Support Agriculture, We Do.

It a little counter intuitive, but we don’t grow any vegetables on our farm.  As much as I would like to we have a few reasons why we can’t. 1) We have more trees than we know what to do with and too much shade to grow anything besides hostas and maybe a basil plant here or there.  2) I don’t like gardening as much as I thought I did. Maybe it’s just this year and being 4 months pregnant does not make me want to brave the heat and do some weeding.  Even something as self sufficient as the hostas are looking a little sad in their over grown flower beds.  So! That’s why we get our produce from a local CSA (two of them in fact).

For those of you that might not know, a CSA is a Community Supported Agriculture farm operation.  In this type of sales model you sell shares of your harvest for a particular price at the beginning of the season, and each week provide a predetermined amount of whatever product is read at that time.  It’s essentially the customer taking the risk with the farmer.  So each week Erik stops in Boone to visit Julie and Scott (owners of Wilber’s North Side Market http://www.wilbersproduce.com/) and gets our bag of cucumbers, strawberries, beans, peas, corn, squash, onions, and tons more.  As well as on Wednesdays I pick up our share from Paula (Owner of Twin Girls Garden http://www.twingirlsgarden.com/)

One thing you have to do when you sign up with a CSA is be committed.  When you get this big bag of produce it can be a little over whelming.  Most people don’t eat that many veggies in a week and it’s hard to incorporate it into your meal planning.  I try to do as much prep work on my off days so the meal making during the week isn't such an undertaking.

I’ve got the most time on the weekends so I try to get a lot of cooking out of the way then.  Here are some of my creations from this Saturday. Both recipies are things you can just add as a side to any meal with little effort. 

The ingredients change in our CSA pasta salad depending on what we get so feel free to make up your own. All CSA items are listed with an *.

CSA Pasta Salad

1 purple pepper*

2 small onions*

1 head of broccoli*

1 small head of cauliflower*

3-4 carrots*

1 cup or so of cherry tomatoes*

1 red radish and 1 white radish*

A few sticks of celery

Macaroni noodles (or any noodles)

Italian dressing

Cook noodles according to package directions.  Chop veggies finely and add to cooked and drained noodles.  Add enough Italian dressing to coat.  It’s a picnic favorite at our house!

CSA Coleslaw

Bunch of cabbage leaves finely shredded or chopped* (I don’t know how many, just a bunch)

3-4 shredded carrots*

1 onion* (green onions are best, but regular yellow onions work just fine)

¼ cup mayo

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp celery seed (optional)

Mix shredded cabbage, carrots, and onions in a large bowl.  Mix mayo, vinegar and celery seed in a separate bowl to make the sauce.  (You might have to make more than one batch of the sauce depending on how much cabbage you used.)  Coat veggies with sauce and refrigerate.  Another picnic favorite at the farm.  

CSA Pasta Salad, and you can see the Coleslaw behind it. Pretty isn't it?

An Eggplant and Tomato from Wilber's Northside Market. Thanks Julie and Scott, for making such beautiful produce for my family.  I think eggplant parmesan is in our future tonight!

Welcome to Sugar Valley Farm!!!!

I should probably start out by telling you all a little about myself and the farm.

My name is Sarah, and I live with my husband, Erik, our three dogs, four goats, two horses, nine chickens, and nine tenant sheep on his families homestead farm built in 1849 (or so says the barn).  All of this and a baby on the way in December!!

Sarah (The Boss Lady)

I’ve always felt a connection to the land and an affection for all things rural and agricultural.  I feel passionate about emphasizing the culture in agriculture.  As of now we consider our operation a hobby farm, however, I’ve had people comment to me about how they don’t see how that’s possible.  But it is!!!  We’ve got a fairly simple set up which makes chores a short endeavor in the mornings and every so often a trip to the hay auction or waiting for the ferrier or vet is the only time commitment I have to plan around.  This is the life I’ve always wanted to live and it’s a labor of love to tend my flock, grow my family, and be able to give a little bit of the rural life to my friends and acquaintances that find me a bit of an anomaly.

Erik (The Rock)

Erik grew up in a conventional farming family and you would think he would be right at home on a tractor, or in a pick-up truck, but not the case.  Erik is a musician.  He works from home and intends to be a stay a home dad.  Erik is the steady, supportive, rock that keeps me and my ideas from flying off into oblivion.  He is the main caretaker of our dogs (though since two of them have been banished out of the house, they have become my charge).  Erik has said many times that he loves what I’ve made our farm to be, even though he’s not terribly involved in it.  He likes to be able to watch the sheep in the pasture and can appreciate the live we foster here.  However, his least favorite task is chasing the goats back in the pasture when they find ways to escape and eat my hostas.  As much as he is an indoor kind of guy he’s always there when I need help hauling hay or pulling a fence post from the ground. 

The Critters

Manitou (The Siberian Husky)

As of 2011, Manitou is approximately 13 years old.  She is a retired sled dog and I got her from the instructor of a dog sledding class I attended in college.  She is the second sled dog we have adopted.  Yogi (who was put down in January of 2010) was the first and we fell in love with this breed.  Manitou was what is called a ‘wheel dog’ which means she was the muscle of the team, and not necessarily the brains.  The day we picked her up we thought it would be good to take her for a short walk before getting back in the car for the long drive home.  We could hardly hold on to her leash!  She was more than happy to pull us down the side walk on our hind ends than to walk calmly along side of us.  However, now, she has definitely taken to retirement.  I used to take her out on my cross country skis and let her pull me down the road after a fluffy snow fall, but now, she’s much more interested in chasing small animals or sniffing interested smells and could care less about pulling anything.

Banner (The First Beagle, or Basset Beagle, or whatever)

There is one in every family, a problem child.  Banner came from the shelter, which means everyone and their brother had an opinion about where he came from, what he went through, how old he is, and what breed he might have in him.  There were a whole series of theories about his former life before being rescued, but I didn’t care, because he’s was adorable.  He’s got big sad brown eyes, and a cute little white dipped spot on his tail.  Banner is a Mama’s boy but is pretty much terrified of everything else, the dryer, thunder, children, the north side of the house, grass, everything basically.  However, the most troubling of these phobias is children.  He is borderline aggressive toward them which is the main reason he’s been banished to be outside, which seems to fit him better.

Missy (The Second Beagle)

I know what you are thinking; “Why on earth would you get another one!?”  Frankly, I just don’t know.  Ask Erik, I blame him.  Apparently karma was on our side after taking in Banner though, because Missy turned out to be perfect.  We have no idea how old she is, but she is the most affectionate dog I’ve ever met.  She’s a Daddy’s girl (go figure) but has never met someone she hasn’t liked.  Not only does she have a great temperament, she’s hilarious.  She’s over weight (she has a thyroid problem for which she is medicated), she has the tiniest feet I’ve ever seen, a short face, and a double chin, and snorts like a pig.  She is by far the favorite and the only one that gets to live in the house (she has a condition!).

Bear (Red Roan Quarter Horse)

I’ve ridden horses since I was a young girl and I knew when I got a farm I had to have one.  Bear came into my life under the perfect circumstances.  I was looking for a horse to buy, but that can be a treacherous endeavor.  Little did I know that a good friend at work was looking to sell her 13 (ish) year old horse but was looking for the right home to sell him to.  After looking a dozen horses and not really feeling completely comfortable with any of them, I decided Bear was my best bet.  He’s a peaceful soul under the saddle, unless the flies are bugging him and I don’t blame him.   Riding down to the river with a picnic lunch is a little slice of heaven that only a few of us get to experience, and for that I’m truly thankful.

Simon (The Sorrel Quarter Horse)

Well, I got a horse, so of course my Dad had to as well.  Which was probably for the best, because really I shouldn’t be out on a horse alone, no matter how well behaved he was.  He is a sorrel color, which is you basic brown horse.  He’s about 17 hand tall, which means Dad has to have a foot stool to mount.  He’s all legs and looks like he came straight out of a cowboy movie.  Dad found Simon on the classifieds and we went out to see him on the coldest, windiest day of the winter.  We each rode for about three minutes and decided the best place to stand was on the ground with Simon blocking the wind.  He was the right price and could be brought to the house, and the faster the deal got done the faster we could get back in the heated truck.  We were lucky.  Simon is a good horse.  We only had a few ‘come to Jesus’ moments but after that we all get along great.  I actually ride Simon quite a bit, when I have a friend that might not be an experienced, I put them on Bear and I take Simon and have really come to enjoy him.   

The Goats

Leia (The Black and White One)

Leia is a fainting goat that doesn’t faint.  Fainting is a gene that sometimes just doesn’t get passed down in breeding.  Leia is the size of a fainting goat (pigmy size) but does not have the fainting reaction to stimulus that two of the others do.

Ebbey (The Big White One) and Jack (The Brown One)

Ebbey and Jack do faint. It’s something you just have to see.  Fainting is a trait that has only survived in goats because they have become domesticated.  Falling down frozen when startled can’t be evolutionarily advantageous.  People would raise fainting goats as meat goats.  When a goat ‘faints’ it doesn’t really lose consciousness, it’s muscles seize up and it falls over.  It can still bleat but it can’t move for a few seconds.  Because of these muscle spasms they build great muscle mass and people realized they could be a good source of protein.  Ours are just pets, but it’s an interesting little bit of trivia.  Impress your co-workers.

Charlotte (The Little White One)

Charlotte is a regular pigmy goat who came to us from a friend that needed to help some old roommates ‘thin the herd.’  It’s fairly common knowledge that I just can’t say now to a cute fuzzy critter.  She and Leia have occasional tiffs about who is the alpha female, but for the most part they are an adorably mismatched herd.  However, Charlotte is the only one that doesn’t know how to escape the pasture so you can usually tell when they get out because she will cry loudly and incessantly until the others get chased back in.  Tattle Tail.

We also have a flock of sheep we care for as tenants and a flock of chickens who all have their own little personalities, but that’s another blog.

Be sure to check back often to read about what’s happening on the farm, in our home, in our family, and in the valley.