Market News

Spring and Fall are, no doubt, our busiest seasons on the farm. Things are happening faster than I can get the words on paper to share.

First of all, an update on our sick cow baby (Anand) – the Krsna Balarama Village I discovered recently has an objective of being a cow sanctuary (funny how God puts things in your path right when you need them!). So, I gifted our sick baby to the village and now he gets one on one care. Sick cow babies are a rarity on our farm so I was exhausting myself trying to find an answer to the dilemma only to learn there are so many variables and there is little chance I will be able to pinpoint the exact reason. But, just like the perfect timing of the Krsna Village in my life, God has been putting so many other people in my path that led me to learn and discover so much during Anand’s journey and, for that I am extremely thankful. Anand (meaning Happiness in Hindu) is extra precious to me as I have been wanting a Gyr / Nadudana cross since I discovered the breed in 2011 – yes, I have been waiting for this for 13 years and, after four months of age – this precious baby got sick.

It started with a simple cold easily cured with a dose of antibiotics but soon turned into pneumonia with a 20% chance of survival and, if he survives, he will have permanent joint damage! So heart breaking : ( But, the Indians know this cow (he is, after all, an Indian cow) and have assured me that cattle in much worse condition than his have been healed and survived to live long, happy lives. In their care at the sanctuary, Anand receives visitors who spend time with him, pray for him and bring him treats and donate money toward his special needs. If you would like to read more, here is the link posted by the village after he arrived: https://www.kbvill.com/post/anand-s-journey-day-1.

With Anand at the sanctuary I was able to refocus on the 200+ animals that still needed me back at the farm (though I still visit Anand weekly). We are currently caring for 50 new chickens that will grow into meat birds shortly before Christmas. We also turned another 25 new juvenile chicks out onto the pasture to join another egg laying flock so they can follow suit and continue producing those nice flavorful eggs that attract people as far as 6 hrs away to our farm. And, finally, we have lamb in stock – check out the market page and, if interested, don’t hesitate as people started showing up as soon as we arrived back at the farm from the processor. We, ourselves pulled out a package of stew meat and when we had lamb stew for dinner that night it was mouth watering – I had forgotten how delicious and flavorful it is (imagine that!). We are still waiting for our pork to come back – apparently we are one of the few who ordered non-MSG sausage so, they had to special order that spice and it is taking longer than we hoped. But, good things are worth waiting for – right!

We are at the end of the high productive egg season. In the lull of things, we have decided to change up our egg distribution. We are now going to deliver to your door – eggs and anything else you order from our market page. We have newly stocked honey, canned goods, and we bake fresh Thurs – Sat. Closer to Christmas, we will have boxes of cookies and special wrapped cakes and honey dressed up with Christmas flare ready to give to your friends/family. The order must be a min. of $100 and the delivery address must be within 50 miles of the farm. If your order meets those requirements, you can get delivery to your door (there will also be a $5 handling fee added to your order). Just make sure to give us a day’s notice and note “delivery” in the comments when you place your order.

We have a short window of nice weather and the newly built back deck of the Farm Lounge is just the perfect place to sit and sip on a hot beverage and fill your belly with good food and your heart with relaxing farm sounds/vibes. Much to do but I will most always make time for a face to face visit.
Remember, God is good!

Take care!
Sandra

Recipes

Share your recipes with us on the Recipes tab of this site. We’d all love to know how you prepare your Locally Grown products so we can try it too! If you want to know how to cook something not listed, just message us and we will add it along with tips we’ve learned over the years of harvesting and preparing farm fresh foods.

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Market News

Good morning!
I say this all the time and, here it goes again – it’s been too long since my last e-news! Born to an author, I am a writer at heart but, I also love so much more which keeps me away from the computer and in the farm fields and in our farm lounge. And, I also love people – anyone who knows me will tell you I will talk and share with just about anyone. I don’t understand those who turn away opportunities to interact with others because when I do it, it brings so much awareness and enhancement to my life. For example, I recently discovered Bonton Farms. It was amazing!! And, how did it happen??.. a young man called me asking questions which turned into a 15 minute conversation because if you ask me a question, I will give you all the answers I have. At the end of the conversation, the young man thanked me and told me he had called 12 others farms before reaching me and they all politely closed the door (or hung up the phone, rather) without offering much help. I told him it was my pleasure and explained that is simply who I am and what we are about. And, I live this philosophy on our farm too which is why we are creating FLAG on the Farm (Fellowship Learning And Growing… on the farm) and the Farm Lounge will be the designated place for these FLAG activities/gatherings. David and I are building this 1800 s.f. center by ourselves – no contractors, no bank loans, no grants :(. It is all coming out of the sweat of our brow and the (now very thin) lining in our pockets. So, because of this it is slow coming (we have been at this for a little over a year) and we ask you to be soft on criticism and bear with us as we are gradually opening even before it is fully finished. Many times I can’t believe it is happening – and it all started when Dad said “Buy a farm” 13 years ago – he was right, we were outgrowing our little Lucas farm!

Amidst construction, the farm is still top priority. We are a few weeks away from stocking our freezers with pork and lamb adding that to our already stocked beef in our farm store freezers. And, that is just our meat section on our market page. You can shop our market via this site anytime and we will get our available products to you. There is also a new button on the home page where you can reserve a farm tour – click the button and come out and see the farm in person. Bring a lunch or reserve a lunch – eat in the Farm Lounge or out on the field with the animals. Let us know what kind of experience you would like so we can oblige.
Experiences are wonderful!! My recent experiences have been:
* Bonton Farms where I learned about a small farm in Dallas that is bringing hope to a deprived community.
* Krsna Balarama Village just 15 minutes from me that aims to grow vegetables without irrigation. They love the land and they love cattle so much so that when they heard I had a sick calf, they came with a pre-blessed fresh flower garland for our little precious baby.
* Ecovillages in Portland, Oregon where you can live and garden in intentional communities.

There are so many good people doing so many good things revolved around growing and nurturing – a.k.a. farming. And, I always say, that is because the farm changes people. David and I have experienced that transformation (as you may know, we grew up in Chicago – a few dairy cows and chicks in the children’s section of the Chicago zoo was as close to farming we had ever been) and I have seen the change in many others. I recently ran into a family who visited our farm in the past at a festival in McKinney and when the kids saw me, the first thing they asked their dad is if they could go back to our farm even though they were at a fun filled packed festival at the moment. I encourage you to keep visiting and supporting your local farms – it is truly life enhancing. And, if you come by our place, remember, we are the “open door” farm – our gate is open.

Anand (5 mo. old calf pictured) means ‘happiness, joy, bliss.’ Find happiness at a farm anyday!

Sandra

Recipes

Please, share your recipes with us on the website, on the Recipes tab. We’d all love to know how you use your Locally Grown products, so we can try it too!

Other Area Farmers Markets