Do You Need A Ewe?

 

We just weaned our lambs that were born here on the farm last spring. It's a nice-looking crew of 10! Wanna buy any?

Here are the details:

I think there are four ladies in this bunch...or maybe there are five...I could check if you need me to. The rest are castrated males.

Their mothers are mixed breeds, mostly Icelandic but also some smidges of Katahdin, Navajo and some type of mystery breed. The moms weigh between 60 and 80 pounds.

Their father, Sir Charles, is a fancy-pants registered Suffolk ram (he even has papers!). He weighs about 175 pounds.

All of them were born in late March/early April. They have spent their entire lives with their moms out to pasture.

Because they have had very little contact with humans, they are wild as hell right now, but would probably calm down and be your friend in a month or two.

The girls would make nice ewes for breeding, the boys will make fine eating.

According to my estimates they all weigh about 60 to 70 pounds. They probably will get a bit bigger in the next few months.


Pricing:
Ewes: $75.00
Castrated Males: $60.00

Are you a lamb-eating person?
This is a good deal if you are. If you were to buy a male and then take him to be butchered (Woodville charges a flat fee of $90.00 for lambs) then the whole deal would cost you $150.00. You would get at least 20 pounds of meat back...maybe more. So that adds up to about $7.50 per pound...quite a deal when you see lamb in the stores for like $12.00 per pound!

Why am I selling them?
I sell all my boy lambs every year. I don't need any more ladies at this time.

How you would buy one or some:
We live very near Connorsville, WI. Call (715) 643-2803 or e-mail eenermachine@gmail.com to make arrangements for pick-up or viewing. I'll help you load, they are currently penned up in the barn and so will be easy to see and catch. They would ride nicely in the back of a pick-up with a topper.

Our stir fry kit is headed for the grill! These kits are great on the grill. Then you can set a steak or a chicken breast or whathaveyou on the grill with it. Makes for a fun summer meal.

Hi folks!

Check out a couple of young farmers out mud boggin' here on the farm last weekend. I've been dealing with lots of mud too (I got the rototiller stuck shortly after this picture was taken...my first time ever getting a tiller stuck). It can stop raining any time now.

Anyway, our first delivery went out this week. If you did not receive a box (or your box went where it was not suppose to) please contact Eener immediately at (715)643-2803.

The Wednesday full shares received mint. Next week we'll run mint to everyone else. Mint is a crazy plant, it keeps going and going. So if you find yourself in need of some mint at any point this summer order it by e-mail (eenermachine@gmail.com) and it will show up in your next box (for free).

If you are wondering what to do with mint here are a couple of
 ideas:

 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/tabbouleh-recipe/index.html

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-real-mojito/

CSA Delivery To Blaine

Eener’s Farm is half full for the 2013 season…thanks to everyone who has signed up already! If you are shopping for a CSA please see the previous post for CSA info and sign-up forms.

A couple of things:

Blaine:  We have added a new drop site in Blaine, MN. It’s at 4000 Pheasant Ridge Drive. If you or someone you know is interested in picking up in Blaine check out the previous post for CSA details and how to sign up.

Local Folks: If you live in the Boyceville/Connorsville/Downing/Wheeler area you will receive a $50.00 discount on your share.

Hudson: We’re fixing to sell out in Hudson very soon (there is one spot left at Fresh and Natural Foods).

Egg Shares: These are totally sold out.

Eener's Farm 2013 CSA Info

Gosh I've been enjoying my winter... 

 

We’re getting ready for our fifth season of CSA farming here at Eener’s Farm! The seed orders are all in and we're dreaming of spring and tractors and dirt. If you are shopping for a CSA for the upcoming season here are all the details:

Where Eener’s Farm Delivers: River Market Co-op in Stillwater, Fresh and Natural Foods in Hudson, Hampden Park Co-op in St. Paul, Aveda in Blaine (for Aveda employees).

More drop sites may be in the works…stay tuned! Also, if you are interested in being a drop site host let us know!

What Types of Shares Eener’s Farm Offers and How Much They Cost:

The Full Share – $515 - This share is delivered weekly for 18 weeks and includes a nice variety of fresh produce, some herbs and occasionally flowers. It is packed in a 1 1/9 bushel box (the boxes are 18”X12”X12” in case you were wondering). These weigh about five pounds early in the season and then get up to about 30 pounds later in the season. I estimate (this is just an estimate now, I don’t know how you really eat) that this share could feed two serious vegetarians or a family of four.

Special note to alumni members: We will no longer be including eggs in the full share boxes. Feed costs are simply too high to swing that anymore. We do now offer an egg share and will have them A La Carte.

The Half Share - $275 – This share is also delivered weekly for 18 weeks and also includes a nice variety of fresh produce, some herbs and occasionally flowers. It is packed in a 5/9 bushel box (these boxes are 15”X12”X8”). These weigh perhaps 3-4 pounds early on and get up to maybe 20 pounds at their absolute heaviest later on in the season. I estimate (remember now…just an estimate) that these could feed two adults or one serious vegetarian.

The Monthly - $300 – This is a new type of share that we are offering for the first time, there is limited availability. These will be delivered monthly (hence the name). They will include a selection of grass-fed beef cuts (ground beef, steaks and roasts) and fresh produce, some herbs and occasional flowers packed in a 1 1/9 bushel box. If you live in Stillwater or Hudson they will be delivered to your home. If you live in St. Paul or elsewhere, we will meet you at Hampden Park. The deliveries will happen the second Saturday of each month May through October.

The Egg Share - $63 – This also a new type of share that we are offering for the first time, there is extremely limited availability. One dozen eggs will be packed into your CSA box (this is only for folks who buy either The Full Share or The Half Share) each week of the CSA season.

A La Carte – Each month all year round we deliver grass-fed meats (beef, goat, sheep) to many areas in the metro. We also sell our delicious eggs laid by our free-range and organically fed chicken ladies. Folks who are interested in this simply e-mail their orders to me and we drop off what they ordered. This happens the second Saturday of each month. You can find out prices and availability by getting on the e-mail list (e-mails are sent out once per month about a week before the delivery, e-mail me if you want to be on this list eenermachine@gmail.com).

 

What’s in a Share:

The Full Share and The Half Share:

Generally about 40 varieties of vegetables including:

Standard Garden Classics: Green Beans, Broccoli, Carrots, Sweet Corn, Cucumbers, Kale, Lettuce, Onions, Peas, Peppers, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Spinach, Summer Squash, Winter Squash, Tomatoes (big red ones, cherries, romas and some heirlooms),

The Somewhat Lesser Known/Less Popular (but still good!): Beets (red ones and yellow ones), Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Radishes, Cauliflower, Celery, Swiss Chard, Edamame, Eggplant, Hot Peppers, Rutabaga, Turnips

The Pretty Weird But Fun To Try: Yard Long Beans, Shelling Beans, Kohlrabi, Tomatillo.

Fruit: Cantaloupe, Watermelon, Rhubarb. Full shares may or may not receive strawberries and raspberries on a small scale.

Herbs: Basil, Cilantro, Dill, Fennel, Garlic and Parsley is what I’m shooting for but others may happen too.

Flowers: Zinnias for sure, others possible.

Kits: These are really fun! I pack up in one bag enough ingredients to make a specific thing (recipe included). Stir Fry Kit (enough carrots, kale, green onions and garlic to make a batch of stir fry). Pickle Kit (enough cucumbers, garlic and dill to make a batch of refrigerator pickles). Salsa Kit (enough tomatoes, peppers, cilantro and garlic to make a batch of salsa). Stew Kit (enough spuds and root veggies to make a batch of vegetable stew).

The Monthly – Each month you’ll get an amount of produce similar to what The Full Share receives in one week. On the beef side of things you will get two to four pounds of ground beef each month. Additionally, during the grilling season (May to July) we’ll run two to four steaks each month. Later in the season we’ll deliver one or two roasts probably a soup bone and some stew meat (August to October).

The Egg Share – One dozen eggs straight from our chicken ladies to your CSA box for the 18 week season. Our ladies lay white, brown and green eggs of varying sizes.

 

How To Sign Up/Payment Information:

Either print out the membership form below and send it to the farm: Eener’s Farm N12449 220^th St. Boyceville, WI 54725. Or just e-mail me the information at eenermachine@gmail.com. Or you can sign up by phone too by calling the farm at (715) 643-2803. No money is actually due until June 1.

Payment for Alumni Members: The same as always, either pay the whole works in one shot by June 1. Or pay half by June 1 and the other half by October 1.

Payment for Brand New Members: There are two options:

1.       Pay the whole works by June 1.

2.       Pay in two shots but if you decided to do that you must write two checks and send them both to the farm by June 1. So one check would be dated June 1 and the second one would be dated October 1. I’ll carefully hold your second check until at least October 1.

 

Eener’s Farm C.S.A. Sign-Up Form for 2013

 

Your Name:____________________________________________________

 

Which Share:   The Full Share ($515)  The Half Share ($275)  The Monthly ($300) The Egg Share ($63)

 

Where will you pick up at:  River Market, Hampden Park, Fresh & Natural  Other

 

Your Address:________________________________________________________

 

Your Phone Number:_________________________________________

 

Your E-mail Address:_____________________________________

 

 

 

Survey Results Are In...yes!

I always put a survey in the last box of each CSA season. Speaking of the CSA season, we are signing folks up for the 2013 season. If you are looking for info on the up coming season, I'll be posting that soon... here, on the blog. Or you can also e-mail me at eenermachine@gmail.com.

Mabel the Dog looking over a seed catalog.

Anyway, the surveys are a great way to see how the season went and get useful suggestions from the CSA members. I really appreciate these and actually spend quite a bit of time going over them. Thanks to all who filled them out and sent them!

This year I received 14 surveys back; here are the results:

1.       On a scale from one to ten how satisfied were you with your CSA season. One would be not at all and ten would be very much so.

Four members gave the season a 10, one member gave it a 9/10, three said 9, three said 8, one said 7/8, one said 7 and one said 5.

2.       Was there anything in your box that you didn’t use because you didn’t like it?

Several vegetables got two votes on this question, they are: yard long beans, radishes, turnips, kohlrabi, tomatillos and cabbage. Others got just one vote, they are: swiss chard, eggplant, broccoli, beets and horseradish.

I always ask this question and there are never any clear winners. Radishes, turnips, kohlrabi, tomatillos, swiss chard and horseradish almost always make this list. Ironically, they also usually make the favorites list for other members.

 

3.       Was there anything in your box you didn’t use because you didn’t know what to do with it?

It turns out the majority of survey takers had a good handle on what to do with their shares as most replied 'no' to this questions. Tomatillos and kale each received one vote.

 

          Some said they enjoyed trying new vegetables and recipes.

“We always loved your recipes/ideas – we now have new favorites!”

“I consulted cookbooks and the Internet (it turns out many food bloggers also have CSA shares, which helps!).”

4.       Did your box get to you in good shape? For example, was anything squished or wilted? Was anything overripe or under ripe or bruised or excessively buggy or really dirty?

    All survey takers agreed that their boxes generally got to them in good condition. However, a few members said they sometimes had gritty/sandy greens. Two people said their sweet corn was not up to snuff and one person pointed out that the potatoes and garlic were sometimes quite dirty.

It’s true that the lettuce, spinach and other greens get gritty sometimes. This is especially true after a hard rain. I think I’ve gotten better about this over the years…but there is still room for improvement here. I had some problems with sweet corn this year…more on that later. Admittedly we don’t wash garlic or potatoes; they keep better if they are not washed.

 

5.       Do you think you got a fair amount of produce for the price you paid for the share?

Thirteen out of 14 survey takers said yes. Several said they felt they got more than what they actually paid for the share. One member said “Absolutely! Do you know how many potatoes, pickles and tomatoes we have stored up?”

 

One member said no. Here was their explanation:

“Not really. I think it would be helpful to have more of a variety of items in each box and also not fill it with mass quantities of one thing, that no one can use in a weeks time. We really appreciate your efforts and great personal service, but we found that for our family, getting our produce this way didn’t fit in to our eating/cooking habits. Much of the food ended up going to waste, as we couldn’t consume it fast enough.”

It’s very true that CSA shares don’t fit with everyone’s eating habits. It’s also true that we do sometimes run large quantities of certain crops. I’m always aiming to give people more than they can use in a week that way they can store/preserve some or share with their friends or neighbors or send it to their local food shelf.

 

6.       Any major favorites or major dislikes? Suggestions for new things?

Major favorites: Oh my, there were many, many favorites. Tomatoes were the winners with seven votes. Kale, potatoes and tommatillos came in second with five votes. Hot peppers (really??), lettuce, cherry tomatoes, water melon, spinach, garlic scapes and garlic each got four votes. Lots of others got one or two votes each, pretty much everything on the list got at least one vote.

Major dislikes: Swiss Chard, green tomatoes, garlic scapes, yard long beans and tommatillos all got one vote. Sweet corn also got a dislike for quality. This is true. Something happened out there in the corn patch last summer. I suspect two different varieties of corn crossed. As a result, the flavor was not nearly as sweet as it should’ve been. Don’t worry, I’m all over this problem, next year hopefully we’ll have really good corn.

Suggestions: more herbs, more pickle kits, more hot peppers, more eggs. Sweet potatoes, asparagus....good calls. 

 

Some other fun comments from the surveys:

"It became clear how awesome everything was since the boxes have ended and we had to go back to supermarket veggies...we shop at a coop so it could be worse, but realize now how awesome the summer was."

"Great year! Thaks for feeding us so well!"

"Didn't like the tomatillos, but we gave them away to good homes."