It’s 27 degrees outside. There’s a foot of fresh snow on the ground. Seed catalogs are arriving in our mailbox. What are we thinking about? Growing some food and whatnot, of course. Happy New Year!
Chickens Hate the Snow
Baby it’s cold outside.
The girls made a group decision to stay inside today. The consensus, after much clucking, was that there probably were not enough worms in the foot deep snow to warrant the usual scratchfest.
KALE
This will make a great breakfast smoothie!
Kale – The Great Survivor
We slogged through 12″ of snow this morning, out to the garden. The kale was doing fine under the cold frame despite the 18F temperature.
Piper Loves the Wood Stove
Well the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful. Just ask Piper.
Eggs At Last, Lord Almighty, Fresh Eggs At Last
I know. It’s been a long and difficult wait for us too. GOOD NEWS: All spring we had to suffer with store bought, cage grown (ew) nasty eggs. But now our new girls at Mercy Hill Farm are finally laying!
The new girls are about 5 months old now and pumping out about two dozen delicious, golden-orange yolked eggs every day. They’re just getting started. Soon we will have 5 or 6 dozen a day. These Plymouth Barred Rocks (above) are curious and friendly, great foragers and love to fight over the tomato hornworms we pluck out of the garden!
The Aracauna’s are a little more cautious and aloof (the two on the right above are Aracaunas,) but they lay pretty blue and green shelled eggs. They also have a varied and unusual feathering around their faces (like the one below:)
It’s also harvest season at Mercy Hill Farm. So in addition to farm fresh eggs, you will find fresh, in season vegetables in our store as well.
Piper says come on by anytime. She’s really excited about the new patio out back; what we call the “Chillax-io.” Stop by and say hello and chillax a bit.
Summer Blossoms
Truly, summer is the most impressive time for taking pictures of the farm. These are snapshots of flowers blooming currently around the house:
We love growing our own food, but we plant a lot of flowers and herbs as well. Flowers not only add to the charm of the farm, but they attract beneficial insects, and produce scents that confuse or even repel pests.
Chick Day 2012
Spring is just around the corner, and we’re excited to start another great farming season.
The baby chicks are camping out in the office until the blustery winds calm down a bit out there.
Piper likes the chicks too.
The are amusing to watch. and they give whole new meaning to the word “twitter.”
Two day old Plymouth Barred Rock Chick.
Hanging round on the feeder..
Piper With Chicks on Her Mind..
If all goes well, we will have eggs for sale again come August. Stay tuned!
Click here to see more pics of Chick day. Nice job Sara!
Thanksgiving on Mercy Hill Farm
I know we planted Snow Peas but…
Kale don’t care. Look at it growing through the snow. Love Kale.
Swiss Chard on the other hand, while pretty against the white snow, is a little more spleeny. Leaves died shortly after these pics were taken.
Squash supply is holding up nicely along with the carrots and onions. Thanksgiving in many ways this year. Hope yours is a wonderful one too!
Farmer’s Market Fried Rice
It’s been a great summer for vegetable growing at Mercy Hill Farm. Our customers enjoyed a mess of kale, sweet corn, tomatoes, summer squashes, green beans and more.
One of the dishes we dreamed up for dinner was “Farmer’s Market Fried Rice.”
- 2 cups cooked brown or white rice
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halfed
- 1 medium crookneck summer squash, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 10 leaves fresh basil, chopped
- 3 large farm fresh eggs, scrambled and cooked
- 1 large onion, peeled and diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
- one finger of fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
- 4 tbsns soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tbsn sesame oil
- 2 tbsns canola oil (or other vegetable oil)
Saute onions, garlic in a large saucepan or wok in 2 tbsns canola oil over medium heat until tender (3 -5 minutes). Add squash, saute 5 more minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 5 more minutes, or until everything is mixed well and heated through.
Bon Appetite!