Fresh from the Vine

Back in May when we went on our Greece trip, we had dolomades (stuffed grape leaves).
They were so amazing! we decided to try out some of our own from my mom's vines on the Wisconsin farm.

Here's the arbor view of them growing.

I read that the best time for grape leave picking is early spring (May - July) when the leaves a smaller, green, and fresh. So I went for those even though it was late summer....

We washed them, blanched them in hot water, wrapped them into packets of 25-30 (for one pound of meat), filled them in a acid (4 c water, 1/4 c kosher salt, 3 tsp citric acid) bath and then hot water canned them using a large pot (not pressure cooking) for 20 minutes at a boil.

They sure looked nice and I can't wait to use them!!!!

Rare sighting

Back on the farm we saw a really great sight. Two Luna moths were found by my dad on the light pole by our house.

Luna moths are very rare to be seen since they only are in their final moth stage for 7 days to breed.

See more on Luna moths here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actias_luna

My Grandpa O, a farmer of many years, said that he heard most people are lucky to see one moth their entire life. We got to see two!

I remember when I was younger I collected moths that were around our house in Northern Wisconsin. I had one Luna, a couple Emperor, and some other smaller Hawk moths.

I didn't realize how little time they had.... I feel bad for collecting that one now. Hahaha, at least we didn't take these ones.... although my Grandpa really wanted to!

...and we're back!

Yay! The internet is back up, the sun is beating down on my garden, the CSA veggie shares are filling up my fridge, and we've so many wonderful weddings to attend that the summer is just flying by!

The beautiful foxgolves that I got from my mom are doing wonderful. I am just obessed with foxglove. Even the name is awesome. Foxy foxglove.

The rock path going back into the mulch area is made from flat rocks pulled out of Long Lake, Wisconsin. We're hoping to get back up there before the trees start to turn. Until then I'll just have to enjoy the weather here while it lasts.

Internet Signing off

...well the router at our house decided to shut off permanently after 3 years of good service. Which means no more uploads until we get it fixed.

We had a wonderful 4th of July (insert pictures here)
*** Finally got some pictures up.

*** Here's the Red Velvet Cake I made and Grandpa O. with his festive 4th of July cape!

Are having a busy busy summer filled with delish CSA veggie and cheese shares (insert pictures here)

Warm wishes to everyone out there!