Real Eggs, Wild Eggs

Most of you know that grocery store eggs are lacking in so much, and yes, I'll even add in the organic AND cage free eggs if they're coming from the grocery store. While we were living in our camper and traveling around the country we sometimes had limited choices for food - including our beloved, precious eggs.

Eggs found in the barn

Organic means that the hens were fed a diet of organic feed. That's it. They can still be packed into the chicken batteries that we've all seen photos of (if you haven't, Google chicken factories for the images). Cage free means only that all those hens are not put in those batteries, but in HUGE!!! covered buildings that will hold 100,000 plus hens and then can choose to jump up and lay their eggs in a "nest" but it's not what you're thinking, when you and I think of the meaning of cage free. Watery whites and flat, or simply easily broken yolks were standard fare way too much of the time from those eggs. Yuk.

I've often wondered what wild bird's eggs look like. What their white would be and what kind of color the yolks would be. Today, I had the opportunity to see first hand.

Going out to feed, I found a freshly laid set of 14 quail size eggs in the mornings hay. Momma would not be coming back and I had to feed. I scooped up the eggs with my seemingly once in a lifetime opportunity to truly see the inside of a wild bird's eggs. While it shouldn't have surprised me, they looked like miniature versions of our own pastured hen's eggs. Thick, firm whites and gorgeous, golden yolks that stand up nice and firm. WOW! While we do feed the hens commercially prepared feed, they also get to eat the grass in their enclosure. They get to scratch for bugs and peck at the natural minerals found in the ground. They are also doing their part to give back ... as they poop, they are fertilizing the ground that they will someday again feed on, only next time, it will be even better.

If you haven't yet found someone close by to you with a pastured flock or even a backyard flock, start one of your own. They are not hard, you don't need many and who knows, you may end up with a healthier backyard and a little income to boot!

New Life Springs Forth

I love this time of year. New buds blossoming means new life. The plants that were in a dormant state all winter have shaken themselves awake and put forth huge energy to produce new life. Fruits and vegetables that will grace our table later in the year. As well as those less fortunate as well.

Pear trees are abundant already

We are going to challenge you: Plant something. Anything. When it's ready to harvest - whatever it is - donate a little bit to your local food bank to nourish those who are less fortunate than you and I. You will be rewarded beyond what you can imagine. And you'll be giving yourself and your family something too: health. Both physical and spiritual.

Organically raised strawberries

Blessings,
Corinne

Series: Local Food and Why it's Important 1

Everyone needs to eat. Eating good food gives us pleasure and keeps us healthy. But how do we know what is good food?

A few year's back, I was privileged to share some time with one of the ladies from Tilthe Producers of WA and was given permission to share from their amazing booklet about buying locally. I just never got around to it . . .

I have just now run across the booklet again and am going to be offering you information from 10 Reasons to Buy Your Food from Regional Family Farms over the next couple weeks. Statistics and data that will astound you. It did me.

For example, did you know more than 100,000 US families lost their farms between 1996 and 2001? In a short 5 years - in GOOD times, 20,000 farms closed their doors each year.

Just what do you know about the food you and your family eat?
Can you answer the following -
* Where it was grown?
* How it was grown?
* Who grew it?
* When it was harvested?
* What pesticides or fertilizers were used?

If your answer to any of the above is "no", join with us on a little adventure, with great information from the Tilthe over the next few weeks.

New Life Springs Forth

Just had to share a little glimmer of hope we got here on the farm. Our first starts have taken off as you can see. So exciting! Thanks for letting me share with you.

The onions emerging

The first of a couple dozen pumpkin plants

Mad Cow Disease - Overcoming

You thought pink slime was bad and now, back in the news, is more bad news for the American public. Watching TV this morning, I hear it may be "unbelievable" that we "still" have Mad Cow disease around and am baffled at how someone could make that comment.

Mad Cow disease comes to cows that have eaten other dead animals, that are ground up and served to them on their buffet line. Unbelievable? No, that is reality. In the commercial meat industry, the cow factories - I really hate to give them any correlation to a real farm, so I call them factories - they are constantly on the lookout for how they can reduce their costs and increase their bottom line. You say, "heck, we all do that". OK, but will you do it at the health and safety of your neighbor? your siblings? your child?

Composted cow manure, and the manure of other animals, is a regular component in the feed of the meat that you eat. So is ground up, dead sheep, which is where Mad Cow comes from. Let me say, I don't remember exactly how he explained it, so I'll do my best. Back in the mid 1990s our butcher came out for our sheep, and explained to us that we had to keep the heads because the brain matter of the sheep is where cows get Mad Cow disease from. He didn't want it their heads going off to the rendering plant and asked us to compost them instead. No problem. (For those who think you can't compost meat, I have a whole other story coming about what you really can add to your compost pile).

One of the hundreds of feed lots we drove past in the mid west

I think it took a while for that to sink in. Cows get MC from sheep. Sheep brains. How do cows get sheep brains??? It wasn't until later on down the road, I started doing some research.

Wait! If you think these practices are limited to just your beef, let me stop you right there! It's not. Not even close. Pork and chicken are on that list as well. UGH!

So, if you're like my momma, you ask, "Well, what AM I supposed to eat then?" Two options: go to your grocery store and buy organic. What if they don't have it? Ask for it. Tell them you won't be buying anything less now that you know. Or change stores. Plenty of grocery stores are selling organic options. I can already hear a few of you saying, "Oh my gosh that stuff is CRAZY expensive!" Is it really? That beef was fed with carcasses of dead animals, their own poop that was "composted", corn that makes them bloat and get sick, fed a boat load of antibiotics to keep them from dying while they are in the feed lots and kept in a small space so tight that they can hardly move around. Is that really cheap? Do you seriously think that this will create good beef?
OK, I said two options and here's your second. Go directly to your local-ish farmer and buy a cow. Or a half. Go in with another family member or friend and share a half. In most parts of the country, you will pay $3 or less per pound for premium, grass fed beef. $3 for hamburger? Yes. And $3 for T-bones, filet minion, gorgeous roasts and some other amazing cuts too. Let me add in here that typically, it will not, yes NOT be organic. Who needs to be certified organic if all your feeding is good, old fashioned grass. But wait! You need to be specific in what you are asking and I'll share that with you right here.
1. Do you raise your cows from birth? Not critical, but it's good to know a supply line.
2. What do your cows eat? This is critical. Grass and hay should be the only answers.
3. Do you finish with grain? If yes, how long and what kind? Really, this is a stopping point for me. If the answer is yes, I say thank you and end the call. Typically the feed/grain will be a corn/soy meal mix and it's bad for cows, but will fatten them up quickly & cheaply.
4. What are you fertilizing & controlling weeds with in your fields with? I said before you probably won't get organic, but I feel it's important to know what your cows are eating. Chemical fertilizers are out, composted manure is in. Letting the animals do it themselves (by pooping in the fields) is better.
5. What age are you butchering at? Typically 18-20 months max. The younger, the more tender typically. You'll also pay more for really young, sometimes called "Pastured Veal". But instead of being locked up in those horrible, tiny crates, they are out on pasture and just butchered earlier.

I hope this gives you hope for healthier food. It IS out there!

Ever Have One of Those Weeks

WOW, has it been a busy week. Started off having to have our brand new mare tested and skin biopsied as her hair is falling out if tufts. We had one of the vets out early last week, but just didn't see any improvement at all. She has been diagnosed with Pemphigus Foliacious - an auto-immune disorder. Lovely. The vet said she has only seen a handful of cases in her 30 some years as a vet. Truly a disappointment and so sad to see her so miserable. We're working on a few paths simultaneously, but for now, she's on daily steroids.

On the positive side, we finally got a desk to fit in our house and start unpacking the office supplies, we built a couple dutch doors for the barn as well as finished supporting the barn in areas where it was really desperate for it. We celebrated 2 birthdays, Good Friday, Easter and some family movie time. We've also found a great little place here on the farm for our herb garden. It looks so nice and is a happy spot on the way to the barns.

We also built 4 of our raised beds this week and look forward to planting seeds this weekend. We also picked up 3 apple trees and 2 plums. Oh, how I can hardly wait for late summer! What is the most exciting part of both the herb garden as well as the garden/orchard, is that it will become a showpiece for teaching others about gardening and how little space really is needed.

It's funny how we hear so often from people about how they don't have room to grow anything. We're here to tell you - and show you - that YES, you can. It doesn't take nearly as much room as you would think. Tired of mowing your yard? Guess what? You can turn all that mowing time into weeding and harvesting time! And then go inside and truly enjoy the benefits of a little bit of work!

Enjoy the sunshine!

Cattle Feed Lots

If you are a meat eater, I think it should be a requirement to drive by a feed lot. If you don't know what a feed lot is, it is a fenced in paddock sized for however many cows it can hold ... meaning there is enough room for the cows to squeeze by each other, that's it. Grass? I don't think so. More like manure. Lots and lots and lots of manure. If it rains, it becomes manure soup. Take a look at this one:

No room for roaming and their sole purpose for being there is to be fattened up on things that cows were never intended to eat. Think I'm just "over selling"? Take a look at this paper from the NC Extension Office - Broiler Litter as a Feed for Beef Cattle. Do you know what that is? Yes, really is what  you think it is: chicken poop. And that is just ONE of the "acceptable" forms of feed for cows. Dead cows are also acceptable forms of feed.

Yes, you're right, cows are herbivores. They don't eat meat in nature. Yet, USDA says feeding dead animal parts is OK. Can you say, Mad Cow Disease?

The smell driving by these feed lots is probably one of the worst smells you can imagine. And you can smell them coming and going for MILES! We talked with a cattle hauler and he called it the "smell of money". Yep, you and I are paying for these animals to eat other animals poop every time we eat meat out. Or buy conventional beef at the grocery store. We can hardly wait to start growing our own cows. On grass. As God intended.

Time to jump down off the soapbox, but thought I would share one of the things we saw on the road...

Leftover Turkey Stuffing Cups

Leftovers. I always try to do something a little different with leftovers but nothing I can think of is quite so simple as well as so much fun as turkey stuffing cups. 

I wish I had a photo of them, but being on the road, not only do we not have leftovers, I don't have any photos of last years dinner!

Hopefully, you can imagine what these look like as I give you some directions. 

These measurements are approximate. Use what you have.
Mix 3-4 c. mashed potatoes with 2 beaten eggs
Add 4-5 c. stuffing/dressing,
1-2 c. small diced or shredded turkey
1-2 c. gravy, start with less and add more as needed
1/2 c. craisins, optional
Mix all this together with a large spoon until all ingredients are well incorporated. It should be pretty moist.
Here's the fun part: you're going to take your muffin pans out and spray each cup well with non-stick spray. grab a handful of the mix, shape it into a ball and gently place it in the cup. Do so with all the leftover mix. 

Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes, until a thermometer inserted in the center reaches 170 degrees.

Serve hot with a side of cranberry sauce and extra gravy if you have some. This is such a huge hit in our home that we plan for extras! I make enough to freeze some to enjoy through the Christmas season as an easy dinner.

Give them a try and let me know what you think. Any other leftover suggestions?

Smells, Herbs, Flavors and Disney

As I've said before, I like to experiment with food. I've also said that I win some and I loose some. I think that the more you experiment, the more you get a feel for what will go together and what won't. It just takes time, patience and a loving family. :-)

You also start to learn about flavors and smells. I love the Disney movie Ratatouille, where Remi (the rat) starts grabbing jars of spices and smelling them. I'm a Remi. I like to actually smell the spices and see what smells good together. Most folks know that Basil and Oregano are good together, but what about other combination's?

On the road, I'm working to find new combination as well as use old favorites to keep good flavor with our foods. A favorite combination for me is: paprika, garlic, onion powder, pepper and either celery salt or sea salt. Sometimes a little chives added in.

I bet those of you who camp a lot are asking how I'm storing my seasonings and herbs. Very simple answer: right on the counter. If we're going to park where that spot is in the sun, I guess I'll have to choose to either keep the window closed all the time or move it to a shady spot. Back to cooking outside on the grill ... it's way to warm to cook inside the camper right now.

Gardening While on the Road

What? No garden? I just don't know if I can REALLY live without something growing. We're probably not going to be growing our own tomatoes this year, but there are a couple things that we can grow while we're traveling around the country.

First, and really the easiest thing anyone, anywhere can grow are sprouts. While I'm not going to make a big salad out of sprouts, they are a great, tasty veggie to add to sandwiches and salads.

Spinach. Easy to sprout and quick to grow. Spinach is a very easy veggie to grow and fast to harvest. Really, an old bowl with some decent soil will make for a nice growing medium.

Next - lettuce. Sounds harder. I'm thinking though that I will start out with some of those "6 packs" you can buy at the local hardware store. They will be organically fed and set in a sunny window. They will be transplanted into 4" pots and when traveling, can be set in the sink to be safe. When we're at a destination for a bit, they get to go outside in the sun and grow a little more naturally.

What are some other fast growing veggies that I'm forgetting about?

First Signs of Spring

Flowering currant

I love to see the first signs of spring around the farm. This year, although it is very late, it is also a bittersweet feeling.

Chives getting ready to flower

Seeing things starting to bloom is a reminder of a budding future growing season and yet, we won't be here to see so many of the plants come to full bloom with our upcoming move. 

Perennial Pansies

And yet, here I am, sharing one of my loves with you. Seeing them bloom just can't be kept all to myself. I am taking pictures all around the farm so I will have a focus and drive for the next farm. Are yours blooming late too? What do you have in your yard?

Creamy, Double Meat Rigatoni

As I've said before, I like to experiment with food. I've also said that I win some and I loose some. I think that the more you experiment, the more you get a feel for what will go together and what won't. It just takes time, patience and a loving family. :-)

So here is a new one and I will post the ingredient list at the end. I had some lean, natural beef along with some of our pork in the freezer waiting to be used. Grabbed them both and straight from the deep freeze and plunked them into the pan on med-low with a lid. The lid not only helps keep the heat in, it keeps the moistness in the meat and from scorching as well. I check on it every 3-5 minutes and "scrape" off the cooked portions and flip the meat over. When about 3/4 of the meat is cooked, give it a teaspoon or so of some good seasoning salt. Time to start a pot of water for the Rigatoni.

Meat Tip #1: If you don't do this, you end up with a super large and thick hamburger patty. It actually cooks pretty quickly with this method, so rarely will I take ground meat out to defrost if I'm just going to be cooking ground meat.

 This makes for a lot of meat, which I will only be using about 1/3 of for this recipe. The rest, I'm going to save. Meat Tip #2: Save your meat and have a little less grease the easy way - put a folded paper towel in the bottom of your bowl and it will soak up a lot of the extra grease.

I drain the meat remaining in the pan. If you are very concerned with fat, here is Meat Tip #3: Take a wad of paper towel and wipe the pan with the meat in it and it will absorb more fat still. To the third of the meat I have left in the pan, I add 3/4 of a quart of tomatoes that had been canned with garlic and basil. I don't worry about draining this though. I want all the flavor from those liquids. I also add about 3/4 cup of frozen peas and carrots. If I had just peas, I would have used that, but the carrots did add a simple sweetness. Hopefully your water is now at a boil, so add some salt and your desired amount of noodles. Personally, I use half a box for 4 of us. Set your timer!

This does NOT show the full 3/4 of a quart of tomatoes

Here is the full tomatoes - you can see all the liquid.

Let this simmer on med to med-high. We want to reduce the liquid, while keeping the flavor and nutrients from the water. Don't think you'll miss much? Take a spoonful of the liquids and taste it....you'd miss it. Promise.

You're going to stir this mix every couple minutes - more as it thickens. What you want to get to is about this consistency (mine took about 12 minutes):

Now for the creamy. I used one half package of light cream cheese, break it into smaller pieces and place the chunks around in the sauce.

Let it melt for a minute or two and then stir. Is your mouth watering yet? YUM! Mine is again as I write this down. Noodles should be just about done - drain the noodles when your timer goes off and add your fabulous sauce.

Now it's time for eating. D decided to me my sampler. He's become more adventurous as the experiments have gotten better. That and the promise that if it's bad, he doesn't have to eat it.

Thumbs up from D-man.

Now for the ingredient list.
Creamy, Double Meat Rigatoni

1/3 lb ground beef
1/3 lb ground pork
Rigatoni - good quality
1 tsp. seasoning salt
3/4 c. peas (or peas and carrots)
3/4 qt. stewed tomatoes with garlic and basil (or add those later)
4 oz (1/2 package) cream cheese

Try it, you'll like it. Let me know what you think.

Roasted Root Vegetables - a winter staple

This is the time of year when there isn't a lot of local, fresh veggies left except for our beloved root vegetables. So here I thought I would share a simple, easy and tasty dish that can be make over and over without the kids crying "do I really have to eat that again?"

Let me start by saying I am not a baker. I make bread, but one out of every 4 or 5 loaves fails because I forget something or try an experiment that doesn't do so well. I love to play with my food and part of that for me means, no recipe. Don't run away yet! It actually can make it fun, but as serious as I can be, if it fails, we will order a pizza or go grab something quick. I'm not proud ... I make mistakes, but I'm not going to force food I won't eat on my family.

Roasted Root Veggies

Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
Russet Potatoes
Onions
Parsnips or Turnips
Olive oil
Chives & Parsley
Herbs de Providence (or just rosemary)
Salt & Pepper to taste
OK, I did add in a rarity that most may not: White Truffle Oil. Seriously though, only a couple drops and that is AFTER it has finished cooking.

This is a great way to add in some of those lesser known veggies and still have them come out great.

Chop up all the vegetables as evenly as you can so they can roast evenly.Sprinkle with some olive oil and season with your herbs lightly and a little salt & pepper. Turn your oven on to 450 (I had mine in a glass dish so I kept it at 350 and it just took a little longer).

 

Every 15 minutes you will want to go in and stir up the veggies.

 At first, it doesn't look like anything's happening, but after your 3rd stir, you'll go WOW! They start to carmelize and release their own, natural sugars, which is what makes them so very amazing. And easy to eat a few times a week...

Go out and find some of those local, fresh root veggies and enjoy! You won't be disappointed.

How much can one suburban family grow or Resolution No. 5

Not sure if it's actually number 5, but it is one of our families personal goals ... let's plant a full garden!

Did you know that in the US (and I'm going to do a big stretch and say North America) there is not ONE single county that is totally self sufficient for their residents food supply. Scary, huh? Can you imagine that ... the richest, most powerful country in the world and not one county in the US can sustain itself.

No, we're not going to try and feed a county or even just our own families food, but we are going to grow. A lot. And hopefully enough for a few dozen families.

There's nothing I love more than pulling a can of green beans out of the pantry in April knowing that we grew it. We used our own compost, watered and loved our gardens and the gardens gave back to us.

We know we have more land than most, but take a look around your yard. Do you have a small patch that you could kill the grass off (you know, that corner that is hard to mow anyways), bring in some great compost (give us a call), and plant something?

Love coleslaw in the summer? How about cabbage, lettuce, carrots and some chives then. How about you talk with one of your neighbors and do some cooperative growing. You grow the cabbage and goods and they grow potatoes, onions and tomatoes. And you share. And share with your local food bank or family in need. There's no shortage of those right now unfortunately.

Now, I've always been told that goals must have specific, measurable and time oriented objectives. You've heard that, right? We've done it with every part of our business and have had great success. Well, let's get down to business then.

This is the first part of a series that we'll be working on in which we make a very clear plan for this season, how to get an area ready for planting as well as what to grow and why we are growing them. That is actually probably the easiest. Our family loves salads with romaine, buttercrunch, coleslaw and iceberg lettuces. We love carrots, onions, green beans, snow peas and this year, possibly shelling peas and celery. Don't forget zucchini and sugar pumpkins and of course one of our staples, tomatoes. Yum!

Can you keep a secret? I think I may sneak in some chioggia beets. They are pretty, red and white striped and not nearly as sweet as common beets. I want Scott (and the kids) to try something from his past that he totally hates. Or at least thinks he does...

Aren't they pretty?

Possibly some feeder corn as well - as much as we love a good corn on the cob, we're not big corn eaters. We will get ours from Bob and Sarah instead. See?

Then onto the herbs. Love those herbs! They bring so much flavor and another layer to the palate. Chives, basil, oregano - ahhh.  Lavender and mints make a lovely iced tea and what garden would be complete without parsley? Funny reading all this. The big farms would laugh at the thought of even 3 different crops. No mono-cropping here though. We work with nature to help take care of pests, not pesticides.

So this is the plan so far this year. We'll have more details in the coming weeks, including a list of what we are going to plant, time table and re-planting schedule.

We're buying heirloom seeds this year and will have more than we need of some varieties. Drop us a note and let us know what you are interested in and we can co-op some seeds.

See - another great sharing opportunity!


Gardening this year? What are you planting?

FREE Movie Night! Television Premiere of ...

Mark your calendars now for this amazing opportunity to see the movie, Food Inc. It will be airing on Wed. April 21st on PBS's POV (Point of View). This is a fascinating movie about the reality of our food ... it's not one of those gorey, in your face movies, just plain and simple facts that will make you think about where you are putting your food dollars.

I've often said, that we put more time and energy into researching a new car than we do our food. I know I did before. I will still honesty say that I shop at the supermarket for many groceries, but at least now, armed with knowledge, I really do think about my purchases. I look for the organics if it's in the budget for the week. I also am looking for local - it's important to me. Yep ... I'll still buy orange colored and artificially flavored chips every blue moon. But not as often as I once did. My tastes are changing. So is my thought process.

I encourage you to get together with some friends and take a look at this together. We believe in this movie so much that we have added the movie's trailer on our own website: at http://www.willowsedgefarm.com/chickens-and-eggs.html
Let us know what you think. We're curious about others thoughts on this as well.