filling onto the end of each chard leaf and roll up like a burrito.

Spoon 1 cup marinara sauce on bottom of pan. Arrange rolls, seam-side down in a single layer on the sauce. Spoon remaining sauce on top, and sprinkle with the Parmesan. Drizzle with the olive oil. Bake until the cheese begins to brown and the rolls are heated through; about 25 min. Cool for 5 min and serve. 

Delicious Coconut Macaroons

1-1/3 cups flaked sweetened coconut
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons gluten free (or regular) flour
dash salt
2 egg whites, beaten slightly
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small bowl, combine the coconut, sugar, flour and salt. Stir in egg whites and vanilla; mix well. (I added some mini chocolate chips and some chopped roasted almonds)

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 325° for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Yield: about 1-1/2 dozen.