Turkeys Available for Pre-Order - Raw Milk Online Sales - Chorizo Skillet Recipe
FARM HAPPENINGS
We have been enjoying the beautiful fall colors for the last few weeks, and the warm summer-like temperatures have given us hope that we could keep on grazing for another month or more. But with the first hard freeze coming early next week we are scrambling to get the farm ready for winter. Our biggest challenge is keeping the water lines flowing that run throughout our fields and supply the cows, chickens, turkeys, and pigs with fresh water all day. If those lines are frozen up for an extended period of time we will have to bring the cows into the barnyard to drink at least once a day and haul water out to the chickens, turkeys, and pigs in the field shelters. Everybody's least favorite job!
Since my last update we have worked our way through the fall calving season, which brought us four new Guernsey heifer calves (and two bulls) as well as a good increase in our milk production from the new moms. As a result we have opened up the daily online milk sales again, starting 30 minutes before the store opens.
Our egg production has been strong so far this fall, so we still have plenty of eggs in the store. After the freeze next week we will probably see a modest decline but are hoping to keep the hens producing well through the Thanksgiving Holiday. We are watching the weather forecast for the first significant snowfall before moving the hens into their winter housing.
Our first batch of fall hogs were scheduled for processing last week, but the pigs were growing a little slower than expected, so we had to push the processing date back to November 20th to give them a few more weeks to reach ideal weights. If you ordered a whole hog or half hog for October or November butcher dates your order will be filled from that group. Look for an email from Anna in a few weeks to submit your cutting instructions. We are still taking custom hog orders for November, December, and January butcher dates.
There are only four Saturday Guided Farm Tours left this year, reserve your space today to get an up-close look at the animals and learn about our regenerative farming operations.
And please remember to bring us any plastic or paper shopping bags and egg cartons when you visit the store so we can reuse them again and again. We hate buying plastic bags and egg cartons!
THANKSGIVING TURKEYS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER & HOME DELIVERY
All of our fresh turkeys are reserved, but this year we will also be processing three batches of turkeys in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.. The first groups is scheduled to go in for processing on Monday, November 6th, and I will be bringing them back to the farm on Tuesday, November 7th by noon. They will be frozen and available for walk-in store customers at that time, on a first-come first-serve basis.
However, we are also setup this year to ship frozen turkeys directly to customer homes within a one-day ground radius for the first time. This shipping zone includes all of Illinois, and most of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana. We will start shipping turkeys the week of November 6th with the last of the shipped turkeys arriving by November 18th. Pre-order your Thanksgiving Turkey here.
FARM STORE UPDATE
We are nearing the end of the growing season for midwest produce, but still have a good variety of fall root crops available in the store as well as organic apple products from Michigan including fresh apples, frozen apple cider, no sugar added apple sauce, apple butter, and dried apple slices. Also local pumpkins and decorative gourds. are available in front of the store.
Local, organically-grown root crops include carrots, beets, potatoes, onions, turnips, kohlrabi, and the popular Root Roasting Bag from Broadview Farms which offers a combination of all these crops - perfect for soups and broths.
We also have cabbages, radishes, bok choy, and lettuce mix as well as new local microgreens.
Our chef friends at Hometown Sausage Kitchen cooked up a trial batch of beef bone broth from 100 pounds of our roasted grass fed beef bones. It will probably sell out soon but we will get them working on a second batch.
FAST FOOD FULL OF ANTIBIOTICS, HORMONES, PESTICIDES, BUT FEW NUTRIENTS
In September 2023, Moms Across America (MAA) submitted food samples from 10 fast food chains to the Health Research Institute, a nonprofit laboratory that tests food for nutrient content, contaminants and toxins. Each food sample was tested for the presence of 104 of the most common veterinary drugs and hormones. Fast food restaurants sampled included McDonald’s, Starbucks, Subway, Chick-fil-A, Burger King, Taco Bell, Chipotle, Dunkin’, Wendy’s and Domino's.
Of these, only Chipotle and Subway tested negative for veterinary drugs. This isn’t all that surprising, considering most chain restaurants rely on beef and chicken from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), where veterinary drugs are routinely used. As explained by MAA: "Due to large, industry, confined animal feeding operation conditions, which include extremely close quarters, unsanitary spaces, and high incidence of disease, most of America’s nonorganic meat comes from livestock that is heavily treated with antibiotics, growth hormones, and an anti-parasitic which is also a known aviary contraceptive."
The testing was conducted out of concern for America's skyrocketing mental and physical health crisis. Eighty-five million Americans eat fast food every day. Fast food companies often supply a significant portion of the 30 million school meals served to our children each day. The quality of the food, including the contamination of agrochemicals and lack of nutrients due to toxic chemical inputs, contributes to our mental and physical health issues. One in five Americans have a mental illness, and 54% of our children have a chronic health issue. Read the full analysis here.
No surprises here for most of our readers, but this analysis does highlight the problem at the root or our national health crisis - industrial food and farming practices are slowly killing us.
CHORIZO SKILLET FOR BREAKFAST
If you need to fuel up for a long day of farming or whatever demanding work is on your schedule, then make this Chorizo breakfast skillet with roasted veggies and fried eggs to power you through the day.
Description This Chorizo skillet is a savory breakfast dish, with onion, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, black beans, and corn. Everything is topped with a sprinkle of scallions, cheese and a beautiful, runny, pasture raised egg.
Ingredients
Drizzle of Extra virgin olive oil
1lb All Grass Farms Pork Chorizo
Pinch of salt
1 can black beans, drained, NOT rinsed
3 ears of corn, boiled or steamed, kernels removed
4 All Grass Farms pasture raised eggs (for each serving) plus oil or butter for pan
Sprinkle of cheddar cheese and scallions
Spiced Sweet Potatoes
2 large sweet potatoes, cubed, skin on
1 tsp salt (Redmonds Real Salt Ancient Fine)
3 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp EACH chili powder, garlic, red chili flakes, cumin
Peppers and Onions
1 medium yellow or sweet onion (Spanish onion works well), cut into thin slices
2 bell peppers, seeds and stems removed, cut into thin slices
1.5 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F. On one pan combine all sweet potato ingredients in an even layer. On another pan, combine all onion and pepper ingredients in an even layer.
Roast 30-40 minutes. Toss halfway. Peppers will be done around the 25-30 minute mark.
In the meantime, heat oil in a large cast iron skillet. Brown the Chorizo. Salt. Last few minutes of cooking, add black beans. Cook until warmed through. Set mixture aside in a separate bowl.
Add corn to pan. Toss until starting to char. Turn heat off.
Remove potatoes and peppers from oven. To a large bowl or serving platter add the Chorizo/ beans mix, potatoes, peppers, corn, scallions and cheese.
In a frying pan heat oil or butter for the eggs. Crack eggs into skillet then cover with a clear lid. Cook until yolk is glazed over. DO NOT OVERCOOK. Serve one egg per person.
For more details on this recipe, as well as pictures and preparation tips, please visit our recipe guru Jackie's blog.
That's it for now. Please follow us on our Instagram Page where Anna posts photos and farm updates a few times per week. Hope to see everyone at the store or one of the last farm tours soon.
Cliff, Anna, and the Farm Team