Greetings from Dancing Hen Farm!
Yes, ordering for our buying club is now open. The ordering window will end Thursday (1/22)
at 5 am and deliveries will be made this weekend.
We have added some new products to the buying club. From our farm, we have added lard and scrapple. These are both old fashioned homestead
products which helps assure no part of the pig goes to waste. Scrapple is a traditional Pennsylvania German
treat made by combining pork trimmings with cornmeal (mush, for those of us
raised in a Pennsylvania Dutch family), spices and a bit of flour. Scrapple is traditionally sliced thin and
fried. The finished cooked product
should have a crisp outer crust. Serve
it topped with ketchup and as a side to dippy eggs! I must say, I think my Father had scrapple
for breakfast every morning. Lard is
rendered fat from our sustainably raised pigs.
I realize we are a bit late for holiday baking, but I used our lard for
pies over the holidays and I must admit my Mother was correct. Lard makes the flakiest, most tender pie
crusts! Lard can be used as you would
any fat for cooking and is a healthier, more sustainable substitute for
margarine or crisco. Here is a
Huffington Post article from last year discussing cooking with lard http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/28/cooking-with-lard-baking_n_5212804.html.
We are also now offering some cuts of grass fed beef on our
buying club. This beef is raised on
pasture by our friends and neighbors at Stillwater Fields Farm. This beef is lean with a superior taste and
flavor. Nothing compares to a grass fed
beef burger or a slow roasted chuck roast!
To learn more about Scott and Tali and their farm, please visit their
website (www.stillwaterfieldsfarm.com).
While we are talking about buying club products. We still have poultry available, including
pasture raised broiler chickens, stew hens and eggs. Our apple orchard pork has been very popular,
but cuts are still available. Farmer Don
is working with Farmer Dan at Landisdale Farm to secure some greens for next
week's buying club.
On farm, we are still moving at a bit slower pace, as we
continue our winter re-coup. We are
spending time visiting with friends, reading and discussing our plans for the
2015 growing season. We have also spent
some time reflecting. It is hard for us
to believe, 2015 will be our 8th season of growing on our current farm. We have learned so much, but there will
always be much, much more to learn. Our
farm will forever be evolving, as we refine our production methods and learn to
grow and live in this microclimate we call our farm, our home.
Has everyone noticed how the days are getting longer? Yesterday, it was still partially light after
5 pm! The lengthening of the days gets
us energized and eager to get growing!
And it won't be long before we are starting seeds for transplant and
prepping our fields for the early plantings of peas, onions and potatoes. Peas, is there anything better than the first
peas of the season?
It has been a few newsletters since I have reminded everyone
of our online presence. We have an
active facebook page and we post regularly to our blog (http://www.dancinghenfarmcsa.blogspot.com/) and post recipes to our pinterest site (http://www.pinterest.com/dancinghencsa).
Thanks again for everyone's support. For supporting us by ordering from our buying
club and from signing up for our CSA.
Until next week.....
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