corn your own

it's that corned beef time of year! here's a great recipe i found on how to corn your own beef. this year i'm using a chuck roast instead of brisket.

Corned Beef Brisket from scratch—a 7 day brine
By: EdsGirlAngie from Recipezaar

Ingredients
1 (8-10 lb) beef brisket
4 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in thirds

The Brine

2 quarts water
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup white vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon peppercorn
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 pinch ground cloves

The Simmering Liquid

water, to come up 3/4 to side of brisket
1 teaspoon peppercorn
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
1/4 teaspoon whole cloves
4 garlic cloves, sliced

Directions

1. Combine all of the brine ingredients and bring to a boil, then cool.
2. In a huge plastic roasting bag (do NOT use a garbage bag), place the beef brisket, the cooled brine, and the 4 garlic cloves.
3. Make sure that all of the meat is covered by the brine (cutting the brisket in pieces if you need to), tie off tightly, place in a pot large enough to hold it all, and refrigerate for 6 to 7 days, turning occasionally.
4. After the 6 to 7 days, remove brisket from the brine and discard the brine.
5. Rinse the meat thoroughly, then place in a Dutch oven or other large pot and add enough water to come up 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up the side of the meat.
6. Add the rest of the Simmering Liquid ingredients (peppercorns, mustard seeds, allspice, cloves and garlic), bring to a boil and skim off any foam.
7. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook, covered, for at least 3 hours, but 4 hours doesn't hurt anything. Meat will be SOOOOOO tender and delicious!

waiting for the pick up

i'm over at eco-tastic in ua waiting for csa pick ups. today is nice outside, spring is trying to do something out there. i bet when the snow melts off, i i will see that crocuses are emerging underneath.

tom's got some great deals over here at eco-tastic. right now he's offering 30% off hand knit sweaters, hats and scarfs. if you haven't been into tom's store here in old arlington, come on down. eco-tastic carries 100% organic cotton and bamboo clothing. my family loves the bamboo socks most of all. they make great gifts at $5 a pair. check them out online at
www.eco-tastic.com
gps it at 2066 arlington ave.

had some discussion this morning on rabbit. i am going to gather some more rabbit recipes from friends and family and will post them soon.

new website is here

the new 2silos website is online, so this blog is moving back to it's original intent...a farm girl food blog. please visit our new website for details on your csa shares, pick up times and other current news.

the blizzard of '10?

we are not going anywhere tomorrow...therefore, the csa pick-up scheduled for tomorrow, saturday, feb. 6 has been canceled. we will have csa pick up again on saturday, feb. 20. call the farm if you have any questions.

stay warm, safe and inside this weekend. enjoy the superbowl! go colts!

meat csa survey

i'm sending in another steer next month and planning out my chicken needs for next summer. please take the survey below to help me plan a great csa for you!
Click Here to take survey

deep winter

ok, it's officially "deep winter". this is not my favorite time of year, but i do enjoy all the seasons in their own special ways. my favorite time during this coldest part of the year is walking back to the house after evening chores in a fresh blanket of snow. everything is so quiet. i love the smell of wood smoke rising from area chimneys. i like how twinkling lights from my house and my neighbors houses pierce the darkness and show me the sparkle of the snow. i enjoy the crisp cold air as it grabs for the hairs in my nose. i laugh at my samoyed /border collie cross as he bounces through the snow toward the house. most of all, i love the winter sky. the stars are so clear. my old friends orion, taurus and gemini greet me as I step out of the barn into the night. the milky way gently reminds me that i am but a very small speck in a extremely vast galaxy and unending universe.

life on the farm gets hard this time of year. everything outdoors takes longer to do. it's harder to move with all the layers of clothing under my carhartts. i feel like ralphie's little brother randy from 'a christmas story'. animal water freezes, wood needs to be loaded into the wood box. it costs more to feed the animals since they eat more to generate body heat and there is no grass or pasture to graze on. heating the house must be factored into the budget and electric usage increases with shorter daylight hours. yes, winter is tough. winter on the farm sorts out the men from the boys...or should i say the women from the girls?

for now, i make the most of it and enjoy winter for what it is. spring is around the corner, right?

2silos half season meat csa

we still have shares available in the 2silos half season winter meat csa. email me for a flyer and faq. use the "buy now" button in the right hand column to sign up today. next pick up is saturday, january 16 in clintonville and upper arlington.

2silos summer harvest produce csa

are you missing the wonderful fresh produce of summer? me too. i've pulled together our csa plans for 2010. this year, 2silos will offer a produce csa filled with locally grown vegetables and fruits purchased at owl creek amish produce auction in waterford, oh.

we will offer one weekday pick up, possibly two if needed and no weekend pick ups. the first pick up will be wednesdays from 4-6 pm in upper arlington at ecotastic or at the upper arlington farmer's market during market season. A second pick up will be added if needed.

email me for a brochure or leave feedback on this post.
eggs4u@gmail.com
happy new year to all!

2silos Summer Harvest CSA

Plan A $349.00 Plan B $449.00 Plan C $579.00

new website coming soon

things have slowed down around here and i finally pulled everything together enough to start building my new website. it took some time, since all content was lost when the site crashed last spring. fortunately, there is a website called "wayback" and i was able to grab some copy from that resource (a god send). i did more writing, updated "going's on" here at the farm and added new pics to the site. paul carlon is my new web developer, so i'm excited to see what ideas he brings to the table.

when the website is finished, this blog will go back to being just a regular ole blog and not my business website. yay! i'm looking forward to spouting off about local food and farm life again on this page. :P

taking orders for granola

i'm taking orders for granola. cost is $7 for a 14 oz bag. flavors are:
maple pecan, kerri's kraze, sweet treat and banana rama. pick up is saturday from 10-12 noon at the clintonville auto zone and ecotastic in upper arlington from 1-5pm.

winter meat shares still available

2silos winter meat csa is not yet full, which means i have space for you! i have 6 little pigs in the barn, 3 lambs, a bunch of rabbits, 500 laying hens and a freezer full of meat chickens for our winter csa members. i have also secured FOUR CERTIFIED ORGANIC GRASS FED BEEF STEERS for this winter's csa. two of the beef are black angus. this is the first season i have offered black angus, so i'm are thrilled!

click on the "buy now" button below to sign up today!
2silos half meat share @ $499.00

2silos full meat share @ $949.00

i got your turkey right over here...

we are now taking orders for thanksgiving day turkeys. these turkeys are raised by vanessa mills of mills rest ranch, just one mile up the road from 2silos. vanessa raises free range white turkeys for whole foods market too. turkeys will be ready saturday, november 21 and available for pick up at the clintonville farmer's market.
cost is $3.75 lb. we will attempt to accommodate size requests. reserve your turkey by dropping us a line at eggs4u@gmail.com

we are "on the wire"...

we are one of two farms featured in a recent associated press article. i'm so excited!

More Americans growing food on small `hobby farms'

$99 disount off half share extended!

our online promotion through "the point" did not succeed in meeting the minimum 25 half share requirement. if you signed up for a 2silos half meat share through "the point", you can still participate in the csa and save $99 by paying with a credit card through paypal. click on the "buy now" button at the bottom of this post to join our csa.

good news! we are extending our $99 discount on half shares through october 10 as our way of celebrating "local foods week", oct. 3-10. tell your friends! hurry, i have to close the $99 off deal on october 10.

i scheduled three beef for processing this week. shareholders have enjoyed our holstein, jersey and piedmontese beef in seasons past. for the first time ever, february and march shares will feature certified organic, grass-fed black angus beef. yummy! i can't wait! there are more og black angus steers available, and i don't want us to miss out. sign up today so i can secure more delicious meat candy!

if you just found out about our meat csa and need more information, please email us right away for a flier and faq.

if you are ready to sign up, click on the button below to buy a half share in the 2silos winter meat csa.

details, details...

there is a lot of interest in our winter meat csa promotion through "the point". unfortunately, "the point" does not allow me to upload files or ramble on and on about our products. so i'm going to attempt to answer some of the most pressing questions here.

one 10 lb share will feed two people about 18 meals. pick up is once a month. we are hoping to have a booth at the worthington winter farmer's market the 1st and 3rd saturday of each month. if you are unable to pick up there, or if we are not permitted to vend, then pick up will be at two of our shareholders homes--upper arlington and clintonville.

all meats are locally raised. 2silos raises the lamb, meat chickens, laying hens, goose and pigs. two amish farmer's provide us grass-fed, organically raised beef. rabbit, goat and turkey come from other small local farms. most animals are pasture raised--the pigs and rabbits are not. the pigs are raised in a traditional "pig pen" and the rabbits in hutches.

our $99 off promo is on half shares. if you want a full share at this price, we suggest signing up for two half shares and we will treat it as a full share at this end.

there is a 10 hour work requirement, which i did not make clear with "the point" promotion. this is very easily fulfilled at our farm in one day with a friend or at our market booth over the season.

meats are processed at local ODA or USDA inspected facilities. the bacon is organically cured. most meats are vacuum sealed.

since you are essentially purchasing live animals, you are entitled to whatever that animal produces. therefore, you will get "extras" with you shares such as organ meats, soup bones, dog bones, lard, etc.

if you send me an email, i am happy to send you a flier and faq.

thanks for your interest and support! i'm thrilled to see all the folks interested in knowing where their food comes from!

the point...a new promotion

hi all

i'm trying a new promotion method. if you have thought about participating, but missed the Sept 1 deadline for our $99 discount, here's another opportunity. help me out by signing up!
denise

Crazy Day

Wow, it has been a busy day. Here it is, one of our "home work days", but yet, busy, busy, busy. This is good! It means we have gotten some things done. I am sure everyone has heard, I am helping Denise out while I am here. My name is Kerri, I'm the cousin from Florida. Man I am loving it here! I can't wait for the leaves to turn and the chill to come!

Denise was canning chicken again, I was making pasta, and oooohh, we will have some whole wheat pasta at the market on Saturday. Don't forget to stop by and check us out. We will also be adding new granola flavors to our already popular maple pecan flavor.
We also moved the sheep from one pen to another location on the farm. I have some great shots and took a video. If I get some time later, I will be putting it together and online.

Denise is out, moving chicken around and here I am updating the site. We will try to keep this fresh as often as we can. Sorry for the delay, it has been crazy around here, but here I am to help along. O, one more fun thing, we will be creating a newsletter with things going on to be sent to our regular customers.

I am working with Denise on a design for the website, and we will have one up shortly. Thank you all for your patience during its down time.

new beginnings

lots of fresh new things happening here at 2silos. kerri aronoff, my cousin, has come to live here at the farm. we needed her! kerri will be helping here at the farm and with admin and marketing of 2silos products. we will be at the clintonville farmer's market this saturday from 9-12 noon. stop by our farmer's market booth and say hi!


the noodles and granola are selling well at market. look for new flavors of granola coming this month. we will also be offering spinach and tomato noodles later this month.

the csa's are going well. we picked up a beef this past week and have been enjoying tasty pepperoni and bologna. loo9k for these value added items in meat shares this september and october. the veggie csa's are now featuring winter squash and other fall favorites.


sign up is now underway for the winter meat csa. we are adding extra eggs to this winter csa and have made room for additional memberships. please email us for a flyer and faq.

turning of the wheel of the year

it was chilly last night and the night before. down to 45 in these parts overnight. i was not quite ready for this cold right now. kinda thought it might be a few weeks away yet. the wooly worms are heavy in black fuzz with narrow orange bands, a folklore indication of a harsh winter. glad i've been stockpiling wood already.

i am looking forward to the frost. i'm so done with the gardens. hate them this year since cameron left. i've decided not to grow for a vegetable csa in the future. i will be changing the gardens into "patches" for garlic and stawberries. i will only have a small garden next year for personal use.

i do love the meat csa. i enjoy raising the animals. so i am focusing on growing this aspect of the farm operation. i am now accepting memberships in the 2silos winter meat csa. receive $49 off if you sign up by october 1. email me for a flyer.

remember to get outside and enjoy the season changes september brings!

so busy

wow, have we been busy here on the farm! everything is coming ready in the gardens, meat chickens are coming off for the meat csa, i've got rabbits to butcher, food to preserve and a winter meat csa to promote. did anyone get to experience july? i think i missed it....

we are now accepting memberships for the winter meat csa. cost is $499 for a half share (most popular). we are adding additional eggs to all share sizes this winter. the price has gone up a bit over the summer csa price. i am offering a 10% discount for returning members and anyone else who sees this blog post. the winter meat csa starts in november and runs through april. i'm offering bonus goodies to members for new member referals!

it's time to say good-bye to the old hens. they will meet their maker on sept. 2. the new flock will take up residence in early october and i anticipate the young ones to be in full production by the middle of november. i will be canning up the old hens during the month of september, along with tomatoes and other garden goodies. if anyone is interested in learning to can meats, please let me know.

on another note, a herd share program is being organized by one of our shareholders. this herd share is for organic milk only, no butter or cream. milk is being supplied by one of 2silos beef farmers. i've been drinking this milk for about two years now and LOVE IT! email me for more info.

have a great weekend!