How to make the BEST DOG FOOD with our Meaty Lamb Soup Bones

The Waxhaw Farmers Market will be closed this weekend, so you can find us at the Matthews Community Farmers Market on Saturday from 8:00-10:00 a.m. This week we'll be featuring our meaty soup bones for just $3.99 a pound! Make bone broth, rich stock for soup and stew, or use our recipe to make a delicious lamb and rice food for your furry family member. Our dogs just love my homemade dog food, and I know it's full of goodness for them.

Our pasture raised lamb soup bones are in bags that are around 2 1/2 pounds each and we also have whole cleaned heads, which make FABULOUS dog food. Add our nutrient-rich offal (kidneys, livers, etc.) to give your dog food a power boost. You can make this the old fashioned way, but I love to use my Instant Pot. Click the link HERE for the recipe and method. Your dogs will thank you!

We are currently sold out of our prime cuts of lamb, such as racks, chops, legs, shanks, kabob meat, ground and sausage till the fall. At this week's farmers market, we'll have lots of meaty soup bones and offal, our pasture raised blue and brown chicken eggs, and our honey & beeswax soap. Be kind to your skin this winter with our all-natural beautiful soap!

Hope to see you Saturday!

EIEIO!
Debbie

Lamb Sausage & Shitake Mushroom Ragu

Is there anything better than a big plate of pasta with a savory, tomato-y sauce just packed with flavor? YES! Make that sauce with our White Wine & Garlic Lamb Sausage!

Tomorrow morning (Saturday, February 1) we'll be at the Waxhaw Farmer's Market from 10:00 a.m. to Noon, and we'll have a crock pot full of this sauce for tasting!

As many of you know, our farm website has been blocked by Facebook (too many cute pictures of lambs and chickens, I guess!) so I've created this blog to provide a link to the website. Just click HERE to travel quickly to our website for the recipe and accompanying photos. We'll also have the recipes available at the farm market tomorrow.

EIEIO!
Debbie

Visit Fox Trot Farm on December 15th Farm Fun Day!

We have new bunnies! Meet Flopsy & Mopsy:

We're having our December Farm Fun Day on Sunday, December 15th, from 1:00-5:00 p.m. Meet all our animals, hike our trails, take a ride on the hay wagon, and visit our farm market. We're located at 5066 Rowell RD, Lancaster, just south of Waxhaw by about 14 miles in the rolling hills of eastern Lancaster County.

For more information and pictures please visit our Fox Trot Farm official website HERE.

Our Fox Trot Farm Christmas Market at the Waxhaw Farmer's Market

Come see us from 9:00 a.m. till Noon this Saturday, December 7th, for our Christmas Market at the Waxhaw Farmer's Market.

We'll have all our pasture raised lamb meat, our Granny Bee's honey, and lots of new hand crafted gifts to help you fill your list.

Please visit our official farm website HERE for more information and pictures. We're looking forward to helping you with your holiday shopping and entertaining!

EIEIO!
Debbie

Instant Pot Boy & Girl Farm Collard Greens

You all know that I love my Instant Pot(s). Here's a great way to prepare collard greens in the Instant Pot.

Where our "booth" is at the Waxhaw Farmer's Market, we have a fabulous view of the colorful display of fresh vegetables from Boy & Girl Farm. I've learned to run over and pick up what I want from Joe and Amy early in the morning, because they often sell out. This time of year, collards are king! They are beautiful, big green unblemished leaves, and these young farmers wash them and bundle them already separated, which makes prepping them a snap.

If you've never made collards (I never did, growing up in Pennsylvania), it's so easy, although it does take a bit of custom prep work to get them in the pot. The leaves are thicker than most other greens, and they are BIG.  Rinse off each leaf, then fold one in half, top sides of the leaf together. Hold the folded leaf in one hand with the thick rib pointing out and up. Grab that cut end of the rib with the fingers of your free hand and pull downward and away from the leaf until you've removed the thickest part of the rib. Discard that rib and then lay the leaves out flat on top of one another, like this:

Take a few of the stacked leaves and roll them up like a big cigar. Just like this:

With a sharp knife, slice through the roll in about one-inch increments. Like this:

I turn the slices sideways and run my knife back through the slices to cut them in half, producing more manageable bite-size pieces instead of long strips. Then in the Instant Pot they go, with a dusting of salt and a hearty sprinkle of red pepper flakes. Add 2 cups of water and a dash or two of liquid smoke. (The liquid smoke makes these greens taste like they've been long-simmered with smoked pork side meat.)

Set the IP on high pressure for 15 minutes, then, once it's finished cooking, natural release for another 15 minutes and then quick release. Stir, taste for seasoning, and serve. I bought two bundles of collards and that will serve four hungry collard green lovers.

OR, from this point, dress up those collards with a yummy sort of bechamel-sauced, cheesy casserole, and continue with my recipe for Uptown Collard Greens, which you can find HERE. 

Hope you've enjoyed this little tutorial on one of our favorite Southern vegetables!

Farmer Deb

What Farmer Debbie does on a rainy market day.

Today I baked! I've been wanting to make some pumpkin rolls, and there's nothing that makes me feel more like baking than a chilly, rainy day.

I used Libby's recipe, and you can find it HERE. It's a good recipe and I made two. You can see the first one (toward the back) cracked a bit, but I'll dust it with more powdered sugar and nobody will ever notice. (Ha!) The other one I'm going to give away to a friend for their family gathering on Thanksgiving Day. Maybe I'll remember to take a picture of a slice on Thursday when I serve it.

If you've ever made a jelly roll, you can make this recipe because it's the same method. I remember I learned how to make a jelly roll in my junior high school home economics class. I had a great teacher and she wanted us to learn the basics of baking. Do they even teach baking in home ec in schools now?

One tip I'll give you is to trim the ends off once you have it all rolled up. That gives a nice clean end to the roll and the bonus is that you get to snack on the trimmings! HA!

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving holiday with your friends and family.

Deb

Fox Trot Farm Sunday Fun day!

Tomorrow we'll be open for our once-a-month Fox Trot Farm Fun Day! Farmer Bob will have the hay wagon hooked up and everyone is welcome to come for a ride and a visit to all our animals.

We'll be open from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and will have all our delicious pasture raised and humanely processed lamb for sale, as well as Granny Bee's pure, raw honey, and our honey and beeswax soap.

We'll have maps for you so you'll enjoy your free self-guided tour, and you can always hop a ride on the wagon and get dropped off where you like. Be sure to wear boots because it sure has been a rainy day today. Weatherman tells us tomorrow is going to be a beautiful day!

We're at 5066 Rowell RD, Lancaster, SC. See our website HERE for more information on our farm tours. 

See you tomorrow!

Farmer Bob & Debbie