Just sharing…

Here’s a link to a recent video from GPB, which highlights jobs around Georgia for high-schoolers to see.

http://www.gpb.org/fast-forward/episode/white-oak-pastures

 

CSA: Week 28

Happy Halloween! I hope no one is expecting to find candy in this trick or treat box this week. Not too much chocolate or sweets, but if you’re definition of a treat includes NY Strip Steaks, Pasture-Raised eggs, and Organic Vegetables, then you’ve come knocking at the right door. I’ll get to the menu in a moment, but first some housekeeping…

First of all, hooray for everyone on bringing back your boxes! Thank you, thank you, thank you. We still are missing several so look in your garage and in closets and see if you have any lurking about.  We have decided that your last vegetable share will be delivered in paper bags. Please bring back your boxes that last week and be prepared with a cooler if you anticipate not going home immediately with your produce. I know some of you prefer email notices on items like these, so be prepared to read this twice. Just giving everyone an early heads up.

Well, the cold mornings are upon us. I could barely move my fingers washing eggs yesterday morning and again cutting the salad mix this morning. With the onset of cold weather, the high tunnel is being transitioned to Swiss Chard, more winter beets, Bok Choi, Head lettuces, spinach and more. Beginning the second week of December, we’ll have our inaugural Winter CSA starting. You’ll be receiving an email shortly about this. Please feel free to pass the email along to your friends. It’s only three deliveries all winter but it will keep you fed and guarantee you a space with us come next Spring.

Ok, more matter, less art. Here’s what we’re bringing you this week…

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Meat CSA: (call us on Mondays for any additional a la carte orders: 229-641-2081 – web orders click here)

1x Chicken Breast (2.5lbs) – Our whole free-range, pastured, heritage cross chicken. Individually bagged and sealed, and raised with no antibiotics or added hormones. Our chickens are also Step 5 rated by the Global Animal Partnership, which is the highest animal welfare rating.

1x Ground Chicken (1lb)

2x Grass-fed NY Strip Steaks – The most popular grilling steak that is derived from the loin of the beef carcass. This steak lends itself well to those who cherish a great steak in any type of situation.

Pasture Raised Eggs: 

12 beautiful brown eggs from our own lovely ladies that range freely on certified organic pasture. The eggs are washed, candled and graded fresh for you each week.

(Want another dozen – or are you not on the Egg CSA, Call to order this week and we’ll bring them to you : 229-641-2081)

**Also, please tell your friends and family who live near Atlanta that our eggs are now available in all 8 Atlanta Whole Foods Markets. We rely on word of mouth so much and as CSA members, you know our story best. Thanks again to all of you who help spread the word each week.

Certified Organic Vegetables: 

Carrots – An early Fall assortment of carrots. Some of these are thinnings which will hopefully make way for fuller bunches in the coming weeks. Enjoy!

Kale – Red Russian and Winterbor. So healthy and delicious!

Salad Mix – (no Arugula, no mustard – just lettuces, lots of them! Reds and Greens, all different tasty varieties mixed up just for you)

Head Lettuce – Just in case you run out of salad mix, or you want a more robust leafy lettuce for your sandwiches. Here you go!

Hakurei Turnips – Terrific eaten raw, these are called salad turnips for a reason. And the greens go great in stir fry, omelets, or soups too.

Bok Choi – they keep coming, hope you’re enjoying them as much as we are!

Sweet Peppers – This is the time of year when the peppers shine, enjoy them before the frost claims them.

Hot Peppers – medium bag (see recipe in previous post for Hot pepper jelly!

Jerusalem Artichokes – You’ve got two pounds of these little guys in your share this week. Scroll back two weeks for recipe ideas or google search something new. Again, if you want to plant these in your own yard, feel free. Just know they grow tall and will come back year after year whether you want them to or not.

Basil – Mostly Sweet Thai, also Genovese, Purple Ruffles or Lemon

CSA: Week 27

So it’s been a little too busy around here for me to really get into the Halloween spirit. I haven’t carved a pumpkin or even thought about a costume. As you all know, the last of our pumpkins went out in August and the winter squash were done in September. However, in the old tomato field where the peppers and eggplants are diligently still producing there seems to be something wicked stirring. In the early morning, the fog drifts linger a little longer there. During harvests, occasionally you’ll feel a chill. Last week, Lori spotted a snake curled around the branches of one jalapeno plant. And this morning, I saw spiders, too numerous to count, just hatching and engulfing a Carmen sweet pepper. I’ve posted pictures below. Take a look, I’ll wait here while you do… See what I mean, that is spooky stuff. So while the rest of the farm may be too busy to get in the spirit of the season, the peppers are doing the decorating for us.

On a less spooky note, Sweet Potatoes are making their debut this week. We have an assortment of heirloom varieties. Some with white flesh, some with yellow and some with orange. They are wild-looking and dusty but wash them and they’ll cook up nice. Here’s a recipe for Sweet Potato Fries. Cook them until crispy and try them sprinkled with cayenne pepper flakes and brown sugar. Mmmmmm. Or another Southern Staple and my personal favorite: Sweet potato casserole

Another newbie this week are Southern Giant Mustard Greens. These are a long-standing tradition in the South. Here’s Rachel Ray’s take on the southern dish:

Also, a friend turned me on to taking the raw spicy leaves and lining a bun, wrapping them around sausage or a “marinated Asian eggplant hot-dogs  No need for yellow Mustard when you’ve got a whole leaf doing double duty on spice. That may a be a bit much for some of you, but ye brave that do shall be rewarded.

Other news around the farm, the turkeys are looking amazing! If you haven’t pre-ordered yours yet, I hope you do soon. The cover crops are still going in all over the farm. The long October dry spell continues yet the morning dew offers just enough moisture to germinate and nourish the young rye and clover. It’s always a gorgeous sight to see the verdant green rye and clover covering the pasture when Winter has cloaked the rest of the farm with its drab defoliant. We’re so blessed to be able to graze these pastures 12 months of the year. And we’re thankful for your membership with our farm too. Finally, thanks to the good folks from Ichauway that came out to the Bonfire Saturday night, I threw in a picture of the roaring furnace we made. Good times.

Here’s what we have for you this week…

 

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Meat CSA: (call us on Mondays for any additional a la carte orders: 229-641-2081 – web orders click here)

1 x 8 Way Cut Chicken – Our whole free-range, pastured, heritage cross chicken. Individually bagged and sealed, and raised with no antibiotics or added hormones. Our chickens are also Step 5 rated by the Global Animal Partnership, which is the highest animal welfare rating.

2 x Grass-Fed Ribeye Steaks – This steak is simply the rib eye, with the rib bone attached.

1 x Grass-Fed Ground Beef Patties 6oz (3 patties) – Save time in the kitchen with White Oak Pastures’ ground beef patties, made from our 90% lean ground beef. No need to portion and form them yourself!

Pasture Raised Eggs: 

12 beautiful brown eggs from our own lovely ladies that range freely on certified organic pasture. The eggs are washed, candled and graded fresh for you each week.

(Want another dozen – or are you not on the Egg CSA, Call to order this week and we’ll bring them to you : 229-641-2081)

**Also, please tell your friends and family who live near Atlanta that our eggs are now available in all 8 Atlanta Whole Foods Markets. We rely on word of mouth so much and as CSA members, you know our story best. Thanks again to all of you who help spread the word each week.

Certified Organic Vegetables: 

Southern Giant Mustard – Spicy Traditional Green of the South. Cook it up anyway you like – see discussion above.

Braising Mix – (tender brassica greens: tat-soi, mizuna, arugula, baby red mustard and more – good in stir-fry too!)

Lettuce – (It’s young  but we are harvesting early to salvage the best taste.

Hakurei Turnips or French Breakfast Radishes – Both are great raw, the radishes are spicy and the all white turnips a  tad sweet. Great on salads or sautéed in with olive oil, S&P, and some rosemary.

Bok Choi – more to come, I love these in the fall and early Spring – one of my favorites!

Sweet Peppers – This is the time of year when the peppers shine, enjoy them before the frost claims them.

Hot Peppers – medium bag (see recipe in previous post for Hot pepper jelly!

Sweet Potatoes – not the prettiest in the world, but great tasting assorted heirloom varieties.

Basil – Mostly Sweet Thai, also Genovese, Purple Ruffles or Lemon

CSA: Week 26

We’re on the home stretch for the CSA. Thank you to all of you that have spent the majority of the year supporting our farm and enjoying fresh produce meat and eggs. I’ve noticed that a few of you are not bringing back your CSA bins and meat boxes as regularly as you once did. Please return them each time. We are running low on the grey plastic bins and I need you to look around your homes and bring back as many as you have. If you had a friend pick your share up one week, please call them and retrieve it. These boxes are costly for us to lose so I have to stand firm here. Starting this week, if you do not have your box when you pick up your share, you will not be able to take the box we bring you. You will be asked instead to take away your veggies in your own bags. And if you know you’re not going to be able to pick up your box and have not arranged for someone to pick up on your behalf – please contact me ahead of time (text msg is fine, 478-718-7991). I would much rather have your produce  go to another customer rather than our chickens. Also, please return your clean egg cartons too. I’ve included a picture in the slideshow below of the simple way we’re starting to date-mark eggs for CSA.  Ok, All business aside, let’s look at the boxes this week.

Kale is Back! Among the applause and hoorays I’m hearing right now, there is at least one groan from someone I’m sure. Back in the early summer, some of you never would’ve thought you’d ever want to see Kale again. But alas, a two month stretch without the green healthy goodness will make the heart grow fonder. Either way, there’s a heap of greens in your share boxes this week along with some new surprises too. Most notably, near the bottom of the share box you’ll find a bag, weighing just over a pound, filled with a pale yellow, soil covered root. These are Jerusalem Artichokes, or Sunchokes. I love them!The Native Americans ate them as well as Pilgrims, and so on. For you Paleo-folks out there, here’s some info that might interest you concerning the starch, inulin and fructose (brought to you by Perdue’s Hort Dept).

Similar to water chestnuts in taste, the traditional use of the tuber is as a gourmet vegetable. Jerusalem artichoke tubers resemble potatoes except the carbohydrates composing 75 to 80% of the tubers are in the form of inulin rather than starch. Once the tubers are stored in the ground or refrigerated, the inulin is converted to fructose and the tubers develop a much sweeter taste. Dehydrated and ground tubers can be stored for long periods without protein and sugar deterioration. Tubers can be prepared in ways similar to potatoes. 

I really recommend you eat them sooner rather than later since they tend to wither and soften even under constant refrigeration. Of course, if you want to take them out in the yard and plant them, that’s fine too. Just do it in a spot you don’t mind having them in for several years since they are prolific weed. But a pretty one – they are a Helianthus, so they look like 6 – 8 foot skinny sunflowers. There are plenty of recipes out there if you google search “Jerusalem Artichokes” or look on http://www.allrecipes.com – But truly these are great in a wok or in a soup. We’ll see them again before the CSA is done. So I suggest keep it simple this time and then get creative next time. Here’s a basic recipe that should work fine… http://www.food.com/recipe/uncle-bills-simple-jerusalem-artichokes-143481

Finally, a big thank you to our volunteers this weekend, Ethan and Jessica. They came down from Emory University on their Fall Break to help us out. We really appreciate the help.

Ok, so here’s the menu ingredients this week, along with some pictures from around the farm (including one of the Biodiesel setup we’re planning to kickstart this Fall.) Happy Cooking!

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Meat CSA: (call us on Mondays for any additional a la carte orders: 229-641-2081 – web orders click here)

1x Grass Fed Cube Steak (1lb) – A fast cooking tenderized steak that is great when battered and deep fried or pan fried for steak sandwiches.

1x Grass Fed Chuck Roast (3lbs) – A very popular cut from the shoulder that is awaiting its turn for the slow cooking of the crock pot or oven.

1x Whole Chicken (Small) – Our whole free-range, pastured, heritage cross chicken. Individually bagged and sealed, and raised with no antibiotics or added hormones. Our chickens are also Step 5 rated by the Global Animal Partnership, which is the highest animal welfare rating.

Pasture Raised Eggs: 

12 beautiful brown eggs from our own lovely ladies that range freely on certified organic pasture. The eggs are washed, candled and graded fresh for you each week.

(Want another dozen – or are you not on the Egg CSA, Call to order this week and we’ll bring them to you : 229-641-2081)

**Also, please tell your friends and family who live near Atlanta that our eggs are now available in all 8 Atlanta Whole Foods Markets. We rely on word of mouth so much and as CSA members, you know our story best. Thanks again to all of you who help spread the word each week.

Certified Organic Vegetables: 

Red Russian Kale – Reunited and it tastes so good – Enjoy!

Spicy Salad Mix – (young tender brassica greens: tat-soi, mizuna, arugula, baby red mustard and more – good in stir-fry too!)

Lettuce – (It’s young but it’s still trying to bolt. We’re harvesting early to salvage the best taste. Feel free to add this to your salad mix for a fresh full bowl.)

Radishes (Watermelon or French Breakfast) – I wish we had enough Watermelons for everyone. They’re sweet on the pink inside but the “rind” skin is pepper hot. Skin it and cube it into a wonderful raw salad topping.

Bok Choi – (more to come, I love these in the fall and early Spring – one of my favorites!)

Mixed Green Beans  – (Maxibel, Provider and Haricot Vert)

Mixed Eggplant or Sungold Cherry Tomatoes 

Sweet Peppers – This is the time of year when the peppers shine, enjoy them before the frost claims them.

Hot Peppers – medium bag (see recipe in previous post for Hot pepper jelly!

Mixed Okra – (Burgundy and Clemson Spineless)

Jerusalem Artichoke – see description above.

Basil – Sweet Thai, Genovese, Purple Ruffles or Lemon

CSA: Week 25

Maybe you’ve heard others or even yourself remarking how nice the weather has been this past week. Well I’m saying it too… Wow! what great weather.  We’ve had just enough rain and overcast conditions to germinate and baby the fall cover crops.  And after a few days the soil is perfect for working in the Rye and crimson clover going in all around the farm that will feed the animals all through winter. Of course, the sweet potatoes have been itching to get out of the ground for a couple weeks now. And now that the soil is dry enough to get into the potato field, we’re down two employees. So, that’s farming! And those of us that remain are rising to the occasion.  We’re working as hard as we can to get them all out of the field this week. With extra time in the field with ample rain, the sweet potatoes have grown gigantic, some have started to sprout new slips, and many more have turned to mush due to the perpetually soggy clay soil under their canopy of viney greens. All that being said, we will have sweet potatoes. They may not be pretty, but I’m certain they will be tasty. They are curing now, balancing starches and sugars and in a couple weeks you’ll see them in your share box.

Other news (and a recipe link): Next week we’ll be planting what will seem like miles of garlic cloves. If you’re in the area, drop by and you can join us on hands and knees. We’ll also be continuing our war on weeds. The crew has been doing an exceptional job tackling formidable hordes of baby pigweed, And you’re always welcome to join that party too. With a sale going on in regional Whole Foods markets, the Chicken crew has been staying late filling orders.  They’ve put aside some good cuts for the CSA too. And in paring with this week’s poultry box, I’ve included Summer savory as the gourmet herb bunch. Chicken is such a great vehicle for herbs in general, and summer savory is a special one. It’s taste is as if german thyme and sage had a baby and raised it in a smokehouse. Here’s a link to a recipe with a really great brush-on rub for your chicken this week using Summer Savory: http://www.foodgeeks.com/recipes/summer-savory-chicken-13690

And now, pictures and what’s in the boxes this week…

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Meat CSA: (call us on Mondays for any additional a la carte orders: 229-641-2081 – web orders click here)

1 x 8 way cut Chicken

1x Chicken Breast (2.5lbs)

1x Chicken Wings (5lbs) Our free-range, pastured, heritage cross chickens are raised with no antibiotics or added hormones. Our chickens are also Step 5 rated by the Global Animal Partnership, which is the highest animal welfare rating.

Pasture Raised Eggs: 

12 beautiful brown eggs from our own lovely ladies that range freely on certified organic pasture. The eggs are washed, candled and graded fresh for you each week.

(Want another dozen – or are you not on the Egg CSA, Call to order this week and we’ll bring them to you : 229-641-2081)

**Also, please tell your friends and family who live near Atlanta that our eggs are now available in all 8 Atlanta Whole Foods Markets. We rely on word of mouth so much and as CSA members, you know our story best. Thanks again to all of you who help spread the word each week.

Certified Organic Vegetables: 

Salad Mix – (Always a favorite – try it with sliced raw hakurei turnips, mmmm!)

Braising Mix – (Arugula , Mizuna, and a pinch of Tat Soi – try it in an omelette with sauteed red peppers and turnips!)

Hakurei Turnips – (mild sweet lovely japanese turnip – slice and eat raw. Delicious!)

Baby Bok Choi – (more to come, I love these in the fall and early Spring – one of my favorites!)

Mixed Green Beans  – (Maxibel, Provider and Haricot Vert)

Mixed Eggplant 

Sweet Peppers – This is the time of year when the peppers shine, enjoy them before the frost claims them.

Hot Peppers – medium bag (see recipe in previous post for Hot pepper jelly!

Mixed Okra – ( Burgundy and Clemson Spineless)

Gourmet herb (Summer Savory)

Sweet Thai Basil

CSA: Week 24

Greetings again! I hope everyone read the good news in the previous post. If you’d like %20 off of your Thanksgiving Turkey this year, go ahead and pre-order with Amber in our office. The # is 229-641-2081. The turkeys are beautiful this year. It’s funny to think that if Ben Franklin would have had his way, the turkey might have been our national bird. According to Franklin, the turkey is “a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America . . . He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.”  I’m not certain of their courage, but I can tell you that they are a curious bunch. During early morning feedings of our layer flock, hordes of Turkeys will noisily waddle over to investigate us intruders, eventually lighting on the tailgate or hood of the pickup to get a better perspective on everything. Of course, we do have Bald Eagles residing near our farm that occasionally prey on our poultry, so I can’t help but to compare the two. Ultimately, I think we made a good choice for our nation’s mascot.

On the farm front this week, we planted 1000 strawberry plants late last week that will be ready in the early Spring to enliven the next CSA. The first Sweet potatoes came out of the ground this week and will be ready as soon to distribute to you as their cured. We’ve got tasty hakurei turnips for you this week and watermelon radishes will be ready in 1 or 2 weeks too. All in all, the veggie boxes are predominately green this week. I’m giving you a break on Basil this week because we heard some feedback saying everyone’s freezer was already stuffed with pesto and chopped basil. It’ll be back again next week, and if it has big flowers it’s because we skipped a week of harvest. And to keep perspective on all of this, just know that we’re expecting frost to arrive at the end of the month sometime, which means that all of the frost sensitive items that are in abundance now will be killed (i.e. peppers, eggplant, okra, basil, even those tomatoes that I promised you that haven’t quite fruited yet). So pack up that freezer while we have these items to harvest.

One recipe I really like to reduce the inventory of peppers is this one by Paula Deen for Hot pepper jelly! 

Finally, we only have 6 weeks left. Many of you have asked about deliveries during the winter. We are considering a once/mo. delivery for meat, veggies and eggs. Feel free to email me or call Amber in the office to get on that list. Prices would be the same at $30 per box and $4 per dz eggs. Just let us know. Ok, here are some pics from the farm and dinner ingredients this week…

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Meat CSA: (call us on Mondays for any additional a la carte orders: 229-641-2081 – web orders click here)

2 x Grass-fed tenderloin filets (8oz)  – Derived from the most tender muscle of the beef carcass, these steaks are the master of all steaks. Savor them for the evenings that really count. They lend themselves well to grilling, broiling and pan frying. 

1 x Grass-fed ground beef (5lbs) –  Our 90% lean ground beef, frozen and vacuum sealed.

Pasture Raised Eggs: 

12 beautiful brown eggs from our own lovely ladies that range freely on certified organic pasture. The eggs are washed, candled and graded fresh for you each week.

(Want another dozen or not on the Egg CSA, Call to order this week and we’ll bring them to you : 229-641-2081)

**Also, please tell your friends and family who live near Atlanta that our eggs are now available in all 8 Atlanta Whole Foods Markets. We rely on word of mouth so much and as CSA members, you know our story best. Thanks again to all of you who help spread the word each week.

Certified Organic Vegetables: 

Salad Mix – (First cutting! Always a favorite – try it with sliced raw hakurei turnips, mmmm!)

Braising Mix – (Arugula , Mizuna, and a pinch of Tat Soi – spicy goodness, great on sandwiches, burgers, and juiced too!)

Asian Greens (Tokya Bekana, Hon Tsai Tai, Komatsuna, and/or Red Giant Mustard)

Hakurei Turnips – (mild sweet lovely japanese turnip – slice and eat raw. Delicious!) 

Multiplying Onions – Basically a green Onion, but this one bulbs out into “multiple” other onion sets.  If you’d rather plant it in your garden rather than eat it, go ahead. By next Spring, you should have ten green onions where you planted one. 

Mixed Green Beans (Maxibel, Provider and Haricot Vert)

Mixed Eggplant 

Sweet Peppers

Hot Peppers – medium bag (see recipe linked above for Hot pepper jelly!

Mixed Okra (1 lb or more Burgundy and Clemson Spineless)

Gourmet herb (Rosemary, Sage, Thyme or Oregano)

20% off Thanksgiving Turkeys for CSA Members!!!

I know that it’s only the beginning of October, and maybe too early to start thinking about Thanksgiving. But around here, we’ve been thinking about Thanksgiving all year.  When your farm raises around 4,000 turkeys, Thanksgiving and the rest of the Holiday season are very important. And we give thanks that our free-range Turkeys are very popular and tend to sell out each year. Pre-orders are already coming in starting this week. We would love for your family to have our pasture-raised bird at your table this Thanksgiving.  So we’re offering %20 discount on pre-ordered Thanksgiving Turkeys for CSA members.

 

Call the office today to reserve yours. Just remind them that you’re a very special CSA member and you’d like your %20 discount.