FARM HAPPENINGS
Spring activity is into full swing on the farm as we picked up 400 day-old Bronze turkey poults from Abendroth's Hatchery in Waterloo, Wisconsin this week. In year's past they have shipped us the turkey poults via the US Postal Service, but with all the problems plaguing federal government agencies in recent months we decided it would be safer to make the 2-hour drive to Waterloo and pick them up ourselves. Abendroth's Hatchery ships chicks all over the country, and they mentioned how many problems they are having this year with USPS getting chicks delivered in the 3-day delivery window where they can arrive in relatively good shape. Our broiler chicks come from a hatchery in Pennsylvania, but fortunately they deliver them to us in a heated truck so they almost always arrive within one day of hatching and usually are in great condition.
These turkey poults will spend the next few weeks in the brooder house with supplemental heat, then we will will move them out to the Mobile Range Coops where they will be on fresh grass every day for the rest of their lives. These turkeys will all go into parts (turkey breast, wings, ground, and smoked drumsticks) by mid-August. The Thanksgiving Turkeys will be arriving on the farm in late July, if you haven't reserved a fresh holiday turkey yet they are available now. Only two fresh pickup dates are scheduled this year and they are filling up quickly.
STILL GOT LOTS OF MILK!
For our many long-suffering raw milk fans, the news is good. The Moo Crew are giving us copious amounts of milk, which should continue for the next couple of months with many more calves expected through the end of May. Absent any disasters I expect our production should increase by another 15%-20% by June. While we are still selling out online on weekends, during the week we often have a good amount of raw milk available in the store for walk-in customers. So check our website 30 minutes before store opening for availability, and bring your empty jars whenever visiting the store just in case. Once the store opens we will pull all the remaining inventory off the website and it will only be available in the store.
SHIPPING SPECIAL OF THE WEEK - 100% GRASS FED STEAKBURGERS
As we transition into the grilling season, we thought it was time to highlight our delicious grass-fed steak burgers. When one of our beef processors trims off the dry-aged steaks for packaging, they separate out the steak trimmings from the rest of the animal and form them into thick ⅓ pound burgers for us. These patties make the best burgers on the planet! In celebration of the spring grilling season we are offering a special 15% off our 15 lb. steak burger pack, plus FREE shipping! Order deadline Tuesday 3:00 PM for home delivery this coming week.
FARM STORE UPDATE + TOURS STARTING NEXT WEEK
Our farm store remodeling project is just about finished. We now have a second checkout station available to get you through the line faster on those busy mornings and weekends. And our new produce cooler is full of fresh fruits and veggies just in time for the growing season to kick into full gear.
We are prioritizing more local produce vendors this year, and will highlight those farmers and products in our newsletter. This week our local organic produce includes microgreens, red beets, chives, arugula, spinach, kohlrabi, daikon radishes, red/yellow potatoes and sweet potatoes supplied to us by Gorman Family Farms, Igl Farms, Jacobsen Family Farms, Adams Acres, and Frillman Farms. And gourmet mushrooms grown by Barb at HomeMade Mama LLC.
Non-local but still organic produce in the store this week includes pears, avocados, lemons, brussels sprouts, red bell peppers, ginger, delicata squash, cabbage, green beans, garlic, and shallots. All staying nice and fresh in the new store cooler.
With May and warm weather right around the corner we will be starting the weekly Saturday farm tours next week at 1:00 PM. Tickets are now available online for the May and June tour dates.
That's it for this week, thinks spring grass!
Cliff, Anna, and the Farm Team