Small Fruit Season

We all love fruit, eh? For those of us who like to eat what we grow and/or eat local food, fruit is often in short supply. When you want to eat more vegetables or grains, you plant more and you get more within the same growing season, but since fruit is from perennials, it takes longer to get results. The small fruits generally take less time to begin bearing and do so earlier in the season.

By spring, we are hankering for fresh juicy fruit. We may still have some frozen – from last year (pretty good) or canned as preserves, jam, etc. But it pales in comparison with fresh – so beautiful, tasty, zesty! For about two weeks now, we have been in small fruit heaven. The photo tells all:

starting with strawberries on the left and going clockwise: mulberries, sour cherries, saskatoons (service berries), gooseberries, and black currants in the center. They are on a rhubarb leaf. Last night we had rhubarb-cherry pies – to die for! It doesn’t get much better….

Baby Chicks

Many small farms have chickens: they are easy to manage, forage for some of their food, and the fresh eggs are tasty and a good source of protein. We generally have 20 – 30 laying hens. In commercial flocks, the hens are usually slaughtered after a year of laying; we keep ours 3-5 years. After 2 years, production decreases and occasionally one will die – apparently of “natural causes” (whatever those are).

Every few years we replenish the flock: sometimes, we have “broody” hens that will sit on eggs (about 8 – 12 eggs) for 21 days until the chicks hatch and then take care of them; this is the natural way – but many things can go wrong – mostly, the hens get tired and after a week or two, lose the maternal urge and abandon the eggs, sometimes laying hens get into the same next box to lay a new egg and break some of the eggs, etc. We also have a home made incubator that keeps eggs at the correct temperature. We have done all of these things.

The current chicken manager, Michael, decided to order baby chicks from a local hatchery this year – it allows us to try new breeds. On June 10 we received 25 chicks and 10 turkey chicks via the post office. The turkeys are Spanish bronze – a heritage breed. The chicks (supposed to be all females) are a mix of silver laced Wyandottes, light Brahmas, and New Hampshire Reds. The photo is of the chicks – 4 days old.

In nature, moma hen keeps the chicks under her to keep them warm; we provide a light bulb for warmth. They are very fun to watch: full of enthusiasm – when one chick finds something interesting, all the others rush over to try to share the treat. Within the first week, their feathers start to come in and they practice being a bird – flapping their little stubby wings and running fast – to mimic flying. What a riot!

This photo is of our main chicken house – made of straw bale walls with clay/sand/straw plaster. This is where they will live most of their lives.

Feed: we grow most of our own chicken food: wheat & oats; we buy some roasted soybean meal for more protein – especially for the chicks. We grow soybeans but they have to be roasted to make them digestible. The hens are fed whole grains – their “crop” grinds the grains to digest them. For the chicks, we grind the grain (in nature, momma grinds it for them with her beak) until they are older and their crop can handle whole grains. Michael also feeds them chopped greens and worms & insects when available.

You are what you eat

Occasionally, I go to a gourmet restaurant – with friends and as a treat. It is interesting to see how chefs work at presenting food – to make it taste good (and to make the eating experience attractive & enjoyable).

It is a constant reminder of why I choose to live on a farm where we grow our own food: we eat gourmet, top quality food all the time. Nothing compares with fresh picked produce – grown by loving hands in soil tended with care by all of us living here. The veggies & fruits “present” themselves – better than any chefs in a gourmet restaurant. This is the time when we are eating a lot of our own fresh produce; some of my current favorites:

*crisp tangy radishes – first thing in the morning

*asparagus – raw or lightly steamed

*strawberries – juicy & bursting with flavor

*salads: several different lettuces, spinach, violets, kale, radishes

*steamed: kale, lamb’s quarters, spinach

*rhubarb – as in krisp, pie, etc. (my favorite: rhubarb wine)

Since we also use up a lot of carbs in our daily life here, we complement it with homegrown black beans & tortillas with our own freshly ground cornmeal and wheat flour.

Now – how do you reconcile that kinda living with the fact that according to guv’ment data, we live below the official “poverty line”?

In any case, i’ve often heard the title: “you are what you eat”. We eat fresh, wholesome, organic, & mostly homegrown food; that means that we are part of the earth and our environment. Ah! that’s why we find it hard to get off the farm! Come and visit – will it work on you??