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30 Dec 2012

The Best Recipes of 2012

The last hours of 2012 are now upon us. It has been an exciting year here on Zweber Farms. We had floods, droughts, good times and bad. What I remember most about 2012 is the food. I had some great successes in the kitchen this year (and some undocumented failures).

Let us look back at the best recipes of 2012 from Zweber Farms.

5: Easy Chicken Salad

When the summer got hot and steamy this July, I did not want to turn on the oven. So instead I roasted a chicken in my roaster oven in the garage and then made this easy and healthy chicken salad.

4: Crockpot Pork Spare Ribs

organic, pork ribs, slow cooker, pork for sale, mn, minnesota, family farm

When the first crisp air of autumn hits the farm all I want is a big crock-pot full of juicy BBQ ribs. This recipe for crock-pot spare ribs it super simple and very tasty.

3: Juicy Pork Roast

Pinners really liked this recipe. I cannot blame them. With only three ingredients it is really easy and makes your home smell so, so wonderful!

2. Chicken Enchiladas with White Sauce

Just looking at that photo makes me hungry!! This 30 minute recipe is a great and hearty way to use up left over Zweber Farms roasted chicken.

1. Oven Baked Hamburgers

After years of not being able to use our charcoal grill out of fear that one of our three kids would get hurt, I tried hamburger in the oven. They turned out perfect and juicy! Now this is the only way I make hamburger (unless Tim is around to help with the grill)

Thank you to everyone who read our blog, pinned our recipes and purchased our meat this year! 2012 was an exciting year on our farm, but we would be nowhere without our customers and followers.

May you have a Blessed 2013!

~The Zweber Family

Zweber Farms | No comments | Tags: 2012, Beef, best recipes, chicken, eggs, family farm, for sale, organic, pork

19 Dec 2012

Farming • Raising Animals

White Christmas on Farm

“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” Cannot you just hear Bing Crosby’s deep voice singing that Christmas classic song? I LOVE that song and especially LOVE that movie. My Grandpa and Grandma Baregi had it when I was little. I use to watch with them when I spent the night. When my Grandma moved out of her house she gave me her VHS copy. It wasn’t until I was much older that I got the DVD, so I didn’t have to hook up the old VCR each Christmas. Ahh memories.

It looks like we will have a white Christmas this year. Last year we were pretty brown, but in 2010 we had record breaking snow falls around Christmas. Remember when we had 30 inches of snow by Christmas 2010 and the cows took a walk in the woods?

Snow on a farm is a very good thing. First of all it provides a lot of moisture when it melts in the spring time. This year we started out in a moisture deficit, due to the lack of snow in the previous winter. When snow melts it fills our rivers, lakes and water tables for later use.

Snow also has another function, protection. Grasses and especially alfalfa don’t like the really extreme colds. Most of them are pretty tough, but those -30 degree days are not healthy for them. Snow is an excellent insulator. Often if it snows before we get a really really hard freeze, our soils will stay relatively warm all winter. If the grasses are not protected, they often die and we need to replant in the spring. That could delay how fast our cows go out to pasture.

In addition, if we don’t get snow, that often means it wasn’t cold enough for snow (though not always the case). Cold is a good thing. It kills off bugs and diseases and gives us a fresh start in the spring. If we have a warm winter, we will often see calves with more illness come spring (because all the bad bugs weren’t killed off).

Lastly, snow is just so much fun and beautiful!! It is pretty sad when we don’t have snow.

minnesota, meat for sale, family farm, organic, kids, farm kids

Don’t they look sad

Much more fun.

I made this snow angle in front of the heifer shed while helping with chores Christmas 2009.

Will you be having a white Christmas? If you are a snow lover, what are your favorite snow activities? We love snowshoeing as a family.

As you prepare for the holiday festivities, don’t forget to pick up some free range eggs for all your recipes.

Attn: We have had a few unexpected openings in our custom beef packages. We have two openings that need to be finalized by Friday. Call us today to order. Lisa will walk you through the entire process (steaks, roast, stir fry meat, etc). Also, giving the gift of beef is a great idea. Split a 1/2 a beef with a family member. Our beef sells for $2.65/lb plus processing.

Zweber Farms | No comments | Tags: Beef, chicken, eggs, family farm, grass-fed, meat for sale, minnesota, MN, organic, pictures, pork, white christmas farm

02 May 2012

Chickens

I am molting! I am molting!

Well, not me…the hens! I can imagine them saying “I am molting, I am molting” in their best hen impersonation of the Wicked Witch of the West voice.

Right now many of our hens are in their molting process. This is completely natural. Each year hens will molt their feathers and get new ones. They become a little unsightly while this is happening.

During this process most of the hens will stop laying eggs for a couple months. This means we may not be able to fill all of our egg requests during this time. The hens are laying about half of what they normally lay. If you want to buy eggs make sure to call ahead just to be safe.

Happy molting!

Zweber Farms | No comments | Tags: Chickens, eggs, family farm, free range, hens, local food, minnesota, MN

17 Aug 2011

Chickens • Family

Wordless Wednesday: How to Catch a Chicken

Emily

Zweber Farms is a 4th generation family operated organic dairy. We are proud Organic Valley farmer members and sell our milk under that label. We also specialize in sustainably raised beef, pork and chicken and sell it directly to customers in Minnesota.Visit our website to learn more, www.zweberfarms.com. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitterand YouTube.

Zweber Farms | No comments | Tags: chicken, child, children, eggs, Family, hen, kid, kids, wordless wednesday

07 Jul 2011

Chickens • Raising Animals

The Chicken Hotel

Yesterday, I posted a picture of a project Tim and Steve are working on this summer. Thanks to Cassy and Bree for guessing correctly on yesterday’s post

So what is it you may ask? It will be our new “Chicken Hotel.” The laying hens have over stayed their welcome in the yard and are being put out to pasture. It is very understandable that Lisa is growing tired of them messing up her mulch and pooping on the deck.

Decades before Joel Salatin became famous in movies such as Food Inc and Fresh, he was better know by his book Pasture Poultry Profits. Back in the 1990′s Jon and Lisa had read his books and attended a lecture he gave on the subject. The farm started raising chickens on pasture using Salatin’s methods. Our broiler production has grown from a few hundred to between 700 and 900 annually.

Now we are employing another one of Salatin’s methods: the egg mobile, or as we call it, the Chicken Hotel. We are converting an old hay rack into a portable living and roosting quarters for the laying hens. During the day, the hens will be let out into one of our pastures to free range, eat bugs and fertilize the soil. At night, they will be protected in the “Chicken Hotel” from predators. This hotel will be a complete mobile unit complete with nesting boxes, roosts, feeders and waters.

Salatin’s Egg Mobiles

The hotel will not be done soon enough. The hens have really made themselves at home in the yard. We are thinking that their first pasture visit will have to be far away from the house…so that they don’t return.

We are nearing the finishing time for our first batch of meat chickens. If you are interested in purchasing chickens pre-cut please contact Lisa ASAP.

Emily

Zweber Farms | One comment | Tags: chicken, chicken tractor, egg mobile, eggs, factory farm, family farm, food inc, fresh, hens, joel salatin, pasture

29 Apr 2011

Chickens • Raising Animals

Free ranging hens (at least for today)

Finally we are having a sunny and warm day. We let the hens out of their normal hen run to do a little free ranging. They seem to really like the dirt under our lilacs.
Need eggs? Give us a call or stop by to buy some.

Emily

Zweber Farms | No comments | Tags: eggs, farm, free ranging, hens, organic

02 Mar 2011

Chickens

Wordless Wednesday-Caring for the Hens

The boys have been helping me gather eggs and care for the hens the last couple of days. They are GREAT helpers.

Emily

zweberfarms | No comments | Tags: Chickens, children, eggs, organic

05 Oct 2010

Chickens

The Ugly Chicken-Story of an Outcast Chicken

Last week we sent our last batch of chickens of the season to the butchers. In that batch there was one chicken that was really tiny, and would have been considered a Cornish game hen at best. So her life got spared and now she is in with the layers.

She is quite the sight. All the beautiful buff and red layers gather together and strut their stuff. The poor Cornish is an outcast in her stark white feathers. Chickens are very territorial and it took them about four days until they “accepted” her in their chick clique. Poor “Whitey” was not allowed in the roost where she wanted and was left alone all day. Sometimes chickens will attack a new chicken when it is introduced to the flock. Luckily, our layers behaved and just gave her the cold shoulder.

Whitey was afraid of everyone for awhile and wouldn’t let me take her picture.

Whitey has learned to escape the fenced in chicken area. She comes and goes as she wants. This has given her some clout among the flock. The fenced area is more to keep predators out and not necessarily keep the chickens in.

We we probably allow Whitey to grow up and become a “layer” hen just like the rest of the group. Cornish Cross chickens are not known for their egg production and she will most likely lay an egg every two days. Most layers will lay one egg a day. Due to the fact that her ear lobes are red, her eggs will probably be brown. It will be interesting to see if she ever “developes” like a true Cornish with large breasts, or if she will be more slim because she is on a different diet.

The other night, a racoon managed to get into the chicken house. We thought that he had eaten one of the layers, but thankfully, she was just out for a stroll. Maybe the electric fence doesn’t work all that well keeping anyone in or out?

Emily