>> 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.

♪ >> Maine has lots of coastline and ocean and beaches, but there are also lakes and streams and inner waterways, and there's lots of water sports that people do in the summer, and you can hike.

♪ It's a beautiful day here in Maine.

I've made it to the coast, and I've got a great show planned for you today.

♪ [ Rooster crows ] 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 ] [ Bird crying ] For three months out of every year, Maine's coast turns into a beautiful seaside resort.

Today I'm headed to Belfast to pick up some lobster for a lobster boil we're gonna have tonight for dinner.

>> That salt water will bring the sweetness out of the lobster.

>> There my friend Raymond of Young's Lobster Pound teaches me how to cook the perfect lobster.

Then back here at the farm, I'm gonna build a super-cute roadside egg stand.

And a little later, I'm going to show you how to make the official Maine treat -- blueberry whoopie pies.

It's going to be a busy day, beginning with some time in the garden.

Let's get started.

[ Chickens clucking ] It's still a little bit early in the season for our regular vegetable garden to start producing, so it'll be a while before we have tomatoes or cucumbers or green beans.

But my rhubarb has been going great.

Rhubarb is really a cold-climate-type crop, and it loves the cold weather, and I've got so many stalks here that really need to be picked.

Rhubarb will keep producing, so I like to come out every couple days, grab some of the biggest stalks.

I try not to take more than a third of any plant at one given time.

But I love making strawberry rhubarb pie and strawberry jam, so I'll use what I can fresh, then I slice some and freeze it, use over the winter.

So I'm just gonna see if there's any rhubarb here, and it's really easy.

I just take the whole stalk and I just twist and pull it out.

That's really all there is to harvesting the rhubarb.

Just looking for the biggest stalks.

The leaves are toxic, so I do cut those off and throw those in the compost pile.

The chickens don't get those.

I look for stalks that are kind of the size of like a celery stalk.

That's kind of like my rule of thumb.

But by taking out the big ones, you encourage the plant to keep producing more from the middle, and I can already see some new leaves kind of starting here in the middle.

This is a perennial, so once you plant it, it keeps coming back, and in the fall, I just cut down any remaining foliage and I just mulch it really well with straw from the chicken coop.

Rhubarb is a heavy feeder, so it needs lots of nutrients, so it really, really loves the chicken manure.

I've also got garlic growing in this garden.

Garlic and rhubarb are really great companion plants.

Garlic is great to plant around the edge of a garden anyway, 'cause it keeps the bugs out.

Garlic also is a pretty heavy feeder, so it really loves the chicken-manure mulch in the fall.

I don't know if the garlic's ready.

You're really looking for the leaves to turn yellow and kind of flop over, but I'll pull one out and see.

Yeah, it's still too early.

The bulb is really small.

But in the fall, I plant the cloves with the papers on.

I just plant them down about two inches, about four inches apart, cover them with the dirt, cover them with straw, and I won't do anything to them till usually late June, early July.

And then when you pull them out, every clove has turned into an entire bulb of garlic.

So that's a really great thing.

We eat a lot of garlic.

I also give garlic to the chickens.

I add it to their water.

It's really great for their immune systems, their respiratory systems, overall health.

So I try to plant maybe 50 to 100 garlic cloves a year, both here and then in our regular vegetable garden also to keep the bugs out.

I've got some strawberries in here, too.

I see some little strawberries starting.

It's still a little early also since we didn't start them in a greenhouse or anything.

But strawberries and rhubarb are also really good companions not only in a pie, but in the garden.

Companion plants sort of help each other.

One might attract bugs that eat bugs that are attracted to the other plant or they put nutrients in the ground that the other plant can use.

So all three of these just work really well together, and, you know, in a small, compact space, you really can grow a lot, so it works out really well.

Another one of my favorite summer crops is corn.

Corn grows really well here in Maine.

Ours isn't quite ready yet, but I do have some that I got from a local farm right in the house.

[ Cat meows ] I've got my corn that we got from the local farm, and I'm just going to shuck it and get it ready for the lobster bake tonight.

Anytime I have corn, I save the husks and the silk for the chickens.

Just throw them in the run for them and let them have a little party while we're having our lobster bake.

It gives them something to do, and the ducks actually really like eating the silk.

[ Chickens clucking ] [ Ducks quacking ] ♪ ♪ I'm here at Young's Lobster Pound, and I'm gonna head in and say hi to my friend Raymond, get some of his tips for making the best lobster bake tonight at home.

[ Birds crying ] >> Hey, darlin'.

Let me help you across there.

>> Thank you.

[ Laughs ] I think one of the best things about living in Maine is all the seafood and especially lobster, and I always love coming to Belfast -- it's such a cute little town -- and, of course, to Young's Lobster Pound.

So, how long have you been here?

How long has it been in your family?

>> We'd be in business 92 years, I do believe, this year.

My grandfather started it.

I'm the third generation.

The fourth generation wants to take over when I -- they boot me out of here, so... We have our clam harvesters come in every day, so we do steamed clams.

The last few years, the oysters in the state of Maine have taken off, and we do oysters on the half shell.

We do crabmeat rolls.

We pick our own crabmeat.

Fresh fish, like haddock dinners, or we have swordfish, halibut.

>> Anything you can pull out of the water, basically.

>> Pretty much.

>> People can just sit and enjoy the sun and the breeze but the view, and it's just such a nice -- nice, nice environment.

Let's go inside and see how this whole thing works.

>> Yeah, we'll show you how we do it and take you around.

>> Sounds good.

♪ >> We have all different sizes.

>> Okay.

>> You see the frost line on this tank?

>> Uh-huh.

>> I have cooling systems outside that turn my water down to 35 degrees.

>> They like it cold.

>> It's really cold, so... >> So what have you got in here?

>> Well, these here are pound and a quarters in here.

>> Okay.

>> And then these are a pound and a halfs in here.

>> Yep, that's about the size I like.

I'll do a pound and a quarter, pound and a half.

>> The crabs.

This is called a peekytoe crab.

>> Okay, I've heard of those.

>> And these are called a rock crab.

>> And you don't band them.

You just be careful.

>> So these ones here, there's quite a lot of meat.

Takes about six of these to make a pound of crabmeat.

>> Okay.

>> Takes like a dozen, 15 of those to make a pound of crabmeat.

Throw the females back.

>> Okay.

>> We just keep the males.

Right here is our selling tank, so we have all different sizes in here, so the customer can come in and pick out whatever they want.

But there is a variety.

These are hard-shell here, and I have some soft-shells over here that just had molted their shell.

Here's one here that's kind of almost blue.

>> That's pretty.

>> Kinda pretty.

>> Yeah, that's pretty.

It's like porcelain almost or, like, glazed stoneware.

>> Yeah, like I say, we get about 10 blue ones a year and maybe six calico ones.

We get a white one once in a while.

>> Why do they have the claws?

Is that for protection?

>> Yes, they use the claws for protection, yes.

And they also use these to catch their food or whatnot.

This one here is a crusher claw, and the teeth on it are made to crush a shell.

>> Okay.

>> On this one here, it's a real fine claw.

And it's called a tearer claw or a ripper claw, so that one there will rip fish apart, and the teeth are right there.

>> Oh, yikes.

Those almost look like human teeth.

>> Yeah, like big molars.

>> Yeah.

Wow.

>> We get our soft-shells like these are just starting to come out now.

The soft-shell is very slippery on the outside, and the hard-shell has got a little more of a gritty texture to it where it's a little more porous.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> A big old whopper.

That should be your dinner right there, huh?

[ Both laugh ] >> That wouldn't even fit in our pot.

>> [ Laughs ] >> Okay, before I get all your lobster cooking secrets, we have to pick out the perfect lobster.

>> Yep, you pick out whatever you want.

That's your job.

>> I kind of like some of these blue ones.

>> Yeah.

>> Like, maybe those two blue ones.

>> Well, is that what you're looking at?

>> Yeah, that's a good one.

>> Alright, we'll put that one in the scale.

That one there weighs almost a pound and a half.

>> Oh, just a pound and a half.

And how about this guy?

>> That one there's a pound and a half, a little -- Yep.

>> Yeah?

Um...

I want you to eyeball it... >> Okay.

>> ...and pick out a pound and a half.

Want to see how close you can get.

>> That's three ounces plus two.

Four ounces plus two.

[ Laughs ] >> Good job.

It's an acquired skill.

>> You want another one?

>> Yeah, one more.

>> One more?

There's a nice meaty one there.

>> Okay, we like meaty.

>> Alright.

Alright.

Got a little over six pounds.

So we're gonna put them in our net here.

>> Okay.

>> And I'll get them ready to cook.

>> Sorry, guys.

>> There.

Number 19, Nick.

Put those in the kettle for me.

Gonna be number 19, and those are gonna take about 20 minutes in that boiling water.

If you -- Especially hard-shells this time of the year, if you have a female that's not cooked enough, the roe inside will be black like roofing tar.

>> Oh, wow.

>> So you want to make sure they're cooked all the way through.

You hear a lot of restaurants and chefs say, "Oh, we only cook it 10 minutes."

Well, that's fine for a soft-shell.

For a hard-shell, especially a female, need to be at least cooked about 20 minutes.

Get your water boiling, put them in.

When it comes back to the second boil... >> Then start the timer.

>> ...then start the time.

>> Okay.

>> Yeah, 'cause your boil's gonna die down.

This one never dies down.

It's always constantly boiling.

Never goes down.

If you can't get salt water at home, add a quarter of a cup of salt to your water at home, and that'll bring the flavor out.

>> A quarter of a cup, like, to a pot about that size?

>> Yeah, a pot this size, at least a quarter of a cup.

>> Wow.

Okay.

>> Yeah, because that salt water will bring the sweetness out of the lobster, so... >> Okay.

>> ...add a quarter of a cup of salt to your water, and that will bring that sweetness out.

And actually, cooking a lobster longer softens the meat.

>> Okay.

>> So when you first put a lobster in, say, for the first 10 minutes, a hard-shell, and you took it out, it's gonna be rubbery, tough, stringy.

If you cook it 20 minutes, it keeps softening that meat up and breaking the tendons down a little.

If you overcook it, once you get -- say you cook that lobster, say, three-quarters of an hour... >> Uh-huh.

>> ...the meat will come out mushy and almost fall right out of the shell.

>> Okay, right.

>> So that's when you've gone too far.

>> Okay.

>> Would you like some clams to go with your lobsters?

>> Sure.

>> Alright.

These clams only take five minutes in a heavy boil.

At home, you'll need to cook them maybe 10 when they open up good... >> Okay.

>> ...and the meat is not runny, it's quite firm.

If you pull the clam out of the shell and the clam doesn't come out with the belly with it, it's not done enough.

>> Okay.

>> So you'll always -- it all should come out whole together.

>> This looks amazing.

There's nothing better than fresh seafood.

>> Oh, yeah.

Gonna say, it come right off the boats and right into the... >> Right into the water.

>> ...right in the water and right in the kettle and right here.

Hey, can't beat this -- beautiful day on the ocean.

>> I really appreciate all your tips and your expert advice.

Thank you so much.

♪ >> My water's almost boiling, so I'm going to get the lobsters in and start them cooking using the tips that Raymond taught me today.

I love going to get lobsters from him because he packs them in this amazing seaweed.

Sea kelp is actually really good for chickens, so I am not gonna throw this out.

I'm gonna give it to the chickens as a treat.

It has tons of minerals and nutrients in it for them, and it also makes their egg yolks really, really bright orange.

So I'm gonna get the lobsters into the pot and give the seaweed to the chickens.

[ Chickens clucking ] ♪ ♪ I love this time of year because everything is green and pretty and there are flowers and we can get out in the garden.

But there are also babies running around everywhere.

The baby chicks need heat until they have their feathers, but once they're five or six weeks old, they can get outside.

So we've had them outside, and they're kind of getting used to the older chickens.

And we've had the ducklings out getting to know everybody, still having fencing between them, 'cause this is sort of the introductory period.

But pretty soon we'll put everybody together and we'll have one big happy flock.

In addition to shade, good ventilation in their coop, nice, cool water, and some cooling treats, if your chickens seem to be suffering from heat exhaustion, which would mean excessive panting or laying down or just seeming kind of lethargic, then it's a good idea to give them some electrolytes.

You can buy commercially or you can easily make up your own electrolyte mix.

I like to keep the powder on hand, and I can just add some to the water in case of a couple days of excessive heat over 90 degrees.

Chickens won't drink water once it gets warm, so you need to keep the water in the shade and keep refilling with cool water.

If you're at work all day, it's a good idea to put some ice cubes or freeze a loaf pan of ice and put it into the water to keep the water cooler longer.

I like to make pretty ice pops for my chickens, freezing berries and fruits and edible flowers and all kinds of colorful things into ice cubes and then popping them out and giving them to my chickens for a nice cooling treat.

♪ [ Chickens clucking ] ♪ ♪ You can't drive far in Maine without coming across a vegetable stand or farm stand, egg stand, flower stand.

It seems like everybody's got something that they're selling or sharing this time of year.

So I decided to have some fun and make a cute stand that I could put out by the road and share some of our fresh eggs, maybe some flowers and produce, and, of course, some of my fresh sun tea.

I'll take any excuse to get outside, so I was rummaging in the woodpile, and I'm gonna start building.

So, I've decided I'm gonna build a super-cute roadside egg stand.

We have so many eggs right now, and this way, our friends and neighbors can just pick up a dozen on their way by if we're not home.

We always have leftover pallets laying around.

I think it's like a sickness.

Anytime I see one on the side of the road, I have to stop and throw one in the back of the car, because you never know when you can use it.

I put feed bags on them to keep them up off the ground and I store the straw bales on them, so it's always good to have pallets laying around.

♪ I didn't have any plans or anything but just kind of what I had visualized in my head from driving around and seeing various stands this summer.

I knew that the pallet and a couple of 2x4s would be perfect to make the two shelves and the frame for my stand.

♪ ♪ ♪ We're gonna need some sort of sweet dessert to end our dinner tonight, so I thought I would make some blueberry whoopie pies.

There is nothing like Maine blueberries.

Unlike other highbush blueberry varieties, they're a lowbush wild blueberry.

And they're tiny, just like little pops of flavor that are perfect for baking.

So I make blueberry pies a lot, but I thought whoopie pies would be fun.

They're kind of like a cakey, spongey cookie sandwich with cream cheese filling, and I'm gonna add some blueberry jam to that filling.

So, to get started, I am going to whisk my dry ingredients.

So I'm gonna start with 2 1/2 cups of flour.

♪ Then I'm gonna add 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Gonna kind of whisk that a little bit.

Then I'm just gonna add some lemon zest.

I like to keep whole lemons in the freezer because they're so much easier to zest when they're frozen.

And then I just throw the rest of the lemon back in the freezer, and I can defrost and juice it later or use it to garnish a cocktail or something.

But I buy lemons when they're on sale -- limes too -- 'cause they're expensive, and that way I just always have them on hand.

So this will give the cake sort of a nice lemon flavor that'll go really well with the blueberries.

So, that looks good.

Whisk it up.

Now I am going to mix my butter and sugar.

So, I've got a stick of butter.

And I want to get that going.

It's room-temperature, so it's softened a little bit.

Then I'm just gonna add a cup of sugar to that.

♪ ♪ I'm just gonna grab a spatula, make sure that the butter is really incorporated well with the sugar.

That looks good.

So, now I'm going to add two eggs, one at a time, making sure that they're each really mixed in well.

These are Marans eggs.

They're really great for baking, favorite of the French chefs.

These are from Maranda.

♪ Then I'm going to add a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste, or you can substitute vanilla extract.

Same thing.

♪ That looks really good.

I love using the vanilla bean paste because it has the flex like a real vanilla bean would that you don't get with the extract.

So, now I'm going to add in my dry ingredients and my buttermilk.

♪ Gonna sort of alternate between them.

♪ ♪ Alright, that looks really good.

It's kind of a sticky dough.

Now I'm going to scoop the batter out onto parchment-covered cookie sheets and we'll get them into the oven.

♪ My cookies are out of the oven, and they smell great.

They look great.

So, I'm gonna let them cool and get started on the filling.

I'm gonna make a cream cheese blueberry filling for them.

So, to the stand mixer, I'm going to add butter and cream cheese, half a stick of butter, four ounces of cream cheese.

I'm going to mix in a cup of confectioners' sugar.

♪ So, now that's blended, and I'm going to add my blueberry jam.

I made my own.

You can use store-bought.

But it's really easy just to mix some blueberries and sugar, a little bit of lemon zest on the stove until it gets to be a nice, thick consistency like this.

We buy blueberries when they're in season by the box, and I just freeze them.

I usually separate them into freezer bags, enough for a pie, but I've also got extras to make jams and jellies or whatever else I might need blueberries for.

♪ I'm just gonna add a little bit of heavy cream just to thin it out a little bit.

♪ That looks great.

So now I'm gonna fill in my cookies.

You can spoon the filling in, or you can use a piping bag to do it.

These are gonna be the perfect summer treat.

They'd be great for a picnic or barbecue in the summer to highlight the fresh berries.

♪ [ Birds chirping ] Lobster, lighthouses, local produce.

There's no better place to be in the summer than Maine.

Today we got some good eats for ourselves and some tasty treats for our chickens.

Now it's time to enjoy.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> 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.

[ Geese honking ] >> 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.