>> Funding for this series has been provided in part by Manna Pro.

>> As much as we count on them... >> They count on us all the more.

>> To nurture their lives... >> With the same commitment.

>> Manna Pro -- nurturing life.

>> And Meyer Hatchery.

>> Meyer Hatchery offers more than 160 breeds of poultry and carries a full line of feed, supplies, gifts, and decor.

With nearly four decades of experience, the Meyer family is committed to supporting our customers through their entire poultry journey.

Learn more at MeyerHatchery.com.

>> It's a beautiful spring day here in Maine; the sun is shining.

So, where am I?

At a strawberry field, of course.

It's finally strawberry season in Maine, so I'm going to pick some berries to bring home.

♪ I'm Lisa Steele, author, blogger, and fifth-generation chicken keeper.

I live in rural Maine with my husband, flock of chickens, ducks, and geese, Winston the corgi, and Linus the indoor/outdoor barn cat.

We moved to Maine for the peace and serenity.

We wanted a simpler life and to step back in time where there are still corner stores and your neighbors still know your name.

Welcome to my farm.

[ Chicken clucking ] >> See how many strawberries?

>> There's hundreds of them.

>> I've tried planting strawberry plants on our farm, but between the wild birds and the chickens, there never seem to be any leftover for us.

So I'm here a Treworgy Family Farm and in Levant this morning, where they have pick-your-own strawberries.

It's always fun to spend a morning outside once the weather warms up, and I've been wanting to make strawberry shortcake and some delicious homemade strawberry lemonade for a while now.

So I'm excited it's finally strawberry season, because there's nothing like fresh, local, handpicked berries.

I'm also hoping to get some tips while I'm here from the farm, and maybe I'll have better luck with my own strawberry patch.

♪ >> Well, I'm Jon Kenerson, and we are at Treworgy Family Orchards.

It was started by my in-laws about 20 years ago.

They planted apples, and we've kind of expanded into everything pick-your-own.

We just opened the strawberry fields and we've got plenty of people out here picking Maine fresh strawberries.

We want to connect people together in community and to the land through agriculture, and so pick-your-own is a perfect way to do that.

So we've crafted this whole experience so people can come out together, do things outdoors together, and really get their hands on agriculture.

And so pick-our-own is a great way.

You can go to the grocery store and buy a quart of strawberries, but it's not the same as being with people you love, picking with your own hands, and really getting that experience, and that's what we're all about and that's why we do pick-your-own.

Well, Lisa, welcome back to the farm.

I'm glad you could make it back out for strawberry season.

>> Yeah, I'm happy to be here.

I was back in the fall, but spring, you're all about strawberries here, I guess.

>> The strawberries are ready.

And people love coming out here, being with friends and family, and really getting their hands on the right berries.

>> I notice a lot of families and the kids love it and everyone's got red fingers and red mouths and everything.

>> Yes.

That's most of the fun.

>> [ Laughs ] >> Our focus is on creating great experiences for families, and so we've got everything someone needs.

So they can come without anything.

We've got the carriers.

We've got baskets.

We've even got fresh doughnuts.

>> Yeah.

>> That makes it good.

So, yeah, everything you need is here.

And, of course, we've got these beautifully manicured fields with all the right berries.

>> It's really early in the season still.

I see a lot of green berries.

And we just had snow on the ground like 6 weeks ago.

But this is kind of the start of the strawberry season.

>> Yeah, we're right at the beginning.

So, we have certain varieties that ripen at different times, and what you're looking at right here is one of the early varieties.

And you can see, not all berries ripen at the same rate.

So this plant itself will have some that are fully red and ready to go, like that one right there.

Like, that's perfect.

See how it's red all the way through?

>> Right.

>> It's even getting red on me.

But the same plant has some that are completely green and white, and these will ripen all the way.

So the way it works is, first, it goes from green to white, and then that white starts to turn red, starting at the top, and then the last part to turn red is right at the tip.

So you want berries that are like this -- red all the way through.

>> Is there a special way to pick a strawberry or you just kind of twist and break the stem?

>> If you find one that's ripe, you want to grab it back at the stem and hold it and pinch the stem and pull from there.

And that nice pop, and it leaves that on there.

Otherwise, you want to grab the stem, because you don't want to squish the berry.

>> Right.

>> They're kind of delicate.

>> Right.

They are.

So, we've had a fairly dry spring so far.

>> Yeah.

>> Do you have to water the strawberries?

>> We do, and the way we do that is, we have drip tape that runs under this black plastic.

So we've got the black plastic to keep weeds down, and then the drip line runs underneath and it slowly waters the plants when we need it to and it keeps it all under there.

>> And where does the water come from?

>> We have an irrigation pond right on the other side there.

>> Very nice.

So, the black plastic, I would assume, also helps the berries start to grow and ripen earlier?

>> Yeah, it really serves three functions.

The black plastic keeps the weeds down so that the plants are able to grow, it also warms up the soil so they ripen faster, and it keeps the moisture in the ground.

>> Oh.

>> And we actually have some that we're planting into white plastic, which is going to slow the ripening so that we can push some of the berries further into the season.

>> You're actually planting strawberries now?

>> We are, and I'm going to hand you over to Matt.

He's the agricultural director and he knows more about that than I do.

He'll show you the crew that's planting, and you can see them putting in strawberries that will be ready for next year and the years after.

>> I would love that.

>> Alright, let's go see him.

>> Okay, great.

♪ Hey, Matt.

>> Hey, how are you?

>> Jon told me you are the one to talk to about planting strawberries.

I have not had really great luck growing them on our farm, so I need some tips.

>> Yeah, well, I would say strawberries are probably the hardest fruit to grow.

>> Really?

>> Yeah, because they're kind of a sensitive plant, and it's really important to do it just right.

And we're at the stage right now where we're putting in these new plants.

These are what you would call bare-root strawberries.

>> Okay.

>> And so you have the crown and you have the roots, and the most important thing is to get the plant planted so that all of the roots are covered, right about to there.

So we want to have good soil contact.

So, I can show you, if you like.

>> Sure.

>> Alright, so -- >> Yeah, I see you've got holes here spaced out.

>> So this is my system.

I lay it down on the plastic.

And then I put my planting bar on it and I actually push it into the soil, so I guide it with this hand, push it with this hand, right into the soil like that.

And then I make sure I pack the soil really tight around it.

And after that sits for a few days, it'll start to come up with nice green leaves on it.

>> Wow.

>> Do you want to try one?

>> Sure.

>> Okay.

So, here's your strawberry plant, and you're going to lay it across the plastic just like that.

You're going to grab the planting bar like this.

>> Okay.

>> And you're going to push it right in, and then we'll guide it into the hole, right down in.

Good.

Great.

Alright.

And, so, now we'll put our fingers in the hole and try to pack the soil right around that.

And push it right down.

>> So, have you -- Is there any fertilizer or any kind of amendments for the soil?

>> Yeah, yeah.

So, at the beginning of the season, we'll put fertilizer down before we make the beds.

>> Okay.

>> And, actually, since we have drip lines in here, we can inject fertilizer in every year to feed them.

>> Liquid fertilizer, right.

>> Yeah.

Yeah.

>> Okay.

So, after this stage, how long does it take?

>> So they will grow the vegetation for a whole year.

>> Okay.

>> And then, next year, they'll produce fruit.

Strawberries really love raised beds and containers, and I think containers are a great option for homeowners, because that pretty much eliminates your weeds, because you're getting potting soil, and the plants really love the drainage and the open air of being up higher.

>> Okay.

So it's better to let them get a little drier than a little more wet.

>> Yeah.

>> So, neither of those, though, solves the problem about the birds.

Although window boxes would help with the chickens.

But do you have problems with wild birds eating your berries?

>> We used to, we used to, but we have this really unique solution.

We put a big birdhouse up on a tree, and it actually attracts an American kestrel.

And it comes and it hunts the little birds.

>> Yes, it does.

>> So, you may not get your own kestrel to come live at your house, but I recommend bird netting.

Just cover the berries in bird netting.

Here, it's not very practical, because acres of bird netting would be a real hassle, but I think for a homeowner, it would be great.

>> Right.

Okay.

Very good tips.

I'm going to keep trying to get those strawberries.

>> Oh, you should, you should.

It's a worthwhile venture.

>> Thank you so much for taking time with me, again, to talk about your farm.

>> Yeah.

>> I picked so many beautiful strawberries, so I'm going to go home and make some strawberry shortcake.

>> Alright, well, it's a pleasure to have you out.

Come back anytime.

>> Thank you.

>> Yep.

♪ >> We have a fun tradition that was passed down from my husband's family.

When he was little, his mom would often make strawberry shortcake for dinner.

Not as dessert, but for dinner.

So I think that's what we're going to do tonight.

I think we kind of hit all the basic food groups and I can't think of a better way to highlight these gorgeous, fresh berries.

♪ To get started, the first thing I'm going to do is get some strawberries macerating in a bowl.

Macerating is really just adding some sugar to the berries.

It brings out the juices and makes them easier to smash.

So I always like to get that started first and let them sit while I'm making the biscuits.

I don't like to waste anything, so these tops I'm going to put in a bowl and I'm going to save them for the chickens.

I might have been a little generous cutting the tops off.

But I'm going to do something fun with these later that the chickens are going to love.

Just going to add these to the bowl, and then I'm just going to mash them up a little bit.

Depending on how fresh they are and how sweet they seem, I'll add maybe a tablespoon of sugar, see how that goes, but it really depends on the time of season and how fresh the berries are or how sweet you want your shortcake to be.

I like to smash them instead of slicing them.

I just think it gives the shortcake a more rustic look and texture, but I don't want them to be completely pulpy.

I want some chunks still in there.

Add a little bit more sugar.

So, that looks pretty good.

They are sort of mushy, kind of pulpy.

And I'm just going to let them sit and let all the sugar and strawberries just kind of mix together while I make the biscuits.

These biscuits are really easy to make.

I think they go really well with the strawberries because they've got a little substance to them.

So, first, I'm going to mix my dry ingredients.

So, I'm going to start with 4 cups of flour in my bowl.

I don't think you're really baking unless you get flour everywhere.

And it's always best to spoon it into your cup and then level the top off instead of scooping your cup into the flour, because it can compact it.

With these, it's not super-important, because this isn't really heavy-duty baking, but when you're baking, it's always a good idea to measure your flour accurately.

So, there's 4 cups of flour.

Next, I'm going to put in 4 teaspoons of baking powder.

It makes really super-fluffy, high biscuits.

And then 1 teaspoon of salt.

And 2 teaspoons of baking soda.

Then I'm going to add a stick of unsalted butter.

And at this point, I'm going to use my pastry cutter to just mix the butter in and get it incorporated into the dry ingredients.

I've got my oven preheated to 475 degrees.

Takes a while to heat up, so if I preheat it when I start my biscuits, usually by the time I have the dough done, the oven's ready.

Alright, that's all mixed in pretty well.

Now I'm going to add my wet ingredients.

So, I have a cup and a half of milk.

I'm just going to pour that in.

And then I've got some vanilla-bean paste.

Vanilla-bean paste is sort of like liquid vanilla extract.

I'm gonna add about a teaspoon.

But it's thicker and it has the flecks in it like a vanilla bean would, so it's a lot cheaper than buying vanilla beans and it gives you those really nice flecks of vanilla that a bean would that the vanilla extract doesn't give you.

You don't get that alcohol taste from it.

And I just -- I really like the flecks.

I'm just going to stir this up a little bit into a nice dough.

This is sort of a wet dough, kind of sticky.

I usually end up just using my hands to mix it at this point.

And you really don't want to over-mix it, because you don't want it to get tough.

So I just mix it just until the flour and other dry ingredients are incorporated.

And we're not rolling it out or anything, so you don't have to worry about having it be a consistency that would roll well.

You can see, it's just sort of a sticky kind of dough.

Alright, that looks good, so now I'm just going to take a quick break, wash all this off my fingers, and get ready to measure out my biscuits.

So, I've got my baking sheet and I'm going to scoop out the biscuits with an ice-cream scoop.

It's just easy, and I won't get my hands dirty again.

So, this is going to make, hopefully, maybe about eight biscuits.

And since they are more rustic, you don't have to really worry about them being perfect.

These biscuits are going to rise considerably.

Maybe a little smaller than tennis-ball size is kind of the size I'm going for.

So, now I'm going to put them in my preheated oven for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat, leave them in for another 5 minutes, and they're going to be done.

These biscuits look great.

They're crunchy on the outside and they're nice and soft and warm on the inside.

So, we're just going to cut them in half, put one in each bowl.

And then I'm just going to put a little pat of butter on top, let that melt into the warm biscuit.

It's going to be so good.

My strawberries are nice and juicy.

They weren't sitting out for but maybe half an hour, so it really doesn't take long to get those juices out.

Nice spoonful of strawberries on each one.

And then I just use regular heavy whipping cream and sort of make a little pond or moat, I guess you would call it, around each one.

And then I'm just going to put a little fresh basil leaf on top, just because I happen to have them, and it'll add a little pop of color.

And I actually like the combination of the savory basil and the sweet strawberries together.

So, there we go.

These are going to be so delicious for dinner.

I keep saying "rustic," but it actually makes kind of an elegant little dessert that really doesn't take long to make at all.

I'm so glad we got these fresh strawberries, because they just were perfect.

♪ My grandmother raised chickens for most of her life, and I'm pretty sure she ate eggs almost every day for breakfast.

We don't eat eggs every day, but pretty close.

There are so many ways to cook eggs and just so many different dishes that we use them in in baking, but eggs for breakfast is definitely my favorite thing.

I think everybody's universal favorite is scrambled eggs.

They are easy.

You can't really go wrong.

But I have a little tip for you to make your scrambled eggs even better.

Obviously, starting with fresh eggs is the most important thing because they're going to taste so much better than store-bought eggs.

A lot of people like to add milk or cream to their eggs, but you really don't need to when you have fresh, delicious eggs from your own chickens.

So, what I do is heat my cast-iron pan over medium-low heat.

I add a pat of butter and just kind of let that sizzle and melt.

The butter has a little more moisture in it than olive oil, so you always want to scramble your eggs in butter.

Then I lightly whisk my eggs.

You don't want to add salt and pepper right now.

You want to add that at the end.

So, pour your whisked eggs into the frying pan, and then, using a spatula, just sort of fold them in towards the middle and cook them slowly.

And you want to stop cooking them when they're still kind of shiny.

You don't want to fully cook them, because they're going to still cook a little bit in the pan.

Then take them off the heat, season with salt and pepper, and serve them up.

You don't want to add your salt until the very end, when you're done cooking your eggs, because it can change the consistency of them.

So for light, fluffy, delicious scrambled eggs, add your salt just before you serve them.

My favorite way to eat eggs is poached, mostly because that's how you cook them when you make eggs Benedict.

Fresh eggs work really well when you poach them because the whites hold together so much better than older eggs do.

To poach my eggs, I'll bring a shallow pan of water to just a bare boil, where there's bubbles forming around the edges.

You don't want a rolling boil, because that will break the egg up.

And then, slowly, as I slide the egg in, swirl the water with the handle of a wooden spoon.

You want to cook them for about 3 to 4 minutes.

You don't want your yolks completely solid.

You want them a little bit runny.

And just scoop them out of the water with a slotted spoon.

My husband's favorite way to eat eggs is fried.

I also do fried eggs in a cast-iron pan, but I do them in olive oil.

And, again, I have a fun little trick to make them taste even better.

Add a slice of fresh lemon to the pan.

Fresh eggs are going to hold together better than older eggs, and the yolks are going to stand up better, so they make really great fried eggs.

Then you want to fry them to just so the edges are sort of starting to get brown and crispy.

I don't like my egg yolks runny, so it's easy enough when I'm frying eggs for him to just flip mine over for a minute or two just before they're done cooking and make mine over-easy.

Salt and pepper the eggs to taste and then add a side of lemon.

The grilled lemon really adds a nice citrus flavor to your fried eggs.

No matter how you like your eggs, they're going to taste better using fresh eggs from your own chicken coop.

♪ Basil is one of my favorite herbs to grow.

It just smells so good when you brush by it, and I love making pesto and it's great in savory and sweet dishes.

Unfortunately, basil doesn't love Maine.

It's really cold-sensitive and does not do well if the temperatures even get into the 40s.

It's always the first herb that we lose in the fall, so I like to plant it in containers so I can bring it inside overnight and then bring it back outside if I plant it in early spring, definitely after the first frost.

The seeds are teeny, so they're kind of hard to space out, but they don't need to be planted very deeply, maybe just a 1/4-inch under the soil.

And then I'll cover them with a little bit more soil, water them, and then they're going to start sprouting in about 1 to 2 weeks.

After they sprout, they're going to be planted way too close together because you want the adult plants to be maybe 2 to 4 inches apart.

So I'll go through and thin them, but of course I'm going to save the thin seedlings for the chickens.

The chickens love basil, they have basil in their own herb garden, and I have some plants in our kitchen herb garden to make sure that I always have enough basil for cooking that the chickens can't get at.

Culinary herbs are one of my favorite things to grow.

You don't need a lot of room to grow them.

In a garden this size that you can have just on your back patio, like I do, you really can grow enough herbs to use in your cooking.

I have things like parsley and thyme that I use a lot.

I have mint in here, some sage.

I've got pineapple sage.

And, of course, I have some basil.

This garden up here is protected from the chickens, so this is what I do use in our cooking.

But the chickens have their own herb garden with some of the similar herbs.

Things like parsley are really good.

They have a lot of vitamins and nutrients for the chickens.

And basil is great for immune system and respiratory health, and it also makes for really nice orange egg yolks, so I definitely share my basil with the chickens.

Basil is generally thought of as a savory herb, but it also pairs really well with sweet things like strawberries.

It's such a warm day, I think some lemonade will be great, so I am going to snip some of this basil and bring it in the kitchen and share my recipe for strawberry-basil lemonade.

Why make regular lemonade when you can make this savory-sweet treat?

♪ Come on, chickies.

I've been saving these tops all day for the chickens.

They really love them.

Chickens are naturally attracted to the color red, and they're also a great source of fiber and vitamin C, lots of nutrients, they're an antioxidant, so I love sharing the strawberry tops with the chickens.

It's another way not to waste anything, and it's a nice free treat for them that they love.

Instead of just giving the chickens strawberry tops in the summer, when it's really hot, I love to make them frozen strawberry ice pops.

Chickens don't like to drink warm water, so it's really important to keep their water cool in the summer.

Putting the water dish in the shade helps, of course, but so does adding some of these frozen ice pops to their water.

I'm using the strawberry tops from earlier and fresh mint, but you can use any fruit or herb combination you want.

You can even use frozen chopped veggies.

Mint is a really beneficial herb, though.

Not only does it help keep rodents and flies out of the coop, which is why I have it planted all around my chicken coop, it also helps with digestive and respiratory health and is an antioxidant, as are the strawberries.

Mint is also a calming herb, which is great in the summer to help your chickens from getting stressed out.

Feeding chickens mint is also thought to result in larger eggs, thicker egg shells, and increased egg production.

Your chickens are going to love these ice pops.

♪ Summer might be short in Maine, but there's such an abundance of fresh produce available all over the state, so make sure you check what's available in your state, or why not even try growing some yourself.

The chickens are going to love these ice pops.

[ Chickens clucking ] ♪ >> Log on to FreshEggsDaily.com to learn more about poultry, backyard-farming techniques, recipes, or anything you may have seen in today's show.

Closed captioning for "Welcome to My Farm" is made possible by Grubbly Farms -- food for healthy pets and planet.

Funding for this series has been provided in part by Manna Pro.

>> To protecting them.

>> Helping them grow.

>> And thrive.

[ Chickens clucking ] >> Treating them... >> As well as they treat us.

>> Manna Pro -- nurturing life.

>> And Meyer Hatchery.

>> Meyer Hatchery offers more than 160 breeds of poultry and carries a full line of feed, supplies, gifts, and decor.

With nearly four decades of experience, the Meyer family is committed to supporting our customers through their entire poultry journey.

Learn more at MeyerHatchery.com.