a lobster walks into a bar and...

In the same vein as yesterday's post, I again bring forth a critter sighting. Many critters in fact. Wait, can crustaceans be called critters?

The Farm's Kitchen (where I work) has been home to many wonderful meals. The Kitchen is great because not only are we using lots of our own home-grown veggies right now, but all year round we usually see something that came from the fruits of our labors. The summer brings us loads of veggies, this year alone we harvested:

• Asparagus
• Beets
• Cabbage (purple and green)
• Scallions
• Peppers (Green and some small hot varieties)
• Tomatoes (though not much due to the blight which effected a lot of New England)
• Brussel Sprouts
• Kale
• Swiss Chard
• Cucumbers
• Squash
• Zucchini
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Eggplant
• Leeks
• Corn
• Snow Peas/Snap Peas
• Green Beans
• Lettuce Greens in various mixes
• Carrots
• Shallots
• As well as many herbs: Rosemary, Thyme, Dill, Sage, Basil, Fennel

I'm sure that I'm forgetting something, but you get the idea. These veggies usually carry us into the fall, and then during the winter and into the spring we use the preserved veggies which we carefully seal and freeze.

Continuing on this tangent--the Kitchen here at the Farm is also great because besides using our own great veggies; meals here also feature our pork, beef, milk, cream, cheddar cheese and eggs. How much fresher can you get!? Anyway--returning from tangent--we put out some great food here, but nothing like today's spread, because...drum roll, please...we had fresh lobsters donated to us! 140 pounds worth!

You can only imagine how expensive it would be for us to buy enough lobster to feed our community of 80+ people, so it was great that someone's family donated money towards buying the Farm lobster. M.M., a current Farmer, former lobsterman, was able to secure lobsters at $4/lb--quite a deal from one of his friends. The catch (PUN INTENDED) was that he had to go pick them up, so, yesterday M.M. and two other farmers drove to Gloucester, MA,(hours before the sun came up) to pick up our lobsters.

I was bumming about it because I was supposed to go pick up the lobsters with the guys, but I threw out my back this past weekend and am off work and resting for the week. However, I felt worlds better after the AMAZING lunch the Kitchen put out today. We had steamed lobsters with drawn butter, corn on the cob, baked potatoes slathered in sour cream and farm scallions, cornbread, coleslaw and salad. IT WAS DIVINE! Well done Kitchen, well done!

So, in trying to further my education of the world--and today, all things crustacean--I learned the following about lobsters (source: National Geographic):

Type: Invertebrate
Diet: Omnivore
Average lifespan in the wild: 50 years
Size: Up to 3.25 feet (1 meter) long

Did you know? The largest lobster recorded was caught off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, and weighed 44.4 pounds (20.14 kilograms); it was between 3 and 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2 meters) long. Scientists think it was at least 100 years old.

I also learned from Lobsterman M.M. that the reason that lobsters claws are different sizes is because each claw is designed for something different. The bigger claw is called the: crusher claw. This claw has enough force that it can break human bones, however, unlike an alligators mouth, this claw closes slow enough that you usually have time to get out of the way! The smaller is called: the pincher. The pincher (sometimes called the seizer claw) is much faster and used for things like catching a meal, etc. Pretty interesting stuff!

This picture is of some of our little friends pre-steamer! They were fiesty little buggers!