Why fit in when you were born to stand out? – Dr. Seuss | James has a new toy! The guys keep finding more equipment that they "need." This time it's a big loader for moving dirt or something. Martin wants to build a trout pond in a low area that he hasn't been able to remediate. It was probably a slough in the days when the buffalo roamed these prairies. They'll use James's equipment to get it done. The ponds they dug last fall are holding water and adding pleasantness to the farm's biosphere this dry summer. The turkeys and broiler chickens have been moved out to pasture where they enjoy a bounty of bugs and lots of greens. When we had dinner on the deck the other evening, we could hear the turkeys in the background contentedly chirping. It was very relaxing. At the same time, there were colorful roosters roaming around the yard. These are the guys Martin hatches with the laying hen chicks. There's no way to tell what will hatch from the eggs, so we end up with half hens and half roosters. The hens go to the pasture with the main flock to provide eggs. The roosters go to the soup pot after a life of leisure. In the midst of all the usual farming activity, Martin dressed Marseilles in an oversized bee suit and off they went to extract honey from a couple of hives. These were the traditional Langstroth type hives, not his tree stump ones. These bees have had a busy summer and produced a lot of honey, for which we are very thankful. Marseilles enjoyed the experience and made sure no bees were harmed in the process. | Farming – A Dangerous Job People often come to our farm and say they'd love to live in such an idyllic setting, little understanding that farming is complex and has many challenges. And few realize that it is one of the deadliest industries, ranking in the top 10 of the most dangerous jobs. When discussing this topic, all of us realized we know people who have had serious injuries and families who have lost loved ones in horrific accidents – arms getting caught in power takeoffs, lives lost to tractor rollovers, children run over by equipment – gruesome accounts of young and old. Here are some of the dangers farmers face constantly: ? Grain storage looks safe, but grain has an unstable surface, which quickly sucks a body to the bottom where the person perishes.
? Tractors are the most significant threat to workers. They are large and bulky, can be hard to maneuver, and are often in situations where roll overs can happen.
? Farm equipment has many moving parts that can grab clothing and limbs with no way to stop the machines.
? Long hours are a fact of life for farmers, especially in the summer and fall. Being tired results in making mistakes and errors of judgement, which can be lethal.
? Farm animals may be gentle, but they are big and unpredictable, which can result in injuries from being kicked, knocked by horns, or crushed.
? Medical access is not usually close by. It can take hours to reach someone in the field if an accident happens.
| ? | Grain storage looks safe, but grain has an unstable surface, which quickly sucks a body to the bottom where the person perishes. | | ? | Tractors are the most significant threat to workers. They are large and bulky, can be hard to maneuver, and are often in situations where roll overs can happen. | | ? | Farm equipment has many moving parts that can grab clothing and limbs with no way to stop the machines. | | ? | Long hours are a fact of life for farmers, especially in the summer and fall. Being tired results in making mistakes and errors of judgement, which can be lethal. | | ? | Farm animals may be gentle, but they are big and unpredictable, which can result in injuries from being kicked, knocked by horns, or crushed. | | ? | Medical access is not usually close by. It can take hours to reach someone in the field if an accident happens. | | Our beef is back in the freezer. And more is coming! Enjoy your favorite cuts again. | We raise the chicks in the barn for about 3 weeks until they've grown enough feathers to survive cooler nights. At this point they're ready for pasture. The birds are split up into 10-foot by 10-foot cages starting at one end of a pasture that's been recently grazed by sheep. The shorter, trampled grass provides more suitable bedding and renders the bugs easier to catch. And the tender pasture regrowth is much easier for the birds to digest than mature grasses. Every morning after the dew comes off, we move each cage ahead by a full ten feet, providing the birds with a fresh salad and a side of bugs, which they take full advantage of before resorting to their grain feeders. It should go without saying that we provide exclusively organic grain and clean Grander Living Water. This system also moves the birds away from their manure which means they are never exposed to any pathogen load. It keeps everything and everybody healthy and clean. Our birds have full access to sunshine and fresh pasture breezes that are 100% free of ammonia. The healthy pasture grasses make immediate use of the nitrogen in the manure to prevent any odors or runoff. The whole system is beautiful and clean, naturally providing meat that is clean, flavorful, and nutritious. FRESH WHOLE CHICKEN WILL BE READY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH, CHICKEN PARTS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH. ORDER YOURS TODAY. | Freshly extracted Harvest Haven Honey is back! Yum!!! Martin was finally able to get some queen bees this spring. All shipments of bees from New Zealand were cancelled last year because of covid and there were bureaucratic delays this spring for the same reason. Serendipitously, Martin connected with a local farm raising bees, which is rare for this area. These bees were very strong and active, producing a copious amount of honey. Because we have a large variety of flowering plants on the farm, the bees didn't have to forage canola or any other strange blossoms. Martin describes the honey as "balanced" – not bitter from too much alfalfa and not pungent from canola. Just pure sweet honey! | Harvest Haven Pastured Beef Minute Steaks – Tenderized lean and flavorful steak that's great as Chicken Fried steak with gravy or in a flavorful tomato-sauced Swiss steak. Harvest Haven Pastured Beef Bone Broth - So good so many ways! Enjoy as a hot beverage, use to make delicious beef gravy, or use in your favorite soup. Organic BC Corn – Here's summer corn on the cob! Grill it, bake it, or boil for a delicious treat. To grill corn on the cob, pre-soak the corn with the husks on and then place the cobs directly on the grill for 18-20 minutes on med/high heat rotating every 5 minutes. Bake corn on the cob by placing husks directly on the center oven rack and bake at 350° F for 30 minutes. (No need to soak.) The quickest method to cook corn on the cob is to place shucked corn in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, and add a tablespoon of sugar, then boil 15 minutes. Serve with lots of butter, and salt and pepper. Harvest Haven Red Onions – Freshly-harvested red onions are subtly sweet and mild enough to eat raw. Sliced into thin rings, they give a satisfying crunch to sandwiches and burgers. Slice or chop into salads for a nice bite and a dash of color. Grill ˝-inch thick slices, brushed with olive oil and a dash of salt. Enjoy as a side dish or use to top burgers and steaks. Organic BC Rainier Cherries – Love these premium sweet cherries with their thin skin and thick creamy yellow flesh. The season for Rainiers is very short, so get them now. Organic Baker's House Supply Cornstarch, 250 g - This baking essential is certified organic and non-GMO. Besides thickening sauces, cornstarch is great for making crispy fried coatings, tender shortbreads, crispy waffles, and fluffy omelets. | Please note, all ingredients in our recipes are organic. | Country Fried Steak 2 lbs Harvest Haven minute steak
1 tbsp seasoning salt
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 Harvest Haven eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup sunflower oil Gravy
1 tbsp butter
1/4 all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup Harvest Haven beef bone broth
salt and pepper to taste Steaks
Season the steaks with seasoning salt. In a shallow dish, season the flour with the onion and garlic powders. In a separate dish, whisk the eggs and milk together. Dredge each steak, one by one, into the flour, then the egg mixture, and back into the flour. Shake off the excess flour. Heat oil in a pan on a medium high setting. Place steaks into the pan and fry for 4-5 mins per side. Place steaks on a wired rack or paper towel to drain; tent with foil to keep warm. Set aside. Gravy
Add butter to the same pan with the steak drippings. Once butter has melted, whisk in the flour. Pour in the beef bone broth and milk while whisking. Simmer until gravy thickens. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve the gravy over the Country Fried Steaks. Enjoy! | Avocado Corn Salad 1 lb cherry tomatoes halved or quartered
3 ears of corn cooked, shucked and cut off the cob
2 avocados peeled, pitted and sliced
1/2 red Harvest Haven onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 to 3 Tbsp lime juice from 1 to 2 limes
2 Harvest Haven garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced
1 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp black pepper In a large salad bowl, combine sliced tomatoes, corn kernels, sliced avocado, thinly sliced red onion, chopped cilantro and press in 2 garlic cloves. Drizzle the top with extra virgin olive oil, lime juice (adding it to taste). Add sea salt and black pepper, or season to taste. Toss the salad gently just until combined and serve. | Rainier Cherry Pie Shortbread For the crust/topping 2 cups butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 cups flour, spooned and levelled
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped For the cherry filling 2 1/2 pounds Rainier cherries, pitted (about 8 cups cherries)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt Begin by deciding if you want walnuts in your cherry pie bars. (You do.) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Spread chopped walnuts over a dry baking sheet. Bake for about 5 minutes, stir, then continue baking in 2 minute increments, stirring every time, until the nuts are browned and quite fragrant. Remove from the oven and let cool. Meanwhile, line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper, or grease with butter. Set aside. In a large bowl or stand mixer, add butter. Beat thoroughly for a couple of minutes until the butter is smooth and there are no lumps. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add sugar. Continue beating for another 2 minutes, until the butter is light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt. Beat to combine. Add 1 cup of flour, making sure you are spooning the flour into the measuring cup and levelling it off. Beat until combined. Add the remaining flour 1 cup at a time (total of 4 cups), beating each time. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. If you are using a hand mixer, you might need to mix the last cup or two manually with a wooden spoon. Add about 2/3 of the dough to the prepared pan. (I like to separate the dough into chunks and spread them across the pan to make it easier to press in.) Use your hands to press the dough flat into the bottom of the pan. If your hands stick to the dough, lightly wet your hands. Place the pan in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Cold shortbread dough going into a hot oven is what gives you that perfect flaky texture. Add the completely cooled walnuts to the remaining 1/3 of the dough that's still in the mixing bowl. Mix the walnuts in, cover, and chill in the fridge while your crust bakes. After a 20 minute chill in the fridge, bake the crust in the oven at 375 degrees F for about 18-20 minutes. (If you are using a glass pan, let the cold pan rest on the counter for about 2-3 minutes before putting it in the hot oven; you don't want to shatter your pan.) You will know the crust is done baking when the edges look golden brown and it is not shiny in the center. Set aside to cool. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, prep your cherries. Use a cherry pitter or a straw (a metal straw would work best) to pit 2 1/2 pounds cherries, or about 8 cups of cherries. Leave them whole, no need to halve them. Add the cherries to a 3 quart pot. Add sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, and teaspoon salt. Stir together. Turn the burner on to high heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to maintain a strong bubbling simmer (Medium or medium-high) and let boil for about 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally. The cherries will soften a bit and the liquid will get thick. The mixture will foam and rise up a bit, this is normal. Pour the hot cherries onto the baked shortbread crust. Working quickly, add the remaining shortbread crust on top of the cherries. You want your shortbread to stay as cool as possible, so don't take forever. I like to pinch the dough off with my fingers into pieces about the size of a quarter and scatter them over the top. It's okay if you can still see cherries through the topping. Make sure your oven has been lowered to 350 F. Bake the cherry pie bars for about 25-30 minutes, until the top is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack. Serve with vanilla ice cream. | Farming's Not For Wussies James came limping into the lunch room the other day and we all looked at him, wondering what he'd done now. "Augh…I don't know what I did," James offhandedly dismisses our concerns. "I was dismantling the big high hoe and probably hurt my back or hit my knee. They're connected somehow, right?" This started a conversation about farming injuries and the dangers inherent with the job. We were all thankful that none of us have had any serious incidents. Martin slipped while scrambling over a corral fence one winter and fell on a frozen sheep turd, hurting his back. He hobbled around for a while. A previous employee was chased by a bull and jumped up on a trailer to get away from it. No injuries to worker or bull. Igor, who was helping shear sheep one spring, was told not to let go of the animal as it was being sheared. Somehow, the ewe escaped the shearer and Igor hung on to it for a wild ride around the corral until he was told to let go. He is a city boy. Then came the recent report about a friend from whom we get organic hay and grain. Joe is 92, going on 93, and is still farming, despite having a hip replacement. It was 8:30 in the evening and Joe was repairing his swather. Crawling underneath the machine to repair it, his artificial hip went out of place leaving his leg useless. He crawled out from under the machine and dragged himself over to his ATV, struggled to get into it, and using his good leg, drove 5 miles to his son Danny's house. Danny quickly got him into the truck and it was off to the hospital. At the hospital, the ER doctors tried to force the hip back into place, but it was too hard and painful. Giving Joe a sedative so his muscles would relax, they got the hip back in. When Joe came out of the anesthetic at 2:00 AM, the nurses gently reassured him that he could just sleep there until morning. "I can't stay here," was his anxious reply. "I need to get home so I can get up and get swathing in the morning." "Son, take me home!" And off they went. Sure enough, Joe was back on the field first thing in the morning. A little later, he says to his son, "You know, I've been thinking. I'm getting too old…[wait for it]…I need to…[is he going to retire?]…I need to phone you when I get in at night, so you know I'm okay. And I won't go back out again." That was it. No retirement. He's just going to make a phone call and keep on farming. | |
