Running a farm is like flying a spaceship.

Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from one of our institutional vendors, verifying our practice standards so they can make sure they’re marketing their product correctly. As I was chatting with him, I realized something.

You see, a lot of farmers get defensive when people start poking around, asking about their practices. As the gentleman asked me very industry-specific questions, I realized why that is. He was probing, judging… ... Continue reading | 1 Comment

A brief update as we head into March…

We lost all the small birds!

You’re going to laugh. We ran out of little chickens! Other than a couple remaining 3-pounder birds, all we have is our December stock of whole birds, ranging from Really Big (4.5 lb) to Huge (5+ lb)–at least that’s what I’ve been able to find in the boxes so far. The good news is, though, that they are juicy as well as plump, and… ... Continue reading

Don’t be confused about LYE soap!

Soap: What’s with the lye?

I cannot tell a lye… (I know, very punny, right? I couldn’t resist!)

I want to talk to you about lye soap. A lot of people hear farmers like me talking about our good old-fashioned lye soap, and their minds instantly picture a harsh, abrasive, chemical concoction used for tanning leather, stripping paint, and cleaning dirty words out of teenagers’ mouths.

Then those… ... Continue reading | 2 Comments

Hey Texarkana, we’re going to visit you next week!

I have some exciting news for those of you straight north–we’re going to try out a Texarkana delivery service again!

We’re going make the Texarkana round every third Thursday of the month at 10:30 a.m. The meeting point will be at a customer’s curb at 15 Irongate Drive, in the Copper Ridge development.

  • What: Texarkana Delivery of Your Order
    When: Thursday, February 16 at 10:30 a.m.
    Where

Cook-at-Home Challenge: Count the Cost

Does food matter?

Matt and I had a health crisis circa 2005-2006 that forced us to analyze everything we were doing so we could find answers to why his intestines were trying to kill him. And they were. Standing 6-foot-5-inches tall, and weighing less than 120 pounds, doctors said there was nothing left to do but to surgically remove his entire large intestine. They said food didn’t matter, that this disease… ... Continue reading

Why is meal-planning so hard?

Why is meal-planning so hard?

Meal planning… The bane of many a mother’s existence. We ask ourselves, “Do they really need to eat AGAIN today?”

Let me just start by saying that I do not have this all figured out. I mentioned early on in this email series that Matt chuckles when I tell him my latest meal planning strategy because chances are, I will scrap it after a… ... Continue reading

Cook-at-Home Challenge: What’s for dinner?

I will meal-plan for you this month!

Hopefully you got to read a bit about our upcoming Cook-at-Home Challenge introduced in our last newsletter. I know there are so many of our readers that have said, “I want to eat more healthily, I just don’t feel that I have the time to devote to cooking, and even if I… ... Continue reading

Will this get you back into the kitchen?

We want to help you get back into the kitchen!

It’s been a CRAZY month so far! Matt took a brief trip to the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association meeting for larger scale producers (apparently we qualify! 😉 ). It was a great time of gaining insight on our production practices and thinking about our future in raising the best chicken (and eggs and turkey and pork and beef…) in the… ... Continue reading

Why Pasture-Raised Meats? They fatten on the right stuff!

Here’s the third installment–if you’re here, you’re a trooper! I appreciate you taking the time to educate yourself on these very important issues. 

Why Pasture-Raised Meats… What have we learned so far?

My first article was some discussion of why we’re even bothering to make the case for meat. If there are all these problems in the food system, resulting in the best products being shockingly expensive to produce, wouldn’t… ... Continue reading | 1 Comment

Why Pasture-Raised Meats? No Arsenic

Why Pasture-Raised Meats?

No Arsenic…

Last time, we talked about why we (Matt and Jerica) chose to pursue eating and producing animal products (meats, bones, fats, eggs, etc) because they are more nutrient-dense and digestible than vegetables. For a sick body, every bite counts, and for impaired digestion, those bites have to be highly digestible. Enter Animal Products.

With his ongoing and terrible flare-ups of ulcerative colitis, Matt could… ... Continue reading | 8 Comments