January 4, 2017 "Welcome, Winter. Your late dawns and chilled breath make me lazy, but I love you nonetheless." -Terri Guillemets Going Vegan Not S

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January 4, 2017

Frosty  Foggy Morning

"Welcome, Winter. Your late dawns and chilled breath make me lazy, but I love you nonetheless."

-Terri Guillemets

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Going Vegan Not Sustainable for Humanity

This NOVA Next/PBS article explains why Going Vegan Isn't the Most Sustainable Option for Humanity.

Martin Van Popta, our manager, briefly describes why herbivores are a necessary element in sustainability:

This article makes an excellent point. Vegan diets don't make any use of the great expanses of rocky wilderness and marginal soils that cover a good portion of our earth. There are so many niche eco-systems that can be nurtured and optimized by pulsing them with ruminating herbivores (cows, sheep, goats, deer, etc.).

You can't farm wheat on a mountainside but you can certainly raise goats. If you graze these marginal areas responsibly, you can actually build soil that reduces erosion and keeps the rivers clean of sediment and the fish happy.

It isn't only marginal land that benefits from animal impact. Even the most fertile arable soils appreciate seasons of fallow grazing. In fact, without rest, even the deepest, richest soils can be mined to depletion with back to back annual cropping.

Remember, perennials don't require yearly planting or tillage. Because perennials have much deeper roots than annuals, they require much less water and are able to drive deep down to bring minerals up and break up hard pans.

Humans are not capable of efficiently converting perennial forage into protein because of our limited ability to synthesize amino acids. The ruminating herbivore, on the other hand, is a specialist at rearranging incomplete proteins into complete ones and builds soil while doing it. One could even say they're "outstanding in their field."

The article does, however, fail to point out that omnivorous diets will actually be worse for our soils than vegan diets if the animals are raised eating grain (NOT A PERENNIAL) in a confined feedlot. Raising ruminating herbivores on grain in confinement robs these wonderful creatures of their intended ability to heal and forces them to destroy instead. It is a crime against God and man.

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Classes in the New Year

bottles and cup

Kombucha

Bread

Natural Leaven Bread

The Natural Leaven Bread and Kombucha classes will be held in February and March.

Let us know what classes you're interested in. Watch for details in the next Harvest Haven Happenings, January 18.

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Raw Sauerkraut Is Back!

Sauerkraut label
Sauerkraut
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Fresh Beef

Beer-Braised-Short-Ribs

We'll have fresh Harvest Haven Beef available Friday, Jan 20 and Sunday, Jan 22. If you would like some special cuts, let us know by Monday, Jan 9, so they can be included in the cutting instructions.

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On Sale...

Lamb Loin Chops - Sale $14.99/lb Reg. $16.89/lb (See Recipe Box)

Beef Breakfast Sausage - Sale $9.25/lb Reg. $10.99/lb

Ground Beef – Sale $6.99/lb for 3 or more pounds Reg. $7.49/lb

Yellow Butterball Potatoes – Sale $6.99 for 5 lb bag Reg. $7.99/5 lb bag and Sale $12.49 for 10 lb bag Reg. $13.99/10 lb bag, (See Recipe Box)

Cooking Onions - Sale $5.99/ 3lb bag Reg. $6.99/3lb bag

Steel Cut Oats – Sale $5.26/ 2 lb container Reg. $5.99 for 2 lbs. (See Recipe Box)

Prairie Harvest Garden Vegetable Pasta Sauce, 769 mL – Sale $5.69 ea. Reg. $6.50 ea.

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The Recipe Box

Please note, all ingredients in our recipes are organic.

balsamic-glazed-lamb-chops

Balsamic Glazed Lamb Chops

12 Harvest Haven Lamb Chops
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Harvest Haven Garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp Coarse Salt
1 tsp Coarse Ground Pepper

Balsamic reduction:

1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp Coarse Salt
1/4 tsp Freshly ground Black Pepper
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar

In a medium saucepan, pour in the vinegar, salt, pepper, and brown sugar.

Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium. Simmer until the vinegar has reduced by one third to one half and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Watch closely! If the vinegar and sugar cook too long it will caramelize and become solid. Remove from heat and pour in a small bowl. Let cool. Can be stored in the fridge for up to a month.

Turn oven on broil.

Place the lamb chops in a bowl. Place the olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper in the bowl with the chops and toss well to evenly coat the chops with the seasonings and oil.

Spread the chops out evenly on a broiling pan, making sure that they are not touching each other.

Place the pan on the top rack of the oven and broil the chops for about 5 minutes, or until the chops are a deep, golden brown on the side facing up.

Remove the chops from the oven and turn each one over.

Place them back in the oven and broil again for about 5 minutes or until the side facing up is the same golden brown as the underside.

Remove from the oven and drizzle the balsamic glaze over the chops.

Plate the chops as desired and drizzle additional balsamic glaze over them as desired.

Serves 6

Recipe courtesy of: The Kitchen McCabe

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Easy Scalloped Potatoes

No sauce to make! A favorite potluck dish.

2 lbs Harvest Haven Butterball potatoes (about 6 medium)
1 small to medium Harvest Haven cooking onion, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp flour or a little more
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup butter
2 ˝ cups milk

Heat oven to 350°F.

Wash and pare potatoes; slice thinly to measure about 4 cups.

In buttered 2-quart casserole, arrange potatoes in 4 layers, sprinkling each of the first 3 layers with 1/3 of the onion slices, 1 Tbsp flour, 1/4 tsp salt, dash pepper, and dotting each with 1 Tbsp butter. Sprinkle top with salt and pepper and dot with remaining butter.

Heat milk just to scalding; pour over potatoes.

Cover; bake 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 60 to 70 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 4 to 6

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Steel-cut Oats

Easy-Peasy Steel Cut Oats

1 cup steel cut oats
3 1/2 cups water
Salt

Bring water to a boil, add oats and salt. Boil for 1 minute. Remove oats from heat and let sit overnight.

In the morning, add whatever you like and warm it up. Butter/raisins/pecans or apples/cinnamon/walnuts are a couple of tasty options.

Serves 4

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Down on the Farm

It's a New Year and we're excited about two things.

One: Jeannie is taking pictures everyday for the Harvest Haven Facebook Album – 365 Days at Harvest Haven. Like our Facebook page and follow the daily moments on the farm.

day 1

Well insulated

Two: The guys have started work on the new store after a few years' hiatus.

The fields are covered with snow and the cattle are cozy and warm in their sheds. Now, Martin and James can focus on internal construction in the new store.

The display cooler is assembled and Martin is putting together the wood-fired oven, brick by brick.

Snowy New Store
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New Harvest Haven Store-6
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New Harvest Haven Store-1
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New Harvest Haven Store-13
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