Chicken Pickup Day

Friends and colleagues have often asked me where to go to find locally grown meat in Cortland County. As I’ve mentioned in earlier postings about our pork purchases (pork part 1 and pork part 2 ), we purchase most of our locally grown meat and eggs from Cobblestone Valley Farm in Preble, NY. The Knapp family provides us with local, healthy, humanely raised beef, pork, chicken and turkey.

Today’s visit to Cobblestone Valley Farm was to pick up our freshly processed organic chickens. I'll be cutting up these whole chickens into pieces to use for making chicken salad, chicken speidies, and fried chicken before I put any of the meat in the freezer. I'll also be making a large pot of chicken stock with some veggies to freeze for making soup later in the season. If you've never cut apart a whole chicken before, here is a YouTube video that shows you how to do it. (BTW - my chicken pieces tend to look a little mutilated after I cut them up. But each time I do it, the pieces look a little more recognizable.)



Some friends, Cindy Benton, Susan Stratton and her daughter Kendra met us at the farm to look around, learn the process, pick up some meat, and meet Maureen Knapp. Pat and John Pinto, also friends of ours, happened to stop by while we were there to pick up their chickens.

In addition to picking up our fresh chickens, we also purchased eggs, a “grilling special” which included 1 lb. of ground beef, 1 lb. of hotdogs, and 1 lb. of hamburgers, and a additional 3 lbs of hot dogs (can you tell we are expecting a LOT of company of the next few weeks – and I plan on grilling outside?) The hot dogs are new this year and in addition to being high quality, healthy beef, are nitrate free (oh and they are real tasty, too). We also picked up a new item they are offering - ring bologna, that is also full of flavor. It is precooked and tastes a lot like beef stick or summer sausage.

In addition to getting our meat and eggs from Cobblestone Valley, we also pick their organic strawberries and get organic compost for our garden. It is wonderful that we have famers such as Maureen and Paul Knapp in our area. They are wonderful resources for connecting local foods advocates, and have hosted a number of NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association) activities and school field trips to their farm.

If you are interested in purchasing from the Knapps, please take a look at their website and send them an email.