From Helen:
Summer is ending and a new school year has begun. I like the fall and what it brings, cooler weather, fall vegetables, and the anticipation of the things to come. As a child; a new school year meant a new beginning and as a young adult it meant going back to college to old friends and new classes; now as a much older adult, it means our busy month of October is almost here.
Speaking of new beginnings, we are about to start a new chapter for Legare Farms. We have purchased a bus and will soon have a rolling Farmer's Market. We are looking for locations to park and offer everything from beef and pork to vegetables to jams, pickles, salsa, and honey. If your business or neighborhood would like for us to make them a regular stop, please get in touch with me.
Things are really slow on the farm as far as money coming in but the work continues. We are working towards getting the Pumpkin Patch open and starting the Fall CSA vegetable deliveries. Everything seems to be a challenge with the weather, Either we have too much rain or not enough. Too much rain is worse than not enough, we can always add water but taking it away is difficult. Wild turkeys are playing havoc with the fall plantings. They walk along and just pull plants out of the ground. Nothing seems to phase them, not electric fences, not shooting over their heads, not chasing them, so we seem to have to just deal with the aftermath of their destruction.
Here's Linda's contribution:
This time of year always makes me think back to hot August afternoons when Daddy and Grandpa were harvesting the corn. The corn was field corn that was allowed to dry on the stalk. It was then picked by an old fashioned machine called a corn picker. We had 2 small (by today’s standards) 8N Ford tractors. Grandpa would drive one tractor pulling the corn picker up and down the field. It would only pick one row at a time. The corn would go up a conveyer belt and fall out into a wooden trailer that was attached behind the corn picker. Once the trailer was full they would unhitch it and hitch up an empty one. Daddy would then take the full one to the barn where he would shovel it out by hand. Helen and I spent many very happy late summer and early fall afternoons with Daddy riding on top of the load of corn. (I never did like school and I think one of the main reasons was that I wanted to stay with Daddy in the corn field.) Sometime in the mid to late 60’s Grandpa finally bought a very old combine to harvest the corn. Although it made the job much quicker and easier, things were never quite the same for us children. The corn was fed to the pigs and a few steers that were locked up and fed for a few months before butchering.
While the cows and pigs were fed the corn, cob and all, it needed to be shelled for the chickens. We had an old hand cranked corn sheller that we kids loved working. Grandmother would help us and we would turn the handle. A whole ear of corn would go in and loose corn kernels would come out. We would pick the cobs up and save them for kindling in the wood stove that we heated with in the winter. Once they started using the combine, the corn was no longer on the cob but was loose kernels. The corn was then stored in the “corn house”. The entire building was filled with corn in the early days. Sometime in the mid to late 60’s Grandpa and Daddy rebuilt this building. They poured a concrete slab and divided the building with wooden partitions. One side of the building housed the corn and the other side housed a hammer mill that was used to grid the corn up for feeding. A grain bin was built right behind the corn house to store the bulk of the corn. When the corn started getting low in the corn house they would transfer some out of the grain bin. In time a second grain bin and a dryer were built. The hammer mill had a long belt that was turned by an attachment placed on the PTO gear on the tractor. It was a messy business and everyone involved in it was covered in dust by the time it was finished.
I can't remember now if the first grain bin was built before or after grandpa died in 1969. However, I do remember the entire family working on it. It came in rounded panels that had to be bolted in place. One person had to be on the inside holding the bolts tight with a wrench while the other person was on the outside fastening the nuts on. All of us children and Mama had to help. We worked on it until it got too high to reach. And then daddy took over. Not sure who helped him finish it up I can't remember now but it was a great adventure to us at the time. We also wrote our initials and made handprints in the concrete slab that it was sitting on the when the concrete was poured. The grain bin is still there even though we don't store grain in it any longer.
Calendar
- September 17th Backyard Chicken Workshop
- October Pumpkin Patch
- November Thanksgiving on the Farm field trips
- November 26 Holiday Open House
Feature of the Month
We are having a Backyard Chicken Class on September 17th at the farm. Come learn how to raise chickens in your backyard by Clemson specialist Amber Starnes. We will also have a children's program. If you are already raising chickens, then bring your prettiest one for the chicken show. Ribbons will be given for the best 3. Lunch is include in the price. Vendors with chicken related items are welcome. To preregister go to http://legarefarms.com/pages/1st-backyard-chicken-workshop
Special of the Month
Ground beef is on special for $5/lb. Get some for recipe of the month or for your end of the summer cookouts. We also have hamburger patties ready for the grill. We still have Butchers Club memberships available and are still offering the Beef and Pork packages at discounted prices.
Recipe of the Month
Ground Beef Casserole
- 1 pound Legare Farms’ ground beef (browned in small amount of fat)
- 2 large onions (sliced and cooked until tender in ground beef fat)
- 4 or 5 medium potatoes, sliced
- 1 can of cream of mushroom soup (10 oz) (substitute cream of celery if you have non mushroom eaters)
- Paprika-small amount
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Brown ground beef in small amount of fat. Cook sliced onions until tender in ground beef fat. Using a greased casserole dish, put a layer (half) of the sliced potatoes. Cover with half of cooked ground beef. A little salt sliced onions over the ground beef. Add the rest of the ground beef. Add the can of cream of mushroom soup over the ground beef. Arrange rest of sliced potatoes and sprinkle with paprika. Cover and cook at 350 degrees in preheated oven for 1 hour.
We try to be open every Saturday 9-12. Call to check before coming out because sometimes things come up.
If you have any questions or suggestions, call or email us.
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