The poults arrived last week. They are eating, drinking and socializing with their pipping sounds. They will be in the brooder for about 3-4 weeks until they feather out. Then they will move outdoors.
We are giving them antibiotic-free turkey feed with 28% protein. Once they move outside they will start getting this tote of local organic grain that is 23% protein. They need more protein at first to get a better start.
Every time we get fresh eggs from the farm we notice again how white the whites are and how bright the yellow yokes are. That makes them perfect for one of the prettiest dishes I make. It’s also a very easy way to use leftover beets and extra eggs. I pickle them!
Cinnamon or cloves for a more sweet-gherkin taste, opt.
Instructions
In a small sauce pan bring the vinegar, beet juice and sugar with any spices you add just to a boil and then pour the syrup over the beets, eggs and onions in a clean canning jar.Cover it and refrigerate for about 48 hours. The longer the wait the stronger the pickle taste, but every day the pink beet juice penetrates the egg further, dyeing more of the egg white until it is all pink.
Notes
You don’t need to boil the liquids, but can mix them in a clean bowl.Do these in small batches so they get eaten before they get too old. These refrigerator pickles will keep two weeks or so if kept cold.Put a nice pad of paper towels under the container, even in the fridge, because just a few drops of juice can really make a bright pink mess!
Most of our hens hang out under the Taj Mahal. They have food and water and grass to scratch. On the side under the windows are nest boxes they get to from inside their house. They lay their eggs and then got outside and lounge and scratch.
The family told me that a broody hen hatched some chicks over the weekend. She found a corner of the barn to lay her eggs and then sat on them for 21 days until they hatched.
I found mama hen this morning with her back feathers ruffled a bit because she didn’t want me (or the cat) bothering her. But no view of the chicks.
When I went out a few hours later, seven chicks were scratching and pecking just like mama hen was. Chicks hatch able to walk and scratch. They have some feathers, but not enough to keep them warm, so they need a heat lamp or a mama hen.
As I watched the chicks went under mom until finally all of them were warming up again. Fun to watch!
Then I went off to find the father. We only have 1 mature rooster right now so it wasn’t hard to figure out who he was.
You know those large zucchinis that suddenly came from nowhere? What can you use them for?
The simplest thing is to grate them for zucchini bread. You can get 4-8 cups depending on the size. Then you can make the bread now. OR you can freeze the shredded zucchini in the amount called for in the recipe and then make the bread later in the year. Shredded zucchini can also be used in carrot cakes or other quick breads. (I don’t have a favorite recipe; you will need to check your cookbook or google it.)
You can also cut off what you need to steam or boil as the day’s vegetable or to add to the mix of sauteed vegetables.
I have also used large zucchinis in place of pasta noodles. Several years ago I cut them in rounds and used them to make little pizzas.
This year I cut them in slices and attempted lasagna. I layered them in the lasagna pan with spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese. It was a sort of soupy lasagna, edible and nutritious, but not excellent.
Peeling the zucchini first may have helped. Also either baking or steaming the slabs of zucchini for 10 minutes would have gotten them softer and may have reduced some of the liquid. If the recipe gets refined, I will add my improvements here.
This week’s medley was quite colorful: nice reds, greens and yellows.
I cup up a sirloin tip steak and browned it. It is the one on the right. It has no bone. The one of the left is a sirloin steak. It has a rim of fat on the right and a bone that juts up on the left. It would have worked as well.
These are the kinds of vegetables that I used. Top to bottom: green beans, red beets and greens, cauliflower, broccoli, patty pan squash, yellow summer squash, Swiss chard, zucchini. All of these were harvested here this past week. (Photo taken after meal, proportions not accurate.)
This recipe I cooked to the pot. I cooked the meat, then added the vegetables that I had until I thought it was enough for the family. We ate it over rice or over lettuce. Some added salt and others added Matson Hill Spice Blend at the table. All in all, it was a good meal!
Our meat birds arrived in the mail in mid-June. They lived in our barn in the brooder. These birds are Freedom Rangers, which are raised specifically to range on pasture. They were active on arrival and have done well in the brooder.
We recently moved them outdoors into these moveable cages. The cages are completely enclosed in the back third providing shade and shelter from the weather. The front is enclosed in wire mesh allowing fresh air and sunshine.
The chicks are able to eat grass and other vegetation, and scratch for bugs. We also supply water and locally grown organic grains from Gianforte Farm in Cazenovia. We move the cages once a day and will move twice and three times a day as the chicks get older.
These birds will remain in the field until mid-August when we process them.
On Saturday mornings we have joined Brady Farm at their farm stand. Brady Farm is a nonprofit urban farm in the city of Syracuse at 150 Ford Ave., off of Valley Dr. They have similar practices to us and use their six acres well.
Our meats and eggs complement their vegetables. So we will join them this season on Saturdays at their farm from 8-1:30ish. Stop by and say hi if you are in the area.
We planted some brassicas this year – cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. It isn’t a lot; more just a patch to practice and get a feel for how to raise these kinds of vegetables.
On the other hand we do have several onion beds for Stuttgarter (yellow) onion and Red Baron (red) onion. Onions do well here and are enjoyed by our customers, so we like to have several sections of them.
Pumpkins and squash
Potato rows
Other veggies growing here
One of our vegetable beds had some deer damage. Really Red Deer Tongue leaf lettuce got eaten down to the ground. I guess the deer like their name sake!
We are walking the dog in that section using his smell to discourage the deer’s presence. And we may need to fence it in with higher fencing.
