Prospectors Organic Farm Excursion. Yeeehawwwww!

This past weekend was a trip. Not only did I crack massive amounts of organic garlic for the planting with the Prospector Farm crew, but I also got to go trout fishing in the creeks of Roxbury, NY. Here is my pathetic, measly catch :)

Beheaded Trout stuffed with Organic Fennel. Twas good.

 Roxbury is a rural town in the Catskills about 3 hours north of Manhattan. The farmers at Prospectors use Pierless fish guts to fertilize their organic vegetable crops. Here is a video of one of their little baby pigs leaving the area where they keep the layered fish-gut-and-manure pile, which is decomposing into rich soil as we speak!

                                                          OIIIINK! Run Piggeh Run!

There were birds everywhere, and as the astute farmer mentioned to me, "Birds of a feather really do flock together." Look at these weird ducks as they swarm around near a pumpkin. Did you know that there is a pumpkin shortage in the Northeast this year? Hurricane Irene flooded and did a damn doosey on the pumpkin fields.

Look guys, theres one of those rare round orange things... What are they called? PUMPKINS.

I caught meself a guinea hen. My man told me if I caught a guinea hen he would slaughter it and we would eat it for dinner. The guinea hen pooped on my foot, which was clearly a sign of good luck. To thank the hen, I saved him from his pending doom (for now).

The hen and I.

We shucked and tied lots of decorative corn. Get a load of this Oaxacan Green. Thats the good shit. YEEEEHAW!

Sticky Icky. Dry it up and Tie it up.
We hung ours above the T.V. so we could think about popcorn while we watched the news.

After farming cracking, drying, fishing, and selling organic veggies at the last farmers market of the season we were STARVING. We concocted a stew of free range lamb and organic veggies all from the farm. Self sustainable, we are. Too bad the stew took 4 hours to cook, I burnt the shit out of my mouth when I ate the stew because I was too greedy. Go figure. It was delicious!

I know you are jealous.

Tasmanian Sea Trout - High Yields from the High Seas.

If the world were flat, the remote Macquarie Harbor of Western Tasmania would be a tipping point at the very edge.

Where do unicorns live?

With the Sea Trout at the edge of the world...

It makes perfect sense then that this cusp of civilization, famous for its European penal settlement during the mid 1800's, is far enough from most humans and their pollution to make it an ideal location for Petuna Aquaculture. Petuna is a company that has been in business for half of a century. The original owners Peter and Una merged their names (Pet-Una, too cute) and made fishtory (fish-history).



When the Irish convict Alexander Pearce led an 100 man slave escape from Sarah Island in Maquarie Harbor he notoriously had to cannibalize his fellow escapees, in part because Petuna Fish farm did not yet exist.

Here is his actual skull.

The Tasmanian Sea trout from Petuna has a 75% meat yield, thanks to its pin-head and little guts. Petuna selects the cream of the crop when it comes to fingerlings, resulting in a fish with obscenely perfect marbled flesh that bursts with healthy omega-threes. When you get to know your trout you will see that each fish has been handled like a delicate flower, its flesh firm and unscathed.

For more info check out the Petuna website:

Petuna Taz Trout 

Cobia and Tasmanian Sea Trout 10/06/10

  








 
Farmville!

Two exclusively awesome farm-raised varieties are on the menu this week (and always).
Salt-water Cobia Fillet: 100% yield - 8.95/lb
Allow me to introduce our Florida Fresh Farm Raised Cobia Fillets from the Sunshine State!
We buy this meaty cousin of the Remora (shark sucker) already filleted and de-boned. 
Do you want to know why we only sell cobia by the fillet? It is because the bones of the cobia are very heavy. Obviously the money we save by leaving the bones in the bone-yard is a saving passed along to you, our beloved customer.

Cobia eat clams and other marine animals. They are sheer ravenous carnivores who love eating crabs. They are sometimes referred to as crab-eaters. I truly commend the creative genius who came up with such a nickname!

 

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Now for a morsel of information regarding one of the most prized and honorable fish ever farmed by human-kind, the Tasmanian Sea Trout!

Petuna Tasmanian Ocean Trout have a marbled rosy pink and orange flesh that literally tastes like heaven on earth. The trout are bred in a fresh-water hatchery for 12 months, then moved to special marine farms on Tasmania's rugged west coast where they spend another six to twelve months growing until they reach about 8 pounds a pop.
Many chefs consider the farmed Tasmanian trout meat superior to that of farmed salmon. This could be exactly what you are looking for when farmed raised salmon doesn’t cut it and wild king salmon is out of season. Plus, at 8.95/lb and a 75% fillet yield, lets just say you should never look a gift horse in the mouth.


 


Tasmanian sea trout is stuffed to the gills with healthy cholesterol and has a very high omega 3 oil content.
Top 5 reasons to fall in love with Tasmania (and it's trout):
1) The islands favorite sports include cricket, field hockey and apparently woodchopping. Ax wielding Tasman David Foster held the title of Wood Chopping World Champion for 21 years straight.

  ...here we have the ax legend with his wife

How can you not love this guy?

2) Tasmania is an Australian state. Mainland Aussies are encouraged to move to Tasmania, but are also forewarned to look for a job there before actually moving.

3) Tasmania is world renowned for having some of the cleanest and greenest fishing and aquaculture environments in the world.

4)Creative in most fields, Tasmanians are making a clear impact in the emerging business of multimedia animation with television programs such as Real Life Water Rats.

5) Tasmanian Devils are real and they eat every part of their prey. Even the bones.