Bales

Pitching bales by hand is a thing of the past - you should see the size of these!  They are 800-lbs. each, and will supplement the round bales we made to feed the animals this winter.

They're housed in two separate buildings, there just isn't enough room for them anywhere.  Dan says they are of lesser quality (nutrition-wise) than what we made ourselves.

Weekend Cook: Lamb Rack

Willow Hill Farm Lamb

So awesome and tender!  Normally, I would have seared the rack on the gas grill, then cooked it for 20 minutes indirect on low, but I was out of propane.  Rather, I should say STILL out of propane.

The rack was coated in mustard and Dizzy Pig Red-eye, then on to Miss Piggy, the Traeger smoker for 30 minutes (225f) and then 30 minutes at 275f.  The probe signaled 130f; the small side of the rack was perfect and the thicker side too rare.  So, I cut it in half and plated the done pieces, putting the rest into the kitchen oven at 300f for 15 more minutes.  You can't get a sear to finish on this smoker, there's no direct heat.

Also, in cold weather it does not retain heat and hold temperature like the Big Green Egg does.  Still, I love it because it starts almost instantly.  Kiss, kiss!

 I'll put the prettiest chops in front next time.

Those Radishes

Remember the drainage problem?  Well, as a cover crop radishes were certainly effective at holding the soil.

Did I eat it?  No, it is "spreading manure" week.

The Rafters Are Here

After cheesemaking, I brought the truck around to drop off the garbage and saw that the rafters had arrived for the storage building renovation.

Honestly, 40 minutes outside was all I could take - I wouldn't want to be one of the construction crew installing these.

Burlington Farmer's Market #25: Last Saturday

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

The final outdoor market of 2010 was gusty and cold, but we had a good day overall and came home with Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, carrots and cakes.  The Winter Market starts this weekend, but we won't be there.

We'll be doing our own thing on another Saturday bringing deliveries to the Staples Parking lot just off the Interstate exit in South Burlington.   If you'd like to be on the e-mail list for our products contact me at boucherfarm@hughes.net and I'll add your name to our Winter newsletter.

To everyone else: see you next season, and thank you!

Geese flying over the farm

All fun and games until I got dizzy from looking up and spinning around.

Ready-cook Squash

Rockville Market Farm's Squash

On the next to last outdoor farmer's market, Dan noticed Eric Rozendaal had these for sale, and that quickly put to mind Willow Hill Farm's yogurt machine, Doe's Leap's milk bottler, and Jericho Settler's automated egg washer.   He had purchased some kind of groovy mechanical squash-whacker.

I am so envious - I still don't have any cool processing equipment.

I'm no fan of sweet-tasting vegetables, but I happily cooked up two packages because it was spectacularly easy.  Boil in some water, simmer until cooked through.  Smash up with butter, and salt to taste - no peeling, roasting or scraping.

It really went well with that Hannaford rotisserie chicken - and the creamy Brussels sprouts.

Monday Menu: Beef Ribs

Beef Ribs with Sauteed Spinach

Ignore the leftover chicken in the photo.  This is the last of the beef ribs from the freezer until March, and I wanted to try a curry mix on an overnight cook.

OMG this smelled sooo good before cooking.

Nothing fancy, just sprinkled the spices on the ribs and poured the container of wet over the top.  Covered and cooked at 225f for about 10 hours.

It's a beautiful thing.

Pull apart goodness, but it needed a bit of salt.  I cooled the liquid in the refrigerator and removed the hardened fat to feed to the chickens, adding the gelatinized stock back to the meat.

The leftovers are destined for tacos.*

*UPDATE - Dan ate the rest during one of his late nights watching "House" reruns.  No tacos:(