Saturday, September 27, 2008

Fall Chicken CSA 2008!

We are offering a CHICKEN CSA for this Fall! Click here for details and the sign up sheet.

There will be 2 pickup dates in November and 2 in December (dates on the pdf). Chicken will be delivered fresh to RTI and Carrboro and Durham Farmers' Markets.

We are taking sign ups immediately. Please consider signing up soon because there is limited space available.

Thank you for supporting small farms!

If you have any questions please contact us (info below).

Have a good one,
-Brian & Joann Gallagher

Castlemaine Farm
1649 Old Dam Road
Liberty, NC 27298
336-376-1025
castlemainefarm.com

Sunday, September 21, 2008

CHICKEN DINNER SUN OCT 12 at Castle Rock Gardens!


October 12, 2008
(Sunday) 4:00 pm
at Castle Rock Gardens


Castle Rock Gardens
& Castlemaine Farm present
Chicken Dinner
$25 for an all farm-raised meal featuring
pastured chicken, fresh produce from the farms, and
Ristin’s internationally known devilled eggs
Sit down or take-out, BYOB

Guest Chef Matt Dawes of Table Restaurant of Asheville, NC


This Slow Food event is a fundraiser
to help send the Joann & Brian Gallagher of
Castlemaine Farm and Ristin Cooks & Patrick Walsh
of Castle Rock Gardens to Terra Madre, the
Slow Food Convention in Turin, Italy

Tickets:
Castlemaine Farm, 336-376-1025 or castlemainefarm@hotmail.com
Castle Rock Gardens, 919-636-0832

LOCATION:


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Friday, September 19, 2008

Tons of Chicken available tomorrow at Durham and Carrboro Markets

Fresh chicken, whole birds, split breast, whole legs, whole wings, livers, hearts, feet.

We'll also have tons of bell peppers, eggplant, basil, lettuce, radishes, turnips & more.

Durham Farmers' Market is on Saturdays from 8am to noon and is located here:


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Carrboro Farmers' Market is on Saturdays from 7am to noon and is located here:


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Here are two relevant recipes for this week:

Chicken and Peppers w. Balsamic Vinegar

* 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
* 4 whole chicken legs
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
* 1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
* 1 orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
* 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
* 4 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
* 1 tablespoon fresh basil
* 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, divided

1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the chicken in the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and brown on both sides. Remove from heat, and set aside.
2. Heat remaining oil in the skillet over medium heat, and stir in the red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, orange bell pepper, and onion. Cook about 5 minutes, until tender. Mix in the garlic, and cook and stir about 1 minute. Mix in the basil and 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar.
3. Return the chicken to the skillet. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. Stir in remaining balsamic vinegar just before serving.


Chicken w. Eggplant-Pepper Sauce

*½ lb japanese eggplant
*1 lb colored bell peppers
*3/4 tsp salt, divided
*1/4 tsp ground ginger
*1/4 tsp garlic powder
*1/4 tsp ground red pepper, divided
*2 whole split chicken breasts
*2 tsp olive oil, divided
*1 tsp paprika
*4 tsp lemon juice
*1 tbsp fresh basil

Cut tops off eggplant, slice in half lengthwise, and pierce skin with a fork. Cut off & discard tops, seeds, membranes of bell peppers. Microwave eggplant and bell peppers on high for 8 minutes or until tender.
While the eggplant cooks, combine 1/4 tsp salt, ginger, garlic powder, and 1/8 tsp red pepper; sprinkle the chicken with the ginger mixture. Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, cook on each side until it is done.
Combine eggplant and bell peppers in a blender or food processor. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon red pepper, 1 teaspoon oil, paprika, and juice; process until smooth. Serve chicken with sauce & chopped fresh basil sprinkled over entire dish.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Last Veggie CSA Newsletter, Week #21 (Delivery was 9/4/08)

Full Share:
Eggplant - 1.5#
Peppers - 2#
Mizuna Greens - 1/2#
Cucumbers - 1#
Basil - 1 bunch
Turnips - 1 bunch
Radishes - 1 bunch

Half Share:
Eggplant - 1#
Peppers 1.5#
Mizuna Greens - 1/4#
Turnips - 1 bunch
Radishes - 1 bunch
Basil - 1 bunch

WOW. 21 weeks later, here we are, with the final delivery of the season. Sorry I'm a few days late getting this newsletter up. The tropical storm that blew through this weekend really had us scrambling to get things tied up/tied down, secured and picked up. Basically, we had to tidy up the place for Hanna. Between Hanna and Tropical storm Fay the week before, we got just about 11" of much-needed rain.

Thanks to all of you for another great CSA season!! We had a great time seeing you every week, and its always fun to meet the kids too!

We already are planning for next season, and all these rains are really helping us along getting the fields ready for their winter blanket of cover crops. We're also getting beds ready for the fall planting of strawberries, garlic, and overwintered flowers, all of which are planted by the first of October. We have 1,000 strawberry plants on order (300 more than this year) so we should have more strawberries for the boxes next year (along with me learning a great deal on how to grow them as this was my first year growing strawberries). We're hoping to also plant blueberries in the spring, but they'll take a few years before they have harvestable fruit.

We are also trying to figure out ways to make the CSA work better for both us, the farmers, and you, the co-producers. We started the CSA deliveries 2 weeks earlier this year, and ended much earlier. I'm not sure if this was such a good idea. I do like the idea of finishing up by mid-september because the fall garden can be so unpredictable. Maybe we'll start May 1st next year, and finish the week of September 15th. Then maybe we'll get a better balance. As this is only the second full year we've done the veggie CSA (first for the chicken CSA), theres still many things for all of us to learn.

Thanks again, we appreciate your support.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Carrboro and Durham Farmers Markets will both be open tomorrow!

Tropical Storm Hannah will NOT close the markets. Please come see us! We'll have fresh chicken, radishes, turnips, peppers and more! Bring an umbrella... and maybe a windbreaker?

Carrboro Market is 7am - noon
Durham Market 8am - noon

Thanks!