With grazing season in full gear we are now getting ready to expand our flock of pasture-raised laying hens with several new “eggmobiles” under construction. Pictured above is one style of our mobile coops that we build on a used boat trailer. We already have two of these style coops and are building two more by the end of May which will hold an additional 500 hens.
We surround them with about 400 feet of electrified poultry netting to provide about ¼ acres of pasture and they are moved to a new paddock every two days. The new young hens will be ready to move into these coops by the end of May and should be producing eggs 3-4 weeks later. Until then our current flock of about 1,400 older hens will have to try and keep up with egg demand. Most days we are still limiting eggs to three dozen per customer.
As mentioned last week we were waiting for a young heifer Wildfire to have her calf any day, and she finally did early Thursday morning. Unfortunately it was a bull calf but he is a real cutie with a perfect white “V” marking on his forehead. Pictured below Wildfire and newborn lounging in the maternity shed.
We started the weekly Saturday farm tours last week and they will continue every week at 1:00 PM through Thanksgiving. This is a 75-90 minute guided tour around the farm on a hay wagon, with stops to visit all the different animals we raise including baby chicks, dairy cows, broiler chickens, pigs, and laying hens. Reserve your seats on our website or purchase tickets in the farm store.
“MEET THE MAKER” EVENTS SCHEDULED THIS WEEKEND
On Sunday (May 10th) we are excited to welcome Aleks from Pocket Garden Farms to the Farm Store. She will be selling a variety of her organic, non-gmo seedlings out front, including Sage, Oregano, Thyme, Lavender, Yarrow, Asparagus, Jewel Strawberries, Celery, and Alisa Craig Onions. She will be there from 10 AM to 1 PM so be sure to stop by and say hello and ask her any and all gardening and chicken-raising questions.
In the coming weeks we have a great line-up of additional local food growers and artisans scheduled to visit our farm store:
Sunday May 10th - Aleks from Pocket Garden Farms will be offering her organic vegetable and herb seedlings and growing advice from 10AM-1PM.
Saturday May 16th - Fisherman Mark from Bering Bounty will be back to serve up samples of his wild-caught Alaskan seafood with cooking tips and recipes from 10:30 - 2:30.
Sunday May 17th - Chef Ernesto from El Molcajete sauces will be back to sample more of his moles and salsas from 10AM-1PM.
Saturday May 23th - our very own Mallory, founder of Tourmaline Hearth will sample and talk her extensive collection of tallow lotions, cremes, and balms from 10:30 - 1:30.
Stay tuned for more Meet the Maker events coming in June!
FARM STORE UPDATE
We still have a few items on sale in the store this week, including our Chicken Wings and Chicken Legs (save $2/lb. on each), as well as Beef Snack Sticks and Beef Fat. And we have some new recipe cards in the store to check out, in particular the honey-glazed chicken legs recipe.
We are getting lots of fresh local produce in the store every week now. From Karolina, our onsite vegetable farmer we have fresh Rhubarb, Mint Leaves, Chives, and Red Radish bunches. And she has organic seedlings for sale…Tomatoes, Sweet Peppers, Winterbor & Mamba Kale, Chard, and Broccolini.
From our downstate farm suppliers of local produce we have organically-grown Carrots, Swiss Chard, Rhubarb, Green Garlic, Ramps, Alpine Radishes, Green Lettuce, Spinach, Potatoes (Gold, White envy, Kennebec), and Sweet Potatoes.
Additional organic produce in the store this week includes Oranges, Mandarins, Eureka lemons, Avocados, Bartlett Pears, Ginger, Beets, Red Bell Peppers, Jalapeños, Lemon Grass, Shallots, Garlic, Purple Potatoes, Green & Purple Cabbage. Plus local Michigan Apples, Microgreens, and Fresh Mushrooms.
With just a month 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 recycle them - over and over again!