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flanneldogfarm

Newsletter is posted! This week I wrote about seed

Newsletter is posted! This week I wrote about seeds and souls. Thanks for giving it a read or at least planning to. :) flanneldogfarm.substack.com will get you there. Subscribe and it will land in your inbox.

Oatmeal porridge and honey sesame sourdough loaves

Oatmeal porridge and honey sesame sourdough loaves. I’m thrilled with the grains that make up these loaves, all organic and all regional. Turkey red from @janiesmill, Red Fife and Population Hard Spring wheat from @meadowlark_mill_and_farm, and rye and spring wheat from @frankferdfarms. All of these grains are grown organically or regeneratively. All are stonemilled by the farm or by me at home so you are getting much more nutrition and flavor than from commercial mills. And no harmful chemicals are used in growing or processing these grains. • I love being a small part of feeding my community, family, and friends. And I also love supporting farms that are bringing back flavor, nutrition, and resilience. And when you eat bread I’ve baked, you are supporting the same!

New post/newsletter: Salt, Fruit, Ink. Link to my

New post/newsletter: Salt, Fruit, Ink. Link to my Substack is in my bio or you can go to Flanneldogfarm dot Substack dot com. Thanks for reading!

I’m pretty darned excited to share that I’ll b

I’m pretty darned excited to share that I’ll be writing a weekly-ish newsletter about the farm. I’m calling it Hearth, Earth, Heart to reflect the areas of focus. • I settled on Substack as a platform because it seems the most aligned with how I’d prefer to spend my time (writing as opposed to figuring out plugins and such), but I have no plans to monetize/charge for any content. • A newsletter will give me a longer format to share thoughts on a range of topics, keep you informed on what I am baking and what is happening at the farm, and perhaps offer some inspiration in the kitchen or garden or life in general. • Flanneldogfarm dot Substack dot com will get you there. I’ve also got a link in my bio linktree. You’ll just need to confirm your email initially and then you’ll be good to go. (The platform likes to push its app, but you don’t need that to read the newsletter) • I’m looking forward to this newsletter and hope you enjoy it.

Every once in a while, you deserve a frittata too.

Food security. This picture represents that for Ch

Food security. This picture represents that for Chris and me. 357 lbs of beef. Half of a cow/steer. This will last us for a couple of years and we will give some away. Not pictured are the bones for broth and the suet to render. We bought this from a local farmer who we know, like, and trust. The meat was processed at a local butcher. And the same farmer we buy our beef from also supplies hay for our sheep. • Knowing where your food comes from matters in this age of globalization. I’m not pretending I need to know who grew the avocado I spread on toast. But meat, if you eat it, is increasingly challenging with huge feedlots and massive amounts of antibiotics and loose rules about what it means to be grown in the US. • We also seek to source locally to help in building community resilience. If we buy from our local farmers, we do a small but important part of keeping them going. And as you see many parts of our country devastated by drought and hurricanes and other dire events, leaning into your community connections is imperative. In a time of catastrophe, your neighbors are way more important than anyone or anything else. • Also, when you buy a whole animal or part of one, you can’t overlook the fact that coveted cuts are limited. This is half a beef and there is but one hanger steak. I’m reminded of speaking with a doctor years ago who was raising chickens. He talked about going out to eat wings at a local place and realizing that if he’d wanted to eat that many wings at home, he’d have to slaughter every one of his chickens. • We will eat this beef in all of its shapes and sizes, from braised roasts to meatballs from ground beef. And at every meal we will offer thanks, out loud, as we do at all meals, thanking the farmer, the butcher, and most importantly the cow that is nourishing us. • No living entity wants to die, from cow to carrot, so when we consume them, gratitude and awareness are imperative.

Get your vegetables early and often! Breakfast is

Get your vegetables early and often! Breakfast is one of my three favorite meals of the day, unless it’s a day when I have four. And it’s my fave meal to load up with vegetables. Here I wanted it to smell and taste a lot like Thanksgiving, so I cooked up some carrots and onion in butter and olive oil. Then I added garlic and apples. And then endive and oregano. Obviously sage would have been great but it was too far away with the pan being on the fire already and oregano is just outside my kitchen door. And celery would have been good too. • I try to eat fermented foods at most meals, and if you’ve not tried sauerkraut in an omelet, let me encourage you to try it. Absolutely delicious. And fermented jalapeños for an extra kick. • There’s a slab of sourdough and butter nearby that didn’t make the picture. • Superb way to start the day along with strong coffee, dog pets, cat snuggles, bird song, and baking bread.

Breakfast: a great time to pile on the vegetables.

Breakfast: a great time to pile on the vegetables. You are hungry, you need fuel for the day, you might be stuck in a rut of eating the same thing. So, snag some greens and root veg and squash. Chop and sauté and add some garlic (of course!). Then add protein like farm fresh eggs and you are good to go. • Many thanks for @northridgefarm for the honey nut squash. Absolutely delicious and beautiful• I’ve been reminded that having a kitchen garden is wonderful: I can walk outside, take a few steps, pic fresh greens and herbs, and get right back to my coffee and cast iron. • I’m grateful for this place, this food, this life. May your day be filled with gratitude!

What a fun picnic we had with four wonderful dogs

What a fun picnic we had with four wonderful dogs from @ashtabulaapl ! Azul, Cinnabon, Jake, and Dexter were all so well behaved, sweet, and charming. @sfrenchy2003 and Tracy were a huge help. @katkarney brought some delicious donuts and her wonderful family, Lou and Iris. @jacklyn3292 brought her Mom, a homegrown salad, and two arms full of produce! Others who had never been to the farm visited and met the dogs. • Many thanks to Jennifer and Danielle from the shelter; so diligent, friendly, professional • I am thankful to have the opportunity to get the dogs that visited out of the shelter for a few hours. They were so good. So good! Let’s hope they get homes soon. • Endless thanks and love to @copperleafstudios to supporting this idea I had. Here’s to similar events in the future!

It’s not Fall yet, but my Fall garden is already

It’s not Fall yet, but my Fall garden is already producing delicious and nutritious food. Cincinnati market radishes as big as a carrot. Kale and mustard and tatsoi. Not pictured are beans and sunflowers and lettuce and summer squash plants, all thriving. • I’ve often planted in Fall for a harvest the following year (such as garlic), and I’ve certainly extended the season on summer plants with frost protection. And now and then I’ve planted things mid-summer to harvest before the frost. • This year, though, I was very systematic in my approach to my Fall garden, and I must give a lot of credit to Alexa Sandella of @bloomandwiltgardens She held a Fall gardening class @markko_vineyard earlier this year that I attended, and I learned so much! I’m so excited to have a much longer growing season in part from what I learned from her. • And there’s still time to plant! Radishes, kale, lettuce, spinach, cilantro and more. They will all do great in cooler weather and there is still time for them to grow.

Happy flannel-worthy day, friends! I have to docum

Happy flannel-worthy day, friends! I have to document my gratitude for the cool, dry weather this morning. The breezes, the glimmering sunlight, the black coffee, this life. • it’s a busy month on the farm! Mind and Body Retreats on the 7th and 21st (can’t wait to see those of you joining us!), our first APL-focused event with our Potluck picnic on the 14th, camper visits, firewood stacking, fall garden tending, beer brewing, and always lots of bread to bake. • I’m grateful for all of it. • We must be wary not to let the world make us feel guilty about our gratitude. Every day of my 56 years there has been horrible news in the world, and the media in all of its forms has an endless lust to bring it to us. But the addiction to dread and guilt weighs us down and can make us toxic, like all addictions. • But gratitude, to me, honors the gift of the life we are living. These lives are fleeting, but the days bring countless moments to be thankful. Even if just for the very breath you are breathing right now—what a gift! • Sadness and sorrow come to us all, but happiness and delight do too. Honor those moments, the life you have, that’s built moment by moment, breath by breath. ❤️

We are excited to announce that we’ve added a se

We are excited to announce that we’ve added a second Mind and Body retreat to round out the summer! Join us on Sept 21st for a restorative event filled with meaningful connections and moments. We will have mindful yoga with @helloemkeen, followed by qigong with @mindsetguidancewithpaul, yoga for stress relief with @yogawithjorja, and an evening sound bath with @mc_yoga_and_sound. These amazing instructors will meet you where you are capability-wise, so don’t feel like you need to be an expert in anything happening at the retreat. The goal is to allow you to escape to our beautiful country homestead, forget about your worries, and connect with amazing people. • @copperleafstudios and I will also have home cooked meals for you, including sourdough pizzas and a sourdough French toast bar if you decide to stay overnight and have breakfast on the farm. • I’ll put a link in my stories but you can also navigate to flanneldogfarm dot com to learn more details and to sign up. • DM me with any questions and we hope to see you there!

We are excited to being having a Potluck Picnic wi

We are excited to being having a Potluck Picnic with the APL Pups on Sept 14th at the farm. We are hoping to get a bunch of people to visit to meet some of the wonderful dogs (and maybe other furry friends) that are just waiting for a home @ashtabulaapl • I have this picnic listed as a free event on Eventbrite so that we can get a sense of how many people are coming. Whether you come for a few hours or a few mins, it’d be great to get these pups some love and attention! Of course, you can also meet the sheep and chickens and ducks! And if you are from CLE or PGH distance, make a day of it at an orchard or winery or two. • I’ll put the link in my stories to make it clickable. Hope to see you there! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/potluck-picnic-with-apl-pups-tickets-976984536047?aff=ebdsshios

Chris and I spent our anniversary on a day trip to

Chris and I spent our anniversary on a day trip to @phippsconservatory and to say we were impressed is a massive understatement. It’s a stunning, engrossing, calming place and sprawls in the most inviting way. You get lured from a tree-sized fiddle leaf fig to an onion dome of glass to a Chihuly to a garden where you can learn about pollinators and bog gardens and soil. We loved the green of the place in every way including their use of geothermal cooling! We were so enthralled by the beauty and the enormity of the place and the plants. What a marvelous getaway!

Sound up to hear thousands of pollinators at work.

Sound up to hear thousands of pollinators at work. Years ago we partnered with @pollinatorpartnership to repopulate much our homestead with native flowers and grasses. These pigeon peas (good people will disagree with my naming) have spread far and wide, and this time of year is magically alive with so many bees and other pollinators. • I urge all of you to give at least a modest patch of your yard over to native plants. The world will be better for it.

Yappy Hour @darkroombrewingco with @ashtabulaapl

Yappy Hour @darkroombrewingco with @ashtabulaapl What a great time!

We have a fun Salads and Sips event happening on T

We have a fun Salads and Sips event happening on Thu evening at @kosicekvineyards! And how could I not include panzanella in the lineup? There’s always bread around and we are in the thick of tomato season. We will also cover a beans and greens salad, a simple lettuce salad with a crouton twist, and a watermelon and feta salad. It’ll be a hands on class and there will be, of course, marvelous wine too! We’ve got a few spots left in what is already a pretty full class of very good people. Call KV to get your seat at 440 361 4573. Hope to see you there!

Here’s a little Chicory video for everyone to wa

Here’s a little Chicory video for everyone to watch on repeat until your nervous system calms down. This IG platform has become almost as awful as the news. Perhaps we can all put a bit of pleasantness out here to have some respite from the harsh realities of the world. I’m not suggesting those realities should be ignored. I am stating that you can’t absorb them 24/7 and stay well. And if you aren’t well, it’s really hard to make anything better. So be a bit like Chicory and chill the F out now and then.

Here’s one of the salads you’ll get to learn t

Here’s one of the salads you’ll get to learn to make (and eat!) at the Salads and Sips event at @kosicekvineyards a week from today. Chris and I will be hanging out with the great people at KV and enjoying their marvelous wine, and we will be hands-on teaching some fresh and off-the-beaten path salads and dressings just like this watermelon and feta refreshment in a bowl. Call 440-361-4573 to snag your spot before there’s no more room. And if this post doesn’t convince you, keep an eye out for a couple more sneak preview posts in the coming days.

Chris @copperleafstudios and I made a trek into CL

Chris @copperleafstudios and I made a trek into CLE today to experience @baybranchfarm. And I truly mean the word experience. It’s not a visit or a tour. It’s an immersive experience. Annabel and Eric have created an incredible intensive garden or series of gardens in their glorious back yard in the middle of the city. Chris and I couldn’t believe how expansive it was, how big the trees are, that there were roads and a whole neighborhood around us made invisible • Eric’s engineering genius is evident throughout. Systems and time savers are everywhere. Annabel’s incredible stamina, knowledge, and wisdom pervade every part of the high tunnels, the valley with pear trees, the use of natural predators to control pests. This couple is formidable in their array of talents and knowledge. • And yet, what we enjoyed the most was our time with Annabel, walking about. Hearing her hard work come through her pervasive humility. She’s real, authentic, kind. Eric wasn’t on-site while we visited, but we will be back to hear more details on his latest wizardry. • Bay Branch has marvelous tomatoes and squash and greens, armfuls of flowers, and an online store in addition to midday Saturday walk ups. What a place, made by hard work and smart work in partnership with Nature!

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