My Dehydrator Zucchini Chip Recipe

 At this time of year, zucchinis are everywhere. Not only are they coming out of my ears, but they are coming out of everyone else’s ears too, so I can’t give any away. This simple recipe could solve your zucchini problem once and for all. Zucchini chips are a delicious snack, and they use up more zucchini than any other recipe that I can think of.

You will need:

•    1 ¼ lbs zucchini. Zucchinis 1 ½ - 2” in diameter work best because the seeds are smaller.
•    1 tsp olive oil
•    ½ tsp salt
•    ½ tsp finely ground black pepper

Remove both ends of the zucchinis and slice in 3/8” thick slices. Put slices in large bowl and add salt, pepper, and olive oil. Thoroughly mix until all zucchini slices are evenly coated. Place slices on a dehydrator tray and dry at 135°F until chips are crunchy (about 12 hours). Allow chips to cool and store in an airtight container.

Hi everyone,
I'm just letting you know that I have started posting my blog posts to a facebook page. It seems that having the posts on facebook is more convenient for some folks. If you think seeing the posts of facebook would be more convenient, here is the link https://www.facebook.com/RebellionFarmVT.  I will also continue posting everything that goes on the facebook blog on this page as well.
Jenna

Potato Harvest

I dug my potatoes! I wish I could have left them in the ground for a wile longer until the root cellar is cooler, but I have a serious vole problem in my garden, so I didn't want to risk losing too many potatoes to voles. The potatoes in the closest crate are a variety called 'Magic Molly' they are vibrantly purple. I planted 15 feet of these and harvested 23 lbs, although I lost quit a lot to voles. The middle crate has a variety called 'Carola', I planted 30 feet of these and harvested 58 lbs. The last crate has a variety called 'Red Gold' they are a very early maturing variety, they were ready to harvest by August 1st. I planted 30 feet of these and harvested 45 lbs., although I lost some to voles.

Icelandic Chickens

My Icelandic chickens have taken to roosting in trees. They are very smart, and a bit wild, but they are also an old and hardy breed that is known for being good at foraging for food. Because of this, they supposedly need substantially less grain that other chicken breeds during the summer months. I am hoping, next summer once they are full grown, to measure their grain intake vs their egg output and then compare it to some common chicken breeds. But I must admit that at this point, I am worried that they will lay eggs astray and I won't find any.

Colorful Carrots

Divestment Lobbying

I was up early again this morning, but not for the usual reasons of sheep checking or cow chores. Today, with two friends, Gretta and Nora, I went to the State House to lobby our representatives for divestment. It was still dark when we climbed into the car, and we wasted a few minutes being extra careful not to let our black dress pants touch the muddy, salty, grimy Vermont-mud-season car as we climbed in. We stopped in town at Mike’s Store to pick up bagels and muffins to eat in the car. Mike’s is always hopping. People come in early for their coffee and doughnut, mid-morning for their coffee and doughnut, and at lunchtime for a sandwich and doughnut. The early morning crowd is made up of people dressed in Carhartts and camouflage hats with heavy boots. We were certainly the odd ones out with black dress pants and wool coats. We purchased our breakfast and were on the road. We met up with our ride in Woodstock. We were carpooling with our friend, who used to be one of our neighbors, Deb.

            When we arrived at the State House, we got out of the car, once again going to great lengths to avoid getting mud on our pants. We got back into our coats, which was just as difficult as getting out of the car. For anyone who has not had the experience of wearing these coats before, let me explain why. The material does not stretch which means that once you are in the coat, your range of motion is about half of what it was without the coat. You can’t raise your arms and fold your collar, you can’t bend your elbows more than 40 degrees and worst of all, it is quite tricky to reach your buttons to get yourself out of the coat, so once you are in, you are in to stay.

Lambing Season

     I wrote this almost week ago, but forgot to post it until now.

     New lambs are born almost every day at this time of year. They are some of the most photogenic creatures out there with their curly coats and their tiny faces, bouncing around the barn and snuggling up together to nap. This morning, a ewe gave birth to triplets, two back ewe lambs and one white ram lamb. It is not unusual in the case of triplets for the smallest to be rejected by the mother, and in this case, one of the little black ewe lambs was rejected. She was weak and cold this morning, and after being born, was not making the usual attempts to stand and to find milk. I was working in the barn this morning, taking care of cows, so I did my best to dry her off and warm her up with a towel until Susie, one of the sheep's owners, arrived.