Tal’s Whole Roasted Chicken Recipe with Vegetables

Published on May 24, 2013, by John in Food, Recipes.

A New Contributing Writer

It was a liberating day for me when I realized that 1. I did not know everything there is to know in the world, and 2. I don’t have to because there are other people who do. I just had to make more friends who knew more stuff, that I can do. FoodCyclist Farm is about community and collaboration. That is why I started a CSA, Community Supported Agriculture.

Part of my growing community is a CSA member named Tal. Tal has been the gold standard of CSA members. She was one of the first members of the farm, she has been to visit a number of times, she has donated baby clothes and a baby bike seat, and is now contributing to the blog.

I love sharing information. I also love to eat. That is why I have a website and a farm, they allow me to do both. Tal had a great chicken recipe that was passed down to her from her Grandmother. Not only was she willing to share the recipe with you and me, she also cooked the dinner for Kate and I recently. That way I know it is really good!

She will be writing a few more articles in the future about what exactly to do with a chicken. She is an amazing cook and has thoroughly researched sustainable food in our area. If I ever have a question about my local food, I turn to Tal. I now turn it over to her (with my photos to help illustrate).

Grandma Shirley’s Whole Roasted Chicken and Root Vegetable Recipe

For as long as I can remember, my Grandma Shirley cooked amazing food for our family. Most of the table was set with traditional Jewish food like brisket, noodle kugel, and matzo ball soup. The roasted chicken was the part that truly fascinated me as a wide-eyed, and hungry child. When it came out of the oven, it looked so amazing. It got stripped of all the best parts almost immediately. My sister ate the skin off the top, my father nabbed the wings, I took a drumstick and we all gobbled up the roasted root vegetables basting in sweet dark juices. What was left to serve? If ever the chicken made its way out of the kitchen, it was a result of the diligent shooing away of big appetites in little kids by the elder generation.

As the cook in our household (and sous chef, waitress, dishwasher), I have made Shirley’s traditional chicken hundreds of times. Why mess with perfection? After combing many cookbooks and blogs to learn new techniques, I came across two things that I have incorporated to form a perfect culinary marriage.

2 Things that Make a Perfect Culinary Marriage

Salt

The first is salt. I have always seasoned my chicken and then popped it into the oven. All About Roasting by Molly Stevens explains that salting your chicken with kosher salt (about ½ teaspoon per pound of bird) and letting it rest uncovered in the refrigerator for 24 hours (over a pan to catch drips) will provide a juicer and more flavorful meat. All the salt will disappear. The skin of the bird will look dry and tight and cook up super crisp. I found this article from Food and Wine where the writer tests out the two conflicting prep methods on a variety of meats and finds that preparing a chicken in this manner provides a balance to the flavor and a more tender chicken.

Butter

The second is butter. Who doesn’t love butter? Shmeering it under the skin by hand, what could be better? I don’t know where I saw this technique but I found it would enhance the crispiness of the skin. My children like a plain chicken but you could put fresh herbs or chopped garlic under there. The possibilities are endless.

The Recipe:

Once a friend of my grandmothers asked for one of her cherished recipes. Without giving it a thought, Shirley immediately replied with a “sure”. I remember thinking that she was being so generous to give away secret family recipes. A few days later, the friend returned saying that the dish was good but it didn’t have exactly the same flavor and that it seemed like the dish was lacking something. Turns out that Shirley was very free with her recipes however she always left out one secret ingredient. The one that would ignite the taste buds the most. In the case of the roasted chicken, it was the Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt. Have you ever thrown a few red-hots in your applesauce? We can get to that later.

Ingredients:

1 whole (FoodCyclist Farm) chicken (approximately 4 pounds)
1/2 A stick of butter
Fresh Herbs (optional)
One whole head of garlic separated and left unpeeled (though you can peel if you want)
Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt
2 large yellow sweet onions
2-3 potatoes
6 Large carrots
3-4 parsnips

Season the chicken with kosher salt
Let rest uncovered over a drip pan in the fridge for 24 hours
Slide your fingers under the skin and smush butter, and optional herbs
Place the chicken in a roasting pan, breast side up
Slice two onions and place around the chicken
Cut up carrots, potato, and parsnip to about ½ inch thickness.
(Diagonal cuts work nicely with root vegetables)
Spread unpeeled cloves of garlic throughout the vegetables
Sprinkle generously with Krazy Mixed up Salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder
Bake for 30 minutes at 450 degrees
Lower the temperature to 350 until done.
Add water to the bottom of the pan as needed so you get thick dark juice
Occasionally give the veggies a stir.

When you first get the bird rinse it off in your sink and pat it dry with paper towels. Then season with kosher salt and let it sit in your fridge over-night.

Carefully separate the skin from the meat on the chicken to get your fingers in there. Cut your butter into slices to get it under the skin. I like to mush my butter together with fresh herbs to add flavor. This step is a little weird if you’re not used to it, but is definitely worth the effort in the long run. If you start with your fingers at the back of the birds and be cautiously aggressive with it you won’t have a problem. Make sure to squish the butter up toward the front.

One step that I like to do is called “trussing” the chicken. You can use kitchen twine or just use the bird. Tal used the birds tail area . She used kitchen sheers to cut a little hole in the skin toward the back of the bird to stick the legs through as shown. We also folded the front legs under the bird. This brings everything together to cook more evenly. You don’t have to do this but if you leave the legs out they will cook faster than the bulkier part of the body. If you’re not using one of my birds (or just not a pastured bird) the legs might dry out before the breasts are done cooking. I have over-cooked my chickens plenty of times and have never had one dry out on me. I guess that comes with superior quality.

The “secret ingredient” was Jane’s Mixed Up Salt. You can use just salt and pepper. Add some paprika. There are endless possibilities when it comes to roasting chicken. If you have good chicken it is good with just salt pepper and olive oil, or you can jazz it up.

Don’t be shy with your seasoning. Also, the root vegetables will cook down a lot while you are roasting the bird. There are never enough veggies on the pan. Make sure you have the pan stuffed. If you think you have too much you might be getting close to complete. See how full this is, wait until you scroll down and see the finished bird.

Preheat your oven to 400. This will get you skin nice and crispy. Later on you will turn the temp down a little to roast it. The temperature of the meat should be 165 degrees when it is done. You can take a meat thermometer and stick it in the meaty back part of the leg to test. Just try not to poke too many holes in the bird before you are sure it is done or the juices will leak out. Let the bird rest for 10 minutes after you take it out of the over. If you are close to 165 the bird will continue to cook in its own juices as the redistribute themselves. Always let meat rest when you are done cooking it before you cut it up.

Voila! How great does that look? We all tore into it at this point, and it was delicious. We made sure to let Tal have a significant portion of the skin (which apparently she was always deprived of as a kid) Note: the root vegetables have cooked down considerably. Those whole garlic cloves you left in the peel, pluck those out and eat just the garlic sucking it out of the peel. The extreme garlic flavor has been cooked down. They are savory and delicious and really good for you.

I want to thank Tal again for the great recipe, article, and fabulous dinner. I love hearing other people’s food stories and them passing them on. I am looking forward to sharing more of her awesome food knowledge here on the blog.

Whether you buy chicken from me this year or not I hope you enjoy the recipes and try eating some more classic home made chicken this year. I do have to say again that the ingredients make the dish. I became a chicken farmer because regular store chicken tastes like nothing and it dries out in a heartbeat.

I have left so many of my chickens in the over too long and they are always juicy and delicious. Good to know if you don’t have a lot of confidence in your cooking abilities. I should market my birds as “almost impossible to screw up”.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I hope you enjoy your time in the kitchen.

Interested in writing for the farm blog?

Pitch me an idea. Could be a recipe, something about the benefits of organic and pasture raised foods, or anything about chickens. I am completely open to submissions. Just let me know ahead of time before you put the work into writing it so I can make sure it fits the voice of the blog.

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Pastured poultry moves out to chicken tractors and farm video update

Published on May 9, 2013, by John in chicken farm, Farm Update, Free Range Chickens, Video Vignette.

At long last, the nights are warmer, we have gotten some spring showers, and it is time to move the birds out on pasture. With the night time temperatures still in the 30s until recently, I was hesitant to move them out. Over the last week, I have been turning off their brooder light in “Cluckingham Palace” (chick house) and they have been hardening off to get ready for life outdoors.

They are plenty feathered out by now, and are looking quite hardy. They handled the move alright. It is a little shock for them to go from the chicken brooder house to the chicken tractors out on hay pasture, but they are doing just fine. It feels like a while since I began work on the chicken tractors and I sigh at the fact that I have four more to build. It is the project that never ends.

Rain, oh how I have missed you!

My herbs are looking good. Some of them have died with the cold nights, which really bums me out. But that is farming. The birds and the herbs both had a tough time with the cold nights. I have prepared my herb and vegetable beds for planting and seeding and I will be doing more and more of that as the weather warms. If we get a late frost, I may cry.

The rain is great for the pasture as well. It will help the ground absorb the chicken manure better as the chickens start to do their thing. The combo of the rain and the pastured chickens will do wonders for the hay fields. Because the chicken tractors are moved twice a day, the manure never builds up. Without any build-up, the pastures can recover quicker and absorb the nitrogen, and the chickens stay cleaner and healthier.

After they were fed and watered this morning, I let them have some time to relax and say goodbye to their old home. So many good memories. While they were digesting breakfast, I hauled four chicken tractors over to the hay field. When they were ready, I put one last tractor on my trailer to use as transport. The fields are a little less than a mile from the brooder, so there was a little travel involved. The birds did really well and seemed very calm. Note: they’re all laying down and not freaking out.

I will not run out of fresh pasture anytime soon. The pastured chickens get daily moves. They have to stay inside the tractors because of the number of predators around. To compensate, I move the chicken tractors twice a day. Everyone wins in this scenario. This breed of birds are also not really known for walking much. They eat, they sleep, they….you know, then they eat some more.

You can see they have plenty of room. There are 30 birds per tractor, which might sound like a lot, but you can see they have plenty of space. The orange bucket has chicken waterers on the bottom. It works like a hamster waterer. The feed in the trough is certified organic. The birds will need to have the mixture of pasture, bugs, and grain to survive. That mix of food options makes them awesome.

I am serious about predator protection. I still might lose some, but it is not for lack of trying. In addition to the Fort Knox of chicken tractors, I have electric wire to discourage any small predators that might want to dig. There is a fox that lives nearby, they love digging. The wire goes all the way around the tractors and packs a 5,000 volt wallop powered by solar. You cannot even see the wire in this picture. Catching the unsuspecting predators by surprise. Leave my birds alone!

This is only four of the chicken tractors. “One batch”. Strange to think I will have 12 total when in full swing. 3 batches of birds out on pasture and 1 in the brooder. 480 birds on the farm at any given time. So far I have 1200 ordered for the whole season.

For your viewing pleasure, I put together a quick video of the chicken’s first day on pasture. It is a little farm update from FoodCyclist Farm.

I live for these days

There are so many things I love about farming. The fact that I get to call the shots, grow amazing food, and enjoy being outside makes this a life I was meant to live. To see the birds get into their new homes today and start eating grass and scratching the ground is my version of a thrill ride (I need to get out more).

I have seen how industrial chicken is produced. It’s awful. And I have read countless articles and studies about GMOs and how uncertain scientists are about how healthy they are for humans. My birds live a happy life out on pasture, and they are eating supplemental grain that is 100% free of GMOs. What is better than that?

Will it be really tough when it comes to processing time? Absolutely. I don’t enjoy it. But, it is a necessary part of the business. I am a meat eater after all.

Remember also, not all “farm raised chicken” or “pastured poultry” is the same. Also look out for “chemical free”. If the farmer is feeding conventional grain to his/her chickens, they are eating GMOs and probably getting a little of any of those pesticides and herbicides that are sprayed on those crops. If they are eating them, you can be assured they are passing them to you. That goes for beef, pork, turkey, and any other animal eating conventional grain. Organic grain costs me a fortune, but I feel it is worth it.

My Farm = Your Farm

I will say it any chance I get. FoodCyclist Farm is as much yours as it is mine. Whether you are a CSA member, a random buyer of poultry, or just someone who found me on Google. It is you who makes my farm happen, and I am thankful for that every day.

Cheers to you!

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Starting a Herb Farm With Tiny Greenhouses

Published on May 1, 2013, by John in Farm Update, herb farm, Slow Food, Video Vignette.

Have I mentioned yet that I love what I do? Honestly, I don’t know where the stereotype of the dumb hick farmer came from. This career keeps you on your toes, forces you to be creative, innovative, and resourceful. Day in and day out I am constantly faced with challenges that I have to meet in order to get through to tomorrow.

In addition to my chickens I am raising a number of herbs and vegetables this year.Starting a chicken farm, and a herb farm. I believe that the two marry nicely when it comes to your dinner plate. Since I have a passion for, and specialize in chickens, herbs, and cooking this all makes for a happy working environment. I get to deal with all three, every day. All I have to do now if figure out how I can incorporate craft beer into the farm and I will be floating in seventh-heaven (not the tv show).

I promise not to talk about money all the time with my farm updates. No one needs to hear that all the time. The truth is I cannot help but think about the business of farming because I have a pretty kick-a** podcast on the topic that I produce every week.

That being said, my challenge this week was to find greenhouse space on the cheap. Turn on the resourceful centers of my brain and this is what I came up with:

My two “mini” green houses are about four feet wide and about seven feet long. They are too small to walk in, and the have no doors. They essentially work as caps over the plants to keep them from getting too cold at night. I found the plastic on Craigslist and I found the materials in piles of junk wood. They don’t look half bad if I say so. And, they’re working.

My rosemary plants I transplanted into pots. With the added space and some all natural fertilizer, they almost doubled in size over-night.

I mix top soil with composted horse manure to create my soil mix. When they are transplanted I water with a mixture of water and fish emulsion. Fish emulsion is a fertilizer emulsion that is produced from the fluid remains of fish processed for fish oil and fish meal industrially. It smells…

I almost cannot help but keep a smile on my face when I am on my farm. The only thing (work related) that I enjoy almost as much is writing these blog posts.

I share the property with some really tame horses. Unless you have feed in your hands they really don’t pay attention to you. I like looking up to see them in the morning when the grass is glistening with dew. I also appreciate the fact that I can use their composted manure to feed my plants.

My shadow stretches before me as I walk around the farm in the morning. With the peaceful sounds of the birds chirping and the world waking up it is nice to stop and reflect why I am doing this. I like the community that is forming around my farm, I take pride in how well my chickens live, and I cannot wait until the summer when I have more plants in the ground.

If the pictures were not enough, here a quick video about herbs from the chicken farm.

Your Farm Education

Whether you are a member of my CSA or just someone who find my site online, thank you for taking the time to read what I have to put up here. Farm education is becoming a necessity these days with all the scary things our food system is putting out. It is not only important to know what is in your food, but become familiar with the people who are producing it.

If you want to do something to help the farm, share my posts on Facebook and Twitter, and pin my photos on Pinterest. Thanks!

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Farm Video Update 4.27.2013

Published on April 26, 2013, by John in Farm Update, Video Vignette.

Owning a farm is not all about the plants and animals, it is a business too. What do all businesses need? Good marketing!

I know that I produce the best chickens money can buy, and I know other people know that too. The trick is to get enough people to know. So, I employ guerrilla marketing tactics wherever and whenever I can. This weekend I will be showcasing my chicken tractor at the Pratt Nature Center’s Earth Day Event.

My farm video update today shows you some of the marketing tools I use on the farm.

pratt nature center house

The Pratt Nature Center, (founded in 1967) is a 201-acre wildlife preserve and environmental education center in Litchfield County, CT. The land is diverse – with a mountain, meadows, woods, wildlife, gardens, farm animals, a stream, a pond, and wetlands, providing wonderful opportunities for outdoor fun, discovery and adventure! Pratt Nature Center offers hiking, bird-watching, community garden plots and nature education for all ages including programs tailor-made for the classroom or scout troop as well as for family or community enjoyment and learning.

Click here for Earth Day 2013

Mission Statement
The Pratt Nature Center’s mission is to stimulate a lifelong responsibility for and joy in the natural world by encouraging people to experience themselves as part of nature, dependent on the Earth’s resources.

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Farm Video Update 4.25.2013

Published on April 25, 2013, by John in Farm Update, Video Vignette.

I used to do short video updates when Kate and I were riding across America on bicycles. I want to bring back that a little bit with some farm video updates. Quick videos, no editing. Just a little hello and update from FoodCyclist Farm.

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With Baby Chicks On the Farm, It Is Starting to Look Like a Serious Poultry Farm

Published on April 25, 2013, by John in chicken farm, Farm Update, Free Range Chickens, Slow Food.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Chicken babies, or chicks, can survive up to 72 hours on the fluid in their stomachs after they hatch from their shells. Because I did not start with any chickens I needed to get them from somewhere. I order them from Meyer Hatchery who over-night ships the chicks to me immediately after they hatch.

They come in a cardboard box full of holes. I get a phone call from the Postmaster early in the morning to come and get them, and from then on they are under my care.

In the case of FoodCyclist farm, the chicken comes first.

Pastured Chicken Timeline

With first 24-48 hours of hatching the birds are in my care at FoodCyclist Farm.

The first 2 weeks of their life they are in what I have started calling “Cluckingham Palace”. This is a converted old tractor-trailer body. Considering they are smaller than baseballs in the beginning they have more space than they need. This early in the year the chicks might get an extra week in here to keep warm. Later in the year they might go out a little sooner.

The next six weeks of their lives are spent out on hay pasture. They are eating bugs, munching on grass, and enjoying the fresh air. Because bugs and plants make up about 25-30% of their diet, I feed them certified organic grain from Morrison Feeds in Vermont. The pasture that they will be on is certified organic as well. That means all the grasses and soils are definitely free of any chemicals.

They finally meet their end on processing day at about 8 weeks old. CSA members pick them up within 24 hours and bring them home to enjoy that night or freeze for another day.

Buyer Beware

As you can see I go to great lengths to give my birds the best life they can live. While my farm is not certified organic I do my best to bring in that certification whenever and wherever I can.

I am especially happy about this when it comes to the grain I feed my birds. They cannot survive on pasture alone. Organic grain, whether certified or not, means no chemicals and no GMOs. Other farms may offer “all natural” or “chemical free” meat whether it is raised on pasture or not. This is when you have to be careful of the language they use and it really pays to know what methods your farmer is using. If you are eating pasture raised meat from a farm that feeds conventional grain there are still trace chemicals and GMOs in that grain. Since you are what you eat eats. If the animals are eating it, by extension you are eating it.

Whether you buy from me or not I always encourage farm visits. And I absolutely encourage photos. That is why I post so many photos on the blog. I am striving for 100% transparency.

Farm Tour Videos

Baby Chick Photos

The chicks are a cornish-rock cross breed. They show up as little yellow fuzz balls, and grow up into big lumbering white birds. Super cute at this stage though. I will have baby chicks on the farm all summer long as new birds are delivered every two weeks. Feel free to schedule a farm visit with me.

This is only a part of the space they have available. At this point in their lives they are like any newborns. They eat, they sleep, and they…you know…poo.

They start out with this bell-shaped waterer. Fresh water is gravity fed as they drink. These are ok in the beginning, but they walk in the water and make a mess.

After a few days I teach them in on this. A Tractor Supply Co. white bucket with “chicken nipples” screwed in the bottom. They peck the shiny metal pieces and a drop of water comes out. I move the bell waterer out of the space and they get all their water from this. It keeps the water cleaner and makes less of a mess.

They love to eat! They put on weight quickly with lightning fast metabolism.

It is fun to watch them jockey for position around the feeders when I put out new feed in the morning. I’ll have to make more space once they get a little bigger.

I had to take this candid shot of my volunteer. He’s a little camera shy. This is my brother-in-law Joe. He came up this week to help me finish the chicken tractors. It is no small task putting chicken wire on these things, and with only one person it truly is a hassle. With Joe’s help we got 4 tractors covered in protective chicken wire, and picked all the rocks out of the herb beds. My hat’s off to him. Thank you Joe. If you want to hear more about volunteering on the farm keep reading below.

Volunteer on the Farm

I am humbled by the requests I receive for volunteering on the farm. I have had so many things going on that are “non-routine” it has been hard for me to pin down tasks that would be good to have volunteers for. It would be great just to have another set of hands on the farm to get things done all the time.

The tasks are so varied and so many I didn’t know where to begin. SO, I approached it like I do everything else, I created a web page for it. That’s right, interested in helping ensure the success of FoodCyclist Farm, visit my volunteer page. There you will find more info on the many tasks I would love help with like:

Marketing
Weeding
Quickbooks
Photography
Recipes
Chicken processing
General farm work

Click here for the farm volunteer page

There is no obligation to help, but it sure is appreciated.

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Starting A Farm On A Budget, Something From Nothing

Published on April 17, 2013, by John in chicken farm, Farm Update, Free Range Chickens.

Starting a farm isn’t easy. No one said it was going to be. However, I am finding it is a lot of fun. I almost feel guilty at how much I enjoy this. There are about a million decisions to make every day. My brain feels as exercised as my arms do. I am excited for this season, and the inevitable joys that it is bringing. New friendships, fresh food, and a whole lot of chickens!

You Get What You Pay For

“You get what you pay for.” This is true with food, with cars, with televisions, and especially with farms. I am working my rear end off to make sure my CSA members get the most out of what they pay for when it comes to my farm. I will only deliver the best, because anything less is unacceptable.

When starting a farm from scratch, like I am doing this year, you have to be a very creative person. If I had a million dollars from my past life I could build the most beautiful farm you have ever seen. I could do it in my sleep, haha. I especially have confidence in that considering what I have accomplished in the past few months. But alas, no million dollars.

The photos that follow are my proof positive that you can create something from nothing if you put your mind to it, and put in a little hard work. If I said “you can’t do anything with that” I would have almost nothing to farm with this year. Mental and physical muscles flexed, here we go…

This is a Vermont Cart. They retail new at a little over $400. I found this one for free, can you see why? The bolts were all rusted solid and the wood was disintegrated. Perfect!

Presto-change-o! Like new. Found a piece of 1/2 inch plywood that would work (free), $2.96 worth of new hardware from Tractor Supply Company, and I am in business.

This one threw me a little, and was the source of some frustration. At my disposal was this old shipping container. Inexpensive because the roof was in pretty rough shape. First job was clearing the junk out, next step fix the roof. Also had to move this thing…

You see, I needed a safe, dry, and secure place to store my chicken feed. The ideal is a silo, but that won’t happen this year. There are a lot of critters that would like to much my certified organic chicken feed, but I want to save it for the chickens. To keep it safe from both human and animals predators, I settled on this container.

After clearing it out I started to sure up the roof. 4×4 posts were added. Lots of fun to put up alone (few narrow misses with my over-sized cranium).

That roof isn’t going anywhere. A little broom action and this bad-boy is ready to go. Sure she’s not the prettiest thing in the world, but there’s nothing a coat of paint cannot fix. The main thing is that it is now secure, clean, and ready for grain and farm tools. With the addition of some corrugated steel to the roof I am happy to report that everything is dry.

The next step was this thing. An old truck body, that needed a little work. I need a safe place to keep chicks before they go on pasture. When they are young they need a brooder lamp to keep them at around 95 degrees until they develop feathers. There are predators galore in this area, and I had my work cut out for me.

What you don’t see is that we had to get this on to the back of a trailer, drive it across town, spin it 180 degrees on the trailer, and roll it into place on telephone poles. Like I said, you have to be creative. We did all this with relatively low horsepower. We used a tractor, but this thing is 8 feet wide, 8 feet tall, and 20 feet long. It is awkward to move.

People and predator safe. The new and improved chicken brooder is ready for chickens to arrive. I have since added some paving stones in this front viewing area to keep people’s feet out of the dirt. I try to add little nice touches when I can. It adds my personality to the farm, makes it mine, and hopefully shows you how much I care about what I do.

Here’s the inside from the inside of the brooder. The chicks have plenty of room to move considering how tiny they are at this stage. There is lots of ventilation, and the metal walls and chicken wire protect them from the family of foxes that live on property.

Preparing For Babies!

These are just some of the things that I have been working on so far. Other than that I have been preparing for babies of all sorts to start arriving on the farm.

The obvious is the baby chickens. I do not hatch them on the farm yet. I order them from a hatchery, and they ship them to me. A chicken can survive for 72 hours on the fluid that is in its stomach after it hatches. The hatchery over-night mails them to me, and I pick them up at the post office.

Before they get here I had to get feed. While my chickens will be out on pasture for the majority of their lives, they still require supplemental grain. This I order by the ton considering how many chickens I will have.

I order my feed bagged from Morrison Feeds in Vermont. It shows up on farm in 1 ton pallets. I cannot actually get it to the farm, I have to have it dropped off 1/2 mile down the road, and I have to get it back to the farm from there. The pleasures of working down a dirt road.

chicken farm poultry farm food grade barrels

I wanted an added layer of protection for the chicken feed. The certified organic feed that I use is very expensive. I bought these food-grade steel barrels to store the grain in. The insides are coated with ceramic and are very clean. This keeps the grain extra dry, and extra protected. These barrels go inside my shipping container.

My seedlings have not been doing that well. Something’s weird with the set-up that I have to start them under grow lights. With them looking sad my plan is to buy in organic seed starts from a nursery in New York. This way I am guaranteed to get the number of plants per tray, and I don’t have to buy a greenhouse yet.

I did get a lead on a free greenhouse. It hasn’t been set-up in ten years, and it is currently in a pile. Still not sure how I feel about that. It is 8 feet by 6 feet. Enough for my purposes this year. It is all aluminum and glass, which is pretty cool. I will post pictures on the blog if I get it, and if I can piece it together. For now, I am preparing the beds for warmer weather.

I have three planting areas. This one is on the East side of the farm. I have 5 beds that are 4 feet wide and 50 feet long.

This area I share with another farmer. It is 150 feet by 70 feet in size. I’ll definitely have at least half of it. The guy I am sharing it with, Kenny, is super nice and we will be working together to grow some vegetables in addition to the herbs. Kenny’s a 73 year old Vet, and he’s happy to have a young set of arms working this patch with him.

This is my favorite part of the farm. It is on the West side, right alongside the Housatonic River. You can see the water in this picture. These beds are 120 feet long, with shorter 35 foot beds behind them. The shorter beds will be flowers, the longer for herbs. After roto-tilling all the beds, I have raked and rock-picked all of them by hand. Keeping the soil moving is one way to keep weeds at bay. Not too much is growing now in the cold anyways, but it is getting warmer.

Quick note: All the photos on the blog post today were taken with my phone. I have never done this before, and it was an experiment. Not too shabby.

Chicken are coming soon!

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Spring Has Sprung, Chicken Tractor Fun

Published on April 4, 2013, by John in chicken farm, Farm Update, Tools.

Spring has sprung on the farm and the deadlines are piling up. 120 chickens are coming April 16th(ish), I am going to need to have feed, shelter, and water for the little chicks. The good news is, I’m on track. Things are looking good, and I am thrilled this is all happening.

I have to admit, I almost feel guilty with how much I enjoy what I do. I spent the last week outside working on chicken tractors to house the birds on pasture. In the sun, working with my hands, and knowing that the work I am doing is going to have a positive influence on the world.

There is a lot of work yet to do. I have some more key components that need to fall into place. It’s an orchestra of events and I am the conductor.

Volunteering on the Farm

I have gotten a few messages about volunteering on the farm. Right now the situation is not so conducive for volunteers. However, as weather warms up and the birds start coming in I would love to have visitors. I want people to know what I am doing, and I welcome the opportunity for you to be more involved with your food. I will post volunteer days here on the blog as well as on my Facebook Page when they come up.

Chicken Tractor Highlights

It all started with a trip to Home Depot to get the chicken tractor materials. It’s a good thing I had a trailer to fit all this stuff. And this isn’t even all of them. I cannot believe I have to build more.

The first step was cutting up all the pieces that I was going to need for the chicken tractors. I worked from a cut list that I created to cut enough pieces for seven of the mobile houses.

I ran into some issues along the way. The wood at Home Depot is not really the best. It’s so green the “squirrels are still playing on it” Curtis jokes. When it dries sometimes it dries funky and I end up having to work with weird shapes. It’s fine though. I’m not making kitchen cabinets.

The next step was putting all the wood pieces together. I screwed and glued every joint. I’ll have a post when they are 100% done detailing some of the “features”.

I used 3/4 EMT, which is the conduit they use for electrical wire to make the roof of the tractor. They start as 10ft straight pieces. There are 5 pieces per tractor.

Each tractor has 4 bent poles. Each pole has 3 bends. That’s 84 bends I had to create for this batch of chicken tractors. I don’t have a mechanical bender. I bent all the curves with a hand bender from the 1970′s. It’s the same thing people use these days, I just like the history. This took some arm strength.

Finally I put them all together. I have 7 done except chicken wire. I have all the parts for the feeders and waterers, which I am also creating from scratch. It takes a little more time but it saves me a lot of money, and I think it will make the birds happier. That’s why I am doing this, for happy chickens!

Honestly, the seedlings aren’t looking great. In reality I need a heated greenhouse, but alas, I make due without. I plan on buying some organic herb seedlings from McEnroe Organic Farm in New York to help me get started for this season. I buy my potting soil from them and I’m happy with the quality of their products. That, and it’s organic. I have seeds to start plants outside once it warms a little. It’s staying cold so far though.

My shirts are in and they are great. I will be wearing these all summer to my CSA pickups. I’m a fan of the logo, created by yours truly, and voted upon by my Facebook followers.

Thinking about Pigs

I have bee mulling over the idea of raising a limited number of pigs this year. I would love people’s feedback. I can get organic grain from the same place I am getting my chicken feed. I have pasture and woodlot available for them to use (no confinement). All I need is a little more fencing. I have raised pigs before, so it wouldn’t be a big deal.

I would love you know your thoughts.

I still have some CSA shares available if you live in Western, CT. Tell your family, tell your friends. I’m happy to speak at events, visit you at church, or meet up for coffee to discuss what I do.

Thanks for following. I am quite excited for how this year is shaping up!

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Starting a Chicken and Herb Farm

Published on March 14, 2013, by John in chicken farm, Farm Update, Food, Free Range Chickens, herb farm, Slow Food, Sustainable Business.

There certainly is a lot involved with starting a farm. Mine is no different! Winter is coming to an end, spring is only days away, and the sun is showing her bright face more and more as the days go on. Let me tell you, I am psyched!

It seems that I always manage to keep myself exceptionally busy. This year is certainly the busiest I have ever felt in my life. It’s a good busy, a rewarding busy. Farming is as much a lifestyle as it is a job. Whether you run a chicken farm, an herb farm, a vegetable farm, or any kind of farm. You do this because you love it. That’s me, in love with farming.

For those of you new to the blog, in particular my new CSA member, welcome! I have enjoyed sharing my experiences through the years on this website, and I plan on continuing that through this year and the years to come. You’ll catch on to my format pretty quickly. I love to take photographs. That way you can choose whether to read through everything I write, or if I drone on, like I am dong right now, you can skim the pictures and get a version of the story that way.

Starting a Chicken Farm

There is a significant amount of things to do before the chickens actually get here. I’ll spare you the details on the business side of things. I talk about that on my farm podcast. And that content is a little dry for this website. What I would like to share is one of the places the chickens will living, as well as a sneak peak at what they will be living in.

FoodCyclist Farm chickens will start out by sharing pasture with some rescued horses in Gaylordsville, CT. This land belongs to my friend Curtis Eck, who I will be working with this year. We have other fields in mind where the chickens will fertilize between his cuttings of hay and organic grains, but to start they will share in using one of three paddocks with some horses.

There are three fenced in areas. When the horses are in #1, the chickens will be in #3. When the horses move to #2 the chickens move to #1, and so on and so forth. This way the animals are separated and calm. The birds can scratch the horse droppings for bugs and larvae, and the pastures have time to rest a little. It is all clean and natural, just like a farm should operate. I try to create situations where everyone benefits.

The land there butts up against the Housatonic River. It is quiet, secluded, and peaceful. The drive there is a little tough on the shocks, given that it is a dirt road. But I drive an old beat-up SUV, so I make the trip just fine.

Because of the roughness of the road and the longer drive for some people, I have decided to work with White Silo Winery in Sherman, CT for my CSA pick-ups. That way there is good parking, easy road access, it is closer to town, it is beautiful there. The pick up will be Friday and there is always have the option to stop at the Winery for a wine-tasting. How’s that for a Friday? Pasture raised chicken and perhaps a bottle of vino. Who else offers a wine tasting at their CSA pick-up?

The birds are going to live in chicken tractors that look like this one. This one is about 70% completed. It still gets chicken wire all over it, a tarp over the top to protect the birds, and a feeder and waterer. It is 6′ x 10′ and about 5′ high at the point. This will house about 30 birds which suits the Certified Humane standards of 2ft squared per broiler.

There are a LOT of predators in the area. Fox, hawks, eagles, coyotes, weasels, and even a bear. There are a ton of ways for the birds to meet their end (besides me). These cages ensure the birds are safe from all manner of predators. That being said, some losses may happen. It’s deeply upsetting to me when they do, but that comes with being a farmer.

I tried a couple designs when researching how the birds were going to live this year. I finally settled on this design for a number of reasons. It is nicer to work with than some other designs. The birds have more room. It is easier for me to get in and out. Also, this doubles as a cold-frame for season extension at the beginning and end of the season. I can stretch greenhouse plastic over the top and use it as a little movable growing area.

Starting an Herb Farm

I am not all about chickens at FoodCyclist Farm. I am growing culinary herbs this year as well. I like to use fresh herbs when I am cooking, and I want to offer that opportunity to others as well. Paired with the weekly chicken of the chicken CSA there will be a small bunch of herbs to compliment your roaster. I will have recipes to share as well to give members (and anyone online cooking chicken) ideas for what to do.

I intend to grow a limited number of vegetables as well. These will be for me and Kate, as well as some friends and family. If I can grow enough, I will bring them to the CSA pick-up as well. No promises there. Irrigation is still a bit of a question for me.

This is one area where I will be planting herbs this summer. Looks a little cold now, but I can picture it in the summer. Leaves on the trees, cool breeze, and the smell of good things growing. It is also Curtis’s land. Good soil, well drained, sandy loam. It has been in vegetable production in the past, but not intensive and never with any chemicals.

I ordered most of my seeds this year from Johnny’s Seeds. They offer organic options for seeds, many of which I bought. Amongst seed suppliers, the are well respected and I am happy to buy from Johnny’s.

Well, I wanted to start sprouting seedlings, but you can see from the picture above, there’s snow on the ground. I didn’t really have an indoor place to grow. But, not having options has never stopped me in the past. A few bucks at Home Depot for some cheap lumber, some scrounging to find and old wooden ladder and some screws, and I was in business. I built a shelving unit for our apartment that can hold plant trays and grow lights.

The rack is seven feet tall, over 4 feet wide, and takes up a fair amount of space in our tiny one bedroom apartment. Did I mention we’re expecting a baby come July? From here, I can closely monitor seed germination, and keep them warm enough until they go outside. Note: The sides of the shelf are made out of an old red ladder. Cool idea, but it was crazy twisted, so it was tough to get it to sit flat and straight.

They’re sprouting! Thanks to some soil and trays from Paul and Rebecca over at Fort Hill Farm, I was able to get started right away with planting seeds. They start in this ten row planter, then will move to larger cell packs. Eventually, they will all be outside in the ground growing for the CSA and for market.

Kate and I are excited for this year! As we are excited for every year. Very happy to have you with us as we embark on our farming adventure in New Milford. I am hoping that I still get to do some bike riding this year. The farm is bike-able from our apartment which is great.

To incorporate craft beer into our farming efforts, I have been researching recipes that include beer. The obvious being “beer can chicken”.

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Big Moves, Where Are We Now? Starting a Chicken Farm in Connecticut

Published on February 14, 2013, by John in Free Range Chickens, Slow Food, Sustainable Business, Trip Update.

Over the past couple of years Kate and I have been all over the United States. Whether by bicycle or by car, we never stayed in one place for two long. Our spirit of adventure is a strong as ever, it just has taken on a different form.

Kate and I decided to start a family, because, the more people who share in our adventures the better! Our little FoodCyclist is due on July 12th 2013.

We are crazy excited to be starting a family! As with any new adventure, it has changed the path we are choosing to take, and steering the directions we are taking our passions.

Starting a Chicken Farm

With riding our bicycles 5,500 miles across the country visiting family farms of all kinds, it is not surprising that we developed a real passion for sustainable food production. With out apprenticeship at Devon Point Farm complete, we felt confident with tackling an agricultural venture of our own.

With the desire to start a farm, a baby on the way, and a new set of goals to achieve we decided on a place to call home for a while. That place is New Milford, CT. Our town is on the Western side of Connecticut, close to the border with New York. There we are renting a one bedroom apartment as we settle into a more stationary life.

I have partnered up with a few other local farmers to get established in my first year of farming on my own. Curtis Eck, a local hay and grain farmer is working with me to have my chickens live on his pastures in between his cuttings of hay. My birds will get to enjoy all the grass and insects that are attracted by the hay fields, and his fields will enjoy the fresh fertilizer that my chickens leave behind. A win win.

Since I am starting a Chicken and Herb CSA I needed a drop off point where CSA members could pick up their fresh birds. Since I will be working with Curtis who has over 400 acres, I needed to pick just one spot. Another local farm offered up a great opportunity, and I will be working with them. White Silo Winery in Sherman, CT (less than 10 minutes from my apartment) makes some of the best wines I have tasted. They not only make wine from the grapes they grow, but from their raspberries, blackberries, rhubarb, and black currants. The owner Ralph has a wonderful pallet, which is evident in his wines. They are going to let me have my CSA pick-up at the winery on Fridays. I will have the beautiful backdrop of a charming Connecticut winery to hand out the chickens to my members.

I have raised chickens on pasture before. Raising them on pasture is a very healthy way for them to live and produces the best tasting chicken you have ever eaten.

I may even have built my network a little further as of yesterday. I have been driving around talking with other farms, nursery owners, farm store owners (like Tractor Supply Company, and Agway), and anyone else who wants to talk farming for a minute. I met a nursery owner who might have some green house space I can use to start my herbs this spring. Greenhouses can run up into the thousands of dollars, and I don’t need a ton of space at first. He could save me a large capitol investment as I get established. As you may have heard, no one gets rich farming, so every little bit helps.

If it “takes a village to raise a child” then it certainly takes a similar community to start a farm. My hope is that the work I am doing to help educate more people, along with the hundreds of others like me, will make it easier for future generations to successfully make the choice to start a farm.

Kate has gotten full time employment in one of the local schools. She will be working there and helping me with the farm until the baby comes. When that time comes, wow, it’s going to be crazy around here.

What’s in store for the future?

This year I will continue with my photo updates on the blog. I loved sharing our farm experience that way, and I know a lot of people really enjoyed the photos. FoodCyclist.com is now my farm website as well as the blog that follows our journeys. Since my farm is centered around chicken herbs, I will be posting information about the benefits of pasture-raised meats, recipe ideas that you can make use of whether you buy from my farm or not, as well as some insights into farming.

It certainly has been an adventure so far pursuing the dream of starting a farm of my own. There is a lot more than just planting and weeding.

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A New Contributing Writer

Grandma Shirley’s Whole Roasted Chicken and Root Vegetable Recipe

2 Things that Make a Perfect Culinary Marriage

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