FARM HAPPENINGS
We welcomed our first spring calf of the season on Thursday morning. Louisa, one of our best young Guernsey milkers, blessed us with a cute little heifer we named Lily. We are hoping Louisa will pass on those great milking genetics to Lily. They will be together in the outdoor maternity pens on the south side of our barn through the weekend, before rejoining the rest of the herd on Monday. The Forest Preserve walking paths run right by the maternity pens so feel free to stop by and say hello to our newest addition.
Our egg production has continued to improve over the last week with longer days and a new batch of organic no corn/no soy feed. Unfortunately, even with the higher egg production we are still selling out many days of the week. We will continue to supplement our production with other local organic eggs when we can get them.
On the topic of eggs, we did receive a negative Google review last week from an egg buyer who complained about how pale our yolks are in the winter, confusing egg yolk color with nutritional value. See my response to him below:
“The color off egg yolks has little to do with nutritional value and everything to do with the chicken's diet. Diets high in carotenoids will lead to darker yolks. The main sources of carotenoids in a chickens diet include corn, green forages, and feed additives such as paprika and marigold powder. We do not ever feed our hens corn so that is one reason their yolks will be lighter, in particular during the winter when they have no green forages. We do drop alfalfa hay into their winter outdoor area to forage but that is dried hay cut last summer. Once they are back out on pasture in another few weeks the yolks should darken up. If you are getting local eggs with dark yolks in the winter when there is no green pasture to forage, they are likely feeding them a lot of corn and possibly a yolk color enhancer such as paprika or marigold powder. They add no nutritional value to the eggs.”
“MEET THE MAKER” EVENTS SCHEDULED
With the return of winter weather this week we are taking a break but have an exciting lineup of local food growers and artisans scheduled in the coming weeks:
Saturday, March 28th - Meet Fisherman Mark from Bering Bounty as he discusses fishing the ice-cold waters off Alaska, his favorite fish recipes, and samples of his catch. 10AM-2PM.
Saturday, April 4th - Meet Chef Ernesto, maker of El Molcajete organic tortilla chips and mole sauces. Sample a few of his sauces and learn what it takes to make mole.10AM-1PM.
Saturday, April 11th - Meet Willie the beekeeper, of Willie's Honey. He will discuss beekeeping, different bee products, varieties and seasonal variations of honey, and answer any bee or honey-related questions. 10AM-1PM.
Saturday, April 18th - Meet Molly of Molly's Kitchen, our fantastic sourdough baker who managed our farm store for two years before children happened. She will be sampling many of her delicious baked treats and can answer all your sourdough starter and baking questions. 10AM-1PM.
FARM STORE UPDATE
We just picked up a trailer full of beef from eight beeves processed last month, so our Farm Store freezers will be restocked with your favorite steaks, roasts, primal/ancestral blends, and tallow products this weekend. We also restocked our selection of local Janie’s Mill stone-ground organic flours including Einkorn, All Purpose, Artisan, Spelt & Buckwheat.
Fresh organic produce in the store this week includes Michigan Apples, Microgreens, Crystal Lake Mushrooms, IGL Potatoes, Onions, Garlic, Shallots, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Celery, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Avocados, Red Bell Peppers, Red Beets, Pears, Grapefruit, Oranges, Meyer Lemons, Mangos & Papaya.
New products in the store includes Rawmio Cacao Powder & Cacao Nibs, Rawmio Mushroom Hot Chocolate, and Rawmio chocolate-covered Hazelnuts, Macadamina Nuts, Sprouted Almonds, and Sweet Cherries….I'm guessing Jeff was in the midst of a major sweets craving when he was ordering all this new Rawmio chocolate-covered snack stuff!
That's it from the farm this week. Please remember to bring us your leftover shopping bags and egg cartons so we can re-use them.
Cheers,
Cliff, Anna, and the Farm Team
