Farmer boy enjoys his CSA share before mom even cooks it!
Wow, where did January go? Well, this Saturday is meat pick up as well as next Thursday. So it’s time to stock up! We have been enjoying bone broth to help with the winter illness and it’s kept most of us healthy this winter. Along with lots of ginger and garlic! We’ve been adding it to the broth when we make it. So don’t forget to get some beef bones and use the bones from your whole chickens! Broth is so easy and nutrient dense. We just simmer a pot of bones, water, splash of vinegar and sea salt (adding whatever veggies or peelings you have leftover) all night after we eat chicken and then strain the next day. Then it’s soup time!
Have trouble getting your children (or husband) to drink broth? Two easy ways to get more into your picky folks (besides soup) is by replacing half the water with broth when you make rice and also who doesn’t like oriental food? We make this awesome brown sauce to serve over rice, any meat and pretty much any stir fried veggies. In the summer we use summer squash and onions and lately we’ve been loving the asian greens (tat soi, napa cabbage or mustard greens) in this dish. For the sauce I just take a whole head of garlic and peel and chop it, I fry it in some butter for a few minutes and then add 4 cups chicken broth, 1/2 cup liquid aminos or soy sauce, 1/4 cup maple syrup and I combine a 1/2 cup broth and 4 TBS corn starch. Just simmer until thick. Then just doctor it up as you need with more soy sauce. Adding orange juice can be fun, but then you need to use arrowroot powder instead and don’t boil as it doesn’t like to thicken when boiled. It’s been voted a favorite this winter in our kitchen. I plan to make french onion soup soon too as it’s a farmer favorite too!
Farm life is bubbling with puppies and the new calf is out in the field to be seen now. We named her Mercy. The puppies are growing by leaps and bounds and just started eating puppy food. Wow if I thought toddlers were messy eaters! Young puppies eat like little piglets, only worse! So after their first meal they had their first baths. We have baby peppers and tomatoes growing in the safety of the barn with grow lights. Only a little winter left folks, well that is what it feels like anyway. Maybe February will be colder, but it feels like spring is coming!
Farmer Johnny had his first birthday and he loves time spent in the green house! We have just seeded more carrots and we have greens getting ready to replace a whole 100 foot bed of greens that we have all enjoyed this winter! We sure love the new green house! What a huge blessing! OH and this week we are sending out beets, white sweet potatoes, lettuce mix, asian greens, kale and WONDERFUL cabbage kohlrabi ginger kraut. Farmer Sean made it and maybe he’ll take over the fermented shares as it’s the best we ever made! Enjoy on sausage sandwiches, or alongside anything! Today we made buns and shaped loose sausage into hotdog shapes and had the kraut on top! It was a huge hit! My new favorite way to eat the white sweet potatoes is by making scalloped potatoes with them. The sweet and salty mix is great!
See you soon!
Blessings,
The farm mama