Emma's Family Farm late January News

Hi!
It seems as though We're always a bit later than we wish to be getting
this material to you. Why? Well, We think We're busy...

Busy doing What? This week, we've been trying to get ideas and
materials together for Our 2011 CSA program. Community Supported
Agriculture shares help farmers financially; You pay up front for
products You want and need so when our bills come due we can actually
pay them. We'll have more information available in our next Email
letter and we hope you'll share it with friends and family.

Its important to note here that our supply of chickens is rapidly
coming to an end. If You want pasture raised chickens, be warned: at
this writing we have less than 30 frying and roasting chickens, and
just a few heritage stewing, roasting or soup birds. When they are
gone, we will have no chicken available until May.

We recently processed a pig with a very large loin and this means that
you can order some especially large pork chops. These would be great
for stuffing or just about anything, their large size makes a
beautiful presentation on the serving platter.

Our bulk sweet sausage is ready for your spaghetti sauce or even for a
luncheon omelette or sandwich. It is packed in 1 pound packages and
we've found it to be a great addition to sauces and also soup.

We will be in Portland this Friday, Jan 28 and in Rockport on Saturday the 29.
For our Portland friends, we will be shifting our appearances to the
first and third Fridays of the months to come. We'll still be at 28
Monument Square at the usual times. We're at the Rockport Marketplace
each Saturday morning and we're excited about a special tasting event
happening there on Saturday February 12. Details will come in our next
Entry but save Saturday morning February 12 for special treats at the
Rockport Marketplace.

Here are a few interesting items available on the web. We hope You'll
enjoy items We'll select as the months go by. If you have something to
share, forward it along to us.

Francis Lam is writing a series in Salon about chicken that might
interest You and other folks.
This series will, apparently, run all of 2011 so keep your eye out.
When you use the links below, expect a video advertisement to come up
first , there's a button to close and go directly to the article if
you wish.
There is good information, bad information and interesting
philosophizing here but the best advice we can think of is to Know
Your Farmer. Remember, we encourage visitors; a call first will insure
that we'll be ready for you; we hope you'll accept our invitation to
visit Emma's Family Farm any time you're in the area or even wanting
to take a little Sunday drive.

•       A vow for 2011: No cheap chicken
It's not really about price, it's about valuing what we eat. Will you join me?
http://m1e.net/c?126268522-vxwozIYPfl/bs%406128828-siUHCf5hF2O76

What do "free-range," "natural," "organic," and other labels really
mean for chicken? http://m1e.net/c?126268522-rNQvBoVCoMZqw%406128829-pZh1JkRFqenbU


Stir Fry is a quick and easy meal. Ingredients can be substituted or
you can make up your own creations, easily! Here's a video from the
New York times using egg noodles and boneless chicken thighs; of
course we're recommending our stir fry or kabob pork, or perhaps, you
could cut up some top round beef steak. We have both items currently
available for sale but the stir fry pork is in very limited supply.

Once again, like so many videos and articles professionally produced
for the web, expect an ad to load first but once the ad finishes the
video begins automatically. We hope this helps you envision a tasty
stir fry meal.
How to Stir-Fry Noodles
http://m1e.net/c?126268522-TbpSS1VDhQ15Q%406128830-HVN5JlAGtsRXU

To order anything so we'll be ready for you at our markets, you can
call us, or Email us. An early order insures that the product you want
will be reserved specially for you.

Market hours on Fridays in Portland are from 11 until 4,
 In Rockport Saturdays from 9 until noon.

If you would forward this blog link to a friend and encourage them to subscribe We'd apreciate it. Thanks once again for reviewing our Email and supporting Our Farm. If
you have comments or questions please just comment below or give
us a call.

--
We welcome new mailing list subscribers and all of Your comments. You'll find a "subscribe" link below, and comments can be made here on the blog.

Rose, Steve and Helen Hoad
Emma's Family Farm
135 Windsor Neck Road
Windsor, Maine  04363
(207) 445-2141
  ***
To subscribe:
http://www.mailermailer.com/x?oid=1025201z

January: Emma's Family Farm News and Notes

Hi,
 Now that 2011 has settled in, we've got a bit of news to
share plus we're letting you know where we'll be marketing this month.

News Item 1: We have a very excited Rose here at the Farm. Earlier
this week, we closed a deal on a used tractor. We'll have it here
before February ends assuming all is well and that will make a number
of jobs easier as well as giving us opportunities to accomplish things
that only equipment can do in a timely manner. Bet it won't be long
before Rose posts a picture of that tractor on FaceBook!

News Item 2. As we plan for the coming year's activities here, we are
very unsure about chicken processing options. It is our goal to build
some sort of processing plant and we would prefer to build one that
many farmers could use. How we'll find monies continues to be the
question and we now believe we're going to have to take some interim
step for at least this coming year. We really want to raise poultry so
a processing option is a must; it seems likely that the processor
we've been a cooperating member of will not be operating in the same
fashion in 2011.

News Item 3. Last Saturday, we began to market our products at State
of Maine Cheese aka Rockport Marketplace. We're there from 9 until
noon each Saturday so if you're in the area we hope you'll stop by.
Cathe always has great Maine products in the store and she opens up
space for a few vendors each Saturday so we're bringing our products
and having fun too. Other vendors have fruit, pies and greens at the
Rockport Marketplace, inside, right on Route 1. For an idea of what's
available in the store you can see
http://www.cheese-me.com/rockportmarketplace.html

We will be at the Public Market House tomorrow, Jan. 14 and Friday Jan. 28 from
approximately 11 AM to 4 PM. Approximately is a good word because we
never quite know if we'll find traffic problems along the way.

 Barrels in Waterville continues to carry some of our products, Good
Tern and Sweets and Meats in Rockland carry our chickens; you can ask
for them if you don't see them. We've also recently had chickens
delivered to Misty Meadow Farm Store in Grand Isle so people in that
part of The County are tasting chicken goodness from our Farm.

Most times, if you'd like to purchase directly from the Farm, someone
is here to serve you but this is a reminder to call first. We're
currently selling pork: roasts, chops, sausage, stir fry or kabob,
country style and spare ribs.
We also can sell you a half or whole pig, custom cut as you prefer.

Beef is grass fed angus: we have various steaks and hamburger.

Chickens are whole birds ranging from just under 3 pounds to just over
5 pounds. Be forewarned though, our inventory of chickens is
diminishing and when they're gone it probably won't be until late May
that we can have more.

The hens are always laying fresh eggs and we have some Russian red
garlic as well.

Thanks for reading, hope your 2011 has started off reasonably well and
we hope to see you soon.