Last Week at Green Spring Station Farmers' Market

We have made the difficult decision to close up our farm early (last market is September 3rd). As many of you know, it has been a very trying year. The relentless heat took a toll on our crops...and us. Stinkbugs took a bite (no, many, many bites!) out of our tomatoes, and they're working on everything that is left. Despite several preventive measures, deer have chomped off every okra and sunflower that survived the heat wave.

Over the winter, we'll assess our business model to determine if, and in what form, we can continue.

No autographs, please!

Bella doesn't let her chicks, Yankee Doodle and Liberty Bella, out of her sight. Paparazzi are regarded with extreme suspicion.

Organic Venison, Anyone?

Farm Haiku

by Mhom

summer evening

unwelcome visitors feast

alas, poor okra

New Chicks

Our hen Bella is a mother once again. Yankee Doodle and Liberty Bella were born on the 3rd of July. They have their own private yard to roam in as Mama Bella teaches them what's good to eat. At night, the chicks snuggle up under her wings.

Heat Wave!

The weather has reminded us once again how quickly things can change. A few days in the 90s (in May!) have thrown some of our crops for a loop. Some of the lettuces bolted (turned bitter), the sugar snap pea pods are growing flat and elongated (more like snow peas), and plant beds are drying out. It was only a short while ago that the entire lower field was too wet to plant in!

The good news is that the larkspur are blooming, an event we look forward to every year. They produce beautiful spikes of purple flowers, and we also have pink ones that start just a little later than the purples. We've gotten the first flowers on our tomato plants, and the blackberries and raspberries are starting to form.

Farm-Fresh Eggs: What's the difference?

Compared to a typical grocery store egg, the yolks of our eggs have a darker, orangey-yellow color.  In a fresh egg (like ours), the egg white is thick and doesn't spread out very much.  The yolk "stands up" instead of flattening out.  The chalazae (white, ropey strands) are more prominent in a fresh egg.  (The chalazae are a normal part of every chicken egg, designed to "anchor" the yolk.  They do not indicate if an egg is fertilized.)

We think there's only one downside to a fresh egg:  it can be more difficult to peel a fresh, hard-cooked egg than an older one.  But a fresh egg makes the best fried-egg sandwich.

Rhododendrons

Our rhododendrons are providing splashes of color all over the farm.

STYLE at the Station

Green Spring Station is partnering with STYLE Magazine for a special event on Thursday, April 14th.  STYLE at the Station will feature designer trunk shows, giveaways, and live music throughout the day.  More details available online at http://greenspringstation.com/events/.

The event also includes a farmers' market that will run from 4 to 7 p.m. that day.   We'll be there, along with several other farm market vendors.

Signs of Spring!

Black Australorp Hens

Our black-n-white, penguin-looking chicks have all grown up. The full-grown hens are black, with green highlights visible in the sun. We've been getting lots of eggs from them (mainly small- and peewee-sized until they get a little older). Our latest farm record is 83 eggs in one day! (That's not bad from only 100 hens.)

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Our rooster Lucky takes a stroll through the snow.

Summer tomatoes in February

We froze bags full of tomatoes at the end of the season last year, and we break one out every now and again as a tasty treat for the chickens during a long, cold winter. These (as-yet unnamed) chickens were hatched on the farm, and they're about 5 months old now. 

Covering All the Bases

In an effort to get a head start for spring, we protected some greens--lettuces, arugula, etc.--through the winter by covering a few of our raised beds with plastic. The cover was ripped off the first bed early on in the winter. We fixed it a couple of times, but Mother Nature was very determined. After the plants had been exposed to freezing temperatures a few times, we gave up (you can see the hoops in the background). The second bed fared pretty well until the high winds last Friday pulled off the plastic. That's when we made the unpleasant discovery that it had simply been too cold for most of the lettuces and not many survived. To top it off, chickweed and other weeds were thriving under there! It wasn't a total loss, though. The weeds went to the chickens. Our hens can tell you that chickweed is aptly named. They love it!

Coming Soon: Sugar Snap Peas

 

Sugar snap peas are a cool weather crop that we grow in the spring and fall.  If we don't get a hard frost, we should have some sugar snap peas in the coming weeks.  Eat them raw, pod and all!

Mail Order Chicks

In addition to the various chicks that hatched on our farm this summer, 50 day-old chicks arrived via the U.S. Postal Service!  (They're still nervous around us, so they tend to huddle up in the corner while I'm trying to take pictures.)  The chicks are black and white, but the adult birds will be all black with a beautiful iridescent green sheen.  In addition, the hatchery sent a bonus, unknown breed.  We will have to wait and see what it grows up to be!

They should begin laying eggs in about 5 months.

Homegrown Chicks

Here are two of the chicks hatched out by mother Henrietta.  She took the chicks on their first outside tour today, now that we've finally gotten a break from the rain.

New chicks!

We had eight baby chickens hatch last week! They are zooming all around in their enclosure, and Henrietta (the mother hen), is teaching them all about the ways of the chicken. We'll get some pictures posted soon!

We're Expecting (Again)!

Last week, one of our New Hampshire Red hens "went broody," meaning she stayed on the nest to hatch some eggs. Hatching eggs is quite an undertaking, so hens don't do it very often.  (We've only had three hens go broody in two years!) She sits on the nest for three weeks, getting up only once a day to eat and drink.  She flattens her body out to make sure the eggs are covered, and she turns them frequently--not that easy when you don't have hands!

We moved her to a separate location so she wouldn't be disturbed, and sneaked a few more eggs from other hens under her. Adding eggs is a delicate process. We place the eggs in the nest box near her, and she pecks us fiercely as we're doing it to "protect" the eggs she already has under her. (Gloves are recommended for this operation.) After we back away, she uses her beak to push the eggs under her where it's nice and warm. Timing is also an issue. To move the hen to her separate enclosure, we have to relocate her at night so she'll be too sleepy to get upset. The next day we add some additional eggs, once we're sure she's going to stay on the nest. We want all the eggs to hatch around the same time, so we don't add any more after the first day. 

We hope to have some more little chickies running around here in a couple of weeks.

Chicks @ 2 Months

Here are some new pictures of the chicks--they're almost two months old now. 

We think this chick is a hen, due to the small comb.  She's a mix of Barred Rock and ...something. We're calling her "Barred What" or "Not Rock" for now. I love the delicate feather pattern.





Our black chick has developed a lot of red in her head, neck, and breast feathers. Again, small comb size, so it's probably a hen.

We keep some cinder blocks on bare earth, and flip them over to reveal tasty (in a chicken's opinion) worms underneath! Probably a rooster: well-developed comb and wattles, and a hint of iridescent green on the tail. 

Boy or girl?  I'm still not sure!  

Fresh Lima Beans

 

If you think you don't like lima beans, do not count them out until you've had fresh limas. They are tender and delicious--we consider them a totally different food than frozen and canned lima beans from the grocery store.

Cooking is simple:  put the shelled beans in a pot and add enough water to cover them. Boil them until they are tender.  Season with butter, salt, and pepper.

Here's the hard part: the shelling process before cooking.  We sell our lima beans still in the pod, which must be removed to get the beans inside. The fastest method we've found is to cut part of the pod edge off (opposite where the beans are actually attached to the pod). You can determine where to cut by holding the pod up to the light--you don't want to cut the beans inside. Once you've removed some of the edge, use that opening to pry open the pod and retrieve the limas inside. (It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it.) Limas freeze well, too!