Eggs
We have lots of chickens running around the farm, totally free-ranging and they lay eggs all over the farm, so each day is an adventure to find the eggs they have hidden. Can't blame them, I'm selling their future babies !
Made a new EGGS sign for down by the road and sometimes have guinea, duck and goose eggs for sale. Take it down when laying is low in early Winter so as not to have new customers come a-looking for eggs. Ration our existing customers, with our herd-share owners getting 2nd choice after our own needs, then the regular egg customers.
Made a new EGGS sign for down by the road and sometimes have guinea, duck and goose eggs for sale. Take it down when laying is low in early Winter so as not to have new customers come a-looking for eggs. Ration our existing customers, with our herd-share owners getting 2nd choice after our own needs, then the regular egg customers.
Grass-fed beef - we have beef for sale :)
We have grass-fed beef, both Scottish Highland, sold by the whole, half or quarter (half of a half so you get a better selection of the cuts) or by the cut, and / or Jersey, with the meat having been processed either at Jones' or Pickney Hills, both here in Saranac. Please contact me for pricing and availability.
We don't inject our animals with anything, use aromatherapy and home remedies when they need it, they only get a little grain as a bribe to move them to a different pasture (or into the trailer) and they are out on pasture year round, although fed hay in Winter. The Scottish Highland beef is priced below grocery store grass-fed beef pricing, while the meat is far superior. Just need to remember to tell customers to cook it like venison, steaks at higher temp for shorter period of time, roasts at lower heat with some liquid, as there is very little fat. Scottish Highlands' have thick leather and wooly hair to keep warm instead of fat, and their meat has 40% less fat and cholesterol than regular grocery store meat. Also, it is not grain finished, so the flavour is in the actual meat, not the fat. I've had rave reviews from current customers.
We don't inject our animals with anything, use aromatherapy and home remedies when they need it, they only get a little grain as a bribe to move them to a different pasture (or into the trailer) and they are out on pasture year round, although fed hay in Winter. The Scottish Highland beef is priced below grocery store grass-fed beef pricing, while the meat is far superior. Just need to remember to tell customers to cook it like venison, steaks at higher temp for shorter period of time, roasts at lower heat with some liquid, as there is very little fat. Scottish Highlands' have thick leather and wooly hair to keep warm instead of fat, and their meat has 40% less fat and cholesterol than regular grocery store meat. Also, it is not grain finished, so the flavour is in the actual meat, not the fat. I've had rave reviews from current customers.
Mutton (or lamb as it is know here in America)
We also have delicious grass-fed lamb for sale, also as whole, half, quarter or by the cut. Although lamb is more expensive than beef, we are still cheaper than the local grocery stores, so contact us if you are interested.
Dairy herd-shares
We have pure-bred Jersey cows, currently in milk, so are offering a limited amount of herd-shares so that others may share the raw by-products, like milk and manure. Contact us if you are interested in joining this lucky group. I've often seen the top third of the milk bottles being pure cream. We do not pasturize our milk, and it is against Michigan law to sell raw milk for human consumption, but it is perfectly legal to sell herd-shares. I've shown others how I make rich, yellow butter, creamy feta cheese, and my yoghurt is the yummiest, thickest Herbie has ever had, with the cream included, often flavoured with honey and vanilla, or fruit, oy vey !
Free-range chickens
Have assorted chickens, mainly the Heritage Buff Brahmas, the girls lay large brown eggs, the boys taste delicious. We have a chicken plucker and process them here on the farm.
Produce and Fruit
We have started a strawberry patch, have around 100 old apple trees on the farm (which desperately need pruning) 3 pear trees, 5 mulberry trees, a butternut tree (still trying to see if we get nuts or not) and planted 2 cherry trees and an apricot tree in 2011, as well as 10 grape vines, 7 blueberry bushes, including a pink blueberry bush, and an elderberry bush.
Spring 2013 planted another 2 cherries, 2 pears, 2 peaches, 3 plums, 5 osage orange bushes and 10 hazelnut trees. Grow little saplings, grow !
We have hundreds of wild black raspberry bushes, some blackberry bushes, and a lot of wild grapes as well, the 2nd attempt at asparagus is growing well - the geese destroyed the first dozen plants I bought. Another 25 asparagus still to be planted and rhubarb. Our vegetable garden is an acre, which is huge. Plan on having 1/2 for various grains, including kamut, millet, amaranth, buckwheat and 1/2 for vegetables.
Spring 2013 planted another 2 cherries, 2 pears, 2 peaches, 3 plums, 5 osage orange bushes and 10 hazelnut trees. Grow little saplings, grow !
We have hundreds of wild black raspberry bushes, some blackberry bushes, and a lot of wild grapes as well, the 2nd attempt at asparagus is growing well - the geese destroyed the first dozen plants I bought. Another 25 asparagus still to be planted and rhubarb. Our vegetable garden is an acre, which is huge. Plan on having 1/2 for various grains, including kamut, millet, amaranth, buckwheat and 1/2 for vegetables.
Bees and Honey
We only have 2 active hives on the farm, although I have yet to harvest any honey. We lost all 5 of our hives in the Winter of 2013, so these are replacement bees from mid-2014. I planted lavender bushes so that we get have a hint of lavender in their honey, and the bees are out in the alfalfa and clover in Summer after pollinating the fruit trees in Spring.
We are now the proud owners of a honey extractor and heated uncapping knife, so maybe there will be honey sooner rather than later.
We are now the proud owners of a honey extractor and heated uncapping knife, so maybe there will be honey sooner rather than later.
Soap
Not made any yet, but have all the recipes, equipment and ingredients to make creamy milk and honey soap from the farm. Watch this space !
Fibre and Wool
It was my intention to make some incredibly warm, light underwear from the alpaca fibre last Winter, but then Winter 2011 was not really Winter at all. I have a spinning wheel which I will still learn how to work, and 3 bags of alpaca fibre, and now one Icelandic sheep fleece, all washed and picked over, just waiting for me to card, and then spin. One of these days
Herbs
We grow various herbs, for culinary, medicinal and beauty purposes. Basil for pesto, and to keep the mozzies away, tarragon for chicken, fish, tarter and bearnaise sauces, and for mustard, sage, only because I planted some and it is flourishing, I think it is a so-so herb, just tastes like green stuff to me although is is pretty growing, garlic chives, which the chickens seem to love, marjoram, for Italian tomato based dishes as well as to keep ticks and parasites off the sheep. Unfortunately I haven't been successful with keeping a rosemary bush alive through a Michigan Winter yet, have lost 4 so far, and they really don't flourish inside.