Welcome to My Farm

>> Funding for "Welcome to My Farm" has been provided by Manna Pro... >> As much as we count on them... >> ...they count on us all the more.

>> ...to nurture their lives... >> ...with the same commitment.

>> Manna Pro -- Nurturing Life.

>> ...Meyer Hatchery... >> Meyer Hatchery offers more than 160 breeds of poultry and carries a full line of feed, supplies, gifts, and decor.

With nearly four decades of experience, the Meyer family is committed to supporting our customers through their entire poultry journey.

Learn more at MeyerHatchery.com.

>> ...and Grubbly Farms.

>> Grubbly Farms -- sustainable feed and treats made with grubs.

Find out more at GrubblyFarms.com.

>> And Horizon Structures -- Delivered fully assembled and ready for same-day use.

[ Rooster crows ] >> I'm Lisa Steele -- author and fifth-generation chicken keeper.

I live in rural Maine with my husband, flock of chickens, ducks, geese, and Winston the Corgi.

We moved to Maine for the peace serenity, and a simpler life.

Join me as I explore this beautiful state and experience all it has to offer.

Welcome to my farm.

[ Chickens clucking ] It's a beautiful fall day here in Maine, as you can see, and I'm going to go pick some pumpkins later.

But first, I want to get some garlic planted.

This is the perfect time of year to plant garlic.

And we use so much between what I give to the chickens and what I use in my own cooking that I love to plant my own so I don't have to buy it.

The nice thing is, every year, I can save some cloves and then plant them again, so you never have to buy garlic again.

So, there are two types of garlic.

There's hardneck and softneck.

This is hardneck.

Hardneck is more cold-hardy.

There are more varieties.

It's more flavorful.

Softneck is better for warmer climates.

It stores longer, but it does not do well in cold.

So, if you live in a northern climate, you want to pick the hardneck.

You plant them both the exact same way, so it really doesn't matter which you choose as far as planting.

So, to plant your garlic, you're going to take your bulb and separate the cloves.

Leave the papers on.

You just want to separate each clove, and that's what we're going to plant.

To make it easy to plant, you can use this, which is a dibble.

You can also just use a stick, but this makes it easy to make nice holes for the garlic to be planted in.

Garlic loves raised beds or containers.

It likes well-drained soil in full sun.

You can also plant it right in the ground, but I really like to put it in a raised bed because the soil stays drier, so your garlic won't rot.

So, to plant it, basically, I'm just going to make a hole about 2 inches deep, and then you want to put your clove in with the pointed end up, the root side down, and just put it in the hole.

And then I'm going to plant them about 6 inches apart.

That's going to give each clove plenty of room to grow into a new bulb.

Each fall, I'll save some of the largest cloves from the previous year that I grew, and regrow those.

So, we use the smaller ones for eating and for the chickens.

Garlic is great for immune and respiratory health, so I add a couple of cloves to the chickens' water a couple times a week, which is really great for them for overall health and just to keep them from getting sick.

So now I've got my row of garlic that I've planted.

I'm just going to cover it up with the dirt.

Then you want to mulch it.

Garlic is a really heavy feeder, so it likes lots of nutrients.

So, when I clean out my coop in the fall, getting ready for winter, I rake out all the old straw and feathers and chicken manure and everything, and I just put about 4 inches of the straw over the garlic.

That's going to help keep it warm, give it lots of nutrients as the straw and the manure starts to decompose, and keep it from freezing over the winter.

You want to plant your garlic late enough in the season that it doesn't really start to grow, but early enough that it has a couple weeks to form some nice roots before the ground actually freezes.

So, this is the perfect time of year to get your garlic in the ground.

In the spring, little green shoots are going to start to grow.

They're going to turn yellow and start to fall over.

And that's when you know your garlic is ready.

You pull it up, and like magic, each clove is going to have grown into a new bulb.

And that's it.

That's as easy as it is to plant garlic.

It's super fun to decorate for the fall holidays with mums and pumpkins, but I saved some of the smaller pumpkins to make some treats for the chickens.

I love to give them all kinds of seasonal healthy treats.

Pumpkins are packed with vitamins and nutrients, and they're also full of beta-carotene, which is what makes egg yolks orange, and also the chickens' and ducks' beaks and feet really orange.

So, I'm just going to cut these pumpkins in half, and the chickens will eat them just like this.

They'll eat right down to the skin.

They'll probably eat the skin if I leave it long enough.

I think they're going to like these.

And as an added little bonus, I'm going to add some sunflower seeds, which are great protein and healthy fats for them.

The pumpkin seeds are thought to have a natural wormer in the coating.

So when the chickens eat the seeds, this coating paralyzes any internal parasites, so pumpkin seeds are super nutritious for them.

So, let's go get some chickens and see if they'll eat these treats.

Come on, chickens!

Come on, ducks.

Come on.

Come on, ducks.

Come on, Fern.

It's the perfect fall day to be visiting Treworgy Family Orchards in Levant, Maine.

I always love visiting their beautiful farm and feeding all the different animals, and it's always great to pick up delicious, fresh seasonal produce.

Today, I'm excited to hear all about their corn maze, which was voted the best in the country this year.

Later on, we'll learn about the different kinds of pumpkins they grow on the farm and get some growing and cooking tips.

Hey, Jon.

It's pumpkin season in Maine, so, of course, I had to come to my favorite farm and pick up some pumpkins and gourds.

And your farm is just so beautiful.

>> Well, thank you, Lisa.

>> Welcome to Treworgy Family Orchards.

>> So, I've grown pumpkins at our farm, much smaller scale, but I'm always afraid -- we have such a short growing season, I always go with the minis.

>> Yeah.

>> And obviously, you can grow larger sizes, so I would love some tips for growing normal-size pumpkins in Maine, in our -- what, 100 days that we have to grow things.

>> Sure.

So, we have... We actually grow over like 60 different varieties here.

So, we want to get a lot of different ones.

But yeah, you're right, we do have a shorter growing season, but most of these will work in Maine.

You know, if you want to plant, you want to plant when the soil is a little warmer.

So, usually beginning of June is -- we'll wait until beginning of June to make sure the seeds are not going to rot in the ground.

>> Right.

>> And that gives us plenty of time because pumpkins will go right into October.

You know, until we get a frost, they'll keep going.

>> A real hard frost.

So, you don't start seedlings in the house.

>> We don't, but you can.

We just find, at the scale we're doing it, it's a little -- a little more challenging.

So we go direct into the soil.

>> Now, how do you know when a pumpkin is ready to pick?

Do you just go by size, when it's kind of the size that you would like it?

>> Yeah, they'll keep growing.

And of course, you know, when they turn orange, they're ready, and based on the variety of pumpkin.

We have little mini pumpkins that are like this, and then you can have some that, you know, are world-record pumpkins.

So, there's all different ones.

And depending on the variety, it'll kind of grow to its natural size.

>> I can't wait to look.

So, you've got tons of the traditional pumpkins, but you also have loads of really cool varieties that I love to see and I'd love to learn more about.

>> We have over 60 different varieties of pumpkins and squash.

So, as you can see, traditional jack-o'-lanterns, but what have you got here?

>> Oh, I've got a white pumpkin.

>> Yeah.

Careful, that's heavy.

These are just a white pumpkin.

You can get them -- any of your, you know, seed catalogs will have these, and they can get, you know, really big.

A lot of people that are doing fall weddings really like these and come out, will buy a ton of these.

So, you can have the little tabletop ones that you see for decoration, but you can also grow really large white pumpkins.

>> That's fun.

>> Yeah, those are great.

And -- And any of these pumpkins, you can eat.

>> Okay.

>> Every pumpkin is edible.

The recipe is all the same for pumpkins, squash.

You cut it open, put it in the oven on a baking sheet at 350 until it's soft.

Usually, it takes 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on how big it is.

They'll release a lot of moisture, so make sure it's a deep baking sheet.

But if you're going to be cooking pumpkins, I would recommend looking for something like this.

This is what we call a pie pumpkin.

Feel how heavy that is.

They're not hollow.

They have a lot of orange, deep orange flesh, a lot of great nutrients in there.

And you can get probably four or five pumpkin pies out of that.

>> Make your own puree, which is something I've actually never done.

I've cooked pumpkins and squash, but I've never made my own puree.

>> You puree it, put it in the freezer, and it'll last all winter.

>> And those are great for stacking, too, if you're going to make a stack.

>> If you get a bunch of different sizes, you can stack those up, make great porch decorations.

>> Fun.

>> So good for the pie pumpkins.

And speaking of eating, we have Turk's turban squash.

So, again, great for eating.

We've got a bunch of different squash.

Each has its own kind of flavor and texture.

So, that's a fun one to try out.

>> That's so fun-looking.

>> Great for decoration, too.

>> Yes.

>> And here you've got actually another squash.

This is a striped cushaw.

And this variety can grow nice and long, kind of oblong, like a football.

Yeah, pretty nice deep orange on the inside.

>> Okay.

>> Great taste.

A lot of folks' favorite squash.

This is a Blue Hubbard.

This, a lot of lifelong Mainers will come out to our farm looking for these.

>> Okay.

>> This is another deep orange inside, great flavor, a lot of nutrients, but it's got a really hard shell.

So, when you go to cut it open, a lot of people -- it's probably safer than using a knife -- just drop it on a concrete floor.

It cracks open, and then you can cook it, and it's great, but don't injure yourself trying to get into it.

>> That's a great tip.

It's fun each fall to come walk through the farm's giant corn maze.

They choose a different theme for each year.

This time, they chose a Winnie the Pooh theme, which was voted the best in the country by USA Today.

This spectacular aerial view gives you an idea of the size and complexity of the maze.

So, I hear that congratulations are in order this year for your corn maze.

>> Yes, thank you.

We won first, best in the country.

20 mazes were selected to compete, and out of the 20, by voter's choice.

so the popular opinion, ours won first.

So that was really exciting.

>> That is great.

I love every year seeing what you do as your theme.

And so, congratulations on that.

So, tell us about this year's theme.

>> So, this year's theme, we went with Winnie the Pooh.

And the reason we chose that is it was challenging on several levels, of course.

Like, it's a very popular design.

And up until this year, Disney has had exclusive rights to it, due to copyright laws.

So, at the beginning of this year, their copyright finally reached the public domain.

So it released, and anything from A.A. Milne's original Winnie the Pooh book could be used.

So, we thought that would be kind of fun since we knew a lot of people would be doing Winnie the Pooh stuff.

>> Right.

>> And he's a favorite children's book character.

>> Of course.

>> There were a lot of characters to draw from.

So between all those challenges, that's why we went with the Winnie the Pooh this year, which is really fun.

>> Clearly it was a good choice.

>> Yeah, apparently.

Yeah, a lot of people believe that, too.

>> So, when you do the maze, tell us, like, how does -- from conception kind of to it coming to life.

>> So, the general process for designing the maze for us -- it's different for other people -- is it starts in January, and we all sit down and everybody brings their ideas to the table.

So, some people were like, "Maybe we should do 'Trumpet of the Swan' or Winnie the Pooh."

And once we've put them all out there and discussed them, we all get to vote as a leadership.

So all the managers get to vote.

There's like six or seven of us.

And then we take that idea, and since I'm the designer, I take the idea that they've given me and I go out and start doing the research on what sort of designs I can make.

So, once I have all that, I actually start doing sketches by hand and throwing out ideas.

And it'll take me another week to finish up all the designs and adding in the trails.

And then we go ahead and take that design and we go to a local surveying company and we actually have them put it in their CAD program and do a survey grid based on our farm field.

So, it makes it all very easy.

We used to have to do a lot of guesswork with how we were going to fit it in.

And after we have that, we actually go ahead and survey the same grid out onto our field and do it in string.

So, we'll end up with these big 50-foot string grids on the -- on the field.

And after that, we use the old technique like they used to do for billboards, and we actually go out and paint the design right on the field inside that grid.

At this point, we've already planted the corn, so we get the corn about this tall, and then we go out and drag all the corn in all the places we don't want it, to make the end design.

>> Wow.

And then the corn is finally tall enough for a maze and ready late September or so?

>> Yes, that's usually... Actually, it's -- this is pretty fast-growing corn, so we can have the maze open usually around late July.

>> Oh, wow.

>> Yeah, so we have it open for August, definitely.

It really depends on the growing season, but sometime in July is normal.

>> So, tell us about the corn that you're using, 'cause this is not eating corn.

>> No, it's not eating corn.

So, what we plant, because we're not planning on eating it 'cause it's up so long, is we plant a variety of what would normally be cow-feed corn.

>> Okay.

>> And it's just heartier and it grows really tall, and you can plant it really close together.

So, it just really works well for the maze.

And then, of course, we don't have to worry about wasting good eating corn either, so it works well for us.

And you can see it gets to be anywhere from like eight to we've had years where it's been about 11 feet tall.

>> Wow.

>> So, it grows pretty big.

>> That's great.

People are clearly enjoying it.

So, congratulations again on your win.

>> Thank you.

It's been a a great thing for us this year, very exciting.

>> Today was such a perfect day to be outside picking pumpkins.

I love to have the small pumpkins, especially, for some decor in the house in the fall, but I also love to cook and bake with them.

So, I thought today I'd make a pumpkin cheesecake, but I realized I don't have any pumpkin pie spice.

So, instead of going out and buying that tiny container that you only use once a year, I'm going to make my own and I'm going to show you just how easy it is to make and how you can customize it to your own tastes.

So, I'm just going to grab some spices that I have on hand that you probably have in your kitchen, and mix them together and make my spice.

So, first I'm going to grab some cinnamon, ginger, whole nutmeg, cloves, and I like to add cardamom.

If you don't have cardamom, it's completely optional, but I think it gives it just a little bit of a different flavor that you might not be expecting.

To get started, I'm going to add cinnamon.

I like cinnamon to be about half of the mixture, so I'm going to add about two tablespoons of cinnamon.

Then I'm going to add about a tablespoon of ground ginger.

Then I'm going to add some cloves, maybe about a teaspoon of cloves.

And I'm going to grind some nutmeg into it.

I like to use the whole nutmeg and a Microplane.

It just makes it a lot fresher.

Maybe, I don't know, 1/8 teaspoon or something like that -- that should be good -- of the nutmeg.

It's already smelling like pumpkin pie.

Then I like to add some cardamom.

I'm Scandinavian, and we use cardamom in pretty much everything.

It's a substitute for cinnamon in a lot of recipes.

So, if you don't have the cardamom, you can just leave it out, or you can add a little more cinnamon.

Maybe about a teaspoon of the ground cardamom.

And then lastly, I like to do a few twists of ground fresh black pepper.

It just gives it kind of a little bite that maybe you're not expecting.

And then just whisk it up in your bowl.

So now we've got our pumpkin pie spice that I'm going to use in the cheesecake, but you can also use it in lattes or other baked goods the entire holiday season without having to go out and buy it.

I am going to make my favorite fall dessert -- pumpkin cheesecake.

It's kind of a combination between pumpkin pie and cheesecake.

So, when you bring it somewhere, you kind of please everybody, and it's super delicious.

You can use pureed canned pumpkin if you want to, but since we had the fresh pumpkins, I decided to use those.

Just cut them in half, roasted them at 350 for about 45 minutes until they were nice and soft, and then pureed them.

And I've got some nice, fresh pumpkin puree to use.

So, I'm using a springform pan to make it easy to get the cheesecake out.

And I have buttered it and then wrapped it in aluminum foil just in case it leaks, because I'm going to be baking this in a water bath, which will make it cook evenly and not crack on top, because the top is really pretty.

So we want to make sure that it doesn't crack as it's baking.

So, first I'm going to get started on the crust.

So, I have some hard gingersnap cookies that I have crushed, and then I'm just going to add melted butter to them and stir it until the crumbs are all evenly covered and it's kind of holding together a little bit.

I like to use the gingersnap cookies instead of graham crackers because they have all those great holiday spices in them and it really complements the spices in the cheesecake.

Okay, that looks good.

So, now I'm going to pour them into my pan and then just press them with my fingers so the whole bottom is covered and they're just kind of nice and tight in there.

So, that looks good.

Now I'm going to put the crust in the fridge to chill while I make the filling.

While the crust is chilling, I'm going to make the filling.

And I'm going to start by making a pretty standard cheesecake filling with four packages of cream cheese.

And a cup of sugar.

And I'm just going to get that all incorporated.

Okay.

Now I'm going to add a tablespoon of vanilla bean paste.

I use the paste instead of the extract.

It's thick like molasses.

And what I like about it, it has the flecks in it like vanilla beans.

So you can really see them in cheesecake or ice cream or crme brle, and it just makes it really nice.

It also doesn't have that alcohol taste that extract can sometimes have, and you can substitute it in any recipe one-for-one with vanilla extract.

Then I'm going to add a cup of sour cream.

Okay, I'm going to add some cream of tartar and then I'm going to add three eggs, one at a time, and make sure that each one is incorporated before I add the next one.

Now I'm going to scrape it down one more time, give it another little mix, and then I'm going to be ready to divide it and add the spices to half of the batter.

So, I've taken out half the batter.

I'm going to leave that plain.

And then, to the other half of the batter, I'm going to add about 3/4 cup of our beautiful pumpkin puree.

The chickens are going to love the rest of that.

Okay, that looks good.

Then I'm going to add some brown sugar, the pumpkin pie spice that I just mixed up, and some molasses.

Let that mix up.

That looks great.

Now we're ready to fill the crust.

So, first, I'm just going to take out about a cup of my pumpkin batter and set that aside.

And then the rest is going to go on top of the crust.

I'm just going to kind of smooth it down.

Then I'm going to take my plain batter and put that right on top of the pumpkin batter, covering it over.

And I'm just going to try to cover all the pumpkin with the plain batter, as much as possible.

Then I'm going to take my remaining pumpkin batter and just kind of dollop it on top.

Little piles.

That looks good.

Then take a toothpick and kind of swirl it around.

I love this because it kind of makes the top look like fallen fall leaves -- just a really pretty top to the cheesecake.

Just kind of random swirls.

So, now this is going to go on a baking sheet.

I'm going to pour some boiling water into the baking sheet and set the cheesecake in it.

That will be my water bath so the top won't crack.

And I'm going to bake it at 325 for about an hour and 10 minutes until it's pretty well set around the edges.

The middle can be still a little bit jiggly, but I do want the edges set.

It is starting to smell so good in here, so I'm sure the cheesecake is done.

I'm just going to check on it.

Oh, yeah.

It looks great.

So, I'm just going to let it cool here for a couple minutes and then I'm going to take it out of the pan.

Okay, we are ready to unmold the cheesecake.

I'm just going to run a knife around the edge to make sure it is loosened from the pan.

And then we'll see... Beautiful.

And now, because we really don't want to mess up the pretty top, I'm just going to press the candied walnuts around the sides.

>> Funding for "Welcome to My Farm" has been provided by Manna Pro... >> As much as we count on them... >> ...they count on us all the more.

>> ...to nurture their lives... >> ...with the same commitment.

>> Manna Pro -- Nurturing Life.

>> ...Meyer Hatchery... >> Meyer Hatchery offers more than 160 breeds of poultry and carries a full line of feed, supplies, gifts, and decor.

With nearly four decades of experience, the Meyer family is committed to supporting our customers through their entire poultry journey.

Learn more at MeyerHatchery.com.

>> ...and Grubbly Farms.

>> Grubbly Farms -- sustainable feed and treats made with grubs.

Find out more at GrubblyFarms.com.

>> And Horizon Structures -- Delivered fully assembled and ready for same-day use.

Closed captioning provided by Eaton Pat & Pasture.