This is going to be a busy summer! Here is where and when we will be at the markets this summer:
Mon 16:30 – 19:00 Penacook Farmers Market
Wed, 15:00 – 18:00- Exit 20 Farmers’ Market at Tanger Outlets in Tilton
Thu, 15:00 to 18:00 – Bradford Community Farmers Market
Fri 15:00 – 18:00 – Sanbornton Farmers Market
Sat, 09:00 – 12:00 – Contoocook Farmers Market
We look forward to seeing you there.
We are major planting long term crops this year. This is the first year we are looking further into the future than tomatoes and peppers. 100 asparagus plants ( 100 more each of the next 
2 years). Raspberries. Planning replacement pear trees.
When we planted the strawberries 3 weeks ago, I gave the slimy little things a 40% chance. Well today the first bloom appeared. They’re still small but they are going to produce well, starting next year. Meanwhile we are researching the great shortcake controversy: Angelfood or Biscuit. This is an important thing and we want to get it right. Reputations are at stake.
The sawdust blocks that Karen spread under the straw didn’t impress me. But fungushood is powerful.
Dunno how big the little boogers need to get but they ARE getting!
We are now waiting for beets, turnips, garlic scallions, onions, kale, brussels sprouts and shallots to show signs of life. We still haven’t planted the tomatoes, peppers and beans…
Tomorrow I gotta break up the sawdust blocks a little more – the chunks are too big. And bury some more asparagusses.
So I didn’t obliterate the old asparagus plant that came with the property. There they were 2 days ago – 5 proud stalks, waiting to be turned into a meal. By the time I cut them this morning, they were a little long in the tooth, so to speak but still quite edible.
Since the hens have been very obliging, I knew there was an omelette in my future as I hilled up the new asparagus bed.
This is very simple:
Localness Evaluation(how far did it travel to the kitchen):
Clearly the volume bulk passes muster but we could do better on all the addings. All it takes is money for higher quality (and higher priced) local food.
We could have replaced the spices with our own diced peppers.
We have chops, fresh hams, shoulders, Country Style ribs, Spare Ribs, Plain, Italian and Breakfast Ground, and kabobs.
In beef, all the good steaks, stew, ground, short ribs and more!
Of course, no sub-clinical drugs, hormones, garbage or other nonsense.
Until June 15th, we are running a ground special – Plain/Italian/Breakfast ground pork $5/pound, $22.50/5 pounds. Ground beef $5.50/pound, $25/5 pounds.
We do have T-Bones, Porterhouse and lots of ground beef as well as chickens.
We planted raspberries a week ago. Many of the canes were sprouting leaves already.
They take patience – the fruit grows on canes that grew last year so we won’t see any until next year, provided the fence is strong enough to keep out the bear.
I figure they should do well – the area was covered with wild ones until the goats moved in. So on-purpose ones should thrive.
My master gardener conspires to cover the landscape with specialty crops – Asparagus, Strawberries, Raspberries. Every week a new surprise.
My Father-In-Law was a bramble grower – had 12 varieties early, late, everbearing, red, black, yellow - strung out on wires. Bought cloned stock from a fancy place near home. Mary’s dog used to pick them when he wasn’t looking. Sometimes when he was…
I finally got my first batch of broilers on the field. They’ve been in the hen-house, protected from the cold spring and the wind and rain. But it was time for them to get some space.
The hangup was getting the new hi-tec shelter done. Well, I am here to say that $16 worth of electrical conduit, 2 10′ 1×6 hemlock boards and a 10×12 tarp later is all it took. It weighs about 30 pounds and is better than any chicken tractor I ever used.
Chicken tractors are the best way to raise small numbers of chickens.
They are safe, secure and durable. Great as long as your field is level and you don’t have more than like 2 of them to haul around. Also – you cannot make a free-range claim. They’re technically not free-range.
I fence mine in with poultry-net, shelter them in this new shelter I made with the above materials and a tubing bender from Johnny’s and there you go!
So, what is Pastured Poultry? For me it is free-range, eating the grass and bugs and good drug and hormone-free food and running around plating “I’m bigger than you are!” all day long.
We use this particular breed because they are more humanly bred – no leg problems, good strong hearts and generally great health. And they really taste better than Great White Lumps
Rhymes with ‘pistols’.
Unless you are a donkey, in which case it rhymes with ‘breakfast’.
Some folks think they are a nuisance. The goats and donkey eat them up. The sheep not so much.
Some of them get really big, especially when they are outside the fence-line (there loose lips cannot reach).
In springtime all the interesting plants come out to play. Tender and tasty. The Poison Ivy is gone from our fields – all eaten by the goats. Wild Brambles? Gone too. And a strong fence around the cultivated ones.
If you have scrub to clear, there is nothing than goats, donkeys and some time.
Gotta go move the fence out…
We have too many roosters. This poor guy(you’d never know it to look at him now) ran into a buzz saw called Mr. Big a few weeks ago. Usually the foxes and raccoons limit the population but this year all 6 roosters survived. We are currently researching Coq Au Vin solutions.
We tried placing him for adoption but all the interested party wanted to know what was wrong with him. He’s a rooster. What else do you need to know?
Frankly, we like to eat good food. We will do whatever it takes to choose, grow, process and prepare food that we like and that is right for us. Our circumstances bless us with the ability and will to grow wholesome food that tastes terrific, is a great value and preserves our way of life. This is a commitment to do the right thing for all of us. We eat what we grow. Our fellow farmers do as well. We sell what we eat.
They are pretty far out there. Vegetarians need not apply. They hate all the fresh forms of soy and dead milk. Good guys – we are better off with them around…
The Foundation is dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to the human diet through education, research and activism. It supports a number of movements that contribute to this objective including accurate nutrition instruction, organic and biodynamic farming, pasture-feeding of livestock, community-supported farms, honest and informative labeling, prepared parenting and nurturing therapies. Specific goals include establishment of universal access to clean, certified raw milk and a ban on the use of soy formula for infants.
via About the Foundation.
