Shelling Peas

Probably the last week for these special early season treats.

With a little time, pop the peas out of the pod, blanche and chill, then serve cold on a salad, warm with butter and salt, or turn into a soup.

Sold by the 1# bag, spend 10 minutes to shell these peas, give them a quick boil, season with salt and butter, and enjoy.

Grape Tomatoes

We are starting to get the first grape tomatoes in, from straight red to the fun mixed color medley.

Great for snacking, adding to a salad, or using on a skewer this weekend.

Red Potatoes

I'm probably most excited this week about potatoes. There are so many good ways to enjoy a spud - boiled, mashed, roasted, and fried.

Maddie Hershberger, who works in our kitchen and grows certified organic veggies at home, put out her potatoes early and with plenty of nutrition. They took off and she's digging the first one's this week.

It will be about 2 weeks or so until Jonas, our primary potato grower, is harvesting his reds for our weekly bag.

Sold by the quart basket, approx 28 oz per quart. $4.25

Hot Dogs - Sale $6.35 per package

Few things say "summer" more than a hot dog. It's right up there with ice cream and swimming pools.

This week, enjoy with your family some of our grassfed beef and heritage pork hot dogs, made without synthetic nitrates.

Mayfield - cancelled. Please pickup at Beachwood on Thursday (3 to 6pm).

Beachwood - same as usual (3 to 6 PM)

Westlake - ending at 6 PM (3 to 6 PM)

Strongsville - ending at 5 PM (3 to 5 PM)

Ohio City Provisions - starting early, ending early. 2 PM to 5 PM

For a full list of pickup locations, times, and addresses, check here: Pickup Locations

If you can't make it to your usual stop and you are only picking up up the the regular weekly share, you can stop by any other location Wed - Sat. You do not need to let us know where you're going or change anything in your account. We pack extra small, large and mini shares on the trucks to give some flexibility.

SPEICAL ORDERS, however, do need to have the location updated if you are picking up elsewhere. Change your pick up location in the "review order" step of the check out process (the step before submitting payment for the order). There is a drop down menu of locations to choose from. Your special order will only be available at the the location selected during checkout.

MAKE A CHANGE TO YOUR PICK UP LOCATION FROM THE LOCATION DROP DOWN MENU DURING CHECKOUT.

Last week, the logistics of raspberries were challenging. We knew though that although it's tough to time the berry harvest just right, that we'd have some extras to put in the freezer.

Why? For pies of course. This week we feature one of our favorites. Bumbleberry. A mixed berry pie featuring red and black raspberries, blueberries, and a few blackberries.

Made with our signature crust of local butter, pork lard, and whole wheat flour, and topped with a sweet crumb topping.

6 inch pies - $9.45

9 inch pies - $22.75 (about 3 times the filling as a 6 inch)

Eggs are one of our best selling items, and we need to have them every week of the year.

The hens don't always work that way though. A hen's egg production is dependent on everything from age and nutrition to hours of daylight.

So to stabilize the supply, we have multiple neighbors keeping small flocks of hens. The goal is to have hens of different ages so that when one flock is low in production, the others can fill in.

Right now, Jay (one of our bigger growers) is between hens. By that, I mean his old hens aren't laying and his new hens are just beginning. This is when you get Pullet Eggs. 

The Pullet is a Young Hen

On a farm, the term chicken usually refers to the laying hen. The term broiler refers to a meat chicken.

The genetics are different. Broilers grow fast and put on a bunch of meat quickly. They are harvested before they reach egg laying age.

A hen is generally a smaller framed chicken that has been selected for its ability to lay eggs consistently and efficiently.

It takes almost 20 weeks until the first eggs are collected. Because of this, it is difficult to keep a new flock and your existing flock on the same farm. Generally, young hens (called pullets) are bought from specialized operations where the farmer specializes in starting a hen.

He then ships them to their new home at about 15 to 16 weeks of age.

The Hen starts laying slowly and small eggs

At first, a hen will start to lay a few eggs per week. They are small at first. These first eggs are called pullet eggs and usually not marketed.

There is nothing wrong with them, they are just small.

For about a month, the hen lays small eggs and they gradually size up to about 2 oz (large egg). At week 22 or so, her eggs are usually large and marketable.

Egg production is determined by many factors

In addition to age of the hen, the egg production is determined by the amount of energy and protein in the diet, the number of hours of daylight, and even temperature.

When it's too hot, they won't eat as much. When they don't eat as much, they don't lay as many eggs.

Further, their hormones are stimulated by hours of daylight. Less than 14 hours and production dips.

Oh, and lastly, hide and go seek. That's the game a pasture based farmer plays when he has to find eggs the hens hid on pasture. Not all eggs make it back to the nesting boxes for easy collection.

Celebrate the Pullet Egg for just $1.85

Usually, we try to utilize all the pullet eggs in the kitchen for everything from cookies to eggnog.

But right now, Jay is getting a lot and we need help moving them quickly.

Pullet Eggs - small eggs - are on sale for just $1.85 per dozen.

Like the weather, subject to change.