WellsTavernFarm’s Weblog

There were a lot of thinkers out there today, as I sent my mother-in-law and husband to Turners Falls High School to sell some of our farm products at the “Food For Thought” Farmer’s Market.
There must be many thinkers out there, because we sold out of almost everything that I sent with them to sell today. My thinking was that it is better to bring along a representative sample of the meats that we have for sale, than to bring everything; it is better for the meat to be handled less rather than more, and it is very difficult to being hundreds of pounds of meat from various species with you!

So, rest assured… if you found that we were “out” of Belted Galloway Burgers or Gloucestershire Old Spots Sausage at the Farmer’s Market — let me assure you that there is more, and (for example) we have more than a hundred pounds of burger left in our large freezer at home.

So, all you have to do is puck up the phone and call — if you are local, we will deliver. If you are farther away, we can make arrangements.

And Thank You, again, for patronizing your local farms at the farmers Market today. It really means a great deal to all of us.

Wells Tavern Farm Belted Galloway Grassfed Beef. No hormones, no antibiotics, no steroids, no herbicides, no pesticides. Just fresh air, mineral rich water and local hay and grass pasture.  USDA inspected, safe handling instructions printed on the vacuum packed package, frozen for your convenience. Perfect for last-minute dinner guests!

Heritage. Pastured. Local.

Benefits:  Local, Flavorful, Good for You Beef.          

Beef from animals raised entirely on their natural diet of grass has much less fat, which is good for our hearts and our waistlines. It’s also better for the environment than crowding cattle onto feedlots, which causes serious problems with air and water quality.  A growing body of research indicates that pasture-raised meat, eggs, and dairy products are better for consumers’ health than conventionally-raised, grain-fed foods. In addition to being lower in calories and total fat, pasture-raised foods have higher levels of vitamins, and a healthier balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats than conventional meat and dairy products.

Price per pound

• Tenderloin (Filet Mignon) 16.
• Boneless NY Sirloin 14.
• Club Steak 11.
• Loin Sirloin Steak 9.
• Top Round Steak 8.
• London Broil 6.
• Bottom Round Roast 5.75
• Eye Round Roast 5.75
• Short Ribs 5.
• Kabobs 6.
• Stew Meat 5.25
• Ground Beef 5.25
• 4 oz. Ground Beef Patties 5.50

Saturday morning, I am headed off to work at 88.5 WFCR, public radio for Western New England, and sending my husband to the farmer’s market.  He will be offering our fabulous pastured, (grain-free, hormone-free, antibiotic free and stimulant free) Belted Galloway Beef for sale for the first time, as well as our heritage pastured Gloucestershire Old Spots Bacon,  Ham Steaks and a few other cuts.  We will also have farm fresh blue/green and brown eggs for sale, which come from out lovely (in season) free-ranged, happy hens.  If you want to guarantee yourself a free range heritage Turkey, born and raised in Shelburne (LOCAL) for Thanksgiving, than you should sign up for our reminder service when you come to the market on Saturday.  Or send me an email or leave a comment…

We are selling started turkey poults later this spring, and hatching out baby turkeys for thanksgiving at present.  Later this spring, we will be offering Light Brahma Chicken chicks for sale as well.  The Light Brahmas are a fabulous meat and brown egg chicken.  They are about 12 pounds as a full grown chicken hen.  Roosters are bigger.  All are tasty.  They lay very large brown eggs.

Food For Thought … Farmers’ Market
Turners Falls High School
Saturday, February 28, 2009
9 a.m. – 12 noon

Your Local Farmers and Local Friends

Diemand Farm – Wendell  – Eggs and Turkey, Graves-Glen Farm – Shelburne – Maple Products, Little Brook Farm – Sunderland – Lamb and Wool, River-Maple Farm – Bernardston – Beef, Backdoor Bakery – Shelburne  – Baked Goods, Bingo Granola – Brattleboro, VT – granola, nuts and snacks, Stockbridge Farm – Deerfield- Herbs & lavender, Wells Tavern Farm – Shelburne – Pork, ham, beef & eggs, Hedgie’s Hot Stuff – Belchertown- Salsa & marinades, Songline Emu Farm – Gill- Emu products, Turkey Ridge Farm – Gill -Honey, Bostrom Farm – Greenfield – Pork & beef, Cheshire Gardens – Winchestr, NH – Preserves, mustard, & jam, AND Live music!

Here is our first installment in a series called “At Last Count” At Wells Tavern Farm, we do things slowly, conservatively and above all, as ecologically soundly as possible. It is because of our dedication to heritage and heirloom varieties that we are raising Lilac (or more often Slate) Turkeys. This morning, at last count, the incubator housed 95 Lilac Turkey eggs yet to hatch, and we have had three poults born already this year.

After a few years of tweaking our husbandry methods, and very successfully raising heritage turkeys, we have decided to    e x p a n d    turkey production greatly this year.

Speaking of production, our second number in the “At Last Count” series, is 285. Two hundred eighty five pounds of grassfed heritage Belted Galloway beef.
What is this beef made of? No added hormones, no antibiotics, no grain, no growth stimulants, nothing creepy… just beef created by hay from Conway, Ashfield, and Shelburne, grassy pasture from Ashfield and Shelburne, and naturally mineral-rich deep well water from Ashfield and Shelburne. Truly local and healthy beef. Rich in Omega-3’s. And very, very tasty.

Try some today.

You asked for Lamb. We are getting lambs. If you want to reserve your favorite cut or half, etc. of lamb raised in the same way that we raise our pigs and beefers, please email me to reserve soon. I predict that the lamb (probably ready in April) will not be available long.

And Our Belted Galloway beef will be available starting next week! Again, if you are interested in a specific cut, put your name on it before someone else does.

All of our animals are raised with love and attention on pasture with shelter provided, and fed only the most local grass hay. Our heritage pigs are also fed a New England cooperative produced grain without any medications, antibiotics or added stimulants or hormones.

That is how we will be raising our lambs as well — if the feed is something that we would eat and if it has exclusively non-creepy ingredients, than they will be offered it as part of their well-rounded pastured diet.

If you are interested in the Pastured Heritage Pork (sausage, bacon, steaks, a few roasts remaining) than plan to visit the farmers market in Turners Falls on Saturday the 28th from 9 to noon at Turners Falls High School. If you want more instant gratification, pick up the phone and call us and we will deliver before then

The annoying Music Show host Jim Nayder introduced NPR listeners listeners to Weekend Edition this morning to the song “When a Man Loves A Chicken” -lyrics by Bob Rivers, to the tune of Percy Sledge’s 1966 hit “When A Man Loves A Woman”

When a man loves a chicken
He can’t keep his mind on nothin’ else,
He stay in the barn for the good thing he’s found.
If he is henpecked he can’t see it; she can’t do no wrong.
Road Island Red is his best friend, he can’t put her down.

When a man wants a chicken, spends his very last dime
Buying her fresh corn down at the grain and feed.
He’ll build a nest for her comfort, and sleep out in the coop
If she said that’s the way it’s got to be.

Well, this man loves his chicken,
She lays him all the eggs she has.
Tell the farmer there’s nothin’ going on.
Believe me, she’s cluckin’ just ’cause she’s mine.

When a man loves a chicken, people think that it is wrong.
He shouldn’t stick his beak in where it don’t belong.
Yes, when a man loves a chicken I know exactly how he feels.
Hey baby, baby, baby I’m your cock-a-doodle-doo.

When a man loves a chicken
I know exactly how he feels.
He’ll shack up in the hen house with the good thing he’s found.

When a man loves a chicken
People think that he’s insane.
But all he can do is wing it for the one he loves.

Yes, this man loves a chicken.
Oh, I know it can’t do me no harm

A fine looking and lovely breed nicely suited to harsh and long New England winters, the Belted Galloway grows a double coat of shaggy banded black and white fur. Wells Tavern Farm Belted Galloways are grassfed during pasturing season, and fed local hay during the winter and early spring. The cows food miles are very few, indeed, as their hay comes from no further than five miles away. While some farmers “push” their beefers and dairy cows to produce milk and carcass size as fast as possible (to turn larger profits) by adding hormones, antibiotics, stimulants and other synthetic and un-natural additives to the diets of their bovines, our Belted Galloways are simply what they are. They have never ingested any of the synthetics, and the only hormones raging through their systems are the natural ones that they were born with.

What makes the Belted Galloway so Special, Anyways?

Characteristics of Belted Galloway Beef: A thinner layer of back fat, a fine percentage of intramuscular fat, or marbling. (Marbling is a factor that determines the quality of a cut of meat).

In research studies, Grassfed Belted Galloway Beef was compared with store bought beef and other livestock products: the Belted Galloway closely compared to a chicken breast without skin. Three ounces of Beltie Beef cooked contained 27 grams of protein, 2.5 grams of fat, and 129 calories where as the store bought beef had only 24 grams of protein, 11.6 grams of fat, and 201 calories in three ounces. This makes it easy to see that consumers choosing Belted Galloway Beef are getting a much healthier product.

Think about your food miles and your knowledge about what is on your plate, adn then send me an e-mail to reserve a package of Belted Galloway Beef.

One final though for today… an excerpt from a song:

When mighty roast beef was the Englishman’s food

It ennobled our hearts and enriched our blood–

Our soldiers were brave and our courtiers were good.

Oh! the roast beef of England.

And Old England’s roast beef.

- Richard Leveridge, 1735

Our Three Year Old Son — Our Little Greenthumb
The project: Our preschool-attending son painted a beautiful little snowman onto a black plant pot (recycled) and then planted a Spider Plant (recycled) in it.
The result: We get a “Chlorophytum comosum” in an adorable little personalized pot. Our son gets thanks, a feeling of accomplishment and success. We all get cleaner air in the house, according to recent studies!

Some of the characteristics of the Spider Plant: very tolerant of neglect (that would be us), popular with beginners, and is shown to reduce indoor air pollution, according to NASA.

Our son’s first foray into the world of planting and tending plants has not gone without notice.  Belive me, he will be tending the radishes and carrots in the garden this spring.  I can’t wait.  Spring cannot come soon enough.

We have enjoyed almost balmy weather in Western Mass for two days, and now are paying for it with lots and lots of  ice, associated ise issues, and slippery roads tonight.  I can’t wait until I can get some dirt from the garden under MY fingernails.  Until then, we are appreciating the new cleaner air, and dirt that our son got under his fingernails.

In case you haven’t read it yet, you really should pick up Sunday’s New York Times. The article is entitled “Farm Living (Subsidized by a Job Elsewhere)” and the meat of the article is right here:
Consider that about 900,000 of the nation’s 2.2 million farms generated $2,500 or less in sales in 2007.

By contrast, 5 percent of total farms, about 125,000 operations, accounted for 75 percent of agricultural production.

The new agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, has acknowledged the problem and vowed to do something about it. As a former governor of Iowa, he knows firsthand that farmers with a few hundred acres are being outbid for land by farmers with a few thousand. That consolidation is fueled by farm payments that tend to benefit the largest farms.

The question is: What, if anything, can he do about it?

In an interview on Friday, Mr. Vilsack said the agency would encourage income opportunities — like energy production, carbon sequestration, conservation and ecotourism — that go beyond just crops and livestock. “You have to take a holistic approach and create the understanding that the whole thing is diversification,” he said.

How far have we gotten along the path of diversification? So far, we have had success with Pastured Turkeys,  Pastured Pork,  Grassfed Belted Galloway, and lots of Chicken Eggs. We are looking to Summer and Fall Vegetables.  Will we need to diversify further? Yes. What will it be? I have no idea.

And yes, we all have off-farm jobs to subsidize our farming efforts.

It is February in New England, and that means that I am thinking about Memorial Day as the magical day to have the garden planted, and then see who wins this year: the vegetables and I, or the arch rival, weeds.

Fedco Seeds will be shipping the beginning of my seed order in about two weeks. I still have not decided on a few vegetable varieties, but decided to place my order early (now) to make sure that the important seeds were ordered. Maybe I will shop locally for the other veggie seeds when I decide what they will be.  Hmmm.

I do know that ordering online using the Quick Order feature at Fedco is super simple and intuitive. Kudos to them for that feature.  It seemed a natural fit for our little farm to order from this cold-hearty seed cooperative.  They are committed to supporting organic and intelligent farming and gardening — they hold the same beliefs that we do.

So far, we have:
Masai Bush Haricots Verts, Maxibel Bush Haricots Verts OG,
Super Zagross Middle Eastern Slicing Cucumber, Eight Ball Zucchini, Gentry Summer Squash,Yaya Carrot OG, Over the Rainbow Carrot Mix, Hailstone Radish (WHITE), Andover Parsnip (coming late MARCH), Red Sails Lettuce OG, Merlot Lettuce OG, Lollo Rossa Lettuce, Anuenue Lettuce OG, Cosmonaut Volkov Tomato OG, Rutgers Tomato OG,
Pineapple Tomato OG, Sunflower Sampler, Beneficials Mix (herbs and flowers).

Here is what the seed catalog describes the Beneficials Mix as:

Melangus perplexus (Spurious botanical name courtesy of your intrepid copywriter.) “When you increase the diversity of an ecosystem you enhance its ability to maintain itself and to resist perturbation.” Frank Morton inspired 75 seed growers with his talk on Whole Farm Cropping Systems at a Restoring Our Seed seminar. One way to increase the diversity of your ecosystem is to sow this mix of annuals, biennials and perennials that will attract and maintain a diverse population of beneficial insects to help manage pests in the garden. Comprised of alyssum, bachelor button, borage, gem marigold, dill, fennel, Phacelia tanacetifolia or fiddleneck, caraway, parsley, golden marguerite, ajuga, basket of gold alyssum, and Rocky Mountain penstemon, this mix should be planted as a hedgerow close to the garden. Instead of resorting to toxic sprays, attract hover flies, ladybugs, lacewings, parasitic wasps, tachnids, spiders, minute pirate bugs, damsel flies and big-eyed bugs and let them devour the “bad” bugs! Something will be blooming from spring through fall. Plant in spring in full sun in a well-prepared weed-free seedbed. Should any variety become unavailable we will substitute one with similar efficacy. A big hit with our customers since its 2004 introduction.

Wells Tavern Farm Belted Galloway Beef is coming in a few weeks! Pre-order now.

No antibiotics, no medications, no grains, no creepy additives.  Just green pasture and natural hay… and lots and lots of fresh mineral rich deep well water.

When the vegetables become availabe, we will be making them available for sale. Look for signs and a stand this summer.