I’m not sure where to begin. There are times when I suppose all farmers feel like farming is handing them their ass. This month could certainly count as that for me. Six months ago predators killed our egg laying chickens and after a few months of reflecting, we ordered more through the mail. Determined to protect these new pets, we built what neighbors and friends have jokingly referred to as “Chicken Fort Knox.” We encirlced a portion of the macadamia grove with six foot coyote proof fencing, and then electrified the whole thing for good measure. Every one of us here at one time or another has made the mistake of leaning against the fencing and gotten blasted. There’s a reason an electrical jolt is called a “shock.” It truly is shocking; as in mometarily enducing tears. Don’t let the little solar powered gizmo that sends the power into this fence fool you. It means business. So I guess we were fairly confident of our chickens’ safety.
We planned to offer eggs for sale as soon as our chickens reached egg laying age and our software program was up and running. Just a few short weeks from our egg selling launch, a neighbor’s dog cleverly tunneled under the fencing far enough back, and deep enough into the soil, to avoid the electrical charge. We had over a 100 chickens and one very friendly turkey pet. My son Frankie discovered most of his birds torn asunder the following morning during his routine early morning chores. Not content to just kill and eat a chicken or two, the offending dog clearly went into a frenzy and killed everything he could catch. Our turkey, Tom, probably tried to protect “his” chickens and lost his life as well. A senseless loss of life, my almost grown-up son tried to hide the carnage from me; as I was already having a difficult week. An hour later, when I drove the kids to school, down the hill and past the chicken barn, I remarked that there sure were a lot of feathers laying around. “Molting mom, chickens molt in the heat, you know,” Frankie replied.
I’m saddened by the loss, and chagrined at the cost to safely raise chickens in Rainbow, CA. Now we’re securing the surviving chickens in the barn every night rather than letting them roam in their enclosure at night. We’ve added another line of electricity 6 inches out from the bottom of the fenceline and plan to trench and bury chicken wire to prevent tunneling.
We’ve ordered new baby chickens and expect their arrival in a week or so, to start the process anew.
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Collards are here this week. Mild flavored and nutrient dense, these leafy greens are often overlooked but are worth a try! Be careful not to overcook–like other cruciferous veggies–overcooked collards have an unpleasant odor. A cancer preventing cruciferous vegetable–recent studies indicate that steamed collard greens have the greatest cholesteral-lowering ability of all leafy greens. Read more about collards at this link: http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?dbid=138&tname;=foodspice
Mizuna is new in our boxes this week, too. Milder flavored than typical arugula; this popular Japanese leafy green will add some zip to an otherwise mundane salad. The sawtoothed spicy leaves can be added to soups, added as a raw chopped garnish on a cooked dish, or steamed like spinach with perhaps some drizzled Califiornia olive oil and a dash of well aged parmesan cheese.
Finally, Ghandi’s reportedly favorite food: purslane is here for a few weeks before the cold kills it back. The herb is showing up in chef’s recipes more frequently as the media lauds its healthy attributes. Loaded with Omega-3 fatty acids, vegetarians can turn to this herb instead of fish for this important nutrient. But don’t let it’s health benefits fool you…this imminently edible herb is tasty and mild enough even for kids to enjoy.
I tried purslane in this recipe; one of the cool qualities of the herb is that its leaves are succulent and stay pert even in salad dressings.
Bay Shrimp and Purslane Salad
2 cups fresh bay shrimp, carefully rinsed and chilled
2 cloves crushed garlic
whole Purslane leaves with chopped stems
Dash of lime juice and California olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix and serve.
Everything in our boxes this week is pretty self explanatory except perhaps some subscribers are unfamiliar with sorrel and or okra. Check out images below. I enjoy sorrel raw in salads. It has a lemon-tart flavor that isn’t overpowering. Although there’s some great okra recipes out there, my favorite continues to be basic fried okra. I make a simple toasted bread crumb with my cuisinart (although you can just skip that step and buy bread crumbs), roll in egg yolk, toss in the crumbs and fry in olive oil.
