’tis true! it’s the return of organic valley eggnog!
you all like it so much that we decided to get it on the shelf a few weeks earlier this year, so be sure to look for it!
’cause it’s never too early to enjoy it all by itself or in eggnog cupcakes or eggnog pots de creme!
or even organic valley orange juice! here’s odin demonstrating how to mix eggnog and oj two years ago.
wherein odin extols the virtues of organic valley eggnog and orange juice. from Eric C. Snowdeal III on Vimeo.
just a few photos of some of the high-oil, organic sunflowers suitable for use in the production of biodiesel. the field is owned by cropp ( organic valley ) and is near our distribution center in cashton, wisconsin.
the sunflowers are part of cropp’s sustainability program ( you can view a few of my other sunflower pictures from years past on that page ). cropp farmers who plant on the farm benefit from the high yield of oil (80–110 gallons per acre) as well as the 1200–1500 pounds of feed meal per acre as well. we even have a mobile press that can travel to a farm and produce oil from a harvest ( yes, that’s another of my sunflower shots on the side of the press. ).
feed and fuel from the same field!
i believe this field will be converted to biodiesel to provide fuel for company tractors and trucks.
i don’t really know why i haven’t uploaded more of my sunflower shots over the years, since folks seemed to enjoy the original “the sunnier side of biodiesel” photo.
so, here you go internets! maybe someday i’ll get around to uploading all the other photos.
trust me, you’ll want to view this panorama large, in the lightbox.
i’m a little less pleased with this panorama, but hey, sunflower panoramas are like pizza.
even when they’re bad, they’re good.
( pssst, lightbox edition. )
shhhh. top secret ice cream project. don’t tell anyone.
the garlic we planted last fall at our employee garden at organic valley hq [1] is coming in nicely! and perhaps we even have one of the nicer looking employee plots ( inside joke. we have at times over the years had a notoriously ill kept plot. )! certainly better looking than last year when the plot was water logged.
we had enough good “seed garlic” from last years’ harvest to put in about 200 head which should yield more than enough for us to give away heaps to lucky friends and family and provide us with garlic for the year.
it sure is a purty view out over the 8,600 acre kickapoo valley reserve. it’s hard to believe this was the view two months ago.
we need to figure out what to put in the rest of the garden plot to the left of the garlic. squash? carving pumpkins? watermelon? suggestions welcome 🙂
looking back up at organic valley/cropp hq affords a view of the addition we’re adding ’cause we’re busting at the seams from growth.
[1] technically speaking organic valley is a brand owned by cropp cooperative which is really my employer but that’s a detail lost on most folks who just think i work for ov.
normally, i have a serene vista over several miles of the 8,500 acre kickapoo valley reserve. today, not so much, with a snowstorm blowing through on april 19th!
after all was said and done we didn’t get as much snow as i’ve seen in the past around this time of year, but it sure looked mighty impressive ( although this might still be the The Last Snowman of 2011 since odin is now visiting grandparents in da UP ).
oh, yeah. and, yes, i do know and appreciate that i have a mighty nice view from my desk at organic valley hq 🙂
if you’re visiting the symons recreation complex look inside any of the somewhat unassuming “body organic” booklets and you’ll find $5 worth of organic valley coupons.
there’s a big stack, so take one and share with a friend who might be looking for a nice education piece on organics 🙂
after making eggnog pots de creme and eggnog cupcakes ( one of which santa enjoyed ), i couldn’t quite come to peace with the impending end of organic valley eggnog season so i picked up a few quarts from the very last production run with Very Big Plans to whip up some recipe or another which i never got around to whipping up.
so, it’s been “ageing” in our fridge and has now reached the point where It Must Be Consumed. as you might imagine it wasn’t very difficult to convince odin that we simply had to chug a few glasses and dunk a couple of cookies.
um, yeah, he’s not at all excited.
The Dunking of the Cookie is an exacting science, requiring just the right amount of soaking to saturate the cookie without causing it to break off and sink into the glass of eggnog.
oh, noes! the cookie almost crumbles! two hands are required for the rescue.
and, inexplicably, i failed to capture the consuming. rest assured, it was savored.