Terra Farma Meat CSA April 2023 

   In your share

  • Lamb Stew Meat
  • Ground Beef
  • French Garlic Sausage
  • Pork Chops
  • Ground Pork
  • Choice of: duck or rabbit

On the Farm

Despite the winter that will never end, our pastures are looking fantastic, and about a month ago we started our intensive rotational grazing system with the animals getting a new paddock with beautiful grass every day. I think our farm helpers are getting sick of me saying “We’ve got the best grass in town,” but as I drive around and look at every other field in the area, that statement is clearly true. I’m going to be writing a blog post for the Oregon Pasture Network (I have recently been appointed to their advisory committee, and when I suggested that committee members should help provide content, I was thanked for volunteering to be the first!) to go into more detail about why our pastures are so much more productive than everyone else’s, and why that is important for animal health, carbon sequestration, and a farmer’s bottom line. I’ll send out a link once it’s ready.

This is the time of the year when the farm population starts increasing; we already have our first two batches of broiler chickens here, representing about 350 birds, there are about 60 duck eggs in the incubator, 2 new calves in the past month, one new lamb with more coming soon, we’ll be picking up a dozen piglets in a few weeks, and baby goats arriving over the next few weeks also. Writing it all down, it seems like a lot, but since this is an annual routine for us, it doesn’t feel overwhelming.

Renewal for Summer

If you didn’t sign up for the full year, remember to renew your membership to continue receiving the best meat CSA in town. Sign up at our online store: https://terra-farma.square.site/

Recipe

Tagine-Style Lamb Stew from New York Times

Ingredients

  • 1-2 pounds lamb shoulder
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 small onion, grated (about ⅓ cup)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • ¼ cup apricot preserves
  • ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
  • 120-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • ¼c cup raisins
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • Cooked couscous, for serving

Directions

  1. Trim excess fat from the lamb and cut into 1-inch cubes.
  2. In a Dutch oven or other large, heavy-bottomed pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the lamb, onion, garlic, pepper, salt, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, red pepper flakes, apricot preserves and vinegar and cook, stirring frequently, until the aroma of the spices is strong, about 5 to 7 minutes. (Do not allow the meat to brown.)
  3. Add chickpeas and stock, bring just to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer gently until the lamb is very tender, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
  4. Add the raisins and continue to cook, uncovered, until they are nicely plumped, about 10 minutes more. Remove from heat, stir in the parsley and lemon juice, and serve with couscous.