FARM SITTERS.
While some of our CSA members are away on vacation, they asked us to do a favor for them in watching their own little farm. We happily agreed, because this is truly more of a favor to us! We LOVE their farm - especially the sheep and donkeys. Jesse and I worked with sheep at Bugtussle, and they are wonderful animals. We cannot wait to have our own - to raise for meat and fiber. And donkeys - I mean, just look at them. We're probably gonna need a few of those, too.
BETTER BUTTER.
While living at Bugtussle, we had the amazing privilege to drink our daily fill of raw milk. This was new to me at the time (I had previously been a VEGAN!) but I quickly learned to love it. But even better than the milk was the heavenly, golden yellow, raw milk BUTTER. Jesse and I love to dream about the day when we have our own milk cow and our own butter. But until that day, when we we are up to our elbows in milk and yogurt and cheese and butter and kefir – we have to buy cream to make our butter. We use a low-pasteurized local cream (we haven’t yet found a source for raw cow’s milk) and the process is quite simple. Simply fill a mason jar (only about half way full) and shake. And…that’s pretty much it. I usually have to shake for about 10 minutes. As you are shaking, you can feel the cream start to change. It will fluff up and you feel as though it is done, but that is simply the whipped cream. Keep shaking! It will eventually separate (you’ll hear the “KA-CHUNK KA-CHUNK” again as you are shaking). Then you can pour the contents through a screen (save the liquid…that is buttermilk!) and work the liquid out of the yellow, solid butter. Run cold water over the butter as you press and squeeze out the liquid. You can then scoop the butter into a mold, if you like, or add salt or other herbs. This works well for us as it makes a lot of small batches and you don’t have to worry about making too much. It definitely is NOT cost effective for us (We eat. A LOT. Of butter.) But it is a lot of fun. Also, I am pretty sure this would be an awesome way to buff up your arm muscles….it’s tough work! Someday, we will have enough of our own milk to use our beautiful butter churn (thank you Elin!), but until then, I’ll just keep on shakin'.
THE DROUGHT AND YOU.
We're hearing a lot in the news lately about the price of food: because of low soybean and corn yields this year, the price of food is going to rise. But it's not actually. Cheap, processed food is definitely going to start costing more––most of it being made with corn, corn syrup, and soybeans––which it should. But you, our dear CSA shareholders, other farmer's market supporters, and grass-fed meat buyers, will likely not have to spend an extra penny on your food. The drought hurt us and our garden, most definitely, but it did not devastate our supply. We have food and will continue to have food and your price will not change. In fact, with rising prices in the supermarket and fast food restaurants, the greatest effect supporters of small farms will see is probably more value in the food they already buy. Without changing anything, in comparison to prices in supermarkets, you will be getting an even better deal on better food than you already do! People often have a hard time justifying the price of local meat and produce, but if the local food is not much more expensive than the imported stuff you find in supermarkets––which I just heard a reporter on NPR say the price of corn-fed beef and lamb could rise as much as 5%––then perhaps more people will begin to transition over. Just a thought, but a pleasant, promising silver lining to this year's harsh (still ongoing for many) drought.- Jesse.