Greetings Friends, Family, and Neighbors!
We hope you're enjoying this interesting winter we're having in our uncertain climate. There seems to be a lot of confusion out there but one thing is certain: food is medicine! What can compare to hot chicken soup when we have the sniffles or a cup of bone broth when it's cold and wet outside? Not only does it make us "feel good to eat good," but it also helps us to care for the land and our sovereignty as human beings.
With the help of our community and the earth, we had a very successful and educational last season. We sold out all our maple syrup by the end of the summer, grew 500 broilers, maintained our laying flock of 70 hens, raised some young lambs on pasture, raised pigs with our neighbors next door, grew a lot of tomatoes and peppers, expanded to four bee hives, and grew almost a year's supply of vegetables. We usually try to keep to our rule of only adding one new species per year, but last year we learned how to raise and care for both lambs and pigs. So this year we are really looking forward to learning how to raise and care for only one: a tiny human!
Anneke and I are trying to plan our season to accommodate the needs of our new family member, which include building larger accommodations. Our goal is to have the new timber frame lifted up on June 17th and closed in before next winter. We hope this winter decides to show up soon, so we can cut down the trees we'll need to build before the sap flow starts and we're busy boiling syrup.
We know! Lots of things are happening; that's why we're asking you to help us. The biggest thing you can do is think about how much chicken and pork you eat per year and buy a share in our Meat Membership CSA. Our meat will only be available through advance-purchased CSA shares from now on. We will be offering chicken and pork in half and full shares, with options for either whole animals or cuts. You may also want to split a share with a friend if you don't cook very often. This way we will know exactly how much food to grow for you, and your deposits will help us pay for the animals and feed. Because we focus on quality rather than quantity, there are a limited amount of animals we can care for and harvest respectfully, so please understand if the shares sell out.
The next thing you can do is seriously consider buying a chest freezer if you don't have one already. There are all sorts of sizes to fit different spaces, and they don't cost very much to run. This helps us in two ways: we don't have to buy more freezers to hold stock, and we don't have to make as many deliveries that take us away from the farm. Trust us, it will change how you eat, and you'll enjoy knowing there's a bunch of goodies waiting for when you get hungry.
Our plan is do one big crop of chickens in late summer that will be ready in October and to harvest pork starting in November. I will be sending out links for two Google forms shortly so that you can choose your shares and options.
On the sweet side, our maple syrup will be available for purchase sometime this spring; once it's all bottled and ready I'll be sure to let you know. Same goes for the honey; Anneke has been working a lot with our lady bees, and if they make it through the winter we hope to harvest enough honey this summer to share with you all.
The laying hens are back at it after they took their winter solstice rest, so there are plenty of eggs available roadside in front of 432 Watson Hollow Rd. in West Shokan, NY 12494. The cooler will be out from about 9am to 6pm daily.
Last but not least, our digital presence has been updated with a new website at our old address, These emails will be kept there as blog posts for you to revisit in the future. Many thanks to our new neighbor Kyle at Atticus Farm for his help with the website.
Thank you all for your support.
Pax,
Alex and Anneke
