Old 99 Farm, week of Aug 17 2014

Bumper crop of cukes, zukes and tomatoes, oh and eggplants too. Peppers here but not in abundance yet.
Regular greens too, see list.

Getting a load of 200 bales of straw in the next hour or two, quick notice again from my farmer source. Bedding for the cows indoors for the winter. Can anyone come by tomorrow tuesday for a couple hours to help? Would really make the difference if we can get this in the barn before Wed when it’s supposed to rain.

If you ordered roasting chickens, please come soon to pick up. I took the remaining 60 birds to be butchered today so the freezers will be fuuulll.

Maremma pups are lovely. still have 4, two males, two females, have reduced price to $300. Interested?

Old 99 Farm, Week of Aug 10 2014

Writing tuesday am, we got 20ml rain last nite, starting right after we got the hay in the barn. Thank you so much to Kate and son, Crystal, Kaelin and daughters for your helping hands.

Beefsteak tomatoes are ripe in the greenhouse now, along with the yellow plum minis. The beans are ready to harvest, purple and green varieties.

As well the zukes, cukes, vegetable marrow, beets, carrots, mixed salad, eggplants, garlic, peppers, herbs, and chard.

There is beef in the freezer and roasting chickens fresh from the butcher, all raised here on pasture of course.

Camelia has made up another batch of cuke relish and pesto.

We could really use recycled grocery bags and sacks, along with egg cartons.

Come on out!

Healthy eating,
Ian and Camelia

Hay Request urgent for monday

we got one load in yesterday but another just arrived and it’s going to rain this evening. Could a willing family member come over today from 3 on or any time into the eveniing to give a hand for an hour?

thanks ever so much,
Ian

Chickens not monday

Not monday pickup, my error, didn’t check with the processor. First pickup Tuesday after 4 to 6pm or contact me for what works for you.

Hay Help Request #2 and Chickens

Reaching out to my local food web;

I got a call today from my hay farmer-friend that he has good hay, second cut, for me ready tomorrow Saturday. So would you be able to come by Sunday and help move it into the barn? It will be a breeze with 6 people. Will be a couple of hours as most. I’m counting on the clear weather holding till after the weekend. Sunday 11 am start time. Pls send email if a yes.

Roasting Chickens will be ready for pickup on monday evening. I’d like those who ordered in advance to come by after 8pm monday for pickup. Please email me a confirmation or alternate, as freezer space will be limited. The birds will be well-chilled but not frozen.
Here’s who you are: Annie, Marci, Lindsay, Jenn, Theresa, Joe, Gail, Melissa, Dana, Doug F., Sarita, Sherry, Paulette, Kim D, Cheryl E, Jennifer V.

Old 99 Farm, Week of Aug 2nd 2014

Veggies this week: squashes, tomatoes, egglant, cukes, mixed greens, beets, kale, kohlrabi, basil, chives, onions, garlic.
Meats: beef, veal various cuts all listed on website.
Eggs: chicken and duck
Prepared condiments; garlic pesto and cuccumber relish by Camelia.

See you thursday!

Ian and Camelia

I discovered a blog by Eric Garza, on nutrition science that looks mighty helpful trying to figure how how to eat the best you can on your budget.

www.howericlives.com is the site.
An excerpt:
“I touched on the health consequences of relying on poor quality foods in Treating Food as an Investment, and have long been an advocate of eating nutrient dense foods. The challenge, of course, is convincing people that nutrient dense foods are affordable, as most people think in terms of cost per pound rather than cost per calorie, an issue I noted in my previous post Making Good Food Affordable. I readily acknowledge that there’s more to the idea of nutrient density than calorie content, so this Aug 3rd post will be the first in a series that looks at other nutritional elements of food, beginning with Vitamin A.”

http://www.howericlives.com/investing-in-nutrient-dense-food-vitamin-a/

A couple of sentences from his bio:

“In 2007 I entered a doctoral program at the University of Vermont under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Costanza, co-founder of the discipline of ecological economics. My doctoral work immersed me in systems theory, energy systems modeling and bioenergy systems.”

“Since graduating I’ve eschewed tenure track positions within academia and instead have taken on the mantle of entrepreneur, working with a range of partners on a variety of research and educational projects, teaching classes and offering workshops and lectures. When I’m not ‘working’ you’ll often find me hunting, fishing, foraging for wild edible and medicinal plants,”

“I also lead the Burlington Chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation, serve on the UVM Food Systems Initiative Steering Committee and the Farm to Plate Initiative’s Energy Cross Cutting Team, and volunteer for various non-profits that support sustainable food production.”

Beef and Veal

I’ve uploaded all the items now in the freezer of veal (beef about 12 months old, compared to 30 months for prime beef and who knows for store bought hamburg) and beef.

I worked out the prices for the quarters compared to buying all individual cuts that are included in a quarter. With some price changes to items like ground beef, it works out to about the same cost.

The yield after cutting, deboning, etc. is about 74% so your effective cost per lb of meat, buying a quarter, is $6.75. That’s as plain as I can make it.

This is heritage Lynch Lineback beef, flavourful, pasture-fed and finished, grown by me right here.

Go to the beef section and the veal section of the Meats tab to see the listings.

Old 99 Farm, week of July 27 2014

This is the week of new beef! So if you were waiting for grass fed and finished hamburg, steaks, ribs, roasts, this week is it. I took two yearlings, small young animals, so the their will be veal ribs and steaks. A couple of you ordered quarters which will come off the 30month old animal.

Beets, tomatoes, eggplant, chard, cuccumbers, summer squashes, and honey and eggs in abundance.

Know any families looking for a eventempered large outdoor dog? We still have four Maremma pups, now 9 weeks old.

Thanks to the 6 or 8 people who came to help with the hay unloading, we had fun and got the work done very quickly and comfortably. The ones who could stayed after for a beer and a lively conversation about the state of LAWKI (life as we know it).

Healthy eating,
Ian and Camelia

Hayt Day Saturday 26th Help Needed

Hey, it’s a seasonal thing but getting hay into the barn is a job for lots of hands. Can you come by for a couple hours on Saturday? I’m getting 300 bales delivered late today friday. Would be only a couple hours to get all in the barn. there is a 70% of isolated thundershowers sat aft. so would do in hte morning.

Thank you very kindly if you can come by, pls send me email or phone msg to confirm.

We’ll start around 11am.

Ian

Old 99 Farm, week of July 20 2014

Quick reminder, time to place your orders at www.old99farm.locallygrown.net. Since it’s already Wed morning, I’ll accept orders up to noon on Thursday.

Lots of zucchini squash, light and dark skinned varieties. Strawberries are over but still can pick raspberries. Honey crop is in too.

Healthy eating,
Ian and Camelia