What a crazy week of spring weather it has been! Four out of the last five nights we have been hit with heavy thunderstorms and tornado warnings at our Wisconsin farm near East Troy, with a near miss on Wednesday night. That Wednesday evening storm knocked out our power and blew over at least 20 trees, including this pine and a beautiful old oak in our backyard, landing right on top of our firepit. Lots of cleanup remains to be done but we are fortunate that no major damage was incurred to buildings or animals during the storms.
With these torrential downpours our fields are soft and squishy and many have standing water, which will delay the start of our grazing season for several more days. The good news is the weather forecast shows no rain expected until next Friday, so we are hopeful to get the beef herd out of the shed and grazing by Monday or Tuesday.
Milk production has been strong this past week, and again many days we did not sell out of the daily allotment online, so we had raw milk available in the store for walk-in customers. I did end up sending out notifications to our new raw milk fans email list a couple of times this week about extra milk availability…add your name to the Raw Milk Fans email list to get those emails in the future.
“MEET THE MAKER” EVENTS SCHEDULED AT THE FARM STORE
Today we are excited to welcome back Molly Goins, our former Farm Store Manager and now sourdough baker extraordinaire. Molly will be sampling her baked goodies at the store today from 10 AM to 1 PM so be sure to stop by and say hello.
In the coming weeks we have an incredible lineup of additional local food growers and artisans scheduled to visit our farm store:
Saturday, April 25th - Meet Barb of Crystal Lake Mushrooms, and learn all about growing a variety of fungi on a small scale. 10AM-1PM.
Sunday, April 26th - Meet Douglas of Nourish Foods, another extraordinary baker and chef that also used to work for All Grass Farms. Douglas will be sampling many of his delicious sourdough breads and treats as well. 10AM-1PM.
Saturday, May 2nd - Meet Julie and/or Jackie from Bushel & Pecks, our favorite local maker of ferments, hot sauces, jams, and other local goodies, all made at their preservation kitchen in downtown Beloit. 10AM-1PM.
Stay tuned for more Meet the Maker events coming in May!
FARM STORE UPDATE
We have a few items on sale in the farm store this week, including chicken wings, beef snack sticks, and beef fat (for making tallow) all at 15% off while supplies last.
Organic produce in the store this week includes Pomelos, Tangelos, Eureka Lemons, Butterhead lettuce, Red Kale, Turnips, Radishes, Microgreens, Avocados, Carrots. Red & Green Cabbage, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, and Yellow Onions, plus local Michigan Apples, Igl potatoes, Micro greens, and Fresh Mushrooms (while supplies last).
With two months to go before we start processing again, we have a quite a few whole pasture-raised chickens left. Save and buy a bundle of chickens online , for home delivery or curbside pickup. Or purchase 5, 10, or 15 lbs. of chicken wings for your next party HERE.
That's it for this week, please remember to bring us your leftover shopping bags and egg cartons so we can re-use them. We are running short of shopping bags and we hate to buy them!
Cliff, Anna & The Farm Team
