Christmas Eve Wishes

I am dog sitting for the O'Neals, loyal May Farm customers. They have a cute little dog named Murphy. I get to stay in their cozy cottage just a dog-walk away from Crystal Lake and Lake Michigan a few times during the off-season when they travel. It's like a mini-vacation. And if I'm not wrong, I probably blogged the last time I was here because I usually try to get caught up on things like that. Note: I went on an internet connection diet over the last year when my air card broke and AT&T wanted $250 to replace it. I decided to discontinue my service and spend that monthly fee on lattes at the Bayview Grille, a wireless hot spot. I like that it limited the amount of time I spent in cyberspace. But that will change in the New Year. I will have to acquire self-discipline.

I just spent the morning making swedish meatballs and artichoke dip for a Xmas Eve party tonight. I used used May Farm pastured beef and pork. I don't really measure, but here's the recipe.

Mush together 1 lb. each of May Farm ground beef and pork, bread crumbs, milk, eggs, nutmeg, allspice, cardamon, salt, pepper and onion. Bake on a broiler pan for about 10 minutes in a 350 oven. Make a simple bechamel sauce and pour over the meatballs. Voila! Serve as an appetizer or over noodles. Triple or quadruple the recipe and have a meatball-making party with a friend or two and freeze the little buggers in some ziplocks for a quick dinner.

Okay, but that's not why I was inspired to write today. I've been reading Woody Tasch's book "Slow Money" and it has me squirming with thoughts begging for somewhere to land. I think I'll start a new blog post. See ya in the next one.

Fall Harvest 2011

It's been way too long since I've visited this blog. It's almost November and we are in the middle of harvest time on the pasture. We've delivered lamb already and now we're on to pork. This year we did something different. We collaborated with Sherry Murray to rotationally graze pigs on her farm. She had the right topography and four boys, so it was a no-brainer. She was interested in learning the method and using non-GMO feed. We are just starting to figure out that the profits aren't what we would have hoped for. $3.50 per pound for non-GMO, pastured pork is just not enough! I have to laugh at how we operate at both ends of Maslow's hierarchy of needs: survival + altruism. It's whacky! Don't have a lot of time, but wanted to write something even if it's silly. I will try to be more consistent!

New Rule: No Gum Popping allowed on the pasture!

Well, I've heard it all. In a 1996 study, experts concluded that feeding cattle a 30% diet of bubblegum, including wrappers, was a net benefit. If that isn't enough, farmers actually did it. By Beechnut, and by the truckload! Read that and more at this link: http://www.eatwild.com/articles/youare.html

It's March already. Time to place pre-orders for grassfed beef, lamb, pork and chickens. I am having a hard time uploading the order form. email us for one @ themayfarm@gmail.com. We are hoping to have it on our website, too @ www.themayfarm.com.

Locavore Superbowl in NW Lower Michigan

What do locavores eat in February? A lot! 

By February we have finally caught our breath and can enjoy visitng other farms and can finally turn those frozen berries into jams and pies.

Creation Pharm is only ½ mile away but you’d think it was in another state! We’ve started a tradition of watching the Superbowl together and sharing our stored treasures over a meal. We provide the meat and let Mike do the cooking. This year we had Beef Ribs with a Honey-Habanero-Cumin glaze; Meatballs and Home-made Heirloom Tomato Sauce served over local spaghetti; a nicoise- inspired salad and Frozen Tart Cherry (North Star Organics) Margaritas. For an appetizer I made a goat cheese onion dip for potato chips. 

So what else do locavores eat in February?

Root vegetables, potatoes and squash stored from summer harvest

Greenhouse greens, kale, chard from the winter farmer’s mkt.

·         Canned, frozen veggies from last summer

·         Dried mushroom and herbs

·         A bushel of local fall apples stored in the basement

·         Frozen, canned or dehydrated berries and fruits

·         Frozen or canned juice from backyard orchard, grapevines, or farmer’s market

·         Local honey and maple syrup

·        Custom raised grassfed beef, lamb, pork or chicken from the freezer

·        Venison or other wild game

·         Fish caught from Ice fishing

·         Farm fresh eggs

·         Hazenuts, chestnuts

      Milk yogurt, ice cream, butter and cheese from your own goat, boarded at the May Farm 

·         Low pasteurized milk and cheese curds from Cream Cup Dairy, Bear Lake

      Leelanau Raclette Cheese, Leelanau County

      Light of Day Tea

      Home brewed Kombucha or Kvass

Local wine, beer, ciders, root beer

It's not as hard you think and you get better at over time. 

It's a holistic life style thing...

Farm Food Fun Facts

It's April already and I failed to post a March blog. We have been busy collecting pre-orders for the spring and finding the right pasture to lease. I'll have more to say about that in a later post. I'm keeping my lip buttoned until we sign the dotted line. I have also been getting my Master Gardener certification in preparation for a future Jr. Master Gardener program.

In March, we attended the Farm To School Conference. Tony Geraci was the key note speaker. He has a fully operational school farm that made me drool. Find out more about Great Kids Farm at http://baltimoreurbanfarming.blogspot.com/. 

Our friend Chelsea was able to go to dinner with him the night before, and has been obtaining blueprints of his eggmobile and chicken tractors, which were built in the school shop class. We named a kid goat after Chelsea. By the way there are 15 new kids on the block. Come see!

If I would have posted a blog in March I would have dazzled you with this magic trick. An egg will stand on it's end at the exact time of the spring equinox. You may have to test it on the hour and have a clean up rag ready. Don't trust the calendar: Trust the egg!

I will leave you with some other fun facts about farm fresh food. Refer to this the next time you question the price tag!

A study by Pennsylvania State University found 3 times the omega-3s, twice the vitamin E, and 40% more vitamin A in the eggs of chickens on pasture compared to conventional confinement.

A recent study funded by the USDA shows meat from chickens raised on pasture contained: 21% less total fat, 30% less saturated fat, 28% fewer calories, 50% more vitamin A, and 100% more omega-3 fatty acids.

A study conducted by James Madison University found bacterial contamination to be lower in pastured poultry: 133 colony-forming units per milliliter (cfu/ml) in pastured poultry compared to 3600 cfu/ml in conventional poultry.

Signing off for now.

Permaculture PDC

I am sitting in my Permaculture Design Course and digressing at the moment. I need some goofing off. Wayne just gave a working definition of the term: the conscious placement of plants, animals and humans and how they live and what they do in functional relationship in the landscape. Works for me.

WHODAT?

I should be in bed right now. This week was intense as I tried to tie up loose ends before leaving tomorrow for my 8 day Permaulture Design certification course. I've had studying and webinars to do in preparation. I slammed out the numbers and a cover letter for the ag component of a renewable energy /ag grant proposal. If it flies we get to do a feasibility study on running 40 beef and 40 sheep across pasture followed by 1000 broilers in chicken tractors and 500 hens in egg mobiles! A grazier's dream if I ever did see one....[imagine "Cripple Creek" by The Band playing in the background]

But I guess I shouldn't count chicken tractors before they're skidding across the pasture.

This is going to be short and sweet. I just gotta say one thing before I sign off: WHODAT?!

To Everyone in New Orleans is celebrating Lombardi Gras this year!