Grassland Poultry's Kim Kiss with Roger the Magnificent, one of the Sommerlad breeding roosters. Photo by Mrs Feather, taken at the farm on 26 September.
Today we ruminate briefly about supporting our farmers through thick and thin and we go weak at the knees at the beauty of the gear that Sift Produce brings our way. More below.
But first, a brief roundup of what you need to know.
Fresh Grassland Sommerlad chooks arrived yesterday - sorry to those disappointed last week because we sold out.
Fresh veal and beef offal - liver, kidney, tongue and tail (bio-dynamic Franckin's Angus veal and organic Ashrose Belted Galloway beef).
Sift Produce is here tomorrow morning from 8.00 am with a gorgeous array of vegetables and the odd Ladybird beetle.
On Sunday 20 October, join us for spit-roasted lamb and pork at Cornersmith's corner at the Marrickville Festival . We're also doing a sausage making demo at 11.00 am.
YEAR OF THE PASTURED PIG ~ PORK GIVEAWAY!
To celebrate The Year of the Pastured Pig, for six months from May to October we're giving away one sixth of a whole, NSW pastured pig. Buy a Feather and Bone box to be in the running to win.
We'll draw the October winners on 1 November.
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The more boxes you buy the better your chances. Go for it!
For better or worse...
This is one of those moments where we look you in the eye (so Big Brother) and ask you to remember that for every perfectly marbled chop or flawless salad leaf, there are times when things don't go to plan and that's when the farmers we represent need us the most. (Thanks to Georgie from Sift Produce for sharing this story.)
On Tuesday, Living Earth Farm, who supply Sift Produce with gorgeous vegetables, experienced a 10 minute hail storm that destroyed months of planning and work and fields of soft, leafy greens, severely compromising their planned output for the next month or so and costing them dearly in lost income. It's not something that those of you buying from Sift Produce tomorrow morning will notice because the offer will be as gorgeous as ever. But, over the next month, it will have a real impact on what's available.
Many of us think of Spring as a time of promise and new growth, but for farmers round these parts, particularly in this drought, Spring is also a time of nerve-wrackingly unpredictable weather events. One day it's 30 degrees and the next there's a frost. This is less of an issue for livestock farmers, but for produce farmers it's a difficult dance. Of course, as always, those who have judiciously fostered the overall health of their ecosystems and planned for long-term sustainability and health will bounce back the fastest, but that doesn't mean it's any easier to negotiate the roller coaster. What they don't need at this point is fair weather friends.
So this is our opportunity to take our cue from their long-term, holistic commitment to their land and echo that in our relationship with them by turning up to buy their produce, week in and week out - supporting them through thick and thin, for better or for worse.
Those of you who've bought Living Earth vegetables from Sift Produce know how remarkable their produce is - it's so vital and colourful it seems to burst out of the box and it keeps in the fridge for weeks. But as well as the freshness and incredible flavour, you get a sort of aesthetic high from it too because it's so beautiful to behold. There's a lot to be said for the push to embrace organically-produced, virtuous fruit and vegetables that are naturally flawed and aren't supermarket-shelf perfect. But it's also true that the archetypal apple or artichoke looks as beautiful and perfect as it does because it's pumping with nutrients that optimise productive health and terpenes that keep predatory insects and diseases at bay and it's borne out of complex, cranking soil and an ecosystem bursting with vitality.
As Living Earth demonstrates, organically-grown produce can look just as explosively healthy and gorgeous as it tastes. Which is a serious boon for those of us who like to put a bunch of artichokes in a vase on the table to admire for a few days before eating them...
Sift Produce will be at Feather and Bone tomorrow (Saturday 12 October) from 8.00 am to midday with loads of Living Earth produce.
Join Friends of Feather and Bone
We moderate it but the rest is up to you.
We've been thinking a lot lately about how food is a wonderful way of binding and strengthening communities, large and small, the more diverse the better. The more we reclaim knowledge and share ideas, the stronger, more tolerant and open-minded we become. The way we see it, we're no different from the networked communities of microbes, fungi, plants, insects and animals on the farms we work with - the more closely we're connected, the more healthy and resilient we are.
We'd love you to post photos of the food you cook, your recipes for eating the whole animal, your successes, your failures, your concerns and anything that you think will improve our collective understanding and make the rest of us weep with laughter (that bit's important). Any useful tips on taming feral children, preferably food-related, are also welcome.
CHEW THE FAT Read our blog for stories from the farms, produce and event news, ruminations on value and trust, a few dodgy jokes and the occasional rant about food labelling. Sometimes we talk about our pets - chickens, children, dog.
BUTCHERY HOURS Tuesday to Friday: 10.00 am ~ 5.00 pm
Saturday: 8.00 am ~ 4.00 pm Parking
If you're planning to come by car, please park in front of Feather and Bone, Unit 8. If there's no room in front of our place, please park on the street just outside the front gate. We and our neighbours thank you for your consideration.
