Hello Friends,
Happy rainy Friday. They say that April showers bring May flowers, and I'm happy to say that Farmer Mary has come up with a brilliant idea to a question that we've been pondering. Since we normally add an herb of the week bunch to all orders for a dozen eggs or more, what can we do for our lovely customers while we are waiting for said herbs to grow?
Well, it just so happens that we've been learning a lot about growing tulips and daffodils, and some of them end up with short stems that we can't sell to Florists. This is where you win! As long as they last, anyone who orders a dozen eggs of any type will receive a cute Springtime Posy bouquet. Here's one example:
In other exciting farm news, after many practice car rides, and a lot of peanut butter muzzle training to make it a happy time, our Livestock Guardian dog Basil went for his first dental cleaning today and was a really good boy. Look Mom, no cavities!
We had our very first harvest of Fiddlehead Ferns today. We use sustainable harvest practices to maintain strong plants for future years, and yielded less than half a pound, but we will be planting more Ostrich ferns so that we will have enough to share with you. Our ramps are starting to mature, and more ramp patches are emerging, so we hope to have some ramp leaves to share with you in the coming weeks. We sustainably harvest only the leaves of this wild leek so that our patches continue to increase.
A great way to use ramps is to make a quick dish called a Fazzoletti. Fazzoletti means handkerchief in Italian. You add a glug of good olive oil to a frying pan, add three lightly beaten eggs, throw on some chopped ramps and herbs, a little cheese if you like (we used sheep's milk ricotta), salt and pepper, and in a few minutes you have a delicious meal. You just slide it onto a plate and off you go. 
We have added plantable greeting cards, and a few new tea accessories to our farm store. The greeting cards are the gift that keeps on giving as they convey a sentiment, and then the recipient can plant them to grow annual and perennial wildflowers. How's that for sustainability?
Wishing you and your families a wonderful weekend. We will be attending the Historical Society of Somerset Hills' Afternoon Tea on Sunday. We've donated our Peace Tea, local honey, and Rosemary Thyme Shortbread for the event. It is going to be a wonderful afternoon. Hope to see you there.
Sincerely,
Michele & the Maranatha Farm Team