Blue Hubbard Squash Marmalade

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Most of you following this blog know that we have been trying a variety of Winter squashes this year. This week was time for the Blue Hubbard, considered by some the very best Winter squash.

The problem with Blue Hubbard is that it is not only a large oddly shaped squash but its outer shell is extremely tough. This makes it near impossible to peel with a knife (in fact using a knife is a probably a great way to bludgeon yourself).

I was told by a friend in Texas that her aunt recommends bagging the squash in plastic and dropping it to a hard ground in order to break it to pieces. That would probably work well on concrete, however I was afraid to damage the flesh of the fruit.

My solution: a hatchet. This worked incredibly well. A good hard hit to the squash would easily split it and allowed me to quarter it in a minute.

The next part was skinning. To tackle this, I actually took my Blue Hubbard pieces and placed them in the oven (350 deg. C for 15 minutes). This process pre-cooked the squash making it somewhat easier to peel. Then it's just a matter of dicing and in our case freezing the squash for future use....with the exception of some squash for this week's project.

Since we have been eating Winter squash every week this fall we have tired a bit of this great food. We needed something very different for the Blue Hubbard. I decided to go to a French family tradition for inspiration (on the Normand side): a pumpkin marmalade.

Now they did not use Blue Hubbard in Normandy to make this marmalade. The key ingredient in France was the "Potiron", a small bright orange and squat squash that really resembles a small pumpkin.

In any case, I decided to create a marmalade recipe around this concept since Blue Hubbard is very similar in taste and texture to the traditional pumpkin.

To do this, I coarsely shredded some squash and an orange (the ratio was 3 times the squash per amount of orange). I processed this like our traditional jams and for the equivalent of four cups of fruit, I added a tablespoon of freshly and finely shredded ginger for "zing".

The result was a fantastic golden coloured marmalade. The squash really picked up the orange flavour and yet the preserve still had a great hint of "pumpkin". This was a winner with the family and will certainly also become a traditional Ridge Berry Farm preserve for our country market.

On the farming front we are still clearing brush. The thorn bushes are quite an effort and seem to be everywhere. As we struggled through these however we did find a pleasant surprise.

Although it does not look like much (yet), we uncovered an entire row of old grape vines all on trellises  It turns out that some of the "wild" grapes Tristan and I were picking this summer, were actually extensions of these vines which had run up some trees just to catch a glimpse of sun. I suspect they are all Concord grapes.

We're now quite excited to bring these back into the light. This however will call for a lot of brush clearing, the felling of entire rows of trees (and associated stumping ...which is extremely hard work). Then finally we may be able to rebuild some of the trellises which have fallen and prune the vines. This is a lot of work, but on the other hand it can take years to grow grapes while always facing the chance they do not take. These look very healthy (to say the least); we just need to "tame" them.

As we continue to work the cleared land on the front of the property, we've also discovered a drainage problem. We should have known this given the pervasive presence of Elephant grass. Although the land slopes well, I suspect that the large amount of water on this end is the result of the septic tank overflow.

Having worked on a plugged septic tank drainage pipe earlier this summer, we now know where they lead and I believe these are the cause of the over irrigated soil on this shallow slope. This is now a new problem Tristan and I have to tackle.

We can not do much because of the tractor's tendency to get stuck in the very thick mud. So we decided first to dig some very crude drainage channels at strategic locations. We now hope to see how well the soil drains before moving further. Our options are to continue with well prepared drainage channels, to extend the septic tank drainage pipes, or to bring in a lot of top soil (and effectively rebuild a ridge). I hope we will be able to make due with option one and perhaps dig a drainage pond on the edge of the forest where the Elephant grass still thrives.

On a final note, for those following this blog and perhaps using Facebook, we now have a Facebook page:   Ridge Berry Farm on Facebook. If you use "like" on this page you will be notified of our new postings and we will be extending the information on this page to address all of our farm news.

I will leave you this week with another discovery: our Beavers have neighbors. Although, we have been referring to our center pond as the Beaver pond, it turns out the back pond is now home to one or more of these large rodents. The evidence is all around the pond. In the following pictures you will see the felled trees, Beaver trails, and their brand new den. It is amazing how much work these Beavers have done in just a few weeks.

Dried Arctic Kiwis

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Last week I posted we probably completed our last harvest (the wild Rapini)...and I was wrong.

As we continued to clear land this week, Christine noted more Kiwis on the vines. These were very ripe and I would liken them to "late harvest" grapes. Fearlessly she decided to taste them and actually enjoyed these Kiwis as much as before. In their current state, they taste a bit more like very ripe gooseberries rather than the strawberry flavour they had earlier in the fall.

This gave me an idea. We picked as many as we could (some were still beyond our reach) and I placed them in the oven at a low (about 100 deg. C) temperature. The objective was to dry them and since we do not have a dehydrator (yet), the oven would have to do. After quite a few hours we achieved what I expected: dried Arctic Kiwis.

How do they taste? Fantastic. The result resembles a large raisin and the flavour is very much a cross between raisin and fig.

Next year, I am determined not to leave a single Kiwi on the vine. From fresh, to preserves, to dehydrated, this is a very good fruit.

I have not reported on the renovations to the house for a while. In the next couple of weeks, I hope to post some rather dramatic images of what has been accomplished to date.

On the other hand; we have not stopped our work and some days our farm has  looked like a serious construction site. One day this week I counted nine pickup trucks and a waste bin in our parking lot (luckily we can park over 20 cars next to the barn).

No sooner had we finished the roofing to the house, we started on the roofing for the barn. The barn is also difficult in its own way. In order to do this properly, the contractor had to tear down the corrugated metal and as well a layer of old cedar shingles (these were in very poor shape compared to those found on the house). Then on the century old large pine boards, a new frame is built atop some plastic sheets. It is to this new frame that we will be installing a new metal roof.

On the farming front, we continue to clear land. What was once a dump site, a mess of weeds, thorn bushes. elephant grass and small trees, is now almost ready to till.

We also have tilled a small plot for the family's food needs next year. In addition to our raised beds, we hope that this area will produce some of our larger crops including potatoes and squashes.

Of course, we continue to trim down thorn bushes and free some of the Kiwi vines.

In fact, for the first time, we have a very clear view of the creek that crosses the property to end at our Beaver pond and furthermore a clear view across the pond itself.

I leave you this week, with one final picture of proud Tristan. Now that we have a logo, he has his business card (he's officially our "Director of Operations") and of course his truck decals.

We Have a Logo

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One of the most important aspect of our new farm operation will be marketing. This is particularly important for our products (jams, jellies and juices). This week we're really happy to have finalized our new logo. This will be used for labels, signage, and website among other things.

The theme we chose is "Victorian". We felt this made sense since the farm is originally Victorian (this includes our home and the barn). Furthermore this ties in very well with the Tea Room operation that is run from the barn every summer.

The principal element of the logo is an outline of the Ward Manor, the Second Empire house which is now our home (Note: About.com has just published an article we submitted on the house; it can be seen on Ward Manor: Then and Now).

We underlined the name of the farm with a scrolling pattern reminiscent of the Art Nouveau/Arts & Craft period of the turn of that century. We hope everyone likes it and certainly welcome any feedback.

Of course this week we have to continue our Winter squash "theme". It was time to try the Sweet Potato Squash. These squashes are relatively small. Although a bit difficult to halve, we decided on the easiest preparation of all. We did not peel them; we simply emptied them of their seeds, applied a bit of butter and put them in the oven until tender.

Since we are now great fans of local food, we used the squash as a side dish to Muscovy Duck. It turns out that a small local farm just west of St. Catharines organically raises a variety of animals locally and processes them as well. The result is a much higher quality meat than typically found in the grocery store. The prices are similar but their subscription service allows for 25-40% in savings (not bad at all; this translates to very competitive prices and better quality). For anyone with access to the Niagara area we recommend you check out Lake Land Meats. We're so pleased with their products, we've already ordered our Christmas goose.

We roasted the Muscovy duck legs and finished them using a glazing of our own Purple Raspberry and Bacot Noir Wine jelly. The whole thing was sprinkled with oregano, served with our Sweet Potato squash on the side.

Our jelly-based glaze complemented the duck very well. The Sweet Potato squash were not as sweet as we expected but were none the less very good. What was most surprising about the squash is the thin skin. We expected to scoop the flesh from the baked squash (as you would from an Acorn squash). This was almost impossible as the skin would tear readily...in fact it turns out that you can eat the skin!

This week saw temperatures drop to the single digits. However, for the most part the sun was shining and we had beautiful days to work the land. Now that the leaves are gone, we can better distinguish the plants and actually do a lot more weeding. This includes the nasty thorn bushes which seem to have overtaken much of our land.

Just three months ago I could never have taken the following picture. It is a clear view of our farm land some 1/4 of the way down its length from the main road. We can finally see the barn. In June, this shot would have been impossible!

You'll note a lot of corn. Next year, we hope to transform this into grape vines. But we have a lot of planting to do before we get there. In our plans are red raspberries, yellow raspberries, red goose berries, black currants, strawberries, blueberries, Arunia (choke berries) and of course more purple raspberries and blackberries. This along with the heirloom apple orchard we hope to create will certainly keep us very busy.

This week, we also had the opportunity to put our new BCS Tiller to work. We outlined our rows for planting next spring. The success we've had in using this "work horse" had us consider its brush cutter attachment.

Again with the leaves gone, we have a much better picture of the brush that needs to be cleared and for the most part our tractor pulled Bush Hog simply won't do; there are just too many small trees and obstacles in the way. So now we have a new "toy": a PTO-driven "sickle saw" attachment.

Now our "Ferrari" looks like a hedge trimmer on steroids....and it works like one!

We leave you this week with perhaps our last mini harvest: wild Rapini. Our Italian hunter friend Francesco swears they're best when picked after first frost, so we decided to pick a bushel's worth. We'll be cleaning them now and blanching them prior to freezing for the winter.

Pink Banana Squash

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Because everyone is a "foodie" in our family, we thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to try new things and I guess this blog will always have something to do with local foods (something which has become a passion for us).

I never thought that moving to the country in Southern Ontario would expose us to new food experiences (certainly not after having traveled the World). We have been conditioned to accept the "standard" produce of grocery stores in Canada, yet there is so much more that is offered by the land surrounding our big cities.

One great example of this is Winter Squash. Until this year, the only squashes we had been accustomed to were the "standard" pumpkin, butternut, acorn and spaghetti squash. This year, the farmer across the street opened our eyes to the incredible variety available. So without thinking twice we acquired a bushel (winter squash can keep for up to 6 month in a dark place where the temperature is consistent and not extreme).

PS. These large "fruits"also  provide a significant amount of food at a very low price (the going rate here is 20$/bushel).

So what did we get, well a whole bunch of squash (large and small) with names like Blue Hubbard squash, Sweet Potato squash, Pink Banana squash, and Blue Ghost squash. There's even another for which I've forgotten the name.

Squash are quite versatile and all are either reminiscent of the pumpkin or the sweet potato. Usually we find the differences are in the sweetness or the tenderness of the flesh. As a result, one squash recipe will usually work equally well with another.

The first squash we had to try was the Pink Banana. Not only does it have a "cool" name but the squash itself is a pink "monster". It is a very large oblong and pink squash. So we decided to try some variations of our Butternut squash recipes with this pink oddity.

The first step was to peel and cube this "monster". Surprisingly this was easier to do than tackling a Butternut squash. The Pink Banana has a thinner shell making it easier to peel and the flesh is somewhat softer than a Butternut.

Our first recipe was simple: we took our cubed squash, added some wedged parsnips, chopped garlic and our garden parsley with some olive oil and popped the whole thing in the oven. It did not take long to cook (I think this is a reflection of the tender meat of this squash) but the results were great and make a fabulous side dish.

Of course since we had a lot of Pink Banana squash (a whole lot of it in fact), we extended this recipe to soup. We took some of our roasted squash and parsnips and put the whole thing in some stock. Cooked a bit longer, added a touch of milk (cream would probably make this even better) and placed the lot in a food processor. The result is a delicious soup which I figure we could can and preserve  (if I could get the family to stop "inhaling" everything that comes off the stove).

Looking for versatility in squash we also decided to make a Pink Banana Squash pie. For this, we again roasted the cubed squash (on its own). We coarsely mashed the squash, added a couple of eggs, some white and brown sugar, cinnamon and ground cloves. We put the whole thing in a homemade pie crust and baked.

The result of this experiment were again surprising. Everyone loved the pie (it was somewhat similar to a good pumpkin pie). With a dollop of whipped cream or some vanilla ice cream it would have been magnificent.

On the farming front, Tristan got an early Christmas present in the form of a rotary tiller.

Over the past few weeks we have been trying to work out how to establish new rows of canes or vines in a well sodded area. We did not want to completely turn the soil and re-sod it, preferring to keep as much of the  soil's ecosystem intact. The concept would be to till some rows this fall and then re-till them in the spring with some manure prior to planting our new stock.

Using a small rotary tiller would have done the trick. However, after renting a rear tine (blades behind the wheels) rotary tiller  - something which should have been powerful enough, we discovered that our sod was very difficult to break. With a standard machine we would have had to make perhaps half a dozen pass over each rows.

We were faced with a quandary, a small rotary tiller could not break our sod, a tractor pulled rotary tiller would have created rows much too wide for our intended vines (and it would also be a very expensive option).

The solution is what I call Tristan's Ferrari. A BCS 732 professional tiller. I call it a Ferrari because frankly it does have that "feel and look"....but of course it's also made in Italy. PS. It also has the price of a Ferrari when compared to your conventional tillers! One note about this machine, although made in Italy, the engine is from Honda so we can expect reliability and servicing is simple.

This machine turns out to be much more than a tiller. In effect, it is a small two-wheel tractor with a PTO (Power Take Off) for many different kinds of attachments. This means that for the tiller, the tines (blades) are not driven by a belt, but rather directly into gears allowing the tines to turn much faster than those of conventional machines. This makes it a very powerful "beast".

The results were everything we expected. Even after one pass, we already had broken our sod.

It turns out that these small two wheeled "tractors" are very popular in Europe where farms are constrained by the size of their lots. I think this machine will turn out to be the ideal tool for our small farm as well, where we expect to effectively grow a variety of fruits on small dense lots. We can now equip our BCS with everything from a brush cutter to a wood chipper so its versatility will go a long way to getting us a payback on this investment.

This week however was not very productive. Our weather was greatly affected by Hurricane Sandy. The Hurricane "landed" in New Jersey and then crossed Pennsylvania where it became a tropical storm. Just to give everyone a sense of our location, from the highest point in the Niagara Peninsula (just a couple of kilometers from our farm), on a clear day you can see Toronto - across lake Ontario, and the Pennsylvania Blue Mountains - across Lake Erie.

The result for us was a miserable week of rain with only a few clear patches of sky. We also saw winds gusting to over 80 km/hr. We were in fact worried about flooding on our land (not the house since we are on a highly elevated ridge on a very sandy soil), but closer to our ponds and in the gullies between the rolling hills that encompass our farm.

It turns out that although the ponds were almost overflowing (one pond was raised by at least a meter)....everything was fine. We lost a few old shingles (from the roof which is not yet complete) and saw a few dead branches drop. But that was the extent of it. The homestead has been here for well over 130 years and I suspect it is going to do so for at least another century.

So I leave you this week with some photos showing the impact of Sandy and how our ponds have made out (note: the beavers now have some work to do to raise their dam since it was actually breached at one point).