We have six new piglets on the farm as of last friday. We usually don’t keep pigs over the winter here for one simple reason, they eat a lot. The feed requirement for growing pigs when the temps drop below freezing goes up considerably because they require extra calories just to keep warm. For most farms that would have meant a significant increase in feed costs to keep them growing. 
In the past year we have befriended a couple of local craft breweries and they have been sharing their “waste” with us which has offered us a solution to the winter feeding problem. Maine Beer Company in Freeport supplies us with spent grain, mostly malted barley that comes from their tanks after the wort from their many stellar brews is made. This wet mash has had most of the carbohydrate steeped out of it but is high in protein. Allagash Brewing in Portland has been taking delivered CSA shares for a few of their employees for a couple years. They occasionally have of malted grains come in that don’t meet their high standards or have been in storage too long to brew with. When this happens they need someone to take these odd lots, which is where we come in. The best part about having both of these breweries as friends is that their waste grains come together into a perfect feed for our piglets. Spent grain is low in carbohydrate but high in protein. Malted grain has very available carbohydrate but too little protein by itself. If we add these two together along with some essential vitamins and minerals we have a pretty good pig feed. This time of year we can also round out their diet with culled vegetables which will ensure that these little guys should have a happy and healthy winter here with us.
Sign-up for 2015…
Thanks to all of you who signed up so far. If you are planning on it and haven’t yet, don’t wait! Sign up here online. We have more folks on our wait list than ever before and we want to be sure current members who would like a share are signed up first.
Farm to Table Dinner at the Farm
We are hosting a farm to table dinner Sunday October 19th with Rosemont Market and Bakery. The dinner will be made completely from Crystal Spring produce and meats with wine parings and a cocktail to sip during a pre-dinner farm walk. The butcher shop at Rosemont is where most of our lamb is sold and they have a very successful business in the Portland that is based wholly on quality local food. Here’s the info link for the event. Tickets are $85 and can be purchased at brownpapertickets.com.
Stock up for Fall
Our cupboards are full here at the farm. In addition to lots of vegetable to take home we also have plenty of great local products…
- Dark Maple Syrup
- CSF Honey– doesn’t get more local!
- CSF Frozen Blueberries– Enjoy summer all winter long
- Willow Pond Apple Cider– This stuff is too good
- CSF Ground Lamb– Our own Grass Fed
- CSF Ground Beef– Our own Grass Fed
- Sparrow Farm Organic Eggs
What’s in the share…
Carrots
Beets
Potatoes
Winter Squash
Lettuce
Asian Greens
Arugula
Parsnips
Rutabaga
Onions