Sheila Bird Farms

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2011-09-23T12:54:00.000-06:00

Happy Farmers Market Friday everyone!
I've just uploaded a bunch of new photos to our facebook page from the farm. The facebook page can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100002581866176

We've got freshly picked spinach, kale, lots of heirloom tomatoes, carrots and much more~

See you at the market!
Jodie

Happy Spring 2011

2011-03-18T13:44:00.000-06:00

Well spring is springing at the farm once again! Ricky and I met my mom, Sheila, and my sister Sony down at the farm and had a St. Patrick's picnic with our landlord Tom. It was a sunny, warm day and we became very excited about making plans for this coming farm year. Ricky is figuring out our rotation of crops and what varieties we were going to plant. Some new additions this year like Collards and Parsnips to name a few ( my two favorite veggies). We began clean up of the flower beds around the house and were excited to see the tops of tulips and garlic shoots out in the farm.

Danielle is moving to the farm in April 2011 to go to massage school at Massage Therapy Institute of Colorado in Denver until May 2012, so there are some big changes happening. We are fixing up the farmhouse to make it comfortable for the year for Danielle, Gabby (15 year old red dog), Mesa (12 year old Border Collie) and Hobbes (2 year old cat rescue). We have baby egg laying chicks on order that we pick up March 25th and a French Angora bunny and an English Angora bunny on order. It's very exciting.

We plan on bringing you all the same fresh, delicious veggies we did last year delivered to Sweet Melessa's, Big Hollow Food Co-op, and the farmers market every Friday starting first weekend in July. We are still too small to do CSA and provide the truly important places mentioned above. So please come support community agriculture by visiting us and other local farmers at the market, purchasing veggies at the co-op or enjoying our greens and things at the best dining in town at Sweet Melissa's.

We are still offering Micro Greens at the co-op and Melissa's and plan on offering them through the summer. Thank you for your continued support, have a happy spring and we'll see you this summer!

Wonderful Winter, Happy Holidays and Blessed New Year!

2010-12-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

All of us at Sheila Bird Farms wishes you and yours a beautiful winter and holiday season!

"May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night and a smooth road all the way to your door." Irish Blessing

Try this recipe and you will wish you had made a double batch!

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten Free and Vegan)
25 cookies

2 3/4 cups brown rice flour
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tbl. garbanzo bean flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 cup canola oil
3/4 cup organic whole cane sugar (or equivalant of alternate sugar)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup rice milk
whole bag dairy-free dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)
3/4 cup dried cranberries (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine the brown rice flour, garbanzo bean flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a small bowl combine the canola oil, organic sugar, and vanilla until well mixed. Add the flour mixture and rice milk alternately, a little at a time, stirring until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips, nuts and fruit.

3. Make small balls of dough and place onto greased or parchment paper lined baking sheets. Bake until golden and slightely firm to the touch...about 17 min.

ENJOY!

Bigtober Fest at Big Hollow

2010-09-28T19:59:00.000-06:00

~YOU ARE INVITED~

To the 3rd Annual Big Hollow Food Co-op’s

Bigtober Fest

Friday and Saturday, October 1st and 2nd

Two full days of fun!

Free food & product samples

In store specials

Bring the whole family!

Friday, Oct. 1st

Farmer’s Market 3-7pm

Last market of the season! Come stock up on fall produce!

Live music!

Let us show our appreciation for all our wonderful dedicated members who make our co-op such a success.

Hope to see you there!

BHFC

Friday, October 1st Market at Big Hollow Food Co-op

2010-09-24T20:19:00.000-06:00

We will be on First Street, Friday October 1st, in front of the Big Hollow Food Co-op for their market. We hope to see you there. Weather forecast is 70's everyday so we will have plenty of stuff at discounted prices. Ricky was selling "organic" pumpkins and squash at 50 cents a lb. today at market. Unheard of prices for chemical free veggies. Please come down and support your local growers and co-op. We are lucky to have Big Hollow Co-op, it's becoming a one shop stop for us who are locally, organically conscious consumers. Thank you Marla, Billie and staff for all your hard work!

Hedgehog Fibers!

2010-09-22T11:10:00.000-06:00

The farm is slowing down and this week is the last market in downtown Laramie! We hope to see you there! On October 1st, Friday from 3-7 there will be a market in front of Big Hollow Food Co-op on 1st Street. So be sure to come on down and help all the farmers sell their last harvest! We believe we will be there; but we have to see how much we have still growing. The farm is wearing out and ready for fall slumber itself.

As many of you may not know I am a fiber spinner and knitter, and I found the most wonderful yarn from Hedgehog Fibers. Beata Jezekova, I believe from Scandinavia, is the artist. Beata has the most gorgeous hand painted fiber for spinning and yarn. I just purchased 3 skeins of single ply worsted weight yarn in the most beautiful color pattern called Birch. Many of you do know I am a fiber/yarn snob and this is top quality stuff! Our computer is full so I couldn't take a photo to show you but here is her website: http://www.hedgehogfibres.com/. You can purchase her fiber and yarns on Etsy! She was wonderful to work with and I received my yarn in a very timely matter. Please check out her beautiful creations!

I found out about Beata from Stephen West's blog who is a young designer/knitter from Chicago. He designs unique shawls, hats and cowls ( a.k.a neck gators to us Wyomingites) and he has a book coming out this fall. I've made two of his shawls and they are fun, easy and gorgeous. Lori Kirk from Cowgirl Yarn in Laramie is hoping to carry his book when it comes out. Here is his link: http://westknits.blogspot.com/.

When I get my computer up and running I will take pics of my shawls and the Hedgehog yarn knitted up. Check out the baby blanket Beata knitted up from fiber she handpainted on her blog...amazing.

Happy, Fall, Happy Veggie Eating and Happy Knitting! Here in WY where the leaves are falling and winter is fast approaching knitting is a great way to hang with friends, drink tea and/or wine, catch up and knit!

New Mexican Shepards Pie

2010-09-06T16:06:00.000-06:00

Can you believe that it's September 6th? I can not. It seems like it was just yesterday that my mom, sister and I and our combined 5 dogs were at the farm on St. Patrick's Day having a picnic and watching the dogs play in the seep ditch dreaming of what summer would hold.

It's very chilly and windy here today in Laramie. In the 50's with 30 mph winds. The aspens have a rattle to their sound and there have been some stray fallen leaves blowing by. Tonight a low of 29 degrees. Ouch. Hopefully we will not see a frost at the farm until October so that we can continue bringing up the rest of the vegetables.

Ricky was at the farm today and said it was howling windy down there as well. Things are sure starting to slow down; cucumbers, green beans, etc. Plus the grasshoppers have found us and have eaten the remaining blossoms. We still have quite a bit of stuff and with the cooler weather the lettuces are coming back.

We hope to see you at the markets. Only 3 more Sept, 10th, 17th, and 24th. Please stop down and support the other local area growers, vendors and artisans: High Horse Farm for great salad mix and mushrooms, Student Acres has had a spot for a couple of weeks, Tamale Family, Worm Wrangler, Abbey's Need More Salsa, Wags, and many others.

Thank you again for your support this summer it was a fun year! Hopefully we will see more of you in the next year as the word spreads to support local growers and our farmers market!

New Mexican Shepard's Pie

(altered from Los Poblanos Organics in Albuquerque, NM)

Ingredients:

1 # potatoes ( I prefer the red or Yukon) boiled and mashed with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

1 Bunch Chard, chopped (another terrific way to use chard)

3 Yellow Summer Squash, cubed

1 med. Onion, chopped

2 cloves Garlic, minced

5 Green Chilies ( I used roasted Poblanos but any will do) chopped to taste * You can purchase peppers at market then roast in oven or on grill watching carefully and turning to brown skin*

1 Tomato Chopped
Cheese or Macadamia Nut Cheese (see Recipe in previous blog to keep vegan)

Directions:

First bring potatoes to boil. In a skillet, saute all the veggies except for tomatoes until they are tender but not mushy; keep adding the chard and it will begin to break down. Put the saute mix into a oven safe glass bowl. Once the potatoes are done and mashed plop them on top to cover. Top with cheese Cover with glass top. Bake at 350 degrees about 15 0 20 minutes until cheese is melted and to mingle flavors. Take out and top with the chopped tomatoes. Serve with fresh salad and enjoy.

(The original recipe on Los Poblanos Organics was a Mexican Frittata using eggs to cover which would be wonderful; however since I am vegan and we were hungry for Shepard's Pie I found the recipe online and altered it).

Thursday Morning

2010-08-12T07:17:00.002-06:00

I'm heading to the farm this morning, after I have some dandelion tea and make a kale slaw to share at lunch. It's going to be hot down there today and us poor Laramites don't do well in that heat as our blood is as thick as pudding.

It will be a fun day! Picking day is always fun. There is no weeding, just all of us picking, chatting, washing, and packing veggies for the farmers market on Friday.

We have a big group of friends today helping us, as Ricky is off in the Tetons hopefully resting and enjoying time with close friends.

We'll have the usual suspects at the market on tomorrow: kale, chard, scallions, green beans, radishes, potatoes, lettuces, onions, cucumbers, eggplant, yellow and green summer squash; as well as beets and carrots. Oh and garlic and tomatoes.

Hope to see you there! We will be there waiting!

Beet Pesto?

2010-08-07T18:52:00.001-06:00

Someone at the market said they made beet pesto??? Could you share it with us and I could post it..or if any of you have yummy recipes 'lettuce' know and we'll post them on our blog.

Thanks for following and eating your veggies!

Chard Pizza

2010-08-07T18:40:00.002-06:00

You can use any green but I find I really like to use chard for this.

Chard Pizza

Ingredients

1 box of frozen brown rice pizza crusts (Available at the Big Hollow Food Co-op, or make your own)
2 bunches chard, washed & de-stemmed (tip: grab the base of the stalk with right hand and run fingers of left hand up the stalk fast to take the leaf off the stem, compost stem, feed to chickens or put in soup, keep the green)
mushrooms, garlic, yellow zucchini squash, whatever your heart desires
pesto or marinara or olive oil and garlic

Directions:

1. After following directions on package for brown rice pizza crust {preheat to 500, cover with olive oil and bake for 4-5 minutes}, reduce to 425 for baking. Top crust with pesto, marinara, or I like to use the macadamia nut cheese from previous post.

2. Add sliced zucchini, patty pan squash, garlic or mushrooms, etc.

3. Begin layering chard leaves, evenly till it's about 5 -6 inches tall. I know it's a bit scary but trust me. You want all your toppings you want on pizza underneath chard so as they don't topple off.

4. Place in oven and bake about 15 minutes until chard shrinks down to about 2 inches tall, pull out and top with cheese, Parmesan or I spread my macadamia nut cheese on top. Place back in oven till cheese melted about 5 more minutes.

5. Pull out, cool for a moment and then be shocked at how tasty this is. POPEYE PIZZA!

Tip: you could prolly use any kind of green but I've always used chard and since it grows so well here in Laramie go for it. Or come by our stand on Friday, buy 2 bundles and some yellow squash, go across the aisle to High Horse Farm and purchase some yummy mushrooms and try it for yourself. It's like a 20 minute dinner tops and is so healthy and satisfying.

Raw Turnip Salad

2010-08-07T18:38:00.002-06:00

For all of you who bought those yummy, white, creamy turnips at the market on Friday; here is my fav recipe for them. It's so easy and fast and delicious!

Raw Turnip Salad

4 raw turnips washed, peeled and grated ( I use our cheese grater)
1/8 cup olive oil
1/8 cup lemon juice or more to taste
small handful of either dill, cilantro or basil chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Mix all together and enjoy!

What do I do with kale?

2010-08-07T18:27:00.002-06:00

Two words, KALE SLAW!

When I first had this recipe at the Moscow Food Co-op in Moscow, Idaho, in 1998 I was hooked for LIFE! Every time I serve it at potlucks or parties everyone wants the recipe. It's that good. It's amazing and a great way to use up a lot of kale. Try it and you to will be hooked for life. I think this recipe alone, along with Pesto Cheese Rolls and Oatie cookies has kept the co-op in Moscow going strong. So trust me and make it and you'll be amazed. I shared it with Melissa at Sweet Melissa's and she has people asking for it on the menu...I think it should be offered permanently...hint hint.

The moment you have all been waiting for:

Kale Slaw

Ingredients:

2 medium bunches kale, rinsed, de-stemmed and cut in thin strips
1/3 lb carrot, grated
1 cup red cabbage, in thin strips or more

Dressing:

2/3 cup cashews, finely chopped
2 tsp garlic, minced
1 T. ginger, minced
1 can green chilies (4oz.)
1 1/2 T. Tamari (wheat free) or Namo Shayo
3/4 cup vegannaise

( I put the above ingredients, minus vegannaise until very end, in our food processor and combine until almost smooth, then add vegannaise to finish)

1. Prepare veggies and place in large bowl.
2. Mix dressing ingredients together in small bowl or food processor, then pour dressing over veggies.
3. Toss and serve cold.

It's amazing. You could always use regular mayo but when people do they realize it doesn't taste like what I bring to potlucks and you can find the Vegannaise at the Big Hollow Food Co-op. I use the purple label which has grape seed oil in it.

You will be a hit at the next party you go to and don't be surprised if all there is there is Kale Slaw variations.

The Veggies are coming in now!

2010-07-28T09:36:00.004-06:00

Aaah a nice cool morning in Laramie with some much needed rain hopefully on the way. Nice to have the fans in the window pulling in that fresh air. Laramie smells so beautiful when it rains.

Ricky headed to the farm for a day of planting, pulling weeds, tending irrigation and checking out what needs to be picked for the farmers market on Friday.

We've been bringing in potatoes and tomatoes and this week we'll have green beans and garlic as as new additions. The summer squash and cucumbers are starting to take off and things are in limited quantities so come down as close to 3 as you can to get the variety and selection.

We know a lot of you don't get off work until 5 so maybe in the future let's see if we could move the market to Sat. 8 - 12 so everyone can come and enjoy.

Hope to see you at the market!

100 Mile Diet....Plenty

2010-07-23T11:42:00.000-06:00

I know we discussed this book a couple of years ago but it's so great and such an awesome read on one young couples adventure into eating within 100 miles of thier home for a full year. So please check it out again! I'm sure Second Story can order them for you and would be a great for a bookclub.

http://100milediet.org/

Potatoes & Macadamia Nut Sour Cream

2010-07-22T10:09:00.000-06:00

Potatoes, Potatoes, Potatoes! We will be bringing up potatoes tomorrow, Friday July 23rd to Laramie Farmer's Market. We are very excited. I have a beautiful bowl of Red Rose potatoes on the counter this morning that I'm going to whip up tonight for Ricky when he returns home from farm tonight.

We will also have more beets, some carrots, possibly green beans. As well as all the other goodies that are starting to take off in this heat.

So we hope to see you down at the market from 3-7. Come early as we've been selling out by around 5pm everyday.

I'm sharing my favorite macadamia nut sour cream recipe to top those delicious potatoes or you can use this as a sandwich spread, dipping for chips and crackers, in burritos or as a ricotta.

Macadamia Nut Sour Cream

1 1/2 cups macadamia nuts (soaked for at least 2 hours, drained and rinsed)
1- 2 lemons
sea salt to taste
1/3 cup water

So in a blender add the drained macadamia nuts, the fresh squeezed juice of 1 -2 lemons (depending on taste), sea salt and enough water to just make the mixture continue to pull through the blender. Blend until smooth. Will have the consistency of ricotta cheese.

Use your imagination as to how you use. It's a great vegan alternative!

Garlic

2010-07-22T10:06:00.001-06:00

Here is a great link on how to clean, dry and store garlic to last the year!

http://www.garlicfarm.ca/storing-garlic.htm

Garlic Scape Pesto

2010-07-17T09:13:00.000-06:00

Good Morning!

It was a great farmers market yesterday in downtown Laramie. HOT! Very hot for Laramie. It was wonderful to see so many people out and about on a beautiful summer's day.

Ricky surprised me by bringing garlic scapes up from the farm and I promised to share our garlic scape pesto recipe with you all. It's great on toasted bread, crackers or with pasta.

1/4 # garlic scapes (use just the stalks, wash and roughly chop)
1/2 cup organic olive oil
1 cup Parmesan (fresh, not grated, from Whole Earth Grainary is the best)
3 T. fresh lime juice
sea salt to taste

In a blender or food processor, mix the garlic, salt, lime juice and Parmesan into a paste. Then gradually blend in the olive oil.

Enjoy, it's delicious. I found this recipe when I was selling garlic scapes as the produce manager at Moscow Food Co-op in Moscow Idaho from Mary Janes Farm. Here is their farm link.

http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/

Check it out, they started out with a small farm selling organic, delicious camp food and have expanded from there. You can also find her awesome organic farm magazine downtown at the Grand Newsstand.

Have a wonderful and safe weekend and we'll see you next week. I think we'll have new potatoes next week and I'll publish our yummy macadamia nut sour cream recipe to top those yummy spuds.

Gearing up for farmers market season!

2010-06-27T08:58:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone,

Well it's that time again. Time to meet your friends and make some new ones at the Laramie Farmers Market starting this Friday, July 2nd from 3-7 pm in downtown Laramie. We had a little late start this year with Mother Nature; but with the warm nights and hot days we have plenty of spinach, romaine lettuce, beautiful red leaf lettuces, scallions, radishes and some other surprises. Hope to see you there!

This year we have added the Fort Collins Old Town market on Saturdays from 8 am - 12 noon on Oak Street. We had to add another market to bring in more revenue and to distribute more veggies. Even though we only have 1.25 acres, Ricky is such an amazing planner and green thumb that we were not able to distribute all that we grew last year.

So if you miss us on Friday maybe we will see you in Fort Collins.

We are excited to see the many faces of the market that we don't see in winter here in Laramie and we look forward as always in supplying you and yours the best produce we can grow.

See you Friday in front of Citrus Salon, look for the big red tents!

P.S.

I made a promise to post every week so please check back weekly for updates, recipes and tidbits.

Sincerely,
Ricky and Danielle

Spinach and Potatoes

2010-04-02T08:23:00.000-06:00

Hello,

As we sit in Laramie watching it snow we are hoping it is snowing down at the farm. Ricky planted spinach seeds on Wednesday March 31st so hopefully we'll have spinach soon for the Big Hollow Food Co-op and Sweet Melissa's.

We will be turning the soil in the next couple of weeks and planting potatoes. That is always a fun, get your hands in the dirt job, muddy job.

Also be on the lookout for an email coming soon regarding our online ordering this year. Where you pick what you want and what amount and we'll have it packaged and ready for pick up either at the market, or delivery for those who can't make it to the market.

Thank you to all who support us and we look forward to seeing you in July at the market. Ooooh that seems a long ways away.

Planting has begun!

2010-03-28T08:22:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone,

It was a long hard winter in on the plains of Laramie...but I think spring is springing. I awoke to robins chirping outside our window this morning.

Yesterday Ricky and I attended the Big Hollow Food Co-ops Annual Meeting and it was fun. It was great to see so much support! Ricky and I had a table where we were sampling Blossom Fine Foods Gluten-Free deserts (which you can find at the Co-op) and answering questions about the farm.

Many have asked us to do a CSA and after much consideration we have decided not to. What we are going to offer this year is an online order where you can preorder what you would like and then have the convienence of picking it up at the farmers market or we can deliver it to you if you are not able to make it down.

We feel CSA which stands for Community Supported Agriculture is best served by people supporting the farmers market that we have fought so hard to establish and by supporting local Laramie vendors and the community.

Maybe next year we might do a CSA and then not do the farmers market. We will have to see. Many local businesses will be offering our veggies: Sweet Melissa's, Big Hollow Food Co-op, Calvaryman and Coal Creek. If you would like to see us at other venues in town please let them now we are able to supply them with clean, local, fresh food and delivery is free.

Thank you for supporting Laramie and keeping it local.

Two markets, a giant pumpkin raffle and Food, Inc.

2009-09-16T10:40:00.001-06:00

Whew...it's been a great season. Thank you everyone who has continued to support our small farm and local, organic, sustainably grown food!

We only have a couple farmers markets left in Laramie. However, we are continuing to produce food so we may have a few markets in our backyard to ensure that it doesn't go to waste.

This week we are going to be bringing up a giant pumpkin to raffle off at $1.00 a guess on the weight. Whoever is closest wins the pumpkin. Half of the proceeds go to the Soup Kitchen.

We want to thank the Soup Kitchen for taking all our extra produce each week and serving it up in delicious meals for their clients.

On September 24th, Thursday, there will be a free screening of Food, Inc. at the Ag. Auditorium. I've heard it's an amazing peak into food production in the US and a must see. But be warned it'll change the way you look at food and eat!

Keep posted and thank you.

Crazy Days at the Farmers Market!

2009-07-24T12:00:00.000-06:00

It's Crazy Days in downtown Laramie. The little shops have their booths and ballons set up to sell their wares. So come down gets some good deals along with your veggies.

Yesterday was a blast at the farm. My Aunt Barbie and her grandson Miles are here from Brookings, SD and Ricky's good friend Tommy (UW Alumni) from Riverton drove down to help pick at the farm. My sister Sony was there and my mom, Sheila Bird, made a fabulous lunch for the troops. Sarah and Nick came down with us from Laramie.

We picked, picked, picked all day. It was hot but with a nice breeze. We had our two dogs Gabby and Kuma, my sisters two dogs, Selah and Tucker, mom's border collie Mesa and Aunt Barbies sheltie, Diego playing in thier swimming pool.

We brought a lot of yummy things up for you...but no tomatoes, green beans, chili peppers, or eggplant till next week. Oh and patty pan summer squash too. But here is what we will have:

fresh basil, broccoli, red and green cabbage (we can always cut them smaller for you too), kale, chard, collard greens, yellow zucchini squash, some cucumbers so come early, fennel, limited amount of romaine and green leaf lettuce (it's getting to hot for them), yukon and red potatoes, radishes, walla walla and sisku sweet onions, baby pearl grilling onions, carrots, chiogga beets (red and white strip bulleyes middle), spinach, and some fresh herbs parsley, dill and cilantro.

We hope to see you there. Next week we'll have a large amount of green and yellow wax beans, cucumbers, and different varieties of summer squash. Tomatoes if we can keep the birds out of them. We've purchased some plastic toy snakes from Scott at Atmosphere as we don't want to use netting because the birds get hung up in them. But we have a lot of different varieties of tomatoes so check back.

Thank you for supporting our local farm. We grow in Waverly so that we can bring more to you but we live, shop and eat in Laramie so the money stays here in our local area. Thank you for supporting chemical-free, sustainably grown agriculture as it's better for you, your family and our environment.

July 10th Jubilee Days Farmers Market

2009-07-10T10:48:00.001-06:00

Hello veggie lovers!

Well with all the rain, sunshine and finally heat we have vegetables. Ricky and Sarah Dahlberg(full time helper and friend) have been very busy at the farm planting, planting, planting. We are shocked with all that we have. Even Mesa, Sheila Birds's border collie, is enjoying the bounty and having a cabbage snack.

Friday July 10th we'll have:

romaine head lettuce, red leaf lettuce, kale, chard, mizuna greens, spinach, beets (red ace and chiogga), purple top turnips, 3 types of radish (including black radish), kholrabi, broccoli, green head cabbage, new potatoes, basil, scallions, snow peas and shell peas. Next week look for green beans!

Downtown will be busy, but fun! We hope to see you down there! We'll be in front of Atmosphere Mountainworks. Come by and see us: Ricky, Danielle, Jodie and Nick and Scott and his two new puppies: Zip and Skeeter.

Again thank you for supporting your local Laramie growers! Have a fun, safe weekend!

FIRST FARMERS MARKET '09

2009-07-03T09:22:00.000-06:00

Hungry for Greens?

We have them, lots of them!

We hope to see you all today, come rain or shine, at the first market of the season! We'll be at our usual spot on 2nd in front of Citrus Salon.

Here's what we'll have:

Beautiful heads of Red Leaf Lettuce and Romaine
Spinach, Kale, Chard, Arugula, Green & Purple Mizuna, Green & Purple Spicy Mustard Greens
Turnips, Beets, Radishes & Scallions
Basil, Oregano, Cilantro & Fennel
Kholrabi

Come down and support your local farms.

Eat Local, Buy Local, Be Local!

Wet Soggy Spring, We Love It!

2009-06-15T15:57:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone,

Hope this finds you enjoying the rain, green, bird sounds and all that fresh oxygenated air! It's been wet in Laramie and wet in Waverly where our farm is. Ricky today was under a tornado watch down there. Luckily our neighbor and farmland owner, Tom, was keeping an eye on the sky to round up the workers and shuffle them to his basement if needed.

We are still planting as it's been to wet to get it all in. But things are taking off. Once the sun shines again the temperatures go up it'll be wonderful.

We will be delivering spinach, whole head lettuces, and bunch radishes to the Big Hollow Food Co-op on Tuesday June 16th. Look for chard and kale later in the week. We will also be delivery to Sweet Melissa's Vegetarian Cafe on a more regular basis.

So please support local by buying local! Have a great week everyone. The site will continue to be updated with info and pictures so please check back. And again thank you for all the support!

Check out this fun website on eating local, sustainable chemical-free food: http://www.sustainabletable.org/home.php

Raw Turnip Salad

4 raw turnips washed, peeled and grated
1/8 cup olive oil
1/8 cup lemon juice or more to taste
small handful of either dill, cilantro or basil chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all together and enjoy!

Michael Pollan in Boulder May 21st

2009-04-07T08:42:00.001-06:00

FYI:

Boulder Bookstore with be hosting Michael Pollan, author of Ominivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food on Thursday, May 21st at 7:30 pm. The event will be held at Unity Church (2855 Folsom St.). Tickets are $10, call 303-447-2074, stop by the store, or buy your tickets online : http://boulderbookstore.booksense.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp

Waiting for the snow to melt!

2009-04-05T13:01:00.000-06:00

The farm received about 6 inches of fresh snow on Friday night, yippee! We have about a foot in Laramie. Fed Ex delivered a box of seed potatoes on Friday afternoon; so planting will begin in the next couple of weeks. My mom said robins are covering the fence around the corral in anticipation of fat juicy worms and bugs. It does resemble the Mutts' comic above.

Ricky and I attended the Laramie Local Food Gathering at the Laramie Plains Civic Center on April 4th. It was a pretty good turnout considering the blizzard like conditions and closed roads leading into Laramie all day. There were interesting discussions and a wonderful lunch provided. Unfortunately, we did not set up a booth if you were looking for us. What a great opportunity to meet other local growers and people interested in supporting local, clean food. Thank you to all who came out in the cold and snow, and especially to those who put the event on!

I definately want chickens after attending the Backyard Chicken discussion. We have a Can o' Worms in our basement; however they don't eat very fast, and are very shy and messy to clean up after.

We will be at the farm later this week so I'll post pictures of what the farm looks like now. Hopefully our cover crops will be coming up with the snow and sun.

Eat your spring greens!

Rick's Favorite Chard!

Saute garlic in olive oil in cast iron frying pan. Add clean/dried off leaves of chard, mustard greens, etc and saute, turning over with salad pinchers until wilted. Top with Gomasio (sold at Co-op from Eden or make your own using 1/4 cup raw sesame seeds toasted in dry pan on low heat till they almost pop, cool and then toss with salt and pulse lightly in coffee grinder to open up seeds) and/or add brewers yeast for a cheesy flavor. Great for breakfast with eggs or anytime!

New Food Bill Heading to Congress Could Outlaw Farms Like Ours

2009-03-12T08:51:00.000-06:00

Dear Fellow Veggies,

Please click on the link to review the new food safety modernization act that is heading to Congress.

Unfortunately Sheila Bird Farms falls under two of their categories. As a food processor and also as a food production facility.

Obviously we are concerned about food safety but the possible new regulatory framework may make it too expensive to remain a going concern. Which of course is the goal of the supporters of the bill, large agribusiness companies. For instance we may be forced to build a special building and install expensive washing equipment. No more bringing veggies to market in coolers. The unfortunate part of the bill is that the rules are yet to be made, which leaves the rulemaking to some potentially influenced individual or group of individuals.

The regulations will encompass all aspects from seed production to market. We are deeply concerned that government will now intervene in your local farmers markets. This act encompasses ALL those that sell ANY kind of food at the farmers markets. There are no exceptions for "small" or "organic". Just the open-air venue may be potentially deemed hazardous. Remember the rules are yet to be made. Certainly if a food borne illness is traced back to a farmers market sometime in the future, you can kiss the whole farmers market idea goodbye. Potentially it could even affect selling produce to friends in the backyard.

Contact your congress people.

Wyoming

Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) 307-777-7434

State Legislature Links

Sen. Mike Enzi (R) Fax: 202-228-0359

Sen. John Barrasso (R) Fax: 202-224-1724

Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-At Large) Fax: 202-225-3057

Stay tuned.

We’ll post more when we can.

Here are some links for your perusal:

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h875/text

http://blog.friendseat.com/rosa-delauro-hates-small-farms/

Please pass these links along to whoever you think may be interested.

Cheers, Ricky and Danielle

Is it spring yet?

2009-03-10T07:22:00.000-06:00

Hello fresh produce lovers!

Ricky and I are gearing up for another year at Sheila Bird Farms in Waverly, CO. We are creating this blog in hopes that it will help all of you keep connected to what we are doing and to your food. It is my hope that we will be able to keep you updated weekly as to what is going on at the farm and what veggies will be available at Big Hollow Food Co-op and the farmers market come July.

Ricky and I have been ordering seeds, potatoes and farm tools all winter long. Dreaming of the fresh spring greens; chard, arugula, mustard, Asian and baby lettuces that will cleanse and tone our organs from the heavy foods of winter.

Ricky has already started some baby seedlings in the greenhouse in Laramie and they are about a centimeter tall. On Saturday, March 7th my brother-in-law, Jud, pulled out the tractor from it's long winter nap and rotatilled the farm plot.

We are incorporating ground cover this spring. We spent a great deal of time pulling weeds last year (way too much time); so we are in the process of planting cover crops such as clover, and alfalfa mixes. Then we'll clear a strip and plant in our rows. We'll keep you posted on how that is working!

Waking up to snow this morning I realize we have a bit of winter left. However, as farmers we are thankful for all the moisture that we get. We plan on planting potatoes in April so keep checking back in as we'll have some more news! As the farm gears up you'll be able to check here weekly to see what we are havesting and will have offered at the market.

Hope you all had a good winter and thank you again for your support last year! We are excited for this year and will continue to bring you local, chemical free food from organic seedlings.

love,

danielle, ricky and sheila