News and Blog

Hi, %%user-firstname%%!

New in your Waverly Farms CSA box this week are fresh garlic and baby spring onions. We hope the information below will help you enjoy everything in your box:

Fresh Elephant Garlic - Harvested yesterday, this fresh "young wet" Elephant garlic will store for up to 1 week in your refrigerator.  For longer storage, hang it by the stem in breezy shade, or cut the stem to about 1", put it in a paper bag, and store it in a dry dark place.  Humidity is never good for garlic.  Don't store it in sealed containers.  Don't store it in the refrigerator for longer than 1 week because this causes garlic to break down and become moldy.  You can refrigerate minced garlic in a sealed container for longer than one week, but use it soon for best flavor.  Freezing garlic is not recommended because it changes the consistency and flavor of garlic.  

Garlic is thought to suppress tumors and lower the "bad" cholesterol.  Remember that the finer you chop or mince garlic the stronger the flavor.  Roasted whole garlic will be the mildest taste and very sweet.  

To roast garlic, simply peel off the outer leaves, leaving skin on the individual cloves in tact.  Slice off 1/4 of the top to expose the bulbs.  Place bulbs in a muffin pan and coat each one with olive oil, using your fingers to make sure oil soaks into each clove.  Cover each clove with foil crumpled over its top and bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  This will be great on bread or just eaten with a fork.

Baby Spring Onions - These come from "thinning" larger onions to come.  The green portion of these jewels are even more nutritious than the bulb, so find ways to use the entire plant.  Finely chopped green onion in tuna or chicken salads or scrambled eggs adds loads of flavor.  You might slice the bulbs in half and mix them in oilive oil, salt and pepper and roast them in the oven as you would beets or turnips below.

Red Beets - Same as last week, my favorite way to cook beets is to clean, cut in 1" pieces, coat them in olive oil, salt, pepper and bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes or until tender.  Click on this link for more great ways to cook beets: http://www.vegkitchen.com/tips/beets/

Red Russian or Savoy Kale - Again this week, some of your will receive the purplish Red Russian kale, which is a thick leaf with spikes on the end.  It is deliceious and sweet.  Others will recieve Savoy kale which is also thick but solid green with curly leaves.  Both are great in salads or cooked in stirfry, or blended into a smoothie with banana, pear, apple and any other green you like.  Be sure to remove kale from its tough stem and massage it - that's right, just rub it between your palms - to break it down into a tender treat.  

Collards - I'm so sorry if some of you got collards last week and others did not.  This week we have collards for everyone.  Collards are bland looking fan-like leaves, but they hold much flavor.  My favorite way to cook collards is to saute onion and ham or bacon in the bottom of a deep pot until slightly browned, add water,vegetable or chicken broth and the cleaned collards cut into 2"-4" squares.  Cook on medium heat until tender, about 20 minutes.  Drain and serve.  Because collards are sweet, they are also tasty i when blended into a smoothie.

Green Cabbage - Cooked in water like collards with ham or bacon, sliced into coleslaw, cooked in soups and even on the grill are popular ways to prepare great cabbage.  To grill cabbage that others will love, try this recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/grilled-cabbage-41419

Swiss Chard - Clean and remove Swiss chard from its stem.  I like to store it in a plastic bag at this point so I can just grab and go when I want to saute it with onion and red pepper, include it in a salad for a sweet flavor, or blend it into a smoothie.  Swiss chard is the most versatile of all greens, in my opinion, and it is packed with nutrition.  You might try this recipe for the healthiest preparation of Swiss Chard http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=recipe&dbid=100

Broccoli - All I need to say about fresh broccoli side shoots is to steam them soon (or blance and freeze them) and don't steam them too long because they will cook lightening fast!  Am I the only person thinking that steamed broccoli with garlic sauted in butter would be awesome for dinner tonight?  

Turnips - Clean, cut and bake these tender treats the same way you would the beets above, or cut them up and boil them briefly, drain, then slather them with hot butter, salt and pepper.  Turnips this fresh add a nice spice when diced into salads, and are terrific cooked with the collards.   

Pak Choi - The only way for me is to clean them well (the dirt tends to collect in the stem), cut them in half or quarters lengthwise, then saute them in olive oil with soy sauce and balsamic vinegar until tender. Add pepper to taste.  Topped with crisp bacon and served over grits or rice would make a quick meal.

Mustard Greens - Simply saute mustard greens with your chopped fresh baby Spring onions, fresh garlic and olive oil; add a splash of sesame oil at the end for a nutty flavor; and wala!  You're done.  Mustard greens provide more phytonutrients than most of our modern agriculture.  They are more like the greens that kept our ancestors healthy, as is the case with most spicy or bitter greens.  I'll admit it. I'm not crazy about mustard greens, but they're awfully cleansing and we need more nutrition in our diets!  I wonder if they would be a good replacement for lettuce on a hamburger?

Rosemary - Try this rosemary pasta recipe.  It uses fresh garlic and rosemary!  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/rosemary-pasta-in-roasted-garlic-sauce/  

We look forward to moving into Summer tomatoes, peppers, corn, melons, squash, zucchini and other summer crops.  They are growing fast and enjoying all of the rain we are having.  We have much to be thankful for!

Patti and Stuart Rosenberg 
with the wonderful staff and volunteers at
Waverly Farms
2345 Lewiston Plank Rd.
Burkeville, VA 23922
214-914-0323
www.waverlyfarmsvirginia.com 

It's here.  We wait all year for Spring calf, which is actually harvested once per year from mid-summer to mid-fall so no good grass is wasted.  With tons of rain producing lush native grasses, our Black Angus calves are looking great and some will be ready to harvest soon.  These yummy calves are raised on pasture for their entire lives and supplemented just a smidge with soy-free organic feed that includes alfalfa, peas, and sea kelp.  We never use herbicides, fungicides, growth hormones, preventive antibiotics or preservatives on our farm, so your beef is nutritious and free of potentially harmful chemicals.  

Beef prices continue to increase, and we've had to increase our prices this year, too.  A quarter calf will be $7.75/lb., a half calf will be $7.50/lb., and a whole calf is $7.00/lb.  Customers who pay by check will receive a 2.75% discount off these prices.  Total price is calculated on the actual cuts of trimmed and packaged beef that you receive.  Customers may customize their beef cuts by selecting the package size, thickness of steaks, and types of cuts.  We will walk you through the options prior to butchering.  

Included in your price is the care, feeding, rotation, harvesting, butchering, packaging and home delivery of your beef (there is a small additonal charge for delivery if you live beyond 50 miles of our farm).  Calves are humanely harvested in our pasture then dry aged for 3 weeks prior to butchering.  The meat you receive is vaccum sealed and labeled with the type of cut, weight, and date of butchering.

Contact us at patti_rosenberg@hotmail.com or 214-914-0323 for more information or to reserve your 1/4, 1/2 or whole calf.  We invite you to visit our farm, see the environment, and meet your calf.  We often have free-ranged organically-fed soy-free eggs, goat cheese, goat meat, pork, vegetables, herbs, fruit, and honey available for sale at the farm.  If you plan to visit, be sure to call in advance so we can arrange for someone to show you around.  Thank you!

Patti Rosenberg
Waverly Farms
Burkeville, VA 23922
www.waverlyfarmsvirginia.com
214-914-0323 

Spring is finally here and our hens are laying like crazy.  So, of course, Carol is baking quiche.  Spinach, feta and tomato with or without shrimp.  Yummy!  Order our eggs online from our Farm Store to make your own, or order a quiche.  We offer home delivery within 50 miles for anyone who purchases a minimum of 5 dozen soy-free organically fed eggs from our pastured hens. Otherwise, come to the farm for a Visit and pick up any size order.  Eggs are $5 per dozen and quiche are $14 each. 

Farm fresh organically fed soy-free pastured eggs.

Thanks, Taylor Yowell, for these pictures of our growing kids.  I'm always amazed at how fast they grow!

Exceptional breeding quality.  These kids were sired by buck, "Bob Agnew", who produced 3 sets of quadruplets and 10 sets of twins, NO singles.  Beautiful fawn, tan, and badger coloring, these hardy goats are birthed and raised on pasture with soy-free organic supplements and free-choice minerals.  Doelings sell fast at $350 each for quadruplets, $300 each for twins, $200 each for meat quality culls, wethers, and bucklings.  Kids will be weaned in mid-May - June.  Contact Patti at 214-914-0323 for more information and to view these darlings.  

Our first 8 of 16 pregnant does have delivered.  So far, three does delivered QUADRUPLETS and the rest have delivered twins.  This is amazing and we've never seen anything like it!  Our buck, "Bob Agnew", named after a cousin who grew up on Waverly Farms will receive most of the credit.  But, could our switch to soy-free organic feed from Countryside Organics have contributed?  Or, abandoning a general mineral and moving to a "salad bar" approach to free-choice individual elements?  Or, perhaps the copper boluses have done more than we could ever have imagined.  

In any case, the babies are always adorable.  Here is our firstborn, little Stephen Duane, a quadruplett who spent his first few nights in our home because of a low birth weight (4.2 lbs).  He is thriving, and back with his mother, now.  He will make a good wether for someone!

Our dear does are delivering kids left and right.  Two have delivered quadruplets and the rest, so far, have each had twins.  With 8 more does yet to kid, looks like we will have 30 this time around!  Spanish kids are $300 each for breeding quality, $200 each for meat quality.  Registered Savanna kids are $1,000 each for breeding quality and $300 each for meat quality.  Doelings sell fast, so contact Patti at patti_rosenberg@hotmail.com or 214-914-0323 to reserve your does, bucks or wethers.  

Oh, so adorable!!!!

Five new American Guinea Hog piglets were born today at Waverly Farms, bring the total piglets in residence to 12, plus 2 moms (sows) and a dad (boar).  American Guinea Hogs are on the American Livestock Breeds Conservation list as an important and endangered breed.  They get to no more than 250 lbs at maturity and are known for their exceptional meat and lard.  Waverly Farms is Animal Welfare Approved (www.animalwelfareapproved.org) for our pigs and they are fed soy-free organic feed with occasional table scraps of food grown at the farm.  Contact Patti at 214-914-0323 or patti_rosenberg@hotmail.com for more information and pricing.