Front row from left to right: Jason McKenney, Nathan Hammer
Back row from left to right: Animal Husbandry Manager, Suzanne Allcroft, Jake Mendell, Aspen Kvicala, Taylor Hutchison
Our new Agriculture interns have arrived, marking the start of a new season on the farm. Taylor Hutchison joins the Farm Crew that grows our fruit and vegetable production, and Jake Mendell is the new addition to the Animal Husbandry team. We’re happy to welcome Taylor and Jake to Hidden Villa!
Tags: pigs, organic, animals, farm animals, farming apprenticeships, farming, Farmers' Market, Animal Husbandry Program, sustainability, Sustainable Food Jobs, sustainable agriculture, Community Services Agency, Community Supported Agriculture Read More
This dish, featured at Hidden Villa's Second Annual Meat Tasting Tour, combines the sweet-tart flavor of hard apple cider with the earthy aroma of rosemary for an intensely flavorful sauce that, when lamb is in the picture, begs for a chewy slice of bread to mop up what's left in the pan (if there is anything left). By first browning the shanks then braising them in a Dutch oven for a few hours over low heat you are creating a rich, silky sauce and fork tender lamb that will reinvigorate your tired tastebuds in time for spring. Photo courtesy of the Los Altos Town Crier.
Happy New Year, sorry for being a bit late on these, hopefully we’ll get back in the rhythm quickly.
A roulade is a wonderful way to pair your favorite meat with fresh, seasonal vegetables, fruits and herbs with minimal fuss and maximum presentability. Guests will enjoy the elegant spiral of perfectly-cooked meat wrapped delicately around a savory filling; alternatively, feel free to eat this with your fingers right off the cutting board (like we did). This recipe, featured at Hidden Villa's Second Meat Tasting Tour alongside last week's 
On Saturday, December 17th, a small group of Hidden Villa supporters, local meat merchants and a few members of the press was invited to join Hidden Villa's Animal Husbandry Manager for a workshop and tasting tour featuring traditional (and untraditional!) cuts of our sustainable, organically-raised meats. We are delighted to be able to share the recipes for four of the dishes served at this event with you. Starting today, we'll be posting a new recipe once a week with pictures! Here, you will find recipes for anticuchos (heart), braised cider lamb shanks, an apricot-spinach lamb roulade and ice cream with maple and bacon toppings. Photo courtesy of the Los Altos Town Crier.
I wanted to share some thoughts I’ve had about our Animal Husbandry program at Hidden Villa recently. Maybe some of you have seen our eggs and meat at the Los Altos Farmer’s Market. Or you’ve visited Hidden Villa and stopped at Scarlet in her pigpen or watched Cleo the dairy cow graze in the pastures. The animals, overseen by the Animal Husbandry Department, are seemingly separate from our produce farming. However, it’s becoming clearer to me that animals are critical to an organic farming operation. For instance, we make our own compost and worm castings from the manure of our cows and pigs. These are the inputs that make our soil black gold, teeming with life from microorganisms in the dirt to the nutrients our crops absorb to grow. We are essentially creating a closed cycle in which the byproduct of animal production results in robust organic agriculture production; the compost and worm castings we make on site are better than anything we could buy (and they’re free). And though we do buy feed for our animals, their diets are supplemented with grazing in our pastures and the byproducts of our agriculture production. They happily eat our vegetable scraps, such as the sweet corn stalks that were left after you received corn in your CSA basket. Creating a closed cycle is a boon to the farming production- a win-win that is cost effective and minimizes waste.
Cows: The big news is that Cleo is off the farm, hopefully being courted by a bull at Page Mill Pastures.
For those of you did not meet him at the farmers' market this summer, we are excited to introduce our new Animal Husbandry Manager at Hidden Villa. He's here to spread the word about producing humanely raised, quality meat and eggs as well as share weekly updates on our farm animals in the form of "Animal Notes." So, without further ado...