Held at Gill Elementary School on Boyle Road.

On Saturday, January 14th from 10-1 pm

Featuring: vegetables, greens, squashes, potatoes, storage crops, cheeses, eggs, honey, pork (WELLS TAVERN FARM PORK!), and more!

Sponsored by the Gill Agricultural Commission

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Meanwhile it seems as if we have been a very long time without countable numbers of chicken eggs.  Well, in fact we have.  We have a pen brimming with Australorp hens just on the cusp of laying right now.  When they do come into laying next month, we will be producing about 30 eggs a day.  That will be a nice change from the one egg a day that we are getting from our nine elderly Buff Orpingtons and one younger (the only one laying) chicken.

These Australorps are a great breed.  We have raised them in the past, and think that they are just wonderful.  They are extremely quiet tempered and docile, a good egg layer, and a dual purpose (eggs and meat) bird.  Wikipedia and other sources say “They are also known to be good nest sitters and mothers, making them one of the most exceptional large, heritage utility breeds of chicken.”

Been to our facebook page and “liked” us yet?  I publish recipes, tips, pics, and new information more quickly and often there than here on the blog.  And, I get to see some familiar faces in there each day: from customers of Thanksgiving Turkeys to farmer’s market customers, to fellow farmers — it’s nice to see you all again!

Speaking of turkey – if you think that you will want a custom raised pastured turkey this year, it is time, NOW, to reserve. [If you click "reserve" you will be taken to the form on our website]

There are lots of ways to get in touch with us on the farm: email through our website contact form, facebook, phone, well-trained-carrier pigeon…

Wells Tavern Farm has all kinds of porky-goodness in stock –perfect for your 2012 New Years’ resolution to eat locally sourced, humane meats that taste really, really good.  Call or email for information about possible free delivery, and more.

Heritage Pastured Pork (price/lb) Loin Chops 7.70, Rib Chops 7.50, Shoulder Chops 6.75, Country Ribs 7.50, Ground Pork 6.50, Sweet Italian Sausage Ground 8., Hot Italian Sausage Ground 8., Breakfast Sausage Ground (almost gone) 8., Fresh Polish Kielbasa Coil 9., Garlic Parmesan Sausage Links 9., Maple Syrup Cured Hickory Smoked Bacon 8., Maple Syrup Cured Hickory Smoked Ham Steaks 8. AND Roasting Chicken price/lb *Reserve now for February 2012* (average weight 5 lbs) Whole bird 4.50/lb.

You should mark your calendar for next Saturday, 10-1… we’ll be at a Farmer’s Market in Gill.  See our Facebook page for more information. You haven’t liked us yet on Facebook?  Tut. Tut. 

Seeking Photographer’s Lens… wait! There I Am~!

This is a picture of the “offending” family group — getting a quick snack inside their enclosure.  The sow and her six piglets are all very healthy and seem to like 2012. I need to get a step stool or grow more in order to get the bucket high enough to clear the fence and dump the grain without spilling it… but I am getting better!

Remember that if you are interested in a pasture raised, antibiotic-free Wells Tavern Farm Turkey in 2012, you need to sign up NOW.  The form for that reservation can be foung at our website, www.wellstavernfarm.com   We are anticipating whole birds will cost $4.50 a pound.

And, if you are interested in whole roasting chickens, they should be again available in late February, just about the time that we have goat meat and some lamb in stock for a limited time.  Meanwhile, we have all kinds of porky-goodness in stock and ready to go — call or email for information.

Heritage Pastured Pork  price/lb Loin Chops  7.70, Rib Chops  7.50, Shoulder Chops 6.75, Country Ribs  7.50, Ground Pork  6.50, Sweet Italian Sausage Ground 8., Hot Italian Sausage Ground 8., Breakfast Sausage Ground (almost gone) 8., Fresh Polish Kielbasa Coil 9., Garlic Parmesan Sausage Links 9.,   Maple Syrup Cured Hickory Smoked Bacon 8.,   Maple Syrup Cured Hickory Smoked Ham Steaks 8.  AND  Roasting Chicken price/lb *Reserve now for February 2012* (average weight 5 lbs)    Whole bird 4.50/lb.

fresh or smoked heritage breed pastured pork

Last week we were pleased to spread more of the porky-love with old customers from Amherst, Greenfield and Conway and to a new customer from Longmeadow.  And we learned of another fabulous dinner made from our products – this time the dinner consisted of: “Roasted pork loin, red onion and parsnips glazed with orange marmalade, honey and rosemary, apple cider, vinegar and honey braised red cabbage, fresh roasted buttercup squash and buttered egg noodles with parsley.” That dinner menu came from a long-time Brookline customer who also says that there will soon be a lentil recipe with fresh Wells Tavern Farm kielbasa being served, I hear.

All that said, I have put off planting the three pounds of garlic that I procured, until today.  It just really can’t wait much longer. If one “researches” how to plant garlic properly on the internet, there are websites that say to plant it an inch deep, other websites that say to plant it four inches deep, and some say any number of things in between.  Who knows how deep we actually ended up planting the hundred or so cloves we planted, as there were so many rocks in the plot we planted, we ended up with meandering rows, picking at least a hundred pounds of rocks, and leaving the really heavy ones where they were.  When my back began really, really hurting, I called it a day, and Myles and I vowed to continue planting the remaining eighty or hundred cloves another day.

What if the majority of them actually come up?  Well, it is far easier to imagine a world where they don’t.  It could be too damp or cold or warm a winter. On the other hand, they do have plenty of manure and beautiful soil to try to flourish in.  Oh, to be burdened by a world of too much garlic.  I am not sure that could happen.  We’ll have to get to planting the rest of the cloves, and then wait and see.

For a farm update: All of the animals are doing well, and are happy.  The sheep are still stubbornly trying to graze a little bit each day, even though we feed them beautiful local second cutting hay. The Jersey milking cows are still milking, and are confirmed pregnant – between five months and three months, each – though they may be slightly further along in their gestation, and it is always better to figure on err on an earlier date than to be caught off guard with a “surprise” calf in a stall or pasture. The piglets are venturing outside of their home, exploring the outdoors and demonstrating their independence. We discovered that the goats have managed to either kill or seriously maim a historic dark purple lilac that used to have bark from the ground up to about five feet high.  The geese are happy and healthy. And the pullets are maturing nicely — they should be ready to lay in February. Meat chickens are scheduled to arrive next week.

We loved seeing neighbors, meeting new friends and old, from Shelburne, at the Autumn Market held yesterday in Shelburne Falls. Our Maple Syrup Cured Hickory Smoked Heritage Breed Bacon flew out of the freezer so fast that I had to make an emergency restocking trip home (all of four and a half miles) to get more, halfway through the afternoon!

The good news is that we still have Maple Syrup Cured Hickory Smoked Ham Steaks, more of the Maple Syrup Cured Hickory Smoked Bacon, more Fresh Kielbasa, more Garlic Parmesan Sausage, and Sweet Italian bulk sausage, and chops… you get the idea.

If you need a refill, just give us a phone call or send me an email, and we’ll make arrangements to get the product to you.  [carrie(ampersat aka "at sign")wellstavernfarm.com]

After many conversations about freezing waterers, the cost of electricity to run heat lamps to keep healthy, happy and warm chicks, and many other down and dirty farmer topics, we have decided to raise meat birds through the winter this year, and have 60 day old chicks (total) scheduled to arrive the first week of December!

I ordered our favorites: 35 of the White Cornish (Rock) Giant Gray Meat Bird: An alternative to the fast growing white broilers. These are extremely hardy birds–not a hybrid – which finishes out exceptionally well. Large drumsticks & thighs, and the birds are covered with white feathering and have yellow feet. And I ordered 25 of the Kosher Kings for a customer who likes the darker meat that they produce. This type of bird was developed for a heavier meatier bird with lots of stamina. Very popular with ethnic markets & growers for color & tasty meat qualities. Feathering resembles a Barred Rock; a large body size and yellow feet.

So, if all goes to schedule, we should have roasting chicken back in stock by mid-February.  Also by mid-February, 2012 Turkey reservations will be closing.  Please see our website at www.wellstavernfarm.com for the details.

With thanks to Mary Schjeldahl

1 ½ pounds bread cut into ½ inch cubes (about 12 cups)

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

½ pound bulk pork sausage – sweet or hot or combination (Wells Tavern Farm)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium onion, small diced

2 stalks celery, small diced

Kosher salt and black pepper

3 tablespoons minced fresh sage leaves

1 ½ cups chicken broth

Dry bread cubes on a baking sheet in a 250 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Transfer to large bowl.

Heat oil in skillet to medium-high. Add sausage and cook, breaking sausage into small pieces, until browned – 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate. Reheat skillet and add butter, onion, celery, 4 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper. Cook until onions soften and brown slightly. Stir in sage and cook about 1 minute. Add vegetable mixture and sausage to bowl with dried bread. Add broth and toss until evenly moistened. Use more broth if bread seems dry.

Put stuffing into covered casserole dish and bake in a 325 degree oven for 45 minutes, until heated through.

In saying that, I know that our neighbors will hate me for saying that — some of them have been without power or heat for days, and aren’t expected to get any services back for days.

The animals were unaffected by the snow: our three week old piglets and their mom and dad are weathering the cold blast just great!  They snuggle in together in their straw filled house when it gets chilly, and during the day, the sow and boar sun themselves in the pasture and graze on organic Cortland apples.

On my birthday last week, I acquired three sheep to add to our flock, with many, many thanks to Emmy and Puja for parting with them!  We added Midnight, another large black Romney, Gigi a full-grown white Romney (who is accustomed to easy lambings with twins, I understand) and we also invested in a Shropshire named Nibbles.  We have grown our sheep flock from two a year ago, to nine, beautiful, healthy retired show sheep,  or now, bred on our own farm sheep.

The yearling beefers finally got rounded up and brought into the barn for the winter, joining the milking Jersey’s who stay in  for the coldest weather, but do visit the outside for a few hours each day, if the weather is mild enough.

Coming back to the weather issue: if anybody wants to get any easy to cook and enjoy grass-finished hamburgers, or any of our pork products: five types of sausage, maple syrup cured hickory smoked bacon, maple suryp cured hickory smoked ham steaks, chops, or anything else, feel free to give us a phone call at 413. 834. three-six-one-one.  For the pricelist, click here.

And finally, if you are looking for some inspiration about eating locally, including Wells Tavern Farm Ham, check out this article that was published in Lancaster Farming:

Lancaster Farming

Think of a typice farmer’s day moving compost with the tractor and cleaning pens, but then add in Nielsen ratings like those of the NFL’s Superbowl or MLB’s World Series. That would be fun. What would we learn? Why would someone watch the humble farmer perform everyday tasks? Because that is how some types of farming knowledge is handed down through the generations. That is the only way some facets of the information is passed down: through hands-on learning, by watching and doing. Manure and its management could be, and probably is, an entire course if taught at the college level. I don’t know because I was an American History major in college, and took extra classes in Latin and Land Use and Ecology. But I do know that I have been dealing with manure for nearly forty years, and it is great for the pasture, it is fabulous when composted, and it is almost unbearably heavy to move “by hand” (shovel full) when fresh and wet.

If you were to install a farmer-cam at your local farm, what might you see that was similar to moves that sports players exhibit on the field?
Why, you’d see: scratching, spitting and throwing, of course! But the things that would be scratched, spat and thrown would not be those things that invariably end up on television. Nope. I’m talking about patting and scratching behind the ears on our pastured pigs, sheep and goats. Spiiting out the end of a piece of hay, as we farmer’s often grab a piece and chew on it, to see how the sweet the grass tastes to the animals. And the throwing on a farm refers to the putting away of baled hay — forty pounds each that our animals eat throughout the winter months.

Yes, there can be farming superstars, who sport names such as Joel Salatin, The Fabulous Beekman Boys, Thomas Jefferson, Jimmy Doherty, Neiman Ranch, Creekstone Farms, etc. Each of those people or organizations have instant recognition and status above and beyond that of your neighborhood farm and farmer. Like a team sport, farming, has many players on the field at any given time. And some of them are superstars. The rest of us play steadily day in and day out — backfield positions or right fielders in the sports analogy. During game-play, farmers, like many sports players, must execute both offense and defense. Farmers experience periods of relative calm, when a day can be planned and performed exactly as planned. And then there are days when all of our actions are made simply to not lose ground on a specific task that we had been working on. There have been days when we have had to catch the goats four times, and put them back in pasture, scolding them each time, as we were desperately trying to get out of the yard to pick up our sons at school on time… which was futile that day.

Perhaps farming has more in common with the rich and famous than I thought it did! But then again, I guess that both groups eat, and at life’s most basic level, we all know what good food is all about.

Speaking of good food, we have quite a lot of fabulous food in our freezer just waiting for you! Just give us a call or send me an email, and we’ll arrange to deliver it, or you can come by and pick out something great for your breakfast, lunch or dinner. For Pork from our heritage breed pastured pigs, we have everything from breakfast sausage, and Maple Syrup Cured Hickory Smoked Bacon, to Maple Syrup Cured Hickory Smoked Ham Steaks, to thick Pork Chops, Garlic Parmesan Linked Sausage, and Kielbasa. And then for night’s when you are just running too fast and can’t think of anything else to put in front of the family, we have one pound packages of (four) Hamburger patties, from our Normande breed grass-finished beef. These are perfect for having on-hand, as they are already pre-formed into patties, and separated by butcher paper in their specially sealed freezer wrap — very easy to use just one or two, without thawing the whole package, and then pop the rest into a new bag for popping back into the freezer. And they are just $5.75 a pound. Stock up before they are gone.