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/

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.

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...

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!