July Healthy Eating Newsletter
FARM HAPPENINGS
It's been crazy busy the last two months and we are a little short staffed, so I apologize for missing the June newsletter.
The Moo Crew has been busy welcoming new babies over the last week. We've had six new calves born, including 4 heifers which are prized as future milking cows. See below picture of Orbit cleaning her newborn calf, Olive. Unlike most other dairy farms, we allow the heifer calves to stay with their mamas until weaned, so they can nurse whenever hungry, and learn to graze and socialize with the herd from an early age.
The downside of keeping the calves with their mamas is they drink a lot of milk, but we just have to settle for sharing their production with the babies. There should be more milk available to sell in the store soon though as we bring more cows back into production. Please note there is still a shortage of 1/2 gallon glass jars so remember to bring your own jars for milk. We've heard from several retailers that Ball Corporation, which is the only manufacturer of the 1/2 gallon canning jars, shut down their plant in Indiana for 3 months so the shortage may last for a few more weeks or months.
Our summer batch of free range bronze turkeys will be taking a trip into the processor over the next two weeks (2 trailer loads). Most of these summer turkeys will be converted into turkey breast tenders, ground turkey, smoked legs, and sausage. However we are taking orders for whole turkeys from this batch on our website, as well as for fresh Thanksgiving turkeys, which will be arriving as day old poults next week.
We also now have a good supply of grass fed beef cuts, including all the premium steaks, in the farm store and our freezers are well stocked, Therefore we've opened up online orders for most of the bulk beef packages again. And with a huge supply of chuck roasts and sirloin steaks on hand, those cuts are marked down 25% in the farm store for the next week. Stock up now for your winter pot roasts - these are vacuum-packed and will last for about a year in the freezer.
We are also in search of another high energy part-timer to join the farm store team. For a full description of the position, please visit the employment opportunities page on our website.
FARM TOURS STARTING THIS SATURDAY
We have received many, many requests for farm tours over the last few months. With the state going to "Phase 4" of reopening we think the time is right. So this Saturday, June 25th we will restart our weekly guided farm tours on the hay wagons beginning at 2 PM. To provide enough space we will plan on having two hay wagons connected to the tractor, and will encourage everyone to space out as much as possible. Face masks are recommended but optional for all participants. The farm tours are free, however we ask that participants not park in the farm store parking spots, please park in the paved forest preserve spaces or on the grassy area. No reservations required, space available on a first come first served basis.
FARM STORE UPDATE
We have added some great new items in the farm store recently along with a lot of farm fresh produce produced right here or on neighboring farms:
Fresh Peaches, Raspberries, Sweet Cherries and Green Beans from Mick Klug Fruit Farms
Fresh Blueberries (our favorite variety of the season!) from Joe’s Blues
Organic Kohlrabi, Summer Squash, Zucchini, Carrots, Radishes, Kale, Broccoli, Heirloom Tomatoes and Herb Bunches from Blacksmith Acres, located right on the All Grass Farms property
Cucumbers and Cabbage from Fifth Season Coop, WI
Organic Celery from Springdale Farm, WI
Microgreens from Hometown Acres in Crystal Lake, IL
Fresh Herb Bunches, Organic Squash varieties and Heirloom Tomatoes from Anna’s garden
Fresh, uncured garlic straight from our partner garlic farmers, grown right here
HEALTH NOTES - VITAMIN D LEVEL IS DIRECTLY CORRELATED TO COVID OUTCOMES
There is strong scientific evidence vitamin D plays a central role in your immune response and your ability to fight infections. In this video, Ivor Cummins, biochemist and chief program officer for Irish Heart Disease Awareness, explains how recent studies supporting higher levels of vitamin D may reduce your risk of negative outcomes from COVID-19.
He also singles out some of the conditions associated with low vitamin D levels, such as low sun exposure, insulin resistance and high levels of inflammation. In 2017, a review of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials using vitamin D2 or D3 was published in the BMJ.1 The data revealed vitamin D supplementation was "safe and it protected against acute respiratory tract infection overall." They found people who were most deficient experienced the greatest benefit. Read the full article on Mercola.com
RECIPE OF THE MONTH - BBQ CHUCK ROAST
With our grass fed chuck roast on sale during the peak of grilling season we went looking for some good recipes...this one even includes beer!
Ingredients:
3 lb. chuck roast
3/4 cup BBQ sauce
3/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1 can beer
3 tsp. minced garlic
1 onion, finely chopped
3 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. salt
Mix all ingredients in a bowl, adding beef. Cover and marinate for 6 hours. Remove beef, boil marinade for five minutes to use as basting sauce. Grill on indirect heat for 2 hours, or until the internal temperature of the roast is 145 degrees. Enjoy!
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That's it for this month, I will try to get more posts out in the coming weeks, my goal is one per week including the monthly newsletter. We look forward to seeing everyone in the store or on a farm tour soon.
Cliff, Anna, and the Farm Team