Saturday, November 20, 2010

Community Supported Agriculture 2011 - Registration is now open!

August bounty!
We are delighted to announce we will be expanding our membership for the 2011 growing season. Membership will still be limited as this allows Michael and I to maintain the workload on the farm between the two of us as well as maintaining high quality produce for you all.

Have you ever wondered what a CSA is?
It is a great opportunity to become more connected to where your food comes from.  We grow nutritious vegetables without using any GMO seed, pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizers. Each year we grow for a predetermined group of members, who pay an annual fee to purchase a share of our harvest.  This allows you to claim back a connection to the production of your food, learn how to eat with the seasons and to support a local farm rather than your food travelling thousands of miles and being picked before it is ready and who knows what in between?.

For more detailed information about the CSA, including share size, vegetable variety and pricing please click here.

Do remember space is limited, so don't delay in contacting the farm for your application form so you can reserve your share of the harvest.  We can also provide gift certificate's if you choose to purchase a share for a friend or another family member.










Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Harvest

The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler.  This time of year has such mixed emotions for us.  You have the sadness that the season is coming to an end but then you have the excitement of discovering the wonders of fall in the field and the delights of not only harvesting fall's bounty but also the preparing of the field for next years vegetables.
I love Winter Squash and pumpkins, they start to peep through the grass and corn with such wonderful colours and textures and bumps and lumps and this really is the time when you see how well they have or have not done.
We have had a bumper crop of Spaghetti Squash this year, they seem to be everywhere.  We have also grown Boston marrows, musquee De Provence, sugar dumpling, butternut, acorn, Turks turban, mini pie pumpkins and the list could go on!  One of the things we like about  heirloom/heritage vegetables is the history that comes with them.  
The Boston Marrow (pre-1831, pictured to the left) - According to Fearing Burr, John M. Ives of Salem, Massachusetts acquired a Boston Marrow (which he named Autumnal Marrow) from a friend from Northampton who claimed it originated with a tribe of Indians near Buffalo, NY. It became very popular around Boston for making pies hence the name Boston Marrow. The beautiful squash ripens to an orange colour and is Hubbard shaped. The very productive vines produces fruit up to 20 lbs. and the flesh is golden orange, fine-grained and makes the best pumpkin pie ever, we have been told! A very reliable squash that store well if properly cured.



Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Highs and Lows...

It's a wet and rainy Monday and about time we did a farm update with all that has been going on at the farm over the last few weeks.  It really has been a wild season so far.
I don't think we have gone a week without several heavy down pours of rain since the hail storm in July. Thankfully most of the plants have done an amazing job of recovering from the damage and then others have been slower or have held up their leaves and fruit and said enough is enough.
With all this rain and high humidity we do have an abundance of weeds, grasses and purslane on the field!  
Some days it's been hard to get out on the garden as it has been like a bog and you are sinking to your knees in the mud. With such a season you do start to reflect a little earlier and start to think of different ways to grow and mulch for next year. This could mean adding an additional hoop tunnel for the tomatoes and more raised beds around the greenhouse. We may also use rye as a mulch for pumpkins and squash and developing our own low tunnels for the field to keep the birds and cabbage white butterflies off the cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower. We are also looking at alternative mulches for the field, we do not like to use the papers or plastic sheeting that is available as some of the chemical compounds that are used to bind them together can leave a rather yucky oil slick on the fields for the following years.  At the moment we use a mixture of straw, old pigs bedding (which so far we love as the pigs eat all the seed out of it) and also old hay mix which has already started to compost.  All the planning and ideas just makes us more excited about next years growing season.  


A few weeks ago we took a morning away from the farm and visited Marcy and her lovely Nigerian Dwarf Goats.  We met Marcy at a workshop this year and she was telling us about her NDG's. Michael has always wanted goats but I have never really been that keen until I heard, small, milk, and great cheese! Then I became a little more interested. The NDG's have great personalities and will produce enough milk for Michael and I. Where a cow would  keep us tied to the kitchen making cheese and they are the ideal size for our farm.

All being well we will start establishing our own heard next spring. This will also bring us a step closer to our dream of being self sufficient. 

The last two weeks I have been running the farm on my own with the help of some great friends who have been coming out to help with the garden and to help me with the pastured chicken. Michael sustained an injury to his eye, and was unable to do any heavy lifting for a while.  An old wheel barrow's plastic wheel exploded and caused blood clots and lesions on the eye, this is resulting in surgery tomorrow and fingers crossed a working husband in the very near future.  Update as of 7th October, Michael's eye after surgery is doing much better he has his final check up at the end of October so fingers crossed the Doctor gives him the all clear. 

To top this off we also had May & Lily lame at the same time with abscesses. May is our strong girl, never complains and barley limped, where as the lovely Lily made out it was the end of the world.  I think she does this every so often so we have to call Dr Bruce.  As soon as he arrives the eyes start to flutter and she is the perfect patient.
I have been salt soaking and poulticing both girls who where wearing rather nice pink and purple bandages for a few days and with great delight both abscesses are draining. For me there really is nothing more satisfying then seeing an abscess ooze. This has also meant keeping May & Lily off the hill and moving the fence around the garden to give them fresh grass.  The girls have adjusted well to the new paddocks but it was slightly odd having them so close to the house and greenhouse. A couple of times I thought they had broken out the paddock!! We hope that in the next week or so we can start to put them back out on the hill.  A Huge thank you goes out to our Farrier Robin, Kim Hadwen and Dr Bruce from Campbellford vets for all their advice and help with May & Lily.  We could not have got through the last few days without you all.

Our duck house has been rather empty this season and I do, every so often, miss the noise our Pekings used to make. So we are excited that in the next few weeks we will be receiving 6 Rouen ducklings.  These will be with us for a while as rather than raising them for meat we are raising them to have duck eggs. Which will be rather yummy bonus for us.  

The Berkshire pigs are doing amazing and we are about to extend their paddock.  They love the surplus veggies off the field, especially the purslane, fennel tops and cabbage.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Solar Oven

One of our CSA members has recently lent us her Solar Oven. 
Weather forecast finally gave the thumbs up to no rain or cloud cover and preparations for dinner started the night before on a rack of our Tamworth Ribs. Michael made up a dry rub and let the ribs sit coated over night. 
Ribs went into the oven at 8.20am, with the oven facing south east.
Within an hour the temperature was up to 200F, which the oven maintained for most of the day.  Michael turned the oven a few times to make sure it  kept an optimal angle to catch the suns rays.

A couple of our CSA members where very interested in the process yesterday, and as we all stood watching the temperature and oven you could smell the ribs cooking.  

At around 3.30pm we opened the oven to discover the ribs where cooked, and the meat was just falling off the bone.
Our ribs where served later in the evening with braised pac choy from the garden. Yummy!
We will be cooking chicken, duck, ham roast and a cake over the next few days.  If the rest of the meat cooks as well as the ribs I think we might be putting a solar oven on our wish list.



Friday, July 23, 2010

Thank You


A huge thank you from the Strattons Farm team to everyone who has given their support either through e-mails and phone calls and an even bigger THANK YOU to everyone who have given up their free time to help on the farm over the last week after the storm on Saturday.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Storm!

Michael and I have both been in Monsoons but neither of us have experienced a storm quite like the one on Saturday. One of our friends described it as a "Florida Hurricane".
We were transplanting lettuce out when the black clouds started to roll in.  With most storms they tend to roll either to the North or South of the farm, this one stayed centre.  The wind was blowing from all directions and even now I am stunned at how few trees we lost.  I have never seen trees bend quite like that and still remain standing.  I think the market garden would have been fine if it had not been for the hail, and it was not just a little bit of hail.  The hail has left its mark all over the field, from ripping holes through leaves to physically marking the tomatoes, to putting holes into the beans and tomatillos. The wind did a great job of flattening the corn, but with the help of friends on Sunday we have fingers crossed managed to save some of the plants.
Even the greenhouse suffered damaged but this was just on the floor where the rain had ran under the base and washed the floor away.

Just as a double whammy we had another heavy rain storm through the night which has left most of the land like a mud hole and this will slow down our rescue operation of the vegetables.

A huge thank you to everyone who have helped us over the last two days and the offers of help that are coming in.  I think it will be a good couple of weeks till the farm is looking normal again and until we see the real extent of the damage.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Garlic Harvest

On a rather cold and windy day at the end of June reminiscent of the day in October when they were planted! 


We have harvested our first garlic here at the farm.  It's rather exciting digging into the ground removing a huge ball of soil with roots shooting out and then to carefully remove the earth to discover  such wonderful bulbs of Organic Music and Heirloom Fish Lake garlic.  This is the first time we have grown garlic and we are both delighted with the results.  The smell in the air of fresh garlic, for me brings back memories of being at my Grandparents, when my Grand Dad would eat a few raw cloves of garlic along with his lunch each day.

The drying process now begins.  This process should take about 2 weeks if we get a little more heat...Please!
We are already planing where we will be planting the garlic for next year and will start preparing the bed in the months to come.







Sunday, May 23, 2010

We have been busy!

The field has finally been cultivated and the planting has began.  

We are planting in 100ft rows this year and every so often you look up to see how much further you have to go and the end never seems any nearer.
In the last week we have planted out over 700ft of potatoes, 6 different varieties of bush beans, tomatillos, over 200 hundred tomato plants and we think we have about another 400 plants to go!
Kohlrabi seeds and transplants, onions, shallots, leeks, beet transplant and seeds, carrots, turnip transplants and seed and more multipliers.  We will continue the planting out for a few more weeks yet and then it will be time to start all the weeding.


Sunday, May 16, 2010

Sally & her magic runner beans...


With a week of up and down temperatures and two frosts it really has been April in May!

Michael and I started to build our runner bean frames today and of course as ever I have got rather carried away with the bean orders.  
The seeds of some varieties remind me of Jack and his magic beans, Michael thinks they are more like jelly beans.
We are growing the following Heritage varieties this year, Cherokee Trail of Tears, Scarlet Runner, Sunset Runner, Lazy Housewife, Purple-Podded, Kentucky Wonder & Painted Lady. In a few months the flowers will be feeding the bees and humming birds and then after that we will be have some wonderful tasty beans.  

Sunday, May 9, 2010

The Greenhouse..

This time last year Strattons Farm was a hay field! The garden had not been harrowed, we had not built the bird housing and the greenhouse was a base and frame.

This year we are so excited to have so much already growing in the greenhouse, from heritage tomatoes, celery, kale, cabbage, herbs, eggplant, sweet peppers, hot peppers, lettuce, kohlrabi, and the list goes on. 
Outside the dipping broccoli is already in a raised bed with a fleece over the top to prevent flea beetles and cabbage butterfly from attacking it.  We do not use any sprays on the farm even those approved for Organic use can still harm the insects and creatures we welcome to the farm. A small bed of lettuce has been transplanted out, Multipliers and shallots are growing well, the peas are starting to break ground and the garlic bed is going from strength to strength.
Once the rain has stopped we hope to do the last bit of cultivating on the field and then the transplanting of hardy plants will start.  We will also start direct seeding summer turnips and carrots and planting our potatoes. 
























The greenhouse on May 8th 2010, Michael is transplanting a few tomato seedlings.
The trays to the left on the floor are leeks, red and white onions and salad onions.  This is the first time we have grown onion from seed and we are looking forward to seeing how they develop.  I gave the onions a haircut yesterday which is rather rewarding as you get to eat the tops you trim. The taste is amazing.


24hours later we have had a frost warning so we have had to rebuild low tunnels in the greenhouse and cover all the delicate plants with  fleece to keep heat in over night.


Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Mother Nature

It started around 3am this morning with the wind blowing in from the North.  Michael and I actually got up as we new the tarps where not tired down at the back of the horses run-in.  
The wind was cold and the air was full of a light rain, we tied the tarps down, checked on May & Lily, and the little chicks and all was good so we headed back to bed.











We woke this morning at 6.30am to see the fields around us covered in wet snow.  Lets hope that everything outside is happy with this sudden change in weather!














I am sure it will not be with us for long,  it is just a little poke to remind us that we are still in April.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

A great week of learning at the farm...


We have had a busy week and it has not all been about planting.  May & Lily's previous owner/breeder, Don Roi came to stay for three days at the farm.  Don has a wealth of knowledge and experience, and Michael and I have had a great few days learning from him.
We have learnt how to trim and file the horses feet,  Don has also given us tips on how to develop the girls strength and endurance for the months ahead.  This has involved the forecart, a rather large tire, and several hills! I have spent the last few days getting May and Lily to drag the tire around the paddocks. I have to be very honest Don had to drive the girls down the hill as I lost my nerve as it is rather steep. I did take the girls back up the hill which was great fun.  









Hoof trimming and filing was very interesting, We now have to purchase some horse size files as mine will never do!
Both May and Lily have lovely manicured feet, and we have a great collection of toe nails!




Don has also helped Michael instal our new solar water pump.  This means we are now able to pump water from our spring to all the animals and the garden.  
Water this year is going to be critical if the last month is anything to go by. I think we could be looking at a rather dry summer.  
We have a cistern and a well for the house and as many know I managed to run the well dry last year due to over watering the ducks! Having the pump means we will not have to tanker water in to fill the well as it will come from our own Spring.












Yesterday while we were finishing May's feet we had an unexpected visit from a local teamster Neil Whitton.  It was rather specutacular watching Neil drive over the fields with his stunning pair of Belgium's, who at the ages of 21 & 23 years old are still wining pulling championships across Ontario.  Neil takes all his horses out each day for a 10 mile drive to help build their stamina for competition.



Tuesday, April 13, 2010

First Morning of Cultivating..

Yesterday morning was our first day out with May & Lily and our new but old cultivator.
We have to slowly re-condition the girls back into shape so yesterdays cultivation was done with the teeth at the highest setting so the girls did not have to work as hard.  Over the next few day we will set the teeth lower each time and also spend longer periods out on the field.
It was a nervous start for us all but after a few passes, myself and the girls started to feel a little more comfortable and even our lines got a little straighter.

Being a long legged person the seat position was not really made for me!
Last night Michael replaced the old suspect seat with a rather new Pioneer one.  Lets hope it makes for a more comfortable ride.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Bee Inspection











Michael unwrapped all three hives today and did his first full inspection of each hive.
This is our second winter on the farm but the first winter with the Bees.

Michael removed the cozy's from each hive, and checked for honey, pollen, and for brood.   Michael did not spend to long on each hive as it was a little windy today on the farm.  Two of the hives are situated just down a hill so they miss most of the wind but our third hive which was from a swarm is situated at the top of the hill.

All hives are looking really strong at present which is great news for Michaels first year as a beekeeper.
Ryan Stewart from Loyalist College Multi media course also was here today to film and take photos of  Michael with the bees.

We are going to be adding an additional three hives to our yard this year. 

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

First Bee inspection of 2010.....


On Sunday with the mild weather we noted a lot of activity around the bee yard.  The bees were taking a cleansing flight.  Just say the snow went from a lovely white blanket to having yellow/orange spots all over it. Yes bees do poo! and poo a lot!

We are members of the local bee association and the monthly meeting was last night and the bees leaving the hive on Sunday for a short flight is actually a very good sign.




Today Michael went out to do a very quick inspection of all the hives and gave all the bees additional feed of sugar syrup. 






We are learning it becomes a family farm affair when we do anything and both May and Lily found Michael rather interesting in his bee suit.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Farm News...

Over the last two weeks we have started seeding for the harvest garden.   With the greenhouse being unheated I have to wait a little longer until the overnight temperature is above freezing before I can start planting outside.  This year I have taken over one of the bedrooms to start our seeds. I have been seeding onions, celery, celery leaf, and celeriac. I have planted over 1500 onion seeds so far some of which have started to germinate but I still have a few more seeds to plant!!  
We have been working with May & Lily on a regular basis, getting them used to walking over the garden and also getting them used to the cows across the road.  May does not seem to mind the mooing but Lily is still a little unsure.  We have been without the forecart as it makes for a rather bumpy ride over the planting field at the moment and also with the ice on the hay fields it has been a little slippery. I have been line driving them which is good practise for us all, especially for me as I am not very good at staying in a straight line!
Tamworth pork will be available from the middle of March. The pork is sold in mixed 20lb bundles, There is also some Berkshire pork still available. 

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Slow Roasted Berkshire Hock..

Apologies for anyone who is not a meat fan! I will be including a raw meat photo with this blog.



Last night I unwrapped one of our hocks and was delighted to see just how meaty it was.  Rather than the normal hocks you get in the supermarket ours weighed 4lbs and had the most amazing marbled meat.  So rather than just make a split pea soup I decided to slow roast it in the new wood stove!
It all started at around 11.30am this morning, we lit the stove and got the oven up to 400degrees. From there we roasted the hock for 30 minutes uncovered, (In theory I am following Jamie Oliver's recipe but doing the whole thing in the wood stove).
I covered the hock with a double layer of foil and placed the roasting pan back into the oven.  We allowed the temperature in the oven to drop to around 325 degrees and then maintained this heat for the next 4 hours. 






Michael then added a little more wood to help bring the temperature back up to 400degrees. We removed the  hock from the pan added some partially boiled potatoes, chopped carrots and celery, placed the hock on top of the veggies and cooked uncovered for another 75 minutes.
Not only were Michael and I looking forward to dinner as the smell through the house was rather yummy but Jorja and Zampa  also spent most of the day laying by the stove!
Of course to enjoy Berkshire Pork you do not need a wood stove! I will try another roast in the oven and see how it compares to cooking with the wood.     One of the benefits of cooking in the oven rather than the wood stove is you don't spend half the day looking like a beetroot from the heat.  You can also keep most of your clothing on, we have spent today peeling layers off as it has got rather hot in the house.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

CSA Veggie Boxes, only two shares left for the 2010 season!

We are just approaching the middle of February and already we have had a huge response to this years CSA Veggie Box scheme.  
We only have one full share and one 1/2 share remaining for the 2010 Harvest.

If you would like an application please contact the farm and we can either e-mail or post the application to you.  If you are interested in enjoying fresh, tasty, locally and naturally grown vegetables for an 18 week season you are sure to enjoy the delights of a Veggie Box.
Please remember shares are limited and this allows Michael and I to maintain a high quality of produce for you all.
What is a CSA or CSA Farm?: CSA farms receive a set fee from the consumer prior to the start of the growing season. In return you receive a share of the harvest on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, but you also share in the risks due to weather and other factors beyond the control of the farmer.
The Season: Will run over 18 weeks from the the week of 16th June and will finish the week of 10th October Thanksgiving week.
What can you expect in your basket over the season: Arugula, Bush Beans, Runner Beans, Beets, Cabbage, Cucumbers, Chard, Chilies, Eggplant, Herbs, Kale, Kohlrabi, Lettuce, Peas, Peppers, Potatoes, Radish, Rhubarb, Salad Leaf, Summer Squash, Sweet Corn, Winter Squash, Turnip, Tomatoes, Tomatillos and lots more to look forward to.
Pick-Up Location: Boxes will be available only from the farm and pick up days are either Tuesdays or Thursdays between 11am-6pm
Share Size: We offer two types of shares. Whole Share weekly basket and a Half Share a bi-weekly basket. A whole share will feed a family of four for a week or two adults who love veggies, love to cook or to preserve or can for winter. The half share is the same size box of veggies but you only collect your box every two weeks. This means if you are on your own, or don't eat as many veggies as some this will keep you happy and contented over a two week period.
How Much will it cost?: A whole share is $450 for the season, A half share is $225 for the season. This works out at $25.00 per box.
Payment Options: With your application you will need to enclose a $25.00 non refundable deposit cheque. You can pay for the season in Full or in 5 cheques which will be deposited over the season. All payments whether in full or installments are due by the 28th May 2010. If you choose to pay in installments over the season there will be an additional admin charge to each installment.
How do you apply?: Either e-mail or call the farm and we will get an application to you.
If you have any questions on the CSA scheme please do not hesitate to contact us, or read one of our earlier posts about the CSA.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Turkey Lurkey.....


We are now taking orders for Thanksgiving and ChristmasTurkeys.  As with all our animals, Turkeys will be raised slowly on pasture, veggies and grains.
We are raising two breeds of Turkey on the farm this year the Broad Breasted Bronze and Large White. 
If you would like to reserve your Turkey then please contact us, we only raise a small number each year so please book early. 

Friday, January 29, 2010

Rather Yummy Chops....

This is a nice quick and easy recipe for Pork chops which will have you wanting more.
Heat your oven to 425F
Place a skillet on a burner with a nice glug of olive oil in the pan, while the oil is heating season your chops with some salt and pepper and press a few Sage leaves into the chops.
Once the oil is hot place your chops in the pan.
This is the bit where we all get tempted to lift the meat too soon and have a look! Best thing to do is walk away and let the pan and the heat do it's thing..
You will start to see the meat edges lift and and it will become lose in the pan, at this stage have a look and it should be golden and yummy looking on the underneath. 
Turn your chops over and then place the skillet in the oven and leave to cook for about 10minutes..
Serve your chops with your favourite veggies.
I had all best intentions of having a lovely photo of them cooked but Michael had the plate out my hand before I could even get to the camera.  

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Jamie Oliver's 6 hour slow roasted pork shoulder

Serves 4 to 6
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 6 hours
ingredients
• 2kg bone-in shoulder of pork
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 red onions, halved
• 2 carrots, peeled and halved lengthways
• 2 sticks of celery, halved
• 1 bulb of garlic, skin on, broken into cloves
• 6-8 fresh bay leaves
• 600ml water or vegetable stock

This is a proper old-school Sunday roast. Leaving the bone in adds a bit of extra flavour well marbled pork helps to keep the meat nice and moist as it roasts. This isn’t the kind of joint you carve into neat slices. If you’ve cooked it right, it should pull apart into shreds with a couple of forks. 
Preheat your oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7.
Place your pork on a clean work surface, fat-side up.  Rub salt and pepper over the covering of fat on the  joint.
Brush any excess salt off the surface then turn it over. Season the underside of the meat with a few pinches of salt and pepper. Place your pork, fat side-up, in a roasting tray and pop in the preheated oven. Roast for 30 minutes. At this point, turn the heat down to 170°C/325 F/gas3, cover the pork snugly with a double layer of tin foil, pop back in the oven and roast for a further 4 and a half hours.
Take out of the oven take the foil off, and baste the meat with the fat in the bottom of the tray. Carefully lift the pork up and transfer to a chopping board. Spoon all but a couple of tablespoons of fat out (save it for roast potatoes!)
Add all the veg, garlic and bay leaves to the tray and stir them into the fat. Place the pork back on top of everything and return to the oven without the foil to roast for another hour. By this time the meat should be meltingly soft and tender.
Carefully move the meat to a serving dish, cover again with tin foil and leave to rest while you make your gravy. Spoon away any fat in the tray, then add the water or stock and place the tray on the hob. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to scrape up all those lovely sticky tasty bits on the bottom of the tray. When you’ve got a nice, dark gravy,pour it through a sieve into a bowl or gravy boat, using your spoon to really push all the goodness of the veg through the sieve. Add a little more salt and pepper if it needs it.
Serve the pork with your jug of gravy and some lovely roast potatoes (As a treat you can try roasting them in the fat you spooned out of your roasting tray. Some stewed red cabbage and a dollop of apple sauce will finish this off perfectly).

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Heritage Berkshire Pork for Sale...

We have spent the last seven months raising our Berkshire pigs. They have had a lovely pasture filled with grass, dandelions, and lots of other vegetation to romp around in. In Fall they got to enjoy pumpkins, squash and apples and in the snow they have snow bathed, eaten hay and even more apples, and unmedicated grain.  We have allowed our pigs to be pigs and do all the things that piggies like to do.
Berkshire's are a rare breed of pig originating from Britain.  Said to be 'Britain's oldest pig breed'.  They apparently became popular after being discovered by Cromwell's troops while they were stationed at Reading during the English civil war.
Berkshire's where introduced to Canada in the 1830's and as quoted in the Canadian Farmer in 1867 "for quality of pork & bacon, the modern Berkshire still stands unrivalled"

They produce tender, dark juicy meat with high marbling and exceptional flavour.

Click here to read a food critics article on Berkshire pork.

Pork can be purchased as either individual cuts or a 20lb mixed selection which will include roasts, chops, ground, and bacon.

Customer's Comment on our Berkshire Pork...


Hi Sally and Michael
Just had to tell you that we had a pork- filled dining experience this weekend.  The kids and I had bacon and eggs for dinner on Saturday.  Richard missed out as he had work to do, so I'd like to get more bacon from you if you have it.  Sunday we had chops.  Now I have to tell you that I really don't like pork chops, BUT these were fantastic.  I just made a quick marinade with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper.  Only had time to brush it on and threw them in the oven on really high heat for 20 or so mins, turned over for another 10 min.  They were tender, sweet and delicious. 
So here is my official feedback - Great stuff and I need more bacon!!!
See you Saturday,
Rita


"Evelyn loves the eggs, She loves the pork too. She really enjoyed having the bacon with her eggs. I had to stop her at three pieces she kept saying "a little more Mommy".
From Evelyn 3 years old and her Mommy



Saturday, January 9, 2010

Seed Planing....


It is that time of year again when the snow falls and the wind blows, and all the seed brochures have arrived........

I am sitting down with my cup of coffee, brochures and my garden plan and getting the best job of selecting what we will grow this season.  As ever I promise to grow some weird and wonderful veggies.
We will be increasing our range or Heirloom Vegetables, I have added Sweet Potatoes, Chinese Artichokes, Rapini and a greater selection of fall/winter veggies.
If you have any suggestions of things you would like to see in your boxes or at the market please do let us know.  We are always happy to try.
We will be establishing a proper herb garden this season and last year we planted additional Rhubarb and Asparagus plants, ready for spring picking.