We mentioned this last week, but due to increased ordering, our inventory is getting lower than it usually does this time of year, before our first chicken processing. Never fear, June will bring a big growth in our offerings—and we’ll have chicken breast, thighs, drumsticks, and whole birds back in stock! The reason we can be sure to bring you increased meat options in June is because we process all of our birds on farm. If you’ve heard of the recent poultry plant shutdowns or long waits at existing processors, just know that these terrible circumstances don’t affect our farm operations at all. Once our baby birds arrive in early spring, all processing and handling happens with the two of us at our small homestead. The reason birds won’t be ready until June is because our first batch isn’t old enough yet—but they will be in a few more weeks. 🐓
It’s during times like these that we all get to eat like a farmer! Farmers often eat the weirder edible bits, the less popular cuts of meat, or the larger or older birds. One thing that we often find ourselves eating is organs—meaty hearts, shreddable gizzards, and nutrient dense liver. These bits are called offal—pronounced “awful”— but they sure don’t taste that way. They’re amazing when you know how to prepare them, and we always offer these bits for sale to you, but you may not have known that! Check in with us on Saturday about cooking technique and how you can really make the most of “eating like a farmer.” 👨🏻🌾👩🏼🌾
What else do we have plenty of right now? We’re still stocked up on duck breast, chicken wings, whole ducks, chicken & duck liver, and many of the essential parts for making your own chicken broth like bones, necks, heads, etc. We also have plenty of available duck eggs since this is the season where the ducks are really laying! 🍳
As usual, you can find us at the Corner Farmers Market every Saturday morning from 9am-12pm with both poultry and edible plants! If you plan to preorder any items for pickup in our free market drive-thru or at our table, please get your order in by Thursday at 5pm—via email. 👍🏼
Make Memorial Day Great With Chicken Wings!
Chicken wings are still in stock for the next few weeks, and we know how you love wings, especially if you’re grilling out for Memorial Day! Wings can be the centerpiece of your celebration, even if it’s just with immediate family, and a food you know the whole family will enjoy—kids and adults alike.
|
|
Chicken Necks? How Delicious!
Chicken necks may not be the first cut of meat you imagine when you think of chowing down on some delicious chicken, but they really make an excellent addition to any weekly food prep! Chicken necks make a pulled chicken dish super easy. Simply pressure cook the necks until your meat is soft but still adhering to the bones, and then peel your meat pieces and “toss” the bones. We often use the already-shredded meat for making BBQ chicken or a flavorful taco dish, complete with rice, beans, avocado, and our favorite other additions.
After peeling the meat from the bones, you can either “toss” the bones back in the broth you’ve made while cooking them (to cook them down further for any pets you have), or save that neck broth to use as a base for any sauces or soups you’re making. Chicken neck broth is rather gelatinous, because of the spinal cord and other good bits inside. It’s a nutrient dense addition to any recipe!
Everything You Need to Know About the Homestead Orchard Plant Bundle
Weeks ago gave you an overview of the Plant Bundles we’ve recently begun offering! Some Bundles are better suited for a homeowner with an average sized yard, and others fit well into a budding homestead with lots of space. Here’s a look at one Bundle that is perfect for your homestead or for folks with lots of property to work with… The Homestead Orchard Bundle! With this Bundle, you get 4 apples, 3 peaches, 2 pears, 2 cherries, & 1 nectarine for $295. This saves you $70! You can select the varieties you’d like, or ask our plant expert, Jason, to pick out his favorites or those that are self-fertile. Here are your variety options for each plant:
Apple Trees (limited availability on some of these, so check in with us as you begin narrowing down your options)—Liberty, Gala, Arkansas Black, Fuji, Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Stayman, Roxbury Russet, American Golden Russet, Aunt Rachel, Smokehouse, Holstein, Redfield, Amere de Berthcourt, Grimes Golden, Goldrush, Cox Orange Pippin, Newton Pippin
Peach Trees—Surecrop, July Rose, Redhaven, Challenger, Nectar, Winblo, Intrepid, Contender, Cresthaven, China Pearl, Carolina Gold, Victoria, Desiree
Pear Trees—Pineapple, Potomac, Shenandoah, Ayers, Moonglow, Orient, Warren (European Pears) & Chojuro, Shinko, Korean Giant (Asian Pears)
Cherry Trees—Black Gold, Rainier, Lapins, Emperor Francis, Gold, Schneider, Montmorency
Nectarine Trees—Bowden, Arrington, Avalon
Reach out to us if you have any questions, or shoot us an email if you’re interested in ordering this Bundle for your property!
May 30: Our Last Drive-Thru Pickup Day
We wanted to give you a bit of a heads up, friends! As Emma gets bigger and being pregnant with twins gets more tiring, we’ve decided to take a break from offering our products for pickup in the Corner Farmers Market drive-thru beginning in June. Emma manages the drive-thru orders and the packaging, labeling, and invoicing is getting to be a bit tougher on her as her lungs decrease in capacity and her energy level drops (this twin pregnancy has been no joke, compared to her pregnancy with Uhtred!). 🤪
This means your last day to pickup at the drive-thru is Saturday, May 30. We will continue to welcome preorder pickups at our table, and we’re able to process payment in advance to make the exchange as contact free as possible. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, and we appreciate you for bearing with us during these big transitions of 2020. If you have any questions or considerations feel free to reach out to us! 😊
Red Ranger Chickens on Pasture