From the Farm

December 9, 2020/Hollyhock Farm

Greetings! We hope this post finds you and your family well and in good spirits! It seems like everyone has had it with 2020, and here at Hollyhock Farm we are certainly ready to move into the new year and get a fresh start. The farm tasks have been whittled down for the winter season and we are taking some time to rest and plan for next spring. I am excited to relate that we finally have our lamb cuts back and stocked just in time for Christmas! Our regular weekend farm shop hours are closed for the winter season, but you can call or text any time to make an appointment to stop by the farm. I would feel bad if anyone drove all the way here and we weren’t here to help you, so please set a visiting time with me (Jen)! 505-379-3856. Additionally we are available to give brief tours of the farm! If you and your family would like to get some fresh air and visit the farm animals we would love to have you. Masks are required per state orders, and we will be outside and observing social distancing.

Did you know that eggs are seasonal? Even if we put a light on our hens to increase their winter laying, egg production decreases while the birds go through their winter molt, and then builds again as we move towards spring. Jennifer McGrunther says it eloquently in her cookbook Nourished Kitchen:

Just as cows produce milk within a seasonal cycle, so do hens lay eggs. A hen’s natural cycle of egg production waxes and wanes with the movement of the sun. In spring and summer, when days grow long, her egg production increases. In her prime, she will typically lay one egg a day; however, as the days grow dark again in autumn and winter, she lays infrequently until her production halts altogether, and she molts. Slowly, over a period of two months or so, she loses her feathers – around the head at first, then along her neck, breast, thighs, wings, back, and tail. Molting birds are homely birds – scraggly-looking things who eat but do not lay.

I love to encourage families to consider buying more eggs in the spring and summer months and creating egg dishes, like quiche, that can be frozen to use during the winter months. December is the time that I begin pulling those summer quiches out and heating them up for breakfasts for our family. It’s a wonderful way to revisit the tastes of summer! Our breakfast quiche this week included beet greens and chevre from last July. In 2021 I will also start exploring “water glassing” some of our eggs as a means of storing them. We work to avoid washing our eggs, so they would be good for such an experiment – I will post next summer with my results!

Current farm shop offerings – by appointment only:

-Frozen whole summer chicken $5/lb

-Frozen whole duck $7/lb

-Frozen goat sausage! Flavorful Spicy Italian. $15/lb (one pound packages). Contains fat from our pig.

-Frozen lamb cuts:

Roasts $16/lb
Ground $15/lb (one pound tubes)
Chops – packages range from $20-$25 (four chops per package)

Available self-serve on our porch:

-Eggs (Limited availability – first come, first served. We cannot hold eggs, thank you for understanding!)

-Farm salve $5/tin – great for many uses: Deodorant, scrapes, burns, chapped hands, moisturizer. Made with farm ingredients.

-Yule logs with beeswax tealights $15/ea (The tealights didn’t make it into this picture, but be assured, tealights are included) Many to choose from: paper birch, cedar, alder woods.