Flower Field Farm

Country Chicken Girl once again reporting from the Farmers' Market located in downtown Scottsbluff at 18th & Broadway every Saturday from 7-11am. I have been doing short little stories on the individual vendors at the market. If you've missed the previous posts, here they are:

Bob Sharp and Judy Meter & Heidi Robertus

Bill & Arlene Grassmick, Wildcat Produce and Nina's Catering & Event Planning

Styria Bakery, Roger Brown, Victory Hill Farm and Ernest Griffiths

Dee's Pantry and Gary's Garden

Mary Armstrong and Her Creative Bubbles

Dan, the CSA Man

Christina Armstrong and Her Beeloved Jam

Flower Field Farm

Meet the crew at the Flower Field Farm. What a great addition they have been to the Farmers' Market this year. Nathaniel and Rylee live on an organic wheat farm/cattle ranch in Banner County. The land is owned by Nathaniel's parents, Roger Lee Jr. and LaDona McGowan. Nathaniels's great-grandfather homesteaded the land over 100 years ago.

Nathaniel and Rylee wanted to spend more "working" hours at home and raising their family, Delaney 4, Eddie 3, Teagan 18 mos. and Rayfe 4 mos. Joy moved to Banner County in 2006 to be closer to family and quality schools for her children, Noah 15 and Kadan 13.

Together they offer a variety of products at the Farmers' Market including heirloom vegetables, freshly baked breads and pies, farm fresh eggs, cookies, and cinnamon rolls.

This is a hard working group of people dedicated to the land on which they live and their community. Nathaniel's mother, LaDona, will be growing produce for the Flower Filed Farm next year as will his twin brothers and their wives, Roger & Mandy and Ben & Tory. They plan to expand their offering and will be attending more markets next season. They also are adding 100 new hens this coming spring along with offering all natural pork.

You can read more about the Flower Field Farm on PrairieBloom.com.
Flower Field Farm on PrairieBloom

Who can resist a homemade pie?

What a selection!
Don't want a whole pie? Buy a small pie!
(But who wouldn't want a WHOLE pie??)

Heirloom Vegetables

Fresh Baked Bread

Yumm-o!

Nathaniel & Rylee's youngest, Rayfe.

Awww, I just want to squeeze and kiss those sweet cheeks!

Bob Sharp and Judy Meter & Heidi Robertus

Country Chicken Girl once again reporting from the 2010 Scottsbluff Farmers' Market located in downtown Scottsbluff at 18th & Broadway every Saturday (until the first frost) from 7-11am. I have been doing short little stories on the individual vendors at the market. If you've missed the previous posts, here they are:

Bill & Arlene Grassmick, Wildcat Produce and Nina's Catering & Event Planning

Styria Bakery, Roger Brown, Victory Hill Farm and Ernest Griffiths

Dee's Pantry and Gary's Garden

Mary Armstrong and Her Creative Bubbles

Dan, the CSA Man

Christina Armstrong and Her Beeloved Jam



Meet Bob Sharp from Gering. Bob has masterfully concocted a hot dry rub that is perfect for steaks, pork, ribs, chicken wings, chili, salsa, tacos, etc. The rub is called S.O.S. which stands for Surface Of the Sun. Each bottle is blended and packaged one at a time to insure uniformity.

Bob Sharp, the Pepper Man

Hot peppers have always been a passion for Bob. As Bob says, he is always on the "lookout for the next hotter one!" Bob's parents were in the restaurant business for about 30 years, starting in Southern Oklahoma and ending up in Kimball, Nebraska. Bob said growing up they had southern style foods and his mother always had a bottle of peppers on the dinner table. I think Bob's mom fed him hot peppers even as a baby! I have seen him eat a jalapeno pepper fresh from the garden like it is a sweet juicy apple!! I couldn't do that. I watched him eat the whole pepper with eyes as wide saucers. That is MY eyes were as wide as saucers, not Bob's. He didn't even break a sweat.



The basic rub that Bob uses comes from Texas and won 2nd place in the Dry Rub BBQ Cook-Off which is held in Texas each year. Bob then adds Habanero, Red Savina and Naga Bhut Jolokia, which is also called the "ghost chili." Ghost chili is 200-300 times hotter than the Jalapeno pepper.


I have tried Bob's dry rub on a scrambled egg dish I made which had ham, tomatoes, zucchini and cheese in and it was delicious! Then last night we had fried potatoes with the rub on them. They were fantastic. Move over potato ole's, a new kid is in town!!

Bob says, "If you want to spice up your favorite dish, S.O.S. is just what you need." You can reach Bob at 308-436-2349 home, 308-641-0817 cell or by email JadeFinder@hotmail.com. He is also selling his rub at the Farmers' Market in Morrill which is every Tuesday from 3-6:30 pm.

Judy Meter and Heidi Robertus

Meet Judy and Heidi, the fresh-baked-lovin'-from-the-oven ladies! Boy, do these two know how to handle your sweet cravings! They bake everything from caramel pecan rolls, pumpkin cake rolls, double chocolate banana cake, chocolate zucchini cake, carrot muffins with cream cheese frosting, sweet orange bow knots, biscotti, caramel covered marshmallow pops, etc.

Biscotti and Caramel Marshmallow Pops!

Assorted Sweet Breads

Oh, did I mention the cheddar & bacon scones?? Delicious!

This guy couldn't resist some of the caramel pecan rolls,
which along with the sweet bow knots, that are baked the morning of the market!

Judy and Heid use only the finest ingredients for their baked goods, fresh cream, butter, Ghiradelli chocolate, etc. Don't bother stopping by their booth unless you want to treat your sweetie or yourself to something scrumptious. I bought carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting last week. They were scrumptious!! The girls also bake with products purchased directly from the farmers market such as fresh peaches, pure local honey and peanut butter. Way to go girls! BUY LOCAL, BUY LOCAL, BUY LOCAL!!

If you'd like to order something, give Judy a call at 436-4031.

Well, that's it for this post. If you haven't made time to come to the market, you'd better get your pony saddled up and giddy-up and git yourself over there!

Sturgis at the Open A Bar 2 Ranch?

I think the grasshoppers decided to have a rally here at the Open A Bar 2 Ranch
similar to the motorcycle rally held each summer in Sturgis, South Dakota.

Motorcycles lining the main street in Sturgis.

Grasshoppers, or should I say Grasschoppers,
lining the street at the Open A Bar 2 Ranch.

The street was so crowded that some choppers opted to
park on the sides of the buildings.

This local pedestrian was extremely annoyed at all the extra traffic.

eGGNoRMouS!

Big Happenings in the Coop Today!




Every once in a while someone will lay a
gynormous egg like this one!

And you thought you had a hard day a work today!

Wednesday Morning Inspiration: September 1, 2010

^{Isaiah 40:28-31}

²⁸ Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

PS. Do yourself a favor and click on the pictures to see a full screen view of them.

They are fantastic if viewed full screen.

At least I think so...

Hit your browser's back button to return to the blog.

Who Knew Cows Were Master Gardeners?!

The other day Dan the Man was checking the cattle down on the creek
and stumbled upon a weird phenomenon.

I know this doesn't seem like a rare occurrence, this squash plant,
but let me go on to explain.

The Squash plant is growing almost 1/2 mile away from the house, and I, nor did anyone else in our family plant it where it is growing.

Not only that, but there are about 6 squash plants down there
growing in the middle of a non-irrigated pasture.

And I have never seen any squash that look like these.
The pictures don't show the true color of the squash.
They are a bright orange, just like a pumpkin.

Then I remembered that last year, when I was cleaning out my garden in the fall, I had thrown several zucchini, yellow crookneck squash and pumpkins over the fence to where the cattle were grazing. I knew that the cows would enjoy the pumpkins. Did you know that cows love to eat pumpkins?

After the cows were done grazing in that pasture behind the garden, we moved them down on the creek.

Apparently, the cows planted the seeds by way of the cow patty planting method. The seeds germinated and produced squash that are a cross between the zucchini, yellow crookneck squash and pumpkins.

Dan the Man picked them and the laying hens are enjoying them now.



Wow, who knew cows are master gardeners too?

RECIPE: Glazed Peach Habenero Grilled Pork Chops

Last night for dinner we had a meal totally comprised of local food purchased at the Farmers' Market. Wow, that makes me feel so good. Not a single ingredient was purchased at Wal-mart or any other store for that fact except for vinegar, sour cream, butter, salt and pepper.

The menu consisted of Glazed Peach Habenero Grilled Pork Chops, Sour Cream Cucumber Salad, Roadside Melon, Corn on the Cob and French Bread (warmed on the grill). I should have taken a picture of the whole meal, but it was late and I was tired.


Here is a list of the Cast of Characters and their producers:

Pork Chops (milk-fed pork) from Victory Hill Farm
Peach Habenero Jam homemade by Nancy Butcher
Fresh Garden Cucumbers from Mitchell Valley Farm
Sweet & Juicy Roadside Melon from Gary's Garden
Tri-colored Sweet Corn from Mitchell Valley Farm
Homemade French Bread from FlowerField Farms



And the recipe for the pork chops:




Glazed Peach Habenero Grilled Pork Chops

Ingredients

4 Pork Chops from Victory Hill Farm
1 jar Peach Habenero Jam from Nancy Butcher

Directions

1. Preheat Grill to 350 degrees.
2. Rub grill grate with oil. Use your tongs and dip a wadded-up paper towel in oil. Easy!
3. Grill chops for around 5 minutes per side. Brush a generous amount of jam on both sides of the chops while you are grilling.
4. Heat extra jam in a small sauce pan and serve with the chops for extra sauce!!
   

Try it! You'll like it!!