More Peaches To Be Had

Before we talk about PEACHES  . . . 

I have to say, I'm excited about some new farm and garden and home inspirations 

we have on the cooker for you. . . 

appropriately called:

Simple Inspirations.  

I can hardly wait to blog about it this weekend!  

So, get ready. You're gonna love it - it's going to inspire you!

PEACHES!
One of the good things about living in Arizona and buying local is that after the Phoenix Valley peach season subsides, the Wilcox area peach season begins. It's as if we get a double dip of all things local and good and naturally grown (aka organic).

A beautiful use of an apron. I can't live without any of mine.

Our farm's Mid-Pride peaches from this year.  Beautiful and wonderful and amazing. 

So, incase you put your peach cobbler, peach ice cream, peach jam, peach anything recipe away, go ahead and get them out. . . because Dwight from English Orchards is bringing peaches to our farm. We will have a few flats this afternoon (Friday) and we should have a few flats for our Thursday morning market.

Valerie Rice - Eat - Drink - Garden
I follow Eat-Drink-Garden and this morning Valerie's new blog post on PEACHES popped up in my email. Go here for lots of fun recipes on All Things Peaches - like Peach Ice Cream - which I must try this weekend - with goats milk.  Here, Valerie posted a nice, easy recipe for peach jam.

Farm Members Shop On Other Days Besides Thursday Mornings
If you're a farm member - meaning we've chatted on a Thursday and had the "how to be a member of The Simple Farm" face to face conversation - feel free to stop by late this afternoon to grab your bag of peaches.

Because we're a working farm and because this is our home - we are only open to the general public one morning a week....Thursdays from 8:30 until noon.

We understand at times that leaves people out. We'd love to chat with you about becoming a Member of The Simple Farm - email me at lylahledner@gmail.com and we can arrange to get together.

A Cookbook I'm Excited About

The other night Michael and I had a lovely 4th of July dinner at Ben and Melinda's home. A little BBQ,  lots of chat about all sorts of things and a bit of girl time to talk cookbooks, the lost art of domestic home skills and the need to resurrect such skills.  Then, Melinda brought out this cookbook.

It's not like I need another cookbook or that I even buy them . . .

. . . but when I picked up this book and began to peruse it's pages - 

. . . I knew this was more than just a cookbook - it was an experience to be had - one to devour and enjoy of French Press coffee or a little glass of red wine. . . one to learn from.

I think it was this eggplant dish . . .

(and I'm longing for eggplant again - which will appear at our farm in just a few weeks) . . . 

. . . that made me think....this just might be one to invest in.   

Here's the cookbook on Amazon.

Seattle/Bainbridge ~ Red Ticking ~ Salted Goat Milk Caramels.

Great news all you PNW that live in the Seattle/Bainbridge area - because you will now have direct access to satisfy your salted goat milk caramel cravings with our Scottsdale farms caramel experience.

Red Ticking is this amazing vintage mercantile, with a French flair and now our caramels have made their way into this market.

Pamela's style is up my alley and so you could see what she does and where our goat milk caramels are going - I took a liberty - and took her pics of Instagram. Follow Redticking here. Her store and products and address is here.

Thursday Morning Market - Okra, Purslane, Tomatoes and . . .

Last week, as I was standing at my little white herb table in the market at our farm, I got to thinking how so many of us need to rethink how we shop a farmer's market. I wrote a bit about how to shop like you lived in France here.

So, I proceeded to say to all in the market (and it was crowded), "Excuse me. May I have your attention." Silence. . .

I proceeded, "Welcome to my farm. I'm delighted you're here and if this is your first time, you can't really come and expect to be in a rush. Second, it's a bit crowded and the people you're bumped up against are there for you to say 'hello' to and be kind and third - come here - but don't shop like an American."

I went on to explain that all this lovely produce is JUST picked and VERY fresh and when you shop fresh/local/just picked it's prudent to NOT drive around (especially in this heat) and think it's ok to leave in the car - but if you want for fresh/local/just picked produce to maintain its freshness and nutritional value then it needs to be headed right away to your home.

Since our farm fridge is full of Crow's Dairy raw goat milk - I decided a little further education was in order. I explained that anytime you buy ANY dairy - raw or otherwise - it also needs to head directly home. . . especially the raw dairy products. I also told the folks to keep the raw goat milk in the bottom of your refrigerator toward the back. That makes for happy raw goat milk.

This Week's Market
We're delighted to bring to you more of Crooked Sky's watermelons and cantaloupes....oh the ideas to pair those melons with Crow's fresh goat cheese and side it with Grano de Vida's baguettes.

Another week of lovely red tomatoes and the little ones will appear at the market. I've been finding a number of cucumbers along with lots of wonderful herbs. I think there might be some French sorrel we can harvest and we're going to add more okra from Franks farm.  We picked a large basket of figs and will do the same for this Thursday.

For all you green salsa lovers - we'll have a basket of tomatillos and we're bringing back purslane in little bunches. Do you know how rich that stuff is in Omega 3?

Eggs will be in very limited quantity - sorry. It's just the way it is for the girls...too hot. And, if by chance you were one of those who took the egg FLATS please don't forget to bring it back.

Carol's bringing her donuts this week and her scones along with all the other yummy breads and Shelly already dropped off Nourished butters. More on that later.

See you Thursday!

I Forage - You Forage

I'll be honest. I long to be in cooler weather, big shady trees, babbling brook, rolling hills, lush areas where we could allow our goaty girls to have liberty to munch and roam and explore and eat fun things like black berry bushes, clover, strawberries, tall growing grass, etc. etc. etc. and of course - where this would all take place would be right near my seven amazing grandchildren where I'd spend every other waking hour staring into their eyes and hearing their little hearts and doing whatever else they'd like to do. . . oh, I'd be making salted goat milk caramels too - cause we have our first store in the Seattle Bainbridge area to put our caramels in a cute vintage, wire basket on the counter near their register!


Ahhh.......

Foragers
Our little goat farm is on what's called a "dry lot"....what I described above is not a dry lot. So, to compensate for my desire for the above - Michael and I forage for our girls.  This season we've trimmed our apple trees (a lot and probably not such a great job trimming as we climb the ladder in the dark at cut branches off to feed them - to coax them into their 'night time' pens - can you picture this?), we also trim our grape vine, the mint and lately have been taking nice snips of those two HUGE mulberry trees as well as that pine tree.

Well........

This past Thursday, a mom and two daughters walked through our market/cafe gates carrying 2 HUGE sacks. I had all sorts of thoughts running through my head - of which none were correct.

This mom with her girls - gathered up MESQUITE PODS for our girls and boys. If the goaty girls and boys could vocalize how they 'feel'....you'd hear them bleating and bellowing things like, "That Woman Rocks." or "Just What I Needed." They're in mesquite pod heaven and I know whatever benefit mesquite pods have ...they've longed for.

So, if you feel so inclined to "recycle" your mesquite pods - bring them . . . in a big bag. Make sure they're "clean" like the ones brought on Thursday ....meaning NO oleander leaves or really anything else....    There is much toxic to a goat.

Thank you in advance. You're awesome foragers!

Goats Goats Goats - Why Goat's Milk Is Good and We Now Have Raw Goat's Milk

It's no shocker that we think goats are pretty cool animals. . . . like big dogs . . . that give milk.

The milk the girls give (and any healthy goat) according to Bernard Jensen, Ph.D. is "one of life's greatest healing foods."

Often, people who are allergic to cow's milk are not allergic to goat's milk. On page 3 of Goat Milk Magic (Dr. Jensen's book) he says, "Some years ago, the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article titled ' Dietetics and Hygiene,' which reported: "The goat is the healthiest domestic animal known. Goat milk is superior in every respect to cow's milk. Goat milk is the ideal food for babies, convalescents and invalids, especially those with weakened digestive powers. Goat milk is the purest, most healthful and most complete food known."

On the next page, I read:
The balance of protein, carbohydrates and fats in goat milk is excellent and a quart of raw goat milk is only 630 cal roes. The amount of calcium and phosphorous in a quart of goat milk is adequate to supply the average persons daily needs, and significant amounts of all the vitamins, minerals and trace elements needed for wellness. Goat cream is the easiest cream to take into the body. . .

Raw Goat Milk At Our Farm
It's been in the works for a bit of time, but Crow's Dairy is now suppling the Phoenix Valley (at various locations) with their delicious, beneficial and amazing RAW goat's milk. We are one of their locations.

Follow The Simple Farm on Instgram

Instagram is one of those fun social media apps where picture taking crazy people like me can post their  pictures. It has fun ways to add fun touches to your pictures and I personally, enjoy the creative outlet. I try to not go overboard, but sometimes, I confess - I do.

Anyway, if YOU follow ME on IG - you'll know FIRST hand what's happening the farm and what's going to be available at the market. Sometimes I share it on my personal FB page - and rarely do I have a second to repost it on the farm's FB page over at The Simple Farm.  If you follow me (personally on Twitter) Lylah Ledner - you'll get the drift there as well.

Go HERE to follow me on Instagram. And go HERE to follow me Twitter.