Fodder finally working nicely

Is been a lot of trial and error,  but finally the fodder a produced nice green carpet!  The trick is fill and drain...  Just like the sprouting system.  Quick full to submerge the grain,  then slow drain to give it air,  and repeat every so many hours.

Here are some pics of a few days under the new moveable system.  One more day should do it perfectly. 

And here is a closeup

We pulled out one track to test it,  came out almost perfect.  And WOW did those pigs enjoy it!

Now we can build a few more for a daily feeding of fresh fodder!  

Posted via Blogaway

Lactose Intolerant? You might still enjoy Raw Goat Cheese

So many people today are lactose intolerant to varying degrees. This often means a life of avoiding many of hte wonderfully tasty foods others enjoy. BUT.. cheese does not have to be one of them!

Goat cheese, especially RAW goat cheese, is usually totally fine for people that are lactose intolerant. There are two reasons for this wonderful phenomena.

First, Goat milk is much easier to digest than cows milk. Goat milk is naturally homogenized, which means it is much easier and quicker to digest, thereby causing less if any irritation.  The cheese made from goat milk inherits this quality and is also much easier to digest.  So  lactose intolerant people can usually drink goats milk as well as enjoy goat cheeses without worry.

Second, RAW cheeses are special. Raw cheese are aged for a minimum of 60 days, often longer (we usually wait 90 days before going to market with a block).  During this aging time the cheese continues a slow fermentation process that turns the lactose into the wonderfully sharp flavor of cheese.  By the end of 60 to 90 days, most of the lactose is gone! Non-Raw cheese may or may not be aged this long and thereby may or may not contain lactose.

So, there are two good reasons to try raw goat cheese, even if you are unable to enjoy dairy products normally.  but wait.. there's more!....

Flavor! our raw goat cheese is NOTHING like any goat cheese you have ever tried. There is no notion of "goat" in the flavor of this cheese. It has a pure cheese flavor, in a nicely white block of cheese. Most people that try our cheese are shocked to discover it is goat! There are lots of reasons for this, but the bottom line here is.. it does not taste like goat cheese!

So give our cheese a try! you might be pleasantly surprised and open up a new world of healthy flavors for yourself :)

Southern Oregon Smoked Salmon Festival

Keep October 4th open on your calendar! That is the day for this year's Southern Oregon Smoked Salmon Festival, and Little Sprouts will be there all day giving out free samples of our new foods! (especially the flavored and smoked cheeses!) So if you havent had a chance to try our wide variety of new foods, be sure to stop by and spend some time finding your favorites!

For more details : http://www.southernoregonsmokedsalmonfest.com/

Raisin and Nutmeg Cheese! WOW

Here is a real flavor experience. We just put into the store, available immediately for sale, a new flavor.. Raisin and nutmeg Cheddar. YUM!

As you taste this cheese, the cheddar is mild and dry, with a hint of sweetness from the real raisin chunks. Then the nutmeg builds in the background to give a pleasant blast of christmasy nutty flavor.  A truly unique experience!

There are now 11 different flavors of cheddar cheese available for purchase!  If your dont know which ones to try, sign up for our Cheese club and just float through them all! for only $15 per delivery (every 2 weeks) you get a full 5 ounce block of 2 different cheese!

Three more Yummy cheese flavors ready!

Today we packaged three more cheeses for you to try.. and WOW.. YUM!

Block 15 is CHIVE and GARLIC cheddar

A fairly heavy garlic flavor with onion undertones in a nice soft cheese. This would be great with salads or to accompany heavier flavored meals.

Block 16 is ONION and SAGE cheddar

This is a softer onion flavor with a hint of sage to brighten it. Very appetizing as a stand alone flavored cheese. Not too heavy to be enjoyed solo.

Block 17 is VANILLA BLUEBERRY cheddar

WOW, this is nice. Hunter calls it "muffin cheese" because the flavor and texture reminds him of eating a fresh blueberry muffin. It is extra soft cheddar, with a tart flavor balanced with a medium strong vanilla flavor and bits of real blueberries. What a flavor experience! This one is a GREAT dessert cheese for after dinner or snack.


All of these cheeses are raw, aged over 60 days with natural rinds, vacuumed sealed for freshness into 5 ounce wedges.

If you havent tried the Sprouts Goat Milk Cheese, now is the time. 6 new flavors added just this week! Please do NOT compare these to normal goat cheese. There is NO hint of that goaty flavor in these. Just pure white bright cheddar flavor that is pleasing to the pallet as well as the senses.

Introducing Natural Rind Cheese

We decided to stop waxing the cheese blocks for aging, and instead age it the more natural way. The new cheese now have a natural rind on the outside, dry and hard for the outside 1/8 inch.  This process allows the cheese to age totally differently, with natural molds.  This gives a deeper, much more complex flavor all through the block.

You can eat the rind itself, but if your sensitive to mold, we recommend cutting it off and not eating it.  If you remove the rind, you have a perfect clean complex cheese.

You can tell these new cheese easily through the clear vacuum seal packages we place the cheese in.

Give these a try! Let us know what you think.

Three new cheese flavors available.. and one flop

Today was packaging more cheese blocks.  The "fun" flavors we toyed with are aged sufficiently now so lets explore!

The three that came out YUM are:

Cinnamon Raisin

• Nice dessert cheese... light cinnamon flavor with real raisins mixed in. Lightly tart flavor.

Italian Herb

• Great for salads! This is a mix of cheddar with rosemary, basil and thyme. Bright herb flavor in a semi soft cheese

Cayenne Pepper

• Here's a fun one! Tart cheddar with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper for a bright medium hot flavor

All of these cheese are an A+, but one didnt make the cut.  We tried a cherry pineapple cheddar and ... well... no. That one wont be for sale. The pineapples came out so bitter I couldnt begin to enjoy it. And the texture was off from the amount of dried fruit holding moisture within the cheese curds. The pigs will be enjoying this particular recipe!

These cheese are available immediately in the online store!

3rd annual Pear Picking Day is done... but there are more pears!

We finished our official pear picking day today, harvesting another 3000 lbs of pears for animal feed.

First we want to say a big heart felt thank you to all that came out and participated!

The good news is.. there are still plenty of pears to harvest this year. We will be planning a couple of  shorter evening trips this week, in hopes of harvesting another 3000 lbs before they all fall on the ground.  IF your interested, contact us ASAP!

First Family Pear Harvest a Fabulous Success!

Yesterday we did a "test" pear harvest to see how much is available on the trees at "our" orchard this year. WOW!  There is .. a lot!

Our family (only adding Grandma and Uncle Bradley) was able to harvest 3000 lbs of ripe but not overripe organic pears in just under 4 hours. YES.. four hours for three thousand pounds!

And we had a ball doing it!

The best news is, that doesnt even touch the pears available. A wild guess is that this is maybe 5% of what is on the trees still.

So.. if you can come out.. tomorrow (sunday sept 14) is the day! All customers are invited to come out and pick, keeping what you want as your reward.  If your interested, call us !

Here are some pics of the "test harvest"

Looking like a nice harvest

Wow, nice!

Thats pretty high up for the little guy!

Now this is the way!

Grab it Ollie!

Hunter's always ready 

Kaelyn found a shady pear pickup spot

Look at the size of these that Levi found!

Yum! Break time!

Kaelyn shows Ollie the ropes...

Reach Everett, Reach!

And of course Uncle Bradley!

Rainforest pears??

Grandma gets some pointers from Ollie

Here Grandma, it goes in the bucket

Hunter seems to have found the goathead bush! Where are those shoes???

Pears Pears Everywhere!

Who's that man in the hat?

Would you believe a game of "catch the mushy pear" ?

Dont miss!

Life is good when you can have fun just anywhere

Attack Hunter!

Mommy and Ollie just keep picking

Now this cant be good... slipped off the ramps on loading...

Always something.. can the truck pull it off?

Its Working... sort of...

....... You might be a redneck.....

Physics... do rednecks use that?  A jack to crank up a jack to crank up the end of the trailer to release the ramp stuck under the bumper? Dont try this at home!

Ok, so end of the day.. only minor damage. Lets move on! 

Here is the day's load... 3 hours of picking to get 3000 lbs

Time to feed some pigs!

What do you think Ollie?

YUM!

Recycling! an old freezer as a pear storage / fermenting spot!

Are you my Mother?

Woke up this morning to these adorable faces peering through the glass. Priceless. I love this job!

Welcome to the world little ducklings. May God give us the means to provide a wonderful life for each one of you.

Visit us at Families for Food Freedom Second annual Harvest Festival

Families for Food Freedom is an Ashland, Oregon based, volunteer-run, GMO-free social action group, sharing information about Genetically Modified Organisms and empowering people to make healthy food choices for their families.

Little Sprouts Farm Will be at the Harvest Festival this year with a booth on Sunday Sept 21st with free samples of many of our new products! If you want to come taste some locally produced super healthy foods, stop by our booth!

See you there!

New products : relish and pickles

Here are some more new products ready for you to order!

Pickles...  Fermented in live apple cider vinegar. 

Dill pickle relish...  Bright and flavorful,  perfect for any sandwich

Sweet and spicy pickle relish...  For when you need an extra bite of flavor.  Spicy is from extra garlic and onion,  not hot peppers.

Also  fermented nacho pepper rings.

All of the foods are naturally fermented and alive with probiotics,  unlike anything you can find in the store!  All of the ingredients are organic,  even the spices!  Never heated,  these are nutritious and tasty.

Head to the online store to purchase yours today!

Posted via Blogaway