Cream Legbars 2016

We've finally selected the Cream Legbar cockerel for our 2016 breeding pen. He is a rather nice Rees line bird hatched in March of 2015. Number 47, now dubbed "Darcy" has a nice balance of lighter hackles and saddle feathers with good dark barring on his breast and body. This balance of light and dark along with the deep chestnut that I feel distinguishes this breed from other barred birds is distributed on his shoulders. The points on his comb are nicely spaced and he carries himself with style. His legs are deep yellow legs and he has a strong, long back. Darcy's tail angle is the best I've seen so far; it's a trait I hope he passes along to his offspring. He also has fairly well tucked wings. Most of the US Rees birds tend to have low and 'lazy' wing carriage. Darcy's comb is a bit floppy and his breast needs filling out that should come with maturity. He is on the small side, but overall I believe he will compliment the six pullets (3 Graystem line and 3 Rees line) he will be covering. Once we've hatched around 100 chicks from this pen, we will be offering hatching eggs. Older birds won't be available until later in the year since these birds change quite a bit as they reach maturity. If you don't have an incubator and would like day old chicks instead, please contact us by email. Introducing "DARCY"

EGGS, EGGS, EGGS!

With spring finally upon us, the hens have gone into all out egg production.   So now is the time we begin looking for great egg recipes.    This is one of our favorites!  Not quite a quiche, but not quite a dough…The Impossible Ham-and-Cheese Pie.    It comes from Cook’s Country, 2013 Season.   You can substitute any cheese or meat, add mushrooms, spinach and other veggies, but the original is still THE BEST!

Set rack on lowest level and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp  unsalted butter, softened

2 Tbsps unsalted butter, melted

3 Tbsps finely grated, REAL Parmesan cheese (the canned stuff won’t work)

4 oz. chopped or finely cubed cooked ham (deli or pre-packaged works too)

4 scallions minced

½ c (2.5 oz.) all-purpose flour

¾ tsp fresh baking powder

½ tsp fresh grated pepper (or to taste)

¼ tsp salt

1 cup half and half

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/8 tsp fresh ground nutmeg (or to taste)

Use softened butter to grease a 9 inch pie plate.  Coat evenly with the grated Parmesan.

Combine Gruyere, ham and scallions in a large bowl until well mixed.   Gently distribute the mixture evenly in the pie plate so as not to disturb the Parmesan coating too much.   Using the same now empty bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, pepper.  In another bowl, gently mix together eggs, half and half, melted butter, mustard and nutmeg.   Add to the flour mixture, whisking until smooth.   Slowly pour the batter over the cheese and ham mixture in the pie plate.

Bake until pie is light golden brown and the filling is set, 30 to 35 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.  It will deflate slightly.  Slice into wedges and serve warm.   

This pie is crustless.  The support is provided by the crisp baked Parmesan on the sides and bottom.  Delicious!   Off to enjoy my breakfast now :)

Hot Weather is HERE!

It looks like Central Virginia has gone from winter straight into summer.   Eighty degree days this weekend, but hot or not, it was time to get the field work done.

The corn went in on Thursday while the other vegetable beds were cleared for planting.   This  year we decided to put up fencing that should keep the chickens and (hopefully) deer out of the market gardens.  

Carrots, onions and potatoes were set out in our half barrel system for root crops.  We like to keep edible root crops in sterile soils each year.   Netting is needed over these too or the chickens will harvest the greens long before maturity.

The cover crops have done well keeping the weeds under control.    Can you find the four leafers in these two clusters of clover?

How 'bout now?

The chickens have moved into production gear.  We're getting plenty of eggs for Easter.   $4.00 per dozen for local pickup/delivery.   The quails are just starting to lay.  We should see more of their eggs as the season progresses.

 

And Ashe says HAPPY EASTER!

Eggs for Breakfast

 Sat down to breakfast and SUNSHINE this morning.   It seems so long  since we've seen sunny days here.  We were getting ready to build an ark!    The lack of morning sunshine made me forget just how golden our hen's fresh eggs are. 

With the sun streaming in through the glass and across the table I couldn't resist taking this picture of the breakfast plate.  A "Blue Plate Special" of scrambled eggs so rich and gold next to the buttered toast!  Yum!

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Welcome to Graystem Farm!

It's been so wet here the past few weeks, we're debating building an Ark.

Several of our hens have gone broody with a corresponding reduction in egg production.   We are also gathering eggs for a bi-annual Avian Influenza testing.    The chicks are adorable but it means we do not currently have eggs for sale.   If you are interested in purchasing some chicks, stop by the Powhatan Tractor Supply event on July 13th.

The herb gardens are going well.   Oregano and garlic chives are in bloom.   The basil is bushing up while the thyme and sages are spreading.  Spearmint is running rampant.    And we have our first little "giant" pumpkin.

We've had some beautiful visitors to our wildflower gardens.  Unfortunately, all of this rain has kept the bees from leaving their hives.

It doesn't look like we'll have tomatoes for the Fourth of July holiday but the bacon is ready and waiting in the freezer for those first BLT sandwiches!   Hope you enjoy your celebrations!