Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving!
I wanted to wish anyone reading a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you celebrate in whatever way makes you happy. I will be sharing dinner with my SO's family, and I am bringing homemade bread. Nothing in it is locally sourced (yet, no one seems to mill flour here) but it is made by ME!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Well, this is exciting
I've been despairing a bit of late over The Garlic Experiment. We had frost one night about 10 days after I got the garlic in, and I wasn't sure if my protective fort for the garlic worked or not. I haven't found sprouts yet and I know it should sprout and grow a little before the cold really sets in. Of course, my work schedule also doesn't give me a lot of daylight to check, either.
Well, there are TWO sprouted right now! And my little bunker has proven to be a spot where leaves get hung up as they blow off trees, so no the garlic planters are mulched with leaves as has been recommended. I think I planted 8 cloves, and while 2 out of 8 isn't a great yield, it will likely be plenty for me and maybe more will pop up before we get a hard frost.
Well, there are TWO sprouted right now! And my little bunker has proven to be a spot where leaves get hung up as they blow off trees, so no the garlic planters are mulched with leaves as has been recommended. I think I planted 8 cloves, and while 2 out of 8 isn't a great yield, it will likely be plenty for me and maybe more will pop up before we get a hard frost.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
High Praise to Bobolink Farms!
Sorry to have been away--not much has been going on, so I haven't had much to say. I originally planned to wait and post about this product until I actually had it, but I just had the best customer service experience in some time!
I stumbled across Vernon NJ's Bobolink Farm several weeks ago and signed up for their mailing list. They are a small farm that makes cheese and occasionally has pork, beef and veal available. I got an email advising that beef and pork were available about a week ago...and just listen to this email, doesn't it sound awesome:
"100% Grass-fed Beef Details:
Most feedlot beef is harvested at 18 months, when the animal's growth curve begins to flatten out. Regrettably, much of the grass-fed beef on the market is also "baby beef", lacking the depth of flavor and marbling that a mature animal attains.
This steer, a Jersey-Brown Swiss cross, was 42 months old, and never took anything except his mother's milk, fresh grass, dry hay and salt. The meat is well marbled, with sunny, grassy-yellow fat that informs of a true 100% grass diet and a well-lived life.
The two filets were donated to the Autism Speaks benefit dinner in NYC last month, so there are no porterhouse or t-bone steaks. but we do have rib, loin shell, and loin sirloin steaks, as well as rib roast, cross-rib roast, chuck roast, bottom round, top sirloin and eye round roasts, as well as ground beef, stew beef, etc.
Whey-fed Pork Details
These piggies were born in March, and spent the spring, summer and fall grazing weeds, digging up grubs, drinking Bobolink's cheese whey, eating stale Bobolink bread, bulk levain starter, tablescraps, etc. This year's pigs are cross-bred Old Spot,Tamworth, Large Black and Berkshires, all old British breeds. Tamworth is actually a Bronze Age breed, the same pigs that Julius Caesar discovered in his conquest of Britian. The meat is well marbled, moist, tender, sweet, and delicious!"
I did click the link to look at what was available when I got the mail, and decided that I would order some hamburger, steaks and pork chops later. That was a mistake since when I went back less than 24 hours later there was almost nothing left! So, I did order 5 pounds of burger, and a cheese sample, and next time something is ready I will order immediately.
They only ship on Monday and Tuesday so I was expecting my order this week with the idea that I would make some Sussex County based chili with my tomatoes from the summer...however the order hasn't arrived yet. I checked the tracking today and saw that the cheese has shipped (cheese and meat ship seperately) and I figured I'd call today to find out what happened to my cow.
Well, I didn't have to because this afternoon I got a call from Bobolink Farm! I think I spoke to John, I'm not 100% sure...but they ended up selling that steer in 36 hours and pretty much got overwhelmed, so he was apologetic and made sure it was OK to ship it out this coming Monday to arrive Tuesday. I assured him this was OK...but REALLY, how often do you get this sort of service? Right--you don't! Another reason to go local!
Bobolink Farm also sells cheeses at Farmer's Markets or their Farm Store, and they offer Farm Tours as well...I think once the spring arrives I'll go for a visit and see how they run.
The cheese did arrive today-the sampler I got has 4 varieties. I did snitch a little of the cheddar, and it is creamy and good, and not super sharp. I bet it will be awesome with some bread. And I'll let you know how that chili turns out next week!
I stumbled across Vernon NJ's Bobolink Farm several weeks ago and signed up for their mailing list. They are a small farm that makes cheese and occasionally has pork, beef and veal available. I got an email advising that beef and pork were available about a week ago...and just listen to this email, doesn't it sound awesome:
"100% Grass-fed Beef Details:
Most feedlot beef is harvested at 18 months, when the animal's growth curve begins to flatten out. Regrettably, much of the grass-fed beef on the market is also "baby beef", lacking the depth of flavor and marbling that a mature animal attains.
This steer, a Jersey-Brown Swiss cross, was 42 months old, and never took anything except his mother's milk, fresh grass, dry hay and salt. The meat is well marbled, with sunny, grassy-yellow fat that informs of a true 100% grass diet and a well-lived life.
The two filets were donated to the Autism Speaks benefit dinner in NYC last month, so there are no porterhouse or t-bone steaks. but we do have rib, loin shell, and loin sirloin steaks, as well as rib roast, cross-rib roast, chuck roast, bottom round, top sirloin and eye round roasts, as well as ground beef, stew beef, etc.
Whey-fed Pork Details
These piggies were born in March, and spent the spring, summer and fall grazing weeds, digging up grubs, drinking Bobolink's cheese whey, eating stale Bobolink bread, bulk levain starter, tablescraps, etc. This year's pigs are cross-bred Old Spot,Tamworth, Large Black and Berkshires, all old British breeds. Tamworth is actually a Bronze Age breed, the same pigs that Julius Caesar discovered in his conquest of Britian. The meat is well marbled, moist, tender, sweet, and delicious!"
I did click the link to look at what was available when I got the mail, and decided that I would order some hamburger, steaks and pork chops later. That was a mistake since when I went back less than 24 hours later there was almost nothing left! So, I did order 5 pounds of burger, and a cheese sample, and next time something is ready I will order immediately.
They only ship on Monday and Tuesday so I was expecting my order this week with the idea that I would make some Sussex County based chili with my tomatoes from the summer...however the order hasn't arrived yet. I checked the tracking today and saw that the cheese has shipped (cheese and meat ship seperately) and I figured I'd call today to find out what happened to my cow.
Well, I didn't have to because this afternoon I got a call from Bobolink Farm! I think I spoke to John, I'm not 100% sure...but they ended up selling that steer in 36 hours and pretty much got overwhelmed, so he was apologetic and made sure it was OK to ship it out this coming Monday to arrive Tuesday. I assured him this was OK...but REALLY, how often do you get this sort of service? Right--you don't! Another reason to go local!
Bobolink Farm also sells cheeses at Farmer's Markets or their Farm Store, and they offer Farm Tours as well...I think once the spring arrives I'll go for a visit and see how they run.
The cheese did arrive today-the sampler I got has 4 varieties. I did snitch a little of the cheddar, and it is creamy and good, and not super sharp. I bet it will be awesome with some bread. And I'll let you know how that chili turns out next week!
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