farm.

All I need is: a pitchfork, some chickens and a dirty martini.

‘Farm’ includes all manner of updates and musings about cultivating my urban farm… playing in the dirt, applauding seedlings, clucking to my chickens and harvesting homegrown beets for my table. It means choosing what to grow, selling fresh eggs and putting up jars upon jars of jams and pickles. ‘Farming’ is my excuse to: learn cheese-making, wear cowboy boots and hunt down sources for raw milk, grass-fed beef and heritage poultry.

urban farm & house remodel (update dec 2011; Part 2)

12/22/2011 | 5 Comments | Topics: animals, crops, farm.

Want to read part 1? Part 1 is all about the house and yard remodel. Dirt and paint, really. Part 2 is an urban farm update: crops and animals. I like saying ‘crops’. I know in reality I have a small collection of garden boxes, a ‘square’ of corn instead of long steady rows and probably only enough growing edibles to feed a single family.… [more]

urban farm & house remodel (update dec 2011; Part 1)

12/18/2011 | 4 Comments | Topics: farm., heavy-lifting

We moved into our home last Aug 2010; it has been just over a year of ‘fixing’ and converting our little plot into a cozy home and urban farm. Last summer (2010) when we were house-hunting in Seattle, we knew we could only afford a fixer-upper and our goal was to look beyond the house and size up the yard. We aimed to build an urban farm and the… [more]

Urban Farm Handbook. (giveaway)

11/11/2011 | 29 Comments | Topics: farm., places to go, reviews

I knew I wanted to get my hands on this book, just from the title: Urban Farm Handbook. I have carried it on the plane with me a few times recently, and am sure I get a few good looks what with goats, chickens and biochar pouring off the pages. No doubt someone saw me shaking my head and smiling when I realized that thanks to reading this book:… [more]

meet our chickens.

10/24/2011 | 9 Comments | Topics: animals, farm.

We have 8 lovely chickens. My son Anthony researched like crazy, then picked each one according to their breed, egg-laying frequency and availability. He even started a website called Picking a Chicken (www.pickinachicken.com). We don’t do things half-way around here; we dive in full-force learning as we go. That means we run into issues, deal with them on the spot, pick up the pieces and are always mid-adventure.… [more]

Tomato Jam

10/14/2011 | 7 Comments | Topics: preserves

OF COURSE I made tomato jam. How could I call my blog “talk of tomatoes” and not always be experimenting with my namesake food? And since small-batch preserves are increasingly a part of my kitchen experience: tomatoes were on the short list of ‘things to can.’ I adore it. I took/cut/pasted and slightly adopted… [more]

DaVinci Wine Cookbook: page 10 [of 10] Chianti Wine Jelly

10/10/2011 | Leave a comment! | Topics: DaVinci Wine, preserves

THANK YOU. I adored absorbing this holiday in Tuscany, courtesy of DaVinci Wines. Each of the Storytellers experienced the food, wine, people and tours through a different lens. My lens is ‘Culinary Arts’; I am a Seattle-based cooking instructor, urban farmer and food blogger (Talk of Tomatoes). Piles of recipes with photos are how I hope to extend this experience—and the spirit of DaVinci Wines—with each of you.… [more]

rum, plum, cardamom jam.

09/29/2011 | 2 Comments | Topics: preserves

I am loving playing around with stone fruits, liquor and jam. What to add with what? What fruit goes with what liquor? I always get raves about my brandied fig jam, so when the Washington State Fruit Commission made me a ‘CANbassador’ and shipped me boxes of prunes and nectarines: I looked in my cupboards for inspiration. Plums are divine in and of themselves but to pump up… [more]

Blackberry Plum Cardamom Jam

09/27/2011 | 5 Comments | Topics: preserves

New favorite. Might be ‘best of’ Burke Avenue Farm preserves (oh: I HOPE you love that name—Burke Avenue Farm—it’s what I am calling my humble little Seattle urban farm). Did I mention it is under construction? It is still largely dirt, but we have sprinklers etched into the ground and this [first] year’s garden boxes and plots have given me piles of lettuce, herbs and enough tomatoes to… [more]

green tea nectarine jam.

09/24/2011 | 7 Comments | Topics: preserves

Oh yes I did. This yummy little jam is the culmination of two different, recent classes: 1. a preserving class at The Pantry in Seattle, (there is always more to learn! Plus: recon work since I plan to teach canning/preserving next summer). And 2. a class/overview on tea-making from Steve Smith Teamaker in Portland, OR. Tea + Jam. Makes sense now, right? I loved… [more]

September: urban farm update.

09/18/2011 | 12 Comments | Topics: farm.

Egad we have been busy. We still have dirt everywhere, but for good cause: we are digging trenches to upgrade water, sewer and add electrical, gas and sprinklers. That one sentence is hours of digging, yard-mapping, home-depot trips, cleaning, more digging, wheelbarrow + rock, teaching sons ‘how-to’ and more. But we are making progress. Our backyard neighbors needed to bring big trucks through our yard for their remodel. Our… [more]