Savoring the Seasons: Many hands…
I know what it takes to plan big community events. So, I knew it was a tough decision for the Diemand family to CANCEL this year’s Diemand Farm Easter Egg Hunt. While Diemand Farm does not have avian influenza, recent outbreaks in the western and central U.S. mean poultry farms are taking precautions to protect their flocks, including restricting visitors to the farms. Avian influenza is carried by wild birds and many people have contact with wild birds through their bird feeders. Without knowing it, farm visitors can infect a farm’s flocks.
The Diemands hope to have an open house sometime in the future when the turkeys are outside and the lamb and calves can be running around, too.
The Easter Egg Hunt is cancelled, but the Diemand Farm Store is open. We can still go there to get eggs, chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, soups, baked goodies, their divine chicken pot pies and turkey pot pies, and more. Check out: http://www.thediemandfarm.com/ or call 978-544-3806 for store hours and directions.
Can’t make it to their Farm Store? Look for Diemand Farm products at area stores, including Pine Hill Orchard in Colrain, Upinngil Farm in Gill, Foster’s Supermarket, Greenfield Farmer’s Co-op, and Green Fields Market in Greenfield, Hager’s Farm Market in Shelburne, and Millstone Market in Sunderland.
When I talked with Annie about the cancellation, she shared a recipe for Scotch Eggs, a fix-ahead-for-a-handy-lunch-or-snack way to prepare Diemand eggs.
When I said I know what it takes to plan big community events, I meant it. It’s time to start planning the Free Harvest Supper and I’m wondering whether we’ll have enough folks to help organize the supper this year. The Free Harvest Supper is created by an ad hoc group of volunteers that gets together each spring. Each of us says, “Yes! I’ll help this year!”
In the supper’s early years, Juanita Nelson and 12 to 15 organizers worked together on all the many details it takes to feed 1,000 of our neighbors on the Greenfield Town Common on a summer Sunday evening. In recent years, that core organizing team has dwindled to just a few people.
It’s too much for “just a few people” to coordinate food donations from 50 farms, recruit and coordinate over 100 volunteers, plan entertainment, promote the supper, update the supper website, plan composting and recycling systems, arrange for borrowing chairs, tables, tents, and sound systems, pull together displays, and raise money for the Farmers Market Coupon program.
It’s too much for a few, but just the right amount of work for each of us if more people join the organizing committee. While we greatly appreciate folks who volunteer the day of the Supper, right now we’re looking for folks who will say, “Yes! I’ll start NOW to help organize this year’s Free Harvest Supper!”
Want to help create this year’s Free Harvest Supper? Contact me at:
mmcclinto@yahoo.com or 413-522-5932.
This week we’re eating… Scotch Eggs
By Annie Diemand, Diemand Farm, Wendell (learned from her daughter, Tessa, who got it from popularpaleo.com)
6 Diemand Farm eggs – hard boiled and peeled
24 oz. ground local pork sausage
2 T. local maple syrup
1/4 C. chopped walnuts
Mix together pork, maple syrup, and walnuts (saving 2 T. walnuts for topping). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Hold egg in your hand, take some of the mixture and smooth around egg, covering all sides. This can be a bit messy, just have fun with it. Place covered egg in greased baking dish, leaving room between each egg. After eggs are covered with sausage mixture and placed in baking dish, sprinkle remaining walnuts on top. This adds a nice crunch to the baked egg! Bake eggs for 40 – 45 minutes or until pork is cooked through. I have tried the eggs with other seasonings — making them savory not sweet. It is a simple fun, recipe to play with. These eggs are great hot or cold!
Enjoy!
