Farming in Spring

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posted on

May 16, 2023

I love spring! It's my favorite time of year because the trees, grass, and flowers are all in full bloom along with warm weather and sunshine! Fresh vegetables are starting to become available again - we are just loving our CSA produce box. Anyone else?

As the cold months wrap up, we start transitioning over to many moving pieces all around our farm - chickens, turkeys, cows, and pigs...and lots of them! They're grazing, eating, moving, and lovin' life. We'll talk more below about what our poultry season looks like this time of year (scroll half way down).

Recently, we have brought the Traeger Smoker & Grill back out to start enjoying smoked hams, butts, briskets, and chicken again! These are favorites and it's a side hobby that is enjoyed (and helpful) as our 3 kids grow and have hungry bellies after working hard "sometimes" alongside us (let's keep it real - other times they are off playing). lol

Our Farm Friends (customers) are my top priority. Every week we load orders, make deliveries to local VA drop sites, ship, manage curbside pick-up, store hours, and communicate with our customers by phone, email, social media, and website! We don't sell our products through major grocery store chains, but instead directly to families who value relationships and sustainably-raised meats.

It's always on our mind that it's through the support of our Farm Friends that sustainable farms like ours will restore lost farmland, build topsoil, and feed us well into the future.

Spring Chicks!

We currently have 3 brooders full of chickens or turkeys, along with a set of chickens out on pasture. Each brooder holds up to 750-800 chicks that get checked on all throughout the day to keep a close eye and make sure that everyone stays comfy and cozy.

During the first couple weeks that chicks and poults (baby turkeys) are alive, it's critical that their conditions stay just perfect!

As soon as they are old enough and larger in size, they get to move to the great outdoors where they love the sunshine, bugs, grass, and fresh air. We house them in shelters that are moved daily to fresh grass. It's lots of work to do this, but totally worth it! You can see the impact on the vegatation that rapidly grows back.

As we've said before, this type of sustainable farming is about healthy land and healthy food - the two go hand in hand. Be sure to join us for a tour this summer and SEE this firsthand.

Until we talk again, have a wonderful spring!

Sincerely,
Laura

Family Friendly Weeknight Bolognese

If you're like me, family dinners are important. It feels like there are a million different responsibilities these days, and it's easy to get so busy that there doesn't seem to be time to sit down as a family and enjoy a filling, nutritious meal - much less cook one! The more I learn about the food industry, the more committed I become to making my family's food from scratch as much as possible. So then the challenge becomes finding recipes that fit my criteria... For a meal to be a winner in my book, here's what it needs to be: easy to make with very few separate stepseasy flexibility for dietary needs of individual family memberscustomizable for personal tasteeasy to swap ingredients to a) make it seem like a different dish sometimes and b) use what I have on handbe overall inexpensive (since I have a growing family of 6)have no "weird" ingredients or crazy spices. (In other words, it has to be "kid approved") Now. A quick browse on Pinterest might yield hundreds of recipes that mostly match those criteria, but as soon as I click the mouth-watering picture and actually read the recipe, my stomach churns at all the pre-packaged, ingredient-laden, seed-oil-filled "conveniences" that cook used. 😞 My meals also must be nutritionally dense and use no mystery ingredients or seed oils. Since I created this family-friendly weeknight Bolognese recipe that actually meets all of these requirements, I thought I'd share, because you may be "in the same boat" searching for recipes like this for your family, too. Hannah's Family Friendly Weeknight Bolognese Ingredients: 16 oz dry pasta (For extra kid-friendliness, I usually choose penne or rotini) 1 pound ground beef 1 pound ground pork sausage (My go-to is breakfast sausage, but you can use any flavor. It does need to be pork sausage because of the fat content.) 2 whole carrots (diced) 1 small onion (diced) 1 1/2 tsp salt (I only use REAL salt) 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 1 tsp EACH dried basil, dried oregano, dried parsley (substitute with 1 Tablespoon of fresh herbs when able. 😊) 4-8 garlic cloves (diced) - depending on size and preference 16-32 oz pasta sauce or tomato sauce - based on preference (I use my home-canned tomato sauce, but any will do) 1/2 cup whole milk or heavy cream (again, depending on preference) Steps: Cook pasta according to package instructions for al dente and set aside. Cook and crumble meats together in a large saucepanIn the meat pan, add vegetables and spices/herbs and cook until tenderAdd tomato sauce and simmer for 10-15 minutes to infuse flavorsStir in milk (or cream) and cook until warmStir sauce into cooked pasta and serve immediately with parmesan Recommended sides: Green salad or caprese (tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper) Sauteed kale or Swiss chard Roasted green beans, squash & zucchini, or asparagus Garlic toast Let me know if you try this dish, what you changed, and how you liked it! There are endless substitutions and changes that make this meal so so easy to keep in the back of your mind and just use whatever you have on hand. And its so easy that even kids can help with prep (which I love to have my kiddos do).

Farming in Spring

Spring Chicks!

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