In your Produce CSA box this week: Cabbage, pickling cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, the last of the Kohlrabi, Green Tomatoes, Green Beans, Collards, French Tarragon, Daikon Radishes (look like white carrots). Full boxes got some Hakauri turnips and Easter Egg radishes until they ran out. Time for Fried Green Tomatoes. Daikon radishes are great in stir frys (taste sort of like a water chestnut).
Here is a great link for recipes for Sweet Pickled Daikon Radishes: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/sweet-pickled-daikon-radish-recipe/index.html

Check out these great links for what to do with Green Tomatoes...

http://tipnut.com/green-tomato-recipes/

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/682/Green-Tomatoes-With-Goat-Chees97810.shtml

We should have some wax beans ready starting next week and the following week we will have corn and blueberries starting up. We are staying in the garden till dark. The kids are maturing and trying very hard this year, remembering to pick squash daily, harvest everything ready, chopping grass, etc. I'm very proud of them. We have about 500 tomato plants so at some point later in the summer, we should have huge amounts of tomatoes. Plan on canning or freezing some for winter or making spaghetti sauce. Don't ask me why I planted so many. They are one of my passions. I particularly love heirlooms.

Just a little bit about what's going on around the farm, etc...

The last 3 weeks have been a whirlwind. Lots to do on the farm, baling hay, weaning lambs, breeding ewes, planting summer grazing. The latest batch of Thanksgiving turkeys just came in. As many of you know I am also a Sustainable Agriculture Consultant. I am currently working on a Mobile Meat Processing Unit out in Nebraska. We hope that it will serve as a prototype for others around the country to help rebuild the needed small slaughterhouse infrastructure. I will post some pictures as soon as I get some nice ones to show you.

Produce CSA Box - Week 1

By now, y'all have had your first Produce CSA box. I hope you are enjoying all the fresh veggies and fruit. I am sorry to take so long to post but we have been scrambling to get some irrigation installed in one of the main gardens. We've spent much of the last week running irrigation pipe under the road, digging trenches, laying out drip tape, etc. The Romaine lettuce and the cabbages were looking pretty bad, flopped. It just seems that we are in a very bad dry pattern. The first batch of stringbeans didn't germinate well, so we are replanting since we've got irrigation installed. We have a lot to plant this week.

Anyway, if you weren't aware one of the greens that you most likely had in your box this week was tatsoi. It looks and tastes like spinach. The stem is a little different. The lettuces were beautiful this week and I hope you are enjoying lots of salads. We've been eating strawberries on our salad with a balsamic vinegarette.

Please note that we picked the berries ripe on Wednesday afternoon for the weekly boxes and immediately put them into the walk-in cooler at 38 degrees. The CSA boxes were very full this week. We couldn't even close the lids. We do endeavor to try and not squish any strawberries.
In your box, you have some white root veggies. They are Hakauri turnips. Also, I found this nice article today on the NY Times website on roasting radishes. The thought had never crossed my mind. But they suggest butter and salt. They say it changes the whole flavor profile. So, I am going to roast some tomorrow night w/ a roasted chicken and grilled asparagus. Here is the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/dining/12appe.html?hpw

Salad Bar Lamb and Beef

Are you having a salad for lunch today? These sheep and cows are. A nice selection of spring greens.

Chicory, Pasha turnips, Broccoli raab, Oats, Ryegrass, Dandelion, Clover, Hensbit and various other wild herbs and forbs.

Produce CSA update - April 21, 2010

Just to let the Produce CSA customers know. Boxes start the first week of May. Lots of spring greens, onions, radishes,lettuces, etc. Garden peas don't look as pretty as we were hoping. Maybe they will come on along soon. With the rain today, we are getting more transplants in the ground. Summer squash, melons, tomatoes, etc. The kids are busily working.

Those of you in New Bern will get your first boxes on Saturday, May 1st. Everyone else will start the following week.

April Value Beef Box

**VALUE BOX IS CURRENTLY SOLD OUT. WORKING ON A NEW VALUE BOX. WILL POST SOON. **

This is a great value. The same pricing per lb that you would get if you bought a Half of Beef. We'll even give you tips on cooking the cuts.

April Value Beef Box: (all for $5.50/lb)
** $70.00 value for about $50.00**

1 Chuck Roast (about 3 lbs)
1 Shoulder Roast (about 2-3 lbs)
1 package Short Ribs (about 1.25-1.5 lb)
1 package Osso Bucco (about 1.25-2 lb)
1 package of Beef Liver (free)

April Specials

We hope y'all had a great Easter. We did. It is so busy here that we are late getting the April specials posted but here they are. There are some significant savings on our beef this month. It's a great time to stock up your freezer as the beef is cryovacuumed and will not freezer burn for 6 months to a year.

Specials:
Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast 5 lb - $6.50/lb (normally $8.99/lb)
Chicken Leg Quarters 5 lb - $3.50/lb (normally $3.99/lb)
Boneless Beef Stew - $5.00/lb
Beef Osso Bucco (perfect for the crockpot or oven-makes a rich broth)- $5.50/lb
Beef Shoulder Roast - $5.50/lb (SOLD OUT)
Beef Chuck Roast - $5.50/lb (SOLD OUT)
Beef Soup Bones - $4.50/lb
Beef Liver - $2.50/lb

Lamb Riblets (great for soups, middle eastern dishes) 2 lb or more $4.00/lb (Normally $5.00/lb) – limited supply
Lamb Denver Ribs - $4.50/lb
Pork Neckbones (great for crockpot) $1.50/lb (normally $2.00/lb)
Pork Riblets (for soup or crockpot Barbeque) $3.00/lb (normally $6.00/lb) – limited supply

Whole Duck (about 5 lbs each) $5.99/lb (normally $8.00/lb)
Bone-in Turkey Breast - $4.99/lb (normally $7.00/lb)

Heritage Turkeys $4.99/lb (about 8 lbs) -(normally $7.00/lb)
Fresh Hams $4.00/lb (normally $5.50/lb)

SMALL FAMILY VALUE BOX $49.99
1 Whole Chicken (about 3 lbs)
3 packages Chicken Leg Quarters
1 package of Beef Short Ribs
1 packages of Pork Sausages - (Can be substituted for Ground Pork or Ground Chicken)
1 package of Lamb Sausage (Sundried Tomato or Italian) Can substitute w/ chicken sausage
1 package of Spinach Garlic Chicken Sausage (will substitute for another chicken sausage flavor if we run out)

LARGE FAMILY VALUE BOX $59.99
1 Whole Chicken (about 3 lbs)
1 lb Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast
2 packages of Pork Sausages (can be substituted for Ground Pork or Ground Chicken)
1 package of Pork Chops (2 each)
1 package of Lamb Denver Ribs
1 package of Beef Osso Bucco
1 pack of Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage w/ Red Peppers and Parmesan Cheese or Sundried Tomato Lamb Sausage (will substitute for another chicken or lamb sausage flavor if we run out)

(Choose from Pork Sausage Varieties: Mild Breakfast (link or bulk), Hot Breakfast bulk, Maple Breakfast links, Sweet Italian link, Hot Italian Link, Bratwurst link, Chorizo bulk )