November 09

Goose and Turkey Reminder

Remember to pre-order you holiday turkeys and goose.  Deposits must accompany orders.

Our Pilgrim Geese
Goose’s Back
Go figure.  Don’t know exactly why, but, judging by the calls we’re getting, goose is back on the menu.  Maybe it’s that duck is not enough of a celebration, or people want to know what all the food-lore-goose-raves are all about or simply that there must be something to goose having been the preferred Christmas feast.

Save An American Treasure by Eating It!
Here at the farm we raise only historic breed animals.  Not just because they’re historic but because in these heritage breeds there’s a extraordinary accumulation of the thousands of years of husbandry and agricultural artistry.  Specifically countless generations of selection for superior function in a natural, non-chemical setting (agriculture of the last eight thousand years, the recent one hundred notwithstanding), not to mention selection for superb taste!  Our breed of geese is Pilgrim.  It is one of only two uniquely American domestic goose breeds.  Contrary to what most people automatically think, Pilgrims were first listed in the early 1930’s (just before goose dropped off the menu), attributed to a breeder in Iowa, Oscar Grow, named by his wife for their ‘pilgrimage’ to the Midwest during the depression.  As geese go, Pilgrims are docile and quiet, though in a half-hearted attempt to maintain a goose reputation, will hiss and honk at strangers, when startled, or just for the heck of it.

Their Health is Yours
As with our other animals they are raised on pasture, totally free range, and geese are real grazers.  They’re eating grasses and forage of amazing variety all summer and fall, so they’re storing all the nutritious goodness of the organic fields here, supplemented by the organic grain we scatter for them daily.

I Never Roasted a Goose
Roasting goose is similar to roasting a turkey with a few notable exceptions.  Like duck, goose breast is rich dark meat and like duck but more so, goose is loaded with amazing, high-quality, fantastically nutritious, delicious goose fat.  When preparing the goose before cooking the two large lobes of fat at the back of the cavity must be removed (for rendering separately—outrageous for roasting potatoes!) and shallow slits are made in the skin to allow the fat below the skin to render and baste the goose as it cooks.  Chef Gordon Ramsey (BBC ‘star’ of Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares and The ‘F’ Word (food)) demonstrates goose prep on the web.

Click here to pre-order a pasture-raised Pilgrim goose: GOOSE ORDER To pre-order, we ask that you pay a $50 deposit. Average weight is 8lbs. They are $13/per pound. Please add weight preference to instructions to seller on the last paypal checkout page. They will be available for pick-up at the farm 11/14.

Stagecoach Tavern 10% discount in January 2010

Available to all our current Bacon Bucks members and to all who join our CSA program: Bacon Bucks before the end of the year.
Give a Gift of Health, Vitality, and Community: Give a CSA Membership
A Bacon Bucks membership makes the perfect gift for family and friends this holiday season.  We’ll send you a Bacon Bucks welcome letter to enclose with your gift.

Apprentices and Interns

Farm On, Jeff!
Jeff’s drawing in on the completion of his full-year apprenticeship here.  It’s both happy and sad.  He’s shared an extraordinary year with us at the farm.  I am awed, amazed and grateful for his stalwart dedication to our mission here.  It’s so heartening and exciting to me that young people come here for a year of learning and teach us so much, improve our function, and raise the level of education here at Moon In The Pond.  Thanks Jeff!  It’s also exciting that Jeff will be continuing his sustainable agricultural study at Natural Roots Farm, a kindred farm where they do lots of work with draft horses—a particular interest of Jeff’s.
Please join us in welcoming our new apprentices with the change of season!  Josh Fredericks is already here and we will be welcoming two more over the next few months.  Please come to the farm to meet them!

Biodiesel at the farm:  taking reused material to a new level.

Many know of virgin biodiesel (virgin being made directly from the crop) and ethanol production as another way for farmers to grow more corn.  We don’t believe in or support the growing or use of food crops for fuel.  However, by participating in an existing local biodiesel market, our hope is that this would stimulate future interest in a local effort to recycle used vegetable oil for the production of biodiesel.  We are ordering a tank of bio-diesel for the farm and would like to make it available for anyone who has a diesel engine.  Please contact us for details.

Slow Food Western Mass Comes Back to Life

Now that things are quieting down for our busy membership, our Slow Food chapter has some events for you to consider.  Sign up for our newsletter notices.  Links for events follow:
Screening of American Meat at Norfolk Library on Monday, November 23rd featuring canapés from Jeremy Stanton of The Meat Market
Screening of Fresh December 5, 6,7 at the Stagecoach Tavern
Slow Food Western Mass is a sponsor for the Great Barrington Holiday Farmers’ Market
Farmers’ Dinner to celebrate Terra Madre Day at Stagecoach Tavern (more info to come)