Hey There !
Dave from McElhoes Family Farm/Belmont here.
Sorry I was unable to send your newsletter last week. Most of the week was spent processing packaging and freezing the first batch of our Old Fashioned Country Chickens!
I
think due to the dry weather, they are a bit smaller than sometimes.
This is actually kind of a blessing anyway. Usually we are trying to
balance more time (which improves the flavor), and size (sometimes the
additional time makes them too big). These chickens are 12 weeks old
and still about what would be considered fryer size, that is, 3 or 4
pounds, or thereabouts.
Since
my wife and daughter were out of town last week, and since I was too
busy to cook, I haven't tried them yet. In other years, however,
similar situations have led to spectacular
flavor. Even though at this size they are called fryers, I will
probably "slow roast" the first one with just some salt, pepper, garlic
and butter to let the flavor stand on it's own.
Of
course, even though my mouth is now actively watering, it may have to
wait a bit as I will be busy hauling in hay for our winter supply. The
dry weather has caused us to have to begin feeding hay to the sheep and
goats. What started as an anomalous bale at the end of July, has led to
keeping one open and available at all times.
Even
though the pastures "crunch" when you walk across them, the animals
still seem to prefer to search for bits of fresh grass before filling up
on the hay afterwards. Usually we stockpile some forage this time of
year. Some years we are still out on pasture in November. I am not
sure the grass will have time to recover this year even if rain does
arrive soon.
I
read a book many years ago, and I have been thinking a bit about it as
the daily chores have been hotter and longer and slower. It was called
simply "Chop Wood, Carry Water". It was based on a Buddhist proverb that
goes something like:
"Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."
It had
a lot of small essays of food for thought and good advice. I might
even look for it to include in Katie's home school. I don't know if I
am reaching enlightenment, but I do spend most of my days talking to
sheep...
At any rate, If you are a member of our Chicken Club,
you should have already gotten an email offering you first dibs on this
first batch of chickens. If you want me to reserve any of this batch,
or if you have an idea of what you would like me to save from later
batches, please email me and I will be sure to take care of you. The
remainder of this batch of chickens should be up on the website for sale
by the end of the week. (fingers crossed)
We will have another batch of Old Fashioned birds in about a month, and somewhere in that same time frame our lone batch of Gourmet Country Chickens. I am sorry we are both late and limited this year, but it is because of last winter's supply issues.
We
currently have several types of garlic, a few green beans, snack
tomatoes and several types of summer squash and zucchini available in
the Farm Stand. Eggs have been going even before we can get them into
the stand. Kind of light this year, but it is a start.
Well, gotta run. Thanks for listening!
Dave
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