Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. -Gandhi | Martin has had not a few conversations about how it's organic agriculture that feeds the world and not chemicals as Monsanto insists. "It's a big fat lie that we need chemical farming. Man's greed causes him to believe Monsanto and such evil tyrants. "As consumers, what are we doing to live this reality? "You say Monsanto's evil. But, are you buying GMO-laden junk food or chemically-coated conventional vegetables, or feedlot beef because it's cheaper? Are you supporting organic producers? "It all comes down to each one of us doing our part. We truly are voting with our dollars." Check out Martin's essay at the end of this newsletter in Down On the Farm. | Were you among those wondering what the bread looked like at the end of our wood-fired oven video? If you guessed that it wasn't quite presentable, you were right. But, Martin and Jeannie are working hard to make the perfect bread and we've had some winners. We've been privileged to enjoy this oven. Sorry, you'll have to wait patiently. Remember, anticipation... | Enjoy these seasonal favorites – all certified organic, of course: Refreshing fresh fruits - Satsuma oranges, sweet Persimmons, Canadian-grown Cranberries; Sweet treats – Salted Caramel Truffles, Chocolate covered toffee almonds, Maple nuts, Chocolate bark, and a tasty selection of chocolate confections; Nibblers - A large variety of raw and roasted shelled nuts; For that favorite seasonal pie: Squash and pumpkin pie fillings and Pumpkin pie spice; Some delicious, cozy winter beverage ingredients - Orange spice tea, cinnamon sticks, whole nutmeg, cloves, and star anise. | We have ONLY 10 Harvest Haven Turkeys left! If you want one, call now: 403-329-9157. Possibly, the best turkey you've had in a long time, if ever. Just boasting before roasting and basting. | Ground Beef- Sale $6.99/lb for 3 or more pounds Reg. $7.49/lb Beef Tex Mex Sausage- Sale $9.49/lb Reg. $10.99/lb (See Recipe Box) Chicken Drumsticks- Sale $5.79/lb Reg. $6.99/lb (See Recipe Box) Frozen Turkey Bone Broth, 1 L- Sale: Buy 1 at regular price the second one for $10 Reg. $12.79 Yams- Sale $3.49/lb Reg. $3.99/lb Large Eggs- Sale $16 for 3 dozen Reg. $6.00/dozen (See Recipe Box) Wild Rice, 340 g- Sale $4.49 each Reg. $5.49 each (See Recipe Box) Frozen Wild Saskatoon Berries- Sale $5.49/lb Reg. $6.29/lb (See Recipe Box) GT's Gingerade or Grape Kombucha, 480 mL- Sale $4.49 each Reg. $5.49 each | Please note, all ingredients in our recipes are organic. | Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Pizza 1 kamut pizza crust
2 Harvest Haven tex-mex beef sausages
1 cup salsa
1 green onion, minced
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
4 large Harvest Haven eggs
salt and pepper to taste
1 avocado for garnish, optional Preheat oven to 450F degrees. Place pizza crust into a circular pizza pan. Set frying pan over medium heat. Remove sausage casings and fry several minutes until browned, breaking up lumps with a wooden spoon. Remove excess fat that may have accumulated. Spread salsa evenly onto pizza crust. Sprinkle minced green onion on top. Add cooked sausage and finally cheese. Using a large spoon, make 4 divots in the cheese. Crack an egg into each. Place into the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Meanwhile, peel optional avocado and cut into chunks. Remove from oven and garnish with avocado chunks. Serve and enjoy! Recipe adapted from tipbuzz.com | Chicken and Wild Rice 1 lb mushrooms
1/3 cup uncooked wild rice
8 Harvest Haven chicken drumsticks
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 large Harvest Haven red onion, small dice
1 large celery stalk, medium dice
1 medium carrot, peeled, medium dice
3/4 cup uncooked white rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 1/2 cups Harvest Haven chicken broth
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, minced
2 tablespoons cream
2 tablespoons dry sherry Heat the oven to 350°F. Place wild rice in a small saucepan and add enough cold water to cover by 3 inches. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cover the pan, leaving the lid slightly ajar; reduce heat; and simmer until rice is almost completely cooked, about 18 to 20 minutes. (The rice will be chewy and swollen with a slightly burst-open appearance.) Drain in a colander and set aside. While the wild rice simmers, blot the chicken drumsticks dry with a paper towel and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch frying pan over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken in batches until golden brown (the chicken will not be fully cooked), about 5 minutes per side, and set aside. Remove the pan from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the chicken fat from the pan. Coarsely chop mushrooms; set aside. Return the frying pan to the stove over medium heat and melt the butter. When it foams, add the onion and a generous pinch of salt. Stir to coat the onion with butter and cook until the onion has softened a bit, about 2 minutes, then stir in the celery and carrot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are slightly softened but still uncooked in the center, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir in the white rice, mixing well with a wooden spoon or spatula to coat each grain with oil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the outer layer of the rice becomes translucent and is just beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Add the wine and stir until it evaporates, about 1 minute. Add the chopped mushrooms and stir until the liquid is almost completely evaporated, about 1 minute. Stir in the cooked wild rice and the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring often, until the mixture is slightly thickened and the white rice is about halfway cooked, about 5 minutes (the mixture will be very soupy). Stir in the thyme, cream, and sherry, then remove from heat. Taste and if necessary season with more salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pour the mixture into a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Place the drumsticks over the mixture, nestling them close to each other so they will all fit in the dish. Bake the casserole until the rice is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid and the chicken is completely cooked, about 45 to 50 minutes. To serve, place a scoop of rice mixture on a serving plate and top with a drumstick. | Saskatoon Berry Galette Saskatoon Berry Filling:
4 cups Saskatoon berries
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp corn starch Crust:
1 pie crust (recipe below)
cinnamon and sugar mix Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Saskatoon Berry Filling:
In a saucepan, mix together the berries and water and simmer for 10 minutes over low-medium heat. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar and flour.
Then add the sugar/flour mix to the berries and combine. Simmer until the mixture slightly thickens. Set aside to cool. Putting it all together:
Line a cookie sheet, with a piece of parchment paper. Lightly flour the parchment paper, then roll out the pie crust to loosely form a circle shape. It doesn't have to be perfect, this is a rustic pie remember! Place the berry filling in the centre of the pastry sheet. Note: If you think that there might be too much filling for the pastry, don't add it all. Fold the edges of the pastry over to cover the outer edge of the fruit pile. Overlap as needed. You'll have to move quick because the filling is liquid-y. In a separate bowl, mix together the egg and 1 tbsp of water. Then using this mixture, brush the pastry.
Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on to the pastry. Place the galette into the oven, then immediately TURN DOWN the heat to 375 degrees. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown. When the galette is done baking, remove it from the oven. Let your galette sit for about 10 minutes before serving. Serve slightly warm with ice cream or whipping cream! Pie Crust:
(Makes 2 crusts) 2 1/2 cups (315 grams) flour
1 tablespoon (15 grams) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams) table salt
2 sticks (8 ounces, 225 grams tablespoons or 1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold Fill a one cup liquid measuring cup with water, and drop in a few ice cubes; set it aside. In a large bowl whisk together 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt. Dice two sticks (8 ounces or 1 cup) of very cold unsalted butter into 1/2-inch pieces. Get out your pastry blender. Sprinkle the butter cubes over the flour and begin working them in with the pastry blender, using it to scoop and redistribute the mixture as needed so all parts are worked evenly. When all of the butter pieces are the size of tiny peas — this won't take long — stop. Start by drizzling 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the ice-cold water (but not the cubes, if there are any left!) over the butter and flour mixture. Using a rubber or silicon spatula, gather the dough together. You'll probably need an additional 1/4 cup (60 ml) of cold water to bring it together, but add it a tablespoon as a time. Once you're pulling large clumps with the spatula, take it out and get your hands in there. Gather the damp clumps together into one mound, kneading them gently together. Divide the dough in half, and place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. Let the dough chill in the fridge for one hour, but preferably at least two, before rolling it out. Do ahead: Dough will keep in the fridge for about a week, and in the freezer longer. If not using it that day, wrap it in additional layers of plastic wrap to protect it from fridge/freezer smells. To defrost your dough, move it to the fridge for one day before using it. | I've gotten into a lot of discussions and arguments about the sustainability and legitimacy of organic farming, as I'm sure some of you have. Many have insisted that conventional farming with its seemingly great yield per acre is the only way to feed the world, as though chemicals are the only possible means of eradicating starvation and hunger. It's such a preposterous lie that it makes me angry, not that I can hold it against everyone who's been deceived by the chemical gospel. It is an evil history strewn with lies, murder, greed and plenty more than a few dead bodies. Let me share a few points that come to mind. First, organic farming has been tested side-by-side with chemical farming for the last 50 years and it's been more than adequately demonstrated that there is no advantage in using chemicals. In fact, in dry or wet years, organic crops outperform chemical crops. And that's only comparing yield. The nutrient density of the organic crop outperforms the chemical crop every year. There is a reason for the "conventional farming yields more" myth. You see, organic soil can fix its own nitrogen out of the air (the air we breathe is 78% nitrogen) with the aid of solar power and microbiology. If you add chemical fertilizer to a healthy organic crop, you'll likely see incredible yields in the first couple years because you have your chemical input and your microbiology working together. Great yields can be very tempting. The trouble is that the chemicals eventually annihilate the microbiological community at which point you're back to your original organic yields but they're no longer free. The only way to achieve that same super crop is to increase the amount of chemical, and as your soil diminishes the chemical needs continue to increase. At that point your chemical company officially has you and your soil hooked on drugs. The only way out of that addiction is a miserable period of withdrawal that many farmers are not willing to face. Understandably so. It's hard enough for most farmers to get by. The prospect of losing money until your soil slowly comes back to life is too big a burden for most family farms to bear. There are whole divisions of these evil companies responsible for forcing and deceiving nations and cultures, enslaving their farmers after hooking them on chemicals. Thousands of farmers in India alone have taken their own lives in desperation because chemical companies took what little ability they had left to feed their families away from them. It is cruel tyranny. We have choices to make. These chemical companies would be bankrupt tomorrow if everybody boycotted them. Second, just because we can get outrageous yields for multiple years in a row, does not mean we can presume it will continue. Just because we can get somewhere faster by over-revving our motor, does not mean it comes without a cost to the motor. If you withdraw more from your soil than you return, you are guilty of stealing from your children, naïve successors, and God Himself. Third, over 40% of North America's food is wasted. People have a gross disrespect for food. If we're so concerned about feeding the world, why not stop burying nearly half of our harvest in landfills? At the very least, a good portion could be fed back to livestock. Fourth, if you could hear the cries of starving third world farmers whose crops are now worthless because "charitable" first world nations flooded their economies with cheap food, you would think twice about how much so-called "good" we're doing by trying to feed the world. First world governments are intentionally crashing foreign markets with surpluses of cheap grain to bankrupt local agriculture and create dependency. We are bankrupting our own soil and creating a harmful over-abundance, just so we can take advantage of people who are already suffering. "What goes around, comes around." Everybody is losing. Finally, do you know how much money, natural resources, research, political activity, and straight up hard labor get wasted on war every year? Did you know that the same chemical companies that produced chemical weapons, nerve gas, and explosives for Hitler during the war now produce pesticide and fertilizer for your average farmer? Did you know that those same companies are waiting in hospital boardrooms when their dirty agriculture gives you cancer, so they can finish you off with a derivative of mustard gas they call chemotherapy? Can you even imagine anything so evil?!!?? There is enough land and resources on this planet to feed billions more people. There's no need to believe and repeat the lies that murderers have fed us, just so we can suffer for their gain. Chemical companies have taken advantage of well-meaning farmers by convincing them they're helping feed the hungry, just so they can attempt to satisfy their own insatiable greed. Chemical farming doesn't feed the world. It destroys it! Every person on earth could live like kings if everyone would hear, believe, and exercise Truth and Justice! Martin | Watch how one couple lives off of food waste for 6 months! | |
