December 20th Farmers Market

We will be at Tractor Supply Company in Moss Bluff tomorrow from 8-12.  For lack of time please refer to the last post for the items available as they are all the same for this market.  I have gotten behind and am blogging this information late.  I thank all of our customers for their understanding of a mother of 12.  Thank You and have a Blessed Night!

December 6th Farmers Market

The end of the year draws near and Christmas is right around the corner!!  We are excited to offer our customers ideas for their Christmas Gifts.  Our wide selection of Canned Goods and Honey make the perfect gifts for those who have it all!  We suggest gift baskets loaded with down home goodness!  All of our canned goods are made with fresh produce and vegetables at their peak of ripeness. 


We will be at Tractor Supply in Moss Bluff TOMORROW with:


HILL CREST CREAMERY:                                           CANNED GOODS:


Whole Milk                                                                       Spicy Pickled Okra
Chocolate Milk                                                                 Sweet & Spicy Pickles
2% Milk                                                                            Spicy Pickled Quail Eggs
Buttermilk                                                                         Peach Preserves
Homemade Soft Cheese                                                   Strawberry Fig Preserves
Yogurt with Double Probiotics                                        Mayhaw Jelly
Homemade Butter                                                            Muskadine Jelly
Heavy Cream                                                                   Mulberry Jelly




FROM THE KITCHEN:


Candied Almonds & Pecans                                             Yeast Rolls
Puppy Chow Candy                                                          Honey & Yeast Rolls
Peanut Butter Bars                                                            Traditional White Bread
Cookie Cake Bars                                                             Whole Wheat Bread
Double M&M Brownies                                                   Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon Honey Butter                                                   Amish Bread in Lots of Flavors
Cheesy Jalapeno Bread                                                     Pizza Bread
Cinnamon Swirl Bread                                                     Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread


We will be taking orders for FRESH FREE RANGE CHICKENS also.  These birds have never been given antibiotics, chemicals, bleached or chemically treated.  Google commercial chicken butchering and look at what your store bought chickens are full of.  You get a true weight bird that hasn't been injected with saline to make it look more plump and weigh more.  These birds have been hand raised, butchered and packaged by our own family.  You can trust that they are Fresh, Clean, and Healthy!!  Our chickens sell for #3.25/lb.  Call 526-6760 or 725-6364 and place an order.


We will also have live rabbits for sale at the market.  Thanks to all of our customers!  We pray you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are preparing for a joyous celebration of our Savior's Birthday!  I pray we all consider the reason for this season. Jesus Christ!

November 15th Farmers Market

It will be such a Blessing to see everyone tomorrow at the Market!  We are preparing a feast for your table!  Tomorrow we will  be bringing:

Hill Crest Creamery Products:
Whole Milk
Chocolate milk
2% Milk
Buttermilk
Homemade Soft Cheese in Regular Flavor and Chipotle
Real Butter
Heavy Cream
Yogurt with Double Probiotics

From the Garden:
Mustard Greens
Broccoli
Bell Peppers
Jalapeno Peppers
Banana Peppers
Lettuce
Free Range Eggs

From the Kitchen:

Candied Almonds and Pecans
Yeast Rolls
Honey & Oat Rolls
White Bread
Cinnamon Rolls
Sugar Cookies
Snickerdoodle Cookies
Amish Bread in Lots of Flavors

Canned Goods:
Spicy Pickled Okra
Sweet & Spicy Pickles
Spicy Pickled Quail Egg
Peach Preserves
Strawberry Fig Preserves
Mayhaw Jelly
Muskadine Jelly
Mulberry Jelly
Fresh Local Honey


We hope to see everyone there!  Have a Blessed Day! Hear ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. Proverbs 4:1

We have Farm Fresh, Pasture Raised Chickens available!  Please let us know what size chicken you would like and we will accommodate your needs!  These birds have no antibiotics, hormones, or chemicals in them!  Your average grocery store bird has all of these and lots more in them!  We hope you enjoy our fresh, clean, and healthy chickens!

God Bless, The Scoggins Family Farm

October 18th Farmers Market

I can't believe I forgot to make a post on this Farmers Market!!! I'm running on very little sleep these days.  Ruston is a hungry big guy who likes to eat all night minus a 4 hour gap from 10 pm to 2 am!  We had a great market.
New to our tables this week was:

Candied Pecans
Chocolate/Pecan Fudge
Fried Pies of various flavors

If anyone has something they would like to see us bring, just let us know!

Have a Blessed Day!!!

Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God.  And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.  And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.  1 John 3:21-23

October 4th Farmers Market

We are excited to announce the birth of Ruston Lee Scoggins. He was born on September 30, 2014.  He weighed 9 lb 3 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. We thank everyone for their prayers!  We will have a skeleton crew this weekend but the market will continue on. We hope you see you there!

We will be bringing Hill Crest Creamery goods:
Whole Milk
Chocolate Milk
Heavy Cream
Buttermilk
Yogurt
Butter
Organic Cheese

From the bakery:
Amish  Bread in lots of flavors
Jalapeno Cheesy Bread
Pizza Bread
White Bread
Whole Wheat Bread
Yeast Rolls
Honey Oat Rolls
Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Canned Goods:
Spicy Pickled Quail Eggs
Spicy Pickled Okra
Sweet n Spicy Pickles
Sweet Pickles
Fresh Local Honey
Mayhaw Jelly
Muskadine Jelly
Fig Preserves
Strawberry Fig Preserves

From The Garden:
Fresh Okra
Frozen Okra
Frozen Sweet Corn
Some Mustard Greens

We hope to see you there!

September 20th Farmers Market

So sorry for a late post on the website.  I have 11 days till my due date on child # 12 and I just can't seem to catch up!!!  We are so excited about our blessing and I'm very distracted in thoughts of a new little one.  Some people question how you could have time and love so many children but God doesn't limit our love for others, just as He doesn't limit His love for us!!  We will always spend "time" on that which we have our hearts set on!  We thank you all for being so understanding of a pregnant mama and a little disorganization!  Well off the soap box and back to farmers market.

This Saturday, September 20th we will have:

Hill Crest Creamery Dairy Products:
Whole Milk
Chocolate Milk
2 % Milk
Yogurt
Heavy Cream
Buttermilk

Fresh and Frozen Veggies:
Okra
Peppers
Frozen Okra
Frozen Sweet Corn
Frozen Crowder Peas

From our Bakery:
Amish Bread in many flavors: Yes, I will have FIG!!
Whole Wheat Bread
Traditional White Bread
Yeast Rolls
 Cinnamon Rolls
Jalapeno Cheesy Bread
Pizza Bread
Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Canned Goods:
Fresh Local Honey
Peach Preserves
Strawberry Fig Preserves
Fig Preserves
Mayhaw Jelly
Mulberry Jelly
Sweet & Spicy Pickles
Spicy Pickled Okra
Spicy Pickled Quail Eggs

We will be bringing several freshly butchered Rabbits also!  We have lots of customers requesting Rabbits.
We look forward, Lord willing and if our child doesn't make his/her appearance during the night, to seeing everyone tomorrow morning.  We are open 8-12 at Tractor Supply Company in Moss Bluff.
Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say Rejoice.  Philippians 4:4

September 6th Farmers Market

It has been a busy week of planting fall gardens, cleaning out dead spring gardens and picking okra.  We are looking forward to seeing everyone at Tractor Supply in Moss Bluff this Saturday from 8-12!
We will be bringing:

Hill Crest Creamery Milk and Milk Products:
Whole Milk
Chocolate Milk
Home made, Fresh Butter
Yogurt- this is a non sugar, pro-biotic packed yogurt especially wonderful for customers with bowel problems.  The store bought yogurt is loaded with SUGAR.  If you have diabetes or bowel problems then sugar is enemy number 1!  Arvin Decker, the owner of Hill Crest Creamery takes his yogurt every morning to help combat his Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  He adds a little fresh fruit, honey or fruit preserves and he has no symptoms after that!  This is some powerful stuff!
Heavy Cream
Buttermilk

Scoggins Family Farm will have fresh:
Eggplant
Peppers
Okra
Frozen Okra
Frozen Sweet Corn
Frozen Crowder Peas

Our Bakery will have:
Fresh Amish Bread in  many flavors
Whole Wheat Bread
Traditional White Bread
Yeast Rolls
Cinnamon Rolls
Soft Honey & Oat Rolls
Jalapeno Cheesy Bread
Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Cinnamon and Raisin Swirl Bread

Our Canned Goods available will be:
Fresh Local Honey
Peach Preserves
Strawberry Fig Preserves
Fig Preserves
Mayhaw Jelly
Sweet & Spicy Pickles
Spicy Pickled Okra
Spicy Pickled Quail Eggs

We hope to see everyone there!  Thanks to all of our customers!!
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  Psalm 1:1-2

Reminder to our Customers:

We have 5 weeks in August so there will not be another Farmers Market at Tractor Supply in Moss Bluff until September 6th.  The market is held on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month.  This can be confusing sometimes so we like to remind everyone.  Thanks so much for your patience and we hope to see everyone on September 6th!

We butchered 82 Chickens today!  Over half of the chickens are sold but there are chickens available at the farm at this time.  Contact Niki at 337-526-6760 or 337-725-6364 to place your order.  I like to know what size bird you would like and how many.  If you are feeding 2 people a 2-3# chicken is fine.  If you are feeding a family then you would like to go with a 4-5# chicken.  I like to make sure people are happy with their chickens!!  They are organic, with no hormones, chemicals, non-medicated feed.  Just Chickens that are pasture raised and clean!  They are shrink wrapped just like store bought chickens.   Our Chickens are sold for $3.25/lb. 

We also have Okra.  I have been pickling up a storm since there is no market for a couple of weeks.  If you would like Okra whole, please contact Niki also.  I have also been cutting and freezing the Okra. 

We thank everyone for their business!  You are helping our family learn to work together and be productive in our community!  We have picked countless figs, 23 gallons of blue berries, 242 gallon bags of shelled purple hull peas, 55 gallon bags of crowder peas and spent countless hours in our gardens with all of the other veggies!  This is a labor of love (we like to eat it too!).  God Bless!!

The Scoggins Family

Farmers Market on August 16th!!!

We are going to be at Tractor Supply in Moss Bluff this Saturday, August 16th.  We will be bringing:

Hill Crest Creamery Milk:
Whole Milk
Chocolate Milk
Organic Cheese
Yogurt
Heavy Cream
Butter
Buttermilk

Vegetables:
Okra
Sweet Corn
Eggplant- limited supply

Canned Goods
Fig Preserves
Strawberry Fig Preserves
Mayhaw Jelly
Salsa
Sweet & Spicy Pickles
Spicy Pickled Okra
Pickled Quail Eggs
Peach Preserves
Freshly Harvested Local Honey

Breads:
Amish Bread
Jalapeno Cheese Bread
Cinnamon & Raisin Bread
Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Yeast Rolls
Soft Oat & Honey Rolls
Wheat Bread
Traditional White Bread

We hope to see everyone at TSC Saturday!  God Bless You All!!

Farmers Market on Saturday August 2nd

What have we been doing since last Wednesday you ask.   PEAS, PEAS, AND MORE PEAS!  We have been so blessed this season with plenty of rain and PEAS.  Did I mention that they are Louisiana Quick Pick Purple Hull Peas and Zipper Cream Crowder Peas??  We planted 14 lbs of Purple Hull Peas and have harvested over 1300 lbs.  The Lord is so Faithful!  We hope you enjoy the peas as much as we have!  There are no sprays or chemicals used on any of the peas!

We will be at Tractor Supply Company in Moss Bluff on Saturday August 2nd from 8am-12.  We will be bringing:

Hill Crest Creamery Milk:                                         Bread:
Whole Milk                                                                Amish Bread
Chocolate Milk                                                          Jalapeno/Cheese Bread
Organic Cheese                                                          Cinnamon/Raisin Bread
Yogurt                                                                        Cinnamon Bread
Heavy Cream                                                             Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
                                                                                   Yeast Rolls
Vegetables:                                                                Soft Oat Rolls
Okra
Purple Hull Peas
Crowder Peas
Sweet Corn
Cucumber
Squash -limited supply
Eggplant-limited supply
Tomatoes-limited supply

Canned Goods:
Fig Preserves
Strawberry Fig Preserves
Mayhaw Jelly
Salsa
Sweet & Spicy Pickles
Sweet Pickles
Spicy Pickled Okra
Pickled Quail Eggs
Peach Preserves
Freshly Harvested Local Honey

We hope to see everyone at TSC Saturday!  Thank all of our customers for your continued support!  God Bless!

Scoggins Family Farm Market this July 19

We are having so much fun (and work) this week picking and processing FIGS!  We have a high customer demand for FIG products and the Lord sure has provided this year.  We thought the Purple Hull Peas would be ready for harvest but it looks like we need a few more days. 

The Scoggins Family Farm will be at the Tractor Supply Company on Saturday July 19 from 8am to 12.  We will have a variety of items at this market:

Vegetables & Fruit:
Tomatoes
Eggplant
Cucumber
Squash
Zucchini
Bell Pepper
Banana Pepper
Jalapeno Pepper
Sweet Corn (already cleaned & bagged)
Okra (limited due to several bushel orders)
Watermelon
Cantaloupe


Bread/Treats:
Cinnamon/Raisin Bread
Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Whole Wheat Bread
White Bread
Amish Bread in several flavors: Even FIG!
Soft Oat Rolls
Yeast Rolls
Cookie Cake

We will have Hill Crest Creamery Milk as always:
White Milk
Chocolate Milk
Organic Cheese
Heavy Cream
Organic Yogurt

Meats & Eggs:
Dressed Rabbit
Farm Fresh, Free Range Eggs

Canned Goods:
Mayhaw Jelly
Mulberry Jelly
Pickled Quail Eggs
Pickled Okra
Sweet Pickles
Sweet & Spicy Pickles
Peach Preserves
Fig Preserves
Strawberry Fig Preserves

We thank everyone for their business!  If you would like any items in higher volume then please call 337-725-6364 or 337-526-6760 and request those items ahead of time.  We hope to see you Saturday!

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink or whatsoever ye do , do all to the glory of God.  1 Corinthians 10:31

We are buzzing about Bees!

We are so excited to learn more about Bees!  I took for granted that every time I saw a container of honey on the shelf at walmart, that it was really honey.  After reading many internet sites and blogs about bees and honey I realize that I wasn't really eating 100% honey.  The processing of honey can vary in many ways and also the care of the hive itself can determine lots about the honey you eat!  Most processed honey is heated to high temperatures which kills the important enzymes that you eat honey for.  The honey is super filtered so the consumer won't find anything in their honey but what you don't realize that all this processing is killing the honey.  There are some honey producers that don't filter at all.  I'm not so sure about finding a bee leg or clump of wax in my honey but I like the idea of taking as much processing out of the equation as possible.  It is something to think about as we try to eat better!

We have joined the Beauregard Parish Bee Keepers Association and Jesse is on his way to learning all he can about bees.  They have their meeting on the first Monday of the month at 7 pm at the War Memorial Museum in DeRidder. 

The President, Mr. Richard Hebert, called Jesse and had a swarm he wanted him to start off with for his first hive!  We went to his home and picked up his package of bees who we questioned if they would be happy at our home since they weren't happy in their previous one!  We got them home and placed in the pasture and they like it!  We still have bees 2 months later and they are making honey!  We thank Mr. Hebert for getting us started and we are so excited to continue learning! He has 75 or so hives himself!  I find Jesse reading anything he can on bees.  He loves to go and "check" his bees.  With only 1 sting so far we are doing well!. 

We hope to help our children start their own Apiary in the Longville Area.  Did you know that the largest Apiary in Louisiana used to be on Hwy 171 in Moss Bluff?  We just learned that bit of history from a customer.  Small world.  I hope that our children are interested enough in bees to continue growing our bee population and continue making honey for our customers!

SWEET CORN IS HERE!!!!

We are so excited that Sweet Corn is finally here!  We will be at Tractor Supply in Moss Bluff this Saturday from 8-12 with plenty of corn already cleaned and bagged for you!  This Sweet Corn is called Incredible and Incredible it is.  We hope you like it as much as we do !

We will also be bringing:

Fresh White & Wheat Bread                                 
Amish Breads in many flavors
Cookies
Cinnamon Rolls
Soft Oat Rolls
Cinnamon Swirl and Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Fresh Free Range Eggs

As always we will be bringing Hill Crest Creamery Products:

Fresh Whole Milk
Chocolate Milk
Heavy Cream
Yogurt
Butter
Maybe Cheese

Our Veggies for this week include:

Squash
Cucumber
Bell Pepper
Banana Pepper
Jalapeno Pepper
Tomatoes
Sweet Corn
Eggplant

We will have a very limited supply of Rabbit.  It is so hot this time of year that we reduce breeding and let the rabbits rest in this heat!!

As always we will have Fresh Canned Goods:

Mayhaw Jelly
Mulberry Jelly
Fresh Peach Preserves
Sweet & Spicy Pickles
Sweet Pickles
Spicy Pickled Okra
Spicy Pickled Quail Eggs
Honey in limited supply.  We are waiting for the next nectar flow.  We will have more in a few weeks.

Coming Soon:

Watermelons: Jubilee, Charleston Grey and Yellow Meat Melons!
Purple Hull Peas
Crowder Peas
Okra
All of these items are expected Lord Willing in the next 2 weeks!!

We Thank all of our Customers!  This small farmers market for getting rid of our extra vegetables has grown into a fun and eventful day for our whole family.  As you can see when you come to our stand, there are Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Children everywhere and we love it!  Thank you for letting us have fun!  Have a Blessed Day in the Lord!  If you have any questions , want prices or want to order items in bulk, just give us a call:  337-725-6364  or 337-526-6760.

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High.  Psalm 92:1

My New Favorite Recipe!

Sautéed Squash and Zucchini

I have a lot of zucchini around here these days and when we don't have market I don't know what to do with all of it.  We love squash but have never been huge zucchini fans: until now.
A friend told me to take squash and zucchini and cut it in thin lengh size slices and to grill it.  YUMMY!

Slice Squash and Zucchini
Season with: salt, pepper, garlic, onion, and tony's
You can either grill it or sauté it on the stove top in olive oil or real butter.
After you take it off the grill or out of the pan, top with grated cheese (just a little).

OH MY!  This is my new favorite way to eat my veggies.  I don't peel either of them and get the nutrients from the skins.  I realize that raw is better, but sautéing it is better than frying ( which was our favorite) ! 

Hope you like your squash and zucchini!!

Farmer's Market: June 7th 8am-12!

We are excited about this Saturday's Market!  We have had a 2 week break to catch up here at the farm and now we are ready to see all of our friends again!  We will be bringing:

Fresh Homemade Bread
Cinnamon & Raisin Swirl Bread
Amish Bread
Yeast and Honey / Oat Rolls
Cookie Cake
Mayhaw Jelly
Mulberry Jelly
Sweet Pickles
Sweet & Spicy Pickles
Pickled Quail Eggs
Fresh Hill Crest Creamery Milk
Farm Fresh Eggs
Fresh Local Honey
Pasture Raised Lamb and Pork: antibiotic and medication free!
Fresh Dressed Rabbits

And we are so excited that the garden has been producing:

Squash
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Snap Beans
Banana Peppers
Bell Peppers
and we are getting a few tomatoes to ripen!
Okra will be well on it's way by next market we hope.

Lord willing we are expecting our harvest of Sweet Corn in 3-4 weeks!  I know our regular customers can't wait (us either!)  For you new customers, you won't find a sweeter corn anywhere!  We haven't harvested at this time so I am unable to give a final bushel price but we are working on it.

We hope to see you there!  We have had a few large orders of items, so if you desire a specific amount of an item just let us know in advance so we can meet your needs.
Home 337-725-6364  Cell 337-526-6760 
Thanks and God Bless to you!

Yellow Squash Casserole

We have LOTS of squash these days so I figured I would help everyone out with a great recipe to use up all their squash!

Ingredients:
4 cups sliced, yellow squash
1/2 cup chopped onion
35 buttery, round crackers, crushed
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
Black pepper to taste
2 tbsp. butter

1.  Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2.  Sautee squash and onion over medium heat.  Add a few tbsp. of water and cover until the squash are tender, about 5 minutes.  Drain well and place in large bowl.
3.  In medium bowl, mix cracker crumbs and cheese.  Stir 1/2 of cracker mixture into cooked squash and onions.  In small bowl, mix together eggs and milk , then add squash to mixture.  Stir in 1/4 cup melted butter, season with salt and pepper.  Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish.  Sprinkle remaining cracker mixture and dot with 2 tbsp. butter.
4.  Bake 20-30 minutes.  Some like the casserole a little drier than others.

* Side note: I like bacon so I add cooked bacon to the squash and onion part of the recipe.  I also like fresh minced garlic and add that too.  We like a little kick to our foods so of course Tony's is added to the seasonings also.  Definitely not low fat but you could modify the recipe to make it as "healthy" as you like.  If I'm going to get my husband to eat it, it has to have some kick to it!

Reminder!! We will be closed on May 31!

There are 5 weeks in this month and many people get accustomed to seeing Scoggins Family Farm at Tractor Supply "every other weekend", but that is not the case.  We attend the market on the 1st and 3rd of every month!!!
Please make note of this schedule.  The Chicken Swap will be held on May 31 due to the increasing temperatures and the limited time that animals can be exposed to the heat.  Soon it will be too hot to bring any animals out and sit on the concrete for 4 hours on a Saturday.  Even with food, water and shade it is just too stressful!
We use this extra weekend to "Catch Up" at the farm!  Hope you enjoy your holiday weekend too !!
God Bless

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Raw Milk Legislation

Most people are interested in coming to visit the Scoggins Family Farm and Farmers Market Stand to purchase fresh milk, eggs, bread, produce, meat and such.  Those who are interested in eating healthier and consuming fresh food should be interested in the Raw Milk Legislation.  I don't usually get involved in legislative matters, but this bill concerns consumption of something I love: Milk!

At Scoggins Family Farm we have 3 family milk cows ( I will remind you that I am pregnant with my 12th child!).  We consume a lot of milk!  If we have any over abundance of milk we make our own cheese and butter.  The Raw Milk Legislation would allow you, the consumer, to purchase Raw Milk for consumption.  We have consumed Raw Milk in our home for 6 years now and have NEVER been even slightly sick.  No listeria, no bacteria related illnesses, NOTHING!  We get about 4" of cream on top of every gallon of milk.  My children have healthy teeth (1 cavity in 1 child).  That is amazing considering our family is HUGE!  We consume about 1 1/2 gallons a day in our home.  It is wonderful!  Store bought milk smells sour as soon as I pop the top.  Raw Milk smells like butter when it sours.  There is no "sour milk smell" that I grew up with!

Recently, House Bill 1279 passed with a vote of 78-19.  Now the bill has been assigned to Health & Welfare for their vote in the Senate.  I would encourage you to vote to allow the "small farmers" to sell their Raw Milk for consumption!  It is WONDERFUL!

Go to : http://senate.la.gov/Health&Welfare/Assignments.asp

Get involved in eating better! 

May 3rd Farmer's Market

We are so excited about tomorrow's Market!  We will be bringing your favorites of course:

Hill Crest Creamery Milk: Whole, Chocolate, Heavy Cream and Fresh Butter!
Farm Fresh Eggs from our Pasture Raised Chickens
Home Made Amish Bread in many flavors
Home Made Cinnamon Rolls
Home Made Yeast Rolls
Home Made Whole Wheat Bread
Home Made Cinnamon/Raisin Bread
Lots of Cookies too!

This Week we are highlighting a local farmer that has become a partner of ours!  Gerald Darbonne of The Darbonne Farm in DeRidder is a great farmer!  He raises LOTS of local, home grown vegetables and also Pasture Raised Lamb and Pork!  The animals are ALWAYS antibiotic and hormone free!  All the meat is USDA Certified and Shrink Wrapped!  It is beautiful and fresh!  The animals are harvested usually the week before market and frozen for ease of handling!  No old, antibiotic and hormone injected meat here!  FRESH is the best!  We look forward to meeting your lamb and pork needs!

The tomatoes are coming on but sadly are only about the size of a 50 cent piece as of yet!   We are soooo looking forward to that first bite of fresh tomato!  Growing in the garden this season we have:
Tomatoes
Bell Pepper
Jalapeno Pepper
Banana Pepper
Squash
Zucchini
Cucumber
Eggplant
Green Beans
Purple Hull Peas
Crowder Peas
Sweet Corn
We are in the process of planting 3 acres of Purple Hull Peas, Crowder Peas and Green Beans!  We will have a busy summer!  The Sweet Corn is growing fast!!

We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow and hope you have a Blessed Night !

A Reminder Note: CLOSED APRIL 5TH

We will be closed April 5th for our daughter's wedding reception.  We thank you for your understanding and look forward to bringing you all of our fresh goodies on April 19th!
Have a Blessed Day!

Grand Christmas Tree Farm and Syrup Mill

We had a wonderful time visiting the Oberlin Farmer's Market last Wednesday.  We were asked there to be a part of the Second Grade class field trip from Oberlin Elementary School.  It was a fun and COLD event.  We had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Gary Anderson, another local farmer.  He was a pleasure to listen to and learn from .  I wanted to encourage our customers to visit the Grant Christmas Tree Farm and Syrup Mill web site and then go visit their farm this fall!

Mr. Gray Anderson and his family raise about 3000 trees.  The most common tree being the Leyland Cypress.  They also harvest sugar cane the old fashioned way, by hand, and cook it down into cane syrup.  Mr. Gray has over 100 hives and harvests honey from each of them!  You can buy their products from the tree farm from October to December.

Schedule a family outing to the Grant's Christmas Tree Farm and Syrup Mill this fall and see how a  local family has worked together to bring you  small town hospitality and show you a grand time!

Contact information: (800) 987- NOEL   www.grantchristmastreefarm.com

A Master Gardener Field Trip!

We went on our first Master Gardener field trip.  Usually we are attending the farmers market at Tractor Supply on the very same Saturdays that there are scheduled field trips.  We had a very special blessing of visiting Mrs. Sara Doherty yesterday.

Mrs. Sara is the "Tomato Lady!"  She lives at Doherty's Tomato Patch at 1980 Hwy 394 in DeRidder.  There are signs on the road leading you to her house and farm where she sells all kinds of tomato plants!  Evan and I got there a few minutes early and got to visit with Sara on her porch with fresh squeezed lemonaid and cookies. 

Mrs. Sara has 6 vegetable stands all around the local area.  I know of one on Pine Street (Hwy 171) in DeRidder and also on Nelson Road in Lake Charles.  She explained about the different kinds of tomato plants.  I knew there were basically 2 kinds : Determinate and Indeterminate but I never knew that they took different care.  She covered many of the different varieties of tomatoes.  Dream Girl, BHN 444, Creole, Mountain Fresh, and much more!  We learned how she cares for her seedlings and grows her 12,000 tomato plants that she will raise this season!  We feel like our 70 are a lot!

Sara was at the Burton Coliseum for the Gardening Festival last weekend where she sold lots of seedlings.    She sells Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Squash, Eggplant, Blueberries, Watermelons, Muskmelons, Jellies, Jams, Pickles and Georgia Peaches when in season. 

It was fun to meet another woman who likes to garden as much as Evan.  I pray my children are entrepreneurs like Mrs. Sara and her husband!

This is another Local Farmer that would love your business and prides herself on the quality of her produce!

Rhode Island Red Chicks Coming!

We also wanted to tell our customers that we have Rhode Island Red Chicks for Sale.  This is a Straight Run (male and female) because they are too small to tell gender. This is one of the most famous and all time popular breeds of truly American chickens.  Developed in the early 1900's in the state of the same name, they have maintained their reputation as a dual purpose fowl through the years.  No other heavy breed lays more eggs than the Rhode Island Reds.

One Week Old: $ 4/ per chick

One Month Old: $6/ per chick

I split them into this time frame because that is usually the gap of time between their hatching and our trip to the Farmers Market.

We also have Fertilized Rhode Island Eggs available for your incubator for $ 8/dozen. 

At the next Farmers Market on April 19th we should have Ducklings also. Ducks are easy to raise, naturally free from disease, and once started, require little commercial feed.  Although most ducks are raised for their meat, they do lay well and can provide lots of eggs for baking!  High end bakeries will pay money for duck eggs for their rich flavor!  They are a joy to watch and of course water to play in is appreciated.  Do not release ducklings directly to a pond.  They are an easy meal for most predators from turtles to bass.  We prefer to keep our ducks in a moving cage for a length of time until they are not such easy prey.

Mallard Ducklings: $ 5/duckling

Muscovy Ducklings: $ 4/duckling

Blue Swedish Ducklings: $ 4/duckling

Black Swedish Ducklings: $ 4/duckling

We should be bringing Toulouse Goslings and African Goslings to the Market also.  Geese are fun to raise.  They have been pictured in pyramids!  I'd say they are pretty old.  Geese can be expected to breed past 30 yrs and a 40 yr. old is not uncommon.  Geese are raised primarily for meat today but many customers use their eggs for baking and the shells for decorative arts.  Goose down goes into everything from an old fashioned feather bed to a modern lightweight jacket.  Geese are easy and inexpensive to raise, quick to grow, and a delight to behold.  They are wonderful watchdogs also!  We have had no problems with aggression from geese on our farm.

Goslings: $ 10/gosling

At the next Market we hope to bring Guineas also.  Guineas are natural bug exterminators- they are excellent in controlling ticks and fleas.  As such- they roam in search of a fresh supply of bugs.  When you buy your Guineas, please be very aware of their tendency to roam.  If you keep them confined for 3-4 weeks with food and water, they will associate that location as hone base and even though they roam, they will tend to roost at home base. All guineas originally came from Africa and have always been prized for their all-dark, gamey tasting meat.  Guineas are easy to raise.  Once you get them started they live and grow on bugs, insects, and weed seeds.  The newly hatched young are called keats and are very active from the start.  Once guineas are grown they will range throughout your farmstead foraging for food and serving as your personal watchdogs.  To help guineas get off to a good start, put marbles in their water to keep them from drowning.  ( I didn't say they were the smartest of the fowl family!)

One Week Old Guinea: $5/guinea
One Month Old Guinea: $ 10/guinea

We hope you have a Blessed Day!  Thank You for visiting the Scoggins Family Farm Blog!

Closed for April 5th Market!

We are sorry to announce that we will be closed for the April 5th Market.  Our daughter's wedding reception will be on that day.  We will miss all of our regular customers but we will be back on April 19th!  Thank you for your understanding while we celebrate with our new son -in-law and daughter!  God Bless You!

The Scoggins Family Farm

You may contact us at 337-725-6364 or 337-526-6760 to ordered Pastured Poultry or Rabbits!  We have a limited amount of each so it will be 1st call/1st serve.  Thank you so much!

March 15th Farmers Market

We are excited to add a new item to our market this week!  We have Pastured Poultry!  This poultry is Non-Medicated, Preservative Free, Pastured on grass and natural chicken feed!  It is amazing after seeing the commercial poultry market videos of literally thousands of birds in these houses with horrible conditions and unhealthy birds that we can provide a safe, healthy alternative!
We will be taking sign ups for our Pastured Poultry at the market!  We cannot sell the poultry out of the farmers market due to state regulations but we can sell them out of our farm.  I will take sign ups and deliver the birds on a specific date and time or customers can come out to the Scoggins Family Farm and pick up their birds!
We will also have Fresh Dressed Rabbits to offer! 

Saturday we will have Fresh Baked Breads, Fresh Milk from Hill Crest Creamery, Fresh Pastured Poultry Eggs, Canned Goods, 100% Pure Honey and more!  We hope you stop by and visit us!

We will also have live Rabbits, Ducklings, Chicks and Fertilized Rhode Island Red Eggs!  Coming soon we will be hatching Geese!

It's Pastured Poultry for Supper!

Our family has butchered chickens several times but recently we went into the Pastured Poultry business.  After careful consideration and much concern from our children (who are usually the poultry pluckers) we decided to dive in. 
We purchased 2 chicken tractors that are 10 x 12.  These tractors can hold lots of grass fed, happy chickens!  We also received 44 plump, ready to butcher Cornish rocks from the purchase.  During the freezing rain last week we lost one chicken, so we had 43 to butcher.  The icing on the cake was that the deal included a chicken plucker!  This wonderful invention can pluck clean 3 chickens in 15 seconds.  People who have never plucked a chicken cannot appreciate these numbers but those of us who have spent 30 minutes pulling the feathers and down out of a chicken can applaud it!  People, the chicken plucker ranks up there with space travel in my book! 
The children and I started the day with several set backs but by 10:30 am we had the butchering in progress.  It is important that people realize it is not traumatic for children to butcher animals for consumption.  They realize that every cute yellow chick and fuzzy rabbit is for their consumption and they can appreciate that.  No one in our family likes the butchering end of things but it is a means to an end and must be done.  (Your chicken mcnugget producers have to do it too)  .  Back to the work at hand, we were completely finished with our chore in 3 hours!  This is amazing to us, since it usually takes us 3 hours to pluck the chickens.  Our beautiful chickens were then placed in shrink wrap bags and carefully dipped into 180 degree water for about 3 seconds and amazingly the chicken looked like a Wal-Mart processed bird! 
The Scoggins Family Farm has decided to provide these Non-Medicated, Preservative Free birds to their customers with our standard vegetables, dressed rabbits, canned goods and honey.  The State of Louisiana does not allow individuals to sell a home processed animal at the farmers market.  We are allowed to sell 999 of them out of our farm though.  Strange rules and regulations but that is how it is.  I'm sure the USDA could explain it to everyone but at this point I'm a little confused at their legal jargon.
Pastured Poultry will be offered to our customers for $3.25 a pound.  The birds range from small 2.5 lb ones to large 7.5 lb roasters.  We try to butcher so everyone can have 4 1/2 to 5 lb birds.  You may set up a time to pick them up at our farm or I can meet you if I am in town that day.  Realize that we live 1 hour from Lake Charles so my trips to town are once every 1-2 weeks.  I hope that you enjoy the chicken as much as we do!  Have a Blessed Day!

March 1st Farmers Market

We are excited to be going to market tomorrow!  Boy, have we been busy.  We will be bringing:

Hill Crest Creamery Milk in Whole Gallons, 1/2 Gallons, 1/2 Gallon Chocolate, Pint Chocolate, and a wonderful batch of Fresh Organic Cheese !

Fresh Pasture Fed Chicken Eggs!  Those yokes are such a bright, golden yellow!

Amish Bread, Crescent Rolls, Yeast Rolls, Cinnamon Raisin Bread, Twisted Cinnamon Sticks with Cream Cheese Drizzle, and more!

Canned Goods: Sweet and Spicy Jalapenos & Pickles, Mahaw Jelly, Spicy Pickled Quail Eggs and a Customer Favorite: Fresh, Medication Free, Unpasteurized 100% Honey

We will also have meat rabbits, Lop ear rabbits and Ducklings for sale.

The Spring Garden is currently under construction so our veggies will have to wait on the Lord to provide some warmer weather for the tomatoes to grow!  It will make us appreciate that first Big, Red, Juicy Tomato even more!

Come See Us From 8-12 at Tractor Supply In Moss Bluff!

February 15th Farmers Market

We are excited to see everyone at the Market this Saturday.  The hard freezes have taken their toll on our vegetables but we are working on seedlings and soil samples to prepare for a wonderful spring! 

Saturday we will have Fresh Pastured Eggs, Hill Crest Creamery Milk, Home made Breads of all kinds, Amish Bread of various flavors, Canned Sweet and Spicy Pickles, Spicy Pickled Quail Eggs, Mahaw Jelly, Local Honey and More!

We can't wait till we have some fresh tomatoes but for now we will make due with Fresh Pumpkin Amish Bread and a cold glass of Hill Crest Creamery Milk! Yummy!

I will post more on our Master Gardener class soon.  One of the classes was cancelled due to weather.  The last class was on Entomology.  If you don't know what that is, it is bugs.  Good, bad, evil looking and beautiful bugs of many kinds was the topic of conversation.  I had no idea that you could spend 3 hours talking about bugs and enjoy yourself but it was fun! 

Have a Blessed Day .  I hope this  is an encouraging devotion to you:

The trees of the LORD are full of sap.  I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.  His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish.
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.  Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our GOD.  They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing. Psalm 104:16, Hos. 14:5-6, Jer. 17:7-8

Feb. 1st Market

So sorry to not have posted earlier, but the day has come.  Market will be today, Saturday, Feb. 1st.  We are excited to bring you:
Fresh Milk from Hill Crest Creamery
Fresh Free Range Eggs
Fresh Baked Cinnamon Raisin and Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Homemade Triple Chocolate Coconut and Pecan and Pecan Bites
Our Family Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Amish Bread in Many Flavors

Due to the hard freeze we only have a few vegetables.  We will be excited to see what the spring brings!

We are bring some Cute Netherland Dwarf rabbits and a litter of Meat Bunnies that are Californian, New Zealand, Chinchilla cross.  They will fill your pot in just 2 more weeks!  We hope to see you there!  Have a Blessed Day

Master Gardener Class: Introduction to Botany

Last week we learned about Botany.  I had no idea that Botany was important to my garden.  I think it will be a challenge for me to remember but it was interesting to learn "plant language."  There are many methods for identifying or grouping plants for communication.  It divides the plant kingdom into groups that are less and less inclusive.  For example:

Tomato
Lycopersicon esculentum L. Big Boy

Order                    Solanales
Family                  Solanaceae
Genus                   Lycopersicon
Species                 Esculentum
Botanical variety  Esculentum
Naming Authority L. for Linnaeua
Cultivar                 Big Boy

OK. Well I was lost after that.  I had no idea that a Big Boy tomato could have so many names.  I got a little stressed about the final exam after learning that each plant  has several descriptive names.  It helps with confusion over multiple plants with the same common names, but I think I'm ok with that at this point.  lol  Sorry I can't explain much more about the very diverse topic of Botany.  I'm sure it is very important but at this time I think my brain is full.
We also learned about the Gross Anatomy of plants.  There are the roots, stems, leaves, and reproductive organs.  After looking at the prior items in microscopic terms, it is really neat how God made so many different plants!   We even covered a section on chemistry and plant energy.  Wow!  I thought I was going to learn how to make cabbage grow better but I think we will be so prepared to do so much more!  It was fun. 
This week we cover Soils with J. Stevens, a Soils Specialist from the LSU Ag Center.  I am so interested in this topic because I always heard the old timers talk of their gardens and wondered what on earth they were talking about when they added triple 13 every year.  The three thirteens stand for different minerals.  You may laugh but I had no idea what they meant.  I just use composted chicken litter but I later found out that I need other minerals to supplement that!  Who knew?  I hope I can better explain my soils lecture.  I hope I understand it !  Have a Blessed Evening

Sauerkraut Recipe

Sauerkraut is a quick way to use up excess cabbage.  Right now cabbage is cheap and readily available. 

Shred or chop tight heads of cabbage as desired.  Pack (not too tightly) in clean quart jars.  Add 1 tsp salt, sugar, and vinegar to each quart jar.  Fill each jar with cold water and seal without heating.

Note: The screw tops will likely prove more satisfactory than the lids with rings.  Store in a cool place.  Let "set" for a month.  Simple but delicious.

Homemade Granola Recipe

Homemade Granola is a fun favorite for children!  They have no idea they are eating healthy stuff!

10 c. rolled oats
4 c. wheat germ
4 c. bran
3/4 c oil
1/2 c. cream (or 1 cup oil and no cream)
6 c. crushed cornflakes
1 c. coconut flakes
1 c. sunflower seeds
2 c. sugar
3 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  Put in large baking pan and bake at 170 degrees for about 6 hours.  Then add 1 cup honey and mix well.  Cool and serve.

You can also add dry roasted peanuts, cashews, or pecans if you like!

RECIPE FOR COLLARD OR MUSTARD GREENS

This is how I cook greens of any kind at home.  Pick your greens and remember to wash them well.  It isn't fun to bite into your greens and feel the grit!  Remember that once cooked your pot that was completely full to the top with clean greens will cook down to about a fourth of that amount.

Pot of washed greens ( you can tear them up of you like or leave them whole)
1/4-1/2 lb bacon , fried and crumbled
1 small onion, chopped
turnips, chopped
season with salt, pepper, tony chachere's and the old timers say a table spoon of sugar to keep them from being bitter. I know, sounds weird but it works!

I cover the greens with water but I mash them down with my hand and only cover that much of them.  So you shouldn't have a pot full of water, it should be less than half.  I cook the greens on medium heat . The ingredients can be added with the greens and cooked with them.  The greens will turn a dark color and be tender.  Make a pan of cornbread and eat up!

Grandma's Quail Recipe

Ingredients:

8 Cleaned Quail
Garlic powder to taste
Salt & Pepper to taste
If you're from the south: A little Tony's seasoning for some kick
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream, warmed

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat shortening in a large, heavy-bottomed skilled over medium-high heat.

2.  Season the quail with garlic powder, salt, pepper and Tony's.  Place the flour in a shallow dish and roll the quail in the flour. ( I personally season my flour with Tony's also when I fry back strap)

3.  Working in batched, brown the quail on all sides in pre heated shortening.  Place the quail in a large roasting pan or casserole dish, pour water over quail and cover with aluminum foil.

4.  Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.  Spoon the warmed sour cream over the quail and allow to melt before serving.

I figured we would make you crave some of those nice quail we have!  Have a Blessed Day!

Farmers Market: January 18 th

We are excited about the upcoming Farmers Market at Tractor Supply on Saturday, January 18th. 

We now have producing Quail on the farm.  We have newly hatched baby quail and are trying our hand at Pickled Quail Eggs!  I would like feed back from customers on the recipe I chose for the Eggs.  We are in a dilemma about how to sell customers the tiny quail for their own farms due to lack of electricity to keep the little fellas warm during the Market.  They must be kept about 100 degrees and since it's not July , it won't be that easy.  For the time being the baby quail will have to be bigger to go to market. You may purchase them directly from our farm. Contact us at 337-526-6760.

We will have our standard customer favorites: Hill Crest Creamery Milk, Farm Fresh Eggs, Seasonal veggies (The hard freeze hit us hard but we hope to have an adequate selection!) Pickled Quail Eggs, Hot N Spicy Pickles, Mahaw Jelly, Honey, Lots of Amish Bread and Cinnamon Raisin Bread. 

We hope to see you there!

Remember we recycle canning jars and egg crates to keep your costs down!

At present we are sold out of rabbits until March.  We had a large order to fill and are waiting for the next batch !  Thanks for your patience!

Master Gardener Class of Beauregard Parish

We have embarked on a new endeavor to learn more about gardening/farming.  Evan and I will be attending the Master Gardener Classes to further our education in this area. 

These are the topics covered in our classes:

Botany by Jeff McMillan
Soils by J Stevens, Soils Specialist
Basic Plant Pathology, Dr. Charles Overstreet
Basic Plant Entomology, George Giltner
Weeds, Dr. Ron Strahan
Pesticide safety: Keith Hawkins
Propagation, Jeff McMillian
Vegetable Gardening, George Giltner
Herb Gardening, Jeff McMillian
Home Fruit Production Skip Cryer and Tom Avant
Landscape design, Emily Shirley
Organic Gardening, George Giltner
Diagnostic Keys to Urban Plant Problems, Dr. Raj Singh
Ornamental Horticulture I, Jeff McMillian
Ornamental Horticulture II, Jeff McMillian
Lawn Care, Dr. Ron Strahan

We have several Saturday field trips planned but our obligations to our Farmers Market customers will take priority.  We are excited that one of the field trips is to Sara Doherty's Tomato Patch in DeRidder.  She harvested 15,000 lbs of tomatoes this year.  We are excited to learn her farming techniques.  Much of what we have learned is from trial and error.  The Master Gardener program has opened up a wealth of information to us.  The individuals attending the class are ready and willing to teach and instruct us!  We are so excited to be gaining this knowledge.
The most important piece of information during this orientation meeting was : Soil Sampling, Get One Now!  It is so important to know the deficits of the soil so you can produce the most nutritious foods.  We assume what we should put into our gardens/raised beds from our previous years but this can change.  Lots of "old timers" use the same fertilizers every year just because it's what dad did.  I think it's great that we can find out what our land is deficit in and add it to grow much more nutritious food for our families!
We hope to bring these veggies to our Farmers Market this spring!