More than their share of RAIN . . . and Turkish Salad

Donald’s bees froze over the winter even though he had surrounded the hives with bales and then a plastic sheet.  

Weather is never just small talk for farmers.   

There’s been too much rain at Donald’s for several years now.  Last week they got 2 and ¾ inches in one night.  Then there was that huge tornado that passed through Virden.

Haying is delayed, and David had to do a lot of fencing this year because the usual pasture is under water.  

Cows could walk through the water but calves were actually swimming to get to the greener stuff on the other side. 

On the brighter side , Donald and Karen are really enjoying their young dog, Butch. 

We sat around drinking rye and laughing at Butch who demanded attention from everyone.  He ‘rowled’ at us with his kong in his mouth.

        “Never had a dog that did that,” Karen said. 

        “At least he’s good for a laugh,” remarked Donald.  “He’s not good for anything else.”

        “He’s made friends with all the cows,” explained Karen.  “I tried to get him to chase them one day but he just lay down and looked at me.  Those are my friends.”

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        When I was growing up on the farm one of the challenges I encountered was finding recipes that only required stuff we grew ourselves or, at least, was easy to get. 

        Nowadays, with everyone concerned about stuff like a “hundred mile diet”, who doesn’t welcome good recipes with simple ingredients?

TURKISH TOMATO and CUCUMBER SALAD

        From THE ART of TURKISH COOKING by Neset Eren

1 large tomato

1 medium cucumber

1 tbsp chopped fresh mint

1 tbsp chopped fresh dill

½ cup chopped fresh parsley

¼ cup salad or olive oil

5 tbsp fresh lemon juice

¾ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

·        Cut up tomato.

·        Peel and cut up cucumber.

·        Top with mint, dill, and parsley.

·        Shake together oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

·        Pour dressing over tomato and cucumber.

*Our daughter said, “The only thing better than this salad tonight would be to have the same salad tomorrow.”