Shades of Green Farm

We're growing again!

"Oh my... am I ready for this?" This is what comes to mind when I am not too busy to think or too excited to be worried... or sleeping.

It's almost autumn and we are growing our work here on the farm. The short term calendar looks like this:    
Wednesday Sept. 3rd~ 250 day old laying hen chicks arrive into a new brooder/house and pasture     Wednesday Sept. 10th~ 15 ducklings (Khaki, egg layers) arrive into their new house and yard    
Friday Sept. 12th~ 160 broiler chix arrive (thank goodness their brooder and house are built!)     S
aturday Sept. 13th~ Shades of Green Farm conducts a demo on preparing whole chickens and leftovers at the Bastrop 1832 Farmers' Market    

We're also bringing our own cattle onto home pastures here in September.    
Oh, there's the fall garden.

My my, aren't we busy? Are we crazy?!?

People want our chickens, increasingly... as folks get a taste of them and understand what it means to their health and our planet to eat organic, local, humanely raised meat as part of their diet, demand goes up. Some folks would like us to raise ducks, turkeys and other meat as well. People ask us about eggs, both chicken and duck eggs... we're hoping to offer eggs at market and primarily to small grocers and restaurants. We'd love to be growing more produce for ourselves and some to sell... and we're thinking about herbs-- fresh herbs to go with our chickens.

The possibilities are endless and so is the work. If you'd like to support us, there are a number of ways to do this. Buy our products, since without customers we have no farm. (In accordance with our values, we only sell locally, in south central Texas) Consider offering a contract for meat and/or eggs; regular sales/revenues go a long way in meeting our fiscal needs. Call jules to arrange a time to come and work on building, maintaining or moving poultry houses and pastures, gardening, etc; regular help would be greatly appreciated. Donate materials, expertise or money to build the expanded infrastructure we need; this includes electric and barbed wire fencing, freezer and/or frig-cooler, storage barn, water lines, trailer, tractor, gardening, etc. (At this time, your donation would not be tax deductible). Share your recipes and cooking strategies with us and others~ to expand our repertoires and help those who don't know how to approach a large, whole, pasture-raised chicken. Make suggestions for improvement and expansion~ we'll take all into consideration and if we might not be able to do it, we still want to hear it.

Life is good on the farm. At times strenuous, at time stressful... and good. How fortunate we are to have this opportunity to live here, work here (at least some of the time) and make food for ourselves and others... food we know is healthy~ for humans, the animals in their lifetimes, and the planet. Oh joy!

Ah, vacation... and home-coming

At long last we’re on our way home from almost a month on the road. Sue and I haven’t had much of a break for almost two years and looked forward to our vacation with great anticipation. Except for ongoing minor vehicle issues (including the air conditioning going out as we drove through Oklahoma’s 107 degree weather!) we have enjoyed a peaceful and rejuvenating time together. Unfortunately, the ferry we planned to take from Michigan to Wisconsin broke down, so we lost an opportunity to visit a couple small farms before leaving the area. Sue did spend a day at the sister mill of Coyote Creek Organic Feed Mill in Elgin, where she works and we get our chicken feed. She received answers to many of her questions and I spent the time in an amazingly beautiful cabin just a few miles away, set in fields of wildflowers where I walked and sat and breathed in the sweet northern air. We thank all those who supported our goal to take this time away from the farm~ without you this would not have happened!

Today we sat down and planned out the time line for our fall flocks. After quite a bit of discussion we decided to keep to raising two flocks of 160, even though we may run out of chicken before our spring flocks have matured. This plan does not allow for much growth, and we may yet alter the plan if a good opportunity comes up, but it does give us the chance to see if we can repeat our successful yummy, healthy, happy chicken outcome as well as address areas we want to improve in, such as regular weighing of the chicks over their life span and fine-tuning the ways we call them in each evening. Given that there were nights we were still coaxing chicks into their homes for over an hour, we have a strong incentive to make that process move more smoothly and quickly. Also we have recently lost several of our personal flock to an as yet unknown predator, so it is imperative that nighttime finds all chickens safely tucked into their sturdy pens. The learning continues and we eagerly await our next babies’ arrival in early September.

In trying to find the best approach to make a living and offer quality food at decent prices, we will be raising the birds for a shorter period this time around, making them a bit smaller when finished and hopefully saving us some money in expensive organic feed. Feed prices have gone up significantly and will continue to; we will likely have to increase our price per pound, so the smaller sizes should help offset costs to our customers. Raising broilers is not a way to get rich quick, that’s for sure. We have just about decided to add a flock of layers to the farm~ 250 to start~ which would provide more income, more consistently once the work of building infrastructure is completed. Because there are other farms selling eggs at the Bastrop Farmers’ Market, we would focus on sales from the farm and to small groceries and restaurants. We’re a long way from ‘there’ and this endeavor would involve more of my least favorite activity- marketing- but the idea feels good so far. Scary and good, this farming life we have entered into.

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.

Our Farmers' Market Debut

Yesterday Sue and I (jules) set up a farmers' market booth for the very first time. The people at Bastrop 1832 Farmers' Market were wonderful! They helped us set up, loaned us equipment and told their repeat visitors that we were a new vendor selling great tasting chicken.... which, of course, is true, as those who have enjoyed them will attest to. For a first selling day, with one week to prepare our materials, we did pretty well~ we sold 10 chickens with several more customers claiming a chicken for next week, when they'll bring a cooler to take it home in.

At just around 100 degrees on a sunny, windy day, we came home a bit desiccated and feeling oh-so-happy in our dry skin.

Thanks to John and Annell who came down from Austin to give us congrats and bags (which is now on the check-off list). Thanks also to Erika, one of the market managers, who encouraged us to go for it right away and not wait, to Delores and Tracy, also market organizers, who offered advice (and bags!), and to Pati, from Bastrop Cattle Company, who has been supportive and encouraging from the beginning.

The Freedom Rangers are Here

These are our new birds and they taste terrific.  We have many of them and would like to clear out our freezers for more, so place your orders now folks.  These are plump juicy roasting chickens from the French Label Rouge breeding stock.  Julie has enjoyed raising them on our organic feed and we hope you will enjoy eating them.

These chickens are USDA certified and weigh about 5-6 pounds each and cost $3.75/lb.  We cook them 2 at a time to save on heating the oven and then we freeze the cooked meat in meal-size packets.

We've sold out of the Cornish Cross chickens and, from now on, we'll have the Freedom Ranger type breeds.  We're happier raising them since they're less lethargic and seem to enjoy running around the pasture.

Welcome to Our Farm!

Hey there!  Welcome to the Shades of Green Farm website.  We are Julie and Sue and we're chicken farmers.  We hope you'll become one of our customers and enjoy our healthy chickens.  Our chickens live on  green pastures and are fed organic feed from Coyote Creek Organic Feed Mill in Elgin.  Julie will write soon and tell you more about our farm and our family.

We have roasting chickens on sale now for $3.00/LB.  On June 12, we'll have USDA certified chickens for sale for $3.95/LB.  Our chickens average 5 LBs each so you can cook up several meals and only heat that oven once!  Our chickens are of French origin from Label Rouge breeding stock.  That means they are very tasty.. like a chicken!  Their meat is tender and textured, not mealy.  We hope you'll try them!