Variety Pack Newsletter

MAY 2016 DELIVERY 

ABOUT YOUR VARIETY PACKS:

• The chickens were outside grazing this spring and are nice and big!
• They are wrapped in tin foil…a tip from Alton Brown the chef to help preserve them in your freezer longer
• The hogs are Heritage breeds- Poland China and Berkshire.  They were nice and big as well
• The steers had some of the best pasture they could get in Michigan at our Northern Farm all of last summer and fall as well as great hay over this past winter.  They turned out nice as well!
• We still have an extra duck and half lamb if anyone is interested please email me!

WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THE FARM!

Warmer weather is moving things along!  We have one who just had a calf…it’ll be two firsts for this season- A first time mom and our first calf this year!  The ewes are looking big and will start having babies about the middle of this week. Some of the seed we “planted” last month is starting to sprout in our hay and grazing pastures.

Our sheep started grazing pasture last week.  I took the picture (below) of some sheep being raised for the commercial market just a few miles from my house.  They live in crowded conditions under a barn overhang.  I wonder if my sheep know how lucky they are?!

The pigs are now outside and enjoying the sunshine!  We’re going to do something different this year and plant some small food plots for them consisting of wrape, turnips, kale, and orchard grass.  A new experiment…might be fun!

Something I recently shared on Facebook from one of my favorite chefs, Jamie Oliver and his prize winning Ted talk “We need a food revolution”:

https://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver

A Quote from Chef Vivian Howard(A Chef’s Life), “One of the best things you can do for a farmer is use the whole animal”

Recent Pictures from the Farm:

Ingredients 1 (32 ounce) carton beef stock 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce 1 cup water 1/2 onion, diced 3/4 cup diced carrots 1 cup barley 1 (6 ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms 4 cloves garlic, minced 3) Soup Bones- Meat cooked & cut into chunks 1 pinch garlic salt, or to taste salt and ground black pepper to taste 2 bay leaves

Directions: Stir beef stock, tomato sauce, water, onion, carrot, barley, mushrooms, and garlic together in a slow cooker. Season beef chunks with garlic salt, salt, and black pepper; add to the beef stock mixture. Add bay leaves to the slow cooker. Cook on Low until the soup thickens and the beef is tender, about 6 hours. Remove and discard the bay leaves to serve. My Variations: *Added 1 TBSP Mushroom Organic Better Thank Bouillon     *Used 2 eight oz jars of veg/tomato soup instead of sauce                                                   *Added 4 stalks celery                     *Cubed and added a small cubed round steak                                        *Cooked an extra 4 hrs on low