Dangers of Supermarket Pork

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/nutrition/whats-pork

HFF pork is raised 100% antibiotic free!  Plus, it tastes delicious!

A great way to prepare your HFF chicken!

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/bestof/toprecipes/bestchickenrecipes/recipes/food/views/My-Favorite-Simple-Roast-Chicken-231348

• One 2- to 3-pound farm-raised chicken
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons minced thyme (optional)

• Unsalted butter
• Dijon mustard

print a shopping list for this recipeview wine pairings

preparation

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better.

Salt and pepper the cavity, then truss the bird. Trussing is not difficult, and if you roast chicken often, it's a good technique to feel comfortable with. When you truss a bird, the wings and legs stay close to the body; the ends of the drumsticks cover the top of the breast and keep it from drying out. Trussing helps the chicken to cook evenly, and it also makes for a more beautiful roasted bird.

Now, salt the chicken—I like to rain the salt over the bird so that it has a nice uniform coating that will result in a crisp, salty, flavorful skin (about 1 tablespoon). When it's cooked, you should still be able to make out the salt baked onto the crisp skin. Season to taste with pepper.

Place the chicken in a sauté pan or roasting pan and, when the oven is up to temperature, put the chicken in the oven. I leave it alone—I don't baste it, I don't add butter; you can if you wish, but I feel this creates steam, which I don't want. Roast it until it's done, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove it from the oven and add the thyme, if using, to the pan. Baste the chicken with the juices and thyme and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board.

Remove the twine. Separate the middle wing joint and eat that immediately. Remove the legs and thighs. I like to take off the backbone and eat one of the oysters, the two succulent morsels of meat embedded here, and give the other to the person I'm cooking with. But I take the chicken butt for myself. I could never understand why my brothers always fought over that triangular tip—until one day I got the crispy, juicy fat myself. These are the cook's rewards. Cut the breast down the middle and serve it on the bone, with one wing joint still attached to each. The preparation is not meant to be superelegant. Slather the meat with fresh butter. Serve with mustard on the side and, if you wish, a simple green salad. You'll start using a knife and fork, but finish with your fingers, because it's so good.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/bestof/toprecipes/bestchickenrecipes/recipes/food/views/My-Favorite-Simple-Roast-Chicken-231348#ixzz2BY51BIPz

My favorite tree....the shagbark hickory that inspired the farm name....just starting to change color.

Guinea Hens are Great!

Our four guinea hens continue to work hard at keeping the tick population down....I am very happy to report that between our horse, mule, 4 goats, 3 dogs, 1 cat, and 10 cows, we have probably removed less than a dozen ticks this year!

October 2012

It makes me so happy to see the cows grazing on lush green grass in the middle of October!  All the work we put into developing our rotational grazing plan is really paying off....hopefully we will be able to get a similar shot it November....

Our cows move to fresh grass on a daily basis.....generally, this only involves them walking quietly to the next section when we pull the wire aside.  Every few weeks, however, they like to kick their heels up and have a good run before they get back to eating!

Buttercup at Work

New Addition

Today we brought home a new bull!  He is a Scottish Highland, a breed known for their hardiness, good temperament, and a distinctive double coat that allows them to thrive in just about any climate.  By bringing in a new breed we are adding new genetics and continuing to improve the health of our herd through hybrid vigor.

Check out this plant sale!

J&A Farm

Mothers Day Weekend
Plant and Pottery Sale

This Saturday, May 12^th 11am-3pm

J&A Farm, 12 Indiana Road, Goshen NY
(around the corner from the
Quaker Creek Store, on Pulaski Hwy)

Herb, Strawberry & Vegetable Plants (Seedlings)
Handmade Local Pottery by Adina
Gardening Q&A with the Farmers @ noon & 2pm

For more info contact the farmers, Jeff & Adina Bialas

845-360-5380 / jabialasfarm@live.com

Find us online at: http://jabialasfarm.com or J&A Farm on facebook

 

Every year, we try and grow as many of our own veggies as possible, but the garden often suffers as we focus our attention on the animals, farm maintenance, family events, work, play, etc, etc.  So although we will still have a garden this year, we got the opportunity to work out a barter system with J&A Farm in Goshen.  Today we got herbs, greens, lettuce, horseradish, and popcorn!  Can't wait to see what the rest of the season brings!

The girls are really enjoying the grass now that we finally got some rain!  Each year the pasture continues to improve; hopefully the weather cooperates and the grass just keeps growing!

Prime Rib Roast

We were so excited to get this petite prime rib roasts back from the butcher. At about 3lbs, they are the perfect size for 2-4 people, and absolutely delicious! We are enjoying one tonight for Sunday dinner, served with a simple green salad and yorskshire pudding....mmmmm!

Petite Prime Rib Roast:

-Remove roast from freezer, remove packaging, rinse, and defrost thoroughly in refrigerator (at least 36hrs).

-At least one hour before cooking, remove roast from refrigerator, pat dry with paper towels, and allow to come to room temperature.

-Preheat oven to 450.

-Season roast with salt and pepper, rub cut sides with butter, rub entire roast with herbs de provence (or season to taste).

-Place roast, ribs down, in roasting pan.

-Roast at 450 for 15-20min.

-Turn oven down to 325, roast for 18 min/lb for medium rare. We recommend not serving grass-fed beef well done!

-Remove from oven and tent with foil, let rest for at least 15min.

-To serve, remove rib section from bottom and slice to desired thickness against the grain.

Enjoy!

Buttercup, 3 weeks later

Here is Buttercup! After 3 weeks on the farm, some intense dental work, a visit with the blacksmith, vaccinations, and getting dewormed, he has gained about 100lbs and is feeling like a new man. He enjoys getting groomed, eating his high-fat rice bran mashes, going on short rides, and long walks in the pasture with his new friend Wellby.

Chicken Tractor....again!

Time to build another chicken tractor! We have had such success with our pastured poultry that we continue to increase the number of chickens we raise....which means we need more portable housing. Every time we build a chicken tractor, we strive to make it as lightweight and secure as possible. Because we move our birds onto fresh grass at least twice a day, the weight of their house is a major issue. At the same time, it needs to be secure enough to protect them from predators, as well as not blow away in a summer storm! This year, we were grateful to have Matt and Grace come help us build a Salatin-style tractor. We are looking forward to trying it out!

Efforts at Sustainability

We work hard to be as sustainable as possible, but there are still many instances where I think we could do much better.....

This post, however, is pretty neat....

As mentioned earlier, we have a partially wooded property. We use that wood during the winter to heat our wonderfully efficient home....one fireplace heats the whole house all winter! The ashes and charcoal get collected throughout the winter. In the spring, we separate the charcoal and the ash. The charcoal is given to the pigs, who eat it, as a natural de-wormer. The ash gets spread on the fields, in areas where we have a lot of wild onions, which the cattle don't like. The ash changes the ph of the soil and deters them from growing. Not bad!

Lancaster

We took a trip down to Lancaster County hoping to find some animal powered farming equipment at at auction. These photos show the contrast between the "English" and Amish parking areas!

Working towards Silvopasture. Or, clearing the woods.

About 12 of our 32+ acres are heavily wooded....great for privacy, but not ideal for pastured animals. For the past two years, we have been slowly working on turning the woods into a silvopasture environment......ideally, healthy mature trees, well spaced, with plenty of grass in between. The pigs from last year were very helpful in clearing the underbrush and turning the soil, and the cows have spent most of this winter in the woods, helping to clear as well. Of course, with all these scrub trees coming down, either by animal or chainsaw, we have gathered quite a pile. So, for the third time since starting the farm, we had to partake in possibly our least favorite activity: woodchipping. This time wasn't quite as bad as we got smart and did it in the winter. All said, it wasn't too bad, and now we have plenty of wood chips to use for composting, gardening, the chicken coop, etc. And we are another step closer to growing grass in the woods.

Buttercup the Mule

This week we were lucky to bring home a new friend, Buttercup. Buttercup is a Belgian Draft mule who was slated to go for slaughter after being sold at the New Holland auction last week. Instead, he has come to Hickory Field Farm to help us out with our efforts to become more sustainable by reducing our use of the tractor. First, he will have some much needed R&R. He has already become a stoic guardian of the laying hens, and is especially watchful of the new pullets we added this month.

Guinea Hens from Friends

Last weekend our friends Erin and Eric gave us four Guinea Hens that they could no longer keep. We had been interested in them for a while as they are known to keep the tick population down on their property.....apparently 1 Guinea Hen can keep 1 acre tick-free. After locking them in their coop for the week to establish their roosting instinct at their new home we let them out for the first time today. They immediately took off and disappeared, despite our efforts to track them with the dogs and on horseback. Luckily, later in the afternoon we heard them come squawking down the driveway and go straight into their coop. Hopefully they stay a little closer to home in the future!

Winter 2011-2012

We have been very lucky with the weather this year! The less time we spend breaking ice in the water troughs, the more time we have to enjoy great food and family!

We are looking forward to another great year. We will have beef available again at the end of March. Spring also means the arrival of chicks, calves, and piglets.....our most exciting time of year!