One Local Summer Meal, Week 3:
Mini Steaks from Lasting Legacy Farm, marinated in soy sauce, garlic (from winter farmers market) and Maple Vinegar, then pan fried. When the steak was about 1/2 done, I threw Turnip Greens and Pea Tendrils in on top and put a lid on, letting the greens steam on top of the steak.
Spring Turnips are still the focus for veggies right now, but others are picking up pace, like peas...I had a few from my very own garden that I steamed with the other greens! I tried something akin to mashed cauliflower with the Turnips, adding a few chives, cream from Brookford and a little butter, then blended with a hand blender. They were great that way. I have been having all kinds of fun figuring out new things to do with the turnips.
As a lovely ending to the meal, we enjoyed yogurt from Brookford Farm, a swirl of honey (not local, but I'm going to seek out some local honey, as I've been hearing about several people raising bees locally). I topped the yogurt with sliced strawberries from Warren Farm!
YUM!
Buying Local. I have 2 groups to share:
3/50 Project...Brick and Mortar stores need your our help. The big box stores can be convenient (if you don't find your head swimming, forgetting half the things you went for because you got sidetracked by the myriad of other things jumping out at you, or become nauseous from all the chemicals off gassing...maybe that's just me)...but they can be convenient, as can the internet, where I know I buy a good portion of the few things I do buy these days. There is still a whole industry of small, individually owned businesses. They are still holding on, but how much better would your neighborhood, town, community, or State be, if the money stayed in that area, instead of traveling all over the country, or world? For every $100.00 you spend at an individually owned store, on average, $68 of it stays in your community.
The 3/50 project is asking that you spend $50.00 in 3 brick and mortar stores each month. Pick 3 stores you would miss if they went out of business and start making a greater point to go there.
We have been trying to buy locally as much as we can, and have found doing so has enriched our lives. We have made friends, like Rick and Margot at Spinning Yarns, we have learned a lot, like when we talked to Dave at Hardscrabble Hill Feed in Barrington about our chicken coop plans, and other miscellaneous chicken questions, and we have people who we get to have happy little chats with, like with several of the fine folks at Calef's.
If you are in the area, there is another cool local store opportunity. Green Alliance. It's a membership/discount card. The cost is $35.00 and the discounts range, but all the businesses are green. Acorns Salon in Dover, an Organic Hair Salon is offering 20% off when you show the card! I've been wanting to go there for a hair cut, anyway.
Chicken update: We had 50 Buff Orpington Chickens arrive today. One was lost in transit, one passed shortly after arrival, but the rest remain happy and healthy. They are staying in bins upstairs for a few days to be sure they are healthy, so that they won't cause any problems for my healthy guineas and dorkings, but then they'll go down into the Brooder pen. These chicks are super cute. They are so chubby and fuzzy. More so than the other breeds I've had. Very sweet indeed.
Today while hand feeding Jane and the Ancona Chicks I noticed one of them was sneezing. This concerned me and I wanted to go check my resources to determine if it was the sign of a problem or not, but was pretty sure if I left I wouldn't easily be able to pick her out again...the trouble with raising all one breed, instead of picking a variety of colorful birds for your flock. So I scooped her up and brought her in. I'm pretty sure she's a she, because her comb is pretty small and still pale yellow, and not red, like the cockerels. Anyway, I brought her in and had her sitting in my lap, petting her, while I read books and checked the internet. Basically I found that sneezing happens, and that it could be from the dust of new shavings. Well, their food is nearing the bottom of the bag, so I'm pretty sure she was just getting dusty food, as she didn't sneeze at all in the house. The really amazing part of all this, was I had an Ancona sitting on my lap, contentedly, not showing signs of nervousness at all. There is hope for this skittery breed to be affectionate babies afterall! Yay!
Duck update: Josephine has 1 week to go! She has been setting on the eggs for 3 weeks, and ducks incubate in 28 days. I'm sure I'm more nervously excited than she is. I never candled them because the duck arrangements aren't as easily accessible as the chicken set up, so I have no idea how many eggs were fertile and how many started to grown. I just can't wait to see!
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