Pickling Ferns & Milking Oats..

A quick post today as the sun is shining, snow is on the horizon for tomorrow and it's Mother's Day on Sunday.. a lot of to do's on this quarantine Friday where one day really doesn't feel like any other but we are trying really hard to pretend that it does, so here's the scoop!

Yesterday we had a little luck in the fiddlehead department. Found a few here and there, worked hard for them but ended up with just under 2lbs cleaned. We/I decided to try some pickling instead to put them up this year. We usually blanch and freeze them, but pickling is just a couple extra steps and if there are extras we could still freeze some or save them for dinner over the next couple of nights! Score!

I was so excited when I saw the first little cluster!! We have gotten them up north but are trying to stay closer to home of course and had been on a mission.. Matt inquired with a friend too and he set us off in the right direction! Super grateful for that because fiddlehead grounds are hard won secrets just like fishing ones, so I just picked a few. :)

Will report back in two weeks when we can try the tiny harvest!

Also, on the home front this morning I thought it might be fun to share another fun piece. A few months back, a friend shared with me that her children and her were discussing sustainable choices in milk. They have a farm along with a milking cow or two, but the girls were discussing more so about plant derived milks and which of those would be the least impactful to our environment. Kids today!! :) Anyway, Almond was out! The steps to grow almonds, water, land, time etc was well beyond sustainability so they moved down the list.. Rice, coconut, hemp, oat.. From what I remember of the conversation they made a few of those options at home so they could try them.. (that process could be another blog post in and of itself, more on that later.) I'll be brief.

After all of the experimenting they decided that OATS, aka Oatmilk was the winner. I of course wanted to hear all of the details on how they did what and the process of it all.

So, that being a few months ago, I too have been making my own quarts of this very creamy, sustainable and always fresh available milk. It's so easy and it's really very good! I sweeten it just a bit with maple syrup and voila!! Milk. :)

I love the idea! I love the goodness that runs full circle with it. But mostly I love that two very intuitive, smart young little girls had the freedom and access to this whole idea and its process. They thought well beyond the cooler at the grocery store and to them, it's just no big thing, this is their normal! Well done Mom!! #erinonthefarm

Have a blessed weekend everyone & Happy Day to ALL those Mothers in the world~ But most
especially to mine! Love you Mummy!!

Cheers,
Denice