high season

soon we will be in what i call "high season". this is the time of year that most produce comes ready. this is also the time of year that i turn off the lights in the barn and operate on natural daylight only. usually the barn lights are on a timer to stretch the amount of daylight so my hens lay well during the fall and winter. now i can save some $$ while operating under natural light.

the garden is coming along very well. the only veggie not doing so good is my eggplants. for some reason, i'm having some difficulty with growing them, both last year and this year. i have realized that i can't do everything right and research is a valuable thing. ;-)

my replacement chicks are growing nicely. i'm looking forward to the time i cull the old hens and place the new ones in the main layer house. i ordered lots more ameraucana hens for this coming season, so i hope to offer more green and blue shelled eggs in the regular dozens i sell.

farmer's market is going well. we will be starting another farmer's market july 8th in upper arlington, columbus. tom and tristam will be working my market booth at this farmer's market. they are fantastic people and you will enjoy them at our market stand.

that's it for now....well, i don't like pigs this week. this can happen when you trip and fall in their pen with their slop bucket in hand. they run you over.

what's fresh this week?

produce shares
this week's fresh pick is snow peas. the peas are just starting to come on. it appears that some sugar snap peas were planted in with the snow peas, but i'm not yet sure. shareholder please give us some feedback on the peas when you can.

also on the fresh list this week is butter crunch head lettuce and baby spinach. the greens provided in the shares for the next 2 weeks are the last crop of spinach and lettuce until fall. we will have some turnip greens, beet tops and other interesting options for greens yet, but quantity will be limited until the weather cools again.

strawberries are still coming on. we will also have chives and lemon balm. there will be more, just not sure yet what will be ready.

meat shares
we will have fresh chickens again this week! we can accommodate extra chicken in lieu of beef or pork in your shares. just let us know at pick up and we can make the switch.

we are featuring recently processed mutton. mutton is older sheep, not lamb. it has a stronger lamb taste. if you are feeding it to children, i suggest cooking with red wine to tame down the flavor for sensitive palates. for me, on the other hand, i love it, so bring it!

i have a fantastic chicken bbq recipe listed below. for those of you in indiana familiar with the port-a-pit chicken bbq, this marinade recipe is very close to it.

enjoy this week's shares!

chicken bbq marinade
serves/makes:1 qt. approx.
ingredients
• 1 lb butter
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup vinegar (herb vinegars work best)
• 4 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp pepper
• 4 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 2 t. Mrs. Dash Chicken Grilling Blend
Preparation
• boil together. this stores well in fridge.

I marinade overnight and use this marinade for basting. Use a nice smoky wood while grilling for best flavor.

what's fresh this week?

this week our vegetable shares will again include fennel. fennel is truly a vegetable with a mild licorice taste, similar to sweet anise. i found a couple of links for more info on fennel.

http://www.tonytantillo.com/vegetables/fennel.html

i prepare most all fresh vegetables i eat very simply. with the fennel, i sliced it and sauteed in butter. very tasty. i'm planning on using it in salads this week. here is a link to mariquita farm and two small farms csa which lists tons of different recipes and uses for many vegetables offered in our csa.

http://www.mariquita.com/recipes/index.html

also, fresh this week are strawberries and snow peas, along with small head lettuce.