A couple of times a week the local grocery store gives The Farmy a bag of expired produce. 
I sit on one bucket surrounded by other empty buckets and set to work chopping and dividing up all the vegetables, potatoes and fruit.
I am immediately surrounded in a rabble of watchers, outright looters and opportunists, 
who inspect the proceedings, 
complain to each other about the portions,
do not wait patiently and fight over any windfalls. LouLou and Author whose name is Good Authority are always in the thick of it. 
Everyone loves their buckets of fresh food except Bobby Blanc who does not like celery – fancy having a fussy calf. I store a few buckets full in the house, so they do not freeze solid overnight, these are Daisy’s milking treats for a couple of days. Until The Matriarch comes out with another delivery.
Later, after getting the idea from my father, I made labneh into little balls, carefully packed them in jars, covered them with olive oil, added rosemary and garlic and lids and popped the jars into the fridge for next Friday. These will not be shared with the looters.
Good morning everyone. We are cooling down today. It is 16F (-8C) right now but will drop to 7F (-14C) overnight. And then colder again the next day. The cold itself is manageable but whether Daisy’s milking pump will work in the cold always foremost in my mind. It is interesting how carrying the pump to and fro from the barn has become normal. Between milkings, it lives on the floor in the dining room along with the pulsator and the hoses, in the warm and out of the way of general traffic. No-one even bats an eyelid anymore.
Have a wonderful day. Find lots of loveliness and kindness.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
51 responses to “Dividing up the loot”
Too bad the carnivore cats are out of the loop!
They like to lick the melon rinds though. who knows why!! c
Early Sunday morning I read your post aloud to The Good Husband, I love being read to aloud, and I assume everyone else does (not always).
Brilliant to have the greens that the grocery would throw away. Have a happy Sunday, and keep warm my dear dear Celi. V.
I like it when the garden (or the barn, as the case may be) enters the house. We bought in a few citrus trees for the garden a few weeks back, but the temperatures dipped below freezing right then, so we had all the citrus trees in our little house with us. The weather warmed up after a week or so, and the trees are in the garden now.
the house must have smelled divine for that wee while though! I love the scent of citrus.. c
That’s wonderful and reassuring that the produce goes to a good place and not to landfill. I wonder if this is a shining example rather than the norm?
a shining example by the sounds of it! And we are grateful.. c
Lovely pictures today. I especially like the one where the kitties are whispering to each other. I had to look “labneh” up to see what it was. Sounds delicious! Looks so pretty in your jar too. Would make great gifts to give away during the holidays. 🙂
No wonder your farmy brood looks so healthy with all that extra riches available: I honestly don’t think you can expect them to stand politely in a Q for the goodies 🙂 ! The pusses look delightful!! You have made the labneh into bocconcini – have never thought of doing that tho’ I do make it and also buy a lot of buffalo bocconcini [b mozarella!] to boot: another thing learned at the farmy 😀 !
I love it with the mozzarella though, but i am not very good at making it.. too many steps i think or maybe not enough practice.. c
I love labne…must try making it one day soon. Helsinki was minus 25 the day I arrived, so it looks quite warm where you are.
That’s great they’ll save the produce for you. What a blessing–for you and all your buddies. Enjoyed seeing those kittens, they look like partners in crime. 🙂
NO time to write a comment on the kitties and an’ all, just bustling off to make some labneh!!!
As always, I find lovely and kind right here in your blog. How wonderful that you get this produce from the local grocer. How did this happen that you became the recipient? I think it’s grand not to waste.
Yay! The chickens got the bell peppers. Good for them.
What a great arrangement to have with your grocer! We waste so much food and any way to save it from going to a dumpster is all right by me. While my guinea pig was alive, I had the reverse system here. He & Lucy will only eat the freshest of vegetables. Once something was too old for them, I used the remainder in my salads, soups, or whatever. You just don’t waste food! Mom taught me well. 🙂
Stay warm tomorrow!
Smiling at today’s post. All those hungry mouths to feed! I think its funny that Bobby turns his nose up at the celery. As for the pump, it is funny how we can adapt to anything. At least you know there will be an end to it when the better weather arrives. All worth it for the wonderful food Daisy provides for the farm. Wow! Labneh! (I confess I had to look up exactly what it was) Omigod, that looks delicious! I am experiencing true envy looking at that lovely jar of what I thought was mozzarella balls! Are they similar in taste? Texture?
I’m always so happy when a grocer is willing to share the remains of produce that would otherwise be thrown away. I spend quite a pretty penny on produce for one bunny and one large tortoise, so I can imagine how welcome all donations must be! Your little hungry crowd is obviously very grateful, too! 🙂
I can imagine the excitement all round when the food arrives. I’ve never heard of labneh; it sounds very exotic.