1 head Black-Seeded Simpson
1 head Boston Butter Crunch
1 bunch of the sweetest, most delicious radishes ever
Total: $6.00
We used some of the black-seeded simpson and the radishes for lunch today on this:
Yumm! We'll use the rest of the lettuce all week for lunches. The left over radishes will go nicely with some roasted chicken tomorrow!
Normally we'd come away with some pastured eggs at the Farmer's Market too, but we took an extra farm trip this morning to our friends at Ray Family Farms. They raise heritage breed pigs, pastured chickens, grass-fed Beltie beef, horses, vegetables, and flowers; and I'm telling you, you'll never have a finer shopping experience than purchasing meat and produce straight from the farm.
When we arrived Chad and Jody met us at their Old Thyme Market barn, a lovely little one stop shop where you can pick up your meats from their freezers as well as pick up some of the local preserves, honeys, and soaps they have available for sale. Chad and his wife Jody run the farm, and the first thing they asked us was if we wanted to check out how big their piglets are getting. Of course we do! We saw those little babies just after they were born in April, and now they're huge. The papa pigs were buried up to their snouts in mud holes to keep cool in the hot sun. We walked right up to mama pig and her babies just as they were getting up from their nap to nurse.
We walked back to the barn and Chad already had our order ready: 2 whole pastured chickens, 1 pack of drumsticks, and a dozen pastured chicken eggs. After looking around we added some ground chicken, a pound of chicken feet, and some ground beef to our order. The total was $68.00. I know that may sound like a lot, but it really doesn't get much better than that folks. Their ground beef is $5.16 a pound, and while that's more than the grocery store, I know this meat not treated with ammonia, nor is it full of "pink slime." Instead it is filled with healthy fat not chock full of antibiotics. This meat comes from truly happy cows. The chickens were $3.95 a pound (for a total of less than $20.00 each). We checked at Whole Foods and you can get a free-range chicken for $2.69 a pound. These are antibiotic free and vegetarian fed. But here's the thing: chickens AREN'T vegetarians. They eat bugs, and when they do they are healthier, and their meat is much more nutritious. While WF chickens advertise cage free, what we know is that most of the time, this phrase means the birds get to move around, but they are not running around outside. They're lacking nutrition because they don't enjoy vitamin D infusions from the sun and all the lovely vitamins and minerals that come from digging around in the dirt. The happy chickens at Ray Family Farms get to enjoy the outdoors all day, and so they just taste better!
After picking up our loot, Chad offered to show us his wonderful crop of cabbage and potatoes. These things were massive thanks to the piles of organic cow manure they had been dumping on the plot of land all winter. Chad walked over to one of the cabbage plants, picked up the head, and handed it to Reid. He grabbed some heads of broccoli too and handed them to me. Since when does your grocery store give you free produce!? Total cost of our produce: $0.00!!
We've so loved getting to know this family! They care about stewarding the land and providing quality food for the nourishment of our bodies. Unlike the big industrial feedlots who would never allow the general public access to their facilities, Ray Family Farms loves to give tours and show you around. Check out their website and send Chad an email. He'll meet you at the farm whenever and show you around. We'll be heading back soon to stock up again. I've yet to try any pork products, and I can't wait to get my hand on some!
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