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Farm Fresh Weekly Apples
This week Daniel, David and I picked apples with the help of some friends. We have contracted all the apples from Bill and Alice Stoughton so are picking, sorting, and pressing cider. These are red delicious that have not had any sprays or chemicals applied to them in the last 15 years. They are quite nice since we have had a cool, wet summer. There are some hail spots on them and an occasional worm hole. But oh the taste -- fresh off the tree. We have nice table apples in the sales room for $12.50 a peck (1/4 bushel), cooking and baking (not quite as nice) for $30/bushel and cider for $6.00/half gallon. If you want a large quantity let us know before you come so we can have them ready. Fall customer appreciation party
October 4 is the scheduled date for our fall party. This year will feature an apple theme. Mark your calendars and look for more information to come.
Glass jars needed
We are in the need of both pint and quart canning jars this year. If you have any that you no longer want, please drop them off on the shelves behind the sales room. It has been a great produce year and we are running out. CSA
We have had some interest in our Customer Supported Agriculture (CSA) idea and more feedback is coming in. If you haven't responded, we would love to hear from you and will keep you posted as to what we decide.
Stories from the farm
Last week I talked about snakes in the grass.. This week, I am standing on a ladder in the top of an apple tree picking apples and the thought occurs to me, is this the way Eve was tempted? Well, probably not, but the apples sure were tempting to me; except I was already full of them. Normally I can eat alot of fruit when I am picking it, but about 4 of the biggest juiciest apples you can find are all I can handle.
Healthy food for healthy living. Daniel King and Kenneth King
JaKo, Inc.
6003 E. Eales Rd
Hutchinson, KS 67501
www.jakoinc.com
620.663.1470
Farm Fresh Weekly The joys of being creative
Last week I was in a quandary. Judy wanted sausage for a recipe she was making and we had butchered an old cow that was too tough to cut steaks and roasts out of. When talking to the butcher I discovered that he had a recipe and label for all-beef sausage that only had salt and pepper for spices. Voila. This week we will have both bulk and link German style sausage in the sales room. It will be made from our ground beef and the above spices. Give it a try and tell us what you think.
Stories from the farm
We have been blessed this year with many snakes in the pastures. They eat lots of smaller rodents and add diversity to our wildlife. They don't really bother me. In fact, I am fascinated with how they move and eat, so can spend time watching them with pleasure. When I go get the cows in the morning I always carry a walking stick as it comes in handy for many uses. So the other morning when I was moving the water tank for the cows, I took the cover off the casing at ground level that houses the hydrant and inside were 2 snakes curled up. I gently took my walking stick and stirred them up so that they took off trough the grass. I finished hooking up the water tank and as I was out rounding up the cows the question hit me. How do snakes slither through the grass after dark without bumping into things? It was a nice pondering question.
Healthy food for healthy living. Daniel King and Kenneth King
JaKo, Inc.
6003 E. Eales Rd
Hutchinson, KS 67501
www.jakoinc.com
620.663.1470
Farm Fresh Weekly Beeves keeps growing
We have several more beeves that are nearing the finishing stage. We have a few sides available for sale this fall but let us know soon if you are interested. When these are butchered we will not have any more sides available until next spring. We will continue to have cuts of beef available in the sales room all winter.
Stew chickens
We butchered some older hens this summer which we guessed were nearing the end of their egg production. These birds are available in the sales room and have an excellant taste. Cook them all day in the crook pot and they will be wonderful for salads or soups. Frozen eggs
This summer we cracked eggs, beat them up, and froze them 12 to a bag. What a laugh it was for our family breaking eggs as fast as we could. We were not mechanized but got pretty good at it. These frozen eggs are now available in the freezer compartment above the milk for $3.00/bag or the same price as a dozen of eggs. They make great scrambled eggs and are convenient for cooking. 1 egg equals 1/4 cup.
Stories from the farm
This week we were again reminded that even though we make plans we need to stay flexible. We had planned on planting grass but the seed didn't come in. We were going to make butter but the days didn't work out right. Kind of trivial things when we compare them to the fact that a good friend, a godly man, went home to be with his Maker due to a massive heart attack last Monday. We are saddened by the loss, but also filled with joy to celebrate a life well lived. May we always be prepared to meet our Maker.
Healthy food for healthy living. Daniel King and Kenneth King
JaKo, Inc.
6003 E. Eales Rd
Hutchinson, KS 67501
www.jakoinc.com
620.663.1470
Farm Fresh Weekly Is there interest out there for vegetables?
We have been thinking about trying a CSA (customer supported agriculture) next summer to grow vegetables. Here is how most CSA's work: The customer pays a set fee up front (to help the farmer purchase his needed inputs) and in return, receives a bag of vegetables every week during the growing season. There are rewards and risks involved for both parties, but generally the rewards outweigh the risks.
We would like to explore the option of a CSA, but need to have a critical mass of customers on board. Are at least 25 customers willing to commit to this experiment? Since this is a new venture for us, those customers involved would help us determine the up front fee, what vegetables they like and how we go about distributing them.
In future years, we expect our CSA production to include fruit (when Daniel's orchard begins producing). These customers would then be first in line to either have fruit added to the CSA or purchase it separately when it is available. If you are interested, let us know. To clarify, this does not replace the way we grow and sell current products. This new venture would be in addition to current product supply. Farm changes
We continue to try and make the farm more user friendly for both us and the cattle. This week we will be burying some more water line and building more fence. We are very fortunate to be able to do all the work ourselves and have access to the equipment we need.
Stories from the farm
We hosted a steak tasting party the other evening and had a great time. We invited our butcher and our cooperative beef producers. We had rib eye steaks (our standard cut for tenderness checking) from grain finished beef furnished by our butcher, several known good grass finished cattle, one from a steer that had broken a leg and had to be butchered, and one each from two cows that didn't breed back (one was 3 years old and the other 6 years old). All the steaks were very good except the one from the animal that had broken a leg. The grass finished steaks had much more flavor than the grain finished one. A great time was had by all for the evening.
Healthy food for healthy living. Daniel King and Kenneth King
JaKo, Inc.
6003 E. Eales Rd
Hutchinson, KS 67501
www.jakoinc.com
620.663.1470
Farm Fresh Weekly Health Dept. update
Last week I sent out a notice about our being scrutinized by the local "health" department. Many of you have ask since then what is happening. Well I had ask the lady that called to fill out a "Public Servants Questionnaire" before I could answer her questions. Also the lady whose son got sick called the health department the next day to relay the fact that her elderly parents had drank some of the milk from that gallon and they had not gotten sick. So to date I have not heard from the lady at the health department and I doubt that I ever will.
A big thank you to those who wrote to let me know that you had been drinking milk from that time and did not get sick. I would have been well prepared if they had decided to ask me questions.
Stories from the farm
One day last week I was helping a friend on his irrigation system. When we got done we went out to his orchard and had a couple of peaches and plums off the tree. He was tired of them and wasn't going to pick anymore so I brought a bushel home. We have been canning peaches since but the pantry is looking nice with canned beans, pickles, peaches, plums, catchup, spaghetti sauce and tomatoes. Ah good food for a long winter.
Healthy food for healthy living. Daniel King and Kenneth King
JaKo, Inc.
6003 E. Eales Rd
Hutchinson, KS 67501
www.jakoinc.com
620.663.1470
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