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| Just the layers and guinea keets |
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| 103 cornish cross meat birds, 25 layers, and 5 guineas! |
Showing posts with label farm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label farm. Show all posts
Friday, April 19, 2013
We Have Chicks!
...and they're so darn cute when they're just so little! Here's a few pics of them, just one day old...
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Born-Again Farm Prayer Day
Hi everyone! A full-length post will (hopefully) be coming soon to update you all on our progress! I just wanted to pass this along to you so you can all take part in this great movement with us. It's called the "Born-Again Farm Prayer Day". I plan on fasting and praying during one meal tomorrow. The focus of this prayer day is on Christians who run small family farms, whether as a business or just as a means of providing for their own families. Here's a link to the blog post...please join us!
Monday, July 2, 2012
Factory Farm vs. Pastured Poultry: a Side-by-side Test!
We just had our first batch of pastured poultry processed this morning, and I was eager to try one side by side with a store-bought, factory-style chicken. I must say, I was shocked at the difference; not so much in appearance, but in taste and texture.
I bought the smallest chicken our local Meijer store had, which was over 5 1/2 lbs. Ours was about 3 1/2 lbs. For the sake of giving you a true side-by-side comparison, I did not edit these photos in any way.
I bought the smallest chicken our local Meijer store had, which was over 5 1/2 lbs. Ours was about 3 1/2 lbs. For the sake of giving you a true side-by-side comparison, I did not edit these photos in any way.
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| Store-bought on left, ours on right |
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| In the roasting pan. A little butter in the cavity along with some celery. Sprinkled with salt and pepper...that's it! Wanted to really taste the "chicken" flavor. |
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| Our chicken, done! Notice the beautiful, even browning on the skin and nice proportion of the legs to the breast. |
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| Store-bought, done. This bird has such huge breasts that the skin was split, leaving it to dry out during roasting. Also notice how the whole bird seems puny compared to those giant breasts...I have no idea how that poor bird could even walk. |
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| I shredded a bit of breast meat from each bird to show the difference...ours on the left, store's on the right.
I think the most shocking difference to me was the difference in texture between the two birds. The only way I can really describe it is that our pastured chicken had substance, where the factory-farmed bird was...like mush. See the difference in the photo above? Now don't get me wrong...ours was not "tough" in any way. Just a very satisfying meatiness. The mushiness of the other bird struck me as seeming really unnatural.
And how about taste? Ours was, once again, far superior. About the only flavor present in the store bought chicken was the salt solution they get bathed in before packaging. In fact, the breast meat closest to the bone in the middle of the bird pretty much had no flavor at all. The pastured chicken, on the other hand, had a rich "chickennish" flavor all the way through, in both the white and dark portions.
Hands down winner? Our organic pastured poultry! We'll be running another batch starting in August, so give some a try!
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Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Get Personal With Your Food
Listen to this while you read this...it's what I was listening to as I wrote it!
Yesterday I was listening to an interview on NPR (yes, I listen to NPR. Quite a lot. Another one of those things that GCCRs* are not supposed to do). They were talking with a lady who is passionate about teaching people how to grow their own vegetables. Sorry--I didn't catch her name! She said something to the effect of, "How to grow your own food should be common knowledge; something parents teach their children along with things like learning how to swim. I have never been in a situation where I was in water over my head and afraid of drowning. But I have been so low on cash that if I hadn't known how to grow my own food, I would not have had anything to eat. It's far more likely for most people to have a financial crisis than to be in danger of drowning." She wasn't saying that everyone should go out and become master gardeners...only that the knowledge of how to do it should be given a higher priority in our culture.
This got me thinking about what happens in our attitude towards our food when obtaining it gets "personal". I already find myself placing a higher value on what I eat after experiencing the amount of effort it takes to get it from the field to my stomach. Moving a chicken pen every day, although enjoyable, is pretty hard work. Our cows plow through impressive amounts of grass every day to get to the size we want them to be to make great steaks. Our neighbor, Rose, is in her garden every day with her garlic, veggies, and herbs before she takes them to the market. When I realize what it takes to produce good, fresh food, I take a lot more care with how I prepare it. I want it to taste its very best...I don't want to embarrass it--haha!
Now, I'm not knocking grocery stores because grocery stores are obviously important! But when I buy meat there, all precut and shrinkwrapped, I'm not thinking about the farm or the animal it came from. And I could buy virtually unlimited amounts of any particular cut if I wanted to. If I take my New York Strip steaks home, cook them, and don't like how they turn out, I can just go back to the store and get more to try it again. All I'm really out is the cash to buy them. Did you know that one steer doesn't produce an unlimited proportion of New York Strips? When our beef cows are done, we will have limited amounts of each cut and we'll be planning meals accordingly. When it comes time for me to cook that filet mignon, you can bet I'll really be thinking it through first!
All of this is to say...try getting personal with your food, to whatever extent you are able. Go to the farmer's market and actually talk to the producers! Get to know them a little bit! Find out why they do what they do...chances are they're pretty passionate about it. If possible, visit their farms. Stop by The Family Farm while you're at it! Take a walk with us while we move the cows and chickens. Or best of all, turn a little corner of your yard into a garden and experiment. Some things will work, some won't, but I'll bet that you'll have a new appreciation for your food if you give it a try.
*Good Conservative Christian Republicans
Yesterday I was listening to an interview on NPR (yes, I listen to NPR. Quite a lot. Another one of those things that GCCRs* are not supposed to do). They were talking with a lady who is passionate about teaching people how to grow their own vegetables. Sorry--I didn't catch her name! She said something to the effect of, "How to grow your own food should be common knowledge; something parents teach their children along with things like learning how to swim. I have never been in a situation where I was in water over my head and afraid of drowning. But I have been so low on cash that if I hadn't known how to grow my own food, I would not have had anything to eat. It's far more likely for most people to have a financial crisis than to be in danger of drowning." She wasn't saying that everyone should go out and become master gardeners...only that the knowledge of how to do it should be given a higher priority in our culture.
This got me thinking about what happens in our attitude towards our food when obtaining it gets "personal". I already find myself placing a higher value on what I eat after experiencing the amount of effort it takes to get it from the field to my stomach. Moving a chicken pen every day, although enjoyable, is pretty hard work. Our cows plow through impressive amounts of grass every day to get to the size we want them to be to make great steaks. Our neighbor, Rose, is in her garden every day with her garlic, veggies, and herbs before she takes them to the market. When I realize what it takes to produce good, fresh food, I take a lot more care with how I prepare it. I want it to taste its very best...I don't want to embarrass it--haha!
Now, I'm not knocking grocery stores because grocery stores are obviously important! But when I buy meat there, all precut and shrinkwrapped, I'm not thinking about the farm or the animal it came from. And I could buy virtually unlimited amounts of any particular cut if I wanted to. If I take my New York Strip steaks home, cook them, and don't like how they turn out, I can just go back to the store and get more to try it again. All I'm really out is the cash to buy them. Did you know that one steer doesn't produce an unlimited proportion of New York Strips? When our beef cows are done, we will have limited amounts of each cut and we'll be planning meals accordingly. When it comes time for me to cook that filet mignon, you can bet I'll really be thinking it through first!
All of this is to say...try getting personal with your food, to whatever extent you are able. Go to the farmer's market and actually talk to the producers! Get to know them a little bit! Find out why they do what they do...chances are they're pretty passionate about it. If possible, visit their farms. Stop by The Family Farm while you're at it! Take a walk with us while we move the cows and chickens. Or best of all, turn a little corner of your yard into a garden and experiment. Some things will work, some won't, but I'll bet that you'll have a new appreciation for your food if you give it a try.
*Good Conservative Christian Republicans
Monday, May 7, 2012
Why Pastured Poultry?
I'm sure you're all wondering why it's worth spending double the cost of supermarket chicken for our pastured poultry from The Family Farm. We encourage you to do your own research, but I'll highlight a few of the biggest reasons for you here, just to get you going...
1. Health. Chicken from the supermarket is raised on a grain ration almost entirely made of corn, which is high in energy but low in vitamins and minerals. According to poultry expert Joel Salatin, "When animals are fed a high energy, low vitamin/mineral diet, they tend to have more saturated fat (cholesterol) in their meat, milk, or eggs, just like people. When these same animals consume a large percentage of green material, the saturated fat of their animal protein diminishes."
2. Organic. We debated whether to give all organic feed or not, since organic feed is nearly double the cost. In the end we decided to go all the way, both from a health standpoint and to make a deliberate point of supporting local organic farmers. We will be getting our feed from a local farmer who has been certified organic for over 20 years. [For pricing reasons, we would consider doing a separate batch sometime in the future that is not organic, but still raised on pasture. If you would be interested in that, please leave a comment!]
*as a side note, we are not Certified Organic, nor are we seeking certification at this time. We encourage you to come visit us, see how we raise our animals and get to know us. We would much rather have our customers trust their farmers, not a government label...but that's another whole story!
3. Humane animal treatment. I'm sure you've all heard the stories about how poultry is raised on "factory farms"; overcrowded, reeking of ammonia from their urine, no windows, etc. Our chickens will be outside in the fresh air all day, every day. They will have fresh green grass every day and be able to peck at all the bugs, grubs, and worms their little chicken hearts desire.
4. Local. You can have the peace of mind of knowing who, where, and how your food was raised, and the satisfaction of supporting a business in your own community. Our chickens are raised right here in Columbiaville from baby chick to broiler. They are processed nearby at a local meat processor. (In the next year or so we hope to begin processing our own as well!)
5. Taste. Pastured chicken just tastes different...more "chickenish"! It's delicious!
Now that brings us to the final question...is it worth it? For our family, the answer is yes. We hope you'll give it a try...once you do, we're pretty sure you'll be hooked!
So, what's the main reason you want to try pastured poultry from The Family Farm? It can be one of our reasons, or a reason of your own! Leave a comment on this post and we'll randomly choose one winner to receive 10% off your first order!
1. Health. Chicken from the supermarket is raised on a grain ration almost entirely made of corn, which is high in energy but low in vitamins and minerals. According to poultry expert Joel Salatin, "When animals are fed a high energy, low vitamin/mineral diet, they tend to have more saturated fat (cholesterol) in their meat, milk, or eggs, just like people. When these same animals consume a large percentage of green material, the saturated fat of their animal protein diminishes."
2. Organic. We debated whether to give all organic feed or not, since organic feed is nearly double the cost. In the end we decided to go all the way, both from a health standpoint and to make a deliberate point of supporting local organic farmers. We will be getting our feed from a local farmer who has been certified organic for over 20 years. [For pricing reasons, we would consider doing a separate batch sometime in the future that is not organic, but still raised on pasture. If you would be interested in that, please leave a comment!]
*as a side note, we are not Certified Organic, nor are we seeking certification at this time. We encourage you to come visit us, see how we raise our animals and get to know us. We would much rather have our customers trust their farmers, not a government label...but that's another whole story!
3. Humane animal treatment. I'm sure you've all heard the stories about how poultry is raised on "factory farms"; overcrowded, reeking of ammonia from their urine, no windows, etc. Our chickens will be outside in the fresh air all day, every day. They will have fresh green grass every day and be able to peck at all the bugs, grubs, and worms their little chicken hearts desire.
4. Local. You can have the peace of mind of knowing who, where, and how your food was raised, and the satisfaction of supporting a business in your own community. Our chickens are raised right here in Columbiaville from baby chick to broiler. They are processed nearby at a local meat processor. (In the next year or so we hope to begin processing our own as well!)
5. Taste. Pastured chicken just tastes different...more "chickenish"! It's delicious!
Now that brings us to the final question...is it worth it? For our family, the answer is yes. We hope you'll give it a try...once you do, we're pretty sure you'll be hooked!
So, what's the main reason you want to try pastured poultry from The Family Farm? It can be one of our reasons, or a reason of your own! Leave a comment on this post and we'll randomly choose one winner to receive 10% off your first order!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
The Name Game Giveaway Winner!
The winner is...Shawna! Congratulations! Thanks to everyone who entered! Nobody guessed our farm's name, but you all had some great ideas. I would have to give the "most creative" credit to Matt, who suggested "From the Ground Up". Sorta like that one...
Since I'm sure you'll all wondering, the name of our farm is...
(drumroll please.............)
"The Family Farm"!
Simple and easy, and it doesn't limit us to a certain aspect of farming, like if we chose "Courser Meats" or something like that. But best of all, I hope lots of conversations in the near future will go something like this:
Since I'm sure you'll all wondering, the name of our farm is...
(drumroll please.............)
"The Family Farm"!
Simple and easy, and it doesn't limit us to a certain aspect of farming, like if we chose "Courser Meats" or something like that. But best of all, I hope lots of conversations in the near future will go something like this:
"Wow, this chicken tastes amazing! Where did you get it?"
"At the family farm."
"Oh, I totally didn't know your family had a farm..."
"We don't! It's the name of the place where we buy our meat. They have such great products and they're really friendly. They always welcome visitors, so you should check them out."
"Great! I think we will!"
Catchy, isn't it?
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