Salsa Verde

We've been enjoying lots of salsa verde these last few weeks as all the ingredients for this delicious condiment - or side dish, depending on how much you enjoy it - are ready to harvest!

Tomatillos on the vine.  These fruits are related to a tomato, but perhaps not quite so delicious raw.  When they begin to pop out of their 'paper lantern' like husk, they are ready to be picked!

 

Jalapenos!  When small stretch marks develop along their sides are they are ready to go.  Each jalapeno seems to have it's own level of spiciness.  The seeds will make it more spicy too - things to consider when making your salsa!

Cilantro!  You cut this one like most herbs, a few inches above the base of the plant, use the leaves, not the stem or flower, and leave the rest to regrow for another harvest.

Onions! When the tall green tops begin to dry out and flop over, these onions are ready to be pulled out of the ground.  They can be eaten right away, or cured in a dry place to store away for winter.

On to the cooking!  This is a simple recipe developed here on the farm - exact quantities and times are unimportant. What matters is that you use fresh ingredients from your local farm!
Ingredients:
15 Tomatillos
2-5 Jalapenos (depending on desired spiciness)
1 large Onion
1 bunch Cilantro
Juice from 1 Lime
Method:
Grill (or broil) Tomatillos, Onion, Garlic, and Jalapenos 5-10 minutes or until surfaces are lightly blackened. Put all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend for 10-20 seconds or until desired chunkiness. Serve with tortilla chips or as a garnish to just about any meal.

We ate lots fresh but also canned some to enjoy this winter.  We recently acquired a pressure canner that makes canning easy and safe. 10 psi for 10 minutes is sufficient to kill the potential of botulism in pint jars of salsa verde. If you're a canner, this will make sense, if not, no worries, just enjoy it fresh!  It's great with swiss chard tacos, fried eggs, or just about any meal!  Buen provecho!

Freedom Rangers

The Cornish-Rock is the industry standard meat chicken breed. It has been bred to have an astounding feed-to-meat conversion ratio, excessively rapid growth, and obscenely large breasts. This is the chicken most of us are used to, as it is the only chicken available in grocery stores. The downside of the Cornish-Rock's turbo-charged growth and top-heavy physique is its inability to act like a chicken after the first few weeks of its life. A true chicken scratches, ruffles its feathers, dust bathes, roosts, and chases grasshoppers. Mature Cornish-Rocks pretty much just eat and sleep (thus their 'efficient' use of feed).

In light of these discoveries over the last few months, we have begun raising an alternative variety of chicken. They are called Freedom Rangers, and are derived from the American and European old heritage breed of chicken that was developed in the early 1960s to meet the highest standards of the French Label Rouge Free Range program. They are like the traditional birds raised on small farms in the good old days - healthy and vigorous foragers with succulent flavor and texture. So far ours are doing great - they've been thriving on pasture since day one, and should continue to grow (at a healthy and reasonable rate) until we process them here on the farm mid September.

Summer in Full Swing

Apparently June and July are busy months for a farmer, and time in front of a computer is difficult to find. But here were are at long last, picking back up after a few months of 16 hour days, bountiful harvests, and delicious eating, and minimal blogging. So far this summer has called for lots of hard work and has rewarded us generously with an abundance of good times and great food.

Highlights of the last couple months include the start of our CSA season,

 
...the growing of our pastured egg layers, broilers, pigs, sheep, and turkeys,

...the official approval of our processing facility for poultry,

...and finding our niche at the Scarborough Farmer's Market.

We have been fortunate to have a great group of CSA members and regular customers who have been supportive in many ways. We are very grateful to all, and look forward to everything to come as we approach the midpoint of our season. And apologies for our blogging delinquency - we hope to show a better cyberface from here on out!

Pig Parade

The pigs graduated to the woods today to make room for the tomatoes, which will go in the newly vacated, pig-plowed plot. Rather than risk the escape of 6 hundred-pound snout-o-tillers, we decided to enclose the pigs in their mobile shelter for the move out to the woods. Though a bit of a workout, it was fun to watch the pigs march along inside the shelter as we dragged it forward. And when we paused for rest, they quickly started tilling up the ground. Perhaps one day we will use them in such a way for precision tillage.

 

  The pigs appear to be very happy with their new surroundings.

Ovo!

Perhaps as exciting as a Cirque de Soleil performance was the discovery of the first Frith Farm egg. And it was no ordinary egg, but rather a double-yolked one, which we decided to see as an excellent omen. It was fried up on the spot and shared among all present. The results of the taste test were, of course, off the charts.

Moving Out

The meat chicks moved to their portable shelter today at just under 2 weeks of age. They spent their first day on pasture exploring the unfamiliar yet instinctually delectable grass, dirt, and insects, chirping merrily away the whole time. They will be moved to new pasture every day so the freshness and variety of their natural smorgasbord never diminishes.

Rain and Weeds

With the rainy weather this last week, the soil has been too wet to work, so we spent much of the week weeding. The ever-persistent quackgrass thrives in the cool wet spring, and would easily reclaim the fields if we looked away for too long. While it is difficult to ignore the Sisyphean nature of hand-plucking rhizomatous grass, it can be a rather meditative task, and a well-suited background activity for stimulating conversation. And it is undeniably satisfying to start with a grass jungle and end with 4 nice straight lines of tender mesclun greens.

Cheep and Sheep

The farm community here has undergone a rapid expansion in the last two days with the addition of 75 day-old meat chicks and 6 Katahdin lambs. The chickens will be ready in just eight weeks, while the lambs will help us mow the lawn into late fall. We look forward to watching them grow!

Porcine Plows

The pigs have graduated from their hog panel pen and are now full-time employees of the farm. Contained by a couple strands of electrified wire, they have been commissioned to till and incorporate several truckloads of leaves and manure into the future tomato plot. Ideal workers, they have not requested a raise, but rather have tackled their new task with zeal while decreasing their grain consumption. Seems their discerning palates favor the grass, grubs, roots, leaves, and acorns over purchased feed.

Signed and Sealed

After many months of waiting for frozen ground to thaw, and high water tables to descend, we have finally erected the Frith Farm roadside sign. Now any curious passersby can confirm this is in fact a farm.

Happy hens

It's been great to watch the hens forage more as the tender green grass of spring grows tall. It's quite a thrill to walk out into the pasture just before dusk when the hens are all spread out, partially hidden in the tall growth, eating their fill of grass, clover, and fleeing insects.

Signs of Spring

It is exciting to watch come to life the many hidden surprises of the land that were dormant for winter. We now have located the rhubarb, asparagus, and mint patches, along with numerous flowers and budding berry bushes.

From Pest to Protein

In preparing the beds for planting, we unearthed many big brown beetles. We collected them as a treat for the chickens, and enjoyed watching the hens scramble and cluck in delight as we tossed them in the pen.

A new coat for spring

Slowly but surely we are scraping and painting the weathered exterior of the house and barn. Though the work is long and repetitive, we are gradually rewarded with the visual revival of the front courtyard. It's also reassuring to be able to open a door or window without a shower of paint chips raining down on you.