"Spring won't let me stay in this house any longer! I must get out and breathe the air deeply again."– Gustav Mahler | We totally agree with Mahler – let's get outdoors! Clean up has started in the yard with raking lawns and removing debris from the flower beds. The seedlings Jeannie and Konstantijn planted indoors under grow lights are sprouting nicely. But it is only March, so we need to be patient and wait for any surprise snowstorms to pass before we take them to join us outdoors. There are still a few ewes left to lamb. When lambing starts the beginning of March, it seems like the ewes are all having babies at once and there are curly little guys everywhere. Then, comes a lull and what seems to be a long wait for the last 3 or 4 to lamb. We're in that lull. Exciting news for the musicians on the farm! The original farmhouse, which had been used for storage, is getting cleaned up and renovated to be used for a studio. This will be great for both the musicians who have to practice and the non-musicians who don't want to hear the practice. | Honey Bees We're not the only ones anxious to be out and about in this lovely spring weather. The bees are, too. Bees are such amazing creatures! Here are a few facts about these wonderful insects: • It is the only insect that produces food eaten by man.
• A honey bee can fly up to six miles and as fast as 15 miles per hour.
• Honey bees must consume about 17 – 20 pounds of honey to biochemically produce each pound of beeswax.
• A colony may contain 40,000 to 60,0000 bees during the late spring or early summer.
• The queen bee can live 2 – 4 years and may lay up to 2,500 eggs a day.
• Worker bees live for about 4 weeks in the spring and summer.
• The average honey bee will actually make only one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.
• Honey bees are vital pollinators.
• Fermented honey, known as Mead, is the most ancient fermented beverage. The term "honey moon" originated with the Norse practice of consuming large quantities of Mead during the first month of a marriage. For more Fun Facts, check out the American Bee Journal. Martin is hoping to have a few colonies of honey bees producing honey in natural hives in large tree stumps this summer. It's a new project for him, so we'll see how it works out. | Convenience without Compromise The new Harvest Haven Potato products – Oven Fries and Cubed Hash Browns are a hit. Last fall was the year of the potato. So, we've been finding various ways to process our delicious bounty and provide convenience without compromise to our customers. Oven Fries and Cubed Hash Browns are the first two to hit the store freezer. Fresh potatoes are cut into fries or cubes, blanched in lightly salted Berkey-filtered water, dried, and flash frozen. Now, you have the convenience of a prepared Harvest Haven potato without having to compromise on quality and flavor. | Harvest Haven Smoked Turkey Breast - This thinly sliced deli meat is great in a sandwich or on a deli plate, and excellent spread on pizza. One of our very favorites. Organic Asparagus – Nothing says "Spring" like fresh crisp asparagus. As a child I wondered why I liked asparagus because I thought it tasted like grass. But I didn't care. It tasted so good. L'Ancetre Organic Butter, 125 g and 250 g – Tasty and healthy organic Canadian butter from environmentally-friendly farms. Smooth, creamy, and flavorful – perfect for all your baking or just spread on your favorite bread. Maison Orphee Fine Grey Sea Salt, 500 g – A must-have condiment in every kitchen. Grey sea salt owes its colour to the clay-bottom pans of salt marshes from which it is harvested after the evaporation of seawater by the combined action of the wind and sun. This salt is hand-harvested, has no preservatives, is not synthetically iodized. Organic D'Anjou Pears – This is a rich, juicy fruit with a sweet flesh and buttery, slightly gritty texture. Because of their superbly rich flavor, D'Anjou pears are great for eating out of hand or added to salads, but are also suitable baked, roasted, or poached. Organic Light Brown Sugar – This soft, moist, and fine-grained sugar is perfect for all your baking needs, and is especially good in cakes, cookies, pies, and candies. Great on hot cereal. Wholesome Sweeteners has a strong commitment to sustainable agriculture. In adherence with strict organic standards, the sugar cane fields are green cut and are not burned or treated with herbicides or synthetic fertilizers. This is better for the environment, which ultimately is better for everyone. This also creates the highest quality, most delicious-tasting, unrefined brown sugar you can find. No chemicals, bone char, or animal by-products are used to make or de-colorize this sugar. | Please note, all ingredients in our recipes are organic. | Asparagus, Turkey, and Puff Pastry Bundles 1 small bunch asparagus, woody ends removed (about 1/2 lb)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
8 slices Harvest Haven smoked sliced turkey breast
1 piece Cheater's puff pastry, thawed if frozen
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 large Harvest Haven egg + 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry out to a large rectangle about twice its size. Square off edges and cut into 8 squares or rectangles. Toss asparagus in olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. To make the bundles, take a square of puff pastry and brush with egg wash. Place a slice of turkey breast on top, followed by 3-4 stalks of asparagus (depending on size) and parmesan cheese. Wrap turkey breast around asparagus, then wrap with the puff pastry. Make sure the puff pastry overlaps some and press to seal. Brush puff pastry with more egg wash. Bake until puff pastry is golden and puffed, about 12 minutes. Serve immediately. | Cheater's Puff Pastry 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp fine grey sea salt
1 lb cold butter
1 cup cold water In the large bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flour and salt with a few pulses. Cut the butter into 1/2" cubes. Add 1/4 cup of the cubed butter to the flour mixture and pulse until you can't see pieces of butter. This takes about ten 2-second pulses. Add the rest of the butter and pulse a few times until the butter is the size of peas. You might have to remove the lid after a few pulses and stir the flour up from the bottom. With the lid removed, pour the water evenly over the flour mixture. Don't dump it in one spot. Pulse a few times until the dough looks rough. Stop before the mixture comes together. Turn the crumbly dough onto a piece of floured waxed paper. Using floured hands, press the dough into a square. Dust the dough lightly with flour, top with waxed paper, and roll the dough, occasionally turning it 90 degrees, until you have a 18" square. Cut the square in half down the length of the waxed paper, Roll 1 piece of dough into a 12" x 18" rectangle. Using the bottom sheet of waxed paper, fold the dough in thirds along the long edge, creating a 4" x 18" strip. From the short end, roll the dough up tightly. Press the roll with your palms to make a rough rectangle, about 6" x 4". Repeat with the other piece of dough. You may need a clean sheet of waxed paper. Cut each rectangle in half. You now have 4 pieces of dough. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Bake according to recipe directions. | Salted Caramel Pear Tarts 1 piece Cheater's puff pastry
1 Harvest Haven egg, beaten
4 ripe pears small or medium
8 tsp brown sugar
8 tsp heavy cream
1 tsp coarse sea salt Preheat your oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out your puff pastry. If you are using a block, dust your work surface with some flour and roll out a rectangle 1/4" thick. Divide your rectangular shaped puff pastry into 8 small rectangles. With a sharp knife, cut an "L" into 2 opposing corners, don't cut all the way but leave a 1/2-inch in two corners. Brush with the beaten egg . Pick up the cut corners of the pastry, cross them over each other (one over, one under) and lay them flat (now on opposite sides). Brush the tops of the pastry with the egg wash and put the prepared pastries in the refrigerator to chill. While the pastry is chilling, prepare the pear filling. Peel the pears and split them in half lengthwise, core them, and slice in 1/4" slices. Take the pastry shells out of the fridge and set them on your work surface, place one pear half in the centre of each tart. Then sprinkle with a teaspoon of brown sugar and a teaspoon of heavy cream per tart, then add a pinch of sea salt on top. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until pears are soft and pastry is golden. | Dealing with Bullies There are bullies at school; bullies on the Internet; and bullies down on the farm. A couple of months ago, Martin was showing us around the corrals, pointing out more improvements that were finished, and provisions made for the various groups of livestock. As we were standing next to the corral that was holding the cows and their calves from last year, the bull calf was strutting around, making his presence known with throaty bellows. "I guess he's maturing," I thought. "He's a fine-looking animal and will make a good bull." All of a sudden, Little Bull was charging us! Thankfully, we were on the outside of the sturdy board corral fence. He kept ramming it with his head, trying to get at us. Yikes! Martin jumped up on the fence and chased him away. But my thoughts about him had changed. I wasn't so pleased with him now. "Martin, be sure to warn anyone working with these animals that Little Bull may not be safe. If he continues to be aggressive, you know what to do with him. Steers have much gentler dispositions and end up in the freezer." A few weeks later, we were back looking at livestock again. I noticed Little Bull in the bull corral with Archie, our big bull. "Are you still keeping that guy as a bull?" I asked Martin concernedly. "Oh, yeah. He's fine now," Martin chuckled. "I had to separate last year's calves from their moms because the new calves will be coming soon. So, I put Little Bull in with Archie. "Little Bull was going to show Archie a thing or two and swaggered over to butt heads with him. And this is how you deal with bullies. "As they butted heads, Archie, who's about 2000 lbs, just stood there. Then, he started pushing Little Bull, whose 800 lbs was no match for all that muscle. Archie pushed him into a corner and held him there for a while. Neither of them moving. Little Bull had to concede that he was beaten. "Now, he's the gentlest creature. No more issues with aggression," Martin confidently confirmed, smiling. "That's good news," I gingerly replied, knowing you can never really trust bulls. Shortly after this, Martin took a video of another barnyard bully – the cutest bully ever. Just ask the roosters. | |
