Bread and Snow: The Farm Report 1-18-2019

Bread and Snow
The Farm Report 1-18-2019

This one's for you, Kev! Not much happening on a 'Farming Level' here right now, but it is snowing outside again for the second or third weekend in a row. So what to do? Make bread and think about spring! I've had input about growing and using my own wheat berries, so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and do a baking primer.

As you might recall from last summer's posts, I planted a nice bed of Glen Spring Wheat in the garden. I planted it as early as I could walk on the ground without sinking in - March-ish.

You have to watch the progress, but along in July sometime, the heads get 'right.' The little berries will crack between your teeth when you bite down, and not be doughy or gummy. Since I'm a machine guy, I used my restored David Bradley Walking Tractor with sickle mower attachment to cut it. Yes, you could go old school and use a scythe; they work probably just as well. When you've got a David Bradley, you want to use it. 

I lined the hauler on old Emmie - my 1947 Farmall M - with a plastic tarp and loaded all the straw and wheat heads into it. Old school, I would have tied up the wheat in bundles called sheafs to dry. Either or either, it all works out the same the way I do it. You won't find this pic on many quaint nostalgic greeting cards, that's what fields of sheafs are for. But drying down the grain is the goal here, any way you can. I parked Emmie and the wheat inside my shop building to keep it safe from the elements.

Missing pic: (I thresh the grain from the straw with a simple little 'weed whip' leaf shredder. It works a charm, but I'll have to show you that some other time. (Here is a link to the threshing blog.)

Meanwhile, back to baking, find something strong and hang on tight! Here we go with the drill. First, get a scale. It is so much easier to make bread with a scale than with measuring spoons and cups. Next, get a recipe.  And last, Get a Grand Champion Sweepstakes Winner teacher to show you how. That, of course, ain't me. It was Joyce and that is her ribbon. She won two of these awards for her baking at fairs. I used to weight 90 lb. but when you live with a champion baker, things change. I'm the soup maker. If you like my soup you should enjoy it; you'll probably never get it again. I use recipes for guidelines. Artistic license is good when you make soup. Tinker and fine tune 'til you like it. Bakers are lab rats. They don't use recipes, they use formulae! And you'll get exactly the same bread every time.  If it says add 35 grams, then it doesn't mean 36. No variation - and you can expect exactly the same product over and over. That was Joyce; Champion Baker! (My neighbor, Steve, and I share two things in common. One, both our wives were middle school teachers. Joyce taught 'Home Ec/Family Consumer Science. The other thing we have in common? We agree that as a result of living with middle school teachers, we are both in Permanent Fifth Grade for life! We do what we're told, and we don't give no lip! "Yes, Mrs. Inman.")

Here's my recipe. Simple basic bread. Works every time.

Well, OK, I do make little changes. One of 'em is adding my own wheat berries ground into whole wheat flour. It adds such a wonderful nutty flavor to the bread. I don't use a lot of them. Whatever this little coffee mill holds is what I put in. I grind the berries immediately before I make bread. Per Mrs. Inman's lessons, when the wheat berries are broken open, the oils immediately begin to spoil by oxidation and lose their flavor. Whole wheat flour from the store tastes sour sometimes because it has begun to go rancid. Once you try grinding fresh whole wheat berries just as you make the flour, you won't go back.

Buzz the grinder until the flour is the way you like it. I like mine pretty fine. Add this to the scaled ingredients as you add the flour. I include this whole wheat as part of the regular flour weight called for.

Gasps! You cretin! Ok, Yes, I use a bread machine. Why not? We have made our own bread, Joyce and  I, for almost all of the nearly 47 years we were married. Kneading is fun and satisfying, but a bread machine is unbeatable for convenience. I love them. Joyce even learned to like them. (Her champion ribbons didn't come from a bread machine though....) 

Bread machines are lousy baking ovens. We only use the machine to mix, knead and proof the dough. Once it has risen correctly (Follow the Machine Instructions) then make the dough into a conventional loaf and bake it the old fashioned way.

Mrs. Inman, like I suppose all skilled craftspeople are wanton to do, sometimes withheld certain tricks of the trade. I don't really think she was trying to fool anybody, because that was just not in her nature. I think rather that she just thought this was probably something everybody knew about. Well I didn't! This is a 'pastry cloth.' It is just a piece of fabric - cotton duck in this case but anything will work. It is 'loaded' with flour rubbed in on one side. The dough will not stick to it! No spilling flour on the counters or making a mess to clean up later. Just put the risen, proofed dough out on the cloth and knead it - SIX TIMES ONLY - and form it into a loaf. Then, carefully fold the pastry cloth - floured sides in - and put it into a zip-lock bag. Store it in the flour bin and it will be ready for you next time you bake.

You can use a pan, or just free-form a loaf shape. Your pleasure. Cover it and let it rise for half an hour in a warm place.

Bake for another half hour at 350F and you're there. Unbeatable Homemade Bread. I like sesame seeds on mine. I make cuts to relieve the gluten cloak so it won't split where I don't want it to. No rules on this.  Remove the hot loaf from the pan and cool a little, then begin eating.

Oh, and the snow part.... As with the last two or three 'Office Window Calendar Shots' this is how it STILL looks outside today. That's why I'm baking.

Last weekend, we had 12 inches of really heavy wet snow. We also had something very unusual: No wind! So, the snow just stacked up on everything.

This is Henry Ford. The steering wheel is to the left, the seat is on the right.

Zoey's ranger was outdoors, too.

Ding Dong Bell, the Farmer in the Dell? Our farm bell got a top hat.

The Windmill Orchard is asleep. I'm going to do a grafting class for the Mills County Master Gardeners in February. Even though it looks like nothing is happening, I will be going out collecting grafting scionwood any day now. For the class I'm going to be teaching, we need dormant scion or 'top' wood. Now is when you harvest it.

The bee yard is pretty, but snowy.

Check back a week ago. This is where we were splitting wood!

No heat on the compost project yet. Drat! I'm patient and hopeful though. My Dad once told me he had never seen concrete fail to set up if you waited long enough. I've never seen wet hay fail to rot either - if you wait long enough. Go order some seeds, Tim.

Yikes! My greenhouse didn't like all that heavy wet snow on it! The roof caved in!

This is what was outside. With no wind and heavy wet snow, it just stacked up. This greenhouse withstood 80 and 100 mph winds last summer just fine. But a foot of wet snow? Nope.

Fortunately, the steel cattle panels are pretty hard 'springy' metal. Once I was able to get the snow load off, they popped back into place. Well, about 99% in place. I'm impressed! For those who have asked, I do plan to do a whole blog post on how I built this greenhouse pretty soon. They are a trap. I originally planned on a cold 'polytunnel' that would be used to start little plants and extend my season in the fall. But it is sooo much fun, I have been adding a little heat. Now, I'm thinking about adding a little more heat and getting started the first of February. And just think, I could buy carrots at Walmart for $2 a bag. Boy am I saving money growing my own! I love growing things though. I don't drink or dance much, so maybe this is how I spend my fun money.

Did you catch it? Look again. You might have to go back to last week's post. He moved a little. Not much, but he did move. O.J. isn't lulled into thinking spring is coming anytime soon. He seems to like his Christmas present don't you think? Hey, don't be a mooch. The only reason he likes this sleeping pad is because I bought it for Zoey when she couldn't jump up into her chair anymore. 'I'll take that for myself' he said smugly when Zoey was gone. Then he curled up and began to dream again. All is well at Oakdale Farm. I hope with you, too.