tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78578286227434207902024-02-06T18:25:57.198-08:00: just. write. food.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-70881028395627849342017-06-12T20:08:00.001-07:002017-06-12T20:08:22.068-07:00Moved, Again!Hello Friends!<br />
A lot has changed since the last post, which is good because if things <i>didn't</i> change over time we'd be in big trouble.<br />
<i>Where can you find me now?</i><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Farming in Southern Wisconsin at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/maketimefarm" target="_blank">Make Time Farm</a></li>
<li>Celebrating a daily commitment to creativity: <a href="http://www.tinyletter.com/vanessajean" target="_blank">A Fierce Practice</a></li>
<li>Writing and doing stuff: <a href="http://www.vanessajeanherald.com/">www.vanessajeanherald.com</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
See you around!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-8015292505698646292012-01-31T21:38:00.000-08:002012-01-31T21:38:09.791-08:00A Sneaky MoveDearest Loyal Readers,<br />
<br />
I'd like to let you know that we are moving to <a href="http://www.justwritefood.com/">www.justwritefood.com</a>. A for-real address for a for-real blog. Please join us at our new locale, which is in the final stages of development (you get a sneak peek)! No more fresh posts here, everything will be updated at our new home. I hope to see you there.<br />
<br />
Happy Writing & Reading,<br />
vanessaUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-33086437965884148312012-01-22T12:28:00.000-08:002012-01-22T12:36:30.891-08:00The Search BeginsIt's official. We're looking for land.<br />
<br />
It's been unofficial for a while. Like the few years of dreaming in Portland, when I didn't quite know how the farm would fall into place. Then I met N in Boston, and we formed a shared vision for our farm while also acting superbly academic through two very-hard-to-sit-behind-a-desk years of grad school in Boston. Ick, Boston. There is only so much farming to be done <i>in</i> Boston, so we created an academic project allowing us to work with farmers on business planning and development for more hands on experience. Cheese in Vermont. Rabbits in North Carolina. Cost-share for irrigation development on leased land in Wisconsin. Then graduation and back to the real world, kerplunk in Madison, Wisconsin. Somehow one step closer to farming, but still not <i>actually</i> that much closer.<br />
<br />
I've been pondering this lately. The idea that we both possess foundational skills for starting a farm: growing vegetables, small business development, finding markets, goats, chickens and a wee bit of dairy to name a few. We are smart and hardworking and overwhelmingly stubborn. We even earned actual degrees, from which we can cite you the ins-and-outs of every United State Department of Agriculture acronym related to starting a farm: EQIP, NRCS, NIFA, FSA, BFRDP, CAFO, CRP, NPDED (ok, that one is EPA) and on and on and on. And despite the fact that we know all the steps and all the hoops we have to jump through to get there...the farm still seems far away.<br />
<br />
Yes, I know. Secretary Vilsack called for <a href="http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/vilsack-beginning-farmers/" target="_blank">100,000 new farmers</a>. The 2008 Farm Bill appropriated $75 <b>million</b> dollars of funds for Begnning Farmer and Rancher Development Programs to provide education and training to get new farmers started. And of course, we have Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food and inspiring advocates like USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan leading this movement to get more people farming. Not to mention the growing market and awareness surrounding local foods. And yet, to be <i>actually</i> in it, planning a farm as a born-and-bred city kid without ties to the land (more specifically a specific piece of land), it feels so so so far away. Creating all these funding opportunities and support systems doesn't just magically create new farmers...it still takes lots and lots and lots of work on the part of the aspiring farmer.<br />
<br />
Please do not get me wrong. I am so grateful that new farmer programs are a priority. I am thrilled to be enrolled in the <a href="http://www.cias.wisc.edu/dairysch.html" target="_blank">Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers</a>, and working my way to a business plan, community ties and as much experience as I can gain in raising animals on pasture in this home that is still new to me. But the leap from learning and planning <cite></cite> to actually farming feels so far away because we don't have land.<br />
<br />
However, that changed a bit today as we hopped in the car for a much-needed day of fun and adventure. The plan: visit <a href="http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/" target="_blank">New Glarus Brewing</a>, enjoy some cross country skiing in the fresh snow and just explore some new territory southwest of Madison. Wisconsin's landscape is still new to me, usually inspiring constant awe, and today was no exception. I didn't know what to expect, but found promise in <a href="http://www.swisstown.com/" target="_blank">New Glarus</a>' title (the city, not the brewery) as "America's Little Switzerland". Replica Swiss-style village, bakery, meat shop and all...count me in.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcLRvKuTo6OarhMx9mtS7yP8-x4WBvRymuBK6afbZVXOdznk7GWEeWS3xuY8qdolEVl05d_sK4BwL6mx9DpyRvx7E4h3NRiPnXQaO2XXjZGLHJdZdgK-BoJGoKfDOmt5pxmu9iqoUFmk4/s1600/NewGlarus_map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcLRvKuTo6OarhMx9mtS7yP8-x4WBvRymuBK6afbZVXOdznk7GWEeWS3xuY8qdolEVl05d_sK4BwL6mx9DpyRvx7E4h3NRiPnXQaO2XXjZGLHJdZdgK-BoJGoKfDOmt5pxmu9iqoUFmk4/s200/NewGlarus_map.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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In short, as we drove the county roads and admired the freshly-snow covered landscape past Fitchburg, we sort of fell in love. Yup, kind of head-over-heals in love. The rolling hills, the beautiful and out-of-our-price-range farmsteads, a sense of 'rural' I haven't yet seen here. (Yes, ok, I realize the snow was covering vast acres of corn and soy fields, and provided sufficient pretense to imagine instead lush pastures underneath. But let a girl dream for a few minutes). For some reason I liked this area, we both liked this area. It felt like the best parts of Vermont mingling right here with the highlights of Wisconsin.<br />
<br />
We've decided to tell every person we run into that we're looking for farm land, preferably with a house, barn and other structures. And yes, because we'd like to start a farm. This makes us look like starry-eyed crazy women to a lot of folks, but that's fine with me. I just thank goodness for those who actually take us seriously and offer sincere advice. This includes the woman who was looking forward to when we'd get married and share our passion for farming with our husbands. I take their land and farming suggestions with a double meaning. <i>Here is information about land that may help you.</i><i> I am telling you this because I believe you might actually be able to farm, and I support that</i>. These are the good people.<br />
<br />
Today we ran into lots of the good people. The owner of The Cottage Goddess shared the basic landscape of real estate in the area, recommended agencies to work with based on her land purchase experience and provided inside scoop on an upcoming auction. We felt a wee bit, well, excited. She even suggested a visit to the <a href="http://breadandbrathaus.com/" target="_blank">Paoli Bread and Brat Haus</a> to learn about their tiny baking enterprise and relationships with local millers and growers. And Cherri at the Haus was just as helpful as she served us free cookies (January was free cookie month), showed us her facility (including the tiny "EZ Bake Oven"), shared the story of her space (the original town mill) and how she got there (an inspired idea on a bare bones budget). And more stories about land, where to find it and where to plant ourselves. Thank you world for showing us people successfully pursuing food passion and how to make it work!<br />
<br />
Our mid-day activities were buoyed by such positive real estate and farming encounters. A fun hour or so at the brewery, which looked oddly like a Disney McMansion rendition of a Swiss chalet with the cleanest and most modern brewing quarters I have ever seen. There were tastes of <a href="http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/index.cfm/beers/ourbeers/beer/wisconsin-belgian-red" target="_blank">Wisconsin Belgian Red</a> with hints of cough syrup and sparkling cider (sorry) and the seasonal Golden Ale that tasted "like insect repellent" (sorry again). There was beautiful, sunny, exhausting skiing at New Glarus Woods State Park which reminds me how grateful I am to apply sunscreen in January. Also cookies, prairie and lots of cute cows. Nothing to complain about in there.<br />
<br />
<br />
A good day indeed, and a sufficient kick-in-the-pants to <i>officially</i> (as in actively and intentionally) look for land on which we can raise delicious and savory food and run a small business (which is, don't forget, what a farm is). And so today it starts - with orienting ourselves to the real estate world of brokers and bankers while sending out good energy to find that little piece of soil to call our own.<br />
<br />
Wish us luck.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-66276538900268355502012-01-09T20:27:00.000-08:002012-01-09T20:27:19.394-08:00Pens to Pasture ~ Dreamfarm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXKjLRtsqmFBXU-WDumCOLXdgrnH9h3_UMPFIOps85NqERTbt5Hy6-YJqFY5nWW6y_fmhYV4OF5k8BbDktquoIZ0aOMRjZrGFvxPA5vENBXY8mpe8WEKroxSN6UeOqusp3Y2HszpZEgk/s1600/Pens+to+Pasture+Pic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXKjLRtsqmFBXU-WDumCOLXdgrnH9h3_UMPFIOps85NqERTbt5Hy6-YJqFY5nWW6y_fmhYV4OF5k8BbDktquoIZ0aOMRjZrGFvxPA5vENBXY8mpe8WEKroxSN6UeOqusp3Y2HszpZEgk/s320/Pens+to+Pasture+Pic.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>Do you
peruse the newsletter delivered with your weekly CSA share or subscribe
to the e-mail list of your favorite farmers at your local market? I do,
and I savor them. So many of my friends and family also love the
stories <i>their</i> farmers share...it seemed like a good time to share
these stories more widely. And the added bonus is a focus on the wonderful folks who produce the food we enjoy, all with a literary lens. </span></span><span><span>At Pens to Pastures: Fodder from the Field we
celebrate the agricultural life, the hard work of farmers and the grace
and openness with which they share it all through writing. Dig in,
enjoy and be sure to share the writings of your farmers by sending an
e-mail <a href="mailto:fodder@justwritefood.com" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrAGbBBHw_FfLdo34uV-f93_2edC7IcSglT13_73D1Jw_e0IRAU7Cx0J9wY8cWtCGAl7pHbbUsA5FOUpGNqxwk9c64c8mw6mHvdMqgbAdBuxRQLaRDL9l0stBWsoUoMWWUSafnMX6w4w/s1600/pens+to+pasture+this+week+button.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrAGbBBHw_FfLdo34uV-f93_2edC7IcSglT13_73D1Jw_e0IRAU7Cx0J9wY8cWtCGAl7pHbbUsA5FOUpGNqxwk9c64c8mw6mHvdMqgbAdBuxRQLaRDL9l0stBWsoUoMWWUSafnMX6w4w/s1600/pens+to+pasture+this+week+button.jpg" /></a></span><span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">Dreamfarm</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Diana Murphy & Family </span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cross Plains, WI<br />www.dreamfarm.biz</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ok, ok. I admit that this week's Pens to Pasture post is totally cheating. As regular readers know, Dreamfarm is where I spent my first months in Madison, lending a hand to Diana's amazing cheesemaking skills, helping with animal chores and forking a lot of manure out of the barn. As the calendar ticks on to mid-January, it's been months since I've visited Diana and her family, the pregnant goats, the remaining chickens or the now-bare apple trees we harvested for cider. To say the least, I am farmsick! I miss the people, animals, sights and even smells of this particular farm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Dreamfarm is a beautiful (truly, a dream farm) family farm about 15 miles west of Madison run by Diana Murphy and her wonderful family. Primarily, Diana raises dairy goats to produce a few varieties of exceptionally delicious cheeses that are sold through a CSA, one farmers' market and a few retail outlets. As if raising goats and making farmstead cheese doesn't make for a full day, the farm also includes a wonderful cast of characters like the pastured hogs, heritage Jacob Sheep, the new Nigerian Dwarf goats, a few steer on their own pasture, a few hundred laying hens, dogs and cats. To say the least, the season I spent there was by far my favorite farming season ever!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This fall we created a <a href="http://dreamfarmblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Dreamfarm Blog</a> to serve as an online weekly newsletter for CSA members, and we even got around to posting a few pieces. Well, to comfort my farmsick heart, I just had to tage a gander at the blog to revisit some warm memories, and figured there is no better time to share. The last CSA newsletter was all the way back in October, but sets a nice stage for the stillness of winter (sans snow, as we don't have any on the ground here yet!). Below is a tiny blurb from the last newsletter, just click your way along to find the rest.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu3edPn_r75KT_3SwpOn-8DDyMUJMXdAq-FeVC1LcH8FFBXJf-m8VuHdOCutj488rPcueTsgrrJ71S5cqxBlQPN8OtnOeSIQmXAOy8vbhRANnzgkMj8O1l1Yww1OEMaj17ukcMSGFmYgA/s1600/goat+for+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu3edPn_r75KT_3SwpOn-8DDyMUJMXdAq-FeVC1LcH8FFBXJf-m8VuHdOCutj488rPcueTsgrrJ71S5cqxBlQPN8OtnOeSIQmXAOy8vbhRANnzgkMj8O1l1Yww1OEMaj17ukcMSGFmYgA/s200/goat+for+blog.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: #444444;">
<div style="color: #ea9999;">
<i><span style="color: #990000;">The Season's End</span><br /></i></div>
<i>
</i><div>
</div>
<i>It's hard to believe it's the end of the
season, but the evidence is all around! Milk production is slowing
dramatically as the goats enter the breeding season. Although there is
less milk, it is higher in protein and butterfat and yields more cheese
than in the summer. Love is in the air as the bucks and does mingle in
the two pastures. The chickens are laying fewer eggs, and getting
quirkier by the day. The trees are approaching bare, <span class="Apple-style-span">the days are noticeably shorter and </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>the
pigs are almost fat enough to eat. The end of cheese making season
approaches at Dreamfarm, and we'd like to extend our enormous gratitute
to you for another year of your support. Thank you!</i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://dreamfarmblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/october-20-last-csa-pick-up-of-season-b.html" style="color: #444444;" target="_blank"><i>Dreamfarm News, October 2011</i></a><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></div>
</blockquote>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-40236073565623446542012-01-04T14:23:00.000-08:002012-01-08T13:48:59.511-08:00Geese, GeeseI just watched the largest V of geese I have ever seen fly overhead. A moment of peace as the skein drifted through the airspace, individuals knitting themselves amongst each other, forward and
backward, over and under, left and then right. Such a vast expanse of geese, my everything required me to stop on the sidewalk and look up. Those fleeting moments that make time stand still, remind you to breathe and put everything into perspective. For a moment I considered counting the geese, but found restraint. This was the kind of occasion that only improves with time as the number of birds gets bigger, bigger and bigger upon looking back.<br />
<br />
I was the weirdo paused on the walkway, peering at the sky (mouth closed). There is such a beauty in these flying formations. We recognize them as a V, but truly the shape of the flying gaggle is constantly changing, morphing as front moves to back and so forth. And then there is the sound, the completely recognizable and awkward squawk from overhead. Absolutely in sync with nothing.<br />
<br />
Geese take me back to the first autumn I spent in the fields at Sauvie Island Organics in Portland, Oregon. The little island is a <a href="http://blogs.opb.org/fieldjournal/2011/01/28/sauvie-island-for-the-birds/" target="_blank">goose haven</a>, a food-rich stop on the Pacific Flyway. Not snowy, not frozen, just wet and lush and temperate and an excellent place to visit. Except for the hunters, but that's another story. As the days shortened, the temperature cooled and the rain persisted, the geese began to pass overhead in bigger and bigger, louder and louder Vs, providing a moment to pause and imagine myself on this tiny island dot. Just a pushpin on the map of their migratory journey. I love revisiting that place, where my own internal seasonal clock began to tune with that of the geese, the sunlight, the root crops.<br />
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The flying enjoyment passed, their formation fading in the cloud-brushed blue sky. My head still tilted up gazing at the emptiness, I waved them a silent goodbye. Right then, a smaller formation took me by surprise, a handful of geese flapping their way in zigzags to catch up with friends. There is joy, and there is always more joy.<br />
<br />
---<br />
I never saw anything like this, but here's some Sauvie Island <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MUuyd61xfw%20" target="_blank">goose footage</a>.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-60701673848908787082012-01-02T13:37:00.000-08:002012-01-02T13:37:37.714-08:00Welcome 2012!Well friends, 2011 seemed to just fly by, no?<br />
<br />
Over here 2011 included starting this blog, finishing grad school, moving to Madison, starting two new jobs and setting down roots. The last two weeks were a flurry all their own with family festivities in the warm south and more carousing with the good folks in the rural parts of (slightly colder) southern Wisconsin. Cooking, eating, storytelling, trouble-making, indulging, more eating, a bit of drinking, more eating and a few too many m&m's (it's a long story) filled most of my time. And now we're all tucked in back to our cozy, hidden home in Madison and I'm ready for a sweet little exhale. So it's out with 2011, out with hurry-scurry, out with the handful of parsnips in the fridge that didn't make the haul and it's hello to the dark, cozy, slow months of the beginning of this new year and the half-pint of duck fat in the freezer.<br />
<br />
I love that January and February extend us their cold, dark days as a good reason to take it slow, hold still and imbibe every warm concoction imaginable. There is a natural slow down after the rush of the holidays, and it feels just right to sip into weeks of soup with potent flavor that warm you from the inside out. I am excited for flavor dense winter soups, pots of chili with canned and frozen tomatoes and the summer flavors of the chutneys, pickles, relishes and syrups casting sunshine in the cupboards. I especially like the <a href="http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2012/01/canal-house-cleanse-seasonal-cooks" target="_blank">Canal House Cleanse</a> writing from the January edition of Bon Appetite. No it's not <i>actually</i> a cleanse, it's just a beautiful sentiment ending with this: <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It is great and hopeful, this tradition of turning over a new leaf.
We've got a few resolutions for 2012 that we hope will stick: We promise
to enjoy life more, to simplify, and to feed our minds as well as our
bodies."</blockquote>
</div>
<br />
I am not a resolution type of person. I did not resolve to eat less (who would do that), exercise more (i like my dog walks and bike rides), call my mom more often or any of that. [Although I figure it's best to cut down on the butter in the next few weeks, but that's a different story.] However, I do like goals, and last night after unpacking our week-and-a-half haul of luggage (the skis we packed hoping for snow), gifts (smartwools, lavender and stationery!), leftovers (stinky cheese and the whatnot mom wants to get rid of), dirty laundry (self-explanatory) and dog supplies (also self-explanatory) we set to making a very short and spontaneous list. Lofty goals they may be, but I like them. N set the goal of selling a loaf of her bread. Mine is to complete a business plan and begin building equity in a herd, somehow. Our together we're aiming at renting a U-haul (the third time in a year and a half)...which means a move to the farm. Yup, the totally yet-to-be-discovered and yet-to-be-located farm. That's a good start to the year, and I have no problem aiming high.<br />
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Beyond the oh-so-official sounding goals above, I'll get back to posting an episode of Pens to Pasture: Fodder from the Field each Monday. If you love the e-mails, blog, website or newsletter of your farmers, please share them with me at <a href="mailto:fodder@justwritefood.com" target="_blank">here</a>. I'm still muddling along at sprucing up the blog, which is a fun adventure, and there's more to come on that in February! I've also created a Facebook page for Just Write Food, which you can visit <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/just-write-food/182909658464761" target="_blank">here</a>. I dare you to visit the page and "Like" it, and then you can get the short-attention-span version of the blog and food news galore.<br />
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May you have a wonderful and bright start to your 2012! I send you warm wishes for hearty meals, adventures finding your favorite ingredients and the best weather for growing your favorite crops. Cheers!<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-36789302049224156732012-01-02T09:00:00.000-08:002012-01-04T14:10:10.265-08:00Pens to Pasture ~ Mariquita Farm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXKjLRtsqmFBXU-WDumCOLXdgrnH9h3_UMPFIOps85NqERTbt5Hy6-YJqFY5nWW6y_fmhYV4OF5k8BbDktquoIZ0aOMRjZrGFvxPA5vENBXY8mpe8WEKroxSN6UeOqusp3Y2HszpZEgk/s1600/Pens+to+Pasture+Pic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXKjLRtsqmFBXU-WDumCOLXdgrnH9h3_UMPFIOps85NqERTbt5Hy6-YJqFY5nWW6y_fmhYV4OF5k8BbDktquoIZ0aOMRjZrGFvxPA5vENBXY8mpe8WEKroxSN6UeOqusp3Y2HszpZEgk/s320/Pens+to+Pasture+Pic.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">Do you
peruse the newsletter delivered with your weekly CSA share or subscribe
to the e-mail list of your favorite farmers at your local market? I do,
and I savor them. So many of my friends and family also love the
stories <i>their</i> farmers share...it seemed like a good time to share
these stories more widely. Farming provides abundant fodder for writing
and consumers provide a natural audience...and hence the perfect
environment for brief, well-articulated pieces highlighting the thoughts
and daily life of farmers. At Pens to Pastures: Fodder from the Field we
celebrate the agricultural life, the hard work of farmers and the grace
and openness with which they share it all through writing. Dig in,
enjoy and be sure to share the writings of your farmers by sending an
e-mail <a href="mailto:fodder@justwritefood.com" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrAGbBBHw_FfLdo34uV-f93_2edC7IcSglT13_73D1Jw_e0IRAU7Cx0J9wY8cWtCGAl7pHbbUsA5FOUpGNqxwk9c64c8mw6mHvdMqgbAdBuxRQLaRDL9l0stBWsoUoMWWUSafnMX6w4w/s1600/pens+to+pasture+this+week+button.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrAGbBBHw_FfLdo34uV-f93_2edC7IcSglT13_73D1Jw_e0IRAU7Cx0J9wY8cWtCGAl7pHbbUsA5FOUpGNqxwk9c64c8mw6mHvdMqgbAdBuxRQLaRDL9l0stBWsoUoMWWUSafnMX6w4w/s1600/pens+to+pasture+this+week+button.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Mariquita Farm + The Ladybug Letter<br />Watsonville, CA<br />www.mariquita.com & www.ladybugletter.com</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Not
one, but two kind folks suggested The Ladybug Letter as the weekly
fodder for Pens to Pasture. Only in California can a farmer celebrate
the holiday season with a prickly pear cactus tree <b>and</b> a delicious recipe for its fruit. <a href="http://www.ladybugletter.com/" target="_blank">The Ladybug Letter</a> is an "</span>open
letter from Mariquita Farm to everyone with a curiosity about the
people, practices, and politics of farming" shared with readers through a
blog and broadcast way beyond the bounds of their (separate) weekly
newsletter to CSA members. Just one glance and I was hooked. Beyond the
meltingly beautiful and smooth writing of the Ladybug Letter, Mariquita
farm also prints a weekly newsletter to CSA members, all of which can
also be found <a href="http://www.mariquita.com/events/BuyingClub-Newsletters.html" target="_blank">online </a>as
well. It must also be said that this farm offers customers an
opportunity to purchase Mystery Boxes during the winter months...a
clever name for a winter produce box with no specific contents listed
before purchase (I love this idea)!<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5cJe2iAxhyphenhyphencIS3XcAD05Zs2zsMiIilgc9e0cm1LdQVdkEkB7fl27ixD7fBpq1-_Ed9FmSyX39X7_WJYfAXh9Pi5upJkQ0QasZCcUOW0P6QMXN_dxQmuiPbJnIrKBi5OTQkT8TMC-Iu0c/s1600/Picture+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5cJe2iAxhyphenhyphencIS3XcAD05Zs2zsMiIilgc9e0cm1LdQVdkEkB7fl27ixD7fBpq1-_Ed9FmSyX39X7_WJYfAXh9Pi5upJkQ0QasZCcUOW0P6QMXN_dxQmuiPbJnIrKBi5OTQkT8TMC-Iu0c/s1600/Picture+3.png" /></a></div>
<br />
Mariquita
Farm is a small family farm near Watsonville, CA, producing CSA shares
and restaurant produce for the Bay Area. Yes, we are talking about
California, which means unlike the last <a href="http://justwritefood.blogspot.com/2011/12/pens-to-pasture-nitty-gritty-dirt-farm.html" target="_blank">Pens to Pasture</a>
feature from frosty Minnesota, there is no need to keep livestock water
from freezing or pile too much wood for the stove (although some may be
in order), but there is still a recognized respite from the peak
season. And of course, the common thread of seed catalog searching,
which is not overlooked <a href="http://www.ladybugletter.com/?p=106" target="_blank">here</a> either.<br />
<br />
It's
silly for me to re-post blog pieces that you can simply click to, so
savor these first few words and click your way over to the Ladybug
Letter for more. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-size: small;">"S</span>ome
people might say that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manzanita" target="_blank">Manzanita</a>
isn’t a very traditional choice for a Yule tree but community consensus
over tradition isn’t one of our strong points here in California; Me, I
like the outstretched arms of a cactus tree to hold up my string of lights."<br />
</i><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i><a href="http://www.ladybugletter.com/?p=107" target="_blank">from The Ladybug Letter 12.15.2011</a></i></div>
</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-24679503326023936702011-12-24T11:44:00.000-08:002011-12-24T11:44:55.322-08:00Eating: Saturday (aka Christmas Eve)If you happened to tune in <a href="http://justwritefood.blogspot.com/2011/12/eating-your-mine.html" target="_blank">yesterday</a>, you are privy to the sketch of the menu for our week-long family celebration. It's a week-long celebration because that's how long we'll all be together in Charlotte. <i>We</i> being my folks, my brother and me. This celebration happens to include Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The first a meal with just the four of us, the latter a slightly bigger event including some family friends who live in the neighborhood. Nothing formal (formal as in attire, expectations or snobbyness), everything fun. The thing about our family is that we always end up putting a delicious and wonderful meal on the table, and we have a good time preparing and sharing it. However, we never really set a determined meal time, as the final hour of preparation is more of a flexible, rolling, to-be-determined sort of thing.<br />
<br />
The tendency is for my mom to have a nice mental list of the things she would like to eat for the holiday. We exchange subject line only e-mails that read, "What would you like for Christmas dinner? <eom>" We all shoot back a slurry of responses, never sure which ones make the menu. Sometimes ingredients are sourced before we arrive (especially those coming from the farmers' market) and sometimes they are not.<br />
<br />
So as we drove to the grocery store yesterday, I asked my mom exactly what we were preparing, and for which meal. This was all still up for debate, although she did have a shopping list. Since I end up (happily) doing most of the cooking, this makes me slightly nervous, so last night we made a list.<br />
<br />
Here is what we have determined we will eat tonight for Christmas Eve. Roast duck, with crispy skin. Last week my mom purchased a whole young duck, about four pounds, from <a href="http://www.windyhillfarmnc.com/" target="_blank">Windy Hill Farm</a>. She says this is their first attempt at raising ducks. I say I am happy to be their duck guinea pig. This has inspired me to render fat, aim for cracklings and have an extremely fun epicurean adventure. Let's just hope it will work out. Brussels sprouts, cooked by my mom in the only fashion in which my dad will eat them. Kirk is protesting, but we are hoping we may convert him tonight. An arugala salad, with greens procured from the folks at <a href="http://justwritefood.blogspot.com/2011/11/afew-months-back-i-asked-for-your-help.html" target="_blank">Puzzle Peace Farm</a> this morning (who I was so excited to meet in person). And scallops, scallops that will be pan cooked in duck fat. Sorry heart.<br />
<br />
Then there is the matter of the Christmas morning breakfast. Traditionally, this is bagels, cream cheese, lox, capers and thin-sliced red onions. Ambitions has taken the lead this year, and mom wants to make bagels. This process will also start tonight, and along with the honey wheat dinner rolls for tomorrow, inspired a last-minute family adventure to Target to purchase a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer which we have all predicted will get used in equal proportion to the number of times I come to visit. This was Kirk's commentary, not mine. We'll be attempting a recipe adapted from <a href="http://etherwork.net/blog/?p=679" target="_blank">The Bread Bible</a> (irony?), my favorite bread book and the closest version I could find considering I didn't schlep the real thing down south with me. <br />
<br />
There's nothing like trying something new for a major holiday - we are an adventurous and forgiving bunch - and this is how we ferment our best culinary traditions (and fiasco stories). And so as to not eat too late tonight, I should probably stop blabbering and start scoring this lovely duck.<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-44036921746276530992011-12-23T15:09:00.000-08:002011-12-24T11:16:45.743-08:00Eating: Yours & MineI try my absolute darnedest to not let this evolve into a food blog.<br />
<br />
There is no need for another diary of what I ate, beautiful pictures of freshly prepared meals dancing with sunlight, or how to recipes. I have nothing against these blogs, in fact I enjoy them significantly. This is where I find aesthetic inspiration for a new ingredient, or that just perfect dish, cookie, tart, preserve, pickle or home brew in my imagination that someone else has, undoubtedly, already created. My favorites, Darcy over at the <a href="http://www.darcyeden.com/posts/category/in-the-kitchen" target="_blank">Garden of Eden</a>, <a href="http://www.travelerslunchbox.com/journal/2010/10/26/a-chutney-for-all-seasons.html" target="_blank">The Traveler's Lunchbox</a> & <a href="http://www.deliciousdays.com/archives/2006/11/16/membrillo/" target="_blank">Delicious Days</a>. I love the pretty pictures, the recipe and the personal narrative all in one place. I don't want to do this, mostly because there is no way I can do it as well as others. And I don't think anyone wants to hear my shopping list or eating list for the week.<br />
<br />
But sometimes, just sometimes, there is so much goodness in family, food and celebrations that it's too hard to resist sharing all the good things we're going to eat. This is not to say that overwhelming abundance occurs only once a year. In our tiny household of two cooks and a dog we tend to eat like royalty, albeit on a peasants budget. but I'll spare you all the stories about pickled beets, rendered duck fat and the dynamo pickled relish inspired by Miss Polly. To me, sharing these stories feels too much like writing in my middle-school diary for all to see. Regardless, we just wrote a list, and it looks something like this...<br />
<br />
Friday - Caviar & Oysters<br />
Saturday - Duck & Scallops<br />
Sunday - Standing Rib Roast<br />
Monday - Leftovers<br />
Tuesday - Buffalo Burgers<br />
Wednesday - Chicken<br />
<br />
Friends, this is triple the amount of meat I eat in one year (ok, maybe not so if you include cured meats) packed into less than one week. And these meaty labels are just placeholders to whole, entire, actual meals. I haven't been clued into the recipe pile yet, so I don't know what we are actually<i> </i>cooking, but do far I have heard dishes such as<i> stuffed cabbage</i>, <i>lettuce wraps</i>, <i>molded marzipan cookies</i>, <i>homemade bagels, latkes</i>, <i>brussels sprouts</i> and <i>homemade honey dinner rolls</i> bandied about the house and the car ride to the grocery store.<br />
<br />
I will say this, as our family carpool scurries out of the house. The caviar and oysters on the list tonight is a cooking class. The daughter of a family friend invited my mom and I to join her and her mom for a cooking class highlighting oysters and caviar. I am not sure what cooking is involved, but if it means shucking and snacking (and possibly savoring some fermented sweets) I couldn't say no. More to come after the "class"...<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-31665530279285629742011-12-21T12:30:00.000-08:002011-12-21T12:30:00.441-08:00Young Farmers & DIY Crafters<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">What do the eager, fresh faced young farmers of today have in common with the clever artists of the DIY craft movement? Everything. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I've been ruminating on this topic for the past few weeks, spurred by my enrollment in the <a href="http://www.cias.wisc.edu/dairysch.html" target="_blank">pasture-based dairy and livestock business planning class</a> and an overdose of DIY holiday arts and crafts. Somehow, from the outside, the <i>idea</i> of being a farmer or crafter is very appealing, and attracts a certain type of person (myself included, on both fronts) - but doesn't always live up to the expectations when you cut to the nitty-gritty of running a small business. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://artvscraftmke.blogspot.com/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1g83zapm7ZWCUGZzKjDlFfr_SFUXlLE9NKc0cZ0Pun_xI_RyLgz3CA3S9-1H4iisZPT7wMhoBGO6lTRM3iCRq9W0z9PXL_fsbbNtbaS0tK2hhbfyqbqZ8YG7EI9u720GZ3JpEvU-BHzU/s320/avc.blog.jpg" width="320" /></a>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I began noticing the
similarities after Thanksgiving, when we headed to Milwaukee for the annual <a href="http://artvscraftmke.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Art vs Craft</span></a>
extravaganza. This craft show is hailed as the end all be all of craft fairs
and holiday gift hot spots for people who appreciate local, handmade, crafty
home wares, jewelry, posters and letterpress stationery...you get the picture.
Housed in a humdrum, beige conference-center-like space at the Milwaukee School of
Engineering, this event was teeming with your trusty craftacular favorites:
woodcut prints of vegetables, letterpress stationery, scrap fabric goodness,
jewelry made from typewriter keys, clever handscreened t-shirts, and much much
more. Tables and tables full of unique displays, one-of-a-kind handcrafted
projects and eager artisans promoting, selling, hawking and highlighting their
wares. There is sometimes a certain desperation. <i>I've made all this pretty stuff. I know you like it. Please like it
enough to buy it.</i></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This was no small event either. It was just us and <b>over 3,300</b> other lovers of crafty goodness who visited this one day craft fair. How's that for a big show of support for small, local artisans? And this is not only a Milwaukee phenomenon, there is a surge of crafty love across the country. There's the <a href="http://www.renegadecraft.com/" target="_blank">Renegade Craft Fair</a> in various locations, <a href="http://craftywonderland.com/" target="_blank">Crafty Wonderland</a> in Portland, and the vast internet craft fair on <a href="http://www.etsy.com/" target="_blank">Etsy</a>...just <span style="font-family: inherit;">to name a very small sliver of the action. Professional crafters and their DIY counterparts alike (kind of like farmers and their corresponding home-gardeners) are a culture all their own. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perusing the tables and tables of inspired crafts, I felt an enormous parallel between these homespun crafters and the wave of new and young farmers taking over the nation. A growing movement of young, motivated, creative, idealistic folks desiring to create their own path in life. And to meet them, a paying consumer base making deliberate purchasing decisions to support the small, the local and the handmade. Sounds like the enormous, and still growing, support for small, local farmers, no? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Maybe you are catching my drift here</span>.
Without referencing the 2007 Census of Ag or the 2010 Census of Craftiness
(which I just made up), there has been a growth in both of these <i>industries</i> in the past handful of years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
The parallels between the craft and young farmer populations are significant.
These are groups of younger folks drawn to a self-designed lifestyle
cultivating seeds and soil or thread and needle into a fulfilling meaning for
each twenty four hour day. Energetic self-starters (I hate that term) desiring
to engage with the world on their own terms, motivated to carve a niche outside
of the existing system. No daily desk routine, no working for someone else, a
willingness to live without a steady paycheck and with a certain uncertainty.
All with a vision of molding natural resources and personal skills into a
sustaining income stream, and with a life-encompassing passion. Read more from last week's NPR piece on attendees at the <a href="http://www.stonebarnscenter.org/young-farmers-conference/" target="_blank">Stone Barns Center's Young Farmers Conference</a> for an accurate picture on the farmer side. Sure, these are
generalizations, but I can say this because I've been there, and I want to be
there again - this time on the farm, not in the studio.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">From the outside, the lifestyle of the
professional crafter and farmer seem appealing - somehow simple and idealistic.
You are your own boss, your life is in your hands, it's all about the art of
growing or making and you dedicate your time to being lost in your art.
Mornings in a heavy flannel shirt, coffee in hand, soaking in the panorama of
the fields. Mornings straight to the studio, coffee in hand, to immerse
yourself in the creative process. Yes, both are wonderfully sumptuous visions -
and also rarely true. </span>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This is because the truth behind both of these endeavors is that they are small businesses. And the bottom line about a small business is that it has a bottom line. And for the individual who wants to be the solo-act in a small crafty or farm-based business that means being a jack-of-all-trades and dedicating a significant amount of time to actually running the business. There is little to find creative or pleasing in administer the sinister
and often forgotten aspects of running a business, like dealing with credit
card processing companies, keeping the books, paying taxes, advertising and promotion, insurance, food safety regulations (well, that one's not pertinent to
crafters), permits and on and on and on. It can quite quickly put you back behind a desk and away from the things you truly love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And that seems to be the biggest piece that new farmers miss, and maybe crafters too. The big difference between these two parties is that farming (depending on how you do it) requires a hefty up front investment in either land, equipment or operating costs and it takes a bit longer to raise a pig and get it to market than it does to make an adorable note card on a vintage letterpress and sell it on Etsy. Many going into this field ignore, forget or are oblivious to the fact that farming is more than a lifestyle, it's a business. And a business, especially one as complex as a farm, requires lots and lots and lots of planning. The USDA is throwing money at agencies and non-profits to provide business planning classes for new and young farmers. The classes, which are wide spread and easily accessible in person or online are a wonderful resource, but ultimately only effective if students actually write a business plan...which requires research, sitting behind a desk, running lost of numbers, playing with Excel and feeling a bit disheartened to see a bottom line that is not profitable, at least for a while. But that's what the planning is for. Planning is not sexy, it's not the same as being in the fields, planting tender transplants, creating new designs or perfecting your craft - but it's important. Very, very important.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So here's a toast to the new farmers and crafters that are creating local economies and personal economic opportunities. Thanks for being brave enough to go it alone and create beauty and tastiness and self-fulfillment. Just don't forget about the less-palatable stuff along the way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On our end, we're preparing as much as possible for our venture-to-be. Business planning, time working for other people, being smart about investments, networking, conferencing and researching - a lot. It's hard to balance the impatience of wanting to farm </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">now</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">, especially during these winter months away from </span><a href="http://www.dreamfarm.biz/" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">Dreamfarm</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, and finding a contentedness in where I am now. I guess patience, and planning, are key!</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-48514924337631961022011-12-12T13:57:00.000-08:002011-12-13T19:57:26.610-08:00Pens to Pasture ~ Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXKjLRtsqmFBXU-WDumCOLXdgrnH9h3_UMPFIOps85NqERTbt5Hy6-YJqFY5nWW6y_fmhYV4OF5k8BbDktquoIZ0aOMRjZrGFvxPA5vENBXY8mpe8WEKroxSN6UeOqusp3Y2HszpZEgk/s1600/Pens+to+Pasture+Pic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXKjLRtsqmFBXU-WDumCOLXdgrnH9h3_UMPFIOps85NqERTbt5Hy6-YJqFY5nWW6y_fmhYV4OF5k8BbDktquoIZ0aOMRjZrGFvxPA5vENBXY8mpe8WEKroxSN6UeOqusp3Y2HszpZEgk/s320/Pens+to+Pasture+Pic.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />Do you peruse the newsletter delivered with your weekly CSA share or subscribe to the e-mail list of your favorite farmers at your local market? I do, and I savor them. So many of my friends and family also love the stories <i>their</i> farmers share...it seemed like a good time to share these stories more widely. Farming provides abundant fodder for writing and consumers provide a natural audience...and hence the perfect environment for brief, well-articulated pieces highlighting the thoughts and daily life of farmers. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">At Pens to Pastures: Fodder from the Field we
celebrate the agricultural life, the hard work of farmers and the grace
and openness with which they share it all through writing. Dig in,
enjoy and be sure to share the writings of your farmers by sending an
e-mail <a href="mailto:fodder@justwritefood.com" target="_blank">here</a>. <br /><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrAGbBBHw_FfLdo34uV-f93_2edC7IcSglT13_73D1Jw_e0IRAU7Cx0J9wY8cWtCGAl7pHbbUsA5FOUpGNqxwk9c64c8mw6mHvdMqgbAdBuxRQLaRDL9l0stBWsoUoMWWUSafnMX6w4w/s1600/pens+to+pasture+this+week+button.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrAGbBBHw_FfLdo34uV-f93_2edC7IcSglT13_73D1Jw_e0IRAU7Cx0J9wY8cWtCGAl7pHbbUsA5FOUpGNqxwk9c64c8mw6mHvdMqgbAdBuxRQLaRDL9l0stBWsoUoMWWUSafnMX6w4w/s1600/pens+to+pasture+this+week+button.jpg" /></a></span></div>
Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm<br />
Robin & Gigi<br />
Harris, MN<br />
<a href="http://www.nittygrittydirtfarm.blogspot.com/2011_12_01_archive.html" target="_blank">www.nittygrittydirtfarm.blogspot.com</a> & <a href="http://www.nittygrittygoods.blogspot.com/">www.nittygrittygoods.blogspot.com</a><br />
<br />
<br />
It's obvious there are thoughtful and creative women behind Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm from the name alone. The words and pictures on the farm blog only make this clearer. In this case, the crispness of the words speak for themselves, and I especially admire the stillness conveyed in this short end of season message - a brief pause to relish before the cycle begins again. There is plenty more to read and see at both the farm <i>and</i> wool blogs mentioned above, just be sure to scroll to the bottom of the blog to access the archive.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>December 9, 2011</i></div>
<i><br />Happy winter, holiday and solstice season to all of you from Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>
We have had a pleasant time with the long fall getting pens ready for
the animals, lights hung for the poultry, heated buckets set up for
winter watering and round hay bales moved for feeding the sheep and
putting up wood for the woodstove. The feeders are hung for the wild
birds and Robin made a batch of suet, a mix of lard, peanut butter and
bird seed for the woodpeckers and flickers and an occasional cardinal. </i></div>
<i><br /></i><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>It seems quiet at mealtime with just the two of us but before we know
it, our first two interns will arrive in time for lambing and goat
kidding. Soon after that, we will be pulling out the equipment for
collection maple sap, and setting up the cooker to turn it into
syrup. In the meantime, we are still milking one goat, Novel who is
giving us a very rich quart of milk a day, just enough for milk
on granola, in our coffee and Gigi's favorite - goat milk white
russians. </i>
</div>
<i><br /></i><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The seed catalogs have begun to arrive with colorful pictures of mouth
watering varieties. The fields are not completely covered in snow yet
but we are hopeful for a deep snowfall over the next few months to help
provide much needed moisture for next spring, (not to mention good cross
country skiing).
<br />
We wish you joy in this holiday season in what ever way you celebrate. Blessings to you all.<br /><br />Robin and Gigi </i>
</div>
<i><br /></i><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Below is the membership form for the 2012 season. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>
We are reducing the number of shares so sign up early.</i></div>
</blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.nittygrittydirtfarm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="44" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt0rvq_ZYMgbT1Sr2yHT7T4sX1Hr6XZxQxqxUlSnloOFcnfDdwdbpOForRBsWNpSp5WOGzBHWMiIDDIk4FMoFGyPjwAVuxL9RUukmAAH9WOIk9pReFTXb2IKDPWhPNKdpQDVHmeZ-6k_A/s320/nitty+gritty+dirt+farm+csa.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-50697885967725666362011-12-05T09:07:00.001-08:002011-12-05T09:42:37.622-08:00Pens to Pasture ~ Grateful Growers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXKjLRtsqmFBXU-WDumCOLXdgrnH9h3_UMPFIOps85NqERTbt5Hy6-YJqFY5nWW6y_fmhYV4OF5k8BbDktquoIZ0aOMRjZrGFvxPA5vENBXY8mpe8WEKroxSN6UeOqusp3Y2HszpZEgk/s1600/Pens+to+Pasture+Pic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXKjLRtsqmFBXU-WDumCOLXdgrnH9h3_UMPFIOps85NqERTbt5Hy6-YJqFY5nWW6y_fmhYV4OF5k8BbDktquoIZ0aOMRjZrGFvxPA5vENBXY8mpe8WEKroxSN6UeOqusp3Y2HszpZEgk/s320/Pens+to+Pasture+Pic.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><br />When friends and family began raving about and forwarding to me the weekly CSA newsletters and farm updates sent from <i>their</i>
farmers, I paid attention. I also laughed (and even teared up) at these
genuine writings intimately describing all it takes to grow our food.
It didn't take long to realize that these stories must be shared with a
wider audience. So...welcome to <i>Pens to Pasture: Fodder from the Field</i>
where each week we feature one farm and the stories they share with
their customers through CSA newsletters, blog stories and e-mail
updates. We
celebrate the agricultural life, the hard work of farmers and the grace
and openness with which they share it all through writing. Dig in,
enjoy and be sure to share the writings of your farmers by sending an
e-mail <a href="mailto:fodder@justwritefood.com" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /></span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrAGbBBHw_FfLdo34uV-f93_2edC7IcSglT13_73D1Jw_e0IRAU7Cx0J9wY8cWtCGAl7pHbbUsA5FOUpGNqxwk9c64c8mw6mHvdMqgbAdBuxRQLaRDL9l0stBWsoUoMWWUSafnMX6w4w/s1600/pens+to+pasture+this+week+button.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrAGbBBHw_FfLdo34uV-f93_2edC7IcSglT13_73D1Jw_e0IRAU7Cx0J9wY8cWtCGAl7pHbbUsA5FOUpGNqxwk9c64c8mw6mHvdMqgbAdBuxRQLaRDL9l0stBWsoUoMWWUSafnMX6w4w/s1600/pens+to+pasture+this+week+button.jpg" /></a>Grateful Growers <br />
Natalie and Cassie <br />
Eastern Lincoln County, North Carolina<br />
<a href="http://www.ggfarm.com/" target="_blank">www.ggfarm.com</a><br />
<br />
<br />
The slogan on Natalie and Cassie's website is <i>Real Food, Real Farmers</i>, and that tagline sums them up pretty well. Not only do they run a successful small hog farm, mobile (delicious) food cart and brick and mortar restaurant (both called the Harvest Moon Grille), these women are racking up the awards. With a focus on sustainably raised Tamworth hogs, processed for farmers' market and restaurants, Grateful Growers developed an early name for themselves. Their reputation is well deserved, but not just for the food they create, but for the community too. These women are "passionate about creating a sense of community" around food, and do an outstanding job of education and educating customers and creating a true sense of community around their food and the local food movement. They are persistent and devoted too! Earlier this year their bright orange mobile food truck was stolen, and with great gusto they plugged on, purchased a new truck (the blue moon), and created even more opportunities to sell their delicious foods. <br />
<br />
Much of the weekly newsletter announces the location of the mobile Harvest Moon Grille, farmers' market offerings and latest news from the full-on restaurant. But what I savor most is the <i>What's up on the Farm? </i>section toward the end. These brief sections provide a clear, concise snapshot of life on the farm and the trials and tribulations of raising animals and working with nature. Enjoy these passages from a recent and past Grateful Growers e-newsletter, and thank them for putting pen to paper to share their stories. Visit the Grateful Growers <a href="http://www.ggfarm.com/" target="_blank">website</a> for more stories, to see the list of incredible awards they keep winning and learn more about their vision of food and community.<br /><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,Serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></span></i><br />
<div style="color: #666666;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,Serif;"><b>December 2, 2011</b></span></i> <i><span style="font-family: Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,Serif;"><b><br /><br />What's up on the Farm?</b><b><br />
</b>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<span style="font-family: Georgia,Serif;"> </span> </span></i></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: #666666;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,Serif;">
</span></i></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,Serif; font-size: small;">Did you miss me (or at least, the newsletter)? It's been a wild couple
of weeks. We had a great time at the restaurant serving an amazing
Thanksgiving dinner (if you missed it this year, be sure to make it next
time - great food and you get to enjoy
visiting with your family and not having to wash dishes!). I'll admit
it was nice to be home from markets last Saturday, but I can assure you
it was not all leisure. We had a firewood splitting party and the gang
who joined me also helped with the always
spontaneous "fence mending" and accompanying pig relocation projects.
We had a great time creating a mighty pile of wood and afterward,
enjoyed an amazing dinner that Julia brought with her. Big thanks to
Dr. Bob, Amy and Julia for their wonderful company
and hard work!<br />
<br />
Our neighbors are stringing Christmas lights. We are stringing
heatlamps. Again, it's time to break out the hundreds of feet of
extension cord and the little orbs of warmth for our litters of new
piglets. There are four huts full of them, cuties that they
are, all snuggled together under in the straw beneath the glowing lamp.
Just when we catch a break on the electric bill because the freezers
aren't working so hard, we get to spend up because of the heatlamps.
Small price to pay, though. The extra warmth
can make the difference between life and death on a real cold night for a
very young piglet (who has no body fat to keep him/her warm). Beyond
helping with the odds for survival, pigs who have the supplemental
warmth also tend to grow out more efficiently.
Like so many other things, we'll tolerate the web of cords (and the
bills) for our little ones.<br />
<br />
</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,Serif; font-size: small;">See you here at the Moon and the Markets!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,Serif;">Natalie, Cassie + Jeremy<br /></span></i></span></div>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggFitnf_0WTQJEfzfVBPea1Gec7sSKw6FhTRMQ6Hok6-jcv_kJWKleSWO6VI-OSNGmSrGuuKSKPP33sMknRmSBDKm9HJnhRAx8JW4_76TDG9fcA11300CgZWV3cPH3e4H8tJyMnd50Eiw/s1600/grateful+growers+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggFitnf_0WTQJEfzfVBPea1Gec7sSKw6FhTRMQ6Hok6-jcv_kJWKleSWO6VI-OSNGmSrGuuKSKPP33sMknRmSBDKm9HJnhRAx8JW4_76TDG9fcA11300CgZWV3cPH3e4H8tJyMnd50Eiw/s200/grateful+growers+logo.png" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<div style="color: #666666;">
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: #666666;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"> <i><span style="font-family: Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,Serif;"><b>June 2011</b></span></i> <i><span style="font-family: Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,Serif;"><b><br />
<br />
What's up on the Farm?</b><b><br />
</b>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /><br />The
sheep have settled in to their new home at our place nicely. We brought home 4
young ewes (females), which we will keep for breeding. They are almost 3 months
old and are incredibly cute. We named them Marilyn, Madelyn (for my mom and her
twin, whose birthday it was on the day we got the sheep), Esther (for Cassie’s
mom), and Annie (for Charles + Lamar’s daughter, who was among the first
customers at our cart and introduced us to her very cool parents). We also
brought home 3 rams (boys with their “package” intact) that we’ve named
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. They are about a year old and will hang out at our
place for several more weeks to bulk up before they are featured at the
restaurant.</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
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<div style="color: #666666;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #666666;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> Because
sheep aren't as destructive as pigs, we have put the ewes in our side yard,
fenced off by an "electric net". We wanted them close by
to keep an eye on them, and because we are farm nerds, we sit on the deck and
watch them instead of TV. They are also taking care of the grass, so
we don't have to mow. We put the boys out back near the
henhouse and they have been devouring the patches of clover back in what we
formerly called "the poultry pasture". With the very cool
electric nets, we will move the sheep all over the property to simultaneously
nourish them and maintain the grass.</span></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #666666;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Sunday
evening we had a bad storm here, resulting in a bunch of busted up trees and
lost power. We were so fortunate that no buildings or the house were damaged.
We were also blessed that our neighbor Del and our friend Bess came to our
place that evening and checked in on things, since we were up at Charles’
having a lovely evening. They were relieved to find that all the animals were
okay and not running all over the neighborhood. A large limb fell on the power
line feeding our barn meter, meaning we had no power to our well or to the
walk-in freezer. They called the power company who had somebody out
to fix it quickly, so the animals had water and we didn't lose any meat. The
tops of several huge trees were broken out, so much of the week has been
devoted to cleaning up. The top of a giant oak fell onto Del's
tractor (parked at my place), but caused only cosmetic damage. I
carefully cut the limbs away from it, drove it out from under the mess, then
used the tractor to pull the limb away from the tree to cut it up. As
a kind of poetic justice, the wood is now in a pile at Del's, awaiting use for
this winter's heating. So, this week can be summed up into "chainsaws
+ sheep". Lots more of both to be happening for weeks to come.
</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #666666;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Off
to the garden to weed and harvest onions. We hope to see you at the
markets and/or the restaurant this weekend!</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #666666; font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<i>Natalie, Cassie + Jeremy</i></span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: "1307bf2978ebd962_LETTER\.BLOCK20";"></span><u><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></u></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-7136961835601265962011-12-04T19:08:00.001-08:002011-12-04T19:29:50.912-08:007-Up, Saltines & War Wonton Soup<style>
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Do you have vivid food memories associated with your
childhood?
</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
For me it’s grandma’s potato dumplings and cabbage with kielbasa
on Christmas Eve, a homemade Polish tradition. There’s dad’s letter-shaped,
weekend-morning pancakes poured carefully into the electric countertop griddle with
the classic early 80s motif on the lid. And then there were the regular dinner
rotations: taco night, beef stroganoff, chicken casserole... Always with a
green salad of iceberg lettuce, carrots and bottles and bottles and bottles of
half empty salad dressings to choose from, served from the same
polished wooden salad bowl. And there were the months
when mom was determined we each put a heaping tablespoon of ground wheat bran
on top of our cold breakfast cereal. Talk about an effective way to ruin a bowl
of Honey Nut Cheerios.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This past week I was reminded of a different kind of food
memory from childhood: sick day food.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I never minded being sick as a kid. In our house, being sick
meant a day of special attention (an extra story or an super secure tuck-in at
night), maybe the tiny television from the kitchen temporarily perched on my
dresser, but mostly it meant 7-Up, Saltine crackers and war wonton soup. I, gratefully, never suffered any serious ailments as a kid, so I saw my few sick
days as sort of special</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There was the 7-Up, the first line of defense again sick day
woes. Sometimes it was ginger ale, or even Hansen’s Fruit Sodas, but there was
always a straw. On occasion there was even a flexi-straw, bent at a kind ninety
degree angle toward my mouth. No matter the ailment, this was always a soothing
balm, although mostly reserved for upset stomachs and sore throats. We didn’t
drink much soda as kids (they rot your teeth, did you hear?), and I have a vague memory we
were only allowed ‘clear’ or orange sodas – but that’s beside the point. It was
a treat, and those effervescent, sugary bubbles always managed to do bring a
bit of peace.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Saltines were reserved for upset tummies, the first
solid food when ready and able to eat again. The perfect combination of salt,
crunch, blandness and dissolve-in-your-mouth texture. I remember the Volvo
station wagon would make special trips to the store if someone was under the
weather and the house was empty of these miracle crackers. To this day, I only
eat them when I’m recovering from a rough stomach.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then there is the war wonton soup. This is harder to
explain, although on second thought it’s the same as chicken noodle soup – just
from another culture. The cure-all war wonton soup was picked up from Jade
East, the ‘hole in the wall’ Chinese restaurant between mom’s Pasadena Freeway freeway
off ramp and home, the final stretch. Not just the average sick day food, growing up war
wonton soup seemed to be mom’s cure-all. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Takeout orders were presented from behind the counter in cut-down cardboard boxes,
the sides just tall enough to prevent the white waxed cardboard boxes of rice
with the thin metal handles and the plastic containers of soup from knocking
over and spilling on the car ride home. I only remember picking up those boxes
once or twice, and we never ate in. The restaurant had an odd layout, and I
still have the image of four heat-from-above buffet trays casting an orange-red
light from the middle of the room. What I remember most was the short-sided
box sitting in mom’s trunk, and how the smell permeated the whole car. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s nearly impossible to find any thing nearly as good as the Jade East war wonton variety in Charlotte,
New Haven, Jamaica Plain, Portland, Madison or any of the places where I’ve been in dire
need of this remedy. The liquid broth was watery, but flavorful, and one serving
would fill the special big bowls reserved for this purpose alone. The broth was
swimming with ‘fresh’ snow peas, carrot coins, bean sprouts, hearts of palm,
water chestnuts, baby corns, slivers of white onion, scallion rings and bok choy -
not to mention the thin ‘pork’ slices, uniformly brown around the edge and pink
in the middle. And then there were the wontons; my reasoning always involved
eating all the vegetables first in order to save these gems for last. They were
ghostlike characters floating in the remaining broth, the thinnest rice noodle wrapped
around an undistinguishable yet delicious meatball of pork or chicken or shrimp
and onions…almost melting in your mouth. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Undoubtedly unconventional, this tonic soothed my stomach,
refreshed my appetite and made everything better. So this past week, when I was
struck with an out-of-nowhere stomach bug and finally regained my
appetite…there was one thing, and one thing only, I wanted…war
wonton soup.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ok, and maybe I wanted my mom to come tuck me into bed too.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTzLg3NEFBfcElur_7QbQv7hdhO_HqqfsfScTetVRQD6XLTVihv2EElAgNVxpzRft11geiguac7UJIv1H0KiqSgc1YL91lYp-KCBdzDPaKvlkM98ned931N8abiHc6ZOnCpzAweM4x1s/s1600/Wonton-Soup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTzLg3NEFBfcElur_7QbQv7hdhO_HqqfsfScTetVRQD6XLTVihv2EElAgNVxpzRft11geiguac7UJIv1H0KiqSgc1YL91lYp-KCBdzDPaKvlkM98ned931N8abiHc6ZOnCpzAweM4x1s/s200/Wonton-Soup.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-57440520155758781622011-11-28T13:59:00.001-08:002011-11-28T16:59:32.439-08:00Pens to Pasture ~ Slow Hand Farm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXKjLRtsqmFBXU-WDumCOLXdgrnH9h3_UMPFIOps85NqERTbt5Hy6-YJqFY5nWW6y_fmhYV4OF5k8BbDktquoIZ0aOMRjZrGFvxPA5vENBXY8mpe8WEKroxSN6UeOqusp3Y2HszpZEgk/s1600/Pens+to+Pasture+Pic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXKjLRtsqmFBXU-WDumCOLXdgrnH9h3_UMPFIOps85NqERTbt5Hy6-YJqFY5nWW6y_fmhYV4OF5k8BbDktquoIZ0aOMRjZrGFvxPA5vENBXY8mpe8WEKroxSN6UeOqusp3Y2HszpZEgk/s320/Pens+to+Pasture+Pic.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">When friends and family began raving about and forwarding to me the weekly CSA newsletters and farm updates sent from <i>their</i> farmers, I paid attention. I also laughed (and even teared up) at these genuine writings intimately describing all it takes to grow our food. It didn't take long to realize that these stories must be shared with a wider audience. So...welcome to <i>Pens to Pasture: Fodder from the Field</i>
where each week we feature one farm and the stories they share with their customers through CSA newsletters, blog stories and e-mail updates. We
celebrate the agricultural life, the hard work of farmers and the grace
and openness with which they share it all through writing. Dig in,
enjoy and be sure to share the writings of your farmers by sending an e-mail <a href="mailto:fodder@justwritefood.com" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrAGbBBHw_FfLdo34uV-f93_2edC7IcSglT13_73D1Jw_e0IRAU7Cx0J9wY8cWtCGAl7pHbbUsA5FOUpGNqxwk9c64c8mw6mHvdMqgbAdBuxRQLaRDL9l0stBWsoUoMWWUSafnMX6w4w/s1600/pens+to+pasture+this+week+button.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrAGbBBHw_FfLdo34uV-f93_2edC7IcSglT13_73D1Jw_e0IRAU7Cx0J9wY8cWtCGAl7pHbbUsA5FOUpGNqxwk9c64c8mw6mHvdMqgbAdBuxRQLaRDL9l0stBWsoUoMWWUSafnMX6w4w/s1600/pens+to+pasture+this+week+button.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> Slow Hand Farm ~ Portland, OR </span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Josh & Kji</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: medium;">Community Supported Agriculture on a Small Scale</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.slowhandfarm.com/CSA.html" target="_blank">www.slowhandfarm.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm so honored to share the words (and vegetable pictures) of Slow Hand Farm, mostly because Josh taught me almost everything I know about growing vegetables when I was an apprentice at Sauvie Island Organics in Portland, Oregon. Beyond the actual growing of vegetables, Josh keenly demonstrated the importance of crop planning, record keeping and a good Excel spreadsheet - three cheers and eternal gratitude for that! I also remember many conversations with Josh, around the long lunch table, that ended up in that farm's CSA newsletter. (More on that to come!)</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgElZOjqZFXlkpJvIv9JCCv31gS9KA9tLjLvCC5JCyX-khQqH8pkkyyYU_TCja461ET2mMgyljJhqd6OXPHcjjYRPOeKo-Nq_7ujE6wdZUpexzlDVGhSZp4iDDeYDar0byt0_uUBHQp-4E/s1600/Slow+Hand+Farm+Stats+2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgElZOjqZFXlkpJvIv9JCCv31gS9KA9tLjLvCC5JCyX-khQqH8pkkyyYU_TCja461ET2mMgyljJhqd6OXPHcjjYRPOeKo-Nq_7ujE6wdZUpexzlDVGhSZp4iDDeYDar0byt0_uUBHQp-4E/s200/Slow+Hand+Farm+Stats+2011.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stats from the SHF website. Wow.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;">In 2009 Josh broke ground on his own venture, Slow Hand Farm, to focus on hand-scale production; small and affordable CSA shares and <i>special</i> varieties. Slow Hand Farm is very special, in large part because Josh can tell you almost anything you want to know about each variety and each individual produce item harvested from the .2 acres of land they cultivate. This (very) small farm is also special because it offers single-person sized shares filled with the farmers' favorite varieties in spring, summer, fall <b>and</b> winter subscriptions. It's the ultimate make-your-own-perfect-CSA-share. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;">Slow Hand Farm communicates with members through a weekly blog post, and their attention to detail shows. You are welcome and encouraged to read much, much more about Small Hand Farm at the <a href="http://slowhandfarm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blog</a> or <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Slow-Hand-Farm/199277078280?sk=info" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>. Extra savory are all the lovely pictures of the share and the farm - you'll be amazed at the magic they cultivate in a tiny space! Below are two recent CSA posts hinting at the beginning of winter...</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;">P.S. Josh is a jack-of-all-trades, engineer extraordinaire and farming genius. If you like to geek out on small scale farming practices (like, the important details) or farm images, check out his other <a href="http://www.joshvolk.com/Welcome.html" target="_blank">site</a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;">- - -</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Monday, November 14, 2011<br />Soup Share</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzkxsN3DR2IvmcYh9KzyAvzsWxYgGdQGx7gCCiL-dhhIuIK-GjH0_thBA2Ii1IwDc_1LEXCfg2tIT6Flb3-zj2e76JmHu3n07sUx8c-VBM9ZWXQvu-sisOES9ygfdDGOBDgrXMgILniw/s1600/Slow+Hand+Farm+Soup+Share.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzkxsN3DR2IvmcYh9KzyAvzsWxYgGdQGx7gCCiL-dhhIuIK-GjH0_thBA2Ii1IwDc_1LEXCfg2tIT6Flb3-zj2e76JmHu3n07sUx8c-VBM9ZWXQvu-sisOES9ygfdDGOBDgrXMgILniw/s200/Slow+Hand+Farm+Soup+Share.JPG" width="200" /></a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It occurs to me that there are some nice opportunities for soup in the
share today, especially if you have some good dry beans to toss in, and
maybe a bit of stale bread. You might want to look for a recipe for
ribollita, one of my favorite fall meals.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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Today's share has a bit of kale, chard, carrot, celery and garlic in it.
This is not at all what I planned for last fall when I was looking at
what would go in the share today, but it's still a nice mix and it
reflects everything that has happened in the season up to this point and
my best judgement this morning about what I need to keep around for
shares in the following weeks, and what would be best this week in the
shares. At this point in the year most everything we have for the
shares for the next two months or so is more or less ready. It's not
just a matter of harvesting what is "ripe," it also has to do with
guessing what will hold in the ground longer, what won't get eaten by
voles or deer, what will survive impending frosts, and what would be a
nice combination, giving a bit of variety from week to week</i></span></div>
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The chard and celery won't hold on much longer due to their sensitivity
to freezing so I wanted to give those two out today. The kale is from a
bed that hasn't been cleaned up in a while, and it seemed like some
more greens would be nice in the share. The carrots have finally
started to get a little size and the voles are starting to move in so
I'm trying to thin them out, give a little more space and assess the
damage. I don't plan for garlic in the fall shares, but this is leftover
from what we saved for seed and I figured it should get eaten.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>
Next week is Thanksgiving so we'll take a week off from harvesting. I'm
taking some of this afternoon, and likely many to come, starting to
look at the plan for next season.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="post-author vcard">Posted by
<span class="fn">Slow Hand Farm</span> </span><span class="post-timestamp">at
<a class="timestamp-link" href="http://slowhandfarm.blogspot.com/2011/11/soup-share.html" rel="bookmark" title="permanent link"><abbr class="published" title="2011-11-14T15:04:00-08:00">3:04 PM</abbr></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4n0YNGftA6gn2AYoetYoQLKiIrHxMsWXSBs1wf9O52ExciCQVgOGM0DJQUFtW2OVqvWxhmF372LxtJzc8bH2mXT-rp1l5jvR2A0EiMuBCHYtdupz6LZBhTyDwLH6Nu3g9Nv5v23GudX0/s1600/Slow+Hand+Farm+Logo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4n0YNGftA6gn2AYoetYoQLKiIrHxMsWXSBs1wf9O52ExciCQVgOGM0DJQUFtW2OVqvWxhmF372LxtJzc8bH2mXT-rp1l5jvR2A0EiMuBCHYtdupz6LZBhTyDwLH6Nu3g9Nv5v23GudX0/s1600/Slow+Hand+Farm+Logo.JPG" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Thursday, November 17, 2011</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Thanksgiving Holiday</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy0W0cZOsiU532-y6UAFAaIcRHB8IYJApZt22vLYnzbqIolIKnWbk4_1Imn6ZAwqlHCyYS5K5PtZ8lahBRhuvd_6R1Xhpz94_Puyy41NCTJeFSq_SLop6deslVuUxwb6iZa1h9Ga8IbFU/s1600/slow+hand+farm+thanksgiving.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy0W0cZOsiU532-y6UAFAaIcRHB8IYJApZt22vLYnzbqIolIKnWbk4_1Imn6ZAwqlHCyYS5K5PtZ8lahBRhuvd_6R1Xhpz94_Puyy41NCTJeFSq_SLop6deslVuUxwb6iZa1h9Ga8IbFU/s200/slow+hand+farm+thanksgiving.jpeg" width="133" /></a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Today's share is basically the same as Mondays so no new photo or talk
of the vegetables. Next week is Thanksgiving and we're taking the
entire week off from harvests. It's also supposed to be cold, like
freezing cold, this weekend. I've been anticipating that, which is why
the chard and celery was in the share this week. Those two crops will
likely freeze out this weekend. Even so, we covered the celery with row
cover, and lots of the rest of the crops as well. I'm hoping that the
cover will stay on (it has a nasty tendency to blow off). I'm also
hoping that the newfound protection the voles are feeling under that
nice white blanket won't encourage them too much and that they'll leave a
bit for us when we get back to harvesting. They've already taken out a
number of the celeriac, root parsley, and radicchio. Our trapping
campaign is woefully inadequate right now, we'll have to get on that.
In the meantime, hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving, we'll be
back in action on November 28.</i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="post-author vcard"></span><br /><span class="post-author vcard">Posted by
<span class="fn">Slow Hand Farm</span></span><span class="post-timestamp">
at
<a class="timestamp-link" href="http://slowhandfarm.blogspot.com/2011/11/thanksgiving-holiday.html" rel="bookmark" title="permanent link"><abbr class="published" title="2011-11-17T14:34:00-08:00">2:34 PM</abbr></a></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-53021880895193003812011-11-22T19:31:00.001-08:002011-11-23T12:08:55.876-08:00How Turkeys Become Turkeys<style>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>My favorite part of Thanksgiving is the celebration and expression of gratitude: for family, farmers and all the goodness in the world. I'm also partial to a good pumpkin pie and even the cranberry jelly that comes out of a can. The turkey, however, I can do without. That changed a bit when I harvested this main course for the first time. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>In honor of our dear friend the turkey, and in appreciation of those who raise them and prepare them for our tables, I present to you the annual romp through the slaughterhouse. I always feel that knowing the origins of my food increases its taste and my appreciation for it. <span style="font-family: inherit;">This piece was originally featured in the <a href="http://slowfoodtufts.blogspot.com/2009/11/turkey-day.html" target="_blank">Slow Food Tufts</a> blog in 2009. I enjoy revisiting it every year, and I hope you will too.</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Warmest wishes to you and yours on the national
holiday of gorging and appreciation. May your turkey be juicy, your
mashed potatoes buttery and your revelry savory.</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">- - - </span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Waking at 5 am, I dug my favorite
farming clothes out from under the bed. I missed the early mornings, dirty hands and exhaustion from physical labor and looked
forward to the long day of work ahead. This used to be my every day routine,
pre-dawn mornings and perpetually dirty work clothes, when I spent my days on a
farm in Portland, Oregon. Since going back to graduate school in Boston,
mornings start later and the farming clothes are tucked out of site,
undoubtedly a bit lonely.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Today began with a three-hour drive
south to a diversified farm in the Hudson River Valley of New York. It was a
long haul to visit Sara, one of my dearest friends, and some soon-to-be Thanksgiving
turkeys. I was off to help harvest and process 150, seven month old Broad
Breasted Whites that spent most of their turkey lives foraging on pasture.
“Harvest” and “process” are, of course, pleasant euphemisms for slaughter, the
last stage of raising livestock and getting it to market.
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> As
many Americans were in the pre-Thanksgiving frenzy of buying frozen turkeys at
the store, my excitement peaked knowing I would experience this process from a new perspective.
Today's turkeys would not come from the aisles of a grocery, but from the
wet, slippery tiled floor and food-grade surfaced walls of a small-scaled
poultry processing facility. All the birds were scheduled to be slaughtered and
readied for market largely by hand that day, all pre-purchased by those willing to trek to the farm to pick up
a turkey from its source. And for myself, I was just grateful to place one more puzzle
piece into the landscape of skills needed to raise food and successfully market
it as a small farmer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">On
the walk from my car to the barn I felt that familiar mix of excitement and
nervousness roiling in the bottom of my belly. I was in an unfamiliar place
about to embark upon a new, and quite messy, expedition. My step was quickened
by that first-day-of-school anticipation, the squawk of the geese in the
pasture and the glow of the early morning autumn sun warming me through my wool sweater. Being at
once totally present, and looking forward to the day poultry processing would become
part of my own routine, I opened the heavy door and stepped in to the small facility. Before the door
could close, I was immediately instructed to change into a pair of sanitary
rubber boots for slaughterhouse use only, lined up by the door. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">“So, what made <i>you</i> want to come here and do <i>this</i>?”
one of the farm crew asked as I walked toward him down the white-walled hall. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">My answer was simple: I want to
gain all the firsthand experience I can because one day I plan to raise poultry on
my own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I
had a few weeks to mentally prepare for this adventure between accepting the invitation and my three-hour early morning drive to these rolling hills. I spent the time recognizing my immense excitement at
participating in harvest and learning a bevy of new skills about small-scale
poultry processing. Not only did it feel like an important step to gain poultry
production knowledge, but also a huge step toward a deeper understanding about what it takes to produce the food I eat. Tempering my
overt enthusiasm was the awareness that turkey harvest unavoidably included
killing a living animal. I believe strongly that animals are an important part
of the nutrient cycle of the farm, and of our food system. So for me, I
concluded that if I’m going to eat the meat, it should be humanely raised using
sustainable practices and that I should be able to kill it…or at least be
intimately aware of how it ends up on my plate. But at my core, I was just
inexplicably excited to experience a part of the food system in this way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I knew, roughly, what to expect
inside the small slaughterhouse: the large cones that would hold the birds
upside-down as their necks were cut, the hot water scald to loosen tough
feathers for plucking and the stainless steel work tables for manual tasks. Not to mention
the infamous plucker: the stainless steel cylinder lined with rubber fingers
that quickly pull feathers from the birds as they spin around and around in the
basin. Then evisceration…the process of removing the turkey guts by hand. I’ll
call them guts because before that day all I thought of inside a bird was a mish-mash
of intestines and the mysterious ‘giblets’. This last step of the process was the
biggest mystery, and I was thrilled to become intimately familiar with the
internal organs of a turkey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Quickly, the door to the small
processing room swung open to expose five farmers, gloved and aproned like
disorganized surgeons, along with large tubs filled with ice and cooling turkeys. I
waved a hello to Sara, as there are no hugs when covered in turkey, and
introduced myself to the rest of the crew. Sara was disassembling turkeys as they landed in a pile after spinning out of the plucker. At this stage they remained
whole birds, featherless and pink, but missing heads and feet. Sara’s job, and
later mine, was to remove the oil gland, trachea, crop and neck. The necks were
collected in a bucket of ice and then each bird hung one at a time on a rack for
evisceration.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Two very skilled and quick moving
livestock apprentices took on this task as I watched with awe and jealousy.
First, a sharp knife cut a circle around the vent of the hanging bird. Then the
intestines were gently escorted out of the bird and onto the stainless steel table below,
ultimately into a barrel to be composted. Internal organs were then removed.
The sponge-like lungs headed to the compost, but the liver, gizzard and heart were sorted
into buckets of ice. They would later be packed into bags with the necks and
stuffed into the cavity of the birds, the infamous giblets. I tried my
hand at this, and at first it was the equivalent of playing Operation,
blindfolded. But slowly I became familiar by touch -rough, slippery, tough and
squishy- with these distinct organs inside a still-warm bird.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">OK, this is the point where you may
say, “Stop! Please! Too much information!” The point of these precise details
is not for the gross-out factor or to open debate about the ethics of eating
animals. But for those of us who believe in good, clean, fair food: <i>this is it</i>. This is small-scale
production that treats animals, farmers and environment fairly. And the more we
understand exactly what it takes to raise this kind of food, the easier
it is to support farmers, growers and producers who share these values. Each of
us may value a different part of the process, but the power is in the knowing.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">After half the turkeys were resting
in ice baths, we got to the task of cleaning out the gizzards so they could
join the other giblets. Turkeys do not have teeth, so the gizzard is an internal organ, a secondary stomach, that mashes up ingested food. It looking something like a round oyster or mussel covered with a smooth layer of muscle. The external squeezing
of the muscle grinds ingested food with grit: rough non-food matter that’s
pecked up by the turkeys and stored in the gizzard for this purpose. Little did I know that each
gizzard gets cut open, grit cleaned out by hand, and the rough lining
peeled out before it joins forces with the rest of the giblets.
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">We stood around the processing
room, the floor slippery with melting ice and turkey mess, chatting as we
worked our way through the icy buckets of fist-sized gizzards. Sharing small,
sharp knives each gizzard was cut open like a clam, exposing the gritty
contents of the turkey’s stomach and an edge of yellow lining. This is
delicate, detailed work when compared to the previous hours of the day, but
rewarding. I slowly opened my first gizzard, almost like unwrapping a small gift,
to find a collection of pebbles, short pieces of straw and small bits that
looked eerily like sea glass. I paused, not quite believing what I saw. Maybe
there was something about turkey digestion that I just didn’t understand.
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Sea glass?
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I glanced around the room; every
other gizzard was full of the frosted glass too. Everyone in the room was
noticing this treasure at the same time. Jovial accusations and laughter
sparked up in the circle around me and I caught only snippets of conversation.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">“It just appeared out of nowhere,”
the newest apprentice spoke quietly amidst the teasing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">“Middle of the pasture…”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">“…and there went another windshield,”
spilled out of the livestock manager’s mouth.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Through the rapid-fire banter of
the crew and the jovial finger pointing, the best I could piece together was
this: Someone drove the farm truck quickly through the turkey pasture, and the
remnants of an old farm building suddenly appeared on the horizon. There was not enough time to avoid hitting the structure. A collision
ensued and the windshield busted, leaving a sparkly pool of safety auto glass on the
grass, irresistible to the curious turkeys. For all these turkeys knew,
this was the best looking meal they would ever eat. This unusual ‘grit’ was then
burnished into the equivalent of sea glass in the gizzard of every single
turkey, helping to grind food from that day forward. Not to worry, the glass didn’t harm the turkeys, as the
thick lining inside the gizzard serves to protect the bird in just this
situation. Despite it all, I was awestruck as all the pieces came together.
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">It was amazing to see such odd and
unexpected contents in the belly of the beast. More importantly, it served as a
very direct reminder of the connection between what we put into the animals that will become our food and where it all ends up…be it the gizzard of a
turkey, fresh produce, our air or water.
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I left the farm that day exhausted,
content, dirty and empowered. I was more steadfast than ever to make educated
choices about the source of my food, proud to learn a new skill and determined to honor the gibblets of my next Thanksgiving turkey. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-63276884130361067142011-11-21T19:25:00.001-08:002011-11-22T19:40:19.721-08:00Pens to Pasture ~ Chustnut Farms<style>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgdouINUxnOhhyf5GuxfUAcpmbR18YGYetXgIhY-PFFr4e7MMh7KKvFw-jdRmQ4NDdfY4x1v7GedH6XjMXIfjjohAFLsa-GjMsAs6kleFbbOeWws3FwZhzhDDKeJWUN1g0M1gyZLtb6g/s1600/Picture+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgdouINUxnOhhyf5GuxfUAcpmbR18YGYetXgIhY-PFFr4e7MMh7KKvFw-jdRmQ4NDdfY4x1v7GedH6XjMXIfjjohAFLsa-GjMsAs6kleFbbOeWws3FwZhzhDDKeJWUN1g0M1gyZLtb6g/s320/Picture+4.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">When friends and family began forwarding me weekly CSA newsletters and farm e-mail updates sent from <i>their</i> farmers, I knew these stories needed to be shared with a wider audience. Welcome to <i>Pens to Pasture: Fodder from the Field</i> where each week we feature one farm and the stories they share with customers through CSA newsletters, blog stories and e-mail updates. We celebrate the agricultural life, the hard work of farmers and the grace and openness with which they share it in writing each week. Dig in, enjoy and (especially this week) give thanks to those who sustain us by growing delicious food.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqKjffSRZ-uEt6bksYkozdZZHadWMLbdHtgVWaZFw57TWrmBMeD5H5jdQn4CaE-QTwgRP48K43cGeMraxGaKVmXs0oZPN2_IepJ4pNMjcFDhMgvbHjb_DN1dlV_9DF_rqsSif4z450nk/s1600/small+this+week+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqKjffSRZ-uEt6bksYkozdZZHadWMLbdHtgVWaZFw57TWrmBMeD5H5jdQn4CaE-QTwgRP48K43cGeMraxGaKVmXs0oZPN2_IepJ4pNMjcFDhMgvbHjb_DN1dlV_9DF_rqsSif4z450nk/s1600/small+this+week+a.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"> Chestnut Farms ~ Hardwick, MA </span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Kim & Rich </span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Connecting Communities Through Agriculture”</span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.chestnutfarms.org/" target="_blank">www.chestnutfarms.org</a></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">It was a warm and blue-skied June day when I met Kim at the
Chestnut Farms Open Barn Day. She was answering guests’ questions
near the pen of very cute young piglets playing keep away with a piece of
orange baling twine. Despite hosting a farm full of CSA members, she was
willing to spend time answering our aspiring farmer questions with genuine
enthusiasm, even though we didn't happen to be <i>her </i>CSA members. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Kim’s friendly and open demeanor wasn’t a surprise to me, as
I’d been reading the Chestnut Farms monthly CSA newsletter for a while. My dear
friend <a href="http://www.darcyeden.com/" target="_blank">Darcy</a>, who <i>did</i> subscribe to the Chestnut Farms CSA, thought
I would appreciate the farm tales, especially the ongoing rooster saga, which I
did. Much like the weekly e-mails from <a href="http://justwritefood.blogspot.com/2011/11/afew-months-back-i-asked-for-your-help.html" target="_blank">Puzzle Peace Farm</a>,
the monthly updates from Chestnut Farms inspired the <i>Pens to Pasture</i> project.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Chestnut Farms is a family owned operation in central Massachusetts,
offering pasture-raised beef, lamb, goat, pork, chicken and turkey to community
members using the CSA format. Members are guaranteed a certain poundage of meat each
month, but the CSA ‘risk’ is in the type of meat provided in each share. Beyond
conscientiously raising a variety of livestock on grass, Rich and Kim are keen
to share their farm experience and promote larger agricultural issues through
their enterprise. The passages below are selected from the <a href="http://www.chestnutfarms.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=36&Itemid=30" target="_blank">Monthly Updates</a>
which are sent out by e-mail before each CSA distribution.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Beyond good writing and delicious meat, Chestnut Farms is
beautiful. We spent the remainder of our Open Barn Day <i>ooohing and aaaahing</i> at the school bus-turned-chicken coop (which I loved enough to use as the main image on this blog), relaxing while taking in views of the sheep
in their pasture, investigating the brand new manure management system
and finally spotting the trouble-making rooster himself. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">You can find all the monthly updated, recipes, farm
photography, a very thoughtful <a href="http://www.chestnutfarms.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=66" target="_blank">pricing policy</a>
and much more at the <a href="http://www.chestnutfarms.org/" target="_blank">Chestnut Farms</a> website. Please do
enjoy the excerpts from their monthly updates below. As usual, we welcome your submissions of your favorite farmer’s
writing, just send it along by <a href="mailto:fodder@justwritefood.com" target="_blank">e-mail</a>, and we'd love to share it! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYMbAxDlJDQQ77e-xmiD-AHnV_GDNKV2q73vfJE34tJH_liYJxH1WljHzPbXjy_oBSg3yTeUfprRe4NBMQxiOl8-LHeleHav6N5dUhcUy_9_EfYDzfyVqWeRhTdA1jdJCnEJvyMCNOwU/s1600/chestnut+hill+logo.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYMbAxDlJDQQ77e-xmiD-AHnV_GDNKV2q73vfJE34tJH_liYJxH1WljHzPbXjy_oBSg3yTeUfprRe4NBMQxiOl8-LHeleHav6N5dUhcUy_9_EfYDzfyVqWeRhTdA1jdJCnEJvyMCNOwU/s1600/chestnut+hill+logo.png" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: inherit;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>From: </b>Chestnut Farms</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Date: </b>April 3, 2010 8:31:55 PM EDT</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Subject: </b><b>Chestnut Farms Meat Shares to be Distributed</b> </i></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Spring
Chickens are here!! The first batch arrived in our henhouse this week and we
will continue to raise all the way through next December. January through
March is a good season for New England Chickens to be in the freezer, as the
growth rate slows considerably, meat birds can freeze (because they don’t move
around like layer hens) and we don’t have an indoor structure to raise them in.
We have both meat birds and layers in our first batch and are working hard to
expand our layer hen population this year. We are still looking for an
additional school bus if anyone knows of one…</i></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
<b>Finally, the ROOSTER</b>. We have
a rooster who is roaming the barn, He is a beautiful Arucana Rooster who
believes he owns the homestead. This has caused a bit of a personality
conflict between Rooster and Kim. I (Kim) have repeatedly tried to put
him back with the hens on the other side of the road and up in the school
bus. Rooster responds by repeatedly escaping and coming down to the barn
and eating the piglets food. The last time this happened, Rooster added
and attack. He clawed and pecked at me stating that there is no way he will
leave the barn. I was not pleased and noted that I need Rooster Stew.
However, I have not been able to catch him. This provides a high level of
entertainment to the rest of my family. Stay tuned for further adventures
of Kim vs. Rooster!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>We look forward to seeing you tomorrow. As always,
THANK YOU for supporting local farms We really appreciate it – It DOES
matter and makes a huge difference.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Naturally yours,<br />
Kim and Rich</i></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Chestnut
Farms <br />
Hardwick, MA 01037 <br />
<a href="http://www.chestnutfarms.org/">www.chestnutfarms.org</a></i> </span></div>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif2Bxo-gmMtjsmjtMq7XT48FnkWL3i4SYNscNl_CmNcGwLYSQDfJrDKOynwdzms0oO3B-1pysDDqAAlqeTXsb0QPtooccIGiNK5pqzHxqr2gegyZlBfx20-UXeAxO2ussvDSLee6krTjc/s1600/chestnut+hill+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif2Bxo-gmMtjsmjtMq7XT48FnkWL3i4SYNscNl_CmNcGwLYSQDfJrDKOynwdzms0oO3B-1pysDDqAAlqeTXsb0QPtooccIGiNK5pqzHxqr2gegyZlBfx20-UXeAxO2ussvDSLee6krTjc/s1600/chestnut+hill+logo.png" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: inherit;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>From: </b>Chestnut Farms</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Date: </b>May 3, 2010 8:31:55 PM EDT</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Subject: </b><b>Chestnut Farms Meat Shares to be
distributed on TUES May 4th from 4 to 7 pm in Arlington</b></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b><u>Kim vs. Rooster-
Chapter Two:</u></b> When we last visited the saga there was a stand-off
between Kim and Rooster – Rooster had attacked Kim literally causing bodily
harm and Kim tried to kill Rooster without success. (I couldn’t catch
him). Then Rooster flew at a child who was looking at “his” piglets (the
Rooster is the self appointed guardian of the piglets in the barn). This
time Sam caught the Rooster. Kim tied up his feet (not very gently) and carried
him up to one of the Schoolbuses full of hens. The theory was that 247
female chickens would keep his attention better than three sows and 27
piglets. Like many scientific theories this one was bunk. Within an
hour, Rooster had fled the bus and the attached pen and was dancing around the
farmhouse – not to be caught again. </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Hmmm – we have lots of coyotes thought Kim. Let’s
leave the Rooster alone and see what happens…. So all day and all night
the Rooster was completely free and out of the barn. The next morning at
4 am the singing began. Just underneath Kim and Rich’s bedroom window the
Rooster starts crowing and crowing and cocka-doodling – loudly – for HOURS.
With 106 acres – barns, schoolbuses and sheds Rooster managed to find the ONE
square foot below our bedroom window and crow. Kim got out of bed and
tried to catch Rooster – stew it is she vowed. So at 4:30 am as the sun
was thinking about rising, Kim was out on the front lawn in a nightgown and no
shoes chasing Rooster. </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Rooster won.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Rooster finally (two days later) returned to the barn and
his beloved sows and piglets. His picture is on the website. </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Rich and I will look forward to connecting with you tomorrow
for your May shares. Happy Spring and THANK YOU for supporting local farms : )</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
Naturally yours,<br />
Kim and Rich</i></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Chestnut
Farms <br />
Hardwick, MA 01037 <br />
<a href="http://www.chestnutfarms.org/">www.chestnutfarms.org</a></i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZU2XlwpM4e214Iley6F92GtERtJAVc2Ae1dVRqy6xZI6xWIFba9pirqoFbivjQh-aIwwP7e71athCeqfRfcoUJFtjpybu0ZynEapQtXuFr2p-ZzanfMVVoN4yXVkW1TWn3KGnXdEd-7k/s1600/chestnut+hill+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZU2XlwpM4e214Iley6F92GtERtJAVc2Ae1dVRqy6xZI6xWIFba9pirqoFbivjQh-aIwwP7e71athCeqfRfcoUJFtjpybu0ZynEapQtXuFr2p-ZzanfMVVoN4yXVkW1TWn3KGnXdEd-7k/s1600/chestnut+hill+logo.png" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>From: </b>Chestnut Farms<br /><b>Date: </b></i><i>03
August 2010 11:29:21 AM<br /><b>Subject: Meat
Shares are coming TODAY!!!</b></i></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Farm
dogs, turkeys and coyotes: Like all farms, we love dogs and even have three.
Not well chosen, but well loved. We have a yellow lab that is a farm dog
(nine years old) and the Lexi our female Saint Bernard is four. We also
have three year old Dozer (a 178 lb male St. Bernard) who was dropped at our
farm. So with 100 sheep, 100 cattle, pigs, poultry and a coyote problem
we have an old lab and two huge, but rather limited dogs that are useless.
</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
Unless of course it is 2 am and the coyotes are howling. Then all three
suddenly spring into action. Then the dogs will wake the dead in an
effort to get OUT of the farmhouse and onto the front lawn where they can bark
at the coyotes from a safe distance. They bark, The coyotes bark back,
Our dogs howl. The coyotes howl. Then, apparently drawn to canine noise,
the energetic turkey will wake and try to fly over their fence to taunt the
coyotes. So we have turkeys (last night it was 12 of them) flying around the
field, coyotes howling to call their friends in for a turkey dinner and three
large dogs sitting right in front of the farmhouse barking. Sleep over
for awhile, Rich and I grab gun (him) and flashlight (me) and head down to the
barnyard. We put the dogs in the house and tell them somewhat
ineffectively to BE QUIET. As we head to the barnyard we can see and hear
the pack of coyotes. In the moonlight I make out a turkey running to and fro
and taunting a coyote as it slinks down in the pasture. I shine the light
and Rich shoots. It is tough at night to get the coyotes We were not successful
last night, but I know we will have another chance tonight. After a shot
goes off, the coyotes all leave the pasture, but we know they are just over the
stonewall in the woods.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
So far we have only lost one turkey this year. We have clipped wings and
will do it again within the month. Clipping wings on poultry is like giving
them a haircut. It doesn’t hurt and prevents them from flying over fences
(usually) and into the mouths of foxes, skunks or coyotes. We have
learned to clip only one wing. That way, as the feathers grow back in,
the bird remains off balance. With one long set of wing feathers and one short
it is hard to flap for an even take-off. We like to say we have punk
poultry! If you would like a delicious, fresh, coyote-avoiding turkey for
Thanksgiving, please fill out the form on our website. We will be
collecting for the turkeys at the Sept or Oct distributions. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Our
sheep have enjoyed a great summer on grass and will be heading to the first
appointment in early September for the harvest (slaughterhouse). We will then
process by weight throughout the fall and winter. As I noted last month,
we like the lambs to be 100 lbs or so before we send them. This results
in the best yield and the most cost-effective harvest. The goat herd has
been fabulous at their secondary career of brush clearing. They have
cleared a whole pasture of multi-floral roses and are moving onto the next
fenced area. We are so pleased with their ability to take out the scrub
and leave the grass. They are also growing really well. As I
watch them loving the heat and hot of July, I recall the sad January where we
lost so many kids – clearly our vet was right – goats love a warm
climate. They have thrived this summer.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Recently
I spoke at the Livestock Forum at Tufts University. This was put on by the
New Entry Farm Program run by Jen Hashley of Jen and Pete’s Backyard
Birds. It was well done, well attended and so encouraging to see so
many people interested in livestock farming. I hope we are at the
beginning of real growth in the family farm. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Our
cows have had a great summer, our pigs are doing well and continue to have
wonderful litters. We did spend last weekend chasing over thirty pigs
through the woods, but they all came home and are now happily chewing on some
fresh grass and roots in a pasture additions. Pigs, like horses get
bored and will try to get out of pastures when there is more exciting or fun
things on the other side They believe that the grass is ALWAYS greener
outside the pen </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Tomorrow
is a play-off game for Sam's Little League Team. After much back and forth
I have decided to attend Sam's game. Anna and Theresa will be doing our
CSA distribution. While I will miss personally connecting with you
tomorrow, I hope you understand my parenting commitment. I have not
missed a single Arlington distribution in four years and really feel torn
between my son and the shares - I will be there next month and hope you have a
great August. If there are any share questions or concerns, please let me
know. As always I personally packed your share and if there is a mistake
it is mine. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Thank
you SO MUCH for being part of our farm family. We really, really
appreciate it.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Naturally
yours,<br />
<span class="il">Kim</span> and Rich</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i>Chestnut
Farms <br />
Hardwick, MA 01037 <br />
<a href="http://www.chestnutfarms.org/">www.chestnutfarms.org</a></i></span> </span></div>
</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-77347201603441727912011-11-12T16:54:00.001-08:002011-12-20T21:04:05.356-08:00Pens to Pasture ~ Puzzle Peace Farm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">A
few months back, I asked for your help in naming a <a href="http://justwritefood.blogspot.com/2011/09/pens-to-pasture.html" target="_blank">new feature</a> at just.write.food – a weekly snapshot of farm stories straight from the farmer’s
pen. I’m honored to present the first edition of <i>Pens
to Pasture: Fodder from the Field</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">About the time I moved to Boston, a few CSA e-mails and farm newsletters
began popping up in my inbox. My Mom and dear friend Darcy were
appreciating the news from their farmers, and wanted to share with me what they
were reading. This
sparked an idea. Collect the best of these informal
agricultural stories, the trials and tribulations of everyday farming,
and share them with others. Just another way to showcase the amazing work of local farmers and help folks understand exactly what it takes to grow the food we require and savor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I adore the CSA newsletters, blogs and update e-mails composed and
distributed by small farmers in an effort to directly connect with their eaters.
Part storytelling, part marketing and part shoot-from-the-hip honesty, these
bulletins share far more than the weekly CSA harvest report or what to expect on
the farmers’ market table. In these writings, we are invited into the world of each
farm to experience the details of the day-to-day beyond just the time in the barn, the greenhouse or the
fields. These writings impart the subtle character of each farm
enterprise, reveal a family behind the action, and provide a transparency and insight
rarely exposed by any other small business. What other shop owner would share
the details of their insurance policy, previous night’s dinner or stories of
dancing in the rain?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I don’t know if any of the authors in
this feature consider themselves to be <i>writers</i>,
but they are - and I am grateful for it. Today’s small farmers are
expected to be a jack-of-all-trades in order to survive, and how lucky are we
that penning a regular missive to customers is a
required aspect of success in this line of work. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">So, please join us each Monday for the latest edition of <i>Pens to Pasture</i>, and an inside glimpse at the farming life. And of course, your entries are always welcome. Feel free to <a href="mailto:fodder@justwritefood.com" target="_blank">send</a> along your farmers' newsletters, blogs or other correspondences - especially the ones that make you laugh or fill you with awe. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyIfSyppaPL2Ehk02mMgf_cu1dqd_FnxojZ6rrDXVZqS9DZ-JVDPrjwr8xBlP92pwUXyNocZAkfTvoklm7biPoz2MJUTJi6infr8WrFjrHd8sbSPrHPPhtagujspGvccyAfgQ27uVan2w/s1600/small+this+week+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyIfSyppaPL2Ehk02mMgf_cu1dqd_FnxojZ6rrDXVZqS9DZ-JVDPrjwr8xBlP92pwUXyNocZAkfTvoklm7biPoz2MJUTJi6infr8WrFjrHd8sbSPrHPPhtagujspGvccyAfgQ27uVan2w/s1600/small+this+week+a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Puzzle Peace Farm ~ Bostic, NC </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It wasn't too long after my Mom found Thomas and Lindy of Puzzle Peace Farm at the Charlotte farmers' market that she started forwarding me their weekly e-mails. Talk about a delight! The e-mail updates from Puzzle Peace Farm are the biggest inspiration for <i>Pens to Pasture</i>, especially the first passage below. Thomas and Lindy write with such clarity, humor and frankness that I usually end up laughing out loud or tearing up when I read their e-mails. They convey so clearly the exuberance and exhaustion of farming - and I resonate with their motivations so much - I don't think the farming mentality could be better expressed than their words. These two also keep a <a href="http://puzzlepeacefarm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blog</a> that is not to be missed, including beautiful photos in the most recent post. And if you live in North Carolina, be sure to look them up at farmers' markets near Charlotte so you can enjoy their produce, pork and other delights in person. Thanks, Thomas and Lindy, for agreeing to be the first farmers featured in <i>Pens to Pasture</i> and thanks for growing lovely food and words! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b><br />Date: July 1, 2011 1:28:12 PM EDT<br />Subject: Puzzle Peace Farm, yet again...</b><b><br /></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>
<br />Hi Charlotte folks,</i></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>
</i></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>This week we will have... pac-choi (with recipes!), cucumbbers, a
small amount of our first okra harvest (get there early if you want it),
Red Pontiac Potatoes, heirloom yellow scallop squash and zuchinni,
haricot vert beans, the last of the carrots, the first heirloom
tomatoes, sungold cherry tomatoes, kale, swiss chard, and our heritage
pastured pork, that we finish on organic feed. Sorry to all of your
pets that depend on our luscious goat cheese. We weren't able to make
any this week. </i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>The pigs are alive and well... and in the pasture, for those of you
wanting to know. All seems well around the farm. The fields are full of
green, massive plants, and the bees are buzzing in harmony about the
blossoms and buckwheat cover crops. The weeds are under control (just
barely), and there is still a bit of moisture in the ground. If there
were ever a great time to host a farm tour it would probably be right
now. But it has surprised me at how long we've been hanging on in this
transition phase between crops. I keep expecting the next week to be
a better harvest but for the last 3 weeks it's steadily gone down. The
tomatoes we started indoors in January that got hit by 2 hail storms are
just now starting to produce good tomatoes, and very slowly at that.
And the Squash got hit so hard by the vine borers that we have had just
a small fraction of what we had planned. Beans that we got handed down
to us had really
poor germination... I could go on and on. It has been tough, but we
know that is just how farming is. There are no guarantees and everything
is a gamble. This week's may be the least amount of harvest we've had
this year, but, thanks to all the help we've had from our interns, I am
hopeful that from here on out it will only get better. So cheer up and
be glad... You are the ones that make this rough life possible. Because
I'd rather be broke and tossing rotten tomatoes into the woods in 95
degree weather than sitting behind some computer in an air conditioned
office any day... Well. It's not so bad at the moment, really. But I
really should get back out there and help the crew with the harvest. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>So on an end note... don't pity us or our other farmer comrades. We
chose this path. And we get to eat like royalty. But you are allowed to
appreciate us, as you have, just as we appreciate your support.<br /><br />Thanks to all of you,<br />Thomas and Lindy<br /><br />for other sad stories and occasional laughs visit our blog: <a href="http://www.puzzlepeacefarm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">www.puzzlepeacefarm.blogspot.<wbr></wbr>com</a></i></span></div>
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</style><span style="font-size: small;"><i> <b>Date: Fri, 24 Jun 2011 09:42:11 -0700<br />From: Puzzle Peace Farms<br />Subject: Puzzle Peace Farm At Yorkmont, 6-2</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Hi everyone, hope you are all well.<br /><br />This week we will have... green beans, squash and
zuchinni, sweet green peppers (bell and marconi), radishes
(spicy!), cucumbers (poona kheera, a white heirloom from India), Irish
potatoes, kale, chard, carrots, pac choi, fresh basil, pork, and
"for your pet" fresh dill and garlic, and basil and garlic goat
cheese. Please ask if interested or curious to know more about this.<br /><br />We finally got a new litter of pigs. Three of
them, eight weeks old, just weened, Ossabaw/berkshire crossed heritage
breeds. Good looking pigs with their brown and black spots and the
one that's black with white spots. They're fiesty too. The first
one we put in to the fence immediately bolted right through and
headed for the woods. None of us really prepared for the
pursuit, with our shorts and sandals on, took off after
him. We almost gave up. It was a rather expensive pig that we
scrounged to afford but this chase led us deep into neighboring woods
with lots of briars and at times we thought we had lost him. Finally we
managed to direct him back to a path that led to our house where his
siblings' squeals drew him in and, after some very makeshift
barriers were patiently constructed, I managed to grab him. Ear piercing
squeals followed. Unfortunately the fiasco wasn't over. We re-worked the
fence to our satisfaction and tried again, saving the escapee til last.
Again, as soon as we put him down he was out of the fence with a short little
yip as it shocked his hams. Long story short... Another chase pursued, as
long as the first, until we gave up. He wandered back that evening and
hung around outside the fence wanting in to be with his brothers and eating
the food we had set out for him. I managed to slowly sneak up on him the next
day as he slept and caught him and put him in with the others where he
currently resides. Whew! Pigs are smart.<br /><br />take care and hope to see all of you.<br /><br />thomas and Lindy,<a href="http://www.puzzlepeacefarm.blogspot.com/"><br />www.puzzlepeacefarm.blogspot.com</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">----</span></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:19:28
-0700<br />
From: <a href="mailto:puzzlepeacefarm@yahoo.com">puzzlepeacefarm@yahoo.com</a><br />
Subject: Puzzle Peace Farm at Yorkmont, 7-16-11</i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Greetings,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>This week we will have... tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes,
cucumbers, cherry tomatoes of all shapes and colors, a few bunches of kale,
potatoes, basil, anaheim peppers, sweet marconi beppers, and sweet
flavor-burst peppers, yellow scalloppinni squash (the best summer squash in
my opinion), heirloom zuchinni's, green beans (haricot vert and regular),
burgundy beans, pork sausage, fat back, leaf lard, and of course that
delicious goat cheese that you shouldn't know anything about because it is
only legal for me to sell it to you as "for your pet."</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>For all of you that formerly knew me as Tee Bone from the
name on my emails, please note the change. It took several attempts, all of
which I thought were sucessfull (but in the end were not), before I
resorted to yahoo help. Apparently there are a dozen or so ways to name
yourself on your email account. In an attempt to keep my digital ID anonymous
when initially setting up my account I hastily and thoughtlessly chose this
pseudo name which happened to be my old sign in name when I delivered
pizza while in college, equally chosen with haste and little
thought. Unfortuntely, I think I will have a hard time living this name
down among some friends and customers. Maybe if I specialized in grass fed
steaks I could keep it but for now I'm happy to see it go... Now that that
has been over explained...</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>I am delighted to hear rain on the tin roof as I write. We
need it so bad. Our methods of watering don't quite cut it for extended
periods. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Thank you folks for all of your support. Hope to see all
of you. Try some samples while you're visiting.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i> <b><span style="color: #00b050;">Now I'm going to go dance and sing outside like a
crazy farmer ought to</span></b></i></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b><span style="color: #00b050;"><span style="color: black;"><br />---</span></span></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>
</i></span>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-51951711465899254742011-11-03T11:44:00.000-07:002011-11-10T21:06:10.244-08:00Goodbye Goats. Farewell Chickens.<br />
This morning I found my white cheesemaking smock freshly laundered,
with a new hairnet in the pocket too, hanging on the usual hook in the
cheeserie. Something about the smell of another household's laundry
detergent makes items smell so much cleaner than my own. There was a
certain irony to this fresh start to the week, as it was actually my
last day at the farm for the season.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo3NB_pHf70oi9bXhIg06CFZozuO6zrBQvOni1d2RA7T2YnMs_tpxeLg6Xkjrc6M-6dQIj_6YNu7tIK7FKFmxtKte70-gqjVD1dAx1-F-FCdCTDROoOMVVSAqIuEeG14v6WjGQXiRXjJA/s1600/IMG_1868.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo3NB_pHf70oi9bXhIg06CFZozuO6zrBQvOni1d2RA7T2YnMs_tpxeLg6Xkjrc6M-6dQIj_6YNu7tIK7FKFmxtKte70-gqjVD1dAx1-F-FCdCTDROoOMVVSAqIuEeG14v6WjGQXiRXjJA/s200/IMG_1868.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
Diana
keeps a seasonal herd, meaning her milking goats (and heritage Jacob
Sheep too) stay on their natural breeding cycle. Unlike so many dairies
that stagger the breeding of the herd to maintain uniform milk
production over a year, a seasonal herd is quite the opposite. All the
does are bred in the fall (October at this farm), carry their young
through the winter and kid in late winter or early, early spring. The
herd produces milk from the birth of the offspring through the end of
fall. This method provides milk, and cheese, that is indelibly marked by
the changes in the seasons and a short respite from twice-daily milking
for the farmer and herd alike while the girls are dry.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9lzTQGjV14U_My0o-Dlcm45y7d1Vwd_EGRk36ZsB3tGI1OlXsuPB0Qmtu7_zWn74GCj5Sco8pEY_kTdnTUWtYrkhR7QuUF4rApFe4YnG1DCcEutHiCJNPXCPxxI5aKjz5Kc0Bv7lcjQ/s1600/IMG_1880.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9lzTQGjV14U_My0o-Dlcm45y7d1Vwd_EGRk36ZsB3tGI1OlXsuPB0Qmtu7_zWn74GCj5Sco8pEY_kTdnTUWtYrkhR7QuUF4rApFe4YnG1DCcEutHiCJNPXCPxxI5aKjz5Kc0Bv7lcjQ/s200/IMG_1880.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this is, generally, how it feels</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And back to the clean smock in the cheeserie - milk
volume decreased to the point that required cheese production only
twice (no longer three times) a week, and the CSA ended as well. With
less milk, less cheese and fewer deliveries, there wasn't much
justification for an extra hand on the farm. As a special treat for my
last day, and a warm reminder how much I'd learned in a short five
months, I was tasked with hauling and pasteurizing the milk that
morning, as Diana headed into town to wave her daughters goodbye on the
bus. It was an honor to feel trusted enough to undertake the alchemy of
transforming three hundred and twenty some pounds of raw goat milk into
delicious and tangy fresh cheese. Even better to feel confident through
the process.<br />
<br />
<br />
The learning curve has been steep this
summer and fall, and I have been grateful to learn so much about basic
cheesemaking, animal management and farm systems from the perspective of
a small scale dairy. I especially appreciate the introduction to the
policy, politics and regulations surrounding small scale dairy in
Wisconsin. Oh, and eating lots and lots and lots of cheese. And, of
course, a small amount of knowledge gained reminds me of just how much I have
left to learn.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0kYJGSb4JbsteC4AnjJisMM2bzn3eIZKoP-vrzKLCXOJn4MPYo36yJsfsmZsNdxwqpikYQNeriNVPxSnmU_Spb3FY73ppYT2bXLyTBXJn82rvvFvS4DLSFGaMCL5X1vbsmqTb5HPQzpg/s1600/IMG_1902.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0kYJGSb4JbsteC4AnjJisMM2bzn3eIZKoP-vrzKLCXOJn4MPYo36yJsfsmZsNdxwqpikYQNeriNVPxSnmU_Spb3FY73ppYT2bXLyTBXJn82rvvFvS4DLSFGaMCL5X1vbsmqTb5HPQzpg/s320/IMG_1902.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mingling in the barn</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
The
introduction to goats and cheese is, of course, the main reasons I
ended up here. But in every new situation, there is always comfort in
that which is already known. For that reason, I flocked to the chickens
in my early days at Dreamfarm, all 250 Americaunas, Bovans, Leghorns and
someone else that just slips my mind at this moment. The girls live in
four separate houses on pasture, fenced in from predators by circles of
electric fence that stopped being electrified as the season wore on.
These pasture raised ladies warm my little heart. Partly because these
egg layers are the one thing I've had previous experience with, and also
because layers are the only enterprise I've always placed on my own
farm (of course, in my future planning mind). The truth is, the
Dreamfarm chickens became my summer security blanket. They enchanted me
and brought oodles of laughter. In return, I loved them. <br />
<br />
At
the end of each farm day, after the 'clean clothes' work in the
cheeserie was through, we'd head to the great outdoors for the afternoon
chores: feed and water the young goats, hogs, cattle, chickens, bucks, cats and dogs; collect eggs; give whey to the pigs and haul alfalfa
to the feeders for the milkers. And then it was time for the second
milking of the day. I was always drawn to the chickens, and happily
re-filled extra waterers, collected the feed, grit, egg basket and
cheese scraps into the cart to ramble down the hill to the hen's valley.
At each hen abode we replaced waterers, moved and refilled the outdoor
feeders, replenished the contents of the grit bowl and headed inside to
collect eggs and survey mischief. The mayhem progressed through the
season to include: pecking laid eggs, laying eggs outside the nest boxes
(floor, below the roost, corners, tall grass...), brooooooooding and
escaping. I'd like to note that these ladies take the art of escape to a new level.
Part boredom, the search for better bugs and the chicken humor
conspiracy - these girls spent more time outside the fence than inside.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia2cbE4gvYScxV6wca1BktTV_KAjXHcPxv3iro1etmbywdyMn11lSTRhTeP5EEe0neLAAe5MnjxHtGOqmYnw1no9w7XNWSzLpiluUtsWK5JAjdP24_LwRgjWXUrKLYp64wUEsoygT0Z8Q/s1600/IMG_1922.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia2cbE4gvYScxV6wca1BktTV_KAjXHcPxv3iro1etmbywdyMn11lSTRhTeP5EEe0neLAAe5MnjxHtGOqmYnw1no9w7XNWSzLpiluUtsWK5JAjdP24_LwRgjWXUrKLYp64wUEsoygT0Z8Q/s200/IMG_1922.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">chicken house one</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There is just so much to love about chickens, it's
hard to imagine a farm without them. There's a good reason why every
farm doesn't have a laying hen enterprise though: despite all their
value measured in humor, hand warming, feather donation and beauty -
it's hard to make a profit with small-scale egg production. Between ever
increasing feed grain prices, the cost of day old chicks or pullets,
cartons and (heaven forbid!) your time, the five dollar price tag for a dozen
beautiful orbs at the farmers' market may not cover the true cost. Sigh.
Of course no farm enterprise should exist beyond the planning stage
without black in the bottom line, but it's hard to image grassy green
fields, cloud-pocked blue skies and classic red barns without the
feathered trouble makers in the picture.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #444444;">
A few reasons why chickens earn their feed, even when they don't earn their keep...a list...</div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: #444444; float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqzDU2_KN_wFfVNbY-tYq-sTIvoIi3ZwJpTCFdyCCqBokf-m9ECBMm0uRMig9k80cJcv7c2rynKo-XSJEVOE6yqCDwG5uluCJTAtbsM6HUYcuYXXFJji27i0-kUtt-d5Y0-ZDJK6W9wrY/s1600/IMG_1930.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqzDU2_KN_wFfVNbY-tYq-sTIvoIi3ZwJpTCFdyCCqBokf-m9ECBMm0uRMig9k80cJcv7c2rynKo-XSJEVOE6yqCDwG5uluCJTAtbsM6HUYcuYXXFJji27i0-kUtt-d5Y0-ZDJK6W9wrY/s200/IMG_1930.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">chicken house two</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="color: #444444;">
The way the ladies flock to the nearest edge of the
fence and squawk hellos at the first sound of the afternoon chore cart
wheeling down the hill. I feel like a rock star each time. The football
player-like squat and run-in-place of the Bovans, so tame! Instead of
running away from you, these girls run toward you, crouch and then
prepare to be picked up. The lack of tailfeathers on the Americaunas as
they begin to molt, they don't seem embarrassed one bit. The brooding
ladies, the same few every time, who huddle in their nestboxes to hoard
the clatch's eggs. They don't know there is no rooster on site to
fertilize the gems below their warm bodies, but they persist. Each time
they make an evil sounding hiss, and either peck my hand or escape out
the skinny space behind the nesting boxes when I reach in to collect the
eggs under their rumps. It's the same drama, on repeat. Of course,
there are the rebels, truly free range, who live in the barn. They snack
on cat food, scratch for maggots in the barn floor straw, mingle with
the the sheep and deposit eggs in the haymow. I've caught two nesting
for the night in a small tree, quite a sight to behold at dusk. Of the
highest importance is the fact that chickens give us eggs, the daily
basket of <span style="color: #444444;">white, buff, chocolate, pale blue and
olive green prizes bouncing in the cart as we travel up the hill. A
miracle for which I thank them (in person) endlessly. </span></div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
A few chicken antics deserve more than just a few words...</div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
I
am convinced, after this season, that these fine fowl have sufficient
brainpower to create and enjoy a specific breed of chicken humor. It
looks something like this. Knowing full well the farmers prefer for the chickens to overnight <i>in</i> the houses, and that regular efforts are taken to accomplish this, the
flock conspires and nominates one to three lovely ladies to escape for
the day. The job of the escapees is to lure the farmer into chasing them
in a completely futile attempt to catch the girls and return them to
their house. Imagine a full grown adult, running in circles (or zig
zags), slightly bent over, and using an enticing voice for "Here
chicky-chicky. Come on, I know you want to come back to me." The
remaining hens <i>inside</i> the fence congregate at the fence line to
enjoy the entertainment and squawk with delight. I try to negotiate
compromise every afternoon, to no avail.. I am sure this is how they
contrive their daily giggles.</div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
Beyond
the laughter conspiracy, it has been well noted that some chickens eat
the eggs in their very own house. As the season progresses, this
phenomena seems to worsen. At first, I would find a wet, yolky mess in
the bottom of a nesting box. Most likely a sign that someone acquired a
taste for egg insides, through an accidental crack or intentional peck.
Then the yolky mess increases, someone is acting intentionally. Next, a
few brave souls swarm the egg basket at collection time. As the season
wears on, they peck at the eggs <i>in</i> the basket, despite the
presence of a large human shoo-ing them away. Then the procedure turns
to ultimate mayhem - a mix of shoo-ing, protecting eggs as they are
placed in the basket and breathlessly crossing your fingers to avoid
cracking any extra shells through the chaos.</div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: #444444; float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48gqg5Ym5Zaft8XtnE5jdCdd6MRUMJPNEWUkqRKJA-DvBr3Lw46dyOa3Sua5LFnVxflj45jkY64sfRWk5EHnIfmPwS65bY-kkGBv26sEEy2iW8VB-HAaKpGDzy0Bcn2RzgRwuQzrWx-0/s1600/IMG_1942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48gqg5Ym5Zaft8XtnE5jdCdd6MRUMJPNEWUkqRKJA-DvBr3Lw46dyOa3Sua5LFnVxflj45jkY64sfRWk5EHnIfmPwS65bY-kkGBv26sEEy2iW8VB-HAaKpGDzy0Bcn2RzgRwuQzrWx-0/s200/IMG_1942.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">chicken house three</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="color: #444444;">
And some of the eggs that
avoided being pecked, and ended up in the basket and safely back to the
house were huge. Huge. Early in my time at the farm, I noticed some
extremely large eggs during harvest. Really big eggs. I mean, bigger
than the biggest jumbo egg you see in the grocery store. Too big to fit
into a carton without cracking the shell. Upon preparing these eggs at
home, I had the great joy (over and over) of discovering two yolks slip
out of one shell when cracked over the hot cast iron pan. A wonder indeed.
Many other people were eating these eggs and noticing the joy of the
double yolk. Then the questions started. Diana and I pondered chicken
twins while down at the farm, Nikki and I wondered at home, and regulars
at the farmers' market starting asking questions too. Why two yolks?
Why are the eggs so big? Can chickens have twins? Of course, this
brought on research and instant proof (a la <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1ZeEY-kt7A"><span style="background-color: white;" target="_blank">YouTube</span></a>)
that indeed both yolks in a double yolk can be fertilized to form two
chicks. Two totally separate chicks. Twins, in fact, in most cases. Phew
- mystery solved and the spellbindingness of chickens increases, and I
still can not restrain my excitement when I see a double yolk in the
pan.</div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
{Just
a warning, there's a graphic description of the nature of nature below. Skip the following paragraph if you don't like to
hear about death or anatomy. Do read on if you are fascinated with how
nature works.}</div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
Toward
the end of the season, as the afternoon shadows came sooner and
steeper, and the landscape burnt with the fire of yellow leaves,
predator attacks in the chicken valley increased. I'd notice a puff of
feathers outside a fenced area, or inside. On one of my last chicken
runs, Diana slowed the tractor as she passed me en route to the barn
just long enough for me to hear, "There was a predator in the chickens."
I could see the explosion of white feathers, like the contents of a
burst pillow, that tipped her off at the last chicken house of the day. I
wasn't sure what to expect up close. I did see, though, a gaggle of girls, her
very own kin, swarmed around the feather pile. As I swung my leg over
the fence, a leghorn ran toward my feet, depositing a detached head,
comb and all, at my feet. Walking up the short hill to the bird's
remains, and shoo-ing away the hovering ladies and insects, I instantly saw the chicken body was cleanly slit open, an exact gash top to bottom, exposing. Most likely caused by the sharp
talon of a predatory bird. (I don't know my birds well, so I call these
birds "large birds of prey I should know the name of"). I bent over in
amazement, in awe of this first person internal anatomy lesson, the chest peeled wide open. I knelt
down to inspect further, in absolute amazement. And then I noticed it. A
peek of white buried, giving way to a view of a wholly formed
egg still inside this recently alive hen. It appears she was stopped
before she laid today's egg. This is a picture my mind will not soon
forget. Stark, beautiful and still miraculous.</div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
{P.S. It's ok to start reading again if you took a time out.} </div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: #444444; float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-yvsgbAcYkF8TVnGrXjrDR8JJgFSMI2soiW-BhK0yujmpLROeYK23NzBCA41RP0ADNGuyJ7b5S9ZYcKVZ9LUW66LUddZjHgmM2v0VxIlqhOC0Z8JB2XQf8Ml-vpYgSp3KrX4xir8Omu4/s1600/IMG_1951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-yvsgbAcYkF8TVnGrXjrDR8JJgFSMI2soiW-BhK0yujmpLROeYK23NzBCA41RP0ADNGuyJ7b5S9ZYcKVZ9LUW66LUddZjHgmM2v0VxIlqhOC0Z8JB2XQf8Ml-vpYgSp3KrX4xir8Omu4/s200/IMG_1951.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">chicken house four</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="color: #444444;">
I
could, clearly, go on and on about the chickens. The goats too if given
enough time. For now, my white cheesemaker smock, freshly washed, will
hang on the hook in the cheeserie for the last few batches of cheese
made this season. My farm boots flipped upside down on the boot rack
outside the mudroom door. This may be the end of one season, but
undoubtedly not the end of the stories and farm planning. I am so
excited to return for more next spring, in time for February's kidding
season - with so much more to learn in the second go round.</div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; text-align: center;">
<br /> </div>
<div style="color: #444444; text-align: center;">
- - - - -</div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
In the mean time, I get to warm my writer's chair, steep plenty of tea
and dream for the farm-to-come. The short days of the winter months will
be filled with writing, the other job that keeps me plenty busy, snow
adventures and farm planning.</div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
Keep
posted for (with much hope) more frequent posting in the months to
come. Brewing updates, cider press stories, quince detective tales, the
vegan footprint and a peek at the use of agricultural plastics - just a
few of the topics on deck - and, of course, more farm stories. The Pens
to Pasture series will hit the blog soon, along with at least one other
regular feature. And, if all goes as planned, the blog will get a smidge
of a makeover. Fun times ahead indeed.</div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
Enjoy the
transition to winter, and the snow where you already have it. As usual,
we love your comments and are happy to write about any (food related)
topic you request.</div>
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-45671673798870891692011-10-18T21:10:00.000-07:002011-10-18T21:18:45.963-07:00October's Bounty: National Farm to School Month & American Cheese Month<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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October is a month of celebration, always has been. Even way back in elementary school, it was birthday celebrations, when the birthday girl brought a box of donuts to class to share with the homeroom. (That birthday girl happened to be me.) Turns out some of the most special people in my tiny world share October as a birthday month. This first full month of autumn also marks the peak of <a href="http://vanessajean.blogspot.com/2009/10/musings-from-preservation-kitchen.html" target="_blank">preservation</a> season, the elusive<a href="http://vanessajean.blogspot.com/2009/10/lets-just-pretend.html" target="_blank"> quince</a> harvest and the first true chill in the air. Now there are two more reasons to celebrate in October with the inaugural year of both National Farm to School Month and American Cheese Month. Who could ever imagine such bounty!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.farmtoschool.org/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAWdf_lralex6TtAG8lN_T5T2PfdnfR8Ml3tLhZarmjtRqVH_I8N0OJf1DINkuwRDMO5GaqgsmdE-TSMzcaZaVZ_QGOlcp8eOHmv4Afx7JV-0fNuIyVfDERgroGfIEk85KxrP4TG3rtII/s1600/nfsn+logo.png" /></a>Have you heard of Farm to School? You likely have, even if you don't know it! Farm to School is the concept of connecting students with the roots of their food, and connecting local farms with schools. There are a ton of different ways to create a Farm to School project, and no two look the same. School gardens, Harvest of the Month programs, local salad bars, cooking in the classroom, agriculture education, taste tests and farm field trips are just the tip of the iceberg (lettuce) of creative ways to connect farms and schools. The goal of Farm to School is to serve healthy meals and snacks in schools, improve child nutrition, create opportunities for students to learn about the food system, teach students about nutrition and support local agriculture. The last on the list, increasing economic opportunities for producers and those in the food distribution chain (like light processors and distributors) is a very important benefit of Farm to School because it contributes to strong and sustainable regional food systems. Want to geek out on Farm to School? Check out the <a href="http://www.farmtoschool.org/" target="_blank">National Farm to School Network</a> and look for programs in your state.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xr7rY68jKU9ddHyArGxWvfs9H_qBo3OttFRcci53s8p9f3XGq0AH9F0TGvZtZCBnEoiTmvwHi1Aem3CDJ1KXnMyp6mtpEjT3cnAhE8w8rcAxndwvYKqfYidsvgTc9-aqGJZREP3nRXo/s1600/NFTS_logo_color5-300x131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="86" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xr7rY68jKU9ddHyArGxWvfs9H_qBo3OttFRcci53s8p9f3XGq0AH9F0TGvZtZCBnEoiTmvwHi1Aem3CDJ1KXnMyp6mtpEjT3cnAhE8w8rcAxndwvYKqfYidsvgTc9-aqGJZREP3nRXo/s200/NFTS_logo_color5-300x131.jpg" width="200" /></a>In November 2010 Congress officially showed its support for the value of Farm to School by naming October <a href="http://www.farmtoschoolmonth.org/" target="_blank">National Farm to School Month</a>. Much thanks to Representative Rush Holt from New Jersey for introducing this important resolution and another reason to celebrate each October. The inaugural National Farm to School Month is being celebrated by students, schools, districts and states across the country as a way to highlight incredible Farm to School programs and promote the successes of this wonderful concept. Folks are encouraged to invite farmers and chefs to visit schools, enter the <a href="http://www.farmtoschoolmonth.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Poster-Contest-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">Farm to School Month Poster Contest</a> and share the good news widely. Farm to School month provides a double reason to cheer: formal recognition of the importance of Farm to School and a full-scale effort to promote these excellent projects!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDWp-EnVzq0V-ajhgLMWtMAJUlYYQtK1CbxJ0YQj99Ihe3bJx0TVaOZ8PZwhL6tBdCm8bPbhEIElt3EPKoOj4yZ-qllN1KQnu_O7udiPqSq-Cilt4TDGbkZMpspUDzXMOKL8IeSbOxx2k/s1600/AmericanCheeseMonth_color_sm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDWp-EnVzq0V-ajhgLMWtMAJUlYYQtK1CbxJ0YQj99Ihe3bJx0TVaOZ8PZwhL6tBdCm8bPbhEIElt3EPKoOj4yZ-qllN1KQnu_O7udiPqSq-Cilt4TDGbkZMpspUDzXMOKL8IeSbOxx2k/s200/AmericanCheeseMonth_color_sm.png" width="200" /></a>As if this month weren't already chock full of excellent activities, this October marks the first annual <a href="http://www.cheesesociety.org/i-heart-cheese/american-cheese-month/" target="_blank">American Cheese Month</a>. Lest you think this is the promotion of those square slices of plastic-wrapped cheese-like-substance, it is not. The American Cheese Society is the good name behind this campaign, with the sweet intention to "recognize and raise awareness of the quality and diversity of American cheeses." I don't know about you, but we don't <i>need</i> a reason to celebrate cheese in our household, we do it every day - mostly by consuming large quantities of this delicious goodness. But I won't rain on anyone's parade, so this month cheesemakers, cheesemongers and cheese enthusiasts are encouraged to promote American cheeses through meet the cheesemaker events, cheeserie tours, local cheese features and media events. I'll do my part by encouraging you to seek out the best cheese shop in your neighborhood (if you are in Madison, by all means go to <a href="http://www.fromagination.com/">Fromagination</a>!), be daring and purchase a new style of cheese at the Farmers' Market, and give thanks to the cows, sheep, goats, buffalo, farmers and cheesemakers who work tirelessly to hand-craft delicious cheesiness for your enjoyment.<br />
<br />
In a million years I never expected that everything I love could be wrapped up in one month: celebrating great people, promoting farm to school and eating delicious cheese - what could be better? Go forth for the remainder of October: bring your favorite teacher a local apple and savor the cheese of your local artisans!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-15423540976349682912011-09-15T19:21:00.000-07:002011-11-14T14:44:38.120-08:00Pens to Pasture<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Just.Write.Food is embarking on a new project and we need your help. </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Will you support the cause?</b></div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOTz-cAQb24SLoYGXkIuFn6w1dM6t3YCHckmMx0uIrWZDX5MkHf_EvfDWZUPpRwyNF80987uaZYIq8VE3EH5j8aPznCyp0iITrNpSesHzvr2LdBmhXyST3m3N9CPSgto_nwtrRkQn0o0/s1600/IMG_1877.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOTz-cAQb24SLoYGXkIuFn6w1dM6t3YCHckmMx0uIrWZDX5MkHf_EvfDWZUPpRwyNF80987uaZYIq8VE3EH5j8aPznCyp0iITrNpSesHzvr2LdBmhXyST3m3N9CPSgto_nwtrRkQn0o0/s200/IMG_1877.jpg" width="150" /></a>There is nothing better than a good read about farming life and growing food. The sense of season, appreciation of nature, care for small details, and the beautiful narration of hard work - all so aptly captured by those whose livelihood is growing food and writing about it. First hand accounts of living in cooperation with the land - from those who practice, endure and savor it on a daily basis - pass along the most accurate and beautiful depictions of what it truly means to be a <i>farmer</i>.<br />
<br />
From Wendell Berry to Michael Ableman to David Mas Masumoto to new farmer-writers including Kurt Timmermeister and Kristin Kimball, there is a wealth of well-thought, well-written, well-edited writings about the farming experience direct from the pens of those who live it. These writers enrich us with genuine emotion and truth, enhanced by the beauty of the well-written word. It may be that farmers have sufficient time for contemplation (on the tractor, weeding, harvesting) and those with a scribner's leaning take that time to <i>notice</i>, and then internally translate the agrarian experience into mental prose...and then later (after work, in the dark hours before bed or before work) transcribe, made permanent by pen onto paper.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk807looaXHh-2BUKnVUK6IN7PfFjcWpic7Lovzzu7j5obwNfhb-G1eUld1iLypiMbUbQOVpJCLGqpObIE-xZLZvilbpoh_IySWPm2ikaKaADCOFxPmynLBTm2s0AbK2j77hlT9a6DRkI/s1600/IMG_1931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk807looaXHh-2BUKnVUK6IN7PfFjcWpic7Lovzzu7j5obwNfhb-G1eUld1iLypiMbUbQOVpJCLGqpObIE-xZLZvilbpoh_IySWPm2ikaKaADCOFxPmynLBTm2s0AbK2j77hlT9a6DRkI/s200/IMG_1931.jpg" width="150" /></a>People who care enough to hone the blades of hoes and nibs of pens are a special lot, and they are not limited to the polished and edited writers above. There are others who regularly convey a farming message from the source to share how really hard and beautiful it is to grow food for other. These are small farmers, connecting with their audience of consumers, CSA members, farmers' market shoppers and dedicated fans, through CSA newsletters, weekly blog posts, farmers' market updates, and all the creative ways to connect. Amidst the chaos of plant-cultivate-harvest and feed-water-milk, small-scale and family farmers are marketing their goods and stories through the written word. These regular writings display it all, with a soft candor of dirt under the fingernails: glimpses of the intersection of farming and family life, ongoing battles with renegade roosters and heartbreaking loss of a late season hail storm. These less formal writings, often scribbled or typed in a few spare minutes between physical labor and sleep or in a cluttered farm "office," elegantly convey in an impossibly authenic voice the true amount of labor, risk, planning, cost and love that contribute to the cultivation of our nourishment. <br />
<br />
<br />
Each week, Just.Write.Food will feature an excerpt from a farmer's tidbit written to share the farm news with customers. The feature with include the farm, location, excerpt and links to blogs or other newsletters. Consider it a small offering of gratitude to those who grow our food, and an opportunity to share their reflections of striking, heartfelt, original, spur of the moment and insightful words to convey the sentiments of the farming life. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuF-QtbYSrZXuu1LliBPQhN5LS2B_4uV1CmQpWVIKxTnw_BRR-4o64CyjQGHKlpa_JQ8edAGwgUSIhiN14EU7pJa6luyhcHXDzy5iGhsaTO9BKF1FhsDxiObPkvj8V9BKPirG21XGXJIA/s1600/IMG_1944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuF-QtbYSrZXuu1LliBPQhN5LS2B_4uV1CmQpWVIKxTnw_BRR-4o64CyjQGHKlpa_JQ8edAGwgUSIhiN14EU7pJa6luyhcHXDzy5iGhsaTO9BKF1FhsDxiObPkvj8V9BKPirG21XGXJIA/s200/IMG_1944.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Your Help, Please?</b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEintcX9cAoXhHAnSGzErYFxZ-u9RlSlrjUPLOrQ5wNo8qs0ekIt9iN3vEIdSrVsl8YjS31qUDzR2FUVkroAfItfV7IXp_g7NQFmG9cGLcUbrTbtN9p3PYeTh9ENI3ipZlIjQ2p3JGnQO-E/s1600/IMG_1928.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEintcX9cAoXhHAnSGzErYFxZ-u9RlSlrjUPLOrQ5wNo8qs0ekIt9iN3vEIdSrVsl8YjS31qUDzR2FUVkroAfItfV7IXp_g7NQFmG9cGLcUbrTbtN9p3PYeTh9ENI3ipZlIjQ2p3JGnQO-E/s200/IMG_1928.jpg" width="150" /></a>This new writing endeavor needs a name - and no better place to turn for inspiration than food and farm loving readers and writers. Some already suggested titles for this project include: <i>Pens to Pasture </i>(or frankly - <i>Pasture to Pens</i>), <i>Hoes Down, Pens Up</i>, <i>Just Write Farm</i> and <i>Pen & Stink</i> (or <i>Pig Pen & Ink</i>). But quite frankly, your help is needed in finding the perfect name for this project. We're hosting a tiny contest to inspire you to help. You are invited to submit your suggestions for the name of this project ~ and if we pick your suggested title you will receive a one-of-a-kind handwritten post card from Madison, WI. (I know that's a big incentive, don't all crowd the computer at once!) Submit your names of choice to <a href="mailto:justwritefood@gmail.com">justwritefood@gmail.com</a> or as a comment at the end of this blog post by the first day of fall. We need a name ~ and we need your help.<br />
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Also needed are more writing pieces from farmers to provide the fodder for your reading pleasure. Please send CSA newsletters, favorite farm blog posts, farm newsletters and any farmer-writing that has touched you to justwritefood@gmail.com or post the name of the farm or blog in the comments section below. Feel free to forward along good reads on an ongoing basis - especially you folks who live in year-round growing climates. <br />
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Fingers are crossed to to release the first two stories - <a href="http://www.chestnutfarms.org/" target="_blank">Chestnut Farms</a> in Hardwick, Massachusetts and <a href="http://puzzlepeacefarm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Puzzle Peace Farm</a> in Bostic, North Carolina - in the next few weeks...but we need a name first!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-22421680700544134322011-09-02T21:28:00.001-07:002011-09-13T18:41:49.332-07:00Fair Food for All!<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Fair Food For All!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Equal Access to Fair Food!</span></div>
<br />
On most occasions, yes, that should be true. However, when it comes to the kind of <i>fair food</i> that you enjoy at the Wisconsin State Fair...it's a totally different story.<br />
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I am fascinated with state fairs. This is possibly because I never attended a state or county fair as a child or because I love livestock, people watching and fried foods. Not any fried foods, but the specialty fried foods that you can only consume at state fairs, large street festivals or outdoor music venues. For someone who savors a home cooked meal full of fresh ingredients and blah blah blah...I have a mean (occasional) appetite for processed, unnatural, unidentifiable foods - often fried. Consumption of foods in this category is very limited. I'll pass up the fried chicken, tempura, egg roll or french fry at meal time, but watch out if you take me to the fair. There is an allure to the special event corn dog or funnel cake, even though I know my belly and general well being will pay the price.<br />
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My great enthusiasm for the State Fair is rather unfounded. It began with a visit to the Iowa State Fair in 2004, a stop along the way while <a href="http://www.bikethevotemovie.com/" target="_blank">biking cross country</a>. I vaguely remember wonderful conversations with carnival workers, big political brouhaha in preparation for the upcoming election and my first ever funnel cake. The most life changing? The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funnel_cake" target="_blank">funnel cake</a>. I grew up looking forward to a weekly jelly-filled donut after every Sunday mass, but that was the extent of my fried, cake-like food desires until that point...most likely because I had never seen anything like a funnel cake before. The texture, the greasiness, the powdered sugar that induces coughing if accidentally inhaled, it opened up a new world for me. Between the unimaginably diverse attendants, the blue ribbon livestock, the food and the political atmosphere...I was hooked on the fair concept.<br />
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Being hooked, however, did not mean I became a regular fair attendant. There was the trip to the Oregon State Fair to check out the poultry exhibition, which was canceled thanks to the eminent threat of Avian Flu. I wanted to see my <a href="http://www.mypetchicken.com/PicturePop.aspx?image=/images/chickenPix/Large/Studio_SilverSebright_275_L.jpg" target="_blank">Sebrights</a> and Americaunas on show, and instead I got an empty pavilion. Most recently there was an invitation to <a href="http://www.thebige.com/fair/" target="_blank">the Big E</a>, New England's regional fair. I considered, until I heard the area surrounding Springfield, MA turns into a giant parking lot during the time of the event. The State Fair experience would have to wait until Wisconsin.<br />
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Something special happened as August approached in our new home state of Wisconsin, and my internal State Fair radar began to perk up. Radio ads for county fairs throughout Wisconsin passed over the airwaves, and I knew the main even, the State Fair, must be close behind. I asked my usual adventure buddy if she would make the trek to Milwaukee for a day of gawking at animals, people and more people. She signed on for the midweek adventure with the promise of pizza dinner in Milwaukee and the possibility her brother could join us. Excellent. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYlK6U7lR53dK2n332NzU0JYSH8RBpnGFKQeWeJxe-nUn54jSNCPB1yXAjl3i_qTo3DPA-IuHT8VfgKu7dGfh8uUNwFh-7Jtqey2eMhZb2YD45Z2MJCWbpI7S7M_6x7G9pdSv8HyBlgsI/s1600/IMG_1848.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYlK6U7lR53dK2n332NzU0JYSH8RBpnGFKQeWeJxe-nUn54jSNCPB1yXAjl3i_qTo3DPA-IuHT8VfgKu7dGfh8uUNwFh-7Jtqey2eMhZb2YD45Z2MJCWbpI7S7M_6x7G9pdSv8HyBlgsI/s200/IMG_1848.jpg" width="150" /></a>The big day arrived and I was giddy as we drove east to the large metropolis of Milwaukee. We parked blocks away, where we could do so for free, and walked our way to the main gates. The midway stood behind those large entrance gates, and we found our way through the fun and games to the information booth. With a newly acquired map in hand, and the <i>Food on a Stick</i> guide, we made our way to the main stretch of food vendors and entertainers. I was eager for two things: livestock and food.<br />
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The adventuring began with a pass through the Wisconsin Products Pavilion featuring all of the food products made in Wisconsin or from Wisconsin commodities (I use that term generally). The Apple Growers Association sold caramel apples on a stick, cider, apple sauce...you get the picture. Now imagine that for everything grown or made in this fine state. Our excitement peaked at the Wisconsin Dairy Goat Association display that featured a Dreamfarm pamphlet and jars of Rose Memories cheese - two small rounds of fresh Crotin steeped in a jar of extra virgin olive oil, chili pepper flakes, oregano and other delicious flavors. The three of us almost squealed to see cheese we knew so well on display! We then turned around and instantly spotted the dark brown <a href="http://pretzilla.com/minibuns.html" target="_blank">Pretzilla</a> pretzel bites from Miller Bakery and I knew they would be the first snack of the day. I am a sucker for a soft pretzel, and these were delicious. At first bite, we were all surprised they were not warm (quite cold, in fact), but soon realized that their deep molasses kick and robust pretzel flavor was all we needed. Even the small cup of mustard went unused, as this was the perfect soft pretzel. From here we meandered between the livestock pavilions and food vendors. Below is a brief summary of edible highlights from the day.<br />
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<b>Deep Fried Butter</b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I secretly wish they were empty</td></tr>
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Yes friends, I just couldn't resist. I'd been hearing about deep fried butter for a few years and between my love of butter and my love of fried novelty items, I was magnetically attracted. My overly creative imagination was expecting a gourmet twist on deep fried ice cream. Maybe a pat of frozen butter dipped in tempura batter and flash fried...offering me a hot, light and crispy exterior with all the satisfaction of creamy, salty butter on the inside. In reality, six chicken nugget-sized fried blobs in a tradition red and white paperboard tray were handed to me over the counter, along with the suggestion to grab plenty of napkins. At the first bite, hot and very liquid butter squired out the sides of the fried-until-chewy batter. Imagine a pat of butter seasoned with old black pepper, tucked inside a stale egg roll wrapper that is deep fried until chewy and unpalatable. If you can imagine that, then you can understand the deep fried butter experience. Ick. I gave it a second chance, even though I knew this short lived relationship was over.<br />
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<b>Deep Fried PB&J Sandwich on a Stick</b><br />
Other members of our party, those not daring enough (or too smart) to try deep fried butter, instead chose the deep fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a stick. Of course, this food item gets bonus points for being both fried <i>and</i> on a stick. Imagine, if you will, what it would would happen if you used a large round cookie cutter to remove a circle from the middle of a regular old pb&j sandwich. Then put it on a stick, dip it in batter and deep fry it. It's as simple as that. I was granted a bit of the peanut butter and jelly snack, and I have to say it was surprisingly good. My taste buds were still reeling from the butter incident, but my overall impression was positive.<br />
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<b>The Famous Wisconsin Cream Puff</b><br />
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The Cream Puff is indeed famous and the highlight of the Wisconsin State Fair for many. This is obvious when you walk into the Cream Puff Pavilion, and see the near mile-long line that winds within it. This, of course, is highlighted by the smiling people who have just paid for their cardboard tote box full of a baker's dozen of these specialty bakery item. The cream puff has its own <a href="http://www.wistatefair.com/11_web/food/creampuff.html" target="_blank">page</a> on the State Fair website, a long and illustrious <a href="http://www.originalcreampuffs.com/history.htm" target="_blank">history</a> and now even <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/festivals/127565928.html" target="_blank">merits a mention</a> in the Guinness Book of World Records. <br />
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The cream puff is, at best, a novelty baked good created to promote Wisconsin agricultural items like butter and cream. The production of cream puffs at the fair this year used 10,000 gallons of Wisconsin heavy cream alone. I say, <i>at best</i>, because the final product ends up tasting like a bland, whipped, dairy-like, food-like substance sandwiched between two pieces of stale, flavorless, puffed cardboard. It may just be that I am not a cream puff kind of girl, but it's more likely that I was turned off of this fine pastry while watching the assembly line of cream puff mass production one is subjected to while standing in line to purchase one of these specialty items. Behind a long window, high-school age 'bakers' <i>hand make</i> these cream puffs right before your eyes. That is if you consider <i>hand made</i> to include machine-like assembly production, air-injection machines that instantly poof crates of heavy cream into whipped cream and puff pastry rolling in by the thousands on bakery racks. If a picture is worth a million words, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtuwVcJMiyM" target="_blank">this You Tube video</a> of the production line is worth a billion. Here's the catch after all the cream puff buzz: it doesn't even taste good, but the people watching is amazing </div>
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<b>Some Non-Fried Food Activities</b><br />
Our bellies needed a break after significant rounds of fried and puffed foods. We enjoyed several typical state fair activities including: air hockey, photo booth and livestock competitions. I love a good livestock show, and I still can't believe that there is a market for special hair dryers and combs and accoutrement to prepare beef cattle for show competitions. But there are, and I love it. Please enjoy this trio of cow photos, but just know they look so much prettier in person (and so much bigger too). I could watch cows, sheep and pigs all day...but eventually we moved on to more food items. <br />
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<b>Deep Fried Cheese Curds!</b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgi0WJqfymtGxDaXoUEcYfvIDkYBdKuq_5TwugIJqSsq05cOnDfw1oB_NLyKlHTBRj85_ijLeCorsm0fcqQ_3iHc3xt_WNgsChYq5pZQhpjvA-lLBfK7pceSzzF3pBInBCA7r2VSnj0M0/s1600/IMG_1828.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgi0WJqfymtGxDaXoUEcYfvIDkYBdKuq_5TwugIJqSsq05cOnDfw1oB_NLyKlHTBRj85_ijLeCorsm0fcqQ_3iHc3xt_WNgsChYq5pZQhpjvA-lLBfK7pceSzzF3pBInBCA7r2VSnj0M0/s200/IMG_1828.jpg" width="150" /></a>Somewhere at this point in the afternoon I was told I couldn't leave the fair without experiencing deep fried cheese curds. It took a good twenty minutes to actually find a booth featuring this Wisconsin delicacy, but our pace picked up to a jog when we saw the big, painted sign "Fresh, Deep Fried Cheese Curds". I knew it would be love at first bite.<br />
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Also known as squeaky cheese, curds form when rennet or acid is added to milk in the cheese making process. The milk proteins clump together into the solid curds, and only the liquid whey protein remains<b>.</b> The curds are then pressed together to form cheese as we know it. However, in these parts, the curds are also enjoyed as a delicacy - within a few hours of becoming curds and fresh enough to still having a squeaky consistency when chomped. When I sunk into my first deep fried cheese curd, it really was love at first site. This is the kind of deep fried I was looking for: salty, lightly battered, gooey and good consistency. We wandered happily, a pile of cheese curds in hand, and I was satisfied. There was nothing more I needed to eat that day.<br />
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Since nothing could top the deep fried cheese curds, we headed in the direction of the exit. We passed the poultry pavilion along the way, but the space was used largely for dog-jumping competitions, dog weddings, pet store vendors and baby chick incubator and less than ten poultry. We thought about waiting fifteen minutes to congratulate the next round of canine newlyweds, but we were pretty tuckered out and happy to head home. We meandered through the midway...passing on the deep fried pickles and deep fried Oreos...and found our way out the enormous State Fair gates. I made a mental list of fried fair foods I could hardly wait a whole year to consume (cheese curds and the aforementioned pickles and Oreos) but was grateful to depart with a full tummy and some great memories. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-50547210696667862932011-08-13T20:29:00.000-07:002011-08-21T14:44:02.043-07:00NPR on the Farm on the FarmFarmers listen to a lot of NPR. Or maybe it is that a lot of farmers listen to NPR. My guess is that both are true.<br />
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When you are standing in a packing shed all afternoon, weighing and counting vegetables to then pack them into waxed cardboard boxes; in a cheeserie all day washing dishes, stirring curd and packing cheese; milking goats before sun-up even on the longest days of the year; or seeding thousands of tiny, float-off-able lettuce seeds in the early spring greenhouse...it helps to have something engaging to listen to. NPR calms the brain that is constantly writing an eternal farm to-do list (ok, and non-farm to-do list as well) and it provides a news and entertainment source for someone who doesn't have much time to read the paper (or...dare I say it...preference to watch television).<br />
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I love my NPR, and lately I enjoy the hours in the cheese room blissed out in repetitive action (like packing seven ounces of fresh cheese into at least fifty small deli container using a spoon as my tool) and soaking in the new-to-me voices of Wisconsin Public Radio's <i>Ideas Network</i>. There are the quirky regional shows like <i>Garden Talk</i> and <i>Zorba Paster on Your Health</i>, some of which are a so ripe as to almost be a parody of Saturday Night Live's <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/4156/saturday-night-live-nprs-delicious-dish-schweddy-balls" target="_blank"><i>Delicious Dish</i></a>. There are also the go-to National shows like <i>Morning Edition</i>, <i>Talk of the Nation</i>, and <i>All Things Considered.</i> Oh how I love to hear Neal Conan's gruff and sometimes off-putting personality surface with <i>Talk of the Nation</i>: it means lunch time is getting nearer. <br />
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I will not admit to anything less than being a giant NPR geek. I enjoy my farm days, in part, because I have unencumbered access to the radio. I become an information sponge as I park my self next to the radio speakers all day long. And sometimes, just sometimes, it seems like the public radio programmers create a day of programming just for me. They must know I am their number one fan, and exactly what I want to hear, because the air waves have carried a number of great farm and food shows in the past weeks. Let's just say that it's been fun and almost surreal to hear a disembodied radio voice ask, "Do you know who grows your food? As more people turn to local food, more women take up farming. There's an increasing chance that there's a woman running the farm that grows your food. Find out more in the next hour." All we could do in the cheeserie was smile a little and say, yup. <br />
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Here's a list of the farm and food pieces from the last few weeks. Take a gander from your desk, barn, front porch and enjoy. I'm glad that the farm topic is getting continued air time and happy to spread the word to other NPR geeks. <br />
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<a href="http://www.wpr.org/larrymeiller/index.cfm?strDirection=Prev&dteShowDate=2011-07-12%2011%3A00%3A00.0" target="_blank">Women in Farming</a><br />
July 11 on the Larry Meiller Show<br />
Lisa Kivirist, director of the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) Rural Women's Project, and Janet Gamble of Turtle Creek Gardens talk about women in farming and the upcoming <a href="http://www.mosesorganic.org/womensprojectinherboots.html" target="_blank">In Her Boots</a> training sessions. The In Her Boots courses are for women, taught by women, and cover basics on a variety of farming and food related business topics. I want to go...but they're a bit far away. Swoon.<br />
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<a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/07/25/138678810/whitmores-field-songs-pay-tribute-to-farmers%20" target="_blank">'Field Songs'</a><br />
July 25 on Talk of the Nation<br />
Neal Conan talks with William Elliot Whitmore about this album dedicated to the new American small farmer, and hitting heavy on a dreamy farm aesthetic. I got all excited when they said he lives on a farm in Iowa. Turns out it's a horse farm, and he spends most of his time traveling...<br />
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<a href="http://www.wpr.org/larrymeiller/index.cfm?strDirection=Next&dteShowDate=2011-07-23%2007%3A00%3A00.0">Sheepish </a><br />
July 25 on the Larry Meiller Show<br />
Catherine Friend talks about her new book <a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780306818448-1" target="_blank"><i><span class="verdanab">Sheepish: Two Women, Fifty Sheep & Enough Wool to Save the Planet</span></i></a>. Catherine and her partner raise sheep for wool on their Minnesota farm. The story of these two city women moving to the country to start a farm was sounding familiar when I realized I had read Friend's earlier book <i><a href="http://www.catherinefriend.com/HTMLBookPages/hitbyafarm.htm" target="_blank">Hit by a Farm</a></i> (2006), which traced the tale of two city women moving to the country to start a farm... The first book was nice, but could have used a little something special. Undoubtedly spurred by another 10 years of farm stories and the popularity of small farms and local food (er, wool), Friend put pen to paper again on the same topic. I'm glad she's given it another shot, <i>Sheepish</i> is undoubtedly on my winter reading list. [And I can admit I am totally envious of a successful woman-writer-farmer.]<br />
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<a href="http://www.wpr.org/larrymeiller/index.cfm?strDirection=Prev&dteShowDate=2011-07-26%2011%3A45%3A00.0" target="_blank">Wisconsin Cheese Originals</a><br />
July 26 on the Larry Meiller Show<br />
<a href="http://cheeseunderground.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jeanne Carpenter</a> of <a href="http://www.wisconsincheeseoriginals.com/" target="_blank">Wisconsin Cheese Originals</a> talks cheese. What could be better. I actually listened to this one on the computer while working at my city job, twice.<br />
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<a href="http://wpr.org/rueckert/index.cfm?strDirection=Prev&dteShowDate=2011-07-29%2022%3A00%3A00.0%20" target="_blank">Dive!</a><br />
July 29 on the Veronica Rueckert Show<br />
<span class="verdanab">Jeremy Seifert, writer and director of the documentary <i><a href="http://www.divethefilm.com/" target="_blank">Dive!</a></i> introduces listeners to the fine art of dumpster diving and a graspable image of the vast quantities of edible food thrown out in American trash cans and dumpsters each year. I was prepared for a talk from a hipster dumpster diver, and was instead pleasantly surprised to be met with an education, rational perspective of food waste shown through the unique lens of someone who finds it in the trash. Much less pedantic and much more fully researched than Tristram Stewart's book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Waste-Uncovering-Global-Food-Scandal/dp/0393068366" target="_blank"><i>Waste</i></a>, I think this documentary will be entertaining and a great teaching tool for the classroom. I am excited to dive into this one when it's available.</span><br />
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<span class="verdanab"><a href="http://wpr.org/hereonearth/archive_110819k.cfm" target="_blank">The Food We Brought</a> </span><br />
<span class="verdanab">August 19 on Here on Earth: Radio without Borders</span>Jane Ziegelman<span class="verdanab"> of the Culinary Center at the Tenement Museum in New York City talks about the cultural foods brought to America by immigrants and the response by those already living in the country. So this isn't farming directly, but it's a beautiful talk about food and the place it holds in our lives.</span><br />
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<span class="verdanab"> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-23246689996125342082011-08-12T18:50:00.000-07:002011-08-12T18:50:31.701-07:00Pack It All InThere is something about this part of the year, when time speeds up...catapulting us toward the harvest gold days of late summer and early autumn as we still cling to the bountiful light of summer. The transformation is creeping in. The mornings are slightly darker as I prepare breakfast, and sometimes coffee, before heading to the farm. I like to pretend the darkness is from the cloud cover of this cool week, but I know that the days are getting shorter. This is not, of course, a new thing...as the days have been shortening since the solstice all the way back in June. There comes a time when you start to notice longer shadows, a different yellow hue to the sunlight and the precious fewer seconds of sunlight each day. I believe this time of year brings about a bit of a frenzy, a hurry to pack it all in before the stretches of daylight turn to stretches of crisp starry skies and the inevitable return of sweater season.<br />
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And so it goes. The beets, collected as ingredients for the canning spree two week ago, remained in the fridge unused. Now they simmer on the stove on their way to becoming <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/magazine/18food-t-001.html" target="_blank">Cold Pink Borscht in a Glass</a>, substituting small, red torpedo onions for the shallots and yearning for that dollop of <a href="http://www.sugarriverdairy.com/Welcome.html" target="_blank">Sugar River Dairy</a> whole milk yogurt for the final whisk. The pizza dough saved from earlier in the week is a much needed vehicle for the cheese remnants in the special drawer (<a href="http://www.dreamfarm.biz/" target="_blank">Dreamfarm</a> Garlic Fresh Cheese, Rogue Creamery Blue and overly salted feta Diana asked if I wanted to take home) and the fresh tomatoes she offered me out of her garden. The <a href="http://steamykitchen.com/168-no-knead-bread-revisited.html" target="_blank">no knead bread</a> dough, which has been no-kneading on my counter all week, will go into the oven when the pizzas exit. Followed by a batch of basil-infused chocolate chip cookies, a trade for produce with the wonderful ladies from <a href="http://www.bluemooncommunityfarm.com/" target="_blank">Blue Moon Community Farm</a>, our next door neighbors at the Farmers' Market. This is in part because they handed me the two bags of basil, the remnants of which must be used before turning brown, and in part because the weekly batch of <a href="http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/ginger_ale_ag0.htm" target="_blank">ginger ale</a> they enjoy is a bit off this week.<br />
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These weeks are a race to successfully (and tastefully) use all the ingredients in the fridge while they are still edible, to do them proper justice in a savory manner. This hasty competition makes me look forward to the days when the steam from the stove and heat from the oven will be a welcome addition to the stoking of the furnace...although that landscape is still (gratefully) months away. But for right now, I can sit on the porch, watch the dog bark in amazement at the claps of thunder overhead and enjoy the sound of the cooling rain. Until it's time to puree the borscht, that is. <br />
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So cheers, to the rush and satisfaction of the bountiful time of year, to the constant transition and to the joy of today's food in your fridge.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-55879651458801579182011-07-27T20:37:00.000-07:002011-10-20T16:13:34.959-07:00Brew Ha HaWhat better to do on the hottest night of the year than savor an icy, cold, refreshing, locally-crafted beer?<br />
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How about make your own.<br />
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OK, so beer can't be made entirely in one night, but all you need to get started is a good stretch of a few hours. Beer is ultimately just another form of food preservation. Much like freezing, canning, dehydrating, jamming and salt curing, beer brewing is part of a long tradition of taking a freshly harvested food product with a short shelf life and making it last longer. In the good ol' days <i>longer</i> meant "a sufficient period of time to get through the long, harsh, cold, winter when no fresh food was available"...talk about a food desert. However, I am sure the delicious taste and <i>relaxing qualities</i> of this beverage had nothing to do with the growth of beer's popularity. How else were people expected to use all their barley and wheat before it went bad?<br />
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We can specifically thank <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermentation" target="_blank">fermentation</a> for making this good brew happen. Oh dearest fermentation, what would we do without you and the delicious sauerkraut, wine, kimchi, yogurt, kombucha, soy sauce, vinegar, chorizo and bread you create for us? I could go on here...but I won't. Basically, fermentation is the chemical process in which carbohydrates (sugars) are transformed into alcohol and carbon dioxide in an oxygen free (anaerobic) environment thanks to the work of yeast or bacteria (or both). The best part, there's a special word for the scientific study of fermentation: <i>zymurgy.</i> (Which is also the convenient title of the American Homebrewers Association magazine).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf6cuuDJYNZYxCXYY4LsmYOvnqVQXJWwYz5pF51YvLoK6S40PgJsuHWYNx8V0wVMvkZAuApweSABUHifaD9HYnBq4xSLL6eyaw4gpY5gbl6NA9zq_x6q1NU5y36PuzoAgjb2EGSJRqLac/s1600/IMG_1672.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf6cuuDJYNZYxCXYY4LsmYOvnqVQXJWwYz5pF51YvLoK6S40PgJsuHWYNx8V0wVMvkZAuApweSABUHifaD9HYnBq4xSLL6eyaw4gpY5gbl6NA9zq_x6q1NU5y36PuzoAgjb2EGSJRqLac/s200/IMG_1672.jpg" width="150" /></a>Making beer at home requires a bit more equipment, patience, knowledge, space and time than other food preservation endeavors, but that's part of the fun. The upside is, as most home brewers proudly spout, there's nothing in home-brewed beer that could kill you - unlike, say, low-acid vegetables and their friendly resident botulism. Plus, there are a good number of beer brewing instruction manuals, for the beginner to the advanced, to help you along the way.<br />
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Saturday, as the mercury was rising mid-day, we found ourselves embarking on an activity that has long been on the to do list: beer creation. Technically, it's more of creating the right environment for yeast to turn barley tea into beer through the fermentation process, as the yeast does most of the work. Somewhat spontaneously, we got underway, inspired by a free afternoon and a prominently displayed homebrew book at the library. Nikki set out as the master brewster...and I her sous-brewster and documentarian. Our two-woman team historically appropriate, as many of the original beer makers were women, hence the term <i>brewster</i>. (What was Punky doing in her free time?)<br />
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We moved swiftly, selecting a recipe from The Complete Homebrew Beer book (Black IPA), taking the dog for a quick walk (it was hot out!), and heading to the <a href="http://www.wineandhop.com/" target="_blank">Wine & Hop Shop</a> on Monroe Street (which we already visited on our first day in town). And there all swiftness stopped. With a well-researched and detailed list in hand, we perused the store for almost two hours. We gathered our basic equipment like a large stainless steel brewing pot, a 6-gallon plastic bucket with special lid, siphon hook thing, and big glass carboy. I had never purchased a siphon before, nonetheless a large brewing sock or bottle filler or #2 plug. We were a bit giddy, and we also pretended to know exactly what we were doing. <br />
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Nikki asked pointed beer brewing questions to the <i>very </i>helpful and <i>very</i> patient store staff while gathering ingredients for the process. How to determine the amount of hops needed? Where to find Irish moss? How exactly to use the electric milling machine in the store (to crack the malt so the maximum sugar is extracted)? Which air lock comes best recommended? We pulled bittering hops and aromatic hops from the cooler after much debate. We selected our three malted grains from the enormous bulk selection, and then milled them. We picked the correct yeast from the cooler, with 300 billion organisms in one tiny pouch. All while munching on hops candy, and still pretending that we knew what we were doing. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGyBOe0Nc_Cr9sNfjFBbbb2h6qCph9PRKJhIpB3ufR3zd19x6mQQl1BDsCphGEiPhnzzXyKIy3QdIZ0BNfjNsQscHEmiRbr9nPqb5AI8uAu_9jAp5tCsfHuivTMQmTKt9kxlYlJXk7k18/s1600/IMG_1695.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGyBOe0Nc_Cr9sNfjFBbbb2h6qCph9PRKJhIpB3ufR3zd19x6mQQl1BDsCphGEiPhnzzXyKIy3QdIZ0BNfjNsQscHEmiRbr9nPqb5AI8uAu_9jAp5tCsfHuivTMQmTKt9kxlYlJXk7k18/s200/IMG_1695.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwF7rhAilh7yLOqvldyy8cq6ezeA87B1FnTffWfKCNkk1QSG_s9RX-kgpKdpdfZkwP38izs_YG8Gps31vnI8WuicRuMr9529OKp5ja_mj5sSDq0vtZNxF1ziLgOP2wvv0tEv4_Uxz6sOA/s1600/IMG_1650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwF7rhAilh7yLOqvldyy8cq6ezeA87B1FnTffWfKCNkk1QSG_s9RX-kgpKdpdfZkwP38izs_YG8Gps31vnI8WuicRuMr9529OKp5ja_mj5sSDq0vtZNxF1ziLgOP2wvv0tEv4_Uxz6sOA/s200/IMG_1650.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPl1B3WljQLAfzWjXdI-kEtEU-9GbUHWDAE28SnHITKtJ1y2ahnDFmVMEr-qr_8eFx00aHwG_Pu8sRkvIdLO8QPp5ZarvmHU-8cFppGskQZNwv1JgIjJKvzVFtmyFE-b2ErEllNErAyRE/s1600/IMG_1659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPl1B3WljQLAfzWjXdI-kEtEU-9GbUHWDAE28SnHITKtJ1y2ahnDFmVMEr-qr_8eFx00aHwG_Pu8sRkvIdLO8QPp5ZarvmHU-8cFppGskQZNwv1JgIjJKvzVFtmyFE-b2ErEllNErAyRE/s200/IMG_1659.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfurUC_Yb0mxW-3rTrxbAeY_kJw7fegNTPEIBxb_ZLc5uPdS8UlktZnNPrHQkDXvh82hVEkeILr1EPhiORKcxcw8tLb-NwBk1-fTRsZmvyVZi5NXlrr1BXH3rPXF37hG4KebIAxQdHzE/s1600/IMG_1689.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfurUC_Yb0mxW-3rTrxbAeY_kJw7fegNTPEIBxb_ZLc5uPdS8UlktZnNPrHQkDXvh82hVEkeILr1EPhiORKcxcw8tLb-NwBk1-fTRsZmvyVZi5NXlrr1BXH3rPXF37hG4KebIAxQdHzE/s200/IMG_1689.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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The process of shopping brought us one step closer to understanding the actual steps we were about to undertake. At least for Nikki. I got distracted by all sorts of things like cider making (yes, they rent cider presses), why my first batches of ginger ale didn't turn out well (I didn't let it ferment long enough) and the fact that all homebrew supplies seem to be made in Oregon. Finally, <i>finally</i>, we checked every item off our list. Our newly acquired purchases in hand, we broke a sweat walking to the car in heat of the day.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-Evja_TbfH7aydYcvSa13pyTphP3fehApRtt62rWTzPLYZZYVtYABVon4VwZerh2zO0IuTNdOOf1x_oALsdtxvpTpJwn9Uvl7uvOf-hc5ewJieZr7dNKOcjIGhJO_GBbHxilB1-AArE/s1600/IMG_1692.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-Evja_TbfH7aydYcvSa13pyTphP3fehApRtt62rWTzPLYZZYVtYABVon4VwZerh2zO0IuTNdOOf1x_oALsdtxvpTpJwn9Uvl7uvOf-hc5ewJieZr7dNKOcjIGhJO_GBbHxilB1-AArE/s320/IMG_1692.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our loot, all collect at the register.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2F8idk74zKS4REVkrSq1i30vm4zIKlDcTnR4fRMOqRpx15UzONAeCZVqfvnzKs2NPN-Ts64EmBQZFEWaai9kwhjKFiL7w-8Xm6A6GI8noPNfHPQyubz6f_BW7ZYg_5lE9HmpkDxfoZgw/s1600/IMG_1712.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2F8idk74zKS4REVkrSq1i30vm4zIKlDcTnR4fRMOqRpx15UzONAeCZVqfvnzKs2NPN-Ts64EmBQZFEWaai9kwhjKFiL7w-8Xm6A6GI8noPNfHPQyubz6f_BW7ZYg_5lE9HmpkDxfoZgw/s200/IMG_1712.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ingredients Ready!</td></tr>
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This is a good time to introduce the basic process of brewing beer, to the best of my knowledge, with some guidance from my master brewster.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PBjNfvlF7Dlaw8XR08SWcErxoP3OC9kRfcDYvbXeZQ8o9HOo5pdaa4mltBfYSZdJiyaKLKugv0_h3pJUfYmujM1r7mu_O_U3C9uwMTLZ3yZTSkhdRkd-d1lSoW4yOfDXqovNskPZDBM/s1600/IMG_1699.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PBjNfvlF7Dlaw8XR08SWcErxoP3OC9kRfcDYvbXeZQ8o9HOo5pdaa4mltBfYSZdJiyaKLKugv0_h3pJUfYmujM1r7mu_O_U3C9uwMTLZ3yZTSkhdRkd-d1lSoW4yOfDXqovNskPZDBM/s200/IMG_1699.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They gym sock and malt</td></tr>
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1. Bring three gallons of water to about 150-160 degrees on the stove. Take pot off heat. Steep a large gym sock full of your selected malted grains in the hot water (off the heat) for 30 minutes. Okay, so it's not a used gym sock, it's a specialty muslin brew bag big enough to hold almost three pounds of grain. To me, it looks funny. At the end of this stage, you have three gallons of malted barley tea. Just flavored water. In our household, this process began around 10 pm.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhflQU6V7r3Tt5wuM3_LXkmbJAC88IO-SAeFrkJzr3v2kw7-4-GAW41skoKyYOYglIu19GP2EwygjwO35G4m-u39dfIF1RMqFWyPV8InySf2dEI4z6_avSDHD05iR6riGPMJqgaFYrNLCM/s200/IMG_1703.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="150" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More gym sock action</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrd7VdVtHQQP4liMPHmFG1r9rLQOSw53Pnp89wiuOiZdvq_tVtMwlHQPclWJC5JBm2Xul09CJZvVcV3qD-nE8MFxiYG3SjCf6KC1xQ9YVrqbV3ZuvzJRMPkOCLl2cPDQfe211IN0MKpLI/s1600/IMG_1714.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrd7VdVtHQQP4liMPHmFG1r9rLQOSw53Pnp89wiuOiZdvq_tVtMwlHQPclWJC5JBm2Xul09CJZvVcV3qD-nE8MFxiYG3SjCf6KC1xQ9YVrqbV3ZuvzJRMPkOCLl2cPDQfe211IN0MKpLI/s200/IMG_1714.jpg" width="150" /></a>2. Sparge. Yup, you heard me. Remove your enormous gym sock from the brew pot, place it in a colander over your brew pot, and pour warm brewing water over it to extract the last of the steeped goodness from your gym sock. Around 11:25 pm, after resigning from my sous-brewster responsibilities for the night and heading upstairs, I heard quite the harumpus in the kitchen. I traipsed back down the stairs to see a frustrated brewster surmising the wall, stove, floor and more covered with brown, wet barley tea. As she was sparging the gym sock, the colander slipped and splashed into the brew pot, sending beer tea <b>all</b> over the kitchen. I wish I had photos of this. We cleaned, I giggled, she completed the sparge, I went back to bed, and the brewing continued downstairs without me. After sparging, the beer tea is brought back up to a rolling boil. The spent grain (aka the contents of the gym sock) was saved as a delicious treat for the chickens at the farm. More on that to come later.<br />
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3. When boiling resumes, the pot is taken off the heat. At this point the liquid malt is added to the brew pot and stirred until fully incorporated at a rolling boil. This liquid malt, slightly sweet and more viscous than maple syrup, is a condensed version of the beer tea from step one. Its purpose is to...ummm...I don't know. My guess is that you would have to use so much grain in your gym sock that it's worth it to cheat and use the condensed liquid malt. <br />
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4. With the liquid malt fully incorporated at a rolling boil, add the bittering hops to the brew pot and let it roll for 45 minutes. Nikki selected Northern Brewer hops, at 12 AAU (alpha acid units) which is hoppy for an IPA, but not overly bitterly hoppy (ick). During this long boil , and instead of watching water boil, Nikki started a brewster's journal, re-re-re-read the beer recipe, sterilized the equipment for the next steps, did some dishes and danced - all while preventing a foamy layer from establishing itself on the top of the pot.<br />
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5. After the lengthy 45 minute boil, one pound of demerara sugar, Irish moss and yeast nutrient are added to the brew pot and boiled another fifteen minutes. The sugar provides "food" that the yeast eat and turn into alcohol, the Irish moss is for clarifying the brew and the yeast nutrient is (yet again I am guessing) a 'vitamin' that encourages the yeast to eat and ferment. I have no idea if that is right. <br />
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6. As we approach the end of the brew pot phase, half of the aroma hops are added to the brew pot, Cascade hops in this case. Then the fun starts.<br />
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7. As you now know, yeast are the rock stars of the fermentation process. And just like rock stars, they make specific, elaborate requests for their lodging. The yeast request a comfortable 72 degree, oxygen free living environment while they are 'on tour' in your brew. It would be so easy if they enjoyed the boiling temperatures in your brew pot, but unfortunately that would kill them. So, you now have to do your best to get the contents of your three gallon pot of boiling water down to 75ish degrees in less than 45 minutes. The tactic used here: ice and cold water constantly flowing around the brew pot as it sits in the kitchen sink. It took an hour, on the first try...not too bad. This is a good time to point out that after at least two and a half hours of full-blast gas use on our kitchen stove and an hour of cold water from the faucet...resource conservation in not a priority in home brewing...at least in your first go round. I will leave it at that. <br />
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8. After the swift cool down, a magic siphon is used to transfer the beer tea + sugar + moss + hops mixture to the primary fermenter, aka a plastic bucket with a fancy lid. Although I understand the physics behind siphons, they still amaze me. This step is called "racking" the beer, which also makes me think of playing pool.<br />
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9. The almost last step of the first stage of brewing is to pitch the yeast into the primary fermenter, stir, affix the airtight lid and insert the airlock. The airlock lets carbon dioxide out of your bucket without letting oxygen in...as our rock star yeast don't perform well with all that oxygen riffraff around. Then, you live with a big, white plastic bucket in your dining room for 7-10 days as the primary fermentation is underway, ideally in a 75ish degree setting. This last part was especially hard as we are in the middle of a heat wave and the thermostat, conveniently located next to the beer bucket, read a consistent 88 degrees.<br />
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10. After the primary fermentation, the brew mixture is carefully siphoned out of the primary bucket and into the carboy. The airlock is affixed again, the six gallon glass jug is carried awkwardly to the basement, where it sits for round two of fermentation. Lonely, and kept in the dark, the carboy stays cool for this slower round of fermentation.<br />
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And that my friends, is all I can tell you. Sounds simple enough, no? The basic steps after this include transferring the brew mix to yet another bucket and then filling all fifty 12oz bottles of beer from there. One must also acquire fifty empty 12oz beer bottles, wash them, remove labels, box them in her kitchen, and then sterilize them before use. I've decided brewing your own beer requires lots of friends: those who bring you their empty brown beer bottles and those who help you drink your creation. Yup, we're in the process of collecting 50 used beer bottles, and I am preparing for some sort of entertainment so we can get through 50 bottle of beer! <br />
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Brewing beer, much like any cooking adventure, is just a big science experiment in your kitchen. A fun, messy experiment with no instant gratification. So as we wait for about 5 weeks with our fingers crossed, checking for bubbles through the airlock, all we can do is hope. Hope that this experiment pans out and that we have a tasty beverage to enjoy with friends, and appreciate the talents of brewers who make craft beer for a living (oh, and prepare for our next batch: hop harvest ale).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqa2brWpJzi9nAAF3cxKms7iPHDDcKp2NPISWp1mS8uz8ZJOqLqqF4jUlO9ImhcELqSOBcc5RhmEuFfq58BWL0SZHO0djMNsw8MvmEy4dTOUQOKJ9ANt8EcHJoSX0WWZVGCRzobKVQ_I0/s1600/IMG_1719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqa2brWpJzi9nAAF3cxKms7iPHDDcKp2NPISWp1mS8uz8ZJOqLqqF4jUlO9ImhcELqSOBcc5RhmEuFfq58BWL0SZHO0djMNsw8MvmEy4dTOUQOKJ9ANt8EcHJoSX0WWZVGCRzobKVQ_I0/s200/IMG_1719.JPG" width="200" /></a>As a post note, on Monday morning I brought the spent grain to the farm to be enjoyed by the animals who so graciously give us so much food. Diana suggested the pigs would be the best recipients, and that it would be a fair trade for the whey I steal from their buckets for my bread making. I was excited. During the regular afternoon chores, and at normal pig feeding time, I pour the spent grain from the gym sock onto the pasture with delight, just waiting for six snouts of the young heritage pigs to shovel it across the ground, fighting to eat it all. But instead, nothing. These piggies were perfectly content with their whey and grain ration, and the fruit laden limb fallen off one of the apple trees. Oh well, you can't have it all. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXWxtAn7OASdPL9et7mNTqVCUWczfqfqtxWM25DwuX-IiHlfZxi4vxwsCtvLUzjjYSc3UF1zC4NNJOai-4QUdXKwymycwxAWLw0XNUvPaY5pK370ZVLx8skCn342qPoIRqSj1ekkiTS1o/s1600/IMG_1726.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXWxtAn7OASdPL9et7mNTqVCUWczfqfqtxWM25DwuX-IiHlfZxi4vxwsCtvLUzjjYSc3UF1zC4NNJOai-4QUdXKwymycwxAWLw0XNUvPaY5pK370ZVLx8skCn342qPoIRqSj1ekkiTS1o/s200/IMG_1726.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-kPbBzHajKab-eKg690mHrzcYAsyPuRHxpqH-UdJowXh-q7xzBZsG8RDj8jXbABpS_0npyWng3e4iggF2fIoXVy7Px-0lgFpT4He3K8ONXqFByxmTq-OMu0DZnytQVqFj0tqrvRKjPic/s1600/IMG_1723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-kPbBzHajKab-eKg690mHrzcYAsyPuRHxpqH-UdJowXh-q7xzBZsG8RDj8jXbABpS_0npyWng3e4iggF2fIoXVy7Px-0lgFpT4He3K8ONXqFByxmTq-OMu0DZnytQVqFj0tqrvRKjPic/s200/IMG_1723.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYmfCtCGaVoSiNUo_HVw1S47cXAHvWEaV3No8hxP2H6lvkyl5kQ9naiBo3NQnt7yno1wz7bJpSv5nTh1O5_iU5HYCoM5hzveh0sbZuPTugJp8f_ZT8u45Mx1lpnqonrp0udSVsDqSDEp8/s1600/IMG_1728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYmfCtCGaVoSiNUo_HVw1S47cXAHvWEaV3No8hxP2H6lvkyl5kQ9naiBo3NQnt7yno1wz7bJpSv5nTh1O5_iU5HYCoM5hzveh0sbZuPTugJp8f_ZT8u45Mx1lpnqonrp0udSVsDqSDEp8/s200/IMG_1728.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857828622743420790.post-90278149862472119612011-07-20T18:59:00.000-07:002011-07-20T19:09:08.408-07:00A Few Updates1. <a href="http://justwritefood.blogspot.com/2011/07/nah-we-dont-need-that.html" target="_blank">Nah, we don't need that</a>. (Ahem, yes we do.)<br />
The state has come to its senses and decided to provide a letter of support for state agency applications for federal public health grant fund. Phew. Apparently Governor Walker talked Dennis Smith, the Health Services Secretary, into it making this happen. As if it weren't a no brainer from the start and someone needed to be <i>talked into</i> allowing almost $30M in prevention oriented public health funding into the state...but that's just my opinion. More <a href="http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/health_med_fit/article_a9d8fef4-ae6c-11e0-9b26-001cc4c03286.html" target="_blank">here</a> from the Sentinal Journal last week. <br />
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2. <a href="http://justwritefood.blogspot.com/2011/06/everything-but-kitchen-sink.html" target="_blank">Now, even the kitchen sink</a>!<br />
The kitchen is joyfully unpacked, and being put to good use...like pickle making, bread baking and serving as home to all the goat cheese (and not to mention some beer brewing...more to come).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkVJaUf_3Gw-Q3b9ZFSJFd5JJuDoiSud3n53heQ7bGASRX_4h7F0l8YuwyZhitTL8QsRj0NGUjDUJTqMVLlaYMwdpopSA06pYGp1kDa9Bgy1hUtb_V4YZKZNJ3Bd0kmAK6C3N-uNNbFI/s1600/nik+in+kitchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkVJaUf_3Gw-Q3b9ZFSJFd5JJuDoiSud3n53heQ7bGASRX_4h7F0l8YuwyZhitTL8QsRj0NGUjDUJTqMVLlaYMwdpopSA06pYGp1kDa9Bgy1hUtb_V4YZKZNJ3Bd0kmAK6C3N-uNNbFI/s200/nik+in+kitchen.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh37Y5HkjyeHK6LB9yOPGCHRKbOKUYa0OBsG6ATpKCRpBjqTqhxTsnZK1aM01fq_Y3RWY7SQ7D64YK5DKAVqUlExd4MtKUNNRr0F8EU7eWtyssd_PYKDSca8TrWmoxiBjCRSBSPvIAQ_P0/s1600/dishes+in+drawers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh37Y5HkjyeHK6LB9yOPGCHRKbOKUYa0OBsG6ATpKCRpBjqTqhxTsnZK1aM01fq_Y3RWY7SQ7D64YK5DKAVqUlExd4MtKUNNRr0F8EU7eWtyssd_PYKDSca8TrWmoxiBjCRSBSPvIAQ_P0/s200/dishes+in+drawers.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEq-5ZKZsEDXZrHziWLgdOE0-fD5_SIttN5RMNR-oS1hW0rcN0mDSsdqVr91Viq-Z2Kv2lE-DXPjV7ghSLr6gXNm0ifFAZG1w4Xrqi57bV2AOq4v10ESmDs14p23wvjz-OAs-AtHs8uS0/s1600/food+processor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEq-5ZKZsEDXZrHziWLgdOE0-fD5_SIttN5RMNR-oS1hW0rcN0mDSsdqVr91Viq-Z2Kv2lE-DXPjV7ghSLr6gXNm0ifFAZG1w4Xrqi57bV2AOq4v10ESmDs14p23wvjz-OAs-AtHs8uS0/s200/food+processor.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
3. More pictures, please.<br />
The <a href="http://justwritefood.blogspot.com/2011/07/not-bad-life.html" target="_blank">not-so-bad-life post</a>, especially the part about the <i>farm job</i>, has launched some requests for photos. So, here's one for now. I promise there are more to come, especially with the upcoming home brew ditty!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gE7Eb9DnSS2lval3jpdzbvEiDH6Y5_Ttz2rX-V1Ol1BXB7F4bHqHpP3oQ9iYHG7LAb0XUw6jmKgT9khBA0Is5R7As58KcL6TERyKYkFeIXFdEjrwRod6zrBGYqno-toZmkltGoLr8ME/s1600/IMG_1644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gE7Eb9DnSS2lval3jpdzbvEiDH6Y5_Ttz2rX-V1Ol1BXB7F4bHqHpP3oQ9iYHG7LAb0XUw6jmKgT9khBA0Is5R7As58KcL6TERyKYkFeIXFdEjrwRod6zrBGYqno-toZmkltGoLr8ME/s320/IMG_1644.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dreamfarm from the top of the drive. Photos can't do it justice.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1