Our buying club is again open this week. As always, ordering opened today, Tuesday, at 5 am and closes on Thursday (2/19) at 5 am. Deliveries will be this weekend. Farmer Don has been working with Farmer Dan at Landisdale Farm this winter to secure extra certified organic vegetables for our buying club. There will be a limited amount of kale this week! I am excited for some kale, as I used the last of our own stockpiled greens last week. Also look for sweet potatoes, potatoes, beets , rutabaga, onions and red and green cabbage. We also have a good supply of Dancing Hen Farm eggs, poultry, and pork and Stillwater Field Farm's grassfed beef. All orders are placed online through our website. You will need to "purchase" a free winter buying club share to place an order. New members please note, I will need to activate you before you can order, so there will be a lag between registering and being able to place an actual order.
This time of year we begin to get lots of inquiries about our CSA. I know many of you are already familiar with our CSA, but this newsletter is also posted to our blog so many people not already associated with our farm are also reading. So, I thought I would take a few moments to talk about our CSA.
Dancing Hen Farm CSA (community supported agriculture) runs for 22 weeks. Our start date is very dependent of weather, but most years we start around June 1 and deliver boxes of veggies for 22 weeks, ending around November 1. We offer 2 share sizes, full and partial. Full share members receive 10 items each week and partial share members receive 6. Examples of items would be, a bag of salad mix, a bunch of kale, a pint of cherry tomatoes, or 3 to 4 summer squash. We are a full choice CSA. This means members are offered the opportunity to choose weekly from a list of seasonal fresh produce and we harvest and custom pack your box for you. We offer several convenient delivery/pick up options. Members can pick up their shares on our farm or for a small fee members can pick up at a central pick up site or have their box delivered to their homes. Egg shares are available to CSA members. Egg shares are for 11 dozen eggs, or one dozen eggs every other week, starting week 1. Eggs are from our own free range chickens. CSA members are also given the opportunity to purchase additional items (though a buying club). These additional items are either produced on our farm or on neighboring sustainable farms and businesses. As always, if you have need additional information on our farm or our CSA, please do not hesitate to contact us at the farm. And be sure to visit our website (www.dancinghenfarm.com)
In the kitchen this week. We spent Saturday turning 10 pounds of cabbage into sauerkraut. Anyone who has talked with Farmer Don at market knows he is a passionate about lacto fermentation and the benefits of eating fermented foods. There is a ton of information on the internet about the benefits of fermented foods and recipes for making fermented foods. We make a very basic, traditional sauerkraut. We start with finely chopped cabbage (a food processor really speeds up this job). Salt and a bit of whey are then added to the cabbage and thoroughly mixed. (We make whey by straining yogurt; the whey is the resulting liquid.) Next we pound the cabbage to release the juices. The cabbage and the resulting juices are then placed in the fermentation container. Recently we have been using stoneware crocks, but you can easily use a clean jar. It is important to pack the crock fairly tightly to exclude air pockets and to assure the top of the cabbage is below the liquid. To keep the cabbage submerged you can add weight to the top of crock. Many people use a clean stone or a weighted plate. We have the best luck with a water filled food grade plastic bag. The sauerkraut is then allowed to ferment at room temperature for several days, after which it is moved to colder environment for longer storage. We will keep you posted as to how our latest batch turns out.
As long as we are talking about cabbage... This week we are offering some red cabbage from Landisdale Farm. I will be making a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch/German sweet and sour dish with some for us to enjoy with pork chops. The cabbage will be chopped fine and added to a skillet with a bit of oil (or butter) and an apple or two. As the cabbage cooks down, I add a bit of brown sugar (or honey) and some apple cider vinegar. Cover and continue to cook over low heat until the cabbage is cooked to your liking. Stir often and add a bit of water if things start to stick. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy! As I indicated this pairs really well with pork, either chops or a roast.
Just another friendly reminder about our web presence. In addition to our website, we have a facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dancing-Hen-Farm/111155465564952) and a blog (http://www.dancinghenfarmcsa.blogspot.com/) where we post our newsletters, farm pictures and farm updates. If you are looking for recipes, please visit our pinterest page (https://www.pinterest.com/dancinghencsa/).
As always, thanks to each of you for your support of our farm and local agriculture. We are honored to have such a supportive community. Now all we need is for the snow to melt and the temperatures to warm so we can start growing!
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