Dropstone Farms

So we grew some ducks starting in August, and since the day we placed the order I have been talking about how I have never cooked duck. Today I started learning to cook duck.

This engaged most (but not all) of our cast iron pans. Potatoes & leeks in the front; kale with garlic; duck. Also, I need to learn to use my shiny new camera, so I can stop using my tiny, crappy point&shoot. Also, pictures of shiny things (like potatoes in duck fat) are hard.

Went with simplicity today; though duck is not on most folks’ regular rotation, we have several to last us the winter and we figured now is the time to learn about it. We roasted it very simply with just salt and pepper. I used a baster to suck up the duck fat to pan-roast the homegrown Swedish Peanut (we think) potatoes with farmers’ market leeks, and to sauté the homegrown Lacinato and Red Russian kale with homegrown garlic (variety lost to history). All the preparation methods were simple, easy, and comforting. The potatoes turned out to be fantastic, and the kale too, though a bit greasy (I didn’t want it to burn to I put too much fat). The duck was very tasty, though a bit overcooked (my fault).

Conclusion: Yum.

Homegrown: duck; potatoes; garlic; kale.
Local: leeks (Peresphone Farms, Indianola)
Regional (150-mile): wine (Snoqualmie Vineyards)
Origin unknown: salt, pepper as usual.

Lessons: I overcooked the duck a bit. Live and learn. Also, we might not like duck skin — handy, as is a BIG pain to pluck them. If we can skin them in the future instead of plucking, that would be nice. Don’t put so much fat on the kale (I do this when I’m cooking with olive oil too).

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Like a lot of farmers, we don’t name the poultry or other livestock. They’re wonderful creatures and we love them very much a desire nothing more than the happiest possible life until we kill and eat them. This requires some mental gymnastics for city folk and former vegetarians. One thing I’ve found very interesting in raising poultry is that they lack the empathy for humans shown by dogs, horses, and even cats. (Yes, cats are hateful and contemptuous, but that’s because they understand how you feel AND THEY WANT TO PUNISH YOU!)

However, we’re also animal people and we need to refer to our various groups of animals as something, so they evolve names. We couldn’t remember the name of the breed “Wyandotte,” so our first one was referred to as Wilhemina (We’d been reading the League of Extraordinary Gentleman), and the Black Austrolorpes as “the Octothorpes”. The Khaki Campbell ducks have generally been referred to as “those fracking ducks.” They are not my favorite animals to work with but we’ve got the new ones this year known as “the ducklings” or “those misbegotten creatures.”

Our new chickens this year are the Ameraucanas (who lay blue eggs) and four new Wyandottes.

Pretty, aren’t they? So they reminded us of the humanoid cylons from Battlestar Galactica. Did I mention we’re nerds?

There are many copies. And they have a plan.

In deference to my previous career as an alt country musician, the Ameraucanas are referred to simply as Uncle Tupelo.

The two that hate each other are clearly Chicken Jeff Tweedy and Chicken Jay Farrar. Chicken Jay Bennet is playing a guitar solo in Chicken Heavan.

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My duck. In a box.

It’s official. Oscar and I are the only males left on the farm. And I’m the only one that’s, for the time being, unfixed. Mr. Guy went to his new home today, ingloriously swaddled in cardboard. He was not pleased with that but I think he’ll enjoy his new home. And our ladies will enjoy the respite from his attentions and, hopefully, will re-grow some of the feathers on their butts.

Farewell Mr. Guy! May you molest only the correct species in your new home.

Mr Guy Loves the Ladies

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Good news, everyone! Senate Bill 5350 passed in Washington state. What does this mean? Simple. Previously, it was legal to process chickens on-farm and sell them directly to customers on the farm premises without hiring a WSDA approved slaughterhouse. Thanks to the passage of this bill, the exemption is now extended to all poultry. This is great news for people that want to buy a turkey or a duck directly from a farmer. From talking to the friends and family for whom we’re raising a test batch of six turkeys this year, I can tell you that there are a tremendous number of people who want to buy poultry raised cleanly and humanely on a small farm and who are willing to pay extra for it. Prior to this, there was no way for us to legally sell farm-slaughtered non-chicken poultry to people. Frustrating.

This is a great, common sense piece of legislation because, if small-scale chicken operations don’t require WSDA inspection, why should other poultry? Conversely, if other small poultry require inspection, why don’t chickens? It’s just inconsistent. The only reason I can think of is that, when the legislation granting the exemption was originally written, they simply overlooked other meat birds. This has now been corrected. Our regulatory apparatus for food is seriously and epically flawed–I won’t argue that–but this is yet another example of how I’m seeing our state-level regulatory bodies doing a great job of improving things.

So, if you want a turkey or a duck or a goose for the holidays, let us know. We’ll see if we can raise one (humanely, happily, cleanly, and deliciously) for you. It’s legal now!

On a similar note, I posted another rant about regulations here at the Civil Eats food policy blog. I’m kind of pleased with it so I’ve reproduced it below.

“As a farmer and an eater, I believe very strongly in regulation. I just believe in good regulation.

Despite the poorly written and ill-conceived regulation that are coming out at the (usually) federal level, there are some bright spots in food safety. One example with which I’m familiar is the Washington State Department of Agriculture who, from the ground up, are coming up with some very sane regulations that both ensure safety more effectively (in my opinion) and are more small-farm-friendly than the cumbersome and prescriptive regulations that we love to complain about.

For example, at a Tilth Producers conference a couple of years ago I attended a session on small dairy certification hosted by a farmer and a representative of the WSDA. The farmer indicated that one of the challenges of certification in Washington is that the regulations specify *results*, not methods. It’s left to the farmer to figure out how to meet sanitation goals, not how to pay for the specified equipment. As an eater, I don’t care how far the domestic animals are from my greens, I care that the result of the handling is food free of contamination. A small farmer can spare the attention to detail to manage handling as intensively as a small farmer must manage production.

An example of WSDA’s sane approach to regulation is that, when a farmer found the requirement for a commercial dishwasher too onerous, he was able to demonstrate to the local inspector that a consumer model dishwasher offered the same results as the commercial dishwasher at a fraction of the cost. Thus, the inspector was (rightly) satisfied, the farmer was able to produce dairy at the appropriate scale, and the consumer was assured of a clean and wholesome product thanks to the active, critical, and results-oriented involvement of the agency as well as the diligence of the farmer in researching the problem instead of being forced to focus on regulations.”

Remember folks, good government matters and small changes can make a very big difference on the local level.

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I have been taken to task by more than one person for the lack of duckling photos. So here are some ducklings!

Most of the photos have notes in Flickr — click through and mouse over the photo to see them.

This little girl arrived with her egg tooth still attached, originally uploaded by laurenipsum.

Cutes, originally uploaded by laurenipsum.

Handful of ducklings!, originally uploaded by laurenipsum.

Stubby winglets!, originally uploaded by laurenipsum.

OM NOM NOM DUCKLINGS, originally uploaded by laurenipsum.

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My camera is obviously not intended as a video camera, so the video quality is not great — at times the chickens appear to be made of lasers, zooming around very quickly — but the sound is pretty much exactly what we live with, all the time.

(For treats they are getting kale stems, parsnip tops and peelings, and some stale corn chips from last week’s tortilla soup.)

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1. Can we dry overripe shelling peas, which are too starchy to eat fresh, and use them like split peas?
2. Is there any use for the fibrous but still fresh and juicy shells of the peas that did not get overripe? Make stock maybe?
3. If one boy duck is picking on the other boy duck, pulling his feathers out and whatnot, and we want to get rid of one and keep the other to breed, do we keep the aggressive one (to breed strong babies) or the passive one (to breed docile babies)?
4. Where in the world am I supposed to find time to post more often?

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It was 70° here on Saturday, which is approximately late June weather, rarely in mid-April. It was also the first day of the Bainbridge Island Farmers’ Market, so we rode our bikes into town in the morning and did some shopping. I had my bike all tricked out with my removable wicker basket on the front, and my new REI-dividend-purchased pannier on the back. We strolled around for an hour or so, had lunch at the pub, and returned home with my front basket full of seedlings, pannier full of groceries from the regular store, and Garth’s messenger bag and front basket full of veggies and eggs from the farmers.

When we got home, we immediately took advantage of the heat — seriously, it was actually hot — to bring all manner of poultry outside. Chickens were in the electric fence, until we discovered they could get through the holes of the fence regardless of zapping, so we moved them to a smaller, but still large, area with a smaller-holed. It was pointless, really, as they huddled together in one section for an hour or two, although it was definitely above 70° at that point.

Our charming young next-door neighbor Calvin, who is almost four, inquired with volume and frequency as to the location of the very cute ducklings. So we brought them out to enjoy the sun too, though Calvin was napping by the time we wrangled them outside. Turns out ducklings like a dog-dish full of water and bits of weeds and grass nearly as much as a four-year-old likes ducklings.

The chickens spent their first night in the coop on Saturday, but we didn’t get much else done. Saturday was poultry day, I guess.

And Sunday was planting day. We had bought broccoli, chard, and onion seedlings at the market, and we picked out three kale seedlings from our seed tray. Chard (multicolored) and kale (1 Winterbor and 2 Nero di Toscani, I think) went in between the two rows of peas (Oregon Trail and some Sugar Snap, both of which have germinated almost 100%, which is awesome). The greens should keep sort of shady there, and not bolt too quickly, I think.

Broccoli went sort of alongside the rosemary bush, which we had to trim to get the deer fence in place. I don’t remember which variety it is — the broccoli, that is — but I remember it was from Persephone Farms, so I’ll ask them when we go again this weekend.

The onions are Egyptian walking onions, which are funny looking and awesome. Instead of making a bulb underground and a flower on top, they make a group of small bulblets on top. If you don’t harvest them, the weight gets too much and the stalk bends down to the ground, where the bulblets plant themselves and grow. Hence, walking. The 4-H kid we got them from at the market said they make good scallions, too.

Earlier this week, Garth planted potatoes, too. Rather than marking them with the little flags, he drew a map in his notebook. He says it’s “four plants of everything, and six of All Blues.” I don’t know what “everything” means, but I’ll find out eventually, I’m sure.

As always, pictures are up at Flickr: Chickens; Ducks; Little farm (not very up-to-date).

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Just yesterday, we were telling Garth’s mom what a relief it was that the chickens are old enough to require less work now. We have elevated their foods and waters off the ground a bit, so they don’t scratch so much pine shavings into them. We have given them a bit of dowel to perch on, and we upgraded them from the bottom half of a dog crate, to the two halves of a dog crate zip-tied together.

So it was sort of ironic (Garth says: “less ironic than a pain in the ass”) that he called me frantically from the feed store late this afternoon to tell me that they had four Khaki Campbell ducklings, exactly the breed we have been looking for. They were two females and two males. We wanted three or four females for eggs, and would take a male just to hang out (and breed, maybe, given the hard time we had finding these ducklings). Two males and two females is way different from the

ratio we had hoped for, but the prospect of leaving one poor little boy duckling behind in the duckling bucket, all alone, was just not even an option. So Garth brought home four little ducklings, two boys and two girls.

For now they are in the chicks’ old galvanized tub, washed out (thanks Garth!) with vinegar. They are already displaying very different behavior from the chicks; they run and splash in the water, going in circles with one foot in the waterer.

So at this point we are looking at a future average of:
6 chickens = ~28 eggs/week
2 lady ducks = ~10-12 eggs/week

Yay!

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