- Mixed Salad Greens 1#
- Asparagus 1.5# Oven-Roasted Asparagus
- Pea Shoots Pea Shoot Salad
- Chives Roasted Fingerlings with Chive Pesto
- Radishes- 2 bunches Radish Slaw with New York Deli Dressing (perhaps half the recipe)
- Garlic Chives (flat leaf, smells like garlic)
- Eggs-1 dozen Easy Flan Recipe (you can make it in a pie pan instead of individual cups
Here we are on week 2 already. Wow time flies when you’re farming! The new item in the box this week is the asparagus. I hear your cheers of excitement from here. A generous 1.5# portion is in everyone’s box this week so indulge.
Our novelty item is the pea shoots. A little taste of pea goodness is its tender tendril form. These were grown in our hydroponic fodder system and I find them ever so tender compared to vines that have to withstand field conditions. Mix them into a salad or stir-fry.
In case we are pushing you to consume your dozen of eggs from last week, we’ve been daydreaming of egg friendly recipes for you. Quiche, flan, rhubarb custard (next week), angel food cake, egg noodles, etc.
Our chicken/orchard project is nearly completed. All of our girls are free-ranging the acre+ pasture, rotating through each 1/4 acre plot per week. In one of the quadrants, we have our asparagus planted so the layers will have to wait until July to enter that area. But their reward for such patience will be a lovely shade canopy to eat grass under during the warm summer months. Another quadrant contains the apple orchard consisting of 21 newly planted apple trees. The third quadrant contains 9 plum, peach, and pear trees plus room for future hazelnuts. The last quadrant is simply an open pasture with room for creative growth in the future. As the girls eat grass, bugs, and do their chicken loving thing, the grass is fertilized, pests are eaten, and any fallen orchard fruit will be quickly ingested.
So far, the ladies are loving their new space. Egg production is high and all got the memo to lay their eggs in the nest boxes, and to eventually go in the coop to sleep at night. Sleeping in the coop took about 3 nights for everyone to understand the new arrangement. We had to make sure that all of them were in the coop by 9pm. Chickens don’t see well at night so once it’s dark, they are hunkered down. Anyone found sleeping outside of the coop was hand delivered through the pophole of the coop for safe sleeping. The first night, about 100 hens were trying to sleep outside making the process take a bit of time. The second night we were down to 50 stragglers, and the third night had about 25. We moved the location of the pophole to make it a bit easier for everyone to enter and exit and that indeed solved the issue so all now sleep safely in their coop. Early diligence was the key.
The other excitement this week was the hatching of our ducks. Our 4 runner ducks from last year were attacked by a predator this spring. But when finding this scene, we discovered that they had just started laying eggs that week. Not knowing if the 13 eggs were fertile or not, we incubated them. To the the boys delight, we candled them and saw development. This past weekend, one little duckling named Madre was born on Mother’s Day. Three more little ducklings have joined him and have completed the circle of life. A couple ducklings were still born and a few eggs didn’t develop. But overall, we were quite excited by our new babies on the farm.
Pizza Nights on the Farm.
If you were wondering, we are open for our wood-fired pizza nights! Every Friday 4:30-9pm. See our web page for details and upcoming live music. Our new seasonal pizza this week is our Balsamic Asparagus Pizza.
Eat Well. Smile Often.
Your Farmer,
Heather