Spreading the Porky-Love

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.

Yesterday on the farm facebook page, I suggested an appetizer recipe using our maple syrup cured hickory smoked bacon, crackers and parmesan cheese. Simple and tasty. You can share your favorite app recipes there too — join in on the fun there for product updates and all kinds of things.

Tomorrow the day old Giant Cornish Cross chicks, and Kosher King chicks will ship from Pennsylvania, bound for Shelburne.  We then anticipate receiving them in the regular mail on Wednesday, or Thursday at the latest.  When we get them, they are immediately put into an already warmed (to 95 degrees) brooding area, with warm water (treated with electrolytes, extra vitamins and minerals — no medications!) and fed all- vegetarian, high protein starter feed (again, no medications).

With the United States Postal Service closing seven sorting centers in Massachusetts, officials are predicting that mail delivery will slow down by a day to four more.  I cannot imagine what that is going to do to the day-old poultry shipping costs, which are already extremely high for small orders like our order of 60 chicks.

It will probably result in increased costs for small farmers to bear in order to procure the chicks, and not impact the huge factory farmers much, as they have dedicated hatching facilities that hatch exclusively for them, and then tractor-trailer trcuk in thousands of birds at any given time.  Here is fair warning that the price of local eggs in 2012 will, I imagine, go up.