The last phases of construction. Last week I took the sand form out from under the first layer of cob. It took forever! I had to tape a trowel to the end of a stick to reach the very back of the oven. The second layer went on very quickly-clay, water and sawdust for insulation. Today I lit my first small fire to start drying the oven out. I can’t wait to bake in it!
Tag: food
Rock foundation for Cob Oven #1
The oven foundation! We dug about two and a half feet into the ground and then started building up from there using field stones and gravel. We hauled rocks out of an old fence line and brought them by wheelbarrow load to our site! The ground was too wet to use any of our modern conveniences such as a tractor or truck to bring the rocks over.
Our spring building projects! The first three photos are of the timber frame structure we built to shelter the future bread oven. The oven is now our highest priority. The foundation is going to be built in the next few days. The last photo is our in-progress chicken/turkey brooder. All it needs are walls, a door and some electrical wiring.
Barley: Canada’s latest ancient grain gaining recognition
Barley: Canada’s latest ancient grain gaining recognition
We already eat barley in soups, stews and as sides like salad or risotto. It is delicious, very filling and healthy! This article quotes a local farmer George Wright from Castor River Farm. He grows barley close to Ottawa and sells it locally too.
We finally made blood sausage with the blood we froze from the pig slaughter earlier in the fall! We made a morcilla-style sausage. This Spanish version has pork shoulder meat added to it and the blood acts more like a binder instead of being the main event. We cooked them up for breakfast the next day. Very delicious!
http://vimeo.com/60613771
A short film about a cheese-making dairy farm in BC. I went to culinary school with John Gattey, one half of Fed By Hand. The other half is his brother David Gattey. They have decided to mesh their two passions-food and film-making. A very touching and informative film. I’m looking forward to seeing their next episode. There is nothing cooler than seeing a herd of cows put out onto pasture for the first time in the spring!
Our first episode! Filmed on-site at The Farmhouse Natural Cheeses in Aggasiz, British Columbia, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to George and Debra. They are two vital parts to an equation that produces some of the best cheeses I’ve ever tasted (their cloth-bound cheddar and Alpine Gold are standouts). The milk from the herd which George keeps happy and healthy travels barely 100 feet to the cheese-making facility where Debra takes over. They are one of the only cheesemaking operations in BC, that I know of, where this is the case, and it shines through in their product. We hope you enjoy their story.
(Source: http://vimeo.com/)