get along little doggies

This past Saturday I attended the Tamworth Sled Dog Races on Chocorua Lake, it was really fun! Unfortunately, my camera battery died, so the only photos that I have are from my phone's camera... not the greatest, but you can still feel it. It was cold, but not too cold. It was snowing, but not too hard. The sun came out some and the people (and dogs) were awesome. It was the first time I have EVER actually stood on frozen water (something I intend to do a lot more up here...).
The images below show the dogs far off, about 1/2 way across the lake from the finish line - if you look really hard, you can see them in the horizon - then one team coming into the finish. More fun in the snow pictures soon! (I hear most you have been having your own snow fun... send me pictures!)

today's Maine event

Part of what I get to do as I settle in to this new place is meet a whole lot of really great and valuable people in this community. I have been shaking hands and sharing meals with so many wonderful folks!
This evening I drove into Maine to hang out with Geof Hancock of Alma Farm. Geof was the farmer at The Community School about 4 years ago. He is now farming with his partner Gina and their two adorable twin girls, Emilia and Adeline. Geof was kind enough to have me over and chat about the goings on around here. It was great!
I hate going into new homes empty handed (and, to be honest, I was really craving these yummy little things) so I whipped up a batch of spelt biscuits to bring along.
**Since this bog is going to become a recipe source once the bounty starts coming out of the ground, I figured I might as well start now!

Lauren's Spelt Biscuits (makes 8)
2 cu. spelt flour
1Tbl. baking powder
1tsp. salt
1/3 cu. coconut oil
3/4 cu. HOT water

preheat oven to 375
line baking sheet with parchment (or dust with flour)

mix together dry ingredients
add coconut oil and water, lightly mix with spatula
dredge out dough, pat into 1" thick slab
use mason jar/pint glass (which ever is empty!) and cut slab into circles
place on sheet

optional: brush on some oil and sprinkle with sugar or salt (I find they don't need this, but it sure doesn't hurt...)

bake for 4 min.
pull out the rack, rotate sheet 180 - back in oven
bake 4 more min.

let cool (but not too much, then the butter won't melt just right!) and enjoy.

weather or not...

I don't have to tell you it's cold outside, you know it is. It is winter and it is cold.
Last night brought minus nineteen degrees to Tamworth. Minus Nineteen! I got up just after midnight to turn on a drip in my kitchen faucet, to ward off frozen pipes just in case...

This drop in temperature has got me looking at the NOAA site more and more and I have to say that I am somewhat mesmerized by the radar maps of the country. I also like the way they break down the daily forecasts:

Stay warm out there, kiddies!

head north, not west

It has been a long, too long, period of time since I have been adding information to the internet via this blog. Until 5 days ago, I had all but forgotten then internet existed (sorry Mr. Gore)! But, I am back.
While I have been taking a hiatus from blogging, I have not done so with farming. I spent the whole of 2010 at Four Winds Farm in Gardiner, NY learning about no-till vegetable cultivation, compost production, livestock rearing (in the form of pigs, ducks, cows, chickens, and turkeys), hiking, farm marketing, barn-living, beer brewing, food canning, a little bit of Spanish, and a lot bit about people. IT WAS GREAT! I'll throw some photos on here to attempt to sum up the year (at least on the farm... summing up 2010 on the whole is going to take more then a few photos).

Where is 2011 headed? NORTH. I know they say "go west, young man", but this young lady has found herself headed north. I realized the other day that I have successfully 'climbed' the East Coast. From Miami to DE to Philly to the Hudson Valley, I now find myself in NEW HAMPSHIRE! I was recently hired as the Farm Manager of The Community School in Tamworth. With the help of my dear Mr. Pat, I moved up last weekend and am settling in under a blanket of snow. The nights are cold, but the days are (mostly) sunny. I am learning to cross country ski and have already met a bunch of great people. So far I've got photos of snow... and the incredible packing job we had to accomplish to get all of our STUFF up here! More an more and more photos and posts will follow... for sure!