We had to say good bye to Sam today – the pain in his hindquarters was just too bad. This video, from three years ago, will always remind me of what a great dog he was.

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Program Outline

February 4, 2012

Lexington Resort

850 South Bluff Street  St George, Utah

Register at the door $25 individual, $40 couples, $15 students

Raffles and door prizes including a .22 caliber pistol and much more

Lunch alone worth more than the cost of registration

Sponsored by Utah Woolgrowers Association, Mountain States Meat Goat Association, Utah Woolgrowers Lamb Promotion Board, Boehringer Ingelheim, Utah State University Extension and Southern Utah University

If you have 5 or 5000 sheep or goats, you need to be at this event.

RSVP via email to sheepranch@msn.com

Jackrabbit Ranch will be presenting the segment on “Start-up Challenges.

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(Photo courtesy of Zion Canyon Farmers Market)

Michelle Bonner and Lisa Zumpft of the Zion Canyon Farmer's Market write:

Bradley Mienert (Desert Toad Garden) died this weekend in an accident while trimming trees in the Brookside area. Brad was a passionate gardener and arborist. The market will miss his great peppers and peas. I understand he has a good crop of garlic in the ground, perhaps with some care from friends it will make it to market later this year.

The Spectrum has this report.

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Ingredients vary in texture, so you may need to adjust the amounts a bit, but here’s how I did it:

2 cups unsweetened carob chips (available at the local health food store)

1 cup canned coconut milk (about half a can)

1 cup barley malt

1/2 cup peanut butter (all the normal fudge recipes say not to use “natural” peanut butter, but I did)

1 tsp vanilla extract (I use Trader Joe’s alcohol free vanilla)

sweetener (optional – try 2 scoops of stevia, or 3 packets of aspartame, or an equivalent of your preferred sweetener – I find it sweet enough as it is!)

dash of salt (optional)

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (if desired)

Grease a small baking pan or plastic container.  8″ x 8″ works well.

Combine the carob chips, coconut milk, barley malt, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt (if desired) in a small saucepan.

Heat over low heat, stirring, until the chips melt and the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.  Do not heat to boiling, or the coconut milk will separate.

Remove from heat.  Add the walnuts (if desired) and sweetener (if desired).

Pour the mixture into the pan.  Refrigerate until firm.

Enjoy!

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Silkie was one of our first batch of chicks.  He’s now a six-year-old rooster, and the last survivor.  The last of his hens died last winter.

His only friends now are dogs and goats – and he seems to think he is a dog!  He comes running whenever we step outside, and greets Suellen’s car when she arrives home.   On this particular day, when we stopped to open the gate, Silkie jumped into the car with us.  I have never before seen a rooster that liked to ride in the car!

P.S. I can’t believe it: I finished this post and went to the barn to feed and water…  Silkie was dead.  It looks like he died in his sleep.  He was a sweet and remarkable rooster, more of a pet than anything else, though he did sire some beautiful chicks in his day.  We will miss him!

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Our production manager really gets into her work!  Here she reaches to the bottom of the vat for the last of the cheese…

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Red Acre Farm CSA will hold its second annual Farm to Fork dinner this Friday, September 9, at 5:30pm.  This year the food will be prepared by Executive Chef Jeff Crosland, owner of Parallel 88 restaurant in Springdale.  There are still seats available – they can be reserved on the web page.

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“Do you take plastic?”  I can’t count how many times people people have asked us that at farmers markets and events.  Now the answer is yes – at least for telephone orders and at the Springdale and Cedar City farmers markets and other major events.  So far, we only have one imprinter, so we can take cards at one location at a time.

We’ve resisted taking plastic for several reasons.  First, they cost money and add a layer of complexity we haven’t wanted to accept.  But perhaps more importantly, we don’t like debt and don’t want to encourage our customers to use debt.  One of our mentors convinced us that (a) whether a person goes into debt is their own business, and (b) a lot of “plastic” is actually debit cards.  And we recognize that a lot of people use plastic to help them manage their expenses.  So who are we to argue?

So look for us this weekend at the Iron County Fair – we’ll be happy to accept your credit or debit card, as well as local checks.  There’s still a bonus for paying cash: for cash customers, we pay the sales tax.  But now the choice is yours.  We DO take plastic!

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