Climbing and Rolling

I am picking the beautiful bounty of peas everyday now by the quart!  The lovely small pea blossoms have come and gone and many climbing plants have overtaken the fencing meant to support their lofty goals.  But the August heat is nearly upon us and with temps over 70 most days, they won’t be here much longer.

How to Cut Up (Quarter) a Whole Chicken

For anyone who ordered some of our whole chickens and for anyone else wondering how to go from a whole chicken to the traditional cuts, we’ve put together an instructional video showing step by step how to do it.  

The Rare Beauty of a Rainy Farmers’ Market

It’s the middle of summer. Gardens are beginning to burst, the chickens are nearly full grown, and farmers’ markets are bustling centers of joy with gossip and goods.  Summer is a favorite time of year because after a long wait through New England winters… there is a burst of fresh and local food.  All you need to do is stop by your local market and choose your favorites!  Come meet the farmers and visit with friends!  But it is summer and sometimes it rains.  While most will shake their head at the idea of a soggy farmers’ market, we are here to say, don’t miss out on the market because of the weather.  

The Wild Blueberry’s Story

All food tells a story. Some of this story we can tell easily because we know where we bought the ingredients, or we heard a description from the waiter at a restaurant. But are there many foods you eat where you truly know the full story? It isn’t just about who serves the food or who makes it, but rather, where it was grown, and even where those seeds or animals were came from. Do we know if it is organic, heirloom, heritage, GMO free, wild or cultivated? Sometimes it’s too much hassle to think this much. But it can be worth playing the investigative reporter and getting to know your food and its origins. You might be surprised how long of a history there is on your plate. 

Garden Update Mid July

I have been trying to practice restraint in our garden beds. Such a tough thing to do when you are excited as we are about growing our own food from seed!  The lettuce, kale, and swiss chard are taking off and we even saw sweet peas this week! It all looks so pretty almost too pretty to eat.

Gluten Free Baking – Tips, Tricks, and Hacks

The other day I had my first call from a concerned customer.  I have spoken with many great customers in person, but this was a call about an item I sold to a coffee shop that I wasn’t handing over with a face-to-face interaction.  The young man called and asked about whether the ingredients on the label for a gluten-free muffin were correct and what I could tell him about the gluten-free aspects of the snack he wanted to eat.  My heart jumped into my throat. “OK.Tell me more,” I asked, “and where are you and what did you order and what does it look like?  Do you mind me asking if you are allergic or if you have celiac?” I probed and then I listened…

Views into the Homestead

We’ve been posting photos and videos fairly regularly on Instagram and Facebook lately and don’t want any blog followers to miss out!  So check out a selection below of 10 recent photos. And if you’d like to see more like this plus some fun short videos from the homestead, feel free to check us out on Instagram and Facebook!  

Mustard Greens Macaroni and Cheese [recipe with gluten free option]

There are many foods that I have despised in this life. One poorly prepared dish, preconceptions passed from a friend, or even just the first glance at a food in a poor context could destroy a reputation for years in my mind. To this day there are still some foods that will cause turmoil if I see them set before me. But I’ve come to learn that it is always worth revisiting a vegetable in a new way, trying a new spice, or eating a new part of an animal. Even the food you think you’ll always hate can shine in the right context. 

Essential tips to improve broiler chicken survival rates

If you’ve ever ordered chicks, you might have noticed a statistic for the “survival rate” or “mortality rate” or something like that included with the description of the breed.  This rate is to give us an idea of how many chicks will actually survive long enough to process.  Typically people assume a 20% loss in the chickens they raise for meat, and thus make sure to order more chicks to overcome the inevitable deaths of birds that don’t reach market weight.  I saw one hatchery proudly stating their chicks had a 70% survival rate.  That’s 3 out of every 10 chickens dying!  We need to do as much as we can to improve these odds.