Our Facebook Page
Peaceful Pastures now has a page on Facebook! Be sure to sign up as a fan! This is where you will find weekly updates on the farm (it replaces the "Daily Diary" section on our web site). You'll read about animals, new births, mishaps and both daily joys and trials.
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Farm Notes
It's time for the question everyone wants to know.....WILL SPRING EVER GET HERE????
It is the last week in February as I start to write this and guess what? MORE snow is in the forecast. Yes, I know you brave Northerners are laughing at us weak Southerners, but we wear this weakness proudly. Just bear in mind who wilts when it's 90° and 90% humidity...
We sheared sheep February 9th. A 79 year old shearer did all 108 of them in one day by himself. Pictured above are the fleeces, individually bagged in the barn loft. Once it warms up, Rachel, my right hand on the farm, will skirt, grade and weigh each of them.
The web site is back up--sort of. It turns out we lost over 40 pages that were linked in. We are slowly getting it back in order. If you go to the site and cannot find what you need, PLEASE email or call us.
Calving season has begun and we have 6 babies so far, 4 girls and 2 boys, all red. |
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March Special & New Products
Each month we plan to offer a product on sale. The marked down price will appear on the web site, but the only notification of the sale will be via Constant Contact newsletters.
MARCH SPECIAL - Soaps on Sale! The following soaps are on sale for $2.50/bar: Goat Milk Strawberries and Champagne, Goat Milk Watermelon, Goat Milk Chocolate Raspberry and Bowser Bubbles with Citronella (great insect repellent for pets AND people).
NEW PRODUCTS - Two new soaps: Goat Milk Butterfly Meadows and Strawberry Kiwi Sorbet. Also new: HOT DOGS, a beef/pork blend without filler or animal "parts", no nitrate, nitrite, sugar or MSG.
BOLOGNA UPDATE - Unfortunately we are not going to be able to offer bologna. The processing costs soared way beyond what we had ever imagined. The retail price for the bologna would be over $7.00/pound. |
SURVEY RESULTS
Please accept my appreciation for taking the time to fill out the Customer Survey and the CSA Survey (if you have been a subscriber). In our upcoming snail mail newsletter you will read more about the results and our comments.
I would like to take just a minute to address two common responses:
When we asked about interest in a "nitrate/nitrite free, no MSG, nothing artificial" bologna or hot dog, some people REALLY misinterpreted what we asked and jumped to the assumption that our current products DID contain these additives. I consider it a sad commentary on how suspicious and afraid of food so many people have become. The "nitrate/nitrite free, no MSG, nothing artificial" was stated only because commercial products contain such. The Polish, Italian and Brats we currently offer do not contain nor have they ever contained MSG, casein, nitrates, nitrites, preservatives or fillers.
By far the most common comment/criticism of the CSA survey was the lack of lamb and goat in the CSAs. To address such, we need to acknowledge several blunders on our part.
1. Some of the printed and web site CSA information reads "Each installment includes..." while other info reads "Each installment may/can include..." The latter is the correct version, and until I received numerous lashings for such, I had never seen the error. While some of our information said such, it was never the intent to state that each and every installment would include both lamb and goat. Relative to the other species, the lamb and goat are a small part of our operation and the volume is not yet present to include these meats as a substantial part of the CSA.
2. What we sell is a true CSA with members receiving a share of what has been harvested. In "good" years there is more, in "bad " years there is less. Due to the severe droughts in 2007 and 2008, the 2008 and 2009 kid and lamb crops were less than half of normal years. Instead of twins and triplets, the ewes and does had singles. This cut our expected harvest in half. Also bear in mind that we only process the males.
3. When Brenda and I talk about the CSAs at the markets, the universal response to the lamb and goat is, "EEEEEWWWW!!!!" Because of this, I made a very erroneous assumption that most people did not look forward to the lamb and goat and were relieved to not see it; so I made no effort to explain the absence of it as part of a regular, monthly installment. Mea culpa.
This summer we are offering a Three Meat CSA which will not include any lamb or goat for those who do not wish to receive it. We are also hoping for a more abundant crop of kids and lambs to allow more lamb and goat to be included in the Regular and Pork-Free CSAs. |
Baby pigs are growing!
The babies spend their days outdoors with their mother and come in again at night. In fact, they are so happy outside that they sometimes don't want to come back in the barn.
Until it warms up, they still need shelter at night. They love to root through piles of hay, and they can't wait for the spring thaw and MUD!
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