eggs » Stories from the Farm

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

baking, bread, eggs, family, recipes, vegetables 1 Response »

Sep 042012

I am not much for chaos. I know, four children right! Add to that not being the ideal morning person and well, sometimes there needs to be a backup plan from the very get-go.

When I know mornings are certain to be hectic, such as the first week of school, I like to bake a batch or two of muffins Sunday afternoon. Because these are sure to be breakfast on the go, I like the large double-size muffins that can be individually wrapped in sandwich bags. That way I can keep a basket full right on the kitchen table.

Since zucchini is still in season here, I decided on Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins, a favorite of the kids. As fall approaches I’ll make Banana Nut, Apple Cinnamon, and Pumpkin Spice Muffins too.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

: Janet Childs

Ingredients

1½ cup flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 cup finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
½ cup cooking oil
½ cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium size bowl stir together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
In a larger bowl beat together the sugar, shredded zucchini, vanilla, and egg. Add oil, mix well. Stir flour mixture into zucchini mixture, half at a time.
Gently fold in chocolate chips. Mix well.
Spoon batter into well greased muffin tin. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. (It’s hard to judge these by color.)
Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 15 minutes.
Remove from pan and cool thoroughly on a rack. Place each muffin into individual sandwich bags.
Makes 6 large or 12 small muffins.

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Perfect French Toast

breakfast, eggs, family, recipes No Responses »

Aug 032012

I can only imagine how many thousands of pancakes, waffles, and French toast Corey and I have made in the past twenty five years. With four kids, family breakfasts and quick-n-easy dinners revolved around these stables.

Corey is Breakfast King when it comes to the syrupy dishes. Me, I prefer bacon and eggs. However, when Corey is gone and the kids are craving sugar and starch, I can be persuaded into fix French Toast. Don’t tell Corey, but the kids will unanimously admit that my French Toast is the best, at least that is what they assure me when begging for this favorite dish.

Perfect French Toast

2 fresh eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (plus more)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
8 slices bread

In a medium size bowl (I prefer flat and wide) beat eggs. Add milk, cinnamon, and vanilla. Wisk until eggs are thoroughly incorporated.

Meanwhile, heat large skillet over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray.

Working with one slice of bread at a time, place bread into egg/milk mixture wait 5 seconds. Flip bread over and coat other side in egg/milk mixture, waiting 5 seconds. Add additional cinnamon as necessary.

Place bread into hot pan. Cook until lightly brown on both sides.

Serve with maple syrup or powdered sugar.

Note: For the absolutely best French Toast use thick sliced stale or lightly toasted bread.

Breakfast BLT

breakfast, cooking, eggs, family, farm life, recipes No Responses »

Jul 282012

Hardy breakfasts have always been a tradition in my family. Everyday my uncles got up early to go to the barn to milk cows. Sunrise was mid-morning to these boys! Their day began while it was still dark, rolling out of bed at 4:00 am. For the record, I am definitely not a morning person. Talking to me before my first cup of coffee should be done at one’s own risk. And I am not the only slug in the family.

Three of my uncles split the milking schedule so that two always milked in the morning and two always milked in the afternoon. The other uncle was in charge of field work. He got plenty of help when needed, but plowing, planting, and harvesting was his domain. Dad once told me a story of Grandad trying to get “field worker” uncle up in the morning to milk cows. After his third warning Grandad sent him to the barn in his underwear. Believable? Yes. This totally sounds like my family. Me? I preferred doing my chores once the sun was happily up to greet me (and I was fully dressed). However, my uncles and I never did agree on what time that was.

Once the morning milking was done and bottle calves fed, everyone would head to Grandma Hazel’s house for breakfast. And although cereal might be a great evening snack for this crowd, breakfast always meant plenty of eggs, bacon, and sausage… oh yes, and fresh milk!

Breakfast BLT

1/2 pound bacon
4 fresh eggs
1 large tomato
1/2 cup lettuce
8 slices of bread (4 slices for open faced sandwiches)

Place bacon in large pan over medium heat. Turning every 2-3 minutes. Once bacon is done to your preference, remove from pan and place on paper towel on plate to absorb excess fat. Keep in mind that bacon will continue to cook after being removed from heat.

Meanwhile, slice tomato and wash lettuce.

Using a clean pan, add 2 tablespoons of bacon grease and heat over medium heat. Once hot, gently add eggs to pan being careful that they have enough room and do not touch. Fry only two at a time if necessary. For sunny side up, fry eggs until white is completely cooked and no longer clear. If you prefer firm yokes, carefully turn egg and continue cooking.

Once eggs are done, assemble sandwiches.

Dad (second from left) and my Uncles, 1959

Easy to Peel Fresh Eggs for Making Deviled Eggs

chickens, eggs, recipes, side dishes 2 Responses »

Jul 202012

With so much of Corey’s family within a five mile radius I have had the privilege of hearing quite a few stories about Corey’s great-grandmother, affectionately known as Mama Childs. She was a true farmer’s wife, canning in the summer, being known for the best applesauce cake in five counties, and raising backyard chickens. What I wouldn’t do for a chicken coop like the one she had.

It was gorgeous even from a distance. It was painted a beautiful dark green color to blend in with her gardens and circular with one door. I never saw it up close, but I would guess that it was at least twelve feet across. Every morning she would let her proud brood out and every evening back in they would go. Corey remembers more than once helping her chase a new chicken out of her garden and back to the coop for the night. I never met Mama Childs, but I know I would have loved her company. Anyone who is famous for talking to her chickens is all right by me.

Fun Chicken Facts

Chickens are omnivores. They’ll eat seeds and insects but also larger prey, like small mice and lizards.

There is no distinct difference in the taste between brown eggs and white eggs. What makes a difference is diet. Pasture raised chickens have darker, richer yokes due to the diversity in what they eat.

A top producing commercial hen can lay over 300 eggs per year. Most of the heritage breeds of chickens here on our farm lay somewhere between 220-280 eggs each year.

The record for egg laying was set in the 1920’s when a hen laid 364 eggs in 365 days.

One of the downsides to fresh eggs is that they are notorious for being hard to peal. Solution? Try steaming them.

Deviled Egg Recipe

6 eggs
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
¼ teaspoon of vinegar
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar

Begin by placing your eggs in a vegetable steamer set over water. Be sure to give them plenty of elbow room. Steam for 10 minutes covered. Remove from heat and run cold water over eggs to cool quickly.

Once eggs are cooled completely, peel. Using a sharp knife cut eggs in half lengthwise. Put cooked egg yolks into a medium bowl, while putting egg whites carefully on a tray or plate.

Using a fork, mash egg yolks until they resemble a fine crumble. Add mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, salt, and sugar. Mix well.

Spoon the egg yolk mixture into egg whites. Sprinkle with paprika. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Meat. What’s in Season?

beef, broilers, chicken, eggs, farm life, farming, goat, lamb, meat, pork, veal No Responses »

Jul 142012

There are times when new customers approach us at the farmers market and get frustrated when we don’t have a specific type of meat that they are looking for. Pointing to our canvas sign above the coolers, they remind us that we advertise lamb, goat, beef, pork, and poultry. So where is the {fill in the blank}? Often they totally overlook the word seasonal that precedes our offerings.

We don’t blame them, as most Americans never consider their meat supply as seasonal. Between different climates found in the US, imported meat, the ability to harvest meat within a window of time (think weeks/months vs. hours/days for vegetables), and that wonderful invention we call a freezer we are spoiled. But if you are someone who appreciates local food, it’s time to take a look behind the scenes.

LAMB

Sheep are wonderful creatures and our favorite livestock here on the farm. As in most places, our sheep naturally lamb in the spring. The spring lamb you eat isn’t really referring to the time it was harvested but when it was born. We have a huge demand for Easter lamb, and, well, that poses a slight problem. Seldom do we have lambs ready by April or May. The bulk of our lambs are born in January and February and most are harvested at 7 to 9 months. That puts them market ready in September, long after Easter. We have been able to meet the needs of our customers by having a few of our lambs born in the fall. But that is not an easy task. Sheep breed based on hours of daylight. And try as we may, most like to {snuggle} with the ram between August and November. Picky aren’t they!

GOAT

Goats are a mystery to us most days. There is not a fence that can keep them in (ask Grandma and she’ll point to her garden). We also have a terrible time getting them to breed on our time schedule. Like sheep they are very sensitive to daylight. Several years back an old farmer told us that goats only breed in months with an “R.” Even after confiscating all their daytimers and removing all calendars from the barn — no success. Kidding aside, they definitely have their own schedule and yes, it appears they only breed in months with an “R.” So if they breed in September and October, kid in February and March, we have goat meat available in the fall. Because our herd is relatively small, we haven’t tried lengthening our breeding season into March and April yet.

PORK

We have tried our hand at breeding pigs. We choose two beautiful sows that the kids showed one year. They were calm, easy going, would walk anywhere you wanted them to go. Then they farrowed. And instantly they turned into kill-you-if-they-could beasts. Mean didn’t begin to describe them. With little kids around, we quickly got back out of the pig business. Now we purchase a group of weaned piglets each spring and fall to raise. Traditionally pork is harvested in the fall when farmers came together as a community for harvesting. The men would scald, hang, and cut up the pork. The women would make sausage, scrapple, and organ meats. It was a flurry of activity. The weather was cool enough to smoke hams and bacon, and it wasn’t so blistering hot over the boiling kettles. Pigs will actually breed any time of year. Our decision for mostly spring born pigs is for two reasons. Our kids like showing market hogs at the county fair in late August. And Farmer (Corey’s Dad) still likes to take an occasional pig to the old timers pig harvest.

BEEF

Finally, here is an animal that is eager to please. Cows breed year round and thus should be able to supply us with beef year round. Like most farmers in Virginia we run a cow/calf operation. Meaning we have a herd of mature cows that calve each year. We then sell the weaned calves as our income source. Ideally calves are all born at the same time so that weaning can be done all at once providing us with a uniform a group to market (uniform equates to higher market prices). Although we do not mind calving the herd in smaller groups throughout the year, there is a snag. Grass is most abundant during the spring. Momma cows eat a lot of grass — a must to produce the milk needed to feed their young calves. Spring is the best time to provide enough green, lush grass for milking cows in a pasture raised system. So it is much cheaper and more efficient to calve in the spring. Our calves are harvested at 18 months, thus giving us our best supplies in the fall.

POULTRY

Most breeds of chickens lay eggs year round. Yeah! Now there is a protein source twelve months a year. They definite drop off in production during the winter months, daylight being the culprit, but they do lay eggs in the winter. Eggs can be incubated year round. Chicks can be born year round. Broilers can be raised year round. The only down side is that there isn’t sustainable pasture in the winter months and they must be supplemented with additional feed. Also cold, drafty, damp weather can be stressful if they are not properly protected. So when you stop by our farm stand and all we have are chicken and eggs, you now know why.

It is the cycle of life, as most species birth in the spring when natural feed sources are most abundant. As producers we try to control our meat supplies the best we can. But part of subscribing to sustainable agriculture is being able to except what nature does best on its own. So the next time you are enjoying summer grown tomatoes or corn on the cob, we hope you will now add meat to the “seasonal” category too.

Each of us associates particular foods with certain times of the year. I love spicy sausage links fresh from the butcher with sauerkraut and creamy potato soup on the first chilly day in autumn. What is your favorite seasonal meat dish?

Hatching Eggs… Again!

chickens, eggs, farming, sustainability No Responses »

Jul 112012

The chickens here on the farm are definitely a Mom project. Yes, everyone helps with feeding, watering, and collecting eggs, but I am the one who can sit for hours reading Backyard Poultry magazine or surfing the internet for pictures of chicken tractors. So when we decided to look at making our chicken enterprise more sustainable, I was all over it. I spent hours choosing breeds that would fit our production needs and more hours finding breeders with bloodlines that mirrored our own goals.

For the past ten years, every spring I would pour over the hatchery catalogs, placing my order for pullets (young female birds). Two questions I chose to ignore: First, how close where the chicks I was buying to the original heritage breeds? Think about it. Hatcheries are interested in selling chicks which translates into hens that lay the most eggs. Good when it comes to egg production, but what about other traits, where they being lost? And more importantly what happens to all those male chicks? I didn’t really *want* to think too hard on that question.

So was this sustainable? If our economy as we now know it drastically changed, could I continue raising chickens on the farm without help from outside my local community? Hmm… I didn’t own a rooster and many of my chickens where hybrids at best. Yep, it was time to establish our own breeding flocks.

I set our very first hatching eggs in our brand new incubator (the Hova Bator 1588 Genesis) in early December. Since then I have done twelve batches of eggs, expanded to an incubator and designated hatcher set-up, and purchased the very best eggs I could find from Vermont to Florida, Pennsylvania to British Columbia, Canada. I have hatched out Coronation Sussex, Light Sussex, Rhode Island Reds, New Hampshires, Black & Lavender Ameraucanas, and French Black Copper Marans.

So how’s it going? Let’s see. I have had hatching rates as good as 88% and as dismal as 0% (you read that right, zero%!). Overall my hatch rates run between 55-65%. And it’s a good year for the rooster as roughly 68% of the chicks born have been males. Not exactly what I was hoping for.

As expected, it was definitely cheaper and easier to order my spring chicks from hatcheries. Establishing a quality breeding flock has been a bit tougher than I expected, like taking the long and winding road to an anxious-to-get-there destination. But there is something exciting (borderline addicting) about placing fertile eggs in an incubator and 21 days later having a brood of baby chicks.

Welsummer Hen

So I am back at it again — 19 eggs due to hatch July 21^st and 18 more due July 24^th. Both of these batches will be Welsummer chicks, a beautiful breed known for their dark speckled eggs.

There are still a few breeds and breeders out there on my purchasing list. Unfortunately with the heat of summer fast upon us, they are going to need to wait until next year. But with any luck, next year I will be hatching out our very own eggs. The next step, finding a broody hen to take over the chore of incubating!

A Bounty of Colorful Eggs

chickens, eggs, farm markets No Responses »

Nov 282010

Over the past couple of months the percentages of brown, white, and green eggs that we sell weekly has slowly been changing. For you curious foodies, we thought we’d explain why.

Choosing Our Flock

When developing our laying flock, we looked for several things in the hens we chose. First, we wanted to concentrate on heritage breeds and those that were known to be good foragers. Next, we focused on egg production, egg color and size. Even though they are on pasture most of the year, the girls still need to earn their stay. Hardiness was our next consideration. We looked for a balance of winter and summer hardy birds as well as winter and summer layers; the more categories they fell into the higher they were on the list.

Although the above characteristics where our top priority, bonus traits included friendly, easy going dispositions, below average flying ability (Boy, do we hate chasing those few that insist on getting out!), and overall appearance.

So, are you still wondering why the color of our eggs varies from summer to winter? Basically, as the weather turns cold certain breeds will begin to lay fewer eggs while others continue strong. Right now our white egg layers seem to have hit their prime. If you purchased a dozen eggs from us this week you may have noticed a few additional white eggs in the mix. Be sure to savior these as special treats as these twelve girls (yep! there are only twelve!) are working extra hard to make the rest of the flock look good.

Below is our description of the laying hens that make their home at Virginia Lamb.

Breed: Delaware

This breed is an American Heritage (1940) breed. Their characteristics include early maturing (start laying younger), dual purpose (males make great broilers too), calm disposition, and they are excellent foragers.

They are good layers (4-5 eggs/wk) and produce large to x-large light brown eggs. They are cold and heat tolerant; and they continue laying all winter.

Breed: Rhode Island Reds

Most of the eggs being sold at farmers markets come from sex-linked offspring of the RIR. We have a few of both. The full pedigree Rhode Island Reds are a heritage breed and fairly easy going in nature.

They are excellent egg layers (5-6/wk) and produce x-large brown eggs. They are extremely cold hardy and will continue laying all winter long. The term sex-linked (think crossbred) comes from being able to tell the females from the males at birth based on color. This is not the case with most purebreds. Our sex-links are smaller in size, eat less, are somewhat flighty and aren’t as winter hardy. We purchased a handful as a comparison to our full RIR. Based on their differences, they were most likely bred to meet the needs of confinement operations. Although off to a slow start; ours are adjusting well.

Breed: Black Australorps

This is an Australian heritage breed and has a shy but sweet disposition. They are excellent egg layers (5-6/wk) and produce large brown eggs. They are winter and summer hardy.

They were added to our flock specifically because they stand up well and continue laying through even the hottest summer when many breeds taper off.

Breed: Welsummer

This breed originates from Holland and has proven to be a very good forager.

They are good egg layers (~4/wk), producing large eggs. They are cold hardy. However, they are best known and prized for their egg color. In Europe, chefs seek out and pay dearly for these eggs. The deepest colored eggs are dark terracotta and can be speckled. We will continue to add more of these hens to our flock. Watch for their beautiful eggs next summer!

Breed: Ameraucana

An American breed that traces its history back to Chile. These goofy looking (said with love, mind you!) birds are responsible for all those green and blue eggs in your cartons.

They are good layers (~4/wk) and cold tolerant. The hens themselves range in color from silver, blue, buff, red, white, and a mix of all of the above. Most of ours have ear tuffs (small feathers on the side of their heads) and longer necks.

Breed: Speckled Sussex

This is an English heritage, dual purpose breed. They are exceptionally friendly, forage well (especially around one’s shoes) and can’t fly worth a darn (makes up for the shoe comment)!

They are very good layers (4-5/wk) of large tinted or beige eggs. They are extremely cold hardy and lay throughout the summer and winter.

Although my list actually included, not the Speckled, but the Light Sussex, we become the proud owner of these after meeting a very adorable, big eyed 4-Her at our county fair.

Breed: White Leghorn

This Italian breed came to America in 1840 and now makes up the parentage of most commercial white laying operations. They are small birds, surprisingly good foragers, and alert and active (read noisy and flighty!). Bad news is they are also gifted flyers!

They are excellent layers (5-6/wk) of x-large white eggs. They are cold hard and are proving to be exceptionally good winter layers.

Ok, now my soap box… Recently we had a potential customer tell us that farm fresh eggs could not be white. Okay!?!? I know we have become accustomed to thinking of brown eggs as farm fresh. I love brown eggs too! But I promise you our white eggs are just as tasty and fresh! As I said above, be sure to savior these special treats as these twelve girls are working extra hard right now to fill out our egg cartons just for you!

Breed: Cuckoo Marans

This is a French heritage, dual purpose breed. They are large birds that will brood (i.e. like to stay in the laying boxes and not give up their eggs).

They are above average layers (3-4/wk) and are here only because I am a sucker for their beautiful large dark chocolate colored eggs. Oh, did I mention, they don’t like the winter weather.

As these fade out, I am hoping to replace them with Black Copper Marans. Very similar in egg color with a better production rate.

Well I hope you have enjoyed today’s chicken lesson and getting to know those truly responsible for your delicious eggs each week. Be sure to stop by and pick-up your dozen eggs next Sunday!