The current CSA season runs February - June 2012. The CSA shares will be delivered monthly for five months.

An important difference between our deliveries and some vegetable CSAs such is that North Mountain Pastures (NMP) will not leave any shares for customers to pick up. Because this meat is frozen, it is important that our product is in our hands or yours at all times. We will hand your shares directly to you. We will be at each of the South Central PA delivery points for one hour, 5:00p to 6:00p, and at Washington, D.C. sites throughout the four hour farmers' market.

Note:  Please contact us for special arrangements if you can't make one of our delivery times.

If you miss your delivery, please contact us so that we can arrange to bring your share to another delivery point or to hold it until the next month. If you want to change your delivery point, please contact us within one week's notice.

Camp Hill

Delivery day: First or Second Thursday of the Month
Time: 5-6pm
Delivery dates: 2/9, 3/8, 4/5, 5/3, 6/7

[Private residence]
1908 High St.
Camp Hill, PA  17011

Carlisle

Delivery day: Second or Third Tuesday of the Month
Time: 5-6pm
Delivery dates:  2/14, 3/13, 4/10, 5/8, 6/12

[Private residence]
242 Walnut St.
Carlisle, PA  17013

Harrisburg

Delivery day: Last or 2nd to last Wednesday of the month
Time: 5-6pm
Delivery dates: 2/29, 3/28, 4/25, 5/23, 6/20

[Private residence]
3515 Schoolhouse Ln.
Harrisburg, PA  17109

Hershey

Delivery day: Third or Fourth Wednesday of the month
Time: 5-6pm
Delivery dates: 2/22, 3/21, 4/18, 5/16, 6/13

[Private residence]
1051 W. Areba Ave
Hershey, PA 17033

Mechanicsburg

Delivery day: First Tuesday of the month
Time: 5-6pm
Delivery dates: 2/7, 3/6, 4/3, 5/1, 6/5

The Rosemary House
120 S. Market St. (Parking lot is behind The Rosemary House, in an alley off W. Simpson St.)
Mechanicsburg, PA  17055

Middletown

Delivery day: Wednesday
Time: 5-6pm
Delivery dates: 

[Private residence]
220 Keystone Dr.
Middletown, PA  17057

Takoma Park Farmer's Market

Delivery day: last Sunday of the month
Time: 10am-2pm
Delivery dates: 2/26, 3/25, 4/29, 5/27, 6/24

Caroll Ave and Laurel Ave

Takoma Park, MD

14th&U Farmer's Market

Delivery day: Saturday
Time: 9am-1pm
Delivery dates: Delivery to 14th&U will start in September 2012

14th St. NW, U St. NW, Washington, DC

Silver Spring Farmer's Market

Delivery day: Saturday
Time: 9am-1pm
Delivery dates: 2/18, 3/17, 4/21, 5/19, 6/16

Georgia Ave and Ellsworth Dr, Silver Spring, MD

Bloomingdale Farmer's Market

Delivery day: Sunday
Time: 10am-2pm
Delivery dates: 5/20, 6/17

1st and R Streets NW, Washington D.C.

Farm Visiting Day - June 23!

Announcing Next CSA Season

• Early Bird Special Share Prices if you Sign Up by May 30th
• New Super Variety Share Add-On : pastured duck, rabbit, wild salmon, & more!

Pork Belly Recipe  

Dear Friends and Customers,

We welcome and celebrate the gorgeous spring weather! Our allergies aren't as happy about it as we are, but nontheless we are glad that the grass is really growing again. The steady gentle rain today promises more green growth.

News from the Farm

Construction on our butcher shop continues. We have finished the installation of the interior walls!  We're using a wallboard that is waterproof and designed for “wash down” facilities such as what ours will be. In order to comply with USDA guidelines for sanitation, everything in the shop must be “wash down”-able, by 180 degree hot water. So we have special lights, special electrical outlets, special wall coverings, and floor drains. We are excited to work in this environment when it is all done, and think the cleanup will be much easier and more thorough.

The broilers have been out on pasture for over a month now, and we have butchered our first two batches. They are carving a path across the meadow that our son Kaj calls “the racetrack”, because it is wide and smooth: pecked and packed down with a thin even layer of manure. Later in the summer, this same path will be brighter green than any of the surrounding field due to the extra nutrients and nitrogen. Raising chickens is good because we enjoy eating chicken, as do most people! However, our second though just as important goal is to improve the pasture and build topsoil. The reason for this is that there is very little nutrient rich topsoil left in most areas that have been farmed for some time like ours. Any crop, including forage for livestock (grass and hay), that is grown there will be sub-optimal until the soil is restored to the proper nutrient levels and biological activity. Fortunately, there is a growing amount of research being done on how exactly to do this, much of it indicating that incorporating livestock on pasture is the ideal and fastest means to that end. The knowledge of both soil conservation and also soil regeneration are necessary if we want to be able to continue to grow healthy food in the future.

Farm Visiting Day

If you haven't done so yet, mark your calendar now for our end of season farm visiting day:

Saturday June 23rd 1-5pm

You and your family and any interested friends are invited to visit the farm for an afternoon of seeing the animals, a guided farm tour by farmer Brooks, hiking the lovely path through the woods, and joining in a potluck feast. If we're lucky, the wild black raspberries that grow all over the farm will be ripe for the picking.

We will be roasting a pig – please bring a dish to share if you can! Children are welcome, please dress kids in clothes that can get dirty and boots for everyone. Also if you will be walking around the farm or picking berries, wear long pants to prevent getting a tick or poison ivy, the ever present pests on the farm!

Directions to the Farm (GPS doesn't always work to our adress):

 From Harrisburg and 83-

Take 322West to the Newport exit for route 34.  Make a Left off of the exit ramp, and go about 3 miles into the town of Newport, crossing over the Juniata River.  Go straight at the 4 way stop, and stay on that road as it bends sharply to the right and turns into Middle Ridge Road.  Go about 5 miles and make a left at Cold Storage Road (just after passing a sign reading Village of Skyline Corner on your right).  We are the first driveway on the left. 

From Carlisle- 

Take 34 North all the way to New Bloomfield.  Make a left at the stop sign/circle of New Bloomfield onto 274 West. In less than a mile, make a right onto Cold Storage Road.  Go about 5 miles, passing signs for Little Buffalo State Park.  Just after a shale pit on your right, we will be the last driveway on the right.  If you get to the stop sign, you went too far. 
 

Announcing Next CSA Season

There are two months left and it is going by quick. We are now taking renewals for next season. The next season will run from July through November 2012.

Receive an early bird discount if you sign up by May 30th!

New Share Add On

We have one new change that we are very excited about: the Super Variety Add-On. If you love your regular meat CSA share, but are an adventurous food lover and occasionally look for an extra something for variety or a special dinner, the Super add-on is for you. Basically, you continue to get your regular share contents, and in addition each month receive a unique item. This extra will be different for each of the five months:

• duck (locally raised on pasture by Brooks' brother)
• wild salmon (wild caught in Alaska by PA purveyors Wild For Salmon)
• goat meat (organically raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures) 
• veal (grassfed humanely raised by North Mountain Pastures)
• rabbit (raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures or another local farm). 

If you have any questions about the CSA shares or add-ons, delivery sites, payment methods or anything at all, don't hesitate to contact us by email at brooks@northmountainpastures.com.

It is not too late to sign up for the remaining deliveries for this season; email us for the pro-rated prices and to sign up for May and/or June. 

We thank you in advance for your continued membership. Thank you for being part of our farm and supporting local agriculture. We hope to see you on June 23rd!

~Brooks and Anna

Pork Belly Recipe

We have given out quite a few pork belly roasts in the past month, and we hope that you have been enjoying them. If you still have one in your freezer, be brave and give this recipe a try – it will be good I promise!

Dong Po Pork Belly

This is a traditional Chinese braised pork belly, which is widely loved as a special dish. Pork is the meat of choice in China. One blog that I found with a good recipe (kitchenoffriends.com) says the following: “A good Dong Po Pork... means the pork must be tender. The sauce must be sweet, savory, and aromatic. The fat must melt in your mouth. And the color of the dish must be appealing.”

A note about the fat: As you may have noticed and are certainly aware, the pork belly is quite fatty and is the cut that is used to make bacon. When you cure the belly and slice it and fry it as bacon, much of the grease comes off in the pan. The same thing happens when you braise it in this recipe. The fat that remains loses some of its greasiness, and becomes quite smooth and palatable, similar to what happens to the fat on a well braised beef short rib. The fat enriches the sauce, and is very satisfying. This dish may be served with rice and greens, and a little goes a long way.

Also keep in mind that pastured pork fat really is different than store bought pork fat. It contains no toxic residues of antibiotics, pesticides, or any chemicals; and it likely contains a high level of omega 3 fatty acids. A healthy dose of natural fat keeps us satiated, is a source or fat soluble vitamins (vit D in particular), aids in the absorption and digestion of protein, and won't make you fat [unless you eat doughnuts with it :) ]. Fat is where the flavor is - and it's good for us- with pastured pork NOT industrial pork!

When I tried this recipe, I had never before eaten this dish. The smells that wafted out of the kitchen were both exotic and amazing. We loved it and hope you do too.

Ingredients:

Pork Belly ~ 2lb chunk
2 “thumb” lengths of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small bunch of scallions, chopped into 1 inch lengths
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 Tablespoons of rapadura or brown sugar
6 Tablespoons of natural soy sauce
2/3 cup shaoxing hua tiao asian rice wine (I could not find this and used the Japanese sake which is not traditional I'm sure, but it came out great as far as I can tell!)
2-4 cups water
1 Star anise (optional)
2 teaspoons cornstarch (optional)

On medium high heat, fry the onion, ginger, and garlic in a wok until fragrant. Add the sugar and stir until it starts to melt. Add the wine and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Rinse off the pork belly in hot water (traditional recipes say to pour scalding water over the pork, but I skipped this and don't think it is necessary), and place in a braising pot with a lid or a crock pot. Pour the prepared sauce (do not strain) over the pork, throw in the star anise if using, and add enough water to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil, and then turn down to lowest possible simmer (low heat on a crockpot). Simmer there for 3-4 hours. When done, gently remove pork pieces (they will be sort of falling apart), and strain sauce. At this point if the sauce is very oily, you may put it in the fridge overnight and remove the solidified fat (lard – save it for frying potatoes!). This step is totally optional, and will create a lighter finish. Bring the sauce to a simmer, and add the cornstarch (mix until smooth with a ¼ cup water first). Stir well until the sauce becomes a shiny sticky glaze (yumm). Serve pieces of the pork belly over rice and spoon over the sauce. Enjoy!

Anna 

Farm Visiting Day - June 23!

Announcing Next CSA Season

• Early Bird Special Share Prices if you Sign Up by May 30th
• New Super Variety Share Add-On : pastured duck, rabbit, wild salmon, & more!

Pork Belly Recipe  

Dear Friends and Customers,

We welcome and celebrate the gorgeous spring weather! Our allergies aren't as happy about it as we are, but nontheless we are glad that the grass is really growing again. The steady gentle rain today promises more green growth.

News from the Farm

Construction on our butcher shop continues. We have finished the installation of the interior walls!  We're using a wallboard that is waterproof and designed for “wash down” facilities such as what ours will be. In order to comply with USDA guidelines for sanitation, everything in the shop must be “wash down”-able, by 180 degree hot water. So we have special lights, special electrical outlets, special wall coverings, and floor drains. We are excited to work in this environment when it is all done, and think the cleanup will be much easier and more thorough.

The broilers have been out on pasture for over a month now, and we have butchered our first two batches. They are carving a path across the meadow that our son Kaj calls “the racetrack”, because it is wide and smooth: pecked and packed down with a thin even layer of manure. Later in the summer, this same path will be brighter green than any of the surrounding field due to the extra nutrients and nitrogen. Raising chickens is good because we enjoy eating chicken, as do most people! However, our second though just as important goal is to improve the pasture and build topsoil. The reason for this is that there is very little nutrient rich topsoil left in most areas that have been farmed for some time like ours. Any crop, including forage for livestock (grass and hay), that is grown there will be sub-optimal until the soil is restored to the proper nutrient levels and biological activity. Fortunately, there is a growing amount of research being done on how exactly to do this, much of it indicating that incorporating livestock on pasture is the ideal and fastest means to that end. The knowledge of both soil conservation and also soil regeneration are necessary if we want to be able to continue to grow healthy food in the future.

Farm Visiting Day

If you haven't done so yet, mark your calendar now for our end of season farm visiting day:

Saturday June 23rd 1-5pm

You and your family and any interested friends are invited to visit the farm for an afternoon of seeing the animals, a guided farm tour by farmer Brooks, hiking the lovely path through the woods, and joining in a potluck feast. If we're lucky, the wild black raspberries that grow all over the farm will be ripe for the picking.

We will be roasting a pig – please bring a dish to share if you can! Children are welcome, please dress kids in clothes that can get dirty and boots for everyone. Also if you will be walking around the farm or picking berries, wear long pants to prevent getting a tick or poison ivy, the ever present pests on the farm!

Directions to the Farm (GPS doesn't always work to our adress):

 From Harrisburg and 83-

Take 322West to the Newport exit for route 34.  Make a Left off of the exit ramp, and go about 3 miles into the town of Newport, crossing over the Juniata River.  Go straight at the 4 way stop, and stay on that road as it bends sharply to the right and turns into Middle Ridge Road.  Go about 5 miles and make a left at Cold Storage Road (just after passing a sign reading Village of Skyline Corner on your right).  We are the first driveway on the left. 

From Carlisle- 

Take 34 North all the way to New Bloomfield.  Make a left at the stop sign/circle of New Bloomfield onto 274 West. In less than a mile, make a right onto Cold Storage Road.  Go about 5 miles, passing signs for Little Buffalo State Park.  Just after a shale pit on your right, we will be the last driveway on the right.  If you get to the stop sign, you went too far. 
 

Announcing Next CSA Season

There are two months left and it is going by quick. We are now taking renewals for next season. The next season will run from July through November 2012.

Receive an early bird discount if you sign up by May 30th!

New Share Add On

We have one new change that we are very excited about: the Super Variety Add-On. If you love your regular meat CSA share, but are an adventurous food lover and occasionally look for an extra something for variety or a special dinner, the Super add-on is for you. Basically, you continue to get your regular share contents, and in addition each month receive a unique item. This extra will be different for each of the five months:

• duck (locally raised on pasture by Brooks' brother)
• wild salmon (wild caught in Alaska by PA purveyors Wild For Salmon)
• goat meat (organically raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures) 
• veal (grassfed humanely raised by North Mountain Pastures)
• rabbit (raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures or another local farm). 

If you have any questions about the CSA shares or add-ons, delivery sites, payment methods or anything at all, don't hesitate to contact us by email at brooks@northmountainpastures.com.

It is not too late to sign up for the remaining deliveries for this season; email us for the pro-rated prices and to sign up for May and/or June. 

We thank you in advance for your continued membership. Thank you for being part of our farm and supporting local agriculture. We hope to see you on June 23rd!

~Brooks and Anna

Pork Belly Recipe

We have given out quite a few pork belly roasts in the past month, and we hope that you have been enjoying them. If you still have one in your freezer, be brave and give this recipe a try – it will be good I promise!

Dong Po Pork Belly

This is a traditional Chinese braised pork belly, which is widely loved as a special dish. Pork is the meat of choice in China. One blog that I found with a good recipe (kitchenoffriends.com) says the following: “A good Dong Po Pork... means the pork must be tender. The sauce must be sweet, savory, and aromatic. The fat must melt in your mouth. And the color of the dish must be appealing.”

A note about the fat: As you may have noticed and are certainly aware, the pork belly is quite fatty and is the cut that is used to make bacon. When you cure the belly and slice it and fry it as bacon, much of the grease comes off in the pan. The same thing happens when you braise it in this recipe. The fat that remains loses some of its greasiness, and becomes quite smooth and palatable, similar to what happens to the fat on a well braised beef short rib. The fat enriches the sauce, and is very satisfying. This dish may be served with rice and greens, and a little goes a long way.

Also keep in mind that pastured pork fat really is different than store bought pork fat. It contains no toxic residues of antibiotics, pesticides, or any chemicals; and it likely contains a high level of omega 3 fatty acids. A healthy dose of natural fat keeps us satiated, is a source or fat soluble vitamins (vit D in particular), aids in the absorption and digestion of protein, and won't make you fat [unless you eat doughnuts with it :) ]. Fat is where the flavor is - and it's good for us- with pastured pork NOT industrial pork!

When I tried this recipe, I had never before eaten this dish. The smells that wafted out of the kitchen were both exotic and amazing. We loved it and hope you do too.

Ingredients:

Pork Belly ~ 2lb chunk
2 “thumb” lengths of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small bunch of scallions, chopped into 1 inch lengths
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 Tablespoons of rapadura or brown sugar
6 Tablespoons of natural soy sauce
2/3 cup shaoxing hua tiao asian rice wine (I could not find this and used the Japanese sake which is not traditional I'm sure, but it came out great as far as I can tell!)
2-4 cups water
1 Star anise (optional)
2 teaspoons cornstarch (optional)

On medium high heat, fry the onion, ginger, and garlic in a wok until fragrant. Add the sugar and stir until it starts to melt. Add the wine and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Rinse off the pork belly in hot water (traditional recipes say to pour scalding water over the pork, but I skipped this and don't think it is necessary), and place in a braising pot with a lid or a crock pot. Pour the prepared sauce (do not strain) over the pork, throw in the star anise if using, and add enough water to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil, and then turn down to lowest possible simmer (low heat on a crockpot). Simmer there for 3-4 hours. When done, gently remove pork pieces (they will be sort of falling apart), and strain sauce. At this point if the sauce is very oily, you may put it in the fridge overnight and remove the solidified fat (lard – save it for frying potatoes!). This step is totally optional, and will create a lighter finish. Bring the sauce to a simmer, and add the cornstarch (mix until smooth with a ¼ cup water first). Stir well until the sauce becomes a shiny sticky glaze (yumm). Serve pieces of the pork belly over rice and spoon over the sauce. Enjoy!

Anna 

Farm Visiting Day - June 23!

Announcing Next CSA Season

• Early Bird Special Share Prices if you Sign Up by May 30th
• New Super Variety Share Add-On : pastured duck, rabbit, wild salmon, & more!

Pork Belly Recipe  

Dear Friends and Customers,

We welcome and celebrate the gorgeous spring weather! Our allergies aren't as happy about it as we are, but nontheless we are glad that the grass is really growing again. The steady gentle rain today promises more green growth.

News from the Farm

Construction on our butcher shop continues. We have finished the installation of the interior walls!  We're using a wallboard that is waterproof and designed for “wash down” facilities such as what ours will be. In order to comply with USDA guidelines for sanitation, everything in the shop must be “wash down”-able, by 180 degree hot water. So we have special lights, special electrical outlets, special wall coverings, and floor drains. We are excited to work in this environment when it is all done, and think the cleanup will be much easier and more thorough.

The broilers have been out on pasture for over a month now, and we have butchered our first two batches. They are carving a path across the meadow that our son Kaj calls “the racetrack”, because it is wide and smooth: pecked and packed down with a thin even layer of manure. Later in the summer, this same path will be brighter green than any of the surrounding field due to the extra nutrients and nitrogen. Raising chickens is good because we enjoy eating chicken, as do most people! However, our second though just as important goal is to improve the pasture and build topsoil. The reason for this is that there is very little nutrient rich topsoil left in most areas that have been farmed for some time like ours. Any crop, including forage for livestock (grass and hay), that is grown there will be sub-optimal until the soil is restored to the proper nutrient levels and biological activity. Fortunately, there is a growing amount of research being done on how exactly to do this, much of it indicating that incorporating livestock on pasture is the ideal and fastest means to that end. The knowledge of both soil conservation and also soil regeneration are necessary if we want to be able to continue to grow healthy food in the future.

Farm Visiting Day

If you haven't done so yet, mark your calendar now for our end of season farm visiting day:

Saturday June 23rd 1-5pm

You and your family and any interested friends are invited to visit the farm for an afternoon of seeing the animals, a guided farm tour by farmer Brooks, hiking the lovely path through the woods, and joining in a potluck feast. If we're lucky, the wild black raspberries that grow all over the farm will be ripe for the picking.

We will be roasting a pig – please bring a dish to share if you can! Children are welcome, please dress kids in clothes that can get dirty and boots for everyone. Also if you will be walking around the farm or picking berries, wear long pants to prevent getting a tick or poison ivy, the ever present pests on the farm!

Directions to the Farm (GPS doesn't always work to our adress):

 From Harrisburg and 83-

Take 322West to the Newport exit for route 34.  Make a Left off of the exit ramp, and go about 3 miles into the town of Newport, crossing over the Juniata River.  Go straight at the 4 way stop, and stay on that road as it bends sharply to the right and turns into Middle Ridge Road.  Go about 5 miles and make a left at Cold Storage Road (just after passing a sign reading Village of Skyline Corner on your right).  We are the first driveway on the left. 

From Carlisle- 

Take 34 North all the way to New Bloomfield.  Make a left at the stop sign/circle of New Bloomfield onto 274 West. In less than a mile, make a right onto Cold Storage Road.  Go about 5 miles, passing signs for Little Buffalo State Park.  Just after a shale pit on your right, we will be the last driveway on the right.  If you get to the stop sign, you went too far. 
 

Announcing Next CSA Season

There are two months left and it is going by quick. We are now taking renewals for next season. The next season will run from July through November 2012.

Receive an early bird discount if you sign up by May 30th!

New Share Add On

We have one new change that we are very excited about: the Super Variety Add-On. If you love your regular meat CSA share, but are an adventurous food lover and occasionally look for an extra something for variety or a special dinner, the Super add-on is for you. Basically, you continue to get your regular share contents, and in addition each month receive a unique item. This extra will be different for each of the five months:

• duck (locally raised on pasture by Brooks' brother)
• wild salmon (wild caught in Alaska by PA purveyors Wild For Salmon)
• goat meat (organically raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures) 
• veal (grassfed humanely raised by North Mountain Pastures)
• rabbit (raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures or another local farm). 

If you have any questions about the CSA shares or add-ons, delivery sites, payment methods or anything at all, don't hesitate to contact us by email at brooks@northmountainpastures.com.

It is not too late to sign up for the remaining deliveries for this season; email us for the pro-rated prices and to sign up for May and/or June. 

We thank you in advance for your continued membership. Thank you for being part of our farm and supporting local agriculture. We hope to see you on June 23rd!

~Brooks and Anna

Pork Belly Recipe

We have given out quite a few pork belly roasts in the past month, and we hope that you have been enjoying them. If you still have one in your freezer, be brave and give this recipe a try – it will be good I promise!

Dong Po Pork Belly

This is a traditional Chinese braised pork belly, which is widely loved as a special dish. Pork is the meat of choice in China. One blog that I found with a good recipe (kitchenoffriends.com) says the following: “A good Dong Po Pork... means the pork must be tender. The sauce must be sweet, savory, and aromatic. The fat must melt in your mouth. And the color of the dish must be appealing.”

A note about the fat: As you may have noticed and are certainly aware, the pork belly is quite fatty and is the cut that is used to make bacon. When you cure the belly and slice it and fry it as bacon, much of the grease comes off in the pan. The same thing happens when you braise it in this recipe. The fat that remains loses some of its greasiness, and becomes quite smooth and palatable, similar to what happens to the fat on a well braised beef short rib. The fat enriches the sauce, and is very satisfying. This dish may be served with rice and greens, and a little goes a long way.

Also keep in mind that pastured pork fat really is different than store bought pork fat. It contains no toxic residues of antibiotics, pesticides, or any chemicals; and it likely contains a high level of omega 3 fatty acids. A healthy dose of natural fat keeps us satiated, is a source or fat soluble vitamins (vit D in particular), aids in the absorption and digestion of protein, and won't make you fat [unless you eat doughnuts with it :) ]. Fat is where the flavor is - and it's good for us- with pastured pork NOT industrial pork!

When I tried this recipe, I had never before eaten this dish. The smells that wafted out of the kitchen were both exotic and amazing. We loved it and hope you do too.

Ingredients:

Pork Belly ~ 2lb chunk
2 “thumb” lengths of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small bunch of scallions, chopped into 1 inch lengths
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 Tablespoons of rapadura or brown sugar
6 Tablespoons of natural soy sauce
2/3 cup shaoxing hua tiao asian rice wine (I could not find this and used the Japanese sake which is not traditional I'm sure, but it came out great as far as I can tell!)
2-4 cups water
1 Star anise (optional)
2 teaspoons cornstarch (optional)

On medium high heat, fry the onion, ginger, and garlic in a wok until fragrant. Add the sugar and stir until it starts to melt. Add the wine and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Rinse off the pork belly in hot water (traditional recipes say to pour scalding water over the pork, but I skipped this and don't think it is necessary), and place in a braising pot with a lid or a crock pot. Pour the prepared sauce (do not strain) over the pork, throw in the star anise if using, and add enough water to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil, and then turn down to lowest possible simmer (low heat on a crockpot). Simmer there for 3-4 hours. When done, gently remove pork pieces (they will be sort of falling apart), and strain sauce. At this point if the sauce is very oily, you may put it in the fridge overnight and remove the solidified fat (lard – save it for frying potatoes!). This step is totally optional, and will create a lighter finish. Bring the sauce to a simmer, and add the cornstarch (mix until smooth with a ¼ cup water first). Stir well until the sauce becomes a shiny sticky glaze (yumm). Serve pieces of the pork belly over rice and spoon over the sauce. Enjoy!

Anna 

Farm Visiting Day - June 23!

Announcing Next CSA Season

• Early Bird Special Share Prices if you Sign Up by May 30th
• New Super Variety Share Add-On : pastured duck, rabbit, wild salmon, & more!

Pork Belly Recipe  

Dear Friends and Customers,

We welcome and celebrate the gorgeous spring weather! Our allergies aren't as happy about it as we are, but nontheless we are glad that the grass is really growing again. The steady gentle rain today promises more green growth.

News from the Farm

Construction on our butcher shop continues. We have finished the installation of the interior walls!  We're using a wallboard that is waterproof and designed for “wash down” facilities such as what ours will be. In order to comply with USDA guidelines for sanitation, everything in the shop must be “wash down”-able, by 180 degree hot water. So we have special lights, special electrical outlets, special wall coverings, and floor drains. We are excited to work in this environment when it is all done, and think the cleanup will be much easier and more thorough.

The broilers have been out on pasture for over a month now, and we have butchered our first two batches. They are carving a path across the meadow that our son Kaj calls “the racetrack”, because it is wide and smooth: pecked and packed down with a thin even layer of manure. Later in the summer, this same path will be brighter green than any of the surrounding field due to the extra nutrients and nitrogen. Raising chickens is good because we enjoy eating chicken, as do most people! However, our second though just as important goal is to improve the pasture and build topsoil. The reason for this is that there is very little nutrient rich topsoil left in most areas that have been farmed for some time like ours. Any crop, including forage for livestock (grass and hay), that is grown there will be sub-optimal until the soil is restored to the proper nutrient levels and biological activity. Fortunately, there is a growing amount of research being done on how exactly to do this, much of it indicating that incorporating livestock on pasture is the ideal and fastest means to that end. The knowledge of both soil conservation and also soil regeneration are necessary if we want to be able to continue to grow healthy food in the future.

Farm Visiting Day

If you haven't done so yet, mark your calendar now for our end of season farm visiting day:

Saturday June 23rd 1-5pm

You and your family and any interested friends are invited to visit the farm for an afternoon of seeing the animals, a guided farm tour by farmer Brooks, hiking the lovely path through the woods, and joining in a potluck feast. If we're lucky, the wild black raspberries that grow all over the farm will be ripe for the picking.

We will be roasting a pig – please bring a dish to share if you can! Children are welcome, please dress kids in clothes that can get dirty and boots for everyone. Also if you will be walking around the farm or picking berries, wear long pants to prevent getting a tick or poison ivy, the ever present pests on the farm!

Directions to the Farm (GPS doesn't always work to our adress):

 From Harrisburg and 83-

Take 322West to the Newport exit for route 34.  Make a Left off of the exit ramp, and go about 3 miles into the town of Newport, crossing over the Juniata River.  Go straight at the 4 way stop, and stay on that road as it bends sharply to the right and turns into Middle Ridge Road.  Go about 5 miles and make a left at Cold Storage Road (just after passing a sign reading Village of Skyline Corner on your right).  We are the first driveway on the left. 

From Carlisle- 

Take 34 North all the way to New Bloomfield.  Make a left at the stop sign/circle of New Bloomfield onto 274 West. In less than a mile, make a right onto Cold Storage Road.  Go about 5 miles, passing signs for Little Buffalo State Park.  Just after a shale pit on your right, we will be the last driveway on the right.  If you get to the stop sign, you went too far. 
 

Announcing Next CSA Season

There are two months left and it is going by quick. We are now taking renewals for next season. The next season will run from July through November 2012.

Receive an early bird discount if you sign up by May 30th!

New Share Add On

We have one new change that we are very excited about: the Super Variety Add-On. If you love your regular meat CSA share, but are an adventurous food lover and occasionally look for an extra something for variety or a special dinner, the Super add-on is for you. Basically, you continue to get your regular share contents, and in addition each month receive a unique item. This extra will be different for each of the five months:

• duck (locally raised on pasture by Brooks' brother)
• wild salmon (wild caught in Alaska by PA purveyors Wild For Salmon)
• goat meat (organically raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures) 
• veal (grassfed humanely raised by North Mountain Pastures)
• rabbit (raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures or another local farm). 

If you have any questions about the CSA shares or add-ons, delivery sites, payment methods or anything at all, don't hesitate to contact us by email at brooks@northmountainpastures.com.

It is not too late to sign up for the remaining deliveries for this season; email us for the pro-rated prices and to sign up for May and/or June. 

We thank you in advance for your continued membership. Thank you for being part of our farm and supporting local agriculture. We hope to see you on June 23rd!

~Brooks and Anna

Pork Belly Recipe

We have given out quite a few pork belly roasts in the past month, and we hope that you have been enjoying them. If you still have one in your freezer, be brave and give this recipe a try – it will be good I promise!

Dong Po Pork Belly

This is a traditional Chinese braised pork belly, which is widely loved as a special dish. Pork is the meat of choice in China. One blog that I found with a good recipe (kitchenoffriends.com) says the following: “A good Dong Po Pork... means the pork must be tender. The sauce must be sweet, savory, and aromatic. The fat must melt in your mouth. And the color of the dish must be appealing.”

A note about the fat: As you may have noticed and are certainly aware, the pork belly is quite fatty and is the cut that is used to make bacon. When you cure the belly and slice it and fry it as bacon, much of the grease comes off in the pan. The same thing happens when you braise it in this recipe. The fat that remains loses some of its greasiness, and becomes quite smooth and palatable, similar to what happens to the fat on a well braised beef short rib. The fat enriches the sauce, and is very satisfying. This dish may be served with rice and greens, and a little goes a long way.

Also keep in mind that pastured pork fat really is different than store bought pork fat. It contains no toxic residues of antibiotics, pesticides, or any chemicals; and it likely contains a high level of omega 3 fatty acids. A healthy dose of natural fat keeps us satiated, is a source or fat soluble vitamins (vit D in particular), aids in the absorption and digestion of protein, and won't make you fat [unless you eat doughnuts with it :) ]. Fat is where the flavor is - and it's good for us- with pastured pork NOT industrial pork!

When I tried this recipe, I had never before eaten this dish. The smells that wafted out of the kitchen were both exotic and amazing. We loved it and hope you do too.

Ingredients:

Pork Belly ~ 2lb chunk
2 “thumb” lengths of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small bunch of scallions, chopped into 1 inch lengths
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 Tablespoons of rapadura or brown sugar
6 Tablespoons of natural soy sauce
2/3 cup shaoxing hua tiao asian rice wine (I could not find this and used the Japanese sake which is not traditional I'm sure, but it came out great as far as I can tell!)
2-4 cups water
1 Star anise (optional)
2 teaspoons cornstarch (optional)

On medium high heat, fry the onion, ginger, and garlic in a wok until fragrant. Add the sugar and stir until it starts to melt. Add the wine and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Rinse off the pork belly in hot water (traditional recipes say to pour scalding water over the pork, but I skipped this and don't think it is necessary), and place in a braising pot with a lid or a crock pot. Pour the prepared sauce (do not strain) over the pork, throw in the star anise if using, and add enough water to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil, and then turn down to lowest possible simmer (low heat on a crockpot). Simmer there for 3-4 hours. When done, gently remove pork pieces (they will be sort of falling apart), and strain sauce. At this point if the sauce is very oily, you may put it in the fridge overnight and remove the solidified fat (lard – save it for frying potatoes!). This step is totally optional, and will create a lighter finish. Bring the sauce to a simmer, and add the cornstarch (mix until smooth with a ¼ cup water first). Stir well until the sauce becomes a shiny sticky glaze (yumm). Serve pieces of the pork belly over rice and spoon over the sauce. Enjoy!

Anna 

Farm Visiting Day - June 23!

Announcing Next CSA Season

• Early Bird Special Share Prices if you Sign Up by May 30th
• New Super Variety Share Add-On : pastured duck, rabbit, wild salmon, & more!

Pork Belly Recipe  

Dear Friends and Customers,

We welcome and celebrate the gorgeous spring weather! Our allergies aren't as happy about it as we are, but nontheless we are glad that the grass is really growing again. The steady gentle rain today promises more green growth.

News from the Farm

Construction on our butcher shop continues. We have finished the installation of the interior walls!  We're using a wallboard that is waterproof and designed for “wash down” facilities such as what ours will be. In order to comply with USDA guidelines for sanitation, everything in the shop must be “wash down”-able, by 180 degree hot water. So we have special lights, special electrical outlets, special wall coverings, and floor drains. We are excited to work in this environment when it is all done, and think the cleanup will be much easier and more thorough.

The broilers have been out on pasture for over a month now, and we have butchered our first two batches. They are carving a path across the meadow that our son Kaj calls “the racetrack”, because it is wide and smooth: pecked and packed down with a thin even layer of manure. Later in the summer, this same path will be brighter green than any of the surrounding field due to the extra nutrients and nitrogen. Raising chickens is good because we enjoy eating chicken, as do most people! However, our second though just as important goal is to improve the pasture and build topsoil. The reason for this is that there is very little nutrient rich topsoil left in most areas that have been farmed for some time like ours. Any crop, including forage for livestock (grass and hay), that is grown there will be sub-optimal until the soil is restored to the proper nutrient levels and biological activity. Fortunately, there is a growing amount of research being done on how exactly to do this, much of it indicating that incorporating livestock on pasture is the ideal and fastest means to that end. The knowledge of both soil conservation and also soil regeneration are necessary if we want to be able to continue to grow healthy food in the future.

Farm Visiting Day

If you haven't done so yet, mark your calendar now for our end of season farm visiting day:

Saturday June 23rd 1-5pm

You and your family and any interested friends are invited to visit the farm for an afternoon of seeing the animals, a guided farm tour by farmer Brooks, hiking the lovely path through the woods, and joining in a potluck feast. If we're lucky, the wild black raspberries that grow all over the farm will be ripe for the picking.

We will be roasting a pig – please bring a dish to share if you can! Children are welcome, please dress kids in clothes that can get dirty and boots for everyone. Also if you will be walking around the farm or picking berries, wear long pants to prevent getting a tick or poison ivy, the ever present pests on the farm!

Directions to the Farm (GPS doesn't always work to our adress):

 From Harrisburg and 83-

Take 322West to the Newport exit for route 34.  Make a Left off of the exit ramp, and go about 3 miles into the town of Newport, crossing over the Juniata River.  Go straight at the 4 way stop, and stay on that road as it bends sharply to the right and turns into Middle Ridge Road.  Go about 5 miles and make a left at Cold Storage Road (just after passing a sign reading Village of Skyline Corner on your right).  We are the first driveway on the left. 

From Carlisle- 

Take 34 North all the way to New Bloomfield.  Make a left at the stop sign/circle of New Bloomfield onto 274 West. In less than a mile, make a right onto Cold Storage Road.  Go about 5 miles, passing signs for Little Buffalo State Park.  Just after a shale pit on your right, we will be the last driveway on the right.  If you get to the stop sign, you went too far. 
 

Announcing Next CSA Season

There are two months left and it is going by quick. We are now taking renewals for next season. The next season will run from July through November 2012.

Receive an early bird discount if you sign up by May 30th!

New Share Add On

We have one new change that we are very excited about: the Super Variety Add-On. If you love your regular meat CSA share, but are an adventurous food lover and occasionally look for an extra something for variety or a special dinner, the Super add-on is for you. Basically, you continue to get your regular share contents, and in addition each month receive a unique item. This extra will be different for each of the five months:

• duck (locally raised on pasture by Brooks' brother)
• wild salmon (wild caught in Alaska by PA purveyors Wild For Salmon)
• goat meat (organically raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures) 
• veal (grassfed humanely raised by North Mountain Pastures)
• rabbit (raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures or another local farm). 

If you have any questions about the CSA shares or add-ons, delivery sites, payment methods or anything at all, don't hesitate to contact us by email at brooks@northmountainpastures.com.

It is not too late to sign up for the remaining deliveries for this season; email us for the pro-rated prices and to sign up for May and/or June. 

We thank you in advance for your continued membership. Thank you for being part of our farm and supporting local agriculture. We hope to see you on June 23rd!

~Brooks and Anna

Pork Belly Recipe

We have given out quite a few pork belly roasts in the past month, and we hope that you have been enjoying them. If you still have one in your freezer, be brave and give this recipe a try – it will be good I promise!

Dong Po Pork Belly

This is a traditional Chinese braised pork belly, which is widely loved as a special dish. Pork is the meat of choice in China. One blog that I found with a good recipe (kitchenoffriends.com) says the following: “A good Dong Po Pork... means the pork must be tender. The sauce must be sweet, savory, and aromatic. The fat must melt in your mouth. And the color of the dish must be appealing.”

A note about the fat: As you may have noticed and are certainly aware, the pork belly is quite fatty and is the cut that is used to make bacon. When you cure the belly and slice it and fry it as bacon, much of the grease comes off in the pan. The same thing happens when you braise it in this recipe. The fat that remains loses some of its greasiness, and becomes quite smooth and palatable, similar to what happens to the fat on a well braised beef short rib. The fat enriches the sauce, and is very satisfying. This dish may be served with rice and greens, and a little goes a long way.

Also keep in mind that pastured pork fat really is different than store bought pork fat. It contains no toxic residues of antibiotics, pesticides, or any chemicals; and it likely contains a high level of omega 3 fatty acids. A healthy dose of natural fat keeps us satiated, is a source or fat soluble vitamins (vit D in particular), aids in the absorption and digestion of protein, and won't make you fat [unless you eat doughnuts with it :) ]. Fat is where the flavor is - and it's good for us- with pastured pork NOT industrial pork!

When I tried this recipe, I had never before eaten this dish. The smells that wafted out of the kitchen were both exotic and amazing. We loved it and hope you do too.

Ingredients:

Pork Belly ~ 2lb chunk
2 “thumb” lengths of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small bunch of scallions, chopped into 1 inch lengths
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 Tablespoons of rapadura or brown sugar
6 Tablespoons of natural soy sauce
2/3 cup shaoxing hua tiao asian rice wine (I could not find this and used the Japanese sake which is not traditional I'm sure, but it came out great as far as I can tell!)
2-4 cups water
1 Star anise (optional)
2 teaspoons cornstarch (optional)

On medium high heat, fry the onion, ginger, and garlic in a wok until fragrant. Add the sugar and stir until it starts to melt. Add the wine and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Rinse off the pork belly in hot water (traditional recipes say to pour scalding water over the pork, but I skipped this and don't think it is necessary), and place in a braising pot with a lid or a crock pot. Pour the prepared sauce (do not strain) over the pork, throw in the star anise if using, and add enough water to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil, and then turn down to lowest possible simmer (low heat on a crockpot). Simmer there for 3-4 hours. When done, gently remove pork pieces (they will be sort of falling apart), and strain sauce. At this point if the sauce is very oily, you may put it in the fridge overnight and remove the solidified fat (lard – save it for frying potatoes!). This step is totally optional, and will create a lighter finish. Bring the sauce to a simmer, and add the cornstarch (mix until smooth with a ¼ cup water first). Stir well until the sauce becomes a shiny sticky glaze (yumm). Serve pieces of the pork belly over rice and spoon over the sauce. Enjoy!

Anna 

Farm Visiting Day - June 23!

Announcing Next CSA Season

• Early Bird Special Share Prices if you Sign Up by May 30th
• New Super Variety Share Add-On : pastured duck, rabbit, wild salmon, & more!

Pork Belly Recipe  

Dear Friends and Customers,

We welcome and celebrate the gorgeous spring weather! Our allergies aren't as happy about it as we are, but nontheless we are glad that the grass is really growing again. The steady gentle rain today promises more green growth.

News from the Farm

Construction on our butcher shop continues. We have finished the installation of the interior walls!  We're using a wallboard that is waterproof and designed for “wash down” facilities such as what ours will be. In order to comply with USDA guidelines for sanitation, everything in the shop must be “wash down”-able, by 180 degree hot water. So we have special lights, special electrical outlets, special wall coverings, and floor drains. We are excited to work in this environment when it is all done, and think the cleanup will be much easier and more thorough.

The broilers have been out on pasture for over a month now, and we have butchered our first two batches. They are carving a path across the meadow that our son Kaj calls “the racetrack”, because it is wide and smooth: pecked and packed down with a thin even layer of manure. Later in the summer, this same path will be brighter green than any of the surrounding field due to the extra nutrients and nitrogen. Raising chickens is good because we enjoy eating chicken, as do most people! However, our second though just as important goal is to improve the pasture and build topsoil. The reason for this is that there is very little nutrient rich topsoil left in most areas that have been farmed for some time like ours. Any crop, including forage for livestock (grass and hay), that is grown there will be sub-optimal until the soil is restored to the proper nutrient levels and biological activity. Fortunately, there is a growing amount of research being done on how exactly to do this, much of it indicating that incorporating livestock on pasture is the ideal and fastest means to that end. The knowledge of both soil conservation and also soil regeneration are necessary if we want to be able to continue to grow healthy food in the future.

Farm Visiting Day

If you haven't done so yet, mark your calendar now for our end of season farm visiting day:

Saturday June 23rd 1-5pm

You and your family and any interested friends are invited to visit the farm for an afternoon of seeing the animals, a guided farm tour by farmer Brooks, hiking the lovely path through the woods, and joining in a potluck feast. If we're lucky, the wild black raspberries that grow all over the farm will be ripe for the picking.

We will be roasting a pig – please bring a dish to share if you can! Children are welcome, please dress kids in clothes that can get dirty and boots for everyone. Also if you will be walking around the farm or picking berries, wear long pants to prevent getting a tick or poison ivy, the ever present pests on the farm!

Directions to the Farm (GPS doesn't always work to our adress):

 From Harrisburg and 83-

Take 322West to the Newport exit for route 34.  Make a Left off of the exit ramp, and go about 3 miles into the town of Newport, crossing over the Juniata River.  Go straight at the 4 way stop, and stay on that road as it bends sharply to the right and turns into Middle Ridge Road.  Go about 5 miles and make a left at Cold Storage Road (just after passing a sign reading Village of Skyline Corner on your right).  We are the first driveway on the left. 

From Carlisle- 

Take 34 North all the way to New Bloomfield.  Make a left at the stop sign/circle of New Bloomfield onto 274 West. In less than a mile, make a right onto Cold Storage Road.  Go about 5 miles, passing signs for Little Buffalo State Park.  Just after a shale pit on your right, we will be the last driveway on the right.  If you get to the stop sign, you went too far. 
 

Announcing Next CSA Season

There are two months left and it is going by quick. We are now taking renewals for next season. The next season will run from July through November 2012.

Receive an early bird discount if you sign up by May 30th!

New Share Add On

We have one new change that we are very excited about: the Super Variety Add-On. If you love your regular meat CSA share, but are an adventurous food lover and occasionally look for an extra something for variety or a special dinner, the Super add-on is for you. Basically, you continue to get your regular share contents, and in addition each month receive a unique item. This extra will be different for each of the five months:

• duck (locally raised on pasture by Brooks' brother)
• wild salmon (wild caught in Alaska by PA purveyors Wild For Salmon)
• goat meat (organically raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures) 
• veal (grassfed humanely raised by North Mountain Pastures)
• rabbit (raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures or another local farm). 

If you have any questions about the CSA shares or add-ons, delivery sites, payment methods or anything at all, don't hesitate to contact us by email at brooks@northmountainpastures.com.

It is not too late to sign up for the remaining deliveries for this season; email us for the pro-rated prices and to sign up for May and/or June. 

We thank you in advance for your continued membership. Thank you for being part of our farm and supporting local agriculture. We hope to see you on June 23rd!

~Brooks and Anna

Pork Belly Recipe

We have given out quite a few pork belly roasts in the past month, and we hope that you have been enjoying them. If you still have one in your freezer, be brave and give this recipe a try – it will be good I promise!

Dong Po Pork Belly

This is a traditional Chinese braised pork belly, which is widely loved as a special dish. Pork is the meat of choice in China. One blog that I found with a good recipe (kitchenoffriends.com) says the following: “A good Dong Po Pork... means the pork must be tender. The sauce must be sweet, savory, and aromatic. The fat must melt in your mouth. And the color of the dish must be appealing.”

A note about the fat: As you may have noticed and are certainly aware, the pork belly is quite fatty and is the cut that is used to make bacon. When you cure the belly and slice it and fry it as bacon, much of the grease comes off in the pan. The same thing happens when you braise it in this recipe. The fat that remains loses some of its greasiness, and becomes quite smooth and palatable, similar to what happens to the fat on a well braised beef short rib. The fat enriches the sauce, and is very satisfying. This dish may be served with rice and greens, and a little goes a long way.

Also keep in mind that pastured pork fat really is different than store bought pork fat. It contains no toxic residues of antibiotics, pesticides, or any chemicals; and it likely contains a high level of omega 3 fatty acids. A healthy dose of natural fat keeps us satiated, is a source or fat soluble vitamins (vit D in particular), aids in the absorption and digestion of protein, and won't make you fat [unless you eat doughnuts with it :) ]. Fat is where the flavor is - and it's good for us- with pastured pork NOT industrial pork!

When I tried this recipe, I had never before eaten this dish. The smells that wafted out of the kitchen were both exotic and amazing. We loved it and hope you do too.

Ingredients:

Pork Belly ~ 2lb chunk
2 “thumb” lengths of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small bunch of scallions, chopped into 1 inch lengths
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 Tablespoons of rapadura or brown sugar
6 Tablespoons of natural soy sauce
2/3 cup shaoxing hua tiao asian rice wine (I could not find this and used the Japanese sake which is not traditional I'm sure, but it came out great as far as I can tell!)
2-4 cups water
1 Star anise (optional)
2 teaspoons cornstarch (optional)

On medium high heat, fry the onion, ginger, and garlic in a wok until fragrant. Add the sugar and stir until it starts to melt. Add the wine and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Rinse off the pork belly in hot water (traditional recipes say to pour scalding water over the pork, but I skipped this and don't think it is necessary), and place in a braising pot with a lid or a crock pot. Pour the prepared sauce (do not strain) over the pork, throw in the star anise if using, and add enough water to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil, and then turn down to lowest possible simmer (low heat on a crockpot). Simmer there for 3-4 hours. When done, gently remove pork pieces (they will be sort of falling apart), and strain sauce. At this point if the sauce is very oily, you may put it in the fridge overnight and remove the solidified fat (lard – save it for frying potatoes!). This step is totally optional, and will create a lighter finish. Bring the sauce to a simmer, and add the cornstarch (mix until smooth with a ¼ cup water first). Stir well until the sauce becomes a shiny sticky glaze (yumm). Serve pieces of the pork belly over rice and spoon over the sauce. Enjoy!

Anna 

Farm Visiting Day - June 23!

Announcing Next CSA Season

• Early Bird Special Share Prices if you Sign Up by May 30th
• New Super Variety Share Add-On : pastured duck, rabbit, wild salmon, & more!

Pork Belly Recipe  

Dear Friends and Customers,

We welcome and celebrate the gorgeous spring weather! Our allergies aren't as happy about it as we are, but nontheless we are glad that the grass is really growing again. The steady gentle rain today promises more green growth.

News from the Farm

Construction on our butcher shop continues. We have finished the installation of the interior walls!  We're using a wallboard that is waterproof and designed for “wash down” facilities such as what ours will be. In order to comply with USDA guidelines for sanitation, everything in the shop must be “wash down”-able, by 180 degree hot water. So we have special lights, special electrical outlets, special wall coverings, and floor drains. We are excited to work in this environment when it is all done, and think the cleanup will be much easier and more thorough.

The broilers have been out on pasture for over a month now, and we have butchered our first two batches. They are carving a path across the meadow that our son Kaj calls “the racetrack”, because it is wide and smooth: pecked and packed down with a thin even layer of manure. Later in the summer, this same path will be brighter green than any of the surrounding field due to the extra nutrients and nitrogen. Raising chickens is good because we enjoy eating chicken, as do most people! However, our second though just as important goal is to improve the pasture and build topsoil. The reason for this is that there is very little nutrient rich topsoil left in most areas that have been farmed for some time like ours. Any crop, including forage for livestock (grass and hay), that is grown there will be sub-optimal until the soil is restored to the proper nutrient levels and biological activity. Fortunately, there is a growing amount of research being done on how exactly to do this, much of it indicating that incorporating livestock on pasture is the ideal and fastest means to that end. The knowledge of both soil conservation and also soil regeneration are necessary if we want to be able to continue to grow healthy food in the future.

Farm Visiting Day

If you haven't done so yet, mark your calendar now for our end of season farm visiting day:

Saturday June 23rd 1-5pm

You and your family and any interested friends are invited to visit the farm for an afternoon of seeing the animals, a guided farm tour by farmer Brooks, hiking the lovely path through the woods, and joining in a potluck feast. If we're lucky, the wild black raspberries that grow all over the farm will be ripe for the picking.

We will be roasting a pig – please bring a dish to share if you can! Children are welcome, please dress kids in clothes that can get dirty and boots for everyone. Also if you will be walking around the farm or picking berries, wear long pants to prevent getting a tick or poison ivy, the ever present pests on the farm!

Directions to the Farm (GPS doesn't always work to our adress):

 From Harrisburg and 83-

Take 322West to the Newport exit for route 34.  Make a Left off of the exit ramp, and go about 3 miles into the town of Newport, crossing over the Juniata River.  Go straight at the 4 way stop, and stay on that road as it bends sharply to the right and turns into Middle Ridge Road.  Go about 5 miles and make a left at Cold Storage Road (just after passing a sign reading Village of Skyline Corner on your right).  We are the first driveway on the left. 

From Carlisle- 

Take 34 North all the way to New Bloomfield.  Make a left at the stop sign/circle of New Bloomfield onto 274 West. In less than a mile, make a right onto Cold Storage Road.  Go about 5 miles, passing signs for Little Buffalo State Park.  Just after a shale pit on your right, we will be the last driveway on the right.  If you get to the stop sign, you went too far. 
 

Announcing Next CSA Season

There are two months left and it is going by quick. We are now taking renewals for next season. The next season will run from July through November 2012.

Receive an early bird discount if you sign up by May 30th!

New Share Add On

We have one new change that we are very excited about: the Super Variety Add-On. If you love your regular meat CSA share, but are an adventurous food lover and occasionally look for an extra something for variety or a special dinner, the Super add-on is for you. Basically, you continue to get your regular share contents, and in addition each month receive a unique item. This extra will be different for each of the five months:

• duck (locally raised on pasture by Brooks' brother)
• wild salmon (wild caught in Alaska by PA purveyors Wild For Salmon)
• goat meat (organically raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures) 
• veal (grassfed humanely raised by North Mountain Pastures)
• rabbit (raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures or another local farm). 

If you have any questions about the CSA shares or add-ons, delivery sites, payment methods or anything at all, don't hesitate to contact us by email at brooks@northmountainpastures.com.

It is not too late to sign up for the remaining deliveries for this season; email us for the pro-rated prices and to sign up for May and/or June. 

We thank you in advance for your continued membership. Thank you for being part of our farm and supporting local agriculture. We hope to see you on June 23rd!

~Brooks and Anna

Pork Belly Recipe

We have given out quite a few pork belly roasts in the past month, and we hope that you have been enjoying them. If you still have one in your freezer, be brave and give this recipe a try – it will be good I promise!

Dong Po Pork Belly

This is a traditional Chinese braised pork belly, which is widely loved as a special dish. Pork is the meat of choice in China. One blog that I found with a good recipe (kitchenoffriends.com) says the following: “A good Dong Po Pork... means the pork must be tender. The sauce must be sweet, savory, and aromatic. The fat must melt in your mouth. And the color of the dish must be appealing.”

A note about the fat: As you may have noticed and are certainly aware, the pork belly is quite fatty and is the cut that is used to make bacon. When you cure the belly and slice it and fry it as bacon, much of the grease comes off in the pan. The same thing happens when you braise it in this recipe. The fat that remains loses some of its greasiness, and becomes quite smooth and palatable, similar to what happens to the fat on a well braised beef short rib. The fat enriches the sauce, and is very satisfying. This dish may be served with rice and greens, and a little goes a long way.

Also keep in mind that pastured pork fat really is different than store bought pork fat. It contains no toxic residues of antibiotics, pesticides, or any chemicals; and it likely contains a high level of omega 3 fatty acids. A healthy dose of natural fat keeps us satiated, is a source or fat soluble vitamins (vit D in particular), aids in the absorption and digestion of protein, and won't make you fat [unless you eat doughnuts with it :) ]. Fat is where the flavor is - and it's good for us- with pastured pork NOT industrial pork!

When I tried this recipe, I had never before eaten this dish. The smells that wafted out of the kitchen were both exotic and amazing. We loved it and hope you do too.

Ingredients:

Pork Belly ~ 2lb chunk
2 “thumb” lengths of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small bunch of scallions, chopped into 1 inch lengths
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 Tablespoons of rapadura or brown sugar
6 Tablespoons of natural soy sauce
2/3 cup shaoxing hua tiao asian rice wine (I could not find this and used the Japanese sake which is not traditional I'm sure, but it came out great as far as I can tell!)
2-4 cups water
1 Star anise (optional)
2 teaspoons cornstarch (optional)

On medium high heat, fry the onion, ginger, and garlic in a wok until fragrant. Add the sugar and stir until it starts to melt. Add the wine and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Rinse off the pork belly in hot water (traditional recipes say to pour scalding water over the pork, but I skipped this and don't think it is necessary), and place in a braising pot with a lid or a crock pot. Pour the prepared sauce (do not strain) over the pork, throw in the star anise if using, and add enough water to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil, and then turn down to lowest possible simmer (low heat on a crockpot). Simmer there for 3-4 hours. When done, gently remove pork pieces (they will be sort of falling apart), and strain sauce. At this point if the sauce is very oily, you may put it in the fridge overnight and remove the solidified fat (lard – save it for frying potatoes!). This step is totally optional, and will create a lighter finish. Bring the sauce to a simmer, and add the cornstarch (mix until smooth with a ¼ cup water first). Stir well until the sauce becomes a shiny sticky glaze (yumm). Serve pieces of the pork belly over rice and spoon over the sauce. Enjoy!

Anna 

Farm Visiting Day - June 23!

Announcing Next CSA Season

• Early Bird Special Share Prices if you Sign Up by May 30th
• New Super Variety Share Add-On : pastured duck, rabbit, wild salmon, & more!

Pork Belly Recipe  

Dear Friends and Customers,

We welcome and celebrate the gorgeous spring weather! Our allergies aren't as happy about it as we are, but nontheless we are glad that the grass is really growing again. The steady gentle rain today promises more green growth.

News from the Farm

Construction on our butcher shop continues. We have finished the installation of the interior walls!  We're using a wallboard that is waterproof and designed for “wash down” facilities such as what ours will be. In order to comply with USDA guidelines for sanitation, everything in the shop must be “wash down”-able, by 180 degree hot water. So we have special lights, special electrical outlets, special wall coverings, and floor drains. We are excited to work in this environment when it is all done, and think the cleanup will be much easier and more thorough.

The broilers have been out on pasture for over a month now, and we have butchered our first two batches. They are carving a path across the meadow that our son Kaj calls “the racetrack”, because it is wide and smooth: pecked and packed down with a thin even layer of manure. Later in the summer, this same path will be brighter green than any of the surrounding field due to the extra nutrients and nitrogen. Raising chickens is good because we enjoy eating chicken, as do most people! However, our second though just as important goal is to improve the pasture and build topsoil. The reason for this is that there is very little nutrient rich topsoil left in most areas that have been farmed for some time like ours. Any crop, including forage for livestock (grass and hay), that is grown there will be sub-optimal until the soil is restored to the proper nutrient levels and biological activity. Fortunately, there is a growing amount of research being done on how exactly to do this, much of it indicating that incorporating livestock on pasture is the ideal and fastest means to that end. The knowledge of both soil conservation and also soil regeneration are necessary if we want to be able to continue to grow healthy food in the future.

Farm Visiting Day

If you haven't done so yet, mark your calendar now for our end of season farm visiting day:

Saturday June 23rd 1-5pm

You and your family and any interested friends are invited to visit the farm for an afternoon of seeing the animals, a guided farm tour by farmer Brooks, hiking the lovely path through the woods, and joining in a potluck feast. If we're lucky, the wild black raspberries that grow all over the farm will be ripe for the picking.

We will be roasting a pig – please bring a dish to share if you can! Children are welcome, please dress kids in clothes that can get dirty and boots for everyone. Also if you will be walking around the farm or picking berries, wear long pants to prevent getting a tick or poison ivy, the ever present pests on the farm!

Directions to the Farm (GPS doesn't always work to our adress):

 From Harrisburg and 83-

Take 322West to the Newport exit for route 34.  Make a Left off of the exit ramp, and go about 3 miles into the town of Newport, crossing over the Juniata River.  Go straight at the 4 way stop, and stay on that road as it bends sharply to the right and turns into Middle Ridge Road.  Go about 5 miles and make a left at Cold Storage Road (just after passing a sign reading Village of Skyline Corner on your right).  We are the first driveway on the left. 

From Carlisle- 

Take 34 North all the way to New Bloomfield.  Make a left at the stop sign/circle of New Bloomfield onto 274 West. In less than a mile, make a right onto Cold Storage Road.  Go about 5 miles, passing signs for Little Buffalo State Park.  Just after a shale pit on your right, we will be the last driveway on the right.  If you get to the stop sign, you went too far. 
 

Announcing Next CSA Season

There are two months left and it is going by quick. We are now taking renewals for next season. The next season will run from July through November 2012.

Receive an early bird discount if you sign up by May 30th!

New Share Add On

We have one new change that we are very excited about: the Super Variety Add-On. If you love your regular meat CSA share, but are an adventurous food lover and occasionally look for an extra something for variety or a special dinner, the Super add-on is for you. Basically, you continue to get your regular share contents, and in addition each month receive a unique item. This extra will be different for each of the five months:

• duck (locally raised on pasture by Brooks' brother)
• wild salmon (wild caught in Alaska by PA purveyors Wild For Salmon)
• goat meat (organically raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures) 
• veal (grassfed humanely raised by North Mountain Pastures)
• rabbit (raised on pasture by North Mountain Pastures or another local farm). 

If you have any questions about the CSA shares or add-ons, delivery sites, payment methods or anything at all, don't hesitate to contact us by email at brooks@northmountainpastures.com.

It is not too late to sign up for the remaining deliveries for this season; email us for the pro-rated prices and to sign up for May and/or June. 

We thank you in advance for your continued membership. Thank you for being part of our farm and supporting local agriculture. We hope to see you on June 23rd!

~Brooks and Anna

Pork Belly Recipe

We have given out quite a few pork belly roasts in the past month, and we hope that you have been enjoying them. If you still have one in your freezer, be brave and give this recipe a try – it will be good I promise!

Dong Po Pork Belly

This is a traditional Chinese braised pork belly, which is widely loved as a special dish. Pork is the meat of choice in China. One blog that I found with a good recipe (kitchenoffriends.com) says the following: “A good Dong Po Pork... means the pork must be tender. The sauce must be sweet, savory, and aromatic. The fat must melt in your mouth. And the color of the dish must be appealing.”

A note about the fat: As you may have noticed and are certainly aware, the pork belly is quite fatty and is the cut that is used to make bacon. When you cure the belly and slice it and fry it as bacon, much of the grease comes off in the pan. The same thing happens when you braise it in this recipe. The fat that remains loses some of its greasiness, and becomes quite smooth and palatable, similar to what happens to the fat on a well braised beef short rib. The fat enriches the sauce, and is very satisfying. This dish may be served with rice and greens, and a little goes a long way.

Also keep in mind that pastured pork fat really is different than store bought pork fat. It contains no toxic residues of antibiotics, pesticides, or any chemicals; and it likely contains a high level of omega 3 fatty acids. A healthy dose of natural fat keeps us satiated, is a source or fat soluble vitamins (vit D in particular), aids in the absorption and digestion of protein, and won't make you fat [unless you eat doughnuts with it :) ]. Fat is where the flavor is - and it's good for us- with pastured pork NOT industrial pork!

When I tried this recipe, I had never before eaten this dish. The smells that wafted out of the kitchen were both exotic and amazing. We loved it and hope you do too.

Ingredients:

Pork Belly ~ 2lb chunk
2 “thumb” lengths of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small bunch of scallions, chopped into 1 inch lengths
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 Tablespoons of rapadura or brown sugar
6 Tablespoons of natural soy sauce
2/3 cup shaoxing hua tiao asian rice wine (I could not find this and used the Japanese sake which is not traditional I'm sure, but it came out great as far as I can tell!)
2-4 cups water
1 Star anise (optional)
2 teaspoons cornstarch (optional)

On medium high heat, fry the onion, ginger, and garlic in a wok until fragrant. Add the sugar and stir until it starts to melt. Add the wine and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Rinse off the pork belly in hot water (traditional recipes say to pour scalding water over the pork, but I skipped this and don't think it is necessary), and place in a braising pot with a lid or a crock pot. Pour the prepared sauce (do not strain) over the pork, throw in the star anise if using, and add enough water to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil, and then turn down to lowest possible simmer (low heat on a crockpot). Simmer there for 3-4 hours. When done, gently remove pork pieces (they will be sort of falling apart), and strain sauce. At this point if the sauce is very oily, you may put it in the fridge overnight and remove the solidified fat (lard – save it for frying potatoes!). This step is totally optional, and will create a lighter finish. Bring the sauce to a simmer, and add the cornstarch (mix until smooth with a ¼ cup water first). Stir well until the sauce becomes a shiny sticky glaze (yumm). Serve pieces of the pork belly over rice and spoon over the sauce. Enjoy!

Anna 

A full share is 20 pounds of meat each month, and a half-share is between 10-12 pounds a month, depending on the share type.  Our small everything share is 9 pounds of meat each month.

Full Shares

Full-size shares work well for families and groups of 3 or more people, and 2 people if you are heavy meat eaters and cook at home most days.  You can make a lot of delicious, healthy meals out of 20 pounds of meat each month!  Here are the weight distributions you can expect from each full share option.

Medium Shares

Medium-size shares work well for 1-2 people.  Our medium shares translate to less than $20 per week, or about a quarter of an average $80 weekly trip to the grocery store.  Here are the weight distributions you can expect from each medium share option.

Small Shares

We also offer a Small 9 lb Everything Share.  With this share, you receive 3 lb chicken, 3 lb pork, 1.5 lb beef and 1.5 lb lamb.  It runs about $85 per month or $423 over the course of a 5 month season.

CSA Cuts

While we can offer customization on share types, we need to maintain a little bit more control over what types of cuts are contained in your monthly distribution, in order to ensure the whole animal is put to use and not wasted.  This sometimes results in cuts you may be less familiar with, which you may find scary or you may see as a new cooking challenge.  Either way, we have recipes available here on the web site, or we advise investing in a copy of "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman or "American Cookery" by James Beard.

What types of cuts can you expect?

Original, Trio, Everything and Pork-Free CSA members can regularly expect whole chicken and ground beef in each monthly delivery.  We try to keep track of what cuts we have previously provided to each member to ensure everyone gets an interesting and fair rotation of cuts over the course of a season.  See the "sample share contents" lists on the right side of the page for what you might see in your bag one month. 

 New - CSA Share Add-Ons

We offer two convenience share add-ons that you may purchase as an option WITH a regular share.

1. Convenience share will be 6lb per month in addition to your regular share of quick thaw, easy cook cuts, such as ground beef, patties, sausage, and chicken pieces.

2. Cut Chicken option is a service for us to cut, divide, and package all your chickens in pieces (boneless breasts, legs and thighs, and wings). Note that for a cut chicken option, you are upgrading to all chicken in pieces, and must select whether you have a small, medium, or full share.

3. Super Variety add on: If you love your regular share, but are an adventurous food lover and wouldn't mind an extra something for variety or a special dinner, the Super add-on is for you.  Basically, you continue to get your regular share contents, and in addition each month receive a unique item. This extra product will be different for each of the five months.  One month you will get duck (locally raised on pasture by Brooks' brother), one month wild salmon (wild caught in Alaska by PA purveyors Wild For Salmon), one month will be goat meat (organically raised on pasture by NMP), one month will be veal (grassfed and humanely raised by NMP), and one month will be rabbit (raised on pasture by NMP or another local farm). The quantity received per month will vary depending on the meat type, but will be one 4-6 serving unit: for example, one duck.