We're having a heat wave
I know farmers talk obsessively about the weather. We obsess because our livelihoods depend on it. This week's farm news is much the same as last week's, except that we're going on over a week with temperatures hovering around 100+ degrees. The intensity and duration of this heat is chipping away at our state of mind, and our goat's milk production. We have purchased more fans and we're eagerly awaiting the arrival of a mister that attaches to the fans so we can blow some cool water droplets onto the goats to lessen their suffering. Today, we sprayed them with a fine mist from the hose. Normally, they would flee from any droplets of water touching their bodies. However, today, they stood there with their faces in full exposure to the cooling mist. Shelly, one of our hybrid milkers extraordinaire, tilted her head back and lapped up the water droplets as they fell on her muzzle. With not much relief from this heat wave in sight, it's a small pleasure to get the girls cooled off, if only for a brief reprieve.
So, now we turn to the topic of farmers' markets, and thoughts of shopping for food during these hot times. My recommendation is to get there early, so you can stock up and get home before the sun starts blazing. We'll be attending FOUR farmers' markets this weekend: Urbana, Springfield and Green City Market on Saturday AND Logan Square on Sunday.
I know many of you don't think of cheese eating for this hot weather, but actually, you can have a meal with bread, salad and cheese without heating up the kitchen. We've got:
Plenty of fresh chevre--plain, herbs de Provence and cracked pepper
Fresh goat milk ricotta
Sheep milk feta
An assortment of bloomy rind cheeses including Angel Food, Black Goat, Black Sheep, Ewe Bloom and Krotovina. Some of the markets will have more or less of these cheeses.
Roxanne--our firm, raw sheep milk brebis
Huckleberry Blue-our raw goat milk blue
Caprino Romano-one year old, raw goat milk grating style cheese
Urbana Market goers can cool off with some gelato or sorbetto:
Vanilla
Chocolate
Strawberry
Gianduja (Chocolate Hazelnut)
Hazelnut
Vanilla Chevre
Rhubarb-Vanilla Swirl
Stracciatella (a new flavor for us--vanilla gelato with chocolate ganache "chips")
Rhubarb Sorbetto
Nectarine Sorbetto
Plum Sorbetto
Stay tuned for details about next Wednesday's on farm sales. Try to stay cool, but don't forget to shop the farmers' markets early and bring coolers and ice packs to transport your cheese and gelato home safely. Thanks for your patronage.
