Farm News and Mary Ann's Blog

Tootsie had a litter of kittens on March 3rd which makes these little darlings 7 weeks old and ready to go.

They have all been handled multiple times a day since the very day they were born and are just as sweet and friendly as can be.

As you can see they come in a bunch of colors.

There are long haired kitties and short haired kitties

If you think you might like to see one, give us a call..did I mention they are free?

An update....At the animal swap in Embarrass on May 2nd 2009, all 5 kittens went to fine owners. We wish them all well.

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We've been on the go the last few days. Friday night was the Natural Harvest Food Co-op's (if you haven't checked out their new website..you should)  annual meeting. Since we sell our pork at Natural Harvest, we were invited to put up an informational display. Maggie Montgomery of KAXE radio gave us an interesting talk about her year of eating locally. She and her husband ate a 100 mile diet for a year! Wow. Hats off to them. A great dinner showcasing local producers was served. I had a pleasant evening visiting with some awfully nice folks.

The next day Shannon, Maggie (our daughter Maggie, not Maggie Montgomery from KAXE, of course!), and I set up the same table at the Mtn. Iron Community Center for the first annual  Iron Range Earthfest. It was an expo sort of thing with a focus on sustainable living. I was very impressed with the variety of vendors and displays and thought the turnout was great for a first year event. I look forward to next year.

Sunday kicked off our daughter, Taylor's, horse competition season. In order to be at the WSCA show on time we had to leave by 6 AM and didn't get home until 9 at night. She  had a good time and did well - so it was worth it. Luckily Shannon was home to chore morning and night. Although when he calls Roo in for milking, so doesn't come very well. For some reason she comes better for me. We need to work on that.

Tuesday, I attended a conference in Duluth. In the first session, local producers had an opportunity to meet buyers from restaurants who were interested in serving local food. In the second session, we listened to people who make their farms more profitable by either offering guest accomodations, tours, educational classes, or festivals. It was food for thought.

Today I am staying home to  farm and keep house (after the last few days the housekeeping is sorely needed!)

   The girls have been busy laying eggs lately.

The winter was  long and cold winter. Now they are happy to  hunt far and wide from daybreak to dusk for the first fresh blades of grass.

I have quite a few egg customers, but now I am getting 2 dozen eggs a day and so I have a small surplus.

 Ever have a fresh farm egg?

Mmmmm.....

They are $3  a dozen. If you'd like some eggs, give us a call.

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I had a lot of fun recently when the Head Start class from Mesabi East came to visit with their teachers and some parents. They wanted to see where food comes from and got up close looks at big and little pigs, beef cows, a milk cow, and chickens. They even got to hold eggs still warm from a hen.

They were well behaved and cheerful - a delight!

What a fun morning I had. I was sorry that Shannon had to work and couldn't be here for their visit. We hope that the weather will cooperate so we can host a couple more Head Starts who have asked to come.

Teacher Laura brought by this nice card they made as a thank you for us when she came to buy some eggs. I'll treasure it. A very thoughtful mom even sent us a personal thank you from  their family. 

Don't I get to meet the nicest folks?!

About two weeks ago, Shannon, our son Jack, our friend Joe, and I went on a 3 ½ hour drive into Wisconsin to buy for me a …….dairy cow!

We have been buying my milk – raw – from a local dairy farmer, but the farm is a long way away from us. So for a while, I have been toying with the idea of a family cow. You can read a lot about the concept of a family cow on this forum: http://familycow.proboards32.com/index.cgi

Shannon and Joe have both been nudging me along in this idea, and when the opportunity came up – I jumped in.

Roo comes from a certified organic dairy farm. She is a Jersey Shorthorn cross. Roo is in her second lactation and is expected to freshen (have a calf) in August. She gives us about 2 gallons of milk a day. The dairy no longer wanted her because she has one quarter ( an udder is divided into four quarters each with it’s own teat) that is bad and one that doesn’t make enough milk. For us – she’s perfect.

We don’t need all the milk she can make so our pigs get the extras. Pigs love milk! Her owner told us that after she freshens she’ll give 6 gallons a day!

 You can't see it, but there's a bowl of milk under all these noses and ears...

 Really!

It’s getting busier here on the farm.  Yesterday, this little fellow was born. 

Normally we bring our cows into the barn when they get close to calving, but our barn’s full of sows and their pigs and one  special gal – I’ll share that story another day.  Anyway, it’s nearly time for a couple of the sows to wean their babies so we hoped to combine the litters and open up a stall or two for calving. Betty preferred not to wait for us. Her handsome bull calf was born outside. Betty did her best with him, but he just couldn’t get himself up off the ground and got terribly chilled. I was home alone and had never had to warm a calf before. I was hesitant to get involved because I sure didn’t want to make matters worse. But when I saw that we were headed for a disaster, I stepped in with warm towels, syringes filled with warm milk, and a bale of hay.  It took all day, a lot of rubbing and heaving him up and trying to keep him up.  When I went into the house at 7 last night, he was looking stronger but still unable to stand on his own. I just didn’t know if he’d make it our not.  Shannon came home and we decided to put two sows and their litters together in one stall –hoping they’d all get along. Then we’d have a stall for Betty and her calf. After supper the little bugger was standing on his own….not gracefully…but he was up.  So we did all the rearranging and this morning he was up and drinking from his mom. All is well.

I just came from a delightful lunch at the Coates Hotel in Virginia, MN which is where the Rotarians meet for thier weekly lunch meetings. I am not a member of the Rotary Club. No....I was the entertainment! They asked me to talk about our farm. I think they saw on our web site that I had done a little talk for the Historical Society and were in need of a speaker.

I met some really nice people and had a tasty lunch courtesy of the Rotary Club. The Rotarians seem to delight in good clean fun and one another's company.

I also found out that the Rotarians are working hard to fight polio and are helping a village in Peru get clean water. Locally, among other things, they distribute dictionaries to 3rd graders and host that great fishing contest for kids in Virginia each June.

I'd like to tip my hat to the Rotarians for showing me a good time today and tell them to keep up the good work.

Thanks, Rotary! It was an honor, and I had fun.

A sure sign that Spring is coming is the birth of babies on our farm. Last week we had 3 sows farrow (have baby pigs) in the barn .

There aren't many things cuter than a pile of pigs. We are especially partial to pigs that  are multicolored.

You may have heard stories about mean sows and how scary they are. But our girls are watchful and protective,  and never vicious.

Well, actually there was one big girl who was ...but there's no room around here for mean animals so she's gone now.

Is there anything cuter than a pile of pigs?

I think not....

What did you have for supper last night?

We had a family favorite….homemade crispy  fried wontons.  It’s so easy.  A little time consuming, but if the kids lend a hand, it goes quickly.  Tonight I had no help, but I have a TV in the kitchen so while I folded the wontons I watched a show.

I wish I could find my original recipe that I clipped from Better Home and Gardens magazine years and years ago.  Now, I just wing it.

Take out a package of wonton wrappers. You’ll find these in the produce aisle of your store right next to the eggroll wrappers.  It helps if you have these sit on the counter for an hour or so to come to room temperature before you start. It makes them easier to separate.  You’ll want a good clear spot on your counter or table to make your wontons. You can also line cookie sheets with wax paper if you like and lay the wontons on those to get them out of your way if necessary.

In a small cup or bowl, mix 2 Tablespoons of flour or cornstarch with enough water to make a runny paste. You will use this to glue your wontons shut.

Chop very  finely : one can of water chestnuts, a few fresh mushrooms and green onions. Dump all that into a bowl, add one pound of ground pork, a couple Tablespoons of cooking sherry ( I only had white wine and it works fine…and you can skip it altogether if you desire), a teaspoon of garlic  and a couple Tablespoons of your favorite soy sauce. Mix it all together – your hands will work best.

Place a clump of the raw mixture, about 2 teaspoons in the center of a wrapper.  With a pastry brush (or your finger), apply a line of flour water to 2 edges of the wrapper and fold it over to make a triangle.  Press shut.  Repeat.

The only thing that can go wrong here is for the wontons to stick together or to your counter.  The wrappers tear easily.  My problem is that since I no longer have the original recipe I often come up with either too much stuffing or too little. This time I was going to run out of stuffing. So about half way through the process, I shredded cabbage and mixed that in.  They were more like egg rolls. We all liked them, but I should have shredded the cabbage really, really finely instead of just kinda-finely.

Now, just fry them in hot grease. I used lard in a cast iron skillet, but Crisco in an electric deepfryer works just as well. Do it however you normally deep fry.

They don’t take long  to cook through. When it’s brown on one side turn it over. Cut one in half to see that the pork is not pink and away you go. If you have a small family, these freeze nicely. Just line a container with wax paper, place the wontons in a single layer – not touching each other – top with wax paper and lay more wontons… You can cook them directly from the freezer and they are yummy. When the kids were little, I could put some in the freezer. Last night they were all devoured. We like to dip ours in sweet and sour sauce. I either serve them with a stir fry  and rice, or like last night – with  fried rice.

You may recall that near the end of summer we had ran out of individual cuts of meat to sell at the Farmer's Markets and off the farm.

We ended up having to pull out a month early. 

 Well, we are back in business!

In order to sell meat by the individual cut (rather than selling someone a half or whole hog) we have to have it processed at a facility that is under continuous USDA inspection. The last couple times we used Lorentz Meats in Cannon Falls, Mn and were very happy with them. But they were unable to put our farm's name on our packages, so we started looking around. We got a referral from someone who had toured MacDonald's Meat in Clear Lake, MN. They recommended them, and we had recently read about them in 2 or 3 publications so I called the store. They were really helpful and accomodating so we gave them a try and brought them 2 hogs.

The bacon tastes just as good as it looks.

Didn't they do a nice job with the labeling?

 All the chops, ribs, and roasts look just as nice as this.

If you are interested in purchasing meat, just call the farm

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We also can put together assortments, if you like,

for $50, $75 or $100.

Call or email us...and we can chat about it.