Spring is when life's alive in everything. – Christina Rossetti | Is it really Spring? We woke up the other morning to more snow falling and the ground white instead of brown. This has been the winter that just keeps on giving. Oh well, we can use the moisture for the fields and to fill the lakes for irrigation. Lambing is done! The last couple of weeks were just a slow slide to the end with no late nights or problems with any of the ewes or lambs. The corral is full of little bouncing wool balls. | The broiler chicks have arrived. They are such cute fluff tufts for the first week. Lots of tender care is needed for the next few weeks and then, if the weather is warm enough, they'll be out on pasture. | While we're waiting for warmer weather, a few odd building touch-ups were done. A friend who is very skilled with construction was able to put barnyard trim around the workshop, so it looks nicely finished. Now, we wait for the tulips that Konstantijn planted there last fall to come forth and bloom. Their sprouts were poking out of the ground last week. | Spring is a wonderful time of year with longer sunny days and everything coming to life. Martin has come back to life, too. As I was finishing this newsletter, he called and excitedly exclaimed, "I'm tax free!" Taxes are done. He was also excited about having just purchased a pizza/tortilla maker. Now comes the R&D to get the perfect flour tortilla that will be available in the store. Good news indeed! | We're waiting for those first bright yellow flowers to pop up and tell us spring has really arrived. And we're not the only ones looking forward to these cheery bright harbingers of warmer days. Dandelions are some of the first flowers to provide food for pollinators in the spring. They may not be the best pollinator plant, but they are very prevalent, and pollinators utilize them as a source of nectar. Every part of the plant can be eaten. They are more nutritious than many commonly consumed leafy greens with more vitamin A than spinach, more vitamin C than tomatoes, and an exceptional amount of iron, calcium, and potassium. Historically, they have been used to treat many ailments and common symptoms of vitamin deficiencies. Where there are deficiencies in the soil, dandelions are very beneficial. Their deep roots break up the ground and extract calcium from the subsoil, making it available to other plants. The more they improve the soil quality, the fewer of them there will be, and the better the other plants will do.
So, enjoy those dandelions. They have a lot to offer. | We still need a little bit more help with the surplus of chicken drumsticks. Boneless chicken breasts are very popular because they taste so good and are super easy to prepare in a variety of ways. But, chickens have more than breasts. They have legs, too. After cutting up the birds, there are always lots of drumsticks. That's the part we need help with. They are delicious, plump and tender. And we really enjoy them, but there are only so many times a week that we can eat drumsticks. You see, we have to eat whatever doesn't sell. To make it easy to help us, we've put a sale on the drumsticks. If you buy a 20 lb box, which is 12 bags of 4 drumsticks each (48 total), the sale price is $5.99/lb. That's a great deal because the regular price is $7.69/lb. Tender, tasty, and delicious drumsticks from our pasture-raised broiler chickens make for fabulous meals. SALE PRICE: 12 pkgs of 4 drumsticks each (48 total) for $5.99/lb Regular Price: $7.69/lb Help a friend. :) | Harvest Haven Pastured Chicken Drumsticks – Enjoy tender, tasty, and delicious drumsticks from our pasture-raised broiler chickens. Simply Organic Paprika, 56 g – Contains nothing but pure, organic ground paprika (Capsicum annuum). Warm, mildly tangy, with subtle notes of tomato and just a hint of sweetness. Bright, sassy color and an easy, enticing aroma. Not irradiated. Harvest Haven Carrots – The carrot crop turned out very nice…large (not huge) and super sweet. Serve raw, steamed, in casseroles, soups, and cake. They juice up wonderfully, too! L'Ancetre Organic Butter, ˝ lb and 1 lb blocks – 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 Harvest Haven bread. Camino Organic Bittersweet Baking Chocolate, 200 g – This premium quality, 71% cacao baking chocolate will make your homemade treats unforgettable. Camino products are Fairtrade, certified organic, and grown by small scale farmers who are part of a Canadian Worker Co-op. Organic Brown Sugar, 454 g – 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. | Crock Pot Chicken Drumsticks 3 lbs Harvest Haven chicken drumsticks
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 1/2 cups bbq sauce divided In a small bowl combine the paprika, cumin, and garlic salt. Stir to combine. Sprinkle over the drumsticks and rub all over chicken skin. Place chicken drumsticks in slow cooker. Pour 1 cup of barbeque sauce over the chicken drumsticks. Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours until the chicken is tender. (You can cook on high if you prefer but reduce the hours on high.) When finished place the chicken on a cookie sheet lined with foil that has been lightly grease with butter. Brush half of the bbq sauce on the drumsticks. Broil for 1-5 minutes until it begins to brown. Remove from oven, flip the drumsticks, and brush with the remaining bbq sauce. Broil another 1-5 minutes until brown. Serve hot. Enjoy! | Brown Butter Garlic Honey Glazed Carrots 2 lb Harvest Haven carrots
2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
Fresh parsley for garnish Peel carrots and cut diagonally into 3-4 cm lengths. Ensure to cut each piece roughly the same size. In a small stainless steel saucepan (I used a skillet) melt butter. Allow butter to cook until brown with constant stirring. Butter will start to foam. Continue to heat it while whisking constantly. Butter will turn brown. This will take anywhere between 5 to 12 minutes depending on heat, the pan used to cook and the quality of butter. Once butter has browned, immediately reduce heat to low and add olive oil. I prefer to mix olive oil with butter to prevent it from burning. You can stick to using only butter and skip olive oil. Add minced garlic and give it a quick mix. Keep going until garlic begins to brown as well. You need to keep stirring else it'll all burn very fast. Keep a close eye and remove pan from heat immediately once garlic begins to brown. Pour honey into the pan. Add salt and freshly ground pepper. Mix until well combined. Mix cut carrots into the pan. Toss gently until carrots are evenly coated with brown butter-honey mix. Transfer coated carrots into a baking tray greased generously with oil. Roast in pre-heated oven at 425 degree F for 15 minutes. Remove tray from oven, gently toss, then roast for another 10 minutes or until carrots are softened and caramelized on the edges. Remove carrots from oven. Toss one last time with the left over glaze in the pan. Transfer to serving dish. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley. Serve warm. | So Good Brownies 4 oz Camino chocolate baking squares
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 large Harvest Haven eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt Preheat oven to 350° F. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch pan with parchment paper, allowing 2 to 3 inches to extend over sides; lightly grease. Melt chocolate squares and butter in a saucepan until smooth. Whisk in granulated and brown sugars. Add eggs, 1 at a time, whisking just until blended after each addition. Whisk in flour, vanilla, and salt. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F for 40 to 44 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in centre comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 hour). Lift brownies from pan, using parchment as handles. Gently remove paper, and cut brownies into 16 squares. | Marseilles' Plants The Van Popta children are remarkable individuals. They are all very musical, as you saw in the previous newsletter where they were playing their kalimbas. But, they have their own unique interests. Konstantijn is an accomplished pianist and loves making cookies, which she shares with whomever happens to be lucky enough to be in the store when they come fresh from the oven. Mathijs used to walk around with an acoustic guitar hanging around his neck. Recently, he bought a fancy electric one, which he plays regularly to everyone's pleasure. He's becoming quite adept at videography, too, which is handy for capturing topics of interest down on the farm, as you'll see in this video of Marseilles describing one of her projects. Marseilles has a lot of interests, mostly involving living things. If some poor creature is in a life-threatening crisis, she's the one who takes on the challenge to help it. She likes doing that, but told me that it's hard because most of her patients die. Being faced with the reality of life, she bravely accepts whatever comes. Working with plants has been a little easier for Marseilles, although she has given them all names, so it too is personal. In this video, she tells you the importance of naming them. | | |
