Fail Better Yoga

I discovered yoga in a high school gym class. I think it was raining outside, so the gym teacher threw on a yoga video and let us have at it. I was a student athlete, so I was physically at the top of my game…fast, flexible, strong. But I remember feeling like yoga tapped into a different part of me. Something deeper than physical ability.

I didn’t have access to yoga classes back then, so I bought a Denise Austin VHS video. I remember some of the phrases she’d use because I watched it so much. There was one line where she said breathily, “Child’s pose. My favorite part.” Not sure why that stuck with me, but she wasn’t wrong. Child’s pose is pretty legendary.

Anyway, I was always drawn to yoga. The mindful focus on breath. The twists. The stretches. The balance poses. I remember being in classes as a 20-something, hearing the older people around me groaning into poses. I get it now. I found yoga when it was just a chill pastime; now that I’m past 40, I need yoga. I have officially become the achy woman groaning into the poses.

During the pandemic, I decided (like everybody and their cousin, I’m sure) to finally go for it and get my yoga teaching certificate. It was such a worthwhile undertaking, and I’m proud to announce we’ll now be offering outdoor yoga. Just like we do everything else on the farm, we’ll be facilitating a fail better style of yoga. We come to the mat as imperfect beings doing our best, and we hope you’ll join us.

Stay tuned for specifics.

2022 CSA Registration

What is a CSA?

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is basically a subscription to the crops a farm has to offer. The customer pays a designated amount up front to become a member of the CSA. Then, throughout the growing season, the farmer provides the customer with weekly shares of the harvest. The customer benefits from the bounty and planning of the farmer, but also shares in any weeks that are less bountiful.

What crops will be included in the Fail Better Farms CSA shares?

We’ll offer washed and cut bagged salad, collard greens, spinach, kale, broccoli, beets, green beans, garlic, cabbage, green peppers, eggplants, carrots, turnips, scallions, storage onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, and basil. (Click here to see the projected crop schedule.)

What else is included in the Fail Better Farms CSA?

  • You’ll receive a weekly newsletter letting you know which crops you’ll be receiving, suggested recipes for preparing those vegetables, and news about what’s going on at the farm. (Click here to see a sample newsletter from last year.)

  • Each Saturday during the CSA pick-up window, customers are welcome to tour the farm and check out the crops.

  • NEW THIS SEASON! Customers located within a 10 mile radius of our farm can opt for weekly deliveries of their shares.

What kind of person is the right fit for the Fail Better Farms CSA?

Our ideal CSA customer is someone who…

  • enjoys cooking and preparing fresh food at home,

  • cares about eating food grown with sustainable, organic practices,

  • can find time on Saturdays to pick up their share,

  • and wants to support a local farm.

What does an example share look like?

Below are images of sample CSA shares from last year’s season.

How can you learn more?

Check out our CSA Membership Agreement to learn more. If you’re interested in joining our CSA, simply complete the form at the bottom of the Membership Agreement.

Homemade Play Dough

Looking for a cheap indoor activity that’ll keep your kids entertained on a rainy day? My suggestion: make homemade play dough together.

Why make your own?

  1. If your household is anything like ours, play dough lasts for approximately one afternoon. The kids take it out, mix all the colors into a gray/brown blob, abandon that blob for another toy, and forget about it until the next day when it’s morphed from play dough to more of a play chalk. The good news about the homemade stuff is it stays hydrated way longer because of the oils.

  2. Making your own is way cheaper than buying it from the store. With the recipe below, you can make a play dough ball about five times bigger than a standard clump of play dough you’d get from the store.

  3. You can eliminate those little plastic cylinders AND the carbon footprint of however far the play dough was transported.

 
 

The yellow clump you see on the left is a standard sized piece of play dough you’d get in one of those containers from the store. The big greenish ball to the right was how much I ended up with after making the recipe below.

How to make it

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

  • 1/3 cup salt

  • 2 TSP cream of tartar

  • 1 cup water

  • 1 tbsp oil (I used avocado, but Vegetable would work)

  • gel food coloring

  • essential oils

DIrections:

  1. Throw your flour, salt, and cream of tartar into a saucepan.

  2. Stir the water, oil, and a few drops of food coloring into the flour mixture. (I added 8 drops of food coloring.)

  3. Turn your burner on medium low, and stir your concoction until it resembles play dough and begins to cling to the spoon. (This took me about 4 minutes. Prepare for a bit of a workout as the dough solidifies.)

  4. Remove the clump of play dough from the pot and let it cool on a plate.

  5. Once your dough is cooled, add a few drops of essential oils if desired. (I added 10 drops.)

  6. To make different color/scent combinations, repeat steps 1-5 with different essential oils and food dye colors.

How to store it

You could keep it in a gallon-sized zip top bag or a reusable plastic container with a lid. We originally made four different colored balls of the stuff, but the kids mixed them pretty much immediately, as is their custom. Pro tip: consider choosing colors and scents that blend nicely together. (The four colors we used mixed into a pretty purple color.)

Carrot Top Pesto

Waste Not, Want Not

Wasting food feels gross, doesn’t it? When I’ve purchased carrots in the past from the grocery store, I didn’t have to deal with the question of what to do with the leafy green part. Now that we’re growing our own carrots, I don’t want to just throw the greens away because they’re edible and they actually contain a bunch of vitamins and minerals. (More on that below.) So I went on a mission to find what to do with the tops of my carrots.

But first…why does the grocery store remove the carrot tops?

There’s a good reason grocery store carrots are bald. If the greens stay attached to the carrots, they steal a bunch of the nutrients and sweetness out the the carrots. Because of this, it’s important to remove the greens from the carrots as soon as possible.

Nutrients in Carrot Tops

Carrot greens are loaded with vitamins A, C, and K, potassium, iron, magnesium, carotenoids, calcium, and dietary fiber. They are the underappreciated “hair” of the carrot, and it’s about dang time we step up and accept their super food status. In an attempt to get my family to consume this nutrient-dense food, I whipped it up into a fine pesto, which I recommend. If you’re kids (or you) aren’t huge fans, you might mix the pesto with a marinara sauce before adding to noodles or pizza or whatever else you add pesto to.

Nut-Free Carrot Top Pesto Recipe

I had to play jazz with recipes I found online because my son can’t eat nuts. Here’s my offering for the world:

Ingredients:

  • one bunch carrot greens

  • one or two handfuls of fresh basil leaves (Spinach would work too.)

  • extra virgin olive oil To Taste

  • parmesan cheese to taste (I ended up using 8 ounces. Don’t judge.)

Directions:

  1. Remove the leafy bits from the fibrous stems of the carrot tops, and Chuck those leafy bits into the food processor.

  2. Add basil leaves to food processor.

  3. Add some olive oil to food processor.

  4. Start processing the heck out of that food!!

  5. Add as much oil and cheese as you see fit. (Basically, keep tasting it until you say mmmm.)

Other Uses for Carrot Tops

You can add them to a salad or sandwich or soup. You could use them as a pretty garnish. You might even find them useful for tickling your sweet child’s little tootsies.

If you want more recipe ideas, check out the World Carrot Museum website. That’s right. There’s a World Carrot Museum. Isn’t it comforting to know that exists?

Featured
Dozen Large Eggs (Pick-Up Only)
eggs, happyhenslayhealthyeggs, cheep cheeps
Dozen Large Eggs (Pick-Up Only)
eggs, happyhenslayhealthyeggs, cheep cheeps
$6.00

Our pasture-raised, rotationally-grazed, happy hens produce eggs in a variety of colors, including blue, green, brown, dark brown, and white. (While every color can not be promised in every box, we’ll do our best to make a beautiful arrangement for you!)

ALL PRODUCTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PICK-UP ONLY.

eggs, happyhenslayhealthyeggs, cheep cheeps
Dozen Medium Eggs (Pick-Up Only)
eggs, happyhenslayhealthyeggs, cheep cheeps
Dozen Medium Eggs (Pick-Up Only)
eggs, happyhenslayhealthyeggs, cheep cheeps
$4.00

Our pasture-raised, rotationally-grazed, happy hens produce eggs in a variety of colors, including blue, green, brown, dark brown, and white. (While every color can not be promised in every box, we’ll do our best to make a beautiful arrangement for you!)

ALL PRODUCTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PICK-UP ONLY.

eggs, happyhenslayhealthyeggs, cheep cheeps

Freezing Bell Peppers

Do you have more peppers than you can handle? Do you, like me, feel terrible when food goes to waste? Bumper crops are a blessing…until they leave you overwhelmed, frantically scrolling through recipes, searching for ways to use them. If these truths are hitting home for you, it’s time to make use of your freezer, my friend.

Super Simple Process

The great thing about bell peppers is that you can freeze them with very little preparation. Just grab a knife, cutting board, and baking sheet, and get started!

Step 1: Rinse and dry your peppers.

Step 2: Chop up your peppers however your little heart desires.

Step 3: Spread the chopped peppers out on a baking sheet.

Step 4: Throw the baking sheet into your freezer for about an hour.

Step 5: Store the frozen chopped peppers in a freezer bag in your freezer until you need them.

Using Frozen Peppers

I cook with frozen peppers pretty much exactly the way I would raw peppers, except that I allow for slightly more cooking time. Because the peppers bits are frozen individually on the tray before they’re put into the bag, they’re easy to scoop out of the freezer bag when you need them. Your peppers should last in the freezer for a year.

Perks of Freezing Your Peppers

Freezing your peppers with this method is doing a favor for future you. You’ll be making a recipe in November that calls for peppers, and you’ll say to yourself, “I need a quarter cup of bell peppers, self!” Next thing you know, you’ll be reaching into your freezer and voila! The prep work of chopping your peppers has already been done! You’ll thank your past self and move on with your life.

 

Read more about Fail Better Farms!

Kale Cubes: The Answer You've Been Looking For

Why make them?

Kale is a healthy green. If your children are anything like mine, it’s sometimes a fight to get them to consume healthy greens. Kale cubes are a great solution for sneaking greens into other dishes like soups, sauces, or smoothies.

How to make them?

Simple! You seriously just blend kale leaves and water together. Then freeze. Here. I’ll make it look like a recipe so you take me seriously:

Ingredients and Materials:

  • 1 bunch kale (or other hearty leafy green)

  • 2-3 cups water

  • ice cube trays (or other freezable containers)

Directions:

  1. Remove kale leaves from stems, and place a few handfuls of kale leaves into blender.

  2. Add 1-2 cups of water to the blender.

  3. Blend kale and water until kale bits are pulverized.

  4. Take the blender jar off the blender base, and use a fork to scoop out the solid bits of kale and pack them into the cells of the ice cube tray. (At this point, leave the green juice in the blender jar.)

  5. Add a few more handfuls of kale to the blender, and pulverize again. (Add more water if needed to get the blender going.)

  6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until all of your kale is blended up and the solid bits of kale are packed into ice cube trays.

  7. pour the green juice over the ice cube trays.

  8. After the kale cubes have frozen, store the cubes in a zip-lock bag in the freezer, and use within six months.

How to use them?

  • I’ve been adding 4-6 kale cubes to our morning smoothies, and I make sure to also add dark berries so the kids don’t notice the green color of the kale. So far, so good.

  • I added 6-8 cubes to a marinara sauce the other day, and no one was the wiser. Mwahaha!

  • I’m planning to tuck these cubes into soups as we move into the cooler months.

Watch My Video!

 

Learn More About Fail Better Farms

Source: failbetterfarms.com

Pullets for Sale

What’s a pullet?

A pullet is defined as “a hen of the domestic chicken less than one year old” (Merriam-Webster). That’s actually a pretty vague definition that allows for a wide variety of interpretations, but folks in the egg-raising community consider pullets to be lady birds that are between 15-22 weeks old. In the life of a chicken, pullets are pretty much teenagers. They haven’t necessarily started laying eggs yet, but they’re close.

What are the advantages of buying pullets rather than chicks?

  1. You’ll be months closer to producing your own eggs.

  2. You can avoid the loss of baby chicks. (When you purchase day-old chicks, you run the risk of losing some of them in the first two weeks of life.)

  3. You won’t need to coddle these girls the way you would baby chicks. No need to worry about setting up a brooder with a heat lamp and checking on the chicks regularly.

  4. You won’t end up with a surprise rooster.

Living Conditions and Health

  • Our girls are raised on standard chicken feed and open pastures.

  • They’ve been vaccinated for Marek’s disease and Coccidiosis.

  • They are handled regularly by our resident chicken whisperer, Olivia.

  • Their wings have been clipped, a painless process for them that removes their flight feathers.

For more information on how we raise our birds, check out this blog post.

Breeds of Birds on Offer

  • Whiting True Green Females

    • These ladies mature at 22 weeks, which means they started laying around August 23.

    • They lay large green eggs, and they lay them well! (You can expect between 281-365 eggs per year.)

  • Cuckoo Marans Females

    • These birds mature at 20 weeks, meaning they started laying around August 9.

    • They lay extra large dark brown eggs. (You can expect 221-280 eggs per year.)

  • Black Australorp Females

    • These girls should start laying at 24 weeks, which means around September 6.

    • They lay large brown eggs. (You can expect 281-365 eggs per year.)

  • Black Minorca Females

    • They mature at 20 weeks, which means they started laying around August 9.

    • They lay extra large white eggs. (You can expect 221-280 per year.)

All of these breeds are excellent free rangers, which means you can set them loose on your lawn and they’ll eat the greens and bugs they find. The food you provide will supplement their diets.

Whiting True Green

Cuckoo Marans

Black Minorcas

Interested?

If you’re interested in purchasing pullets from Fail Better Farms or you have questions, please contact us at mary.failbetterfarms@gmail.com. Customers should plan to pick up the birds at our farm. (Pro tip: bring cat carriers if you have any, as they are the best way we’ve found to transport chickens in a vehicle.)

Read More About Life at Fail Better Farms

Making Music

If you are a human being experiencing life on planet Earth, the past year has been a lot. What I know: 1) we all need community to get us through the rough patches of life, 2) music brings people together, and 3) spending time in nature is pretty wonderful for the soul, too.

Come Hang Out

If you like making music and sharing it with others, consider joining us here at Fail Better Farms for a mini hootenany. (You have no idea how much joy it gives me to type the word hootenanny.) We’ll be meeting outside social-distance style for laid-back musical fun. Just plug in your name and email address below to express interest, and I’ll send you an email with more specific details.

Give a Listen

Playing music with others can be intimidating, so I’ll make space for vulnerability by sharing first. Check out my original mom rock, complete with clucking chickens, screaming kids, and flat chords. After all, sometimes all you can do is fall apart at the seams and let a little song bleed out along the way.

Farm Volunteers are Welcomed!

DISCLOSURE: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, WHICH MEANS I MAY EARN A COMMISSION IF YOU CLICK A LINK AND MAKE A PURCHASE. FEEL FREE TO CHECK OUT MY DISCLOSURE POLICY FOR MORE DETAILS.

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Sunday on the Farm

Bruce Daniels, Aaron’s beloved grandfather, published a collection of short stories from his epic life experiences entitled Sunday on the Farm, and a sequel called Just Another Sunday on the Farm. Both are worth your time. The man lived a full life and had a way with words. In keeping with the idea of making Sunday on the Farm an experience, we’re opening Fail Better Farms to volunteers on Sunday mornings starting in April.

What You Can Expect

Volunteers will help us tend to animals, crops, and/or infrastructure. You can expect to learn something, get a little exercise, bond with our Great Pyrenees, commune with nature, and receive top-notch entertainment from our kids. We guarantee no pay and hours of arduous, back-breaking work in the hot sun. Cheers!

A Few Tips

  • Wear clothes and shoes you don’t care about because they’re bound to get dirty.

  • If you plan to use bug spray, make sure it’s DEET-free. (We’re picky about chemicals here.)

  • Bring work gloves if you have them and don’t want to get your hands dirty.

How to Sign Up

Because we’re living in strange times, folks interested in lending a helping hand are asked to schedule their visit in advance. If you’re interested in experiencing farm life while enjoying the company of Aaron, Mary, and their wild kids, send an email to mary.failbetterfarms@gmail.com. We’re happy to have you!