This pair of geese hatched their own goslings. As you can see, they are very protective.

March was full of lions and lambs this year.  Lions came in the form of a series of snow storms, which are unusual for us this time of year.  The heaviest storm in the first week of March left us without electricity for three days.  We carried our young chicks in several large bins over to our neighbor’s house to keep warm by the woodstove.  We lost a batch of eggs in the incubators, and the turkeys stopped laying for almost the entire month of March because of the cold.  It was as if February and March traded places this year.  Still, we were thankful that we got through as well as we did, always reminded that things like electricity and incubators are conveniences that allow us to cheat a little and that in reality nature’s way is best.  There is nothing like farming to teach the valuable lesson that I am not in control of the situation and should always be grateful–rather than prideful–when things turn out well.  While I will continue to use my incubators, I have been putting more trust in broody hens.

Cotswold twins.

In the midst of our March lions, all of this year’s lambs were born.  Little bouncing bundles of joy.  They are amazingly hardy creatures, kept warm by their wool coats that they already have when they are born, and bellies full of milk.  Sheep’s milk is richer than cows’ milk and it is amazing how fast the lambs grow.  Each lamb will have to prove itself strong enough to live, but we put that thought out of our mind and just enjoy watching the beautiful little creatures bounding about the pasture in the evenings.

I spend a lot of time with sheep this time of year.  In my “spare” time between planting the garden and managing the poultry, I am out shearing flocks for other people.  It is hard work, but I have a particular fondness for sheep, and I love seeing beautiful fleeces fall away from the animal as I shear and hearing what special project the shepherd has in mind for the wool.

Well, it snowed right up to the last week of March and then April arrived and declared spring with all its glory.  Our newly planted orchard is blooming with promise, and the pastures have grown tall and lush.  At long last we were able to set up our paddocks, dividing the larger fields into sections with portable electric fencing, and move the sheep and cows back out on the grass.  The animals are thrilled, of course, and we are happy to see them fattening up and glowing with health.  It’s also nice to not have to be feeding expensive hay every day anymore.  I have a good feeling about this year.  Over the last couple of years we have tried to learn all we can about good pasture management.  Books can take you only so far.  Mentorship from more experienced graziers has proven invaluable.  And over the past year we have participated in a program offered by Holistic Management International that has been a fantastic experience.  It is exciting to see the health of the animals, the pastures, and the land improve as we put what we’ve learned into practice.  Our farm may be small, but that is all the more reason to maximize health and productivity, utilizing the land to it’s full potential.

Oh, and I can’t forget to tell you that we’ve just processed our first batch of pastured chickens for the year!  We are pleased to be able to offer you these fine birds for your table, as well as a plentiful abundance of eggs from our free-ranging hens.  Stop on by the farm and say hello.

Even though it is technically still winter, this month has been full of anticipation and a feeling of urgency. Signs of spring are beginning to appear all around, lighting a fire under me and calling me out of my winter daydream to action.

It’s been a rather hectic month, actually. It feels like spring is arriving a little early this year. A few of the turkeys and geese started laying earlier than usual prompting me to dust off the incubators. Our first little goslings of the year, who normally don’t arrive until Easter time, are already chirping in the brooder as I write this. They are not alone, since our first boxes of mail-order chicks for the year have also arrived this month. There is a litter of roly-poly baby pigs in the barn, and our ewes are growing wider and wider by the day as we get closer to lambing time. We continue to start seeds for the garden and have had to spend at least one afternoon a week potting up seedlings.

Baby pigs!

Both early spring and fall are opportune times to make improvements to the pastures. So this month we have been ordering seed and planning out our grazing strategies with the help of a friend who owns an organic, grass-fed dairy. Our pastures have a long way to go, but we are hoping that through careful management we can bring them to bountiful production and reduce the amount of hay we need to buy. The sheep and pigs have been our partners in reclaiming our back pasture from decades of overgrowth. Last summer the sheep did their part in reducing brambles and invasive weeds, followed by the pigs who rooted out stubborn ailanthus saplings and have neatly tilled up the soil for us in preparation for a planting of forage oats this spring.

Kevin, with help from our wonderful neighbor, Bob, has been clearing a path from our driveway through the underbrush and around to the barn so we can stop driving trucks across the front “lawn” as our barn construction project continues. Once the traffic has been re-routed, I am eager to repair the damage and once again sow pasture grasses all around the house. Cows and sheep make such wonderful lawn mowers/compost bins, and it would be terrible to waste all that feed that can be converted to milk and wool and meat by chopping it down with a gas-powered mower. In colonial Virginia, it was common practice to just turn your livestock loose to fend for themselves, rounding them up as needed, and fencing animals out of gardens and crop fields rather than fencing the animals in. We don’t have that luxury (although I think that method must have been problematic at times!) so we must make the best use of the space we are privileged to farm.

February feels a little like a “lean” time, although mostly just in our heads. We continue to enjoy frozen and canned fruits and vegetables that we put up last summer, and even harvest some hardy spinach from the garden, but the brilliant green seedlings on the plant shelves make us hunger for the fresh produce to come. I was tempted to eat my broccoli plants when they were only two inches tall, but decided to delay gratification. The sheep and cows, too, munch their hay pretty contentedly, but I see them eyeing the tender green grass that is beginning to peek out of the ground. Like me, though, then must delay gratification and allow the grasses to get a good start before they dive in. One of the most important parts of pasture management is allowing them to rest and recover. Better health for the pastures will result in better health for the animals, and the rest of us too.

So, these are some things I like about January.  Is a time of rest.  A time for telling stories in the evenings, for spinning wool, for reflecting on our summer’s labors and considering how we might improve our work in the coming year.  One thing I love about farming is how I get a chance to start over each year.  There are still critters to feed and milk in the mornings and evenings, but with winter the earth goes dormant and I have a chance to collect my wits before launching into a new growing season.

January is when I plan my kitchen garden.  I go through my collection of seeds and decide what I need to procure.  The 18^th century farmwife would save nearly all of her own seeds from year to year, perhaps trading with neighbors for something needed, or perhaps even purchasing a few from a shop in town.  Today, I am bedazzled by all of the colorful photos of tempting vegetables and fruits in the catalogs that begin appearing in my mailbox in early winter.  My favorite seed companies are Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, the Seed Savers Exchange, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, and D. Landreth Seed Company (“Purveyors of Fine Seed Since 1784!), all good sources for non-genetically engineered, heirloom seeds.  I do save some of my seeds from year to year, but I confess the catalogs do provide great entertainment and the opportunity to try new things in the garden each year.  In keeping up traditions, two dear friends (who also happen to be neighbors) and I gathered at my kitchen table this month to swap seeds.  Later in the year, we will likely swap seedlings and produce as well.

John Randolph (1727-1784), a resident of Williamsburg, Virginia wrote in his Treatise on Gardening, “January: Prepare, hot beds for Cucumbers; as little can be done this month in a garden, I would advise the preparing of your dung [compost], and carrying it to your beds, that it may be ready to be spread on in February.”  I heed his advice and do little to disturb the soil in my garden this time of year.  The beds lie under blankets of mulch, or hardy cover crops that provide fresh greens for our table throughout most of the winter.  But oh!  If John Randolph could see the shelves hung with florescent lights where I am able to start some seedlings during the dead of winter before moving them out to the cold frame.  I think he would be impressed.

As little green leaves appear, I begin to hanker for the warmth of spring, but I must stop myself and remember to savor this season while it is here.  Soon enough the winter mud will dry and the days will grow long and busy, and I will find myself looking forward again to the long quiet evenings of winter.

~Rachel

On November 22, Americans observe Thanksgiving, an iconic harvest festival with roots in the nation’s 17th-century settlement by European colonists.

Roasted turkey is the traditional centerpiece. But the breeds of turkey which were on the table in early America have nearly disappeared, replaced by a domesticated bird that is bigger, faster-growing and cheaper to raise.

Disappearing breed 

Around the world, many traditional livestock breeds are disappearing as industrial meat production takes over from small producers. But some are trying to preserve the old varieties as insurance against an uncertain future.

A sprinkle of corn, and Rachel Summers’ turkeys come running. She raises a small flock of a breed called Standard Bronze at Crowfoot Farm, about an hour from Washington.

These are birds with history, Summers says. “They are what you would have found in colonial barnyards.”

And you’ll find them today in re-creations of those 17th and 18th-century barnyards, like the ones here at Claude Moore Colonial Farm outside Washington, where workers in period costumes are chopping wood for the fire.

Summers started volunteering at the farm when she was just 11. It was here, she says, she grew to love and appreciate these uncommon birds.

“When I started learning more about their history and their place in the world now, I realized how rare they are and how important it is to preserve them,” Summers says.

Julie Long, a turkey researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says today’s commercial birds were bred for size, then crossed with white-feathered varieties to produce unblemished skin.

“The heritage breeds are at risk simply because they are not being used commercially,” Long says. “Those birds became very popular in about the [19]50s and just took over the market at that point.”

Efficiency trumps diversity

Heritage breeds nearly disappeared. Today there are fewer than 10,000 Standard Bronze turkeys left, according to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.

Local livestock breeds are threatened in many parts of the world. One reason is because efficiency is trumping diversity in order to meet the growing demand for animal protein.

But Long says it would be a mistake to lose the heritage breeds.

“It’s best to keep these around, sort of as an insurance policy,” Long added. “You may never need those genetics. But if you do and they’re gone, then you’re out of luck.”

Genetic insurance policy

That genetic “insurance policy” could provide tolerance for harsher environments brought on by climate change. Or resistance to new diseases. Or better ability to forage for themselves as the cost of commercial feed goes up.

One key to saving these rare breeds, experts say, may be found in the kitchen. John Critchley, executive chef of Urbana Restaurant in downtown Washington, prefers heritage birds to the standard supermarket variety.

“To me it has a better mouthfeel,” says Critchley. “It has a richer taste, a more buttery finish to it.”

A growing number of chefs and consumers are seeking out flavors they say have been lost in modern agriculture.

Sales of heritage turkeys for Thanksgiving are up. Rachel Summers hopes this niche market will help preserve not just the flavor, but all the other useful traits of these heritage birds.

“I’m not just raising these turkeys to sell for Thanksgiving,” said Summers. “I want to have them be available as a resource to the world, if needed. Just our few turkeys. We’re just preserving a little piece of that here on our little farm.”

Just as Thanksgiving is about tradition, heritage turkeys are about keeping tradition alive.

Read this article on Voice of America News

“When I was 11, my family visited Claude Moore Colonial Farm and I immediately fell in love with that kind of life,” she said, recalling her first encounter with the 18th-century living history museum and working farm in McLean. “I had to be a part of it.

Read more in the Rappahannock News

4 egg yolks
1/3 cup of maple syrup
1 pint whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract or whiskey/rum to taste
1 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg
4 egg whites
1 tablespoon of maple syrup

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color.  Gradually add the 1/3 cup of maple syrup and continue to beat until it begins to thicken.  Add the milk, cream, vanilla/bourbon and nutmeg and stir to combine.  Pour this mixture into a pitcher and set aside.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until the eggs have soft peaks.  With the mixer still running, gradually add the tablespoon of maple syrup and beat until stiff peaks form.  Whisk the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture.

Chill and serve.

There are an infinite number of ways to prepare a whole chicken, but here is our family’s favorite super easy and delicious recipe. Try this and then play around with the recipe to add your own flare. Tell us your favorite way to roast a chicken!

Roast Chicken

Defrost frozen whole chickens in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place whole chicken in a roasting pan and rub with your favorite herbs or spices and a little salt. Place a quartered onion inside the chicken and pour 1 cup water in the pan. Place the lid on the pan, or cover tightly with foil. Bake for 25 minutes per pound (for example, bake a 5 lb. chicken for 125 min) or for a maximum of 2 1/2 hours*. Remove covering for the last 30 minutes of cooking time to crisp skin. Allow chicken to rest 15 minutes before carving. Pour roasting juices over meat and enjoy!

Save extra meat for salads, casseroles, sandwiches or freeze in portions for easy meal prep later. And don’t throw away those bones! In a large pot, cover the bones with water, add vegetables if desired, cover and simmer gently for 6-12 hours for a wonderfully delicious and nourishing broth.

*Chicken is fully cooked when internal temperature reads at least 165 degrees, juices run clear instead of reddish, and meat easily pulls from the bone. In our experience, the chicken is always fully cooked to perfection when following this recipe.

]]> http://crowfootfarm.com/wordpress/roast-chicken/feed/ 0 http://crowfootfarm.com/wordpress/small-is-good-preserving-our-food-heritage/ http://crowfootfarm.com/wordpress/small-is-good-preserving-our-food-heritage/#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2011 23:20:00 +0000 admin http://crowfootfarm.com/wordpress/?p=152 read more]]> by Rachel Summers

An apartment container garden may seem small compared with a suburban backyard garden or a family homestead, and all of these are small when compared with industrial-scale farms. “Small” is a relative term, yet one thing that shouldn’t be argued is that when it comes to growing food, small is not a bad thing.

Homesteaders, gardeners and foodies engaged in small-scale food production are preserving our heritage by raising rare breeds of livestock and growing heirloom plants. At the time of our country’s independence, nearly every family was involved in producing at least some of its own food. It was just a part of everyday life. A lot has changed in the 235 years since, but a few things have not. People still need to eat, and real food still comes from plants and animals.

According to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC), rare livestock breeds are an ideal fit for small family farms. Jennifer M. Kendall of ALBC says, “Many of these breeds have easy care qualities, such as lower feed and input costs, hardiness, natural mothering abilities, disease resistance and more. These breeds are the original breeds of American agriculture and of sustainable agriculture, making them an ideal fit for sustainable pasture-based systems.” Rare breeds embody genetics that can ensure our future food supply by adapting to changes in our agricultural system and the growing demand for food. ALBC and many hundreds of small farms are working to preserve these heritage breeds for future generations.

Plant genetics are also at risk in the face of mass production methods and genetic engineering. In many instances, it is only through the efforts of small-scale gardeners that varieties of heirloom vegetables, fruits, grains, flowers and other plants are preserved. Seed Savers Exchange is one organization dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds and has done so by collecting and distributing thousands of samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners.

Heritage livestock breeds and heirloom plants reproduce themselves true to type. This is at the heart of sustainable agriculture. Animals and crops that require multiple inputs be brought in from other sources are not as sustainable as those that can achieve balance within the “ecosystem” of a diversified farm. Small farms are more likely to be engaged in the production of multiple species than those that produce on an industrial scale.

Rappahannock County is blessed to have quite a few food heritage heroes. You, too, can help preserve heritage breeds and heirloom plants by raising one or two yourself or by supporting your local small farms.

To find out more, visit the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy at www.albc-usa.org and the Seed Savers Exchange at www.seedsavers.org.

Read this article on the Rappahannock Farm Tour website