On the Farm

It’s been one of those weeks where the farm just seems a little out of.  It started last Wednesday the 18th.  On Tuesday last week we purchased 13 piglets from some friends of ours.  By Wednesday morning they’d figured out they fit through their corral panels.  They also discovered that the very brushy woods were a great place to root and hide.  So after harvesting basil for the CSA, Victor (Marie’s younger brother) and I got to spend a fun filled two hours literally crawling through briars to catch piglets one by one.  The briars were so thick that the piglets were getting stuck.   From there on out for the week we were behind schedule.  Then, right when we thought we might get to catch up on some tractor work-more rain!

One of our good pigs inside its fence where it should be

You’ve probably been hearing about the national drought ruining crops all over the country.  Even much of North Carolina is experiencing some drought.  Farmers I sell next to at farmers market from as close as Catawba and Lincoln counties worry about no rain on their farms.  We are not looking forward to the upcoming animal feed bills.  However, at least in our little corner of Burke County, it has been raining plenty.  These days the most noticeable result of all the rain (besides constantly wet feet) are the weeds!  When its harvest day we wade through waist high weeds, push them aside like curtains, peer under and over and find that red tomato or cucumber or squash.  In spit of the rain we have finally made some progress getting ready to clean up the garden for fall.  Today we removed old irrigation tape so we can get the tractor back into the field.  As soon as it dries out some that is.

Squash Blossom with bumble bees

Beef

            We are now working with our family friend and farming mentor, Jace, to raise some grass based and organically fed beef.  Jace is a longtime family friend, helpful farmer, and the landowner where our main vegetable fields and sheep pastures are. We have helped to create a beef raising protocol with him to create healthy, lean, and tasty beef.  The meat we have available now is 100% grass fed.  Many cattle are raised on pasture, but finished out (grown to full size) using corn.  The addition of corn drastically alters the fat profile of the meat creating a more unhealthy mix of omega-3s and omega-6 fatty acids.  100% grass creates the healthiest balance available in meat (except fish). 

            Right now the heat has greatly reduced the quality of the grass.  So the animals we have out on the pasture right now are grazing but can’t get their full nutrition requirements for optimal growth and beef quality.  We have worked with our certified organic feed supplier to create a ration that is low in corn and 100% certified organic, so no GMOs or chemicals in the feed.  These animals are still always grazing on fresh grass, moving frequently, to ensure that the grain is a minimal part of their diet. 

            Right now we have Beef available on Wednesdays 10-3 at Hickory Farmers Market and by special order at the other markets.  You can always come by the farm on Wednesdays from 4-6 pm.

Your farmers,

William and Marie

Farm photos

Pigs moving to a new pasture-a favorite activity

Thoughts on tomatoes and Eating the bounty:

Tomatoes, they are the queen of the summer vegetables.  There is simply no substitute for a juicy tomato straight from the vine, so red its purple, meaty like no store tomato can hope to be, and full of flavor.  We sure are glad they are so good, otherwise they might not be worth it.  Tomatoes are also the divas of the vegetable field and they are vocal in their complaints.  Subpar soil nutrients, too much water, too little water, or some insects will all dramatically reduce yields.  Each season we learn a little more about the tomato’s specific needs.  This year we experienced some early blossom end rot.  Several of our first harvests we nothing but several buckets of ruined tomatoes all half rotted (the pigs enjoyed them though!).  One of the main techniques we use to help ensure a harvest is to grow many different varieties.  This year we are growing about 25 different types.  One or two have not really recovered from their early problems.  But most of them, we are happy to report, have been doing well.    Enjoy the summer!

Pigs and chickens share a treat

Okra blossom, one of the beauties of the garden

Saturday June 30th
Conover and Morganton Farmers' Markets til noon

This week’s organic garden harvest

Carrots, sweet Nantes

Kale

        “Red Russian”

        “Lacinato”

        “Curly”

Swiss Chard

Potatoes- Red, White and Blue potatoes! Yes those are the colors.  I love this potato mixture so much, and it makes the most festive All-American potato salad.  These are new potatoes so don’t scrub them. Soak them in cool water for 5 or 10 minutes and gently wipe them with a paper towel so the tasty, tender skins don’t tear off.

Garlic- You’ve never had garlic like this.  The garlic is a freshly harvested heirloom variety called Chesnook Red.

Cucumbers- Don’t miss our specialty, snack size, and American slicing cucumber varieties. 

Summer Squash- Flavor!  We’ve got some tasty varieties.  Nutty, firm, with a tender texture.  We’ve got 5 different types of squash for you. Choose from Cousa, Slik, Goldy, Parthenon, and Zephyr.

Dill

Cilantro

Parsley

RED, WHITE, AND BLUE!  Stunning potatoes from our garden.  Image (and organic seed potatoes) from http://www.woodprairie.com

See our pastured meats availability below in the next blog post.  Pork chops and more!

Pastured Pork- Pepperoni for the Fourth!  Grab a stick for appetizers at a cookout or for an easy snack while watching fireworks next week. 

 *This Saturday and next Wednesday, we will have pork chops, Italian sausage, Country sausage, and Bratwurst links. (Conover and Morganton markets on Saturday, Hickory Market next Wednesday.)

Pastured Free Range Eggs-  The hens have been munching away on clover and seem to enjoy the shade cloth over the windows in the Chicken Palace Coop.  All our animals are fed certified organic grains.

        -See recipe below for a tangy Cucumber Potato Salad with tasty pastured eggs!

Pastured Chicken- Free range on grass pastures, fed certified organic grains. Flavorful and tender.

-Packs of 2 boneless breasts

-Packs of 2 leg quarters and 2 wings

                                                           

Pastured Beef (Hickory Market only)- Grazed on pastures with no antibiotics or hormones.  Very lean, flavorful and tender Angus beef.  The small amounts of fat in our pastured beef is “healthy” fat; higher in CLA’s and omega 3 fatty acids.  Our cattle is supplemented with small daily amounts of certified organic grains in the summer.

        -Gound beef     

        -Boneless stew beef (very tender for kabobs too)

Recipe

Auntie Bonnie’s Potato Cucumber Salad

From the cookbook, How it all Vegan, 1999.

This tangy, tart salad will tickle your tastebuds.

2-3 cups new potatoes, cubed

1 tbsp fresh dill, chives or parsley, chopped (you can used green onions)

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp prepared horseradish

¼ cup flax oil (or your choice of salad type oil)

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

2-3 cups cucumber, cubed

In a medium pot, boil the cubed potatoes in water until they can be pierced easily with a fork.  In a small bowl, whisk together the chosen herb, mustard, vinegar, horseradish, oil, salt, and pepper.  Set aside.  Once the potatoes are done, drain and rinse under cold water until cool.  In a medium bowl, mix together the potatoes, cucumbers and dressing just before serving. 

Marie’s adjustment:

I like to give the potatoes a quick rinse, then pour the dressing over the partially-cooled potatoes and refrigerate for a few hours.  Then mix the cucumbers in before serving.  This lets the flavor soak into the potatoes more.

·         Variation: (Not Vegan) Add some healthy protein- Chop boiled eggs into large chunks and sprinkle over the salad after combining the cucumbers into the potatoes.

Returning soon!  This Saturday at Conover and Morganton Farmers Markets.  Wednesday, the 4th of July for Hickory Farmers Market.    
      Delicious Bluebird Farm pastured pork raised with certified organic grains from Reedy Fork Farm!  

Still available:  Eggs from free range hens on pasture and pastured chicken. All fed certified organic grains.

The layer flock in the pasture with sheep and their palace.

And the vegetables keep growing!

Elisa and the delicious carrots!

The root crops are coming!  This week we have more tasty, sweet garden carrots at the Morganton and Conover Markets.  It is a great job pulling the bright orange, crisp roots from the soil.  After this weekend’s rain the soil was a crumbly texture perfect for digging.  The loose dark brown dirt just fell away from the roots.  The next digging project was potatoes.  This year we planted some potatoes here at Bluebird Farm to avoid the insect problems present in the big field at the other farm.  We also planted some over there to try to have more quantity.  We haven’t dug them up yet.  But the potatoes here at the home farm grew beautifully.  This week we'll have Yukon Gold potatoes at the Saturday  Morganton and Conover Markets. -a creamy yellow-gold type of potato.  Digging for potatoes is kind of looking for eggs, but in the ground.  We use the digging fork to loosen the soil around the plants.  But we can’t dig any closer because we might stab potatoes (stabbed about a dozen).  So then we go through by hand and grub for potatoes-turning them out of unexpected lumps of dirt and weeds.  It is quite the fun job, especially when you’re rewarded with baskets full of potatoes at the end!  Enjoy the bounty,

Your farmers,

 William and Marie

  William with a garden fork. 

Adam and Elisa display the fine potato harvest from a few beds.

Short market day tomorrow for Bluebird Farm. We’re at the Farmers’ Markets tomorrow until 9:30.

Morganton and Conover Farmers’ Markets

This week’s harvest

Carrots, sweet Nantes

Kale

        “Red Russian”

        “Lacinato”

        “Curly”

Dill

Cilantro

Parsley

Pastured Chicken- packs of 2 boneless breasts and packs of 2 leg quarters and 2 wings.

Pastured Free Range Eggs-  The hens have been munching away on clover and seem to enjoy the shade cloth over the windows in the Chicken Palace Coop.

Pastured Pork-   Country Backbones (a great buy with succulent meat) and Side Meat   

        We’ll have chops and sausages next Saturday.

Garden treasures

Carrots are the most satisfying vegetable to harvest.  I carefully loosen the soil next to the row of carrots with a short handled digging fork and pull the carrots up from the rich soil with a gentle tug to their tall greens.

Sweet, crisp, and tender!  This deep orange Nantes carrot does not need peeling; just wash and eat raw.  You can go ahead and cook it if you’d like, but I don’t think they need to be cooked to enjoy their rich sweet flavor.

If you must cook them, don’t overcook-just lightly steam.  Try this flavorful recipe if you prefer cooked carrots.

Sweet Dill Carrots

Adapted from How it All Vegan!

6-10 medium carrots or 12-15 small carrots, sliced into your favorite shape

2 tblsp chopped  fresh dill or 1 tblsp dried dill

1 tblsp sweetener, your choice

1 tblsp olive oil

In a medium pot or steamer, steam the carrots until they can be pierced easily with a fork. Drain and then place the carrots in a small bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir together until well incorporated. Makes 2-4 servings. 

Digging fork

Garlic and other goings ons

Elisa's got your kale!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Garlic Galore!

We love garlic. We adore that zesty flavor that garlic adds to vegetables and meats. Adam, Elisa, William, and I spent the afternoon harvesting, sorting, and bundling several varieties of garlic from the garden.  Garlic is rather homely looking straight out of the garden; it is covered in dirt.  You don’t wash it though, you hang it out to dry.  That way the garlic will keep for about 6 months or so. 

Elisa and Adam, our friends from the San Francisco area, are adventurous souls who are taking a working vacation at our farm this summer.  We’ve been so happy to have them working hard with us, and even more happy for the fun entertainment of friends!

Marie with the garlic pile

Beets!

Dancing with the dog

Who let them on the farm?

Marie ad her flowers