Fresh from our Farmers: Green Star Farm hitting its stride

There are three Sundays remaining in March and Green Star Farm will be at the Sebastopol Farmers Market on each of them. Typically, they attend a time or two a month.

The farm, located in the Hessel area of south Sebastopol, is hitting its spring stride, with a bounty of eggs, chicken and meat, all soy-free and pasture fed. Supplemental food is certified organic from Modesto Millings.

You’ll find fresh, which is to say not frozen, pork every week and fresh lamb every other week. There will be goat throughout the month, much of it frozen, with fresh goat possible sometime before April. The farm now offers goat sausage, too, made by the Sonoma County Meat Company.

Currently, there are about 1,300 laying hens, down from 1,800 in consideration of the drought and resulting decrease in grass for grazing. The flock includes four breeds, Leghorn, Red Sex Link, Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red, with several hundred pullets just beginning to lay. Their little eggs, perfect for Easter, are offered at $10 for two dozen.

The slow-growing Freedom Ranger chicken is raised for meat. This French bird lives outdoors, on pasture, and is available from just a single hatchery in the United States. These birds are hearty, love grass and love foraging. Occasionally, you’ll find fresh Cornish game hens, too; the farm raises them for restaurants but sometimes there are enough to take to farmers markets. What a treat they are for customers, as fresh game hens are rare in markets; nearly all are frozen.

The farm also has stewing hens, so heads up, everyone who asks me about this. The farm has an abundant supply. Many go to Ceres Community Project, where they are used to make broth and stock, which is easy to do at home, too. These older birds have a deeper flavor and, at $4 a pound, are ideal for simmering overnight in a slow cooker. Victorian Farmstead Meats also sells Green Star Farm stewing hens.

Green Star Farm does not operate a standard CSA but they do offer two options beyond retail sales. First, there’s the CSEgg program, in which customers sign up for a month of eggs at a time, paying in advance. Egg subscriptions are picked up at O’Reilly Media (1005 Gravenstein Highway North) in Sebastopol on Thursday between 3 to 5 p.m., when you may also purchase chicken and meat, whether or not you are a subscriber. Eggs may also be picked up on Saturday at the Santa Rosa Community Farmers Market at the Veteran’s Memorial Building.

The other option is quarter-hog boxes, about 40 pounds of freshly harvested pork, an amount that will fit in a standard freezer of a home refrigerator. Most hog boxes are frozen but fresh is available on request.

Green Star Farm, founded in 2009 by Sarah Silva and Mark Felton, attends the Santa Rosa Community Farmers Market year-round on Saturday and the Sebastopol Farmers Market once or twice a month. For more information, including about quarter-hog boxes and the farm’s CSEgg program, email info@greenstarfarm.com.

Michele Anna Jordan has written 19 books to date, including the new “More Than Meatballs.” Email Jordan at catsmilk@sonic.net. You’ll find her blog, “Eat This Now,” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.