Garden Mascot

Spot is having a great time,watching over all these early spring  happenings in the garden and the greenhouse.   Every little breeze that stirs up a leaf or a twig--he's on it!

Happy First Day of Spring!

Corned Beef from Meg Higgins

When we got together at Christmas, Meg Higgins brought the most beautiful--and delicious--corned beef ever.  So in honor of St. Pat's Day this week, here's her recipe-- originally published in Country Living Magazine 25 years ago. 

Btw, have you ever wondered why they call it "corned" beef?  It has something to do with the way they used to brine the beef with "corns" of salt.   You really can find most everything on google now!  Okay, here it is:

1 corned beef brisket (about five pounds, which will serve 8-10)
2 sweet onions
6 whole gloves  oops, make that 6 whole cloves
6 pepper corns
2 lg. bay leaves
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
Place the following in a crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours til very tender.

Glaze:
1/3 c packed brown sugar
1T dijon mustard

Allow meat to cool a little in juice, then move to a shallow pan.  (Save juice to cook cabbage or potatoes later.)  Cover meat with another shallow pan and weigh down with cookbooks or something heavy overnight in fridge.  This ensures neat slices.  About an hour before serving, slice meat as thin as possible and place in rows in shallow pan.  Spread with glaze and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, til glaze is bubbling.  Serve traditionally with mashed potatoes, cabbage, and carrots.   So good!

And if your spice rack needs replenishing these days, check out The Farm kitchen. . .  You'll find the ones called for above, as well as a wide variety of other spices that will wake up all your favorite recipes:-)

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Gardening Glove Season

Yay!  We'll all be needing our garden gloves soon, won't we?  Great to see  the shoots of early spring bulbs and the grass beginning to turn green again.   And of course, the weeds always think our gardens are made just for them, so a bunch of them are arriving early! 

And here's one of our fun new artists  in the shop for this year.  We love her sassy sense of humor!

Megan, the Artist

The work of Megan Adamski (daughter of Gail and Eric)  has been featured at The Farm ever since she was a little girl.   Recently Megan was one of 800 artists who participated in the annual Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, a high school art competition.   Megan and four other students were named best of the best with an American Vision Award.  At least one of the winners will go on to compete on the national level in New York.  Congratulations, Megan!  Can't wait to see what you'll be doing next!

Great composite necklaces 

featuring vintage finds by Megan.

Take Time to Smell the Flowers

Check out Gail and Cheryl here sharing a laugh over these great new flower sculptures. . .  The shop is full of fun new things for  spring.  Hope everybody gets to enjoy some sunshine over the next few days.   Happy March!

So. . . Who's Ready for Spring?

Us! You too?

Even tho you haven’t heard a lot from us lately, we’ve been very busy getting ready for a wonderful new year at the shop.   When you walk in the front door, you may wonder if you’ve really been here before! New lines, new artists, new colors…but with that Farm ‘comfort’. We will officially begin this new year on Tuesday, March 2. That’s Morningstar Café’s first day too – so come see us both!

Almost There!

Signs of spring popping up all around us. . . rain  (instead of  snow!) . . . chirping birds. . .  swelling buds. . .  . . . seed orders arriving in the mail. . . We've been really busy ordering, cleaning, rearranging, and making plans for a new season.   Opening day for the 2010 season is Tuesday, March 2nd, so put us on your calendar!

February Quilting

Barb hosted the second sewing circle of 2010 for us this week.  We had a great time sewing and chatting and planning for spring!  This gorgeous quilt by Barb hangs just inside the front door of her home.  Here's a peek at Barb's current work in progress.  Love the country colors here!And look at this amazing cathedral windows, which has inspired  Sue and Cheryl to each make one of their own too.  Incredible.   Thanks for having us, Barb!  We had a great time.

Snow, Snow, Snow

More snow today here in our Central Illinois gardens, but we're all dreaming of spring, right??  This is a picture from Lori's zone 6 garden.  Lori comes out to The Farm when she is  visiting with family in Springfield.   We hope to see her again this season!  Only three more weeks til re-opening :-)