What happens on the weekends

I couldn’t ask for a much nicer weekend weather-wise.  My camera broke yesterday after I got a few pig photos, so that’s who you’ll meet this weekend.

It was chilly the last two mornings when I went to check on my pigs.  Everyone was cozy inside, sleeping together in groups and snuggled into the straw.

I kind of hated to disturb them, they looked really comfortable.  And since I lost an hour of sleep last night, I was tempted to dig a straw nest for myself and curl up next to them.

But I needed to make sure everyone was well, so I threw out some newspapers for them.And they were well.

They got up, the hungry ones ran to the feeder, but most of them wanted to tussle with the newspapers.

This is Ol’ Yeller.  Every time I visit her barn, she will find me right away and follow me around squealing loudly.  I try to pet her so she stops squealing and it works for a bit.  But soon she shoves my hand away and starts fussing again.  The only thing that seems to satisfy her is a mouthful of my leg!

I was feeling hungry as I walked to the house when chores were done, and the wild spring greens looked so good that I had to stop and pick some wild garlic and dandelions to add to my breakfast egg.

I chopped them up and scrambled them with some cheese and two of my chicken’s eggs, and ate them with a side of local pickles from The Lititz Pickling Co.

–Dee

What happens on the weekends

It’s been a pleasant weekend so far.  The sun has been shining a good bit, the snow geese are heading south and in the hedgerows I’ve heard some bluebirds talking.

This past week, we broadcast grass seed over the patches of bare ground in our perennial pastures.  Since it had just recently rained, the ground was nice and soft.

Then we turned our ewe flock out on the pastures to press in the seed with their hooves as they walked around munching on the tiny bits of green that were out there.  They did a fine job and enjoyed getting out of the barn for a few sunny days.

And they left behind all these wonderful little piles of pellets.  Which brings me back to the weekend.  I realized it’s time I start collecting these “poobles”.  I like to make manure tea from them which I use in my vegetable and herb gardens.  I gather up a gallon of these marvelous things, pour them into a 5-gallon bucket with a lid (or if I have a burlap bag with a drawstring, put them in there first), then I fill up the bucket with water and come back in a week to some superb fertilizer.  My gardens love this stuff.

The sun and sky were so bright and pretty, I couldn’t resist sharing some of these photos.  This is our corn crop from 2011.  The pigs will enjoy most of it, but I’d like to take a few ears and make some cornbread for Philip and me.

And Grandma Cow…she is doing well.  Her favorite place is here on this south-facing slope where the apple trees break the wind and the sun is warm.

Enjoy the little hints of spring. –Dee

What happens on the weekends

Jasper loves to accompany us to the bathroom.  One of his favorite spots to wait for us, is in the bathroom sink, no matter (almost especially) if it’s wet and he has muddy feet.  This morning again, he met me with this cheery face and good-morning yowl.

It really feels like spring today.  The sun is warm and bright, and I do believe our cover crop is starting to green up a bit.

Grandma Cow and her little friend were enjoying the warm south slope in their pasture.  A red-tailed hawk flew overhead and frightened away my chickens that were happily scratching through Grandma Cow’s lovely cow pats.And then, with chores all done and the animals fat, happy and hugged……what could be better than sitting down to a breakfast of eggs, topped with broccoli sprouts that were still warm from sitting in the sunny windowsill in their honey-jar greenhouse.  Very good.

–Dee

What happens on the weekends

The morning light was pretty today, although it was fearfully gusty and 18°.  I bundled up.   Friska loves these kind of days.  She enjoys the snow especially–loves to roll in it, bite it and run through it.  And the wind brings her nose so many delightful things to smell.

 I checked up on the sheep to see how they made it through the night.  They had all moved from their nighttime spots to the sunny end of the barn to soak up the morning sun.  Their little white breaths glistened a bit then vanished as they chewed their cud.

When I went to give my chickens some water, Grandma Cow pressed her nose against the chicken wire to watch.

She puffed some warm hay breath my way.  It smelled good, like honey and clover.

Chores took a good 2 hours longer with cold weather and I was frozen  till we finished.  I was quite happy to come back into the house and sit down to a big bowl of hot blueberry oatmeal.

Enjoy your warm places today.  –Dee

Marrakesh Beef Stew

Today we’re expecting snow and a few of us are even drinking “sick guy tea” while battling colds.  What better way to warm up than a big pot of beef stew?

Marrakesh Grass-fed Beef Stew

1 1/2 lbs. Sweet Stem Farm Grass-fed Beef Stew Meat (cubed)
2 cloves garlic
2 medium carrots (skinned and chopped)
2 cups cooked tomatoes
1 turnip
1 1/2 cup tomato juice
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp each cumin, clovese, and tumeric
pinch of nutmeg and allspice
1/4 cup pitted prunes (halved)
1/2 cup cranberries
2/4 leaves spinach
Optional: parsley and rice

Brown stew meat in batches in soup pot. Set aside. Stir garlic into drippings, saute two minutes. Return meat to pot. Add carrots, tomatoes, turnip, tomato juice, cinnamon stick, cumin, cloves, tumeric, nutmeg, and all spice and bring to a boil. Cover – reduce heat and simmer 40 minutes.  Add prunes, cranberries, and spinach. Stir, cover, and cook additional 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve over rice.

Optional: No beef on hand? Try lamb!

Sweet Potato and Merguez Sausage Soup

Sweet Potato and Merguez Sausage Soup inspired by Smitten Kitchen

Last week Cecilie, our newest Sweet Stem Farm employee, was inspired to make her own variation of Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup for our employee lunch, after being inspired by this recipe. Jane (another employee) made a note on our Facebook page, saying, “I just finished a bowl of the best soup I’ve ever had”.  If you were curious how to make this delicious soup, the recipe is below – changes by Cecilie included!

Makes 8 servings

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 lb. fully cooked Sweet Stem Farm Merguez sausage, cut into slices (Chorizo can be substituted)
1 large leek, sliced
1 large sweet potato
1 medium-sized white-skinned potatoes
1 large bunch fresh spinach
6 cups water

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook until brown, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Transfer sausage to paper towels to drain. Add leeks and garlic to pot and cook until translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add all potatoes and cook until beginning to soften, stirring often, about 12 minutes. Add water; bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Using potato masher, mash some of potatoes in pot. Add browned sausage to soup. Stir in spinach and simmer just until wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls and serve.

Winter Forts

Monday morning, we got our most recent group of new pigs. These little pigs are snuggling in their winter forts today.  The straw forts, topped with plywood, help to create a micro-climate within the hoop-barn, giving the pigs extra warmth during the winter.

When pigs arrive from the UPenn Vet School, they come from different small groups which have not commingled before.  Because of this, the young pigs sometimes want to pick fights with each other, and the partitions help to separate those who would like to stay away from each other for a time.

The forts stay put until the pigs are big enough to literally tear them apart (which is a great deal of fun for them).  By this time, they are also big enough to stay warm in the greenhouse without extra shelter.

The Holiday Season

Photo by Jenna Stamm

Happy Holidays from Sweet Stem Farm!

We are so very thankful for your support of the farm, and we look forward to providing you with sustainable and humanely raised meats in the New Year.

Have a warm and wonderful holiday filled with tasty treats and cheer!

All our best,

Philip, Dee, and staff of Sweet Stem Farm

Frank the Bull

Now that the sheep breeding season has passed, it is breeding time for the cattle. We brought in a bull from Cressbrook Farm in New York to breed our cows.  Dee decided to call him Frank (he is pictured above with the ear tags). Frank will be with us for about a month, before going back to New York.

Frank is an Irish Black, a breed derived from the beef Friesians.  The intent for creating this Irish Black breed was for meat tenderness genetics.  The Sweet Stem Farm cow herd is a mix-breed herd, which includes Lowline Hereford, Black and Red Angus, and Devon breeds.  We’re looking forward to adding another breed to our herd, now that we’ve introduced Frank to the ladies!

Bringing Cattle in for the Winter

In preparation for the hard PA winter months ahead, we brought our cattle into the barn from the pasture yesterday.  The cattle will remain in the barn during the winter to stay warm and protected from inclimate weather, except for days when the ground is nice and frozen.  We’ll let the cows out on these days to be out in the sunshine and to get some exercise.  Even though they are taking a break from eating meadow grass, they’ll continue to be grass-fed by the baleage we’ve harvested and stored for the winter.

We also had a going-away pizza and shoo-fly pie party for Steve, our farmhand and sausage czar. He is moving to Vermont with his wife and daughter to study herbal medicine.  In the collage above, Steve is pictured in the center giving a good scratching to one of our rowdy steers.