Little Falls box of goodness

My farmer mentors John & Mary at Little Falls Farm in Bolsters Mills, Maine sent me a box of amazingness from their farm - from left:  dried garlic (they grow great garlic), goat cheese, goat milk soap, dried hot peppers, and a bag of castor bean seeds

John & Mary make 'Riffle', an aged, raw goat's milk cheese that tastes similar to Gouda 

The castor beans were the most intriguing part of the gift - castor beans grow into beautiful flowering plants and the seeds come encased in these spiny, thick pods, also known as 'tick seed'.  I wrote to Mary with lots of questions about growing them, as castor beans are processed to make castor oil, and the poison ricin is part of the waste “mash” produced when castor oil is made.