Honeymoon Farm May Newsletter
posted on
June 2, 2020
Hey there!
I can't believe we are already in JUNE!
May was hard - we had so many ups and downs last month, and if you can believe it, we are already working on plans for next year. It's both a beautiful and ugly thing - we are excited to keep learning and finding new and better ways to do things: growing mushrooms, raising chickens, planting a garden, running a business... but for a lot of these things we get one chance each year to make those changes. For someone as impatient (and as much of a perfectionist) as me, that can be really difficult to navigate without giving me a boatload of anxiety!
My impatience got the best of me in early May, I planted some herbs and veggies in containers before our last frost date, and we had that cold snap that really delayed most of the germination. Once the weather warmed up, I was able to build the garden boxes as planned, and we were able to get them filled and pathways covered between them. The beds are all planted, and I'm looking forward to those delicious fresh herbs to start growing! I had some perennial herb plugs left over from planting that I'll be making into some wonderful little potted kitchen gardens.
Lots of progress made - from a few containers in the yard to ten garden beds, we put in some muscle to get it all done
Speaking of growing... my how these chickens are growing! We had one chick hatch on the farm under a mama hen, who promptly decided that motherhood was not for her. It's name is Pip Squeak, and it now has four new friends - two ducks and two silkie chicks! We graduated our second batch of meat chickens from the brooder to the pasture in May also. They are loving the grass and the bugs. One of my favorite things to do is to watch them as we move their pens to new pasture each day. Without fail, as the pen slides forward to untouched grass, a worm emerges, and an excited chicken will grab it in his beak, and run around the pen making happy chicken noises while the other ones chase it around trying to steal the worm from him.
Pip Squeak just after hatch, a week or so later, and with new friends!
The meat chickens will get daily pasture moves until the end of July when they'll be brought to the processor in Paradise, PA, and come out as Poulet. I'm happy to say that we have also confirmed a fourth batch of chickens that we will be able to raise for meat later this summer - I think we are going to try raising some American chicken to go with our French-style offerings.
We are very lucky to have secured the processing dates for all four batches of chickens. USDA inspected poultry processors that will work with small farms like us are booked until at least Thanksgiving, and some are booked until next year completely. It's the same story for processors of red meat as well. Unfortunately, this is one of the areas that severely limits how much food can be produced and sold locally.
Gary dropping off the chickens at the processor in Gettysburg, preparing the Poussin, and the final product!
Gary and I are very passionate about the freedom to be able to choose where your food comes from, and to be able to raise food for others. We have had long conversations about what this shortage could mean for our farm, and for the local food movement, and have decided to look into building and opening our own USDA inspected poultry processing facility to serve our local community of farmers and poultry producers.
If you want to know more about how our local food system works, the regulations, and different ways that farms operate within and around them, feel free to just reply to this email and let me know you're interested in learning more! I'll be happy to chat with you about the subject - it's something that I am so passionate about sharing. It's important to know where our food comes from, and what rules exist around it.
Someone else that is passionate about knowing where our food comes from is our friends Chef Stacia Epps and Sous Chef Sarah Bartee of Maison Intimate Catering. Sunday night they went on LIVE on Facebook to show us a delicious recipe - Roasted Poussin with a Citrus Butter and Toasted Farro Salad. You can catch the replay of her cooking demo by clicking the links below, and stay tuned for the full recipe.
Part 2: Making the salad & finishing the Poussin
Chef Stacia shows the best marinade to make sure you have the most delicious chicken every time
Next week, Chef will show us how to make tacos with chicken hearts - a powerhouse meat that is usually overlooked. It's full of great nutrition, and can be cooked up in so many ways. A limited amount of chicken hearts are available on our website, and more of our Poussin can be found at Flying Plow Farm and Bowman's Butcher Shop - get them while they last! We won't have more until next spring!
I'll be introducing some new mushroom people to the markets this year, you'll love to get to know Caroline, Lauren, Carolyn, Zach, and Abbey - they are excited to meet you soon! Thank you for supporting our farm and choosing us to be your farmers - it's our pleasure to bring you farm fresh flavor every time.
-Liz
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Where to find us next
Bel Air Farmers Market
Pre-order pick ups and on-site sales
Saturday, June 6th 7am - 11am
Schedule: Every other Saturday
Havre de Grace Farmers Market
Pre-order on our site for pick up from Flying Plow Farm
Saturday, June 6th 9am - noon
On site sales will start on June 13th
Schedule: Every other Saturday
Newark Natural Foods Co-op Farmers Market
Pre-order on our site for pick up from Flying Plow Farm
Sunday, June 7th 9:30am - 2pm
On site sales will start on June 14th
Schedule: Every other Sunday
