Thankful List

Thanksgiving is the season for reflecting on our blessings! From Beth, the face and voice of the farm, here are some of ours –

Butter and Honey
Butter, the mom, and her heifer calf, Honey
Free range chickens
Free range chickens
Cows
Cows
Gaia, our livestock guardian
Gaia, our livestock guardian
Goats
Goats
Pesch, our milking goat
Pesch, our milking goat
Piglets rooting in their pen
Piglets rooting in their pen

I am thankful for the family involved in our farming venture:

  • For The Farmer who is the brains
  • For the Sons who are the brains and brawn
  • For the Young Crew who are the faithful helpers

And most of all I am grateful for our customers, Typically, they are a customer at times and a friend at all times. Relationship is what it is all about!

In this season, may you reflect and come up with your own thankful list!

Janet’s Chicken BBQ Sauce

Here is a BBQ sauce contributed by one of my regular customers.  I haven’t tried it yet, but it seems simple enough and looks to be tasty.  While it especially works with chicken, I imagine that it could also work with beef and pork.  Enjoy!

Osso Buco – Crockpot variation

2 meaty soup bones sit side by side in the package.

Osso Buco - Crockpot variation

The meaty shank soup bone is browned, put in the crockpot, then veggies are added and all of it is simmered on low for 6-8 hours. Yummy-licious!

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp oil, butter, or fat
  • 1-2 meaty shank soup bones
  • 1 cup carrots, shredded
  • 1 cup celery, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup onion, chopped
  • 18 oz. diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 2 cups broth Opt.

Instructions
 

  • Brown meaty shank soup bones in oil for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove to crockpot or slow cooker.
  • Add veggies to crockpot.
  • Cover with diced tomatoes. Add broth, if using. Cover with lid.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
  • Take meat out, cut into fine pieces or shred. Cut marrow into small pieces. Add back to pot and stir it all together.
  • OPT - If you used up to 2 cups of broth, drain liquid and cook down on the stovetop.  Add back to meat and veggies.
  • Serve as is or over rice or potatoes.

Notes

This is my stovetop Osso Buco recipe modified to be done in a crockpot.  2 cups of liquid are optional in the crockpot.  The tomatoes, veggies and meat will make their own liquid which will work for this meal.

Featured Herb – Mint

Mint, probably peppermint

Mint is our herb this week. It is a hardy perennial with aromatic leaves. I like to dry it and use it as tea in the winter. Several leaves can be added to salads or stirfries for a change in the flavor. And some add it to drinks to make them more minty. This is $1/bunch.

Featured Vegetable – Green Garlic

Green garlic to be bunched

Green garlic is immature garlic.  Like all alliums – garlic, shallots, onions – parts of the whole plant are edible throughout its life cycle.  If it is soft and not stalky, it can be eaten.  It can be used in stirfries or soups OR it can be used in salads or eaten raw, depending how well you like the garlic flavor.

Spring Intruders

As is common in rural properties, The Farm is posted land. The Farmer doesn’t want uninvited guests leaving a gate open or tromping through crops. So when The Farmer’s Wife takes her walk along the road, the bright yellow signs are hard to miss.

The other day, The Farmer’s Wife came back from a walk and reported on a violation of the posted sign. We had an intruder!

It is the job of the brave Farmer to protect his borders, so out he went, weapon in hand…

Continue reading “Spring Intruders”

2019 Farmers Markets Start Next Week, June 5&6!

  • On Wednesdays from 2-6 p.m. we will be at the Syracuse Eastside Neighborhood Farmers Market which is held at the Westcott Community Center on the corner of Euclid and Westcott in the university area.  We are usually on the Euclid side of the building.  I refer to this market at the Westcott market.
  • On Thursdays from 12-6 p.m. we will be at the Fayetteville Market which is held in the Town Center in the parking lot.
  • On any day we are available at the farm in Nedrow by appointment.

Want to get weekly updates about what we have available?  Sign up below! Then stop by a market and say hi!  See you soon!

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Spring on the Farm – 2019

Here are some views of the animals on the farm – goats, cows, pigs, calf, and chickens – and a look at the tulips, opened and closed.  Enjoy!

Pesch and Ralph

Firelight grazing

Wild Woman grazing

Spring piglets

Ted, the calf being raised to be an ox

 

The six chicks from the winter hatch

Closed tulips on a cool day

Open tulips on a sunny day

 

Tax Time at the Nerve Center

March 23 – Once upon a time (heigh-ho, the dairy-o) the Farmer took a wife.

The Farmer’s Wife not only gets to cook all the great farm food, but also helps keep track of farm records. This is in addition to volunteering for her church, working part-time for a small homeschool curriculum producer, homeschooling her children, and maintaining a household.

And the big push now is to get our tax forms done.

Here is The Farmer’s Wife’s Nerve Center. Does that look like organized chaos? Well, if The Farmer posted a picture of his work area, you would see complete chaos.

April 8 – And taxes are done, submitted, and accepted! YEA!!!

Pork Resupply – Part 2

And our pork is back! YEA!!! 🙂  We have frozen meat:

  • Smoked pork – $7.00 / lb.
    • Bacon – around 1 lb each
    • Ham slices – These are 1 each in a package and they are about 6 in. ovals with a small bone in the middle and some fat around the outside – around 1 lb. each.
    • Smoked pork chops – 3 smoked chops in a package, each package about 1.25 lb.
    • 1 smoked ham roast – This will have a bone down the middle. It weighs about 4 lb.
  • Fresh pork (unsmoked, frozen) – $6.00 / lb.
    • Steaks – These are 2 / package, are about 5 in. long and 3-4 inches wide. They weigh about 1.75-2.0 lb.
    • Chops – These are 3 / package.  They weigh about 1.25 lb.
    • 2 shoulder roasts – These have a bone in them and are about 4 lbs. each.
    • 2 loin roasts – These have a bone on the side and are about 4 lbs. each.
    • Ground pork – This is bulk ground meat that is in a tube and weighs about 1 lb.  Each tube is $6.
    • Spare ribs – This is a short rack of ribs, about 2? lb.
  • Sausage – This is bulk sausage in a tube and weighs around 1 lb. – $7 each.
    • Pork sausage or breakfast sausage – This is pork, salt and flavorings, primarily sage.
    • Sweet Italian sausage – This is made of pork, salt, sugar, white pepper, fennel, paprika, anise and coriander.
    • Hot Italian sausage – This is made of pork, salt, crushed red peppers, sugar, fennel, black pepper, and paprika.
  • Other pork parts
    • Liver – This is about 1 – 1.25 lb.  $4.00 / lb.
    • Heart and tongue – Both of these items are frozen together.  They weigh about .5 lb. $4.00 / lb.
    • Feet – This is 2 feet / package and weighs about 2 lb.  $2.00 / lb.
    • Lard – This is unrendered pork fat in frozen slabs.  A bag is 5-10 lb and is $2.00 / lb.
    • Bones – These are $2.00 / lb.
    • Heads – This is the pig skull with most of the meat trimmed off. $6.00 each

These items are available from the farm or through the monthly Meat Subscription. Email me about what you would like to purchase.