Who's your farmer?

As we start to hit the markets for the season, we'd like to resume our series on getting to know your Farm Girls. First up, here's a message from Will, our main egg guy, on his approach to the big, beautiful, mostly brown eggs his "ladies" produce. Will, his lovely wife Sarah, and their beautiful daughter raise chickens, pigs, and veggies (and a few horses) on 10 acres in Perry.


"We have a small flock of 80 chickens which consist of modern and heritage breed brown egg layers. All of our hens are free range and spend most of their time scratching for bugs. They do have free choice to a supplemental feed, which is free of antibiotics. Our goal is to raise our chickens in the most natural way we can. Which in turn lets us have the best product we can. Feel free to come check out the operation in Perry, AR. 3648 Hwy 9N."

oncoming

Here's a little sneak peak of some garden goodies to come this season:

baby dino kale plants coming up in our little greenhouse

texas super sweet onions taking root in the garden

Get Your Duck Eggs!

Waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. That’s what we did for 4 months. We thought they would never lay an egg. Perhaps they’re all male? Maybe they’re hiding the eggs? Maybe they’re unhappy? Of course, we thought it was something we were doing wrong, until one chilly pre-dawn morning, I crept, headlamp, coveralls, boots and all, into their nesting area and found not one, not two, but three golden eggs! Okay, they were actually white, but they were golden to us! Our girls were just young-- not unhappy, not undernourished, and certainly not males.

            When we rushed them inside to sample the new goodies and tapped one on the edge of the pan, nothing happened.  I gave it a few more good whacks, and finally got a crack thick enough to dig my finger in to pull the shell apart. Those are some tough shells. If you’ve tried our chicken eggs, you know those are tough to crack, but these will give you a workout! The reason they’re so tough is that the fresher an egg is, especially a duck egg, the thicker the inner membrane (that whitish part that sticks to the inside of the shell) is. Our ducks are also very healthy and happy, which strengthens the shell.

            But what do you do with a duck egg? Scrambled, sunny side up, over easy, over medium, over hard, poached, hard boiled, coddled, omleted, benedicted, merengued, etc. Anything you can do with a chicken egg, you can do with a duck egg. But wait, there’s more! Because of the higher albuminous protein content of a duck egg (bet you didn’t think you’d get a science lesson today!), they can take your baking to a whole new level. Literally. The extra protein offers more structure to your baked goods, creating a fluffier and loftier goody. From sweet to savory baked foods, duck eggs win hands down. How does a quiche (with Farm Girl jalapeno sausage), paired with a slice of homemade angel food cake sound tonight? Or custard. Or pound cake. Or cupcakes. The possibilities are endless.

Getting Published!

Our farm and our calendar is featured in the Democrat Gazette River Valley section today! I'll do my best to poach some of the photos for you, but in the mean time, read the article here: "What's new on the farm, girl?"

Season's Close

in the heat of the summer

by Katie

This Saturday at Argenta will be our last farmer's market until next season. The simple truth is the further into fall we get, the face-to-face markets are slower and slower and it becomes increasingly difficult to justify the time and energy we spend preparing to attend. I can't speak for all the other farm girls, but I really enjoy getting to meet and visit with our customers every week, even on those blistering hot August days, and I look forward to the hustle and bustle that spring will bring again. Worry not, we're in the process of listing everything on the Russellville, Conway, and Little Rock online farmer's markets, so if you haven't yet please check them out. 

Its a bittersweet time of year for us as the excitement of the spring and summer fade into the quiet, routine winter months. In some ways, I relish the winter. There's just so much more time close to home. Time to spend with my young family, time to bring our kitchen back to life after many hectic months, time for careful planning and the endless possibility it breathes into next season. Of course, this warmth of hearth and home is very sharply balanced by the bitter cold of life on the farm. I'm not looking forward to frozen hands that disobediently cramp during morning milkings, the endless unhooking-draining-reattaching of hoses to keep water running in the troughs, and itchy, prickly hay in all its many winter uses. Cheers to a season's close and to down-season full of warmth and joy. Thank you all for making our 2010 a resounding success.

For our final market we're offering a few great deals to help you stock you freezers for the coming months.

• $0.50 off eggs- now just $4.00/dozen
• All sausage by 2 get 1 free
• boneless hams 40% off, now $4.20/lb
• every purchase gets a free bumper sticker
  

Of course, I have to offer one more plug for our calendar. I know its not everyone's taste, but we all know someone who would enjoy it- so give a girl a hand and help us afford some much needed tractor implements. We've got a great plan for pig-friendly forages next year (peanuts, turnips, all sorts of luscious greens) now we need the tools to make it happen.

Market Day Meat Special

Incredible deal this week:
Happy Pastured Eggs $1 off 
normally $4.50/doz Now $3.50/doz
Saturday Oct 23 at CAFM Argenta

Also, Buy one get one 1/2 off ALL SAUSAGE!

Calendars are here!

The annual calendar is finally finished! We're so excited to present 13 months of beautiful Farm Girls in their natural habitat- on the farm. I think I can speak for all of us when I say this project is a labor of love. It takes many months to plan, shoot, edit, and finally assemble the whole thing. Many of you will notice the most striking departure from last year's calendar; the inclusion of our one "Farm Boy" Will. For those of you adamantly opposed to his appearance in the calendar, we put his one and only pictorial at the end as the January 2012 spokesman. For those in favor, feel free to flip ahead and check out those washboard abs. Will's not the only one who showed a little (well planned, fairly modest) skin. This year also highlights Farm Girl veterans Katie, MC, Lindsay, Amber, and Sarah and newcomer Ashley.

the cover

The calendar really started as a joke but its become a tradition that celebrates our "woman-ness" in a traditionally manly profession. While we take this project lightly, it does help us raise some serious funds for those infrastructure things we might not otherwise afford. Last year's effort helped our new farm truck become a reality (post coming soon) and this year we're eyeing some tractor implements to help with planting pig-specific forages. They're not too racy for work and fun for everyone, grandmas and younger brothers alike. They'll set you back $18 each and can be autographed if desired. Below are some of the places you can find one. Won't you give a girl a hand?

Where to buy:

• Right here, right now thru paypal (usps delivery in 7-10 days)  
• ASN online farmer's market
• Conway Locally Grown
• Russellville Locally Grown
• Certified Arkansas Farmer's Market, Saturday Oct. 23, 7a-12p
• UAMS Fall Farmer's Market, Wednesday Oct. 27, 6:30-9:30a