Last week I was in charge of pulling frozen orders. I got to ground chicken - the promo item - and figured I'd come back to it because it was so much it would cause a few of the coolers to overflow. Well, you know what happened. Out of sight and out of mind. So Wednesday, I forgot to put it in the frozen coolers.

Those who were missing ground chicken last Wednesday likely received an email from the office on Thursday and it will be corrected this week at the back of the truck. Sorry about that.

And since we are pulling ground chicken anyhow, it's on sale again.

Ground Chicken - 1# pasture raised ground chicken, just $5

Grassfed Ground Beef - 1# packages - $7 per lb ($1 off)

Medium Salsa - $5 per pint

PEACHES



This week we are seeing the first of the season's peaches starting to trickle in. They are very limited this week and will be listed online for sale.

A note on peaches this year. Peaches are going to be expensive due to a big shortage on the commodity market.

Georgia and South Carolina saw big losses this year. The reason being that their winter was too warm. This is driving up prices everywhere.

Peaches, like other fruit trees, go dormant after harvest. To awaken and bear fruit, they need a certain number of cumulative "degree days" or "chilling hours," This winter, the southern states didn't get it and there is an estimated 80 to 90% loss from the usual heavy hitters on peach production.

Degree days are measured in the temperature difference either above or below 65 degrees. Once a fruit tree is dormant, it needs a certain number of degree days, cumulative, below 65. So, a day that has a mean temperature of 30 degrees has a measurement of 35 degree days. A day that has a mean temperature of 50 has a score of 15 degree days. Each tree variety has a different requirement, with southern trees usually requiring less chilling. Cumulative chilling is anywhere from 800 to 1200 degree day hours. However, this winter the temperatures were so warm that this unusual event occurred where the trees didn't receive enough rest before the growing season.

So, long story short is there is a big supply shortage and the prices this year on the wholesale markets are very high, with USDA prices ranging north of $40 per half bushel - when on normal years they wholesale price trades near $15 to $20.

Our grower is grateful to have a decent crop this year and is helping us out by keeping our prices down compared to the commodities markets, and we have about 100 small bags of peaches available this week. The big harvests are still yet to come.

Peaches - 2# bags - $5

BLACK RASPBERRIES

This week the black raspberries are also coming in. They are highly perishable, so we have several harvests coming in this week.

Please keep them cool and dry and eat them right away.

Without a fungicide or chemicals, the high humidity will cause the berry to sweat when it comes out of refrigeration, and from there they get moldy.

We have fresh berries coming in each day but please help us out by storing them properly and eating them promptly once you receive them.

One trick is to add a teaspoon of vinegar to a cup of cold water, then rinse your berries in this to kill any budding molds. This will extend the shelf life if you want to keep them for several days in the refrigerator.

Per Pint - $7

BLUEBERRIES

This season we are going to be light on blueberries. Our supplier, who has been growing for us for 15 years, has sold to a younger couple and they can't find the labor to do hand pick, so they are only offering U-Pick.

They just broke this news to me last week, so I'm scrambling to try to find a good supply. We used to buy 7,000 pints per year, plus 4,000# bulk...so this is a big gap to fill.

I do have a few smaller Amish farmers are growing berries, and this week we have about 200 pints available. Order online please.

Per Pint - $6

The difference in new skin vs cured potatoes

This week we are featuring what are called "new skin" red potatoes. The new skin means that the potato was dug while the plant was still alive, and the skin wasn't given time to "cure." The skin is therefore very delicate and often rubs off when washing. The "spotty" appearance is normal for these tender young potatoes.

Later in the season, potatoes will be harvested differently. For storage potatoes, the plant will be mowed off to kill the plant. The potatoes are then left in the ground for about a week before being dug.

In that scenario, the potatoes are then left in a pile on a wagon or table. The air moves through the dirty potatoes and allows the skin on the surface to dry out and become stronger. Any damaged potatoes that may spoil often show themselves then.

The last step is then to wash and package the potatoes. On small farms around here, they are generally put across a produce washer which has soft brushes and spray nozzles to gently wash the potato clean. The potatoes are washed and packaged, ready for your enjoyment.

The advantage of allowing potatoes to "set a skin" or "cure" is that they store much longer. On the other hand, the new skin potato has a very delicate skin that is easy to cut and eat. The flavor and texture of the new skin potato is worth celebrating.

I don't know about you, but do you ever use talk-to-text and it thinks you are saying duck? Who really talks about ducks that much? And you are telling me AI is supposed to take over the world and we can't even logically figure out profanity on a smartphone?

Well, sadly I'm that guy talking about ducks. And they are a good time, kind of.

The pluses of raising ducks are that they are relatively low maintenance and hardy. Oh, and they are cute and make you laugh as they quack and waddle around everywhere, if that counts for anything.

The downside is they like water. Really like water. And they splash it everywhere and make a big mess. So, my challenge on raising them outside was moving their water structure often enough to keep them from creating a pond.

The worst part about ducks is honestly the costs to raise them, most of it out of my control. On feed, they eat about twice as much as a chicken. The chick from the hatchery costs about 5 times as much as that of a chicken. And then the slaughter - it is $10.25 to slaughter them, not including cutting them up. For comparison, a chicken costs $2.45 to slaughter. The duck feathers resist water, so to scald the feathers off they must dip them in wax and then pull them off. It's very time-consuming and a challenge.

All that considered, I still enjoy raising them and I'm proud to offer pasture raised, non-gmo duck to our customers this year.

Whole Pekin Ducks - approx 5.5# - $7.50 per lb

Duck Breast - skin on, boneless - approx 1# per package - $18 per lb

Duck Legs (thigh/drum) - 4 per pack, approx 1.5# - $12 per lb

One simple trick to being a good Fresh Forker is to cook your beans immediately. Properly prepared dried beans require patience. But when done correctly, they are versatile, healthy, and delicious.

Here are the basics ingredients:

Required: beans and water

Optional: celery, onion, carrot, and bay leaves, or veggie stock

The bare bones basic approach is:

1) Sort through the beans and remove any broken ones or debris.

2) Rinse the beans.

3) Soak the beans overnight in cold water in the refrigerator.

4) Drain the beans and place in a stockpot. Cover with water by at least an inch. Bring to a simmer and let them very gently boil until tender, maybe 3 hours or more.

For full bean cooking details, see Chef Parker's PHD in Bean Cookery here.

Pressure Cooker/Instapot Method

While I don't have an Instapot, it is similar to a pressure cooker. At home, I simply put my soaked beans into the pressure cooker with carrots, onion, celery, and a tablespoon of oil. The oil is supposed to help control foam ups.

I cover the beans with about an inch of water and put the lid on the pressure cooker.

I bring the pressure cooker up to temp over medium high heat until it starts whistling. I then reduce the heat to medium to maintain the steam and set a timer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, simply turn off the heat and wait until the pressure has reduced and take off the lid. This takes about a half hour or so.

The beans are usually done just right every time.

Freeze your Beans

Once you have cooked the whole package, portion them out and freeze immediately in smaller portions. Now you have beans that can be pulled from the freezer for dinner and thawed quickly in boiling water.