New Year Announcement

written by

posted on

January 1, 2024

We want to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year! And... We have a big announcement that we have been "holding under our hats".

But first...As I sit here reflecting back on 2023, I am remembering a year of unbelievable challenges and unanticipated blessings.

"Do not fear, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10 summarizes well why I can be confident as I enter 2024.

Opening our on-farm butcher shop in September 2022 has been both a challenge and a blessing. The challenges of finding qualified butchers were very unexpected. Thankfully, God supplied the need of someone to do are grinding and packaging. This freed us up to concentrate on processing customers carcasses. In January of 2023 we embarked on the journey of hiring two butchers from Africa. Unbeknownst to us, the process would be very slow. As of this writing, we are still waiting for their VISAs to be approved. But, we know that God works on His own timetable. In September, He brought us a young lady who wanted to learn meat cutting. Her joining our team allowed Larry to return to working with the animals which is his passion.

We also headed into our fifth year of attending the Grande Prairie Farmers Market as vendors, where we are able to connect with folks in our community who care about where their food comes from and want to "support local." We have been overwhelmed and humbled by all of you who have went out of your way to support our farm.

It has been a privilege to provide you the opportunity to purchase locally grown and produced grass-fed and finished beef and lamb, pasture/forest raised pork and free-range eggs from animals we have put our hearts and souls into raising. 2023 also saw two local stores start carrying our sauerkraut and kombucha.

We have been blessed in 2020 to connect with so many people who are committed to building a resilient local community. We are committed to serving you well by doing our best to raise food that you can confidently feed your family, food that is safe, local and convenient. Foods that help contribute to the health of our bodies, farming practices that regenerate our precious soil and rebuild our local economies.

When the challenges of daily life start to become overwhelming to me, I think about Isaiah 41:10 and ask myself:

What is my purpose?
What have I been called to do?
What challenges do I face?
How did I overcome them?
What am I grateful for?
How can I be a blessing to the people around me?

I know that I can't affect change in the world at large, but I can live the change I want to see right where I am.

NOW for that announcement!

We have been working on a "Subscribe & Save" program for a while now. We are pleased beyond imagination to announce that the program will be going live on January 5th (just in time for our first Farmers Market of 2023 on January 12th).

The program is designed with our loyal customers in mind. We wanted a way to "reward" our loyal customers. Our "Subscribe & Save" program does just that. When you opt-in to the program at the checkout you will receive a 5% discount plus a free item valued at $10+. You can learn more about "Subscribe & Save"" here.

We hope you love this program as much as we do.

Warm wishes from our Family,
Sue

Are you Absolutely Satisfied with Store-Bought Pork?

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY PORK DISHES ALWAYS HAVE SO MANY SWEET SAUCES ON THEM? For many years this question never crossed my mind. Until we started raising and eating our own pasture-raised pork. But what lead us to start raising pigs? Neither Larry nor I had much experience with pigs growing up. We started our married life buying all our pork in the grocery store, but then switched to sourcing it from a neighboring conventional pork producer. We were not aware that most of the pork that is available in the grocery stores comes from pigs that have never seen the light of day. They spend their whole life crowded into huge hog barns. They are fed an industry standard diet of grain with no green, living food at all. They are crowded into small spaces with many other pigs where their natural ability to move is restricted. Much to our surprise and horror, we discovered that the neighbor we were purchasing our pork from was raising them no differently than what we could get in the store. At that time, little did we know that eventually Larry would face a digestive issue from this type of pork. After certain meals he would feel sick to the stomach and end up with diarrhea. It got so bad before we clued into the cause. When we quit eating pork these issues went away. Now we had a dilemma. We really like pork but couldn’t eat it anymore. Being the DIY homesteaders we were back in those days we decided to buy a couple little pigs and raise them ourselves. We knew that we didn’t want to raise them in a barn. So outside they went. These were the happiest pigs I ever saw. They were free to roam around their pasture, rooting in the soil and wallowing in the mud while searching for whatever they thought was tasty to eat. We fed them grains from a neighbor, kitchen scraps and milk from our milk cow. When they were big enough to harvest, we sent them to the processor, not knowing if we would even be able to eat this pork. Much to our delight Larry had no adverse reaction to the meat. It was delicious! The meat was firm, not mushy like barn raised pork. It also had a richness to it that we had never experienced before. No more bland and flavorless conventional pork for us. No sauces required! We thought that we couldn’t be the only people who had experienced something similar and wished for a pleasurable eating experience. This success started us on a new farming adventure, raising pastured pork for sale. Encouraged by the success we had with our first pigs we decided to purchase our breeding herd. We have tried many breeds of pigs over the years and have settled on the Berkshire breed. They are a heritage pig that matures slower thus producing an excellent quality meat and the best lard fat that I think you can get. I have heard it said that Berkshire pork is the gold standard of pork among chefs. Besides that, they are very personable and entertaining to have around! And mischievous. I truly believe from our personal experience that all animals that we raise for food need to be able to live in conditions that are natural for them and have the ability to express their God-given characteristics. When we domesticated animals, we became responsible to steward them well. We strive to do just this with all our animals. One of my favorite cuts of pork is the Boston Butt Roast. It is juicy, tender, melt-in-your mouth meat. This is the cut that pulled-pork is made from. It is an economical cut that we also use to make ground pork and our special gluten-free, nitrate-free sausages. When you purchase our pasture-raised pork you will experience what real pork should taste like. We offer a variety of options when it comes to purchasing our pasture-raised pork. Individual cuts to suit your needs. Pork Chops, Traditional salt-cured and smoked ham and bacon, Whole Tenderloin, Boston Butt Roasts, Ground Pork, Breakfast Sausages (Nitrate-free, Sugar-free and Filler-free). Coming soon! Our "1/4 Pork Bundle." Our newest addition to our pastured-pork line-up. This bundle is perfect for a smaller family or if you have limited freezer space. It will consist of a variety of the individual cuts, including Pork Chops, Pork Sirloin Steak, Ham Steak, Bacon, Ground Pork and Sausage. And, last but not least if you want to customize the cuts you receive, we have whole hogs available. You can find all of these options in our online store. Do you want to try my simple Boston Butt Roast recipe? It’s so simple. I place the roast on a rack in my cast-iron dutch-oven. Add a little water. Sprinkle chopped onions on top (I used my home-grown dehydrated onions) salt and pepper. Roast until the internal temperature reaches 160F. I slice it and serve with apple sauce, oven roasted potatoes and a veggie. You can purchase our pasture-raised pork from our online store or from us at the Grande Prairie Farmers Market on Fridays or Saturdays.

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