Salt Fork Farms

So, our layer chicks came this morning.  We ordered 300 in total: 75 Barred Plymouth Rocks, 75 Delawares, 75 New Hampshire Reds, and 75 Speckled Sussexes.  We received 310.  They always send a few extra because they figure some will not make the long journey through the mail from the hatchery to our brooder at the farm.  They are usually right about this.  I call the post office the day before to forewarn them that the chicks are coming and that I will need to be called immediately in the morning when they arrive so that I can get there as soon as possible.  The chicks are born at the hatchery, placed 100 to a box and shipped through the mail the same day they are born.  It takes 2 days to receive this cheeping package in what has become relatively predictable for us.  The post office calls about 5:30 a.m. and we finish chores a.s.a.p. and drive to Cedar Rapids.  There we inspect each box in order to verify the condition of the birds.  Three chicks were DOA and two more were nearly dead when they arrived.  We rushed home to get them to food and water and warmth!  Chicks are given no food or water while they are in these boxes.  They are born with enough sustenance from the egg to keep them going without food or water for 2 days.  It’s a small window and it is essential that they get to the brooder very quickly.  When we arrived back, I instructed Katie on what to do as she had never received chicks in the mail before; basically counting the chicks and unload the boxes carefully.  We did.  Here are some pictures…

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305 chicks doing well. It will be about 24 weeks before these babies start laying eggs for us to add to the 250 birds currently laying.  It is a great reminder for us that spring is on the way!

We will be at Deluxe tomorrow at 9 a.m. for the winter market with eggs and chicken and cheese.  See you then.

-Eric

Hello All,

Once again and likely for the next few weeks we will be low on eggs for our Saturday market.  Please come early if you would like to get some before we run out.  Las week we ran out by 10.  Also like last week, we will have stew chickens, chicken feet, and fresh farmstead cheese for sale.

Thanks,
Eric

FYI, chickens lay eggs according to the day length.  In nature, this would prevent them from hatching chicks in the middle of winter when they would likely perish from the harsh weather conditions.  On our farm it means we have fewer eggs when there are fewer daylight hours.  Peek laying occurs at 12-14 hours of day length.  Right now we are at about 11 hours and rising.  As the days get longer, more eggs are laid.  Your patience is appreciated.

Also in the news, we are getting a new batch of 300 chicks on the 15th of February!  Stay tuned for photo updates.

Finally, SFF has joined Foodtree.  This will hopefully be a great way to keep you updated on farm activities.  Please check it out and follow us and other local food/farm activities there!

Dear SFF Customers,

Due to recent added demand by local restaurants and a dip in egg production in the last couple of weeks, we will have limited eggs available at our Winter Market this Saturday,  January 28th (tomorrow!), at Deluxe.  If you would like eggs this week, please come early.  We will have a 2 dozen per customer limit this week.  Production should increase over the next few weeks to alleviate this issue.  Thanks for your support and patience.

Yours,
The farmer.

P.S.  We will also have stew hens and chicken feet for sale at the market.

P.S.S.  We will also be introducing our 2012 CSA call for memberships in the next couple of weeks.  Stay tuned!

a day's collection

We have been waiting for a day like today. Not too cold, not too warm, and with snow on the ground. All week I have checked the weather hoping we could get Milo out in the snow and on a sled. After breakfast, we piled on the winter gear and headed out the door to collect eggs. We made the trip up the hill with Milo being pulled in the sled. He thought it was the best thing ever. We took a spin in the back pasture as Papa collected eggs. The birds stay in the hen house at night, but still get out during the day. They don’t venture too far from the house. The straw path helps them navigate to the corn crib. No one really likes having cold feet.

After the eggs were collected we took some time to talk with Maple. She is in love with Milo and Eric. As Eric pulled Milo up and down the small hill, she followed them back and forth.

We showed Milo how to make snow angles, which Milo found confusing. We kept asking him if he wanted to lie down and make a snow angel. He kept shaking his head and saying no. Then it was time to head back home for a nap.

Enjoy the snow!

Hello everyone.  SFF will be back at Deluxe this Saturday, January 14th, from 9-12.  We will have our eggs and our pastured chicken products available at this time.

Not too much is happening on the farm these days, but that will all change very soon.  It is time to peruse the seed and plant catalogs for this springs additions.

The warm weather is odd, but not too many people (or fowl) are complaining. The chickens love weather between 25 and 70 degrees.  Fair-weathered, indeed!

Milo has also been enjoying time outside with our 2 chicken friends.

Hope to see you this weekend.

-Eric

Hi all!

We have missed you, but we really enjoyed our time in Florida.  Milo was able to get in the Ocean and has developed what seems to be a true love for sand. We are grateful that we have Seth to step in and take care of things. He did a great job running the market. He also had the pleasure of milking Maple twice a day for 8 days. This is no easy task.

We are back in the swing of things and starting to prepare for Christmas. The Christmas tree is finally up.

We have started making an enormous pot of beef stock to aid in all our holiday meals. Eric will spend today prepping vegetables and making apple pies. He will make latkes with our neighbor as we celebrate Hanukkah with her. We will spend time with numerous friends, some we see everyday, some we haven’t seen in a long while. Don’t fret! We will get to see you all, too! Eric will be at Deluxe this Saturday from 9-noon. We will have eggs, chicken, stew hens and chicken feet.

~eve

Hello everyone,

We will be at Deluxe Bakery this Saturday from 9-12.  I will be inside pretending I’m a baker while running around getting your orders.  Items available from us this week are: roasters, broilers, stewers, feet, and eggs.  Also note, we have an option on the right hand of this page for you to receive updates automatically when we make a blog entry.  Just click on “Receive email updates” and follow the instructions.

This way, you can stay up to date on whether we’ll be at the bakery any given Saturday and what we will bring that day.  Thanks and hope to see you soon!

Eric

Well, it happened. We knew it would, it happens every year. The meal that features the last of our own greens. It happened one morning, the week before Thanksgiving. It was a lovely meal of eggs, sausage, greens and toast. It looked like this:

Don’t worry. Eric didn’t stab himself in the index finger. It’s a chronic milking injury. Back to the greens. They were delicious. We steam a few with the eggs as they finish. But the best way is to put a bunch on your plate with the eggs on top. Mmmmm. Greens for breakfast? Yes. I highly recommend trying it. It just makes you feel good from the start. With this meal, I’m pretty sure we didn’t eat the sausage. I think it ended up going into a stew we had over the next few nights.

Even Milo loves having greens for breakfast:

Look, he’s giving the greens a warm hello!

We are fortunate to have the greenhouse. More greens have been planted, sprouted and covered due to this weather. We are anxious to see how they do, and have our own greens before spring. Of course you all may be the recipients of some of these greens as well!

Do any of you eat greens for breakfast on a regular basis? What’s your favorite?

More soon!

~eve

Hi all,

Hope your Thanksgiving was great.  We appreciated the time off.  Not much rest, but lots of food, family, and good memories.  We are back in action this Saturday.  Our offerings have dwindled to chicken and eggs for now.  We may have some sparse produce here and there as the winter goes on, but it will no longer be a regular thing.  So, for now, large, medium and extra large eggs, broilers, roasters, stewers, and chicken feet will be available.

It also looks like we will be indoors this Saturday at Deluxe.  Cold and rainy for the forecast.

Hope to see you there from 9 to 12!

Thanks,
Eric

Well, if we were better at what we do, we’d have turkeys, pumpkins, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberries, apples, and stuffing to sell right about now.  All things come to those who plan and dream and do!  Maybe next year (probably not the turkeys, cranberries or stuffing though).  As it is, we are facing a dwindling harvest.  We will still bring things in this week, but this might be our last week of our fall harvest.  We will have kale, chard, collards, arugula, mustards, leeks, radishes, and onions on the produce side.  we will also have eggs, broilers, stew hens, and chicken feet for sale.  I hear it will be cold and possibly rainy.  We’ll make the most of it.

With Thanksgiving on our minds, we would like to inform everyone that we will not be hosting the winter market the Saturday following the holiday (November 26th).  Most people will be stuffed full of leftovers by then anyway.

I’ve been urged to inquire about every one’s ‘go-to’ thanksgiving dish.  Please comment on your favorite thanksgiving dish, the history/tradition behind it, and perhaps a recipe or an explanation of why it is your favorite.

Ours is bread stuffing:

1 loaf of good, hard bread cut in 1/2″ cubes left out to stale for at least 12 hours

2 onions diced

6 ribs of celery diced

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 bay leaves

organ meat of the turkey, plus neck (yes, really)

fresh (or dried) herbs of your choice

Put organ meat, neck, peppercorns, coriander and bay leaf in sauce pot with 4 cups of water and simmer for 2-4 hours. Once meat is tender, strain broth. Reserve meat and broth. Dice meat into 1/4 inch pieces.  In a frying pan melt 3-4 tablespoons of butter or schmaltz and saute onions, celery and garlic. Once softened and translucent add broth to vegetables. Combine enough of this broth mixture to saturate the stale bread. Mix in herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Stuff the bird!