Alma Paprika

It's long been my ambition to grow my own paprika peppers, since there is probably no seasoning I use as much as sweet Hungarian paprika. I tried growing 2 varieties this summer; Alma, a heritage Hungarian variety, and Conquistador, a Spanish variety. I'll give Conquistador another try as I crowded it and it acquired a virus, but it really didn't produce anything much for me this year.

Alma, on the other hand, which was also crowded and exposed to the virus, did very well indeed. The plants were compact, not reaching above 2 feet in height, and absolutely loaded with peppers. The fruits are round, and from a slight distance easily mistaken for tomatoes, although the thick stems and hexagonal stem base give them away. They have thick, juicy walls and are a sweet, mild pepper. Mind you I've seen mention by a few people that they can be unexpectedly hot. I know my fingers were stinging after the last batch I cut up.

They are a fairly early pepper, ready in 70 to 80 days from transplant. We had an early frost here, so I have pulled the plants and brought the unripe ones in to finish ripening. They do continue to ripen very well off the plant. A few have developed bad spots, but it also seems to take some time for the bad spots to affect the entire pepper. I just have to keep an eye on them.

The virus, by the way, was probably mild mottle virus. It came into the garden on one of a few pepper plants we bought on sale from a garden centre to fill in a some bare spots once our seedlings were planted. It was quite interesting, in a nasty sort of way, to watch it spread out from the original infected plant like a ripple in a pond when a stone is thrown in. The Alma peppers were further away from patient #1 than the Conquistador, but they were somewhat affected. I think they had fairly good resistance though; there was only a little leaf-twisting and very few of the peppers developed the brown scabby netting that appeared on other peppers nearby. And I doubt pepper formation was affected as the plant was absolutely smothered in peppers.

Like most peppers, Alma likes hot weather and a steady, moderate amount of water, and needs decent soil fertility. We planted them out June 1st to make sure the soil was good and warm. I would describe them as a somewhat determinate pepper: we pulled all the peppers off in the course of 3 weeks to a month. They are quite tolerant of cool nights - they were one of the last pepper plants to succumb to the cold for us. I understand they can be susceptible to early blight though.

I have dried most of my peppers but they are excellent for fresh eating and cooking, and it's also traditional to pickle them. They would make a very good stuffed pepper. In spite of the large numbers produced by each plant I am left feeling like I don't have nearly enough, and I'm going to plant quite a few more next year.

Apple & Beet Borscht

Apples add a nice touch of sweetness to an otherwise simple, basic borscht. I used turkey stock, but chicken stock, or even a good vegetable stock if you wanted a vegetarian soup, would work well. We do like a bit of sour cream with our borscht. Alas, this was yogurt. Not quite the same.

I used Gala apples, because I had them, and they held together nicely. I would probably have prefered something a bit more tart, but it does need to be an apple that will hold up to cooking without turning to mush. Mutsu (Crispin) apples should work well, as would Ida Red, Empire, Spartan or Northern Spy.

1 hour, not including cooking the beets
8 servings


4 large beets
2 medium onions
3 or 4 stalks of celery
4 cups chopped red cabbage
4 medium tart apples
2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
4 cups beet cooking water
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon caraway seeds, ground
salt & black pepper to taste

Wash and trim the beets, and put them in a pot with plenty of water to cover them. Bring them to a boil and boil them steadily for about 30 minutes. Let them cool enough to handle - or this can be done the day before.

Peel and chop the onions. Wash, trim and dice the celery. Chop the red cabbage. Wash, core and chop the apples.

Heat the oil in a large skillet and gently cook the onions and celery until soft, but not browned. Add the red cabbage and apples, and cook for a few minutes more, stirring regularly, until they too are softened. Meanwhile, peel and dice the beets.

Put the beets into a soup pot with the chicken stock, 4 cups of the beet cooking water and the vinegar. Add the sugar, bay leaves, ground caraway seed, and the diced beets. Add the cooked down cabbage, apples, etc.

Simmer the soup for about 20 minutes until well amalgamated, and all the vegetables are tender. Serve with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream, if desired.




Last year at this time I made Hot Garlicky, Cheesy Broccoli or Cauliflower.

Cocoa Madeleines

I seem to be suffering from cooks block, if there is such a thing, so have not had anything to post, and also we ended up with a 17 pound turkey this year for Thanksgiving, which considering there was 3 of us was rather a lot of turkey. It's been turkey sandwiches allllll week. However, the turkey does seem to be winding down and maybe I will start cooking something again.

These madeleines are adapted from a recipe I found in the Toronto Star many (many) years ago. They were meant as cookies, but I found them sufficiently cake-like that I thought they would make better madeleines. However, if you don't have a madeleine mold, you can revert to the cookie idea. They are a very light and simple cookie and I think they would do well with a chocolate glaze but I have to admit I have thus far never bothered.

12 to 18 madeleines
30 minutes - 15 minutes prep time


butter for madeleine pans
2 eggs, separated
pinch salt
1/3 cup Sucanat or dark brown sugar
2 tsps vanilla extract
1/4 cup soft unbleached flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter the madeleine forms.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until soft peaks form. Slowly beat in the Sucanat; beat until stiff.

Beat the egg yolks with the vanilla in a smaller bowl, and fold them in with the egg whites.

Mix the flour, cocoa and baking powder, and sift them over the egg whites. Fold in. Drop onto very well buttered madeleine forms and bake for about 15 minutes at 350°F, until just firm. Let cool in the trays for 10 minutes then remove them to finish cooling.

This will make 12 to 18, depending on the size of the molds. You could also drop them free-form onto buttered parchment paper (set on a cookie sheet) and make small, rounded cakes that way. You could glue them together with frosting and call them whoopie pies, even.




Last year around now I made Sweet Potatoes Roasted with Plums & Ginger, and Green Tomato & Turkey Chile.

Traditional Pickled Beets

Last week I was given 6 quarts of "Cylindra" beets that were starting to go just a tad soft, so the obvious thing to do was to pickle them. This is a very traditional eastern European beet pickle recipe, although my version has less sugar than many recipes.

If you are going to make a smaller batch that you think will be eaten quickly, you could put in up to twice as much pepper and cloves. I find that the flavours of those two spices get stronger and stronger the longer the pickles sit; something to keep in mind. You could also spice up a few jars more than the others, and label them to be eaten first.

This was the first time I've used Cylindra beets. They're the ones that are long - 3" to 5" long, like a stubby carrot. They are recommended for canning and pickling, and the long, cylindrical shape makes them very good for creating fairly evenly sized slices. In spite of how large each beet was, they were quite tender, although I do think they might be a bit less naturally sweet than some other varieties. We might try growing them next year. If you can't get them, I suggest smallish beets for pickling; about 1 1/2" to 2" in diameter. They can be cut into quarters for a nice sized pickle.

The other pickle in the picture is the zucchini Bread and Butter pickles we made earlier this summer. At the time I didn't know what I would think of adding Jalapeno chiles and hot chile flakes to them, but I can now report back: delicious!

6 500-ml jars
about 2 hours, not including time to cool the beets



Beets & Brine:
3 quarts beets
3 cups vinegar
3 cups beet cooking water
1/2 cup Sucanat or dark brown sugar

Wash the beets and put them into a large pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil and boil for about 40 to 45 minutes, until tender. Let the beets cool. This can be done the day before, and the beets kept in a cool spot. They don't have to be refrigerated if you have a good cool spot for them.

Put the jars into a canner, and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel the beets, and keep 3 cups of the cooking water. (Lift it carefully out of the top of the pot - I find however thoroughly I have washed the beets there is always some grit that settles to the bottom during cooking.)

Slice the beets or cut them into bite-sized chunks. Put them in a large pot with the vinegar, beet cooking water and the Sucanat or dark brown sugar. Bring to a boil.

Per Jar:
1/4 teaspoon pickling salt
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
3 or 4 whole cloves
1 bay leaf

Put the above spices into each hot, sterlized canning jar. Fill the jars with the hot beets and brine. Wipe the rims and seal the jars with lids and rims prepared according to manufacturers directions. Return the jars to the canner and boil them for 10 minutes.

Remove and let cool. Check for seals, label and store for 4 to 6 weeks before opening. Like most preserves, they will keep sealed for a year or so, and must be refrigerated once they have been opened.




Last year at this time I made Chai Pumpkin Pie.

Parsnips with Leeks

Parsnips! A great, underused winter vegetable. I usually roast or fry them, but I thought I'd try something different for a change, and we liked this very much. Not much to say about it; it's a pretty simple and straightforward vegetable side dish.

4 servings
20 minutes prep time


3 mediums parsnips (3 cups sliced)
1 medium leek ( 1 cup sliced)
2 tablespoons butter
a pinch of salt
a little nutmeg

Peel the parsnips and trim the tops and ends. Cut them into 1/4" slices. Put them in a pot and cover with water; bring to a boil and boil them for about 10 minutes, until tender.

Meanwhile, trim the leek down to the white and light green parts, and cut it in thin slices. Rinse the slices to remove any lingering grit, and drain them well. Heat the butter in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Sauté the leeks gently until quite soft but not browned.

Drain the parsnips and add them to the leeks, mashing them with a potato masher and mixing them in well. Season with a pinch of salt, and a grating of nutmeg.





Last year at this time I made Pork Ribs Cooked with Sauerkraut and Pumpkin Gingerbread.

Ground, Rubbed & Whole Herbs & Spices

Since I've been getting some feedback from recipe testers, it's become clear that many don't understand what I mean by "rubbed" when I call for "rubbed basil" or "rubbed oregano" or "rubbed whatever" in my recipes, so I thought I would try to clarify.

The fine, green substance in the bowl on the right side of the picture contains ground oregano. I don't generally use or recommend purchasing ground herbs. The more the dried leaves have been broken up, the more surfaces there are that will lose flavour as they sit, whether in the store or on your shelf.

Rubbed herbs - and this is the term that is generally used on packaging - are dried herbs that have been processed to mimic the texture you would get by rubbing the whole dried leaves between your fingers until they crumble. Because they have fewer broken edges than ground herbs, they keep better. The bowl on the lower left contains rubbed thyme.

Herbs aren't generally sold whole, but rosemary leaves are an exception. That's what's in the bowl to the top left. If you can get whole herbs, that's great - as you would expect they store the best, although they do tend to be more bulky to store. To use them, either grind them in a mortar and pestle just before use, or if they are soft enough rub them through your fingers until they are finely crumbled.

Herbs which are also seeds are generally available either whole or ground (no picture). I infinitely prefer to buy them whole, and grind them myself. Seeds in particular tend to contain volatile oils which will quickly dissipate once the hard outer shell is broken. Coriander seems to be the worst for this - the flavours seem to vanish in as little as 5 or 10 minutes after the seed is ground if left exposed to the air. Or as with black pepper, nutmeg and celery seed for example, they will tend to go rancid and develop a bitter flavour.

I like a mortar and pestle for grinding my herbs and spices; I rarely grind so much as to make an electric grinder a necessity. However, if you want an electric grinder a dedicated coffee grinder will not be expensive and will do a good job. Run a piece of stale bread through it once you are done to remove any lingering flavours.

And finally, however you buy your spices, never buy them in a little glass jar if you can possibly avoid it! You will pay through the nose for a big piece of glass and a tiny amount of something that is probably not terribly fresh. Go to a shop that sells them in bulk or at least in plastic bags and has a good turnover. Those of you who live in larger towns and cities should have not difficulty finding a number of places with wide herb and spice selections and good turnovers. For those of us in the boonies, Bulk Barn is, well, a boon. Although even there, it's a good idea to give a discreet sniff before you buy - I have found some bulk spices that were not fresh as the turnover just doesn't seem to be there sometimes. Try not to buy more than you think you will use in a month or two. Keep your herbs and spices stored in a cool, dark spot. Some, such as sumac or celery seed, will keep best well wrapped and sealed in the freezer.

Braised Turkey

This is a photo and recipe I've been saving since last Christmas; not much use in posting it after Christmas I didn't think. So here it is in plenty of time for Thanksgiving.

For years, I've been aware of the old verse;

Turkey boiled is turkey spoiled
And turkey roast is turkey lost
But for turkey braised,
The Lord be praised!

I'm inclined to take their word - whoever they were - that turkey shouldn't be boiled. (Although I can't see any reason why turkey breast couldn't be poached lightly, like chicken breast.)

Modern cooks, or even cooks for the entire last two centuries however, are and have been of the opinion that roast turkey is not at all lost, but in fact the only way to proceed. It is a method that does have its drawbacks though; the white breast meat cooks faster than the dark legs, and so it is prone to being served dried out and overcooked. Furthermore, unless there is someone in the family who is adept at carving, it's a lot easier to cut up the bird before it is cooked, and then just have to slice the boneless breasts before serving. You don't have to worry about "performing" in front of your guests, while the rest of the meal is either scorching or getting cold, and if you find it easiest to put your hands all over it while you cut it up, no problem! It's about to be cooked for several hours anyway.

The one disadvantage that I can see, is that you don't get to present a a shiny brown entire bird to the table in a burst of (usually imaginary in my experience) trumpets - most people have been waiting around for hours and just want to get on with it at that point. And the skin is not so uniformly crisp and delectable, which I do admit is a loss that I feel; that, and the stuffing which obviously cannot be stuffed. Still, if it makes the actual meat moister and tastier, that's a sacrifice I believe I am prepared to make.

This method is particularly suited for smaller turkeys, which are also particularly prone to drying out when roasted. Or, you can (in some places) get turkey pieces instead rather than buying a whole turkey. In a family like ours, where 9 out of 10 diners strongly prefer dark meat, it means you can formulate your pieces to suit peoples tastes. I got 1 breast and 4 thighs for our family one year; there was no leftover thigh meat at all and half a breast left over at the end of dinner. You can imagine that everyone was a lot happier than they would have been with a whole bird. Unfortunately, that was in the days before I had sworn off conventionally raised turkey. If you get organic, free range turkey, they do seem to be available whole or not at all.

Serves, in theory, 10 to 14; although perhaps not if you want plentiful leftovers, and surely you do.
1 hour prep time AND about 5 to 6 hours cooking time, including making but not cooling the stock.



1 10 to 14 pound turkey
1 or 2 bay leaves
1 large parsnip
2 medium carrots
1 large onion
3 large stalks of celery
salt & pepper

Cut the legs and wings from the bird. Cut the tips from wings and put them in a large soup pot. Put the leg and wing pieces aside. If there are any other portions of meat still attached to the back end of the carcass, remove them carefully and set them with the legs and wings.

Break off theback half of carcass (now with all the meat removed) and put in the soup pot with the wing tips. Cut the breast meat carefully from carcass, in one piece from each side, along with any remaining pieces of meat that are large enough to cut off and use. Break up the remaining bones and put them in the soup pot. Cover them with cold filtered water, add the bay leaf, and simmer for several hours; cover and return the turkey pieces to fridge while this happens. You may wish to make the turkey stock the day before the turkey is to be cooked. Cool it promptly and keep it in the fridge as well until needed.

Peel and dice the parsnip, carrots and onion. Clean and dice the celery.

Brown the leg and wing pieces in fat. You can use mild vegetable oil, chicken or bacon fat, or any fat that formed on the top of the stock after it was cooked. Put the browned pieces in a large roasting pan.

Preheat the oven to 275°F.

Sauté the prepared vegetables and arrange them around the pieces of turkey in a large roasting pan. Add about 4 cups of the strained turkey stock, and season to taste with salt & pepper. Cover and braise in the oven at 275°F for about 2 hours.

Increase the temperature to 375°F. Add the boneless turkey breast pieces on top, skin side up, and bake for about 45 minutes longer, uncovered, until the breast pieces are done. Remove from the oven, cover, and let the meat rest for about 10 minutes before slicing - time enough to make some gravy if you are doing that.

Slice the breast meat. Shred and debone the dark meat. Serve with the braised veggies on the side, or they may (at least some of them) be puréed with the pan juice and thickened with a little flour to make gravy.

Ping Tung & Little Fingers Eggplants

We grew 2 kinds of eggplant this summer; Ping Tung (lighter) on the left and Little Fingers (darker) on the right.

Little Fingers is one we will probably not grow again. They are described as maturing in 68 days from transplanting, and producing abundant mild to sweet eggplants that can be harvested very small. The plants themselves grow between 2 to 3 feet tall. They are also described as hardy, vigorous and disease resistant; yes, I suppose they were.

However, in spite of our having had a good hot summer, they did not produce that many eggplants and the ones they did produce we found to be quite bitter. Possibly we did not water them sufficiently during the drought that went with the heat, but still we just didn't love them.



The Ping Tung, on the other hand, produced at least twice as many eggplants, larger, a bit sooner and very nicely flavoured and textured, in the exact same conditions. The skins are thin and tender, and they are completely free of bitterness. They are supposed to take 65 to 75 days from transplant. The plants were a bit shorter, topping out around the 2 foot mark. The one criticism I might make is that the eggplants are long enough (up to a foot!) that some of them ended up dragging on the ground. Putting a plastic lid from a food container under them will keep them clean and reasonably bug-free. (Although we really didn't have any problems with bugs even when they dragged on the ground.)

Ping Tung originated in Taiwan. Many of the people selling seeds describe it as a hybrid, but a large number of heritage seed sellers list it as an open-pollinated heirloom. Are there 2 versions? Perhaps, but I suspect there's also just confusion. I'm pretty sure it's open-pollinated. It's certainly a common and well-liked variety; with very good reason I would say. We will be growing this one again.



In the case of both eggplants, I noted that they both performed best when temperatures were between 20°C and 30°C. They did not really produce any eggplants when the temperatures were over 30°C although the ones already in existance continued to develop okay. On the other hand, now that it is consistently under 20°C the plants seem to still be producing flowers, but development of existing eggplants has pretty much come to a halt. I suspect that this is typical of most eggplants.

Eggplants can be martyrs to flea beetles, and the only thing the Colorado potato beetle loves more then potatoes is eggplant. It's probably a good idea to put row covers over your eggplants early in the season while they are young and vulnerable. It will also help keep them warm, and since they are quite intolerant of cold temperatures that's a good thing.

Actually, if you grow potatoes, it's a good idea to have an eggplant growing next to them even if you don't like eggplant. If there are Colorado potato beetles in the vicinity, they will head to the eggplant first, giving you an opportunity to nab them before they get into the potatoes. You'll have to monitor it frequently, of course. That happened (by accident) for us this year. We got beetles on the eggplants, but we caught them right away and were able to destroy them all before they got to the potatoes, or even damaged the eggplants all that much. Once you have potato beetles established in your garden though, they are a major, major headache.

Smoky Paprika Tomato Soup

Tomato season is winding down, but there are still some available. The smoky paprika and pepper flavours add a rich, autumnal touch to this soup, and it's getting cool enough that soups are starting to be welcome. This soup is quite intense in flavour, and some sour cream or yogurt would help make it a little more mellow.

I used 10 large field tomatoes to get 8 cups of diced tomatoes.

Note: Oops, I had a nagging feeling when I posted this that something was missing. There was. I have fixed it.

8 servings
30 minutes prep time



Mix the Spices:
1/4 cup soft unbleached flour
2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot smoked paprika
1 teaspoon rubbed oregano
1 teaspoon salt

Mix in a small bowl and set aside.

Make the Soup:
8 cups peeled, diced tomatoes
2 medium onions
1 or 2 sweet red frying peppers (optional)
2 to 3 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup mild vegetable oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar

Blanch the tomatoes by dropping them into a pot of boiling water for one minute, then transfer them to a sink full of cold water. Peel them and remove the cores, then dice them coarsely.

Peel and chop the onions. Cored, deseed and chop the peppers if using. Red Shepherd, Jimmy Nardello or other sweet red frying pepper would be most appropriate. However, the soup is very good without them as well. Peel and chop the garlic.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and peppers, and sauté over medium-high heat for several minutes, stirring regularly, until they are soft. Sprinkle the flour and spice mixture over and mix in well. Cook for about 5 minutes more, stirring frequently and scraping up the flour as it sticks to the pan and browns. The mixture should be dark, but not burnt. Add the garlic and cook it into the mixture for about a minute, until fragrant.

Add as many tomatoes to the pan as will easily fit. Blend well with the onion and spice mixture, scraping the pan to make sure there is none left sticking to it. Cook until the tomatoes are soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. If you cannot get all the tomatoes in the pan, put the rest of them into a soup pot and bring them to a boil. Simmer them as the rest of the soup cooks in the frying pan.

Blend the soup, including all the tomatoes, in a blender or food processor until very smooth with the vinegar and sugar. Reheat and serve. Very good with a bit of yogurt or sour cream.




Last year at this time I made Lancashire Hot Pot.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

This is a lovely fall and winter dessert. It has all the flavour of pumpkin pie but it's less work (no crust) and I have to say I really love bread pudding. It's not a very sweet pudding; we ate it for dessert but we also ate the leftovers for breakfast. If you wanted to, you could add a bit more sugar or, better, just drizzle a little maple syrup over the top when you serve it.

This is fine with canned pumpkin, but it's always better to prepare and freeze some pumpkin in the fall to have over the winter yourself. Use a good cooking pumpkin, not the Connecticut Field Pumpkins now mainly sold for halloween decorations. They are bland and stringy.

I was a bit amazed - not shocked, unfortunately - to discover that 85% of the canned pumpkin sold in the United States comes from one farm. They had a crop failure last year, and the U.S. has been struggling with a pumpkin shortage all year. This years harvest is fine, and they're in the pumpkin again, but there's yet another reason to support local farmers.

8 to 10 servings
1 hour - 15 minutes prep time


8 cups diced stale sandwich bread, whole wheat or white
½ cup dried cranberries

2 cups cooked pumpkin purée
3 extra-large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup maple syrup
2 ½ cups whole milk or light cream

Slice the loaf of bread and tear up or cube the slices, and mix them in a large lasagne pan (9" x 13") with the dried cranberries.

Beat the eggs into the pumpkin, one at a time. Mix in the spices, salt and vanilla. Mix in the maple syrup and the milk or cream.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Mix the pumpkin custard mixture into the bread and cranberries. Let sit for 10 minutes, then stir again. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until firm and slightly puffed.

Serve warm or cold. Good plain, with whipped cream, ice cream or a little drizzle of maple syrup.




Last year at this time I made Korean Vegetable Pancakes and Plum Torte.

A Visit to Alpaca Acres

Our last visit of the day was to Alpaca Acres, home of Ann & Dan Clayburn. They were the one farm not producing food, although they did say that alpaca meat can be eaten. Theirs, as almost all in North America, are sold as pets and breeding stock, along with fibre products. Currently they have 22 huacaya alpacas on the farm.


The set up is the usual one with alpacas - the males are kept apart from the females and babies, to maintain the calm good temper for which alpacas are known.


Alpacas have a very long gestation period - just a couple of weeks shy of a year. The babies (crias) are nursed for six months. They weigh about 15 to 20 pounds at birth. As adults, the females will weigh 150 to 180 pounds; males may get up to as much as 200 pounds. Babies are always born in the day time.


Dan shows us one of babies. Their wool is extremely long, thick and soft. It contains no lanolin, so it is non-allergenic. Some people use alpacas as herd protectors with sheep, but they are not generally as good at the job as llamas.


The alpacas graze 8 acres of grass in the summer and are fed hay in the winter, along with mineral supplemented pellets. Their manure is rich and does not need to be composted before being used. I was impressed that the alpacas choose a communal toilet spot, and use no other. They are friendly, sociable animals - Alpaca Acres won't sell single animals unless there are already other alpacas at their new home - and they are very tough and problem free. Vet visits are a rarity.


Some of the ribbons won by Alpaca Acres alpacas at shows and fairs are displayed in the garage along with unspun wool, spun yarn, and finished yarn products, mostly crochet although they also sell some socks made in Peru from a mixture of alpaca and synthetic fibres.


Piles of yarn, rovings and finished garments for sale.


Little amigurumi sit in a suitcase waiting to find a home.

A Visit to Erbcroft Farms

Our next stop was Erbcroft Farms, home of sheep, chickens, ducks, horses and pygmy goats. There was some mention of a llama I'm pretty sure, but we didn't see one. The sheep are fairly mixed breeding; Suffolk cross and North Country Cheviot predominating.

Erbcroft Farms has been in the family for 4 generations, but until Tim & Luann took it over it was a cash crop farm. They still grow those, but the animals have become a very important part of the farm.


Chickens roam the yard, supplementing their diet with bugs and seeds.


Two 9-day old lambs who's mother is unable to nurse them are thriving on milk from a local dairy sheep farm. The milk is in a tub outfitted with "nipples" so that the lambs can nurse when they like; a simple thing but it makes taking care of lambs that need to be hand-raised so much easier because like other babies, they need to nurse often and with no regard to anyone else's convenience.


Two kinds of ducks, Rouen and Muscovy, hang out at the creek.



When called, the sheep came thundering up to the fence. The Erbs have about 120 ewes now; eventually they would like to double the number.

Lamb can be ordered as a freezer order from the farm, or purchased at the Mitchell Farmers Market as lamb sausage. We had some samples of the sausage, with it flavoured with Luann Erbs own blend of herbs - very delicate and tasty!


It's a sad fact that there is little point in shearing the sheep if it can be avoided. The last time they sheared their sheep they paid $500 and received $189 for the wool; that's .02 cents per pound. There just isn't much of a market for wool any more.



One of the Erb children collects eggs from the chicken pen as one of the farm tourers watches.


The poultry are all trained to return to the barn at night for safety.


There are also some very charming pygmy goats on the farm.


Finally we went into the barn where the pregnant ewes are being watched. Our timing was amazing; we arrived just in time to see 2 newly born lambs still being licked clean and thinking about standing up. Unfortunately I don't have a picture as my camera chose THAT MOMENT to run out of batteries. It was definitely one of the highlights of the tour though!