A TIMELY ARRIVAL!!!

Sadie keeps a watchful eye on her new baby girl. She waited until the rain came, giving the fields a good bath, with the weather cooling, for a more comfortable birth. Smart girl...... MORE MILK!!!! We may be able to lift the milk limit if Sasha decides to share her momma with us. Fall has finally decided to arrive, and none too soon. The much anticipated rain, even though just a drop in the bucket, was a welcome blessing. The Farmer had tried to plow the strawberry field in preparation for the October planting and the plow just bounced across the top of the parched ground. As the strawberry plants will arrive in a couple of weeks, with another rain expected this week, we should be able to prepare the beds in time to plant. Lots of new faces in the market, as the Buy From Your Local Farmer concept is taking hold. The crisp, cool, fall weather has snapped us out of the summer duldrums, and we are getting the market shelves stocked up for the coming season. The caramel apple sticks are on order! The Farmer and Son got the walk in cooler put together and running, just in time to salvage a good portion of the onions and potatoes from this years harvest. As the grasshoppers have wreaked havoc on our fall planting, and our fall harvest will be somewhat limited to what we are able to grow under the protection of the greenhouses, we have scouted around for some local farmers to share and trade with, that have been able to grow a few crops this fall. We hit pay dirt. Will have a little produce here and there. The common denominators in all of the farms are the hoop houses, like ours. With just a little protection from the outside elements, crops will thrive. Our hoophouse fall peppers and tomatoes are stellar! Hints have been dropped to the Farmer, that one or two more may be needed next year. The goat milk supply is plentiful. The blank shooting buck episode, turned out to be a Godsend. What a fluke! We will have milk throughout the winter, and into the next year, breeding a group of girls this fall to pick up any slack next Spring when the current milkers slow down a bit. With another cow due to freshen in a few weeks, and a new arrival from the Diamond B Cattle Company in October, butter may be on the horizon! MARKET HOURS: Friday and Saturday from noon until 4:00 PM. Special appointments can be made for dairy pickup throughout the week. From our farmstead to your table, thank you for all of your support!!!

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT....RAW MEANS RAW!!!

There is a new fandangled way they are abusing precious raw milk to satisfy.....I am not sure who it is meant to satisfy. It is called low temperature pasteurization. In the first place, pasteurization is just that, at whatever temperature you do it. Supposedly the milk is HEATED to 145 degrees and held for a period of time. For all those who are unaware at what temperature all of the good enzymes and bacteria are destroyed, it happens to be at 114 degrees! That is quite a stretch from 145.  All of the low temp advocates are claiming that the milk still has the raw milk benefits without the potential hazard. POPPYCOCK!!! This is just a way to market milk to consumers that are under the impression that they are getting something that is more wholesome and nutritious than what they may be buying in the grocery store. Milk cannot be almost raw, just the same as a person cannot be almost alive. It either is or isn't. You would be just as well off to save yourself the hassle of searching to buy low temperature pasteurized milk, by going to the grocery store and buying milk from the dairy section. I am sure it will be a lot less expensive. Or you can make a trip to a certified grade A raw milk dairy and get the really good stuff! Wish they would leave well enough alone, and not add confusion to the back to the basics food movement. Who comes up with these ideas? From our farmstead to your table, thank you for all of your support!!!