Monday, December 28, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Regarding regrets
Thank you all for visiting our blog! I am so sorry to inform you that we are all sold out of turkeys and pork at this time. It has recently come to my knowledge that we are in the Minneapolis St Paul Magazine this month and so I am sure we are going to get some visitors to this blog (which my the way, is not getting the attention it needs from me because my camera is broken and photos are what keep me blogging). Please send me an email so I can get you on our list for next year. Although April is early to begin thinking TURKEY it is when we begin taking orders and accepting deposits. Just think, you can reserve your heritage bird in April and all your thoughts can be clear until November! Rest assured your bird is in good hands and will be ready for you to do what you will with... I will be sending out an email regarding the birds and our pick up drop off plans in April and, again, would love for you to be on our list. We will be increasing our numbers slightly next year but only to about 50 as we believe that they should be raised humanely and any more than that would make us sacrifice some of our qualities which include things like roosting space and barn space (which played a huge hand during the flooding this year). We know that we are raising a quality product and are unwilling to sacrifice quality for quantity. We also want you to recognize that in ways of quality is our "quality of life" that we deserve as farmers and the turkeys deserve as our livestock. We strive on keeping everything manageable.
On another quality of life note, we had a generous gentleman order a turkey from us with the request that we give it to a family in need and send him the bill. If this is something that you would ever wish to do we would be most gracious to partake in that order. Perhaps you would like to donate a certain amount towards their turkey but cannot make the entire order, we will work that out amongst folks that are willing to donate. If everybody this year were to offer an additional $10 we could've served about 5 families with a great turkey and will increasing our numbers to 50 birds next year we would do even more. Just something to think about. We will also join in the fund and then we can all feel that much better about the meals we are eating.
As we grow a certain amount of vegetables here we are also thinking about offering a Thanksgiving package which would include things like sage, potatoes, garlic, and other common Thanksgiving amenities. If this sounds good to you, we would love some feed back. Thank you for visiting our blog and please, drop us an email so that we can get in touch with you early next year!
On another quality of life note, we had a generous gentleman order a turkey from us with the request that we give it to a family in need and send him the bill. If this is something that you would ever wish to do we would be most gracious to partake in that order. Perhaps you would like to donate a certain amount towards their turkey but cannot make the entire order, we will work that out amongst folks that are willing to donate. If everybody this year were to offer an additional $10 we could've served about 5 families with a great turkey and will increasing our numbers to 50 birds next year we would do even more. Just something to think about. We will also join in the fund and then we can all feel that much better about the meals we are eating.
As we grow a certain amount of vegetables here we are also thinking about offering a Thanksgiving package which would include things like sage, potatoes, garlic, and other common Thanksgiving amenities. If this sounds good to you, we would love some feed back. Thank you for visiting our blog and please, drop us an email so that we can get in touch with you early next year!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Nature versus Nurture
I have many times chewed the cud about NATURE vs NURTURE and feel that there is no clear line... everything
uses and adapts a little of both to survive. However, Aurelia's 2nd birthday has hit me with a bit of an epiphany... In our house, Hot Pink (which has become a noun in our house since the arrival of Aurelia) is Nature...I do not like Hot Pink, Joey doesn't like Hot Pink, Azure only likes Green and Brown (which have the support of both of us Parents) but Aurelia thinks Hot Pink is Pretty and only Hot Pink is Pretty and she is only interested in Pretty
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
"Bring your Guns to Town, Boys" bonfire
September 19th...kids and parents come at 4 for Azure's birthday- we'll do the ol' fashioned gunny sack races, egg tosses, etc...bonfire for everyone else starts at dusk..BYO...musical instrument. Valet parking available for a million dollar fee...
Sunday, August 16, 2009
The Haps
Well, it has been pretty uneventful here on the prairie. "Everything is comin' around" as I heard a wise man say one time. Our turkeys are growing more and more beautiful seemingly every few days. This morning I let them out of there digs, and as they do every morning, they twit about then gather into their formation, run and take flight for the next 50 feet to the silo where our ducks have a swimming hole and the turkeys frequent. I always wonder why they fly that short distance; our house is on a hill and our outbuildings all lay at the bottom of our hill, so as they could run downhill, they chose to fly...perhaps its for my viewing pleasure. I do look forward to it every morning...it's awesome. I have tried several times to get a photo of it but the justice is never done.
All of our piglets are exquisite and our sows and boars are hopefully doing what they are suppose to be doing, although I haven't been a witness yet. The Poulet Rouge are scroungers...they are now running freely in the coop with my laying hens and are all over the acreage when they are out. I have finally been relieved of recruitment duty. I was having to spend an hour every night teaching them as a mother hen would to go back into the coop at 9 PM. It has been a few nights now and they have all been in when I go to shut them in (what a relief). I am surprised how much food they find around here...when I pick then up I can feel their gullets bulging; good greens etc.
All my ducks are looking good. My Indian Runner ducks are just like Ping (do you know the story). I didn't realize Ping from the Yangtze was a Runner...
Saturday, August 8, 2009
The results are in, folks
The results on Mulefoot yummyness is in...and flooding the nations papers. I have added a couple links (get it) but google them yourself. Also I have added to the right of this a quote on why it's important to eat Mulefoot.
http://www.grit.com/daily-commute/Mulefoot-Pork-Wins-Blind-Taste-Test.aspx
http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2007/06/01/whole-hog-project-so-what-does-mulefoot-taste-/
http://www.grit.com/daily-commute/Mulefoot-Pork-Wins-Blind-Taste-Test.aspx
http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2007/06/01/whole-hog-project-so-what-does-mulefoot-taste-/
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Come and get it...Step right up...Hear Ye
I almost forgot to tell you... Joey, Azure, Aurelia and I have decided to run a HumbleRooted Special. If you reserve your 1/2 or whole Mulefoot by 8/15/09 we will give you a special price of $4/lb live weight. To reserve, we need 1/2 down. If you want more details just contact us...we're here for you!
Monday, July 27, 2009
It's that time of the month
What a relief...we finally got some new area fenced in and rotated our boars and sows, we believe that Mao Feng and Winona will have beautiful babes as Winona has long and curly hair and Mao Feng is physically perfect. We are really interested in what Freya does. Last season we saw her be bred (did I say that correctly and properly- you all know what I mean, right?) but she did not get pregnant. She is an absolutely huge and beautiful gilt with a quiet and calm demeanor and we love her! We really hope she does well this time so we placed her with Mr. Purple, who is the epitome of "Boar". He has long shaggy hair and his tusks are growing larger every week. He is moi handsome and a little rough around the edges (just like many of us like 'em!).
Still have some of Winona's "Litter of Perfection" for sale and they are all doing well and getting big...We are looking at January for processing. Penny's "Magnificent 7" and wonderful, 1.5 week old superstars. The r-u-n-t girlie, AKA "3 point 5", is now5.5 but that doesn't change her name, she'll always be "3 point 5" in my eyes. I can't believe she made it through her first night... We have some awesome sows! Have seen them out in the grass, skiddadle ye! Will update with photos later. This is a link to our kids last year but I like to revisit every once in a while...
For you viewing enjoyment, may I present...
http://www.lundphotog.com/AzureandAurelia/
Still have some of Winona's "Litter of Perfection" for sale and they are all doing well and getting big...We are looking at January for processing. Penny's "Magnificent 7" and wonderful, 1.5 week old superstars. The r-u-n-t girlie, AKA "3 point 5", is now5.5 but that doesn't change her name, she'll always be "3 point 5" in my eyes. I can't believe she made it through her first night... We have some awesome sows! Have seen them out in the grass, skiddadle ye! Will update with photos later. This is a link to our kids last year but I like to revisit every once in a while...
For you viewing enjoyment, may I present...
http://www.lundphotog.com/AzureandAurelia/
Monday, July 20, 2009
Tweets on Turkeys
So it has recently come to my attention that this thang called Twitter is the way to go and so this is for the Twits out there (seriously, what do you call yourself? The post is called a Tweet and the program is called Twitter...anyways, no offense intended).
The Bourbon Red is the new bird...it is an old lovely breed from the South, historically known as Kentucky Reds or Bourbon Butternuts. We chose the Bourbon Red for many logical reasons: it is considered critically rare by the American Livestock Breed Conservator (http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/bourbon.html) and at HumbleRoots, we believe that one of the best ways to re-introduce a breed is to promote it as a food (the more who eat it the more who breed it). We also selected this breed for its slow rate of growth and naturally occurring size (the dressed toms max out at about 15 lbs and the ladies at about 12 lbs), its edible qualities (Slow Foods USA has Bourbon Reds listed on their Ark of Taste (http://www.slowfoodusa.org)/) as being selected for improved darker red color meat production, a heavy breast and richly flavored meat). Superficially (or maybe it does really matter), it is one of the most beautiful turkeys and we love the ambiance they lend to our farm, especially now that the toms are beginning to puff out their chests and show their "authority", for lack of better term.
Our turkeys are fed naturally we do not use antibiotics or medications. Because they need a high protein diet (28% protein) we have opted to add fish meal to our feed and have worked with our local grain elevator to create this feed ration specific to our turkeys and farming morals, while supporting our local grain producers and businesses. Our turkeys leave their home digs early in the morning, spend their days roosting on our chicken coop, garage, or fallen trees and keeping our grass grazed; they have full run of all of our acreage. They mingle with our chickens, duck and pigs freely and come back in to roost in their barn at night.
It is a slow growing turkey so will come to you somewhere between 8-16 lbs. We do ask for a $30 deposit upon ordering and the rest is due upon either pick up or delivery (we will have a pick up sight in MPLS); the final amount due will vary depending on the weight but will be priced at $7.50 per pound, the average bird costing around $90 We welcome you request for a specific weight and, in the end, will organize them the best we can but cannot guarantee anything as these are simply natural birds and are not bred for convention. We will be planning a pick up sight in MPLS probably on Friday, Nov. 20th in the evening; this will allow time for you to travel with I, defrost it, brine it, etc. If you see a problem with picking it up then please specify that below so that we can make arrangement. We will have too many turkeys to fit in our freezer so it will be important that you are there to pay and pick the bird up.
The Bourbon Red is the new bird...it is an old lovely breed from the South, historically known as Kentucky Reds or Bourbon Butternuts. We chose the Bourbon Red for many logical reasons: it is considered critically rare by the American Livestock Breed Conservator (http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/bourbon.html) and at HumbleRoots, we believe that one of the best ways to re-introduce a breed is to promote it as a food (the more who eat it the more who breed it). We also selected this breed for its slow rate of growth and naturally occurring size (the dressed toms max out at about 15 lbs and the ladies at about 12 lbs), its edible qualities (Slow Foods USA has Bourbon Reds listed on their Ark of Taste (http://www.slowfoodusa.org)/) as being selected for improved darker red color meat production, a heavy breast and richly flavored meat). Superficially (or maybe it does really matter), it is one of the most beautiful turkeys and we love the ambiance they lend to our farm, especially now that the toms are beginning to puff out their chests and show their "authority", for lack of better term.
Our turkeys are fed naturally we do not use antibiotics or medications. Because they need a high protein diet (28% protein) we have opted to add fish meal to our feed and have worked with our local grain elevator to create this feed ration specific to our turkeys and farming morals, while supporting our local grain producers and businesses. Our turkeys leave their home digs early in the morning, spend their days roosting on our chicken coop, garage, or fallen trees and keeping our grass grazed; they have full run of all of our acreage. They mingle with our chickens, duck and pigs freely and come back in to roost in their barn at night.
It is a slow growing turkey so will come to you somewhere between 8-16 lbs. We do ask for a $30 deposit upon ordering and the rest is due upon either pick up or delivery (we will have a pick up sight in MPLS); the final amount due will vary depending on the weight but will be priced at $7.50 per pound, the average bird costing around $90 We welcome you request for a specific weight and, in the end, will organize them the best we can but cannot guarantee anything as these are simply natural birds and are not bred for convention. We will be planning a pick up sight in MPLS probably on Friday, Nov. 20th in the evening; this will allow time for you to travel with I, defrost it, brine it, etc. If you see a problem with picking it up then please specify that below so that we can make arrangement. We will have too many turkeys to fit in our freezer so it will be important that you are there to pay and pick the bird up.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Penny's litter has come to fruition!
Finally after much teat draggin', our little Penny has had 7 healthy piglets! Why do I not have batteries for my camera? I am an impossible battery buyer! But I will try to get some.
The turkey lurkies are getting 'uge and about 1/2 are still looking for a place to spend the holidays. I will be excited when they go...they are messy creatures and the shade of our human stoop, of which we pass daily...unfortunatly are passing something there all day also. I do love the sound them. They are beginning to get their "Gobbles" on and often reply to mine; I can't help but hope I am teaching them proper pronunciation.
Poulet Rouge are doing great under their lights in the coop. I feel bad that they are sharing the Indian Runner ducklings...it's amazing what a mess 8 little 4 inch ducklings can do! But the chicks are already feeling weighty...
The turkey lurkies are getting 'uge and about 1/2 are still looking for a place to spend the holidays. I will be excited when they go...they are messy creatures and the shade of our human stoop, of which we pass daily...unfortunatly are passing something there all day also. I do love the sound them. They are beginning to get their "Gobbles" on and often reply to mine; I can't help but hope I am teaching them proper pronunciation.
Poulet Rouge are doing great under their lights in the coop. I feel bad that they are sharing the Indian Runner ducklings...it's amazing what a mess 8 little 4 inch ducklings can do! But the chicks are already feeling weighty...
Saturday, July 11, 2009
whoa...we're live
So I just realized our blog is search-able. Which means I need to get with it but am an hour away from our computer/photos/reality...will get back to it soon!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
We have arriven'
Finally, the moment I have been waiting for is here- my very own blog. I have been enviously reading others' (mainly farmers) waiting for the day I would do my own. Soon, I shall begin!
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