Fall Turkeys!

It’s the end of November and that means it’s turkey time! We know that most of you only eat turkey once a year, but on our farm we harvest turkeys throughout the year for our family.

If you follow us on Facebook you may have seen some of these images below where Brandon harvested a turkey for our family and grounded some of it into ground turkey. Also shown are the packages of turkey breasts and wings we marinated and froze. In addition to this he smoked turkey legs which also went to the freezer.

This meat gave us the ability to eat clean food we raised and processed ourselves. Our goal is to eat meats raised solely from our farm. If it’s something we don’t produce, we look to support others that we know and trust. We know that having access to this type of food is important to you as well. That’s why many of you shop with us. 

This week as we harvest birds, some of them will also be processed further into meals our family can eat for months to come. By Alabama law we cannot sell anything other than a whole bird, but if you’re interested in purchasing a turkey for Spring, now is the time. Just as we taught you how you could stretch a whole chicken, we are happy to help you see that you can do the same with turkeys.

Every year our Fall turkeys go quick! We post what we have left after preorders in the Summer. Then once deposits are made, the birds are gone! We are writing this post in hopes that someone who missed out on Fall turkeys this year will get on the list for the next one. We also want you all to know that we will have turkeys in the Spring as well. You can ground, roast, fry, barbecue, slow cook, or whatever your heart desires.

So if you’re ready to place an order for Spring or you would like to be added to the list for next year. Please specify and click here

For the Spring you will be invoiced for the deposit. For 2020 Fall turkeys, we will add you to the list and then invoice you in the Summer for your deposit.

As always we thank you for supporting our local family farm and we hope to hear from you soon.

“Where’s the Meat?”

Well it’s been a while since I’ve posted about our meatbirds. It’s actually been a while since we’ve taken new orders, but now that we’re into Farmers Market Season I’m going to take this opportunity to catch you guys up on what’s been happening on the farm and let you know that we are back in action with our birds.

For the past few months we’ve been busy catching up on back chicken orders. During this time, Brandon (husband) fractured his foot, we were under hawk attacks, and so MUCH more.

Im glad to say that it’s all over, but with farming you just never know what’s going to happen.  In addition to our chickens, we also had some turkeys that went to harvest. Of course we kept some for ourselves and Brandon did an excellent job of making sure we had our very own pasture raised organic ground turkey for the freezer. If you want to reserve your turkey, now is the time!

As you guys know we’ve also been growing fresh organic produce for our Kith & Kin CSA members. With the CSA Spring season coming to an end this month, we’ve switched our focus and have been working hard to bulk up our flocks for the Summer. This is our busiest time for new customers, so we try to stay “chicken ready.”

It was our goal to be on schedule before the hot Summer months came in, but the “Summer” came in Spring this year. Which also threw us off. Couple that with zero rain and our stress levels went through the roof. We joked about how early we were getting up each day, but it was mandatory to keep the gardens and the animals alive.

There are quite a few projects going on here with the chickens and so we find ourselves out late into the night as well. The mosquitoes at night are relentless, but we fight back with our bug repellent. I’m truly thankful for knowledgeable friends and research. Now our family won’t go outside to work on the farm without spraying ourselves down with this alcohol and chemical free option.

So if you’re looking to purchase chicken from us, you can do so in a variety of ways:

  1. Use our contact page. Here you can detail how many birds you would like to reserve. We will then let you know when the birds are scheduled to be harvested. After which you will be invoiced.
  2. Order from the shop page. You will only see what we have on hand, but this is great for those who need a chicken now.
  3. Come see us at one of the markets we attend. We plan to have chicken for each event and you will get to choose from what we have available. State Farmers Market rules state the birds must be frozen, but they are always harvested fresh to order. If you don’t already, be sure to follow our Facebook page for our whereabouts.

The birds are priced direct at $6.00/lb. When purchased online, there is a weight range, hence the price difference.

You may order one or as many as you like, but if you’re looking to purchase bulk orders of chicken please let us know and we will provide you wholesale prices for orders of 10 or more birds.

If have questions on how our birds are raised or what they eat you can find the answers here.

As always we’re open for additional questions so feel free to reach out to us. Talk with you soon!

 

 

 

Education- “no added hormones”

To continue our series that was originally posted in the Market at Dothan weblog we want to share with you information this week about “no added hormones.” This information was originally changed and edited before being published. It is being shared to our website today in its original state without editing. It is taken from our own research, FACTS, and knowledge of the poultry industry.

No added hormones” So what does that even mean? Why would poultry be labeled as having no added hormones? 

FACT: It’s illegal in the United States for poultry to be given hormones. Whenever these labels are placed on poultry, it is then required for them to say something to the effect of how the use of hormones isn’t allowed in poultry. There is usually a star or a marker for you to read and follow the fine print. 

So why the label? Really it’s a farce! It makes it SEEM like one company or grower has an advantage over another, BUT it’s a marketing strategy! Educated consumers know that no chickens are given hormones! So please don’t be fooled! 

I will be the first to tell you that before researching this we had our chickens labeled as steroid free, but as we became educated we realized this was not necessary because of the laws governing chicken in the United States.  

I know what you’re thinking….why the super chickens? You know those whose legs are huge and the chicken breast is bigger than the entire chicken. It’s called confinement and targeted nutrition. Remember from our last post, chickens are omnivores. They will eat just about anything they can find or are given.

Let’s illustrate it this way. If a chicken is housed with 20,000 of its friends, given a diet that mostly consists of genetically modified corn, and they don’t have much if any room to move around, they can be marketed and labeled as “vegetarian fed” with “no added hormones.” Is that what you want to eat and feed your family?!?! NOPE! That is not for us! I’m sure that, that is not for any of you either, or else you wouldn’t be here! 

In the end we just want you to be educated. Anyone can slaughter a chicken and sell it. They can use creative marketing that looks like something you want, but the facts are that not everything that looks good, is! 

Next time we will share with you our article on “cage free.”

Education- “vegetarian fed”

We recently started an educational series on our weblog for The Market at Dothan and since we feel this information is SO important we also wanted to share it on our website. This will allow us to say what we feel is necessary for education without it being censored, changed, or edited. The statements made are our views along with FACTS taken from research and knowledge from our own experience.

Today we want to talk to you about poultry labels. Brandon and I were recently in the more upscale market in our area and we saw poultry that was listed as “vegetarian fed.” Not just any poultry, but the fancy kind with the fancy price tag. Well anyone looking at these labels may think these birds are worth the extra money. They may think they should purchase them…..BUT SHOULD THEY?!? We hope by educating you as the consumer, we are helping you to choose wisely! Not everything that looks good is! 

FACT: Chickens no matter what breed they are love to be chickens. They are omnivores and if provided with an environment that allows them to be chickens their natural instincts kick in. They are not vegetarians! They love bugs of all sorts and will actively search for them.

44FE91A4-7F48-45FC-8C1F-0749FBA06A29.jpegIn the above photo, you have our chickens digging through the compost pile.

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In these photos you have our chickens actively searching for food. So whether you’re raising hens or meat birds of all sorts, chickens will eat what they can find.

Of course we feed our chickens a 100% certified organic feed. It is verified by the Non-GMO project and keeps them healthy and strong. We buy it in bulk and make sure that they’re getting the BEST feed. Their first choice is always whatever they can find, but they love their feed and so do we! What they’re fed and how they are raised is what matters to us. We want to give them the best life so they can produce quality meat and eggs.

Next week we will continue in this series and talk to you guys about “no added hormones.”

Organic Turkeys!

Recently there have been so many food scares in the news, that have many people asking is there really anything safe to eat?

If you’re a person who supports local farms and access to clean food than you will be as excited to learn as we are to tell you that we’re raising organic turkeys!! We kind of leaked the information on our Facebook page, but this is our official announcement!

We had hoped to have the turkeys ready for November, but Hurricane Michael had other plans. It definitely set us back, but since we couldn’t change it we just rolled with it.

Besides chicken, turkey is something that we eat a lot of around here. This was a natural progression for us because it allowed our farm to provide another organic protein source for everyone.

Its has been a long road and as always, we researched, asked questions, and found what worked for us. When trying something new, there is ALWAYS a learning curve and experiences that you just have to go through. One big hurdle for us was finding a source for a quality organic non-GMO feed. Turkeys require a much higher protein than chickens, so lots of phone calls were made along with some extra car miles, but in the end we found a wonderful feed source and are very proud of how we’ve been raising them.

When you can sustainably raise an animal on grass, clean organic produce, and a high quality feed, the meat is just wonderful. This is something that we’ve been looking forward to with these turkeys.

When you think of us, we want you to think outside the box. Yes turkeys are for roasting, but what else could you do with a whole turkey? Just think ground turkey, turkey cutlets, smoked turkey legs, freshly sliced turkey for sandwiches, grilled turkey, turkey burgers, plus more.

It is our goal to have these available year round. So if you’d like to reserve a turkey for your family, now is the time!

So make your deposit on our shop page and we will handle the rest.

What do you mean you’re sold out?!?

When you’re growing food or raising it, there is always a time period that our supplies get low or we may even sell out. Yes I said it..sold out! WHY?

Well there are many reasons, but I’m going to give you the top two for us.

As a small farm, we only grow what’s in season. This means that as the seasons change, our vegetables will too.

With our organic chickens, time is of the essence! We don’t rush our birds and they aren’t force fed. They eat what they want, when they want. So they simply take time to grow. We boost our numbers in the Spring and Summer to account for Farmers Markets and new customers, but once they’re sold out we have to wait for the next batch to grow.

The good news is that if you purchase from us, you know that you’re getting the very best that we have to offer. Your organic produce has been cared for without the use of chemicals and your chickens have enjoyed their life.

So right now as the seasons change over and the birds are growing, we ask that you’re patient with us and any other farmers you support. We are working hard to make sure you have all that we can offer you for the next season.

Please know that although we may not have very much organic produce right now, we do have herbs like basil in abundance, plus we’re making pesto, salsa, and canning pear jams to extend the tastes of Spring and Summer along with our organic bone broth kits. Find all of these on our Shop Page.

We appreciate all of you and we thank you in advance!

Meat Birds

Who doesn’t love chicken?!?! We don’t know of anyone! Roasted, fried, grilled, pan seared, chicken is excellent whatever way you prepare it. We happen to think our chicken is exceptionally good and we hope you do too.

Our meatbirds are sold direct to our customers and we harvest to order so our meat is always fresh. We hope you try some soon!

Contact us for more information.

Backyard BBQ

It’s that time of year when everyone cooks out. Yes it’s really HOT, but who wants to pass up BBQ chicken, potato salad, and a cool glass of homemade lemonade? Not us!! So how about grabbing some fresh organic chicken, slicing it down the middle, and throwing it on the grill with your favorite sauce? Mouth watering?!? Ours too!

Our chicken grills up tender and delicious! We’ve even got you covered on the lemonade. What a wonderful way to feed your family in a healthy and sustainable manner, while enjoying some comfort food!

Contact us today to reserve your whole bird. We’ll be waiting for you!

New Pricing!

As of June 30, 2018, we will be streamlining our direct from farm prices across the board. Some of you may have noticed this change in our pricing structure already. We initially thought that pricing our birds at a flat rate would be a better option, but with the rising cost of organic feed, we are finding the expense is too great. We believe this will be beneficial to everyone going forward. Our new direct pricing is as follows:

Whole Organic Chickens: $6/lb

Small/Medium Eggs: $4/Dozen

Large Eggs: $5/Dozen

Jumbo Eggs: $6/Dozen

18 Count Eggs: $7

30 Count Mixed Flat: $15

Chicken Livers: $5/lb

Chicken Feet: $7/lb

Chicken Gizzards and Hearts: $5/lb

Due to this pricing structure we can no longer offer our whole chicken through The Market. All whole chicken sales will be direct only.

Please call, message through our Facebook page, or email your order through our contact page.

Announcements will be made for Harvest Days and our birds can be reserved in advance.

You can continue to place orders for all our other products through our shop page:

Thank you for the support your families have given ours. We appreciate every single order, big or small. We are proud that we are able to keep our standards high and provide clean quality food for everyone and we hope to continue to do so for a long time to come.