A Traditional Farm Life
By Shasta Hamilton
Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends! A break in the rain earlier this week allowed
our boys to finally till around the tomato, pepper, and okra plants in the garden. This long overdue knock down of weeds was
immediately followed by a thick covering of round-bale mulch. Besides weed suppression, our hope is that
with time the straw will provide organic matter to help loosen up our tight
clay soil.
While we’re on the subject of those green, unwelcome garden
residents, Thursday morning I finally took the time to weed my fledgling
asparagus row. While some asparagus
plants were already two feet tall, others were just appearing, and two of my
twelve crowns still have shown no signs of life. Even so, I am pleased with their auspicious
beginnings.
The unplanted area of our garden still sports some very
healthy weeds, but hopefully not for long.
That inch of rain we had Friday morning will keep the tiller out of the
garden once again.
Friday’s fierce thunderstorm delivered unwelcome outcomes in
the girl’s garden. Their largest pumpkin
vine was somehow broken off and blown several feet away. The storm also knocked their first tomato
right off the plant—a green, marble-sized specimen with the bloom still
attached they had been watching very closely.
Turning to matters on the home-front, it’s well-known that
being a wife and mother is often referred to as being a “balancing act.” This I heartily agree with. But what happens if you don’t have good
balance?
A fall is certainly inevitable.
I’m certainly NOT a tightrope walker. Balancing my roles as wife, mother, and
restaurateur does not come easily.
Perceived success in one role often comes at the real expense of another.
For the last four months my role as the “Mom” in our Mom and
Pop business has predominated my life.
Getting a restaurant up and running is no easy challenge. With time
we’ve settled into a routine, and my husband Michael is doing great with the day-to-day
operations, freeing up some time for me around the lunch hour.
Now that Farmer’s Market season is upon us, the question of
my role in our family’s Farmer’s Market booths has weighed heavily upon me and
precipitated a time of reflection on how much is humanly possible for a busy
mother. Although I thoroughly enjoyed
baking for the Farmer’s Market last year, it is now obvious I don’t have the
time currently to devote to such an ambitious venture and still fulfill my
obligations at home.
This is bittersweet, as the letting go of something
enjoyable can often be when duties elsewhere need tending to. Even so, there is great joy in knowing I am
doing what is right for our family.
After all, how can tidying up a cluttered, dirty house and folding truckloads
of clean laundry be wrong?
This morning my oldest daughter was absorbed in the task of
cutting up our most recent acquisition of rhubarb from the Farmer’s
Market. (Test kitchen tip: kitchen shears work great for this laborious
task.) Our four-year-old daughter stood
patiently by watching, knowing anything from the garden being cut up just had
to be good to eat. Her repeated requests
for this unknown (to her) delicacy were consistently denied, but finally her
big sister gave in to her pleading and handed her a small piece. Her triumphant countenance quickly turned
into a funny frown as the taste of sour rhubarb filled her mouth. Would you believe it—she asked for more!
Shortly thereafter her other sister came into the
kitchen. “Try some rhubarb,” our
four-year-old budding rhubarb enthusiast recommended. “It makes me laugh!”
Dear friends, a cute out-of-the-mouths-of –babes story like
this simply demands a rhubarb recipe. My
family groaned at the thought of another rhubarb experiment, but absolutely
loved the finished product. If your
family generally frowns at rhubarb, this may be the recipe that finally makes
them smile. Who knows, they may even
laugh!
Rhubarb Oat
Dessert
1-1/2 cups
all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups
old-fashioned oats
1 cup brown sugar,
packed
1/2 cup chopped
walnuts, optional
1/4 teaspoon baking
soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks)
butter, melted
3 cups sliced fresh
or frozen rhubarb
cold water to cover
rhubarb
1/4 cup cold water
3 tablespoons
cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
extract
Ice cream, optional
1. Preheat oven to
350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing
bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, nuts, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter and mix with a fork until
crumbly. Press 3 cups into a 9x13”
baking dish; set aside.
3. Soak rhubarb in
enough cold water to cover for 3 minutes; drain.
4. In a saucepan,
combine sugar and cornstarch. Add 1/4
cup water and stir until smooth. Add
drained rhubarb and vanilla and bring to a rapid boil; reduce heat and cook and
stir for 5 minutes, or until thickened.
Spoon over crust; sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.
5. Bake 40-45 minutes
or until golden brown. Serve with ice
cream if desired. Yield: 12
servings.
Copyright © 2015 by Shasta Hamilton
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