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Archive for March, 2011

CSA share: week 14

Posted in csa, photo, tagged on March 11, 2011|

CSA share: week 14

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Baby chicks grew up fast!

Posted in animals, farm, photo, tagged on March 11, 2011| 3 Comments »

More pictures of the baby chicks as they grew up. They didn’t stay in the cute fluffy stage for very long, getting bigger and looking more bird-like with every passing week. At 31 days old, they were scooting around quickly, peeping almost incessantly. They were getting harder to catch and hold, too. The visiting camera scared them at first and they ran to huddle in the darkest corner of the chicken tractor for protection.

Most of the baby chicks huddled up safe in their corner of the tractor.

Anytime is feeding time when you’re a growing chick. Chicken feed is inside the red container.

At my visit one week later, I lifted the lid of the chicken tractor, and one chick flew up to the top of its water jug, startling me. At 38 days, the little birds can fly! They are looking leggier and more hen-like, with their little combs forming. Definitely at that awkward teenage stage, with their heads looking a little out of proportion to their more fully formed bodies. The growing birds are showing curiosity about the camera instead of running and hiding. Or maybe they just want more food!

One of the few pictures where a chick wasn’t a blur in motion.

Instead of timid, the chicks are curious about the glass eye spying on them through a hole in the tractor.

At the next photo session three weeks later, the little birds are much bigger at 59 days. There’s no mistaking looking at them that these are young chickens. Their combs have grown a bit. There’s not as much racing about going on, either, and their voices changed from peeping to something a bit deeper.

The white birds are Leghorns, the brown blur is a Rhode Island Red, and the other dark one is a mystery breed.

Getting the eye from the young leghorns.

At the most recent visit, my bird friends are 108 days old, or four and a half months. Farmer Margie calls them the “young ladies.” They certainly look all grown up, with their combs and wattles. They strolled about instead of racing and peeping, and they speak like hens, buk buk buk. The big brown one definitely looks and acts like a young rooster, coming front and center to see what the visiting glass eye is up to. He also has a spike feather in his tail, a sure indicator that he is a he. The young rooster isn’t crowing yet that I could tell, but that will come soon. The hens will start laying eggs in a few weeks. Yup, the kids are almost all grown up!

Gathering for the family portrait.

Egg color is linked to the color of the earlobe. Yes, chickens have earlobes, located just behind the eye. Brown lobe, brown egg. White lobe, white egg.

See the spike feather in the brown bird’s tail? That’s a pretty good sign that he might be a rooster.

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CSA share: week 13

Posted in csa, photo, tagged on March 4, 2011|

CSA share: week 13

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Upper East Side Farmers Market

Posted in food, market, photo, tagged , , , , on March 4, 2011| 1 Comment »

Upper East Side Farmers Market is located on the north west corner of Biscayne Boulevard and 79 St.

The newest grower-supported farmers market has opened at the Biscayne Plaza shopping center in northeast Miami. The Upper East Side Farmers Market is managed by Melissa Contreras and the Urban Oasis Project, a local non-profit which is also involved with the Liberty City Farmers Market.

Red leaf butterhead lettuce

The market is small (only four tents) but carries a wide assortment of seasonal fruits and vegetables. All the food is locally grown (within 150 miles of Miami) from several farms and market gardens, and most of it is organic. The selection changes from one week to the next, and some things sell out quickly — so come early for arugula and callaloo. (Those sold out early two weeks in a row.) Some of the produce available last Saturday was sweet starfruit, stubby forked carrots, beautiful red leaf butterhead lettuce that looked airbrushed, bunches of dill and parsley, massive purple-top turnips, kale, and black sapote, just to mention a few things.

In addition to fresh produce, the market offers a wide selection of prepared foods, which also vary from one week to the next. Art Friedrich, co-founder of Urban Oasis, brought quart jars of brine-cured sauerkraut, and zucchini bread to die for. Oval loaves of artisanal bread lay in a basket next to local wildflower honey and Hani’s Organics baba ghanoush. On the next Saturday, bagged worm castings and bottles of worm tea (natural fertilizer) were available from Fertile Earth Foundation. The most surprising discovery was one-pound bags of rice, both white and brown, organically grown in Florida (in rotation with sugar cane) south of Lake Okeechobee.

Friends hanging out at the market.

I visited the market on the first two Saturdays it was open, and each time it was busy with a steady stream of customers. Melissa Contreras, co-founder of Urban Oasis, guess-timated that they had at least 100 shoppers on the first Saturday. Prices at this new market are a bit lower than what you might expect to see at a farmers market, plus they accept food stamps and match EBT purchases up to $10.

“The point of this market is to bring the communities together,” said Kelliann McDonald, spokesperson for Terranova, the center’s developer. She pointed out that the location is right between an upscale neighborhood and a poorer one. She envisions the market becoming common ground for both groups.

For several hours on Saturday, people shopped, tasted fruit, hung out for a little bit and told stories at this brave new market. Whether it will become a community hub remains to be seen, but one can only hope the people in the area, both rich and poor, will embrace the farmers and their bounty.

Look for the Upper East Side Farmers Market in front of Payless at Biscayne Plaza Shopping Center, located on the northwest corner of Biscayne Blvd. and 79 St. in Miami. Open on Saturdays from 9 am to 2 pm until May 28, 2011.

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