I guess I should start this Newsletter off with long time no see, but that would really be an understatement. Life threw us many, many curveballs which in turn made everything crazy. Even now as I type this, I’m fighting sickness. Instead of going through a drawn out explanation of why we’ve been so silent, I’ll just say that we are working our way back and we thank you for hanging in there while we’ve been gone. This newsletter will be on the longer side, so I thank you in advance for reading to the end.

How in the world did it get to be 2025 already?!? It’s crazy how fast time goes. Joshua who was 9 when we moved to this area is now 18 and will be graduating high school in May. We came to Alabama with mostly teenagers and now everyone except him is grown and on their own. Not to mention that fact that we have grandkids who are also growing up so quickly.

Brandon and I have often talked about what we would do when we got to the point where we were empty nesters and although I doubt Joshua is going anywhere anytime soon, the thought of how close we are to it is crazy. 

We are both grateful that we’ve been able to give them this farm life. Thankful that each one of them have been out on the farm helping to grow their own food. Thankful that they find value in “shopping” with their parents (which is actually me packing bags of produce and meats for them to take home). Grateful that they understand the work that goes into farming organic and appreciate the food that has been produced from it.

To be completely transparent, the farm life has been a struggle this past year. Really if I am being brutally honest, it’s probably been the past 2 years since we lost our oldest son. Growing food and taking care of animals has felt like more of a burden than something we love. We’ve had many disappointments, sadness, and at times felt very defeated. I even questioned my ability to grow something as simple as radishes!

This is not something we talk about everyday with you guys. Actually it’s not even something that we share really at all. Instead I’ll say things like “the highs and lows of farming.”

When we post it’s mostly happy times or pretty pictures, but farming is hard! When you lose crops, and you have to scramble for back ups. When the weather does crazy things (like now). When new pests decimate your farm, or you’re spending so much that breaking even is something to be laughed at let alone making a profit…..it becomes stressful! When you lose a farm animal or production is low, but there is no money to scale up, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel and you sometimes want to give up. We’ve been trying to smile through it, but it has really affected our joy and for me, my ability to post or provide updates on a regular basis.

I’ve watched the big farmers. Those who collect government subsidies, while they allow their corn to dry up in the field. I’ve seen the crop dusters out there spraying entire fields and I think I don’t want to eat that! I don’t want my family to eat that. I don’t want my friends or our community to eat that. I’ve seen how some are able to thrive on what they call a family farm, but really they are ordering produce from other counties, and sometimes states. It frustrates me that my family works hard to grow and produce real food, but are constantly questioned or looked down on by some.

Then we have CSA members who renew, and those who have been with us since the beginning, comments we get from people about how wonderful our chicken is, the thanks we get for raising excellent pork, and people who tell us how much they love our eggs. We have those who were raised on a farm and they get it. They know what goes into all that we do and they appreciate it. Words of encouragement from fellow farmers and help from them when needed. Then top it off with the fact that we are customers too. We even have people where the only meat they eat comes from our farm, and that is HUGE! We have to do this!

Reflecting on these things provides me fuel to keep growing. To not beat myself up over the setbacks and failures. There will be always be setbacks. There will always be failures, but to know that we are on the right track is what matters.

I’ve been sick since the end of December, so a whole month. At first I was too sick to do anything, but then I as I started to get stronger I decided to use that time as I was laying in the bed to start researching, crunching numbers, looking at this food desert that we live in and thinking about what our farm does well and what we can do better.

I’m just one person. A small farmer who wants to do things the right way. but I can do just that. Farm the right way and for us that looks like poultry and pork that eats grass first. Then we supplement them with organic garden goodies and feed. It looks like vegetables and fruit that is grown without chemicals and it also means that we have to accept some failures, but those failures doesn’t make us a failure. 

So this year we will be implementing changes. Starting with our hogs. Very soon we will be sending our hogs to a local USDA processor. This will allow for those of you who have been contacting us for cuts to get them without purchasing the whole hog. Of course the best value is in securing a whole or half hog, (look for this listing in Spring) but we want to fulfill a need that many of you are asking for.

Additionally, we are expanding our vegetable production. We have purchased and will be installing drip irrigation once the weather clears. This will give us back the time we spend watering and allow that time to be better used elsewhere.

We are in the process of trialing one permanent garden bed. If all goes well, the plan is to invest in and switch out our current wooden raised beds for permanent ones. It’s a big expense upfront, but will keep us from replacing the wooden ones.

After the Fall season of Kith & Kin CSA ended I realized just how defeated I was. Hawkins Homestead Farm has always just been us, our family, but we see the need to take some things off our plate which will allow us to grow without being overwhelmed. So we will soon be looking to add a part time farm hand to our farm family. I’ve prayed about this, researched, looked at where we are versus where we need to be, and I believe that we can make these changes happen and more.

So this is where you come in. Yes, you! We are planning to pray and plant each step of the way, to pray for the wisdom to care for our animals well and the knowledge to carry it out, but we need your support to make our hard work worth the effort. We don’t know what this year will bring. We have no idea what challenges we’re up against, but we know that we are going to keep our heads held high and our standards higher!

On our main page, you know the one with the big rooster. When you scroll down, there is a donation tab for those of you who live far away and want to support us. For everyone who lives locally, consider purchasing our meats, joining our CSA, grabbing those cookies from Josh, our bath and body line or even bookmarking our shop page so you can see what we have to offer throughout the seasons.

Now I know that recently some of you have contacted us for produce, eggs, and meats that we’ve had to turn away. I get it. I’ve seen the meat recalls, the egg shortages, and I understand that when the grocery stores are out, people tend to look elsewhere, but shouldn’t it be the other way around? Without farmers, where does the food come from? We’d love to be your first choice! I was speaking to someone today and explaining to them that it’s almost like farmers don’t exist in the Winter. So we grow enough for our family and that’s basically it. Let’s change that!

Granted, we can’t supply food for everyone, and please don’t misunderstand, we wanted to say yes, but we will always prioritize our family, those who have purchased a subscription such as our Kith & Kin memberships, customers who have reserved our meats, and those who are our loyal regular customers first. So if you don’t see it on our shop page, we are not currently offering it.

With that being said I take full responsibility for my lack of posting so I understand the flood of calls, emails, text messages, and contacts on social media, but going forward we will be back to business as usual. So please stay close to our social pages and look for monthly updates here. Maybe sooner.

Thank you for hanging in there until the end. I want to personally thank you for being the best part of Hawkins Homestead Farm and I will chat with you soon. Until then……