We will have eggs throughout the winter. If you are interested in chickens or lamb, we are almost sold out of both.
We’ve finished most of our fall chores just in time. The garlic is planted, the dead plants have been pulled, the tomato cages have been put away for the winter, compost has been added to next years asparagus and 100 daffodil bulbs have been planted on the berm to replace the tulips that were eaten by the tunneling rodents.
We had a very productive day yesterday. We left @ 4 am to head down to Arthur, IL for chicken processing and came home @ 5 pm with 103 packaged chickens in the freezer, 3 gallons of real (raw) milk and a re-finished antique pie safe that was made by my great-grandfather in AR.
About half of the chickens were pre-sold, so we will have them for sale from the farm until they’re gone. You can either call (815)467-5259 or e-mail pam@creeksidenaturalfarm.com with any questions or to arrange a pick-up time.
They are available 3 ways – whole heritage breed, whole double breasted & cut-up dbl breasted and are all $4.00 per lb. The heritage breed chickens are better used for soup and make a very rich stock. The double breasted are a more meaty chicken with lots of breast meat. These chickens were all raised outdoors and fed organic feed (no GMO grains). Because we only raise 100 at a time, we are able to do some extra things with our chickens. We move their portable structure at least once per day so they are on fresh grass, we fermented their feed for better digestion and also gave them organic apple cider vinegar and chamomile tea in their water.
I’m not selling the milk, but thought the picture was interesting for those who have never seen real milk. I skimmed the cream from the jar on the left and will make creme fresh with it. The jar on the right has not had the cream skimmed, but if you look closely you can see the line dividing the cream from the milk at about the same level as the milk in the jar on the left. I will make mozzarella cheese and yogurt with the milk.
The pie safe still needs the handles and glass for the doors, so I’ll post a picture of that when it’s finished.
We have bok choy (Chinese cabbage) in the cooler. It has a very mild flavor because of the cool weather. It’s great in stir fry or can be sauteed in olive oil with some garlic like other greens.
$4.00 per bag
We have a limited amount of lamb available. They came here the 1st of May from an organic farm in Shefield,IL that raises Katahdin sheep. Katahdin sheep have been developed to have a mild tasting meat. They don’t have wool or lanolin that gives lamb a stronger flavor.
They were raised outside on our pasture on their natural diet of grass & hay. They were never given any type of grain and did not receive any antibiotics or growth hormones.
We have chops & ½ legs available for sale.
Chops are 4 oz each/2 per package – $10.00 per package
½ Leg is average 3 lbs – $12.00 per lb
If you would like to purchase lamb, you can either call 815-467-5259 or e-mail pam@creeksidenaturalfarm.com to make arrangements to pick it up.
U of I will be hosting a Field Day at Creekside Natural Farm on Oct. 19th from 9 till noon. The fee is $5.00 per person to cover refreshments. If you would like to get a closer look at what we do here, contact James (info above).
I made what will be our last batch of Heirloom Tomato Salsa for the season. Same ingredients as previous batch except this time I roasted the garlic instead of the peppers.
Fortunately we did not get a frost last night! Our tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, okra & cucumbers will continue to produce until we do – hopefully not for a few more weeks.
Here is a list of what we have in the stand today:
Lots of heirloom tomatoes including Cherokee Purple & Mortgage Lifter
Cherry tomatoes – Sungold, Black Cherry & Sweet 100
Purple tomatillos
Garlic
Peppers – large and small bell peppers, Jimmy Nardello, Conch D’ Toro & Ancho
Cucumbers – pickle & slicing
Butternut squash
Decorative gourds
Heirloom beets
Heirloom tomato salsa
Eggs – there were 3 dz @ 11:00
Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde
Ingredients:
Directions: 1. Place the tomatillos cut side down on a baking sheet and set 4 inches below a very hot broiler. Once charred, flip and roast on the other side. Allow to cool.
2. Transfer the charred tomatillos plus their collected juices to a food processor. Add the onions, garlic, salt, peppers, cilantro, and lime. Pulse.
3. Pour into a large saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Ladle into jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Check for air bubbles, wipe the rims, and seal. Process for 15 minutes, adjusting for elevation.
Makes 3 pints
Leaving on the charred tomatillo skins after broiling gives the salsa added flavor. If you want, you can dial down the heat by using fewer habaneros or by substituting milder peppers, like anchos.
FYI for all the salsa lovers – just put a fresh batch in the stand this morning!
The lettuce I planted last week enjoyed the rain and cooler weather and has started to sprout! Depending on the weather – we should have it in the cooler in about 3 weeks.
Our fresh tomato salsa is back in the stand. Our taste tester (Matt) said the last batch needed more onions so that is the only change I made – still mild.
We are picking pickle cucumbers and lots of heirloom zucchini. We have them in the stand and will also have them at the Minooka Farmers Market tomorrow.
Cucumbers are 2 for $1.00
Large zucchini are $2.00 each and small are $1.00 each
Tiger & Blackie playing
Bronson – our 11 month old Suri alpaca
The morning routine – alpacas & sheep waiting for the gate to be opened. Tiger & Blackie follow me out then go back to the barn for breakfast. The blue Cochin chick came from eggs we gave to the 1st grade class @ Jones Elementary. She came from an egg that was fertilized by Uncle Smokey. 
Zucchini Stew
1 Tbl. Olive oil
2 lbs Italian Sausage
10 med. Tomatoes – seeded & chopped
6 bell peppers – seeded & chopped
2 onions – cut into large chunks
2 lg zucchini – remove seeds & cut into 1” chunk
1 bulb of garlic – peeled & minced
1 bunch fresh oregano
1 lg bunch fresh basil
Freshly ground pepper and sea salt to taste
Put a thin coating of olive oil on the bottom of a stock pot ( I use a heavy cast iron pot but a cast iron skillet would work fine). Heat the oil then add the sausage links and cover. While sausage is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Remove cooked sausage to a plate to cool and put your tomatoes, onion, garlic and herbs in the stock pot where your sausage was cooked. (or into a stock pot with the sausage drippings added if you used a skillet. When sausage is cool enough to handle, cut into 1” chunks and add to vegetables in pot. Add zucchini and sweet peppers and salt & pepper to taste. Cook on low heat for about an hour or until vegetables are soft. Serve with garlic bread. You can also serve it with rice.
If you don’t have sausage – you can make meatballs and add them.
You can adjust the ingredient amounts based on your preference and what you have available.
Or if you want to make your own fresh salsa- we have beautiful Heirloom Tomatoes for sale that you can use with your own family salsa recipe!
We are picking lots of heirloom tomatoes & the dry/hot weather has made them even sweeter than last year! The heirlooms (Cherokee Purple, g Lifter, Arkansas Traveler, Black Prince, Valencia, Box Car Willie, Royal Hillbilly) are $3.00 per pint or $5.00 per quart. The cherries (Sungold, Black Cherry, Sweet 100 & Anna Asa) are $3.00 per pint. We also have “salad ” tomatoes that are $4.00 per quart.
Because our tomatoes are growing so well this year, we will have “processing quantities” available for those who would like to make juice, sauce, canned tomatoes, dehydrate or freeze. A bushel of tomatoes is 53 lbs and will be $50.00 or $30.00 per half bushel. These are organic tomatoes that are grown on our farm and picked ripe rather than green (the sugar develops in the tomato as it ripens on the plant). If you would like to purchase a bushel or half-bushel, please call or e-mail in advance so I can have them ready for you to pick up.
We have tomatoes in the stand! The cherry tomatoes are a mix of Sungold, Black Cherry, Anna Asa & Sweet 100. The regular tomatoes are various heirlooms including Cherokee Purple, Royal Hillbilly, San Remo, Box car Willie, Phil’s Fantastic, Borgese, Genovese and some others whose names I can’t remember right now.
We started picking sweet corn this weekend and happily have more than we expected! It is very sweet, but the super hot weather hurt the pollination on some ears. Because of this, we are charging $5.00 per bag of either 13 or 14 ears (depending on the size). This is non-GMO and organic calico corn.
We have green and yellow beans in the cooler. lb in a bag for $4.00
It’s over 100 degrees and the alpacas are sunbathing! Chikillia did lay down in the pool after his “sun bath” but I wasn’t quick enough with the camera, I took some pictures for my our site click here for watch them.
Stringless sugar-snap peas and snow peas – washed, ready to eat and in the stand. $3.00 per bag
Combine the tomatoes with the oil, garlic, and salt in a large bowl, tossing to combine.
Bring 4 quarts water + 1 tablespoon salt to a boil. Drop the pasta into the boiling water, stir, then cook as directed.
Drain the pasta, and refresh under cold running water to stop the cooking. Continue to drain the pasta in a colander for 10 minutes or so, then toss with the tomatoes and fresh basil.
Serve immediately; or refrigerate and serve later.
Yield: 3 to 4 servings.
1/2 cup garlic scapes, finely chopped
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
3 cups grated Parmesan cheese (use real cheese – not Kraft in a can)
Salt to taste (optional)
Fresh cracked pepper
Put garlic scapes and lemon juice a food processor with the steel blade, and process until scapes are finely chopped. With food processor running, add oil through the feed tube and process less than 30 seconds. Remove lid, add half of Parmesan cheese and process until well mixed less than 10-20 seconds or use the pulse to mix the pesto, then add the rest of cheese and Pepper. Process until all the pesto is mixed well.
We will have tickets available for the Joliet Area Community Hospice Garden Walk. The garden walk is on June 23rd from 9 am till 4 pm and is a fundraiser for Hospice. Our farm will be part of this years garden walk. We will be selling the tickets at the Minooka farmers market this week and next week and will also have them available at the farm.
Ticket price is $10.00
