Happy Thanksgiving!!

Obligatory Christmas Tree Cutting silly hat photo.

Hi all, and a very Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

We hope you are able to take a little time over the next few days to spend with family and friends, share a meal and enjoy a glass (or two) of something tasty. We continue to be humbled and incredibly thankful for this wee ranch we call home, for our family and friends, for the support and encouragement of the agricultural community, and for the trust our amazing customers continue to put in us in providing food for their families! Enjoy the time, I know we will.

Cheers for now,

Gillies, Alexis & isla

Eggciting Changes are Afoot!

Hi all, and a very happy Fall to you and yours!

It has been a minute (or two) since last we wrote, so I thought it high time we sent out a wee update with the Skyelark news of the season.

First of all, it is our absolute pleasure to announce an exciting new partnership between ourselves and the very nice people at Sierra Orchards. The McNamara family grow organic walnuts, olives, lamb and eggs utilizing regenerative agricultural practices on their farm in Winters, Yolo County. 

"Over the last few decades, Sierra Orchards has been a driver of organic farming, holistic management, regenerative practices, agricultural education, and innovation and research. On our farm, sustainability is the prerogative. As we enter the next generation of farming, with the children’s involvement, the efforts to continue sustainable farming practices that encourage health, opportunity, and resiliency for the soil, trees, water, employees, and community are not only endless, but are of the utmost importance." 

For more information on their farm please do spend a few minutes over at https://sierraorchards.com/ or give them a follow @sierra_Orchards on Instagram.

Starting on Saturday November 13th, Sierra Orchards will be selling their organic eggs at our stall at the Davis Farmers Market!! As we slow down our own egg production, we are very happy to have developed a partnership with another producer who's practices and vision for sustainable agriculture aligns with our own. With the shift to providing certified organic and GMO Free eggs, you will find a price increase to $10 per dozen. This increase is a necessity due to the added cost of organic certification and purchasing certified organic feed. We hope your support of local small-scale and sustainable poultry producers continues and that you welcome Sierra Orchards when they arrive at our shared booth next Saturday.  

Why the change? Well,.....now that you ask........ It has been a pretty difficult decision to arrive at, but it was becoming very apparent that our egg-production and the logistics of maintaining an egg market so far away was no longer sustainable. And for a "sustainable" farm, that is not a good model to attempt to maintain. The logistics and expense of bringing eggs to market every week were challenging and costly, so we have decided to let that aspect of our business go to a more suitably located farm and one who we believe are a perfect fit for ourselves and for you, our customers. 

Finally, thank you to all of our egg customers over the years, and please do make Emily and Sean welcome as they provide your local farm-fresh eggs!  

Don't forget to get in touch if you'd like us to bring something specific for you to any of our current Farmers Market or drop-off venues in Davis, Ashland or Mount Shasta. We will also have another round of whole and half pork and lamb shares available in the coming months, and please do check out the Farmstand Page on our website for availability and scheduling.

Cheers for now,

Gillies, Alexis & isla

Petaluma Pickup!

A Skyelark Snow Day

At this time of year we are watching the weather constantly in the hope that we actually get some precipitation, but also to plan our logistics to ensure we don’t get caught out by any changes in weather without being appropriately prepared. By late last week, as we watched this week’s forecast, it became obvious that the predicted storms would actually show up and bring some much needed precip with them. Quite often the opposite is true, where a front is predicted a week away but by the time it gets here it’s fizzled out to nothing and not one drop makes a successful landing here at Skyelark.

As predicted, we got a dusting of snow overnight on Saturday night and it has kept coming since. The snow that fell on Sunday evening was in slow, dream-like flakes and Isla didn’t miss the chance to catch some on her tongue and I enjoyed the silence that the blanket of snow was creating - no wind, no freeway traffic, just a calming winter’s evening. 

With the storm expected to get “serious” by Tuesday afternoon, we spent the bulk of our time on Monday bedding animals down, staging feed and preparing for at least two days of being snowbound, or being ‘snawed-in’, as I would prefer to say. 

Tuesday morning was nice enough, the roads open, hoses not yet frozen. We had discussed locking the hens up for the day and not letting them out as the predicted high winds and late afternoon snow would likely confuse them and cause them to hunker down in-situ and not go back into their huts to roost for the night. However, we did let them out for the day, and consequences be what they will at least they would get out for their usual constitutional! 

The wind arrived mid-afternoon and soon so did the snow, sideways. Funneled between Mount Shasta and Mount Eddy, the south winds come barreling down to us and on Tuesday they were predicted to gust up to 70mph. Normally we have noticed that it is windiest in the hours or days leading up to the precipitation event, and by the time it actually starts raining the wind has thankfully subsided giving way to a more manageable breeze, but not today. The sideways snow started at around 4pm and was still coming long into the night. I spent the latter part of the day battling the wind and snow and crawling around under the hen huts grabbing handfuls of chicken legs and putting them back inside the safety and warmth of their huts - a very necessary but miserable task given the low temperature and drifting snow. I spent a good fifteen minutes trying to catch the last one, which I did, and came in with the knowledge that, even though it was a whiteout blizzard all our animals had a warm and safe spot for the night - even our guardian dogs. Bree, recovering from her spay operation earlier that day tucked up in her crate in the mud room, Bean in the hut with the ducks and goats, and Ben, who showed some unexpected intelligence, by actually sleeping in the dogloo I put out for him in the field with the hens. 

When we woke this morning (Wednesday) the wind had gone, leaving behind waves of snow all over the ranch. In some spots it was barely an ice-covered dusting, in others, waist deep drifts blocking gates and hiding shin-busting farm implements. Water troughs were filled with snow, the door to the barn blocked by a six-foot drift, the ATV under its own white fluffy blanket. I took a quick walk - well,as quick as one can in snowshoes - around the sheep and pigs to check no-one was stuck upside down in a drift. Luckily, everyone seemed ok, except for Michelle Ollama who seemed slightly more agitated than normal, and old Stumpy who didn’t surface from her hut until very late in the morning. 

With the ATV out of commision, Lex and I fed and watered the beasts by trudging buckets of hot water around to break ice, found and dug out feed troughs by clunking a shovel through the 2’ of snow in the pig pens, and breaking trails for the sheep so they could find their water. We also set up water stations in the hen huts as we didn’t let them out, fearful of a repeat of the previous evening’s chicken wrangling. It took the majority of the day, and some extra energy to get the very basic of husbandry chores done today, but again, we are inside and warm and we know that our efforts have kept our animals as comfortable as they can be in such weather.

It’s Wednesday evening, and from where I write I can see the lights of the Interstate, the trucks again almost all stationary except for the plows and gritters. The earlier excitement and activity of stuck semi-trucks, directing lost travellers, feeding and watering hungry animals and trudging through waist-deep snow has again subsided to slow reflection and a quiet farm. We enjoy these rare snow days. The immediacy of our animal’s reliance upon us as farmers is at its most clear, the work of the farm is at its bucket-slopping hardest, yet the beauty of the place where we live is very much at its peak. 

Throughout the day, I was asking myself how we would cope if this were the norm, if six feet snow drifts blocked our barn door every day? The answer is, we just would. We would just get dressed in our thickest woolens and alternate between our two pairs of snow boots because that’s what is required of us for our animals and for our customers, and because, as farmers, we actually love it!       

Cookbooks You'll Love!

Launching the Skyelark Ranch Cookbook Library!

Knowing where your food comes from is one thing, but learning how to cook it is sometimes a frustrating exercise in unnecessary detective work. Don't you hate it when you buy good food, only to have it ruined by a bad recipe?

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Blog recipes have been a blessing and a curse for me. I often have an idea for a meal, or take a cut of meat from the freezer and begin searching for an appropriate recipe. I can spend valuable time sifting through recipe blogs and foodie websites trying to find an appealing recipe. Most of the time the writers are unknown to me and picked completely at random (or not) via a well directed Google search. On choosing such a recipe, I am subjecting my family and the food I am cooking to a dangerous game of culinary chance - roll the dice, cook the food and see what happens! Sometimes I get lucky and find a recipe that comes out unbelievably delicious. However, there have also been times that I've bought a good cut of meat that turns out gnarled and tough after following a misguiding recipe. Granted, there are several good and reliable sources of inspiration and insightful recipes online such as in the New York Times, or via the Food Network. However, a well stocked kitchen bookshelf is a useful relief from screens and the endless chatter of internet recipes.

Team Skyelark has your back with the cookbooks that we believe to be no fail! Please send us your recommendations and we'll add them to the list which we plan to make available on our website.

Gillies recommends...
Oh, man, this is a difficult one for me........can I give two? No? Ok, then I'll go with 'The River Cottage Cookbook' by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. I don't refer to it too often any more but it provided huge amounts of inspiration in the time leading up to us starting Skyelark Ranch, and was a staple in our market stall box for years. It provides great guidance on the growing, sourcing and cooking of meat and taught us so much of the basics that we now take for granted as we cook our family meals and provide advice to our customers. A hugely inspiring and useful book to keep on any kitchen bookshelf. I cannot even begin to count how many times we have cooked his "Pot Roast Chicken and vegetables"! 

Alexis recommends...
"Egg: A Culinary Exploration of the World's Most Versatile Ingredient" by Michael Ruhlman
Turns out an egg farmer can get sick of eggs. I grab this book when we have a lot of eggs to that need eaten and I am feeling uninspired. One of my favorite fancy meals is Egg Ravioli with Chevre, Brown Butter and Thyme - These are oversized ravs where you actually put a raw egg yolk on a bed of cheese and caramelized onion. If done right the egg yolks break in when you eat them. 

Jenn recommends...
"Salt Fat Acid Heat" by Samin Nosrat! Samin is a balm for the soul; a bright light in the world. Her pure love of food translates into her cooking and her recipes enliven all the senses. Her cookbook held my hand and helped me move from stringent recipe follower to confident cook. I have not overcooked meat since reading her cookbook. She knows her stuff. She also has a Netflix special that will brighten your spirit. I can't recommend following Samin's work enough! 

Leanna recommends...
"Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods" by Sandor Ellix Katz. This book is a great "Fermentation 101" with background information, history, stories, and of course, recipes for fermenting vegetables, dairy, grains, beans, and adult beverages. I love all the cheese recipes in this book and have attempted to make many of them. I also consult the kombucha instructions frequently! 

Isla recommends...
"Momma's little notebook" by My Momma. I like that book the best because it has the cookie recipe, the pie recipe and my Grandpa's Special Chicken which is my favoite and it was my Momma's favorite when she was a kid too!! Also, Dadda, can I have a peanut butter and honey, please? 

Our online inventory is updated and you can order meat and eggs for 
pick up at market
or home delivery for a $5 fee. 

Ashland: Please order by Thursday @ 10 am
Davis: Please order by Friday @ 10 am
Mt Shasta: Please order by Monday @ 10am

Shop the  FARMSTAND

Happy Holidays to You and Yours!

8 more days of 2020...but who's counting?

2020 has been quite the year! Like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, 2020 will go down in history. As farmers, we are fairly isolated folk to begin with, but this year has been next level. We hope this year has brought you a multitude of small joys. If it brought you big joys, we'd love to know your life secrets. With eight days left, we wish you a ridiculous amount of holiday cookies and desserts, warm cozy blankets with books and smarmy movies, cuddles with family and fuzzy pets, hot spicey tea, extra sleep in days, walks in sunny chill air, neighbors upping their holiday light game, and only as many zoom get-togethers as you can healthfully manage
(and no more)! 

With much love and gratitude!
Alexis, Gilles, Isla, and the rest of team Skyelark

Introducing Sunny The Goat

Sunny (our new lady goat) joins the flock!

Years ago, we welcomed a goat named Marci to the farm. You might have seen her in a cameo or two. Marci is getting on in years, enjoying her retirement, and definitely not interested in giving any more milk. Therefore, we decided to introduce another goat to the nanny flat. Sunny has made herself at home and has been enjoying nibbling blackberry vines outside her new digs. We are expecting that she is expecting and looking forward to baby goats and milk in the Spring! Isla is thrilled of course. We're hoping that the addition of new goats will keep the "I want a pony" talks at bay.

Our inventory is updated and you can order meat and eggs for home delivery (we will be charging $5/delivery) or pick up for free at market. 

Ashland: Please order by Thursday @ 10 am

Davis: Please order by Friday @ 10 am
*Davis, just a reminder we will not be at the Dec. 26th market!
Mt Shasta: Please order by Monday @ 10am

Shop the  FARMSTAND

PSSST! We now have gift cards available! 
Purchase on the website for online orders or
purchase at the market for in-person shopping.

Lest We Forget

Lest We Forget. Thank You Veterans!

During our first few years at Davis Farmers Market a local piper, rancher, and Korean War veteran by the name of George Knutsen - https://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/bagpiper-extraordinaire-has-traveled-the-world/ - used to come by our stall for a chat and a tune. At 80 years of age, he had seen some things and would tell tales (some real, some VERY tall) about his exploits in ranching and as a veteran. One particular story of his stands out as he often told me of his privileged position playing the pipes at the prisoner of war exchanges at the end of the Korean war in 1952. Often his more recent stories ended with the common phrase, "and then I found $50!", but it was his passion for piping and the obvious pride he had for serving his country that really stood out. It was George, who would show up almost every Saturday and play short bursts of tunes between stories as his 80-year-old fingers and the pipes would allow. George reminded me of the older guys in the Pipe Band I grew up playing in, the same stories, the same willingness to spend time with younger pipers, and the same twinkle in their pale, watery eyes. It's because of George and his dedication to the pipes, their music, and the occasions of remembrance and celebration they are tied to, that I took up the pipes again after a 15-odd -year hiatus. Thank him, or curse him, it was his inspiration that reminded me that I am, in fact, a dad, a husband, a farmer, and a piper. Ever since my first "turn oot" with the band at the Armistice Day service in my home village as a 9 or 10 year old, I have known the importance of remembering the men and women who served to protect the freedoms we now enjoy and it is my honor to provide what small solace my pipes can offer to those who are left to remember them.

George passed away in August 2019 at the age of 86. Remembering him and his service today.

Lest We Forget

Labor Day - You are doing good work!

Labor Day is THIS weekend.
Did you know that? I thought it was last weekend. Only after I was informed by my husband and after I cross referenced a calendar (he is from Scotland, and maybe isn't the most aware of US holidays), I realized that no, it is the first Monday in September making this year's Labor Day fall on September 7th. Good thing too, because last Monday we were in the trenches building fence (more on that another day, we are quite proud of the team effort). And since we get a do-over to not shrug off another holiday spent as a work day, maybe this weekend will take a break and actually celebrate Labor Day. 

 

The labor of this year has come in many forms. I have been a mother, teacher, wife, babysitter, employee, boss, accountant, web designer, sales manager, fence builder, lunch maker, dishwasher, butt wiper, truck driver, veterinarian, and butcher - some times all at once! I'd like to say I rose to the occasion and masterfully managed all of the new labor this year. I did not. It has been hard. Sometimes (most times) the dishes don't get done but usually the butts get wiped. This year we all have been required to be more things than before. Maybe this Labor Day we should take a moment to appreciate all we have accomplished this year however crazy it has felt. I see you. You are doing good work! 
 

Labor Day Leg of Lamb 

Photo by the very talented Ashley Ball of Ashley Ball Photography

My favorite way to prepare leg of lamb is to separate the meat from the bone, marinade it overnight in olive oil, garlic, and rosemary, and then grill it the next day. The smoky lamb mixed with the flavors of rosemary and garlic is truly lovely! 

Find a more detailed recipe, courtesy of foodandwine.com, here!

Healing Broth

I know it's summertime and you probably think I'm a little crazy but I just feel like this country could use some healing broth right about now. Broth is how I deal with stress. You might say I binge broth in times of trouble. I think it helps heal body and soul. So how do you make it? Listen to your heart...seriously. I start with one whole chicken in a large pot full of water. Then I add extra bits if I feel like it such as chicken feet/backs, pork bones, and or lamb bones. Next, I add fresh herbs. You just have to feel this part. Does the smell of rosemary bring you joy? Need some extra thyme in your life? Bay leaf, parsley, lovage. Any and all combos are good! After that look to the savory such as leeks, onions, mushrooms, celery, and/or carrots. Sometimes I feel like all the savory and other times I want none of it. Usually, I want savory when I'm feeling a little down. And then for the zing! like garlic, ginger, and lemon. When I feel really sick, pork bones and ginger are all that goes in my broth. Bring it all to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer for anywhere from 3-12 hours. Salt to taste throughout. Then strain it all through a colander and don't forget to use your chicken meat! In my opinion, you can't go wrong with broth. If you follow your heart, your broth will turn out right. Self-care is important in these stressful times! Use broth when you need to lift your spirits. And then maybe share some with a friend who is struggling. And if you are braver than me, offer some to your enemy and help heal this weary world!