This little piggie goes to market

We slaughtered our last two hogs this past week. It all went pretty well. Those guys sure are wooly this time of year. Scraping them is no small task. It's about a four to five hour job to get one in the cooler ready to be cut and wrapped. Mostly done, I need to cure my bacon and grind a few pounds for sausage and I'll be done. I've been nibbling here and there. They sure are tasty.

It's been a busy January. Getting a few folks re-upping their CSA accounts for the season. Nice to see a little cash flow. The school lunch went well and all sights are now set on the first farm to fork dinner we are hosting on the 30th. We booked up in about two days. I will have another scheduled in a few days. I think we're onto something here. I'm very excited.

With the warm weather I should be out there planting some things. Just havn't worked up the gumption yet. Soon, I promise. Seed orders will start going in this week. I have some seed remaining from last year which will help keep my cost down. I also have three tons of fertilizer on hand and will not need to purchase any this year. Thats a fairly substantial cost for us that we don't have to worry about. Cost cutting is a big theme this year. We've got a few things to rein in on for sure.

Our internship posistions are filled and it looks like we have a great crew set for this year. I sometimes have returns from the previous year. This year it's a clean slate. Looking forward to the promise of a fresh start.

I have a feeling that this is going to be a great year.

Keep well and thanks for tuning in.

Farmer John

Post #100

Seriously this is my 100th post. It seems with the coming of facebook, myspace, twitter and the like that blogs like this may fall behind. People are perhaps not nto a longer post. I'll keep them to the poignent.

There is seriously alot to do right now. Feeling those mini waves of anxieital rush. Seeds to order, seeds to sow, farm plan to write, farm clean up and organize, maintenance and getting equipment ready to go, pigs to slaughter, fences to build and mend. finalization of intenships This is supposed to be my down time isn't it. Ahhh no rest for the wicked. Don't forget to paint the bathroom dude.

CSA mailers just went out. Tha's always a good feeling. I hope those of you whom are existing members and or are becoming new members will realize the importance of sending in your payments as soon as you can. We've got alot on our plates this year that is going to require a continual flow of cash.

The first farm dinner is set for the 30th of this month. I need sixteen people to make it happen. We'll be featuring the Mangalitsa hog we raised. For those of you in the know, a rare treat indeed. This may well be the first and last time we have them. The breeder of the Wooly Pigs has moved to Iowa and it's unlikely it will be cost effective for us to get piglets from him in the future.


Also, next week I'm cooking at the school cafeteria. Beef stew, grandma's mac n' cheese, coleslaw and applesauce. Cost is just $5.00 and I'm hoping to serve 400 lunches. I need your help to hit that mark. It's happening on Thursday the 21st from 11:30 till 12:30ish.


Ok there we are short and sweet as promised. Take care all,

Farmer John

Iron Chefs In The White House Garden

Did anyone see Iron Chef on Sunday? The secret ingredient was anything from the White House garden. They also were using naturally grown pork, chicken and turkey raised within a 100 mile radius of DC. Pretty cool. A marketing coup deluxe. Someone was very much thinking ahead of the game on this one. Hats off and my utmost respect to our first lady. Mrs. Obama... you rock and thank you for starting a garden.

The best part was seeing the garden. Now I've seen a lot of gardens and this might be the nicest first year one I have ever seen. Everything looked healthy and verdant. Beautiful fennel and the sweet potatoes looked perfect. Really nice!

I noticed online that the garden only cost $200.00 start. That's my only problem with it. No one starts a garden for that sum and how much were the care takers paid to maintain it? I wish they would just give the real dirt here. If I am wrong and the garden was tended by amatuers I'd be very surprised but happy.

Anyway, way cool in my book.

Farmer John

Happy Solstice

Yeah daddy! Soltice is here and the days are getting longer. Almost ironic that it's the beginning of winter but also the time at least for me to beginn thinking about farming again. In these prts you can normally count on six weeks on each side of the soltice where's there's not much growth happening. So even though its the start of winter we'll be starting a new season in just over a month. So now is the time relax, reflect and plan for next year. There's always something to do. Seed orders go in in January and mapping ot next years arm plan is in proccess.

Some good news here is that the hard freeze we had a couple weeks back really didn't do as much damage as I had first thought. I am very happy to report that the fava beans are alive and the broccoli took a minimal hit. Greens are gone but thats OK. They'll be back soon enough.

Happy holidays to all.

Your farmer

John

CSA For The Holiday

Who would'nt enjoy receiving a Maple Rock Farm CSA share for a Christmas gift? There's Plenty of time left. Give someone you love a great and meanigful gift. Minimum amount is $100.00.

OR... I'm also offering the food bank Match again. I'll match any contribution of a CSA share that is to be donated to the Food Bank by 50%. Last year we delivered over two $2,000 in fresh produce on this program.

Happy holidays everyone,

Your farmer,

John

Last Nights Supper

Last nights dinner was more symbolic than fancy. What was special was that it represented the last fresh harvest of the year. We normally go a bit longer into December but the cold snap we are experiencing has most of the fresh veg in the field looking a little less than desirable. Some of it may come back as the weather moderates but alot of it is gone. The real success was the kids liked it.

For the main course we had tenderloin of Mangalitsa. Wow! Best ever. So simple to make too. I used a dry rub and seared it off and finished it low and slow in the oven. Awesome. We also had artichokes, fresh steamed cauliflower and baked potatoes. I came up with a new bread recipe too. Savory whole wheat with kabocha squash mixed in. It was fantastic. We have alot of winter squash and this was a great way to incorpoate it. I always make lunches for the kids to take to school. When they get sandwiches I like to use home baked bread. The prefer it and it's not all pumped full of crap. Normally it's a white bread but I was thinking of something different and more nutrtious. They loved the whole wheat/kabocha. Theres nothing like fresh bread served hot right out of the oven slathered in butter and honey. It definately takes me back to my mom Novella Steward and her great wheat bread she made when I was a kid. Yum!

The weather has brought things to a halt here. Very cold but beautifuly sunny, crisp and clear. The down time is allowing me to focus on getting the year end news letter written and planning things for next year. In January we'll be hosting some farm dinners here. The idea is somewhat similar to an underground supper club. Great food shared with friends family style. It's something I've wanted to do since the day I've started the farm. Just never been able to pull it off in the summer due to the lack of time. It had never really occured to me to do them in the winter but it's the perfect time. Cozy atmosphere, good food, friends new and old gathered around the farmers table. I think it's the scenario for a food memory you'll never forget.

I'll keep you posted.

Your Farmer,

John

Farmer Porn

This time of year most farmers are just wrapping things up from a long productive year and don't even want to start thinking about next year yet. Then the seed catalogs start showing up with all of their sexy, glossy photos of new and heirloom vegetables and titilating descriptions expounding all of the virtues of each and how and why we should grow them. I must confess I am weak. Oh lord I try to be a good man but every year I fall to the temptations of the evil. Take tomatoes for example. Over the years I have grown hundreds of different varieties. I have just a handful that have proved themselves worthy and I vow to only grow those chosen ones. Yet when I start making orders I start to stray and add a few here and there and then all of a sudden I have 30 varieties and a justification for each one of them. Then later as I'm dumping out flats of tomatoes into the compost pile a strange feeling of guilt, possesion and self reasoning sets in. "Why didn't I just stick to the ones I know do the best"? "Why did I order so many"? "Shouldn't I be giving these to someone"? "Better too many than not enough right"? Right. The subsequent harvest confirms my kmowledge, my trusted varieties perform as always. Some of the others do well but are generally lack luster. Note to self: "don't grow that one next year" Yeah okay, but what about?

In my own defense. I would have never discovered my favorites without succuming to temptation. So as the catalogs appear and I begin to plan out next years crops I'll try to restrain, but I know I'll cave a some point. It's okay, I can justify myself, It's who I am.

Your farmer,

John