Our friend Arthur loves duck, and showed me a very simple recipe which I have named Duck a la Bloom in his honor.
Just rinse the duck and pat dry with a paper towel and place in a roasting pan. Then drizzle olive oil on the back, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika, and a little red wine. Flip over and do the same to the breast side.  Put a carrot or onion or celery sticks inside the duck. You can pour a little bit of red wine inside as well. Leave in the fridge for a couple hours or so. Then roast for 20 minutes at 400, and turn oven down to 350 for the rest of the time (about 20 minutes per lb total, or when a meat thermometer reads 165.)
I simmered the giblets in a little water with herbs while the duck was roasting, and then made a nice gravy out of this liquid and the pan juices and scrapings.
We also had plenty of fat in the pan which I have kept in a glass jar in the fridge and it is great to cook with! In fact, the next evening I put some of this fat in a cast iron pan with the leftover duck and potatoes and warmed them up for another delicious meal.

Our first batches of chickens and ducks turned out beautifully and are safely in our freezers! Here are two little videos if you would like to see our chickens and ducks enjoying their greens:

Chickens 2011

NEW! Ducks Foraging, August 2011

Since last fall we have been mixing our own grain using organic wheat from Ken Van Hazinga in Shoreham, and a little organic corn and soy from NY, as well as vitamin mineral mix and kelp. We don’t have a grinder so for now we are just doing the best we can with a wood chipper. The animals seem to like the mix and they are growing nicely. For our pigs we mix it up a day ahead and soak with water, or whey when we have it. The grains get softer and swell up and the pigs love it!
We have a cookbook – Nourishing Traditions – which says that grains are much healthier when soaked. We hope our pigs also benefit from this extra step.

We love these mowers! No gas or electricity required and they fertilize as they go. Later this fall they will also give us delicious meat and beautiful skins! They are cutting the grass ahead of the broiler chickens for now. The chickens double as cleanup crew and clear up any parasites left behind by the lambs.

And we’re stocked up with pork sausage, hot italian sausage, kielbasa, chops, ribs and more. The grilling season has started. We also have delicious cortido, kimchi, and sauerkraut to go with the pork, and eggs from our free-roaming hens to go with our bacon.

Anyone who participates in Green-up Day and comes to the Farmers Market will get a free cookie and a lemonade! middleburyfarmersmarket.org

We are selling our hams for $10/lb. They are frozen, boneless, maple cured, cob and maple wood smoked, by Vermont Smoke & Cure. The ham steaks are thick cut and range from 1/2lb to 1lb.  The “whole” hams are nitrate-free, and weigh 3 to 4lbs.
Nitrate-free thick-sliced bacon is also available for $10 per 12oz pkg.

We will be at the next Middlebury Farmers Market (at American Flatbread in the Middlebury Marbleworks, April 9 from 9:30-1). Supplies are limited.  If you would like us to reserve something for you, click here to contact us with an order.

January 2011

I call this photo "Moon Over My Hammy"

Despite cold temperatures and lots of snow, our pigs are thriving. This year we were able to buy local organic wheat and we mix it with a little organic corn and soak the grains overnight with water and a little whey or milk. The pigs love it!

These new piglets are the cutest yet! They are settling in nicely, enjoying pumpkins, apples, whey, and organic grain.

Our pigs: