Why is a wake called a wake – all tip toeing about in case they WAKE the dead.
The full moon is high in the morning sky. And being Saturday I gave myself a little more shut eye.
I am going to quickly go and shape the bread and set the loaves (are they loaves before they are baked or just balls of dough) into the baskets for the second rise then I will be back. The second rise is the important one. Bread cannot be hurried.
Stand by!
Today the spring Uglies are arriving. I have s friend who breeds show Herefords. All indoor etc. The pretty ones sell for heaps so people can show them and I take a few of the ones who were not born with the right markings. They all come to the same end just mine spend their short lives out in the fields.
I am trying to use the pigs to eradicate some of those nasty thistles that I have in the fields so I am creating a more intensive grazing ( and digging) cycle for them. They are those short thistles that send millions of underground roots outwards. I hope it works – the thistles are growing thick and fast this year.
The Uglies will lead the charge.
Talking of charge the wind was fiercely strong yesterday and when I got home from work Del ( a very pregnant Ayrshire milk cow) was pig jumping around in circles – they were on the West Bank surrounded in that rather dubious electric fence and she was throwing her head around and racing back and forth, spinning in tight circles, charging up and down- quite driven mad by the wind.
I called her in and she turned and galloped straight at me – her head high and wild like a racehorse about to bolt.
I brought them both up to the concrete pad and locked them up there. Poor Del. She had quite lost her head. 
We lost a tree at the West Barn in the big winds yesterday. You can see why. This image was taken through the filthy cooking oil car windscreen. I kind of like it filthy.
Well, I had better get going and get the new pig field ready for the thistle-eaters. I think I will sleep them in that big calf hut – stuffed with straw if will be lovely and warm.
Maybe this morning was our last frosty morning? It is still pretty breezy though.
For those of you who asked: here is the website for the mill. https://www.themillatjaniesfarm.com/ any orders you make will come straight to me – isn’t that neat!
Today I am baking bread with Wabash and Chicago flours. Yesterday John made a pizza base with Iroquois flour. I will get you his recipe – it had some of our cornmeal in there too! 
The owner of the mill is working closely with the people who are resurrecting and trial growing some really ancient grains – I think we will be growing some of them in the fields around here this year so I should have the flour in my mill pantry by fall I think. Standby for more information on that. Exciting stuff!!
I hope you have a lovely day. I will make sure to collect lots of pictures for you today.
C
The Kitchen's Garden 
70 responses to “WHY WAKE?”
Wake originally came from the old Norse ‘vaka’ and then morphed….as these words did…..in Old English, into wake, but the meaning was the same, to be watchful or keep vigil. And the bell in the coffin is where we get the expressions ‘dead ringer’ and ‘saved by the bell’.
Saved by the bell! Huh. I did not know that.
I always thought ‘saved by the bell’ came from boxing, with the bell signalling the end of the round and a reprieve for the poor guy getting a pasting. We learn something new every day.
I made some homemade buns the other day, a recipe I was planning on throwing away but hadn’t done it yet. The buns were hard and didn’t rise properly at all. But I made a new batch today with a different recipe, much better. Isn’t the smell of bread baking the best.
Yes!! The smell of bread baking is almost primal s
I’m very much in favour of growing old traditional grains instead of hybrids which may be the root of allergies…
The weather here is inclement, while the UK, is apparently, basking in sunshine. I have, accordingly, been making a hot lentil and chorizo stew to sell to the Catalans tomorrow.
These ancients are an interesting study / to develop enough of them to grow the grains and then mill and sell the flours seems magical to me.
Mmm… Yes maybe rooted in Glyphosate and crop “desiccation” for even ripening and more “valuable” grain/seed, hey Mad Dog?
Yes, sadly that sounds right to me.
Do wish I was within the sending area of your mill ! Spelt and rye would be on immediate order and . . . I never buy store-bought pizza or frozen from the supermarket but the one John made from the Iroquois flour + its moreish , healthy topping appeal no end. And here is the ignorant urban gal talking again: all the thistles I have met sting – don’t yours . . .how come the piggie snouts don’t get hurt . . . lovely if you have some interested gardeners there tho’ 🙂 ! . . . our Easter will soon be over but do hope you are enjoying yours . . .
I’d like to know how goats can eat poison ivy and not get sore tongues!
Piggie snouts can ( and do ) break through concrete. I am hoping a little old thistle won’t hold them back
*Easter Sunday laughter !*
At Meuer Farm along the east side of Lake Winnebago they grow and mill some interesting ancient grains including spelt, einkorn and emmer. I have used the emmer in bread and it’s really tasty. I did just order some durum from them for my thin pizza crust. It’s so nice to find local sources for this good stuff.
Yes! I exited about the ancient grains – the more diverse our food base is the better the human race will be I think
I’ve also heard that much of the problems that people have with gluten is because the wheat isn’t like it used to be, that it’s been hybridized or modified into a whole different thing. An interesting item is that some forms were hybridized to not grow as tall so it wouldn’t be as apt to get flattened in a storm but the same gene that determined above ground height also determined root depth so the roots don’t go down deep enough to pull up the good minerals so it’s not as nutritious any more.
And apparently in NZ, there are people who have no problem eating bread overseas, but get all sorts of problems when they eat it in NZ. It’s a big enough problem that they are launching a study into what the difference is, whether it is the type of grain, or something in the manufacturing process that is causing problems. I need to look around to see if I can find some of these ancient grains out here. I’ve never made much bread before, but reading about all your different types of grains is piquing my interest!
Yes! That is interesting about our grain – I did not know that and we are GM free too. There are a lot of allergies in NZ. We also have one of the highest rates of asthma in the world. Can you send me a link to that flour study – I would like to follow it too.
This is the original article I read about it: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12180385. I did some more Googling but I can find any further research or articles on it, I guess they are still doing their research. I will let you know if I see anything further published on it.
Thank you!
Aye Sherry – and you can test this when cutting your lawn – the taller the plant is allowed to grow, the deeper Grasses’ roots will go; )
Wondering if Red Fife would grow well in your area Celi?
Oh, that sad tree. Was it an elm?