What We Aspire To

Putting the Poultry Out to Pasture

Grass-fed Protein Bars

As I'm in search of a better protein powder, this post caught my eye. Not sure it's a replacement for bacon, but might be worth a try.

Epic Protein Bars

Humid, Real Humid, Damn Humid

Shop Smart: Organic on a Budget 

These guidelines for eating healthy and cheaply are pretty basic, but sometimes basic is best. Especially on a Monday. So to recap:
1. Buy in season
2. Think organic if the skin is thin (pesticides penetrate thinner skinned fruits and vegetables more easily)
and 3.  It might sound extreme, but to really take care of your body, consider grass fed meats and dairy. The extra cash for the carton of milk now might save the bill for the heart surgery later on.

(See also: Is Grass-Fed Really Worth It?)

You only get one body: feed it well.


Happy Monday everyone!

What to Eat?

Confused on what to eat organic and grass fed? Don't worry. I got your back. Someday I might even take my own advice.


Secrets of the Superhuman Food Pyramid: Benefits of Grass-fed Beef, Bison, Buffalo or Lamb
by BenGreenfield

From WikiCommons

 

How We Eat

Dear Barclay Farms,

You talk about farm food, grass-fed, and the importance of eating local, how does that actually look on the plate?

Signed,

Hypothetical Blog Reader

Dear Hypothetical Reader,

You ask how we eat. As Michael Pollen points out, every meal has a story. Here is one of ours.

I had too many guinea eggs. Like over three dozen. With more pilling up daily. Since (grievously) have to cull dairy from my diet (see Dairy Low-Tolerant Offspring), I try to eat a lot more eggs, hoping that one day my eggs turn into blueberry yogurt. (Sadly, thus far, this has not been the case.) 

Anyway, the challenge is Keeping Eggs Interesting. Because, let’s face it, grass-fed free range homegrown brown local natural wonderful or not, an egg’s a freakin’ egg.

I find that it’s easier (and safer with aforementioned Offspring going through a grabby stage) to bake rather than boil hard boiled eggs. (325 degrees for 30 minutes in a muffin tin or straight on the oven racks, 10 minutes in an ice water bath.) So I had two dozen hard baked guinea eggs and a recipe for Scotch eggs. I’ll spare you the sordid details, but this recipe, in terms of guinea eggs and proportions, requires some tweaking.

So we had eggs wrapped in ground beef and bread crumbs but decided our meal required more. While my Spousal-Type Creature took charge of the Dairy Low-Tolerant Offspring, I added a flannel shirt with sleeves rolled up to my tank top and capri pant ensemble, finishing off the look with chunky cowboy boots sans socks. Looking both ways for the fashion police, I crossed the road and went to the garden for spinach and asparagus.

It was a cool May evening of very pleasant temperature, and the wind was in my hair while I filled my basket with fresh spring veggies. The sky was a mix of blue, setting sun, and huge puffy pastel clouds that looked like rain in the distance. The air smelled of lilacs, with an undertone of grass cattle manure. I strolled back to the house where the STC balance an Offspring on one hip while caramelizing onions for the spinach.

I love a man who can multitask.

He sautéed sweet onions and spinach with a little balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, all in olive oil. He did the same with the fresh asparagus, leaving out the vinegar. He sautéed the spears first on nearly high, then turned it down to medium to cook through.

The meal was superb.

And thankfully, our beautiful little bundle of need waited until mommy and daddy were finished with their meal before he vomited, all over mommy and the chair.

But it really was a wonderful dinner.

Until next time, Gentle Reader, eat well and strive for one true ingredient.

Ax of Barclay Farms

P.S.

While I realize that it is not possible for everyone to create a meal in which 90% of the ingredients come from within two thousand feet of the stovetop, I encourage knowing where your food comes from. If there is a new cause to believe in in the 21^st century, its food. (And crop diversity, but that’s for another day.)

In 1776, Americans fought for freedom from tyranny. In 2013, the new tyranny is that of the Twinkie, so to speak. Processed, pre-prepared, preserved foods have become the norm. When your rice has more ingredients on the label than just rice, that might be considered a problem. What do these additives do to our bodies? To our kids? To our brains and health? Let’s take the fight from the battlefield and down to our plates. Demand to know what is going in your mouth as well as where it’s been, how it’s been handled, what it’s been treated with, and how it’s been prepared. Demand to make yourself informed. If we want better health, we have to work to make ourselves healthy. No one controls what goes into your mouth except you. If you want high quality, nutritious food, vote by what you buy. Don’t dump tea in the river, buy quality meats and eggs from a trusted local source. Pay the farmer not the trucker, the packer, the corporation, the grocery store, and the bank. Vote with your food choices. Eat well, eat local.

Vacating soapbox now. :)

On Crop Diversity

Pastured Poultry

Here's a template for making the farm make money, the age old debate between my dad and I on how to do it.  


http://www.ibiblio.org/farming-connection/grazing/nypa/nypa9.htm

Resources for Farmers - And a Passion for Grassin'

So we’ve talked the last few days about grazing and why graze. I’d like to tilt the viewfinder a little today and give farmers out there some resources for grazing. Here’s one I found right off this morning that looks pretty fun, full of how-tos and fencing. http://www.ibiblio.org/farming-connection/grazing/home.htm. That one looks to mostly cater to beef, but a useful poultry resource for us has been http://www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/poultry/. Purdue also has some great info on grazing and pasture management http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/forages/rotational/index.html.

So hopefully that’s enough to get you started. I’ve got tons more resources, of course, but that’s enough to wade through for now, I think. One thing about it, it’s never hard to sell farmers on the benefits of grass. I think most of us would rather see our animals out on pasture more than anything else. The problem is that’s not where the demand of the market is. The demand is for cheaply raised meat that grows quickly and that’s exactly what the public has gotten, full of antibiotics and hormones. But, that is what they asked for.

Last I heard, less than 2% of the population is involved with food production in America, with fewer young people getting involved as the years go by. And when you think about it, why should they get involved? There’s little money and long hours involved with farming, passion for grassin’ or not. The key now is niche markets and educating the public on where their food comes from. I’m continually amazed at how many people my own age have never even been up close to a horse, let alone a cow. They have no clue about grass-fed versus grain-fed and no incentive to care. But food is the basis of everything. Without food, there’s no room for civilization. Farmers are integral to everything. I mean, how many people, realistically, can feed themselves without a grocery store? So there’s the incentive to learn about where your food comes from: no store, no eat. Scary. So my advice to aspiring and current farmers? Business planning.

I’ve mentioned Annie’s Project on the blog before, but for those who didn’t catch that post, it’s a nationwide class held to educate women in agriculture about opportunities and management in agriculture. For it, I picked up a lot of information on how to manage and build your farm on paper. This aspect of ag is actually a post or two all in itself so I’ll leave off today with a few starting resources on ag business and pick up tomorrow discussing the importance of business planning and how it can benefit your ag business.

http://www.michigan.gov/mda/0,1607,7-125-1568_2388---,00.html Haven’t explored this one yet, but does look to have some useful info.

The best site for farmers interested in business planning is https://www.msu.edu/~steind/. Dennis Stein is part of Michigan State University’s Extension Service and a great personality.

Here’s a link for beginning farmers and looks great for people just thinking about adding farming to their repertoire. After all, the reason most small businesses fail is poor planning. http://beginningfarmers.org/farm-business-planning/

Sorry for the tangent today, folks, but I get excited about ag and all its facets. I’ll try to be more focused tomorrow and more interesting to those who yawn their way through my rhapsodies over turf grass. Cheers.