Shades of Green Farm

Seasonal Ethics, Bastrop Market News, and New Website Pages

Greetings on this hot, dry Texas day... yep, another hot, dry day here in south central Texas. I'm glad that, except for the 16 'keepers', all our chicken flocks have gone to processing, meaning they are not here to swelter in the heat; rather, they are chillin' in the freezers on their way to market.

We do not intend to have chickens in pasture during August or January, when temperature extremes are most likely (like we didn't have 100 degree days in June this year!). This seasonal approach to raising animals fits with our values about providing the best possible environment for the animals in our care and building in some relative down time for ourselves. We know this isn't the most lucrative approach in terms of keeping as many chickens as possible out in the marketplace  at all times, but we are aware of many farmers who take this approach and make it just fine. Some raise only enough to fill the requests of customers who pre-order a quarterly number they commmit to buying or pay for in advance. At this point in time we choose to take a looser approach and see if it's possible to keep raising poulty for the general public while exploring a strategy to raise some flocks that meet specific contracts... all based on seasonal times of availability. This means there will be times of having fresh never-frozen chicken, frozen only (which is all we can offer at the market, due to regulations) and hopefully minimal periods of being completely out until the next flocks mature. If we can make this work we will be happy farmers indeed-- with happy chickens whenever they are here.

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We are now selling at the Bastrop 1832 Farmer's Market on both Fridays (1-6) and Saturdays (10-2). Even though we'll be out of town for almost a month, Erika at Bradshaw Farms will continue to offer our chickens for sale to keep availability for customers, which is good for everyone. Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to Erika for her support! The sense of community and fun amongst the vendors at the market make the work a joy, even in these hot hot days.

On Saturday September 13th, Shades of Green Farm will offer a demonstration at the Market in preparing  our wonderful chickens~ we hope to see you there!

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To address the wishes and needs of customers, I've added two new pages to this website/blog. The first provides a place to express yourself~ called "Compliments, Critique and Comments", it's meant to be a forum for feedback and input; the other page is entitled "Recipes and Suggestions for Cooking" and is self-explanatory.

Well, I couldn't get the pages to accept comments, so they are now new posts under similarly named categories... works the same, in terms of going to the post and contributing via posts. And thanks!

Compliments, Critique, Comments

After several delighted customers have shared with us their wish to have a place on our website for leaving their comments ("I would testify for your tasty chickens if I could!"), I'm starting a page just for feedback and input from customers, friends (often and increasingly overlappying categories, oh joy!) and folks who are interested in our product or what we are about. Happy are we to receive your kudos... and equally happy to hear how we might improve our product or our service to you. As beginner farmers and marketers, we are eager to hear from you. If you give approval to use your comments in our advertising, please let us know in your post; otherwise we will not use your words. Advice to others who might wish to know how to make the best use of the big chickens we typically sell, as well as strategies for cooking and recipes, will go on another new page, plainly called Recipes. Thank you in advance for taking the time and making the effort to reflect on our efforts here at Shades of Green Farm!

Recipes and Suggestions for Cooking

Okay, I didn't call this page simply 'Recipes', as indicated on the 'Comments' page; I wanted to offer enough guidance to enable new folks to find helpful information about cooking our chickens.

Because our chickens are a different breed, are slightly older and typically larger that most found on the market, it can be helpful to hear how other folks approach these chickens for the yummiest results. In general, longer cooking times are needed; we use a meat thermometer-- not a fancy one, bought at the local grocery store, works fine for our purposes-- and when the thigh shows 170 degrees, it's done throughout. We've found it takes a couple hours at fairly high temps (375-425) but definitely read on for others' input, who are likely to know as much or more than us.

Although one chicken costs somewhere around $20, the overall value is actually very good. There is a great deal of meat on our chickens, of high nutritional value; a 5 pound bird can feed 1 or 2 people up to 6 or 7 times easily, and a family of 4 or 5 will eat at least 3 times if the leftovers from the first meal are removed from the bone and combined with other ingredients for burritos, casseroles, etc. Several people stress not to waste the bird and use the 'finished' carcass to make broth from which soup, rice and other broth-based dishes may be created. Anyone want to share how they do it?

During our vacation, we'll try to find enough down time to write more about how we have prepared our chickens... in brief, several dishes are our current favorites.
    First time cooking~ simple oven roasting remains our ultimate favorite, with any of a variety of simple flavorings (rosemary, basil, lemon and garlic), with or without veggies like potatoes, carrots, leeks, and onions; a rub of apricot preserves mixed with garlic and dijon mustard is fabulous for both roasting and BBQing. Because it heats the oven and house, we usually cook two in different ways, enjoy a bit of both the first day and use the remains for later dishes or to freeze, labeled noting the flavoring and date.
    Subsequent dishes from left-overs~ nothing beats this chicken for cold chicken salad- we keep it extremely simple (at this point) just to savor the basic flavor (don't use thawed left-overs, it's just not the same as fresh); chicken in verde sauce over rice, chicken parmesan with zucchini and/or mushrooms, and in Indian curry simmer sauce with carrots, spinach, goat cheese pieces, and tomatoes... these are recent delights in addition to plain sandwiches and nibbling cold or warmed pieces with good cheeses and crackers.

Truth be told, neither of us are extraordinary cooks (I enjoy raising them as much as cooking them).  We've been given many great ideas from others (including the apricot rub, thanks to Rachel!) that have enriched our repertoire, for which we are grateful. And now we present YOUR ideas... and thank you all endlessly for sharing your advice and recipes with others, and us!

Oh joy~ it rained!!!

Finally, after weeks of squalls passing just to the north, south, east or west of us, it rained a good drenching rain this evening... almost an inch in about an hour and a half. Sitting quietly on the porch, I could hear the grasses and the trees sighing as the sound shifted from the hard tap of wet on parched leaves and ground to the wet plop and swish of foliage drinking in the sweet deep rain. Now, if it's not too much to ask, we'd like another inch tomorrow... and thank you.

The chickens were quite funny~ since it's been so dry that the most 'rain' they've experienced has been when we've misted them with the hose, those chickens started off by running and flapping before getting themselves settled under trees and in their houses. As the rain eased off, those gals (all but 3 of our flock are females, the rest having transitioned into meat) began legging it through puddles and floating grass, pecking and scratching and having a great time. It took a bit more urging to get them in tonight~ I think they weren't finished with the novelty of their first big rain. Hopefully they'll get another experience tomorrow.