This week our first flock of broiler chickens will be harvested and available in the farm stand cooler. The second batch, now 4 weeks old and fully feathered, will move from the brooder out to the field. And the third batch of day-old chicks will arrive in 2 Priority Mail boxes from the hatchery and scurry into the fresh sawdust under heat lamps in the brooder. The cycle advances on the farm.
When Fern asked why I was turning on the ice maker in preparation for Wednesday’s chicken harvest there were a lot of follow up questions. It’s always interesting, complicated, and important to talk about raising animals to eat, and I think of it as a combined honor and burden. While it would be easier to pick up a cellophane-wrapped package of anonymous drumsticks from the supermarket and never mention their origin, I take pride in the meat we raise and want my daughter (and my customers) to understand how animals and the meat they provide fit into our farm and our diet. At Sweetland, the animals we raise (chickens, turkeys, and pigs) arrive each spring from their breeder farms, are raised outdoors in our pasture for the duration of the growing season, and are harvested to eat when they reach maturity. While on the farm they move from one patch of grass to the next, foraging for plants and insects and spreading their natural fertilizer as they go. They revel in the sun and the rain, eat vegetable cast-offs, and build organic matter in our soil. Once harvested, they feed our community with nutrient dense, non-medicated, local protein. In total we raise roughly 10,000 pounds of meat each season on 2 acres of pasture.
No matter how much we love our vegetables, we all need some form of protein in our diets to thrive. Incorporating moderate portions of sustainably raised local meat into your meals is healthy for you and the planet, and is downright delicious, if I do say so myself. The alternatives (factory farmed meat or mono-culture soy) have serious environmental and health impacts that run the gamut from water and air pollution to antibiotics resistance to inhumane treatment of animals and workers. When our family sits down to a dinner of Sweetland veggies and meat I am grateful to have had a hand in the life the animal led and to have access to such healthy and delicious food. I encourage you to “vote with your fork” for sustainable food production and grace your table with local meat.
Now, on to the veggies!
Cheers
Norah and the Sweetland Crew
Week 5 Harvest Sprouting Broccoli Hothouse Cucumbers Arugula Mesclun Mix Kohl Rabi Radishes Kale Rainbow Chard Spinach Baby Pak Choi Tokyo Bekana (loose leaf Chinese cabbage) Garlic scapes Scallions Lettuce What's Cooking This Week
You can find ingredients for all of these recipes in our farm store! We source meats, dairy, grains, beans, sweets, and more from local and sustainable producers. Don’t forget to use your CSA member discount by entering your account phone number in our POS (member discounts are automatically applied to LocalLine purchases for off-farm delivery).