Owl Boxes

Living in an area that was farm land not to long ago and is still surrounded by farms we have discovered that there used to be a large population of small birds of prey here.  Unfortunately, many of their nesting areas are disappearing.  What can be done about this?  As it turns out if you put an owl box in your yard you can attract the birds of prey to live in your yard!

This is helpful to the birds who now have a safe place to nest, is fascinating and will keep rodents out of your yard (and your neighbors).

The first step in building an owl box is determining what birds you are hoping to attract.  This will depend on what birds live in your area.  In our area there are Screech Owls, American Kestrels and Barn Owls.  Of these, surprisingly to me, only the Kestrels are endangered.  We are hoping to attract Barn Owls as they return to the same place every year, and are less afraid of humans and so will not be bothered by our living in the yard as well.

We would also be happy with Kestrels who are not nocturnal and so we would see more often.  Further they appear to need more help than the owls do.

Importantly both of these birds are too small to pose a threat to our puppies, or chickens.  Of course you cannot really control what wild animal will decide to live in your owl box, however you can eliminate the risk of larger birds by making the opening and box the appropriate size for the smaller birds.  Once you have done your research you can begin.

As usual you start by measuring how much wood you have and determining your plan.  We had enough for two boxes which is great as the owlets like to find a place near their original nest to live.

Peter then cut the wood into the boxes, we needed the obvious (left, right, front, back, top and bottom) but also a board to block the entrance from the main part of the box.  This requires the animals to go into the box to get to the next, so predators cannot reach in and take out the baby birds.

It is very important to cut the hole in the front of the box to the right size so that the smaller birds you are looking for can get in, but larger ones cannot.

The front also requires roosts for the owls to sit on as they enter.  You don't want your roosts to be too large or again predators will also be able to sit on them.  By digging ridges into the wood the birds can grip onto the roosts while cats and raccoons will have a harder time.

Once you have done that you also need to drill some holes at an angle for drainage.  You are then ready to assemble the box!

 In this photo you can see the board that will protect the owlets from anything just reaching in.  It is also important to note that the holes in the bottom are angled so that fingers pulling at it will not destroy the box.

 One of the sides has an opening so that the box can be cleaned out in the fall when the birds have left for the winter.  It is not necessary to do this every fall, but you don't want the box to get too filled up for the next generation to use.

By adding hinges and then turn able L-screws the door becomes something a human can open, but a raccoon would probably have trouble with.

And with that we carefully attach the top, and our box is completed.  Once it is a box, it needs to be weather proofed so that it can have years of owls living in it.  This is done with a water proof stain and silicon to fill any holes.

Then all that is left is to find a place to mount them.  They must be at least 10 feet above the ground.  We put one in a shade tree, however most of our trees are fruiting trees, and you don't want to put the box in a tree you will be climbing in to get fruit out of.  So the second one is mounted on our back wall.  this also makes it harder for other animals to climb up and get to the box.

I'm hopeful that in the next year or so we will have Barn Owls or American Kestrels to observe.

Croissants

Peter decided recently to learn to make croissants.

This process is long, particularly if you follow the traditional French method.  In America most croissants are made by mechanically inserting air into the dough, however this is not easily done at home and does not have quite the same results.  Instead, Peter went with the complex three day process.

On the first day he made the dough.  This is made by combining 500 grams unbleached all purpose flour, 140 grams water, 140 grams whole milk, 55 grams sugar, 40 grams soft unsalted butter, 11 grams instant yeast and 12 grams salt.  We had never used unbleached flour before.  Unbleached flour is aged to "bleach" instead of bleaching with chemicals and is generally better for pastry but is less white than the other flours you may be used to.

After mixing the ingredients together kneed for 3 minutes.  This is a short process because you do not want to reach a high gluten development stage.  Too much gluten development and it will not roll as well.  Shape the dough into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a day.

On the second day you "laminate" the dough.  To do this take 280 grams of cold butter and cut it into slabs forming a 15 cm square.  Pound and roll the butter between two pieces of wax paper until it is a 19 cm square.

It is helpful to place frozen food on your counter before this process to make the counter cold enough that the butter will not melt too much.  Trim the butter and straighten the edges.  Put the trimmings back in the square and pound until you have a 17 cm square.  Wrap in the paper and put it back in the fridge.  Take out the dough and roll it into a 26 cm square with even thickness.  Place the butter on the dough s that the corners are dissecting the sides of the dough.

Fold the dough so that the edges slightly overlap and enclose the butter.  Press lightly to seal the seams.

Now it needs to be rolled out.  Try to do this with as little additional flour as possible.  Roll the dough into a 20 cm by 60 cm rectangle.  Roll out from the center so the dough will remain even.

Fold the dough together by thirds.  First the top third down, then the bottom up.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Repeat 3 times, turning the dough 90 degrees each time.  Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.

On day 3 we were almost there!  Remember before taking out the dough to freeze the counter.  It also helps to freeze the rolling pin.  Roll the dough out to a 20 cm x 110 cm strip.

Lift each side to let it shrink a bit.  Mark the dough at 12.5 cm intervals along the side, and then halfway between each one on the other side.  Cut the dough into triangles using a pizza cutter.  cut notches into each triangle.

Roll each triangle and place on a baking sheet.  Leave lots of space, as they will grow a lot.

Proof in an oven at 77 degrees.

Brush the croissants with an egg wash (1 egg and 1 teaspoon of water).  Bake at 383 degrees in a convection oven for 6 minutes and then lower the temperature to 329 for 9 minutes.  We then had the best croissants I have had possibly ever, and certainly not since I was last in France!

Cinnamon Buns

This weekend I had some time on my hands so I have been doing more baking than usual.  I decided to give Cinnamon Buns a try.  They came out well, tasty and not too terrible for you.

To start with mix 4 egg yokes, 1 whole egg, 1/4 cup sugar, 6 tablespoons melted butter, and 3/4 cups half and half in a bowl.

Add 2 cups fresh ground flower and 1 package of instant yeast as well as a bit of salt.  Once this is mixed in switch the mixer to a dough hook.

Add another cup of flower and a bit (about another half if your using wheat flower) and mix for 7 minutes.  The dough should be wet but not sticky.

Put this into an oiled bowl and let rise for 2 hours or until doubled in size.

Roll out on a flowered counter until it is about 12x18 inches.

Separately mix together 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, half a stick of softened butter and 2 tablespoons cinnamon.

Brush dough with melted butter and spread the sugar mixture on the dough.

Tightly roll the dough into an 18 inch roll.

I cut this in half and put half in the freezer for a later date.  The rest is cut into 6 rolls and placed in a greased glass pan. Put this in the fridge for 12 hours.

Take the rolls out and let sit for 30 minutes.  Cook at 350 for 30 minutes and set aside to cool.
While they cool beat half a stick of softened butter, 1/8 a cup of milk, 2 cups powdered sugar and a bit of vanilla to create a frosting.

Spread frosting on rolls and enjoy!

Fall Harvest

While we have been harvesting some over the summer, things really pick up in the fall. 

To start with, we are trying something called a Tigger Melon (a plant Peter brought home, because Tiggar is a favorite of mine).  When its ripe, this melon is yellow an orange. 

 When you cut into it the flesh is white, and it smells a bit like honey due. The flavor is good, but very mild 

 We also did well with sweet peppers this year.  We have these purple ones, although they disappointingly lose color when cooked. 

 We also got quite a few green ones, and some good summer squash.

 Our tomatoes are coming in strong.  I expect we will get quite a few more rounds, but for now we can make some sauce for winter. 

One of our hives did quite well this year, although the other didn't.

We took 50 lbs for ourselves, and redistributed 25 lbs to the second hive. 

It's still early, but we are getting ready for winter. 

Making Sugar, To Show I Can

As many people know, growing and harvesting sugar cane is a difficult and costly process.  Because of this, most sugar in the US is actually made from sugar beets.  In fact, until quite recently a significant amount of the land around where I live was used to grow sugar beets.  Sugar beets are white, long and somewhat less tasty than the red beets. 

 

While you can eat them in the same manner as beets, they are jut not as good.  Additionally, I like knowing how to do things, even if actually doing them is not efficient.  Therefore, I am making my own sugar.

 

To start with, clean and cut the tops off the beets.  Then, put them in a food processer to cut into fine pieces.  Put them in a pot of water to boil for one hour.

 

Then poor the mixture through a cheese draining bag into another pot.  I let mine sit overnight to drain out a much liquid as possible. 

 

In the morning  I ran the liquid through a bag again, and started the several hour process of boiling it down.

Remember to watch this carefully, you are essentially boiling sugar water and it can expand suddenly.  This process is slow, so in theory you can work remotely while you do it, if you can get the remote login to work. 

This process will take quite a long time.  In the end the liquid should form a thick honey textured syrup.  This syrup can be boiled down to sugar, but I chose to leave it and just have molasses. 

 

Now that I have proven to myself that I can, I must admit that unless you have a burning desire (read crazy desire) to someday serve a full meal and dessert while telling your guest that the entity of your meal is from the yard (and you have some issues with honey) this is just not worth it.  But its nice to know how!