The Weblog
This page contains news, event information, and other items added by Ian and Adam, the resident farmers at Old 99. We send out a message every week, but most are set with a delete date about two weeks later. I archive some of the posts if they have content other than weekly availability of produce and meat.
You can send me questions too, which if they are of a general nature, I can post to this Old99 blog.
Old 99 Farm Week of Aug 18 2013
This post expired on August 20, 2023.
The new ‘woodshed’ now has walls, working on the second story by weekend. Saya from Osaka and Simone from Koln Germany have moved on to new hosts. The broiler chicken pasture sled is in service with birds enjoying grass and bugs. I’ve scheduled my livestock for their meeting with the butcher, the garden is bounteous, and the greenhouse is half planted for winter crops. Some day neutral strawberries are ripening now and will till frost. Tomatoes seem to be holding back their colour, odd.
This week, Camelia and I can offer the following crops: eggplant, rhubarb, chives, chard, kale (Nero, Darkibor, Redbor), beets and greens, mesclun salad mix, green onions, garlic, sorrel, sorrel, peppers, cilantro, lovage, as well firsts crop of honey, raw in jars and comb.
Meats
My pastured beef orderdesk is open. Have 2 beeves still available. Taking orders for October pickup. First to market Sept 24, will be ready three weeks later.
Dorset Lamb: taking deposits for 2013 crop. First to market Aug 20th. Will have some mutton too.
Pork: likely to market weight around end September.
About Lamb and Mutton
I found a couple of good sites online, here are some excerpts to help you figure you level of interest.
Once you’ve tasted proper mutton (spiked with garlic, peppered with crushed rosemary, and served with home-made redcurrant jelly) you’ll begin to wonder why anyone bothers with lamb at all! Sadly, though, mutton seems to have a poor reputation these days, which is not helped by the reality that most of the so called ‘mutton’ that is available is in fact worn out old cull ewes, which are generally sold into the ethnic market for the making of kebabs and suchlike. Properly reared mutton is an altogether different product, and in terms of flavour and quality it surpasses even the finest of beef. Admittedly it may be rather fatty for modern tastes, but the very fact that you’re opting for [pre-chemical, pre-industrialized] food, means you know animal fat is good for you. from http://www.countrysmallholding.com/index-of-articles-sheep-killing-and-butchering-sheep—212299
Many cuisines worldwide incorporate lamb meat into some of their most famous dishes. There’s a world of meat to a lamb beyond rib chops or the leg. Every part of the animal, from the neck to the ankles, yields cuts of meat suitable for cooking. See here for description of cuts, more links and a chart at http://www.tvsp.org/retail-cuts.html
Another rich link is:
http://www.ehow.com/about_5312393_meat-parts-lamb.html
healthy eating,
Ian