the harvest of spring...

For the most part, harvest time is fall. But here on the farm, we begin to harvest the grass crops by the beginning of May...so that's what been happening here the last few days.

The grass is swathed down...and then needs to dry for about a day (and that means we need to find a wee stretch without rain, which has been a problem this year).

It is then chopped into a wagon...

dumped into a truck...

and hauled into a storage bunker, where it packed is tightly and allowed to 'pickle' before being fed to the cattle.

There's another bumper crop just down the road awaiting spring harvest...

...Ryder and I stopped by there this morning to check out the rhubarb field.

Rhubarb is one of those things that you either love or hate!

It's a very uncommon vegetable...often mistaken for a fruit, since it's a favorite for pies.

And did you know about the medicinal qualities of rhubarb? Eat rhubarb and you can skip the prune juice!

I harvested my few stalks yesterday (the plants are just young, and I'm afraid to cut too much)...and added a little rhubarb from a friend's garden to make a favorite old recipe.

Rhubarb Torte

Crust:

1 cup butter

2 cups flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

Mix as for pie crust.

Pat into a 9 x 13 inch pan, and bake in 350 F oven for 15 minutes.

Cool slightly.

Custard:

6 egg yolk

1 cup whipping cream (or half and half)

2 cups sugar

4 Tablespoons flour

1/2 tsp salt

5 cups rhubarb, cut into pieces

Beat egg yolks, cream, sugar, flour and salt together.

Fold in rhubarb and pour over baked crust.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 45-60 minutes.

Meringue:

6 egg whites

pinch of salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Beat egg whites with salt & vanilla until foamy.

Add sugar gradually, and beat until stiff.

Spread over custard and bake at 375 F until golden (about 10 minutes).

This is a large recipe...can be halved and made in an 8 inch square pan.

So while the trucks and tractors roared outside our window last night...our care group met at our house as scheduled.

We enjoyed the 'fruit' of my spring harvest...and as they were about to leave for home, hubby came in from a very long day in the fields.

The job was done...and the rain was on it's way once again!