Now that we are past our final spring frost here in zone 6b, it feels like farming is finally in full swing. Hayou Farm is starting to harvest some amazing spring veggies. I can't get enough of their delicious greens. You can really taste the difference between them and grocery store greens. Learning to eat in season food is definitely a skill that requires some creative thinking and flexibility with ingredient substitution but the end result is so worth it. Growing up, my family cooked the same 10 recipes on rotation and while it was always delicious and nutritious it wasn't always fun. Teaching your kids that food and cooking is fun, exciting, and challenging creates those healthy eating habits that will serve them for the rest of their lives. I would love to hear some of y'alls favorite recipes for spring veggies so I can experiment and try new things. Send me an email with your favorite and I will share it with the rest of our farm community!
We had a milestone the other day here at the farm, getting our first 10 pigs back from the butcher. For years, my husband refused to raise pigs because they can be a ton of trouble. But I finally wore him down and we raised our first batch through this winter. It was so affirming to get such amazing product back from the butcher and gave us the positive reinforcement that we can do this and do this well! We host quite a few farm to table dinners through out the year where I cook wild, experimental multi course meals. It is one of my favorite events on the farm so when Shane offered to hold back some of the pork bellies for me I jumped at the opportunity. We are looking at organizing our first one of the season for late May so please shoot me an email if you are interested. You not only will eat an incredible meal, we also give you an in depth tour of our farm so you can see just where all the food you have been eating is grown! I can't wait to experiment with these pork bellies and find the richest and most unctuous way to present them!
I have just a bit of housekeeping to cover so please read through this carefully. We reuse every element of packaging from the green boxes, the insulated liners, and the cool paks. This packaging is one of our biggest costs so we NEED you all to be on top of returning everything. For our Charter Colony members, place the box, liner, and cool pak from the previous delivery on your porch on Saturday morning so I can switch it out with your new box. For our Richmond members, leave them in the upstairs pick up room at the River City Flower Exchange. I make note of returns and we do have to charge for any items not returned. It is a $15 replacement cost for all three so please be on top of your returns. If you forget one week, please send me an email letting me know that you will leave it with the next delivery so I know they haven't been thrown away. If I don't see any emails, replacement fees are processed the week after a delivery. On the weeks we are not delivering in Richmond, we alternate with a delivery up in Northern Virginia and if we are constantly missing boxes we are unable to fill all of the necessary orders. Thanks so much for helping this delivery process go smoothly. It truly makes my life so much easier and allows for our business to work!
