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The "Freedom Ranger" chicks arrive
The guinea "keets" are here too
This is a week of several season "firsts." Our "Freedom Ranger" day-old broiler chicks arrived at the Post Office this morning along with our guinea keets (this is what guinea fowl babies are called). The Freedom Rangers chickens were developed in France under the name of "Label Rouge" and are designed for pasture raising. They have sturdy legs and love to eat grass and forage for insects. We are very excited to try them. Our guineas will be featured in the 100 yard dinner later this season. We learned a lot about how to raise them last year (how to keep predators away from them and prevent them from escaping in general), so we hope to have plenty to serve to our guests come October.
We harvested our first respectable crop of strawberries, and they are mighty tasty (not enough to sell yet, but for those of you coming to the first farm dinner, you'll get to experience them). We picked our first bunches of spring greens--kale, collards, baby swiss chard, beet greens. We will host our first farm dinner of the season on Saturday. If you haven't seen the menu, go to our website, click on "Dinners on the Farm," then "Dinner Descriptions and Make Reservations." Then, click on the "Spring Hopes Eternal" dinner and scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the menu. For those of you signed up to attend this dinner, the weather is forecast to be in the low '80's and sunny. We will be dining outside, so dress accordingly. It should be a spectacular evening.
We start selling our cheeses at the Oak Park Farmers' Market this Saturday, bringing our market total to three (Urbana, Green City Market and Oak Park). Next Saturday, we'll add Bloomington to the farmers' market repertoire. Our first raw milk cheese of the season is ready to eat--Roxanne, our raw sheep milk brebis style cheese wil make it's 2010 debut at the farmers' markets. It's firm and creamy with a hint of nuttiness. Great for a grilled cheese sandwich or just slice a piece and eat it unadulterated.
We will also have the following cheeses at the markets this Saturday:
Fresh chevre-the usual flavors
Angel Food--goat milk brie
Little Bloom on the Prairie-goat milk camembert style
Ewe Bloom--the little triangles of sheep milk gooeyness
Krotovina-the pyramid of the best of both milks
Roxanne--raw sheep milk brebis
Happy Eating!
A week of season "firsts'
Posted 5/21/2010 11:02am by Leslie Cooperband or Wes Jarrell.
The "Freedom Ranger" chicks arrive
The guinea "keets" are here too
This is a week of several season "firsts." Our "Freedom Ranger" day-old broiler chicks arrived at the Post Office this morning along with our guinea keets (this is what guinea fowl babies are called). The Freedom Rangers chickens were developed in France under the name of "Label Rouge" and are designed for pasture raising. They have sturdy legs and love to eat grass and forage for insects. We are very excited to try them. Our guineas will be featured in the 100 yard dinner later this season. We learned a lot about how to raise them last year (how to keep predators away from them and prevent them from escaping in general), so we hope to have plenty to serve to our guests come October.
We harvested our first respectable crop of strawberries, and they are mighty tasty (not enough to sell yet, but for those of you coming to the first farm dinner, you'll get to experience them). We picked our first bunches of spring greens--kale, collards, baby swiss chard, beet greens. We will host our first farm dinner of the season on Saturday. If you haven't seen the menu, go to our website, click on "Dinners on the Farm," then "Dinner Descriptions and Make Reservations." Then, click on the "Spring Hopes Eternal" dinner and scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the menu. For those of you signed up to attend this dinner, the weather is forecast to be in the low '80's and sunny. We will be dining outside, so dress accordingly. It should be a spectacular evening.
We start selling our cheeses at the Oak Park Farmers' Market this Saturday, bringing our market total to three (Urbana, Green City Market and Oak Park). Next Saturday, we'll add Bloomington to the farmers' market repertoire. Our first raw milk cheese of the season is ready to eat--Roxanne, our raw sheep milk brebis style cheese wil make it's 2010 debut at the farmers' markets. It's firm and creamy with a hint of nuttiness. Great for a grilled cheese sandwich or just slice a piece and eat it unadulterated.
We will also have the following cheeses at the markets this Saturday:
Fresh chevre-the usual flavors
Angel Food--goat milk brie
Little Bloom on the Prairie-goat milk camembert style
Ewe Bloom--the little triangles of sheep milk gooeyness
Krotovina-the pyramid of the best of both milks
Roxanne--raw sheep milk brebis
Happy Eating!
