Busy day at the Farms

Today was gorgeous, although it started out pretty chilly.  I started my morning at Gorman Heritage Farm for a Pumpkin Frenzy Cooking Class with a friend, where we made Pumpkin Ravioli topped with crispy farm fresh (directly from their pigs) bacon and sage butter sauce. We also harvested greens and herbs from the farm for a hardy salad complete with a savory and sweet pumpkin vinaigrette. 

After that Lia and I went to Turner Organic Farm for a Black Walnut Workshop.

We harvested, hulled, cracked and extracted these native and plentiful nuts.  

Here's their awesome black walnut cracker!  Lia LOVED cracking (and eating) all of the nuts. 

Here's Ed explaining how his home made machinery works.  It was an awesome way to hull (and clean) these nuts, which if you aren't careful, stain clothes forever and your hands for over a week.  You can see the chute above.  They drop down into a pan of water. 

 Here's a picture of where you put the nuts in, they drop down, turn around inside the tire, shoot out (the water is at the bottom left hand side of the picture).  Somehow this machine hulls these nuts.  The hulls end up on the ground.  It's INCREDIBLE.

Here's Lia with one of her cracked walnuts!