A dream

You may be asking why this would be a goal.  It’s a way we can further mimic nature in our livestock management.  In nature birds will follow the herds of grazing animals as the clean-up crew.  Herbivore dung is a fantastic place for insects to hatch, so a few days after a cow poops fly larva will start to emerge.  Fly larvae is a fantastic food source for birds and when the birds eat the larva, the lifecycle of the fly ends, reducing the number of flies.  It’s a win-win for all but the pesky fly.  

We had a few challenges in the process.  The campers we made into the WinniEggos did not come to us because they were exceptionally road worthy.   We did lose a tire moving from the house to the grazing field, luckily no major damage and only some time lost to put it back on.

Yesterday was the only day the cows would be fenced into the same area as the birds.  We learned that the electric poultry netting works wonderfully to keep the cows and birds separate when it’s turned on, and if it’s not, the cows will join the turkeys and turkeys will join the cows.  Again a pretty easy lesson learned with no major issues, but I know we looked funny trying to get them all sorted back up.  

If you are in the area, take a drive up County Road 60 toward Cold Springs Greenhouse, and you’ll see the cows and calves with chickens and turkeys following behind. 

I’m getting many questions about when beef will be back in stock.  We are giving the 3 steers we are sending this summer more time on the summer grasses to fatten up a bit.  So we plan to be restocked again in late July or early August.  We will have a limited supply and we will be offering our CSA members the first opportunity to order beef when it’s available.  If you want to be part of the exclusive group to get the first notice that beef is available, you can join with a CSA membership now.  We are limiting CSA members to 100 customers.   If you join, you don’t need to use the funds just for beef, but it will get you notice as soon as we start taking beef orders.

How it works:

    Purchase one of our CSA levels from our website with the option to pay card, cash, check, PayPal, Venmo, or Zelle.  The amount will be credited to your account and then you order as you always have, the order amount is taken from the credit.  You don’t pay again until your balance has been depleted.

Benefits of becoming a CSA member:

    You are becoming a partner within our farm.  You are making a meaningful and impactful investment in local and sustainable farming 

    You get an upfront discount 

    As a CSA farm member you will have access to order our limited products before we open ordering to all customers (beef and chicken cuts specifically)

    1 free farm tour a year for you or to share with a friend 

    Know that you have secured high quality, pasture raised meat and eggs for the year 

    CSA Levels-

Small- great for eggs only or if you only order on occasion $250 (for the price of $237.50)

Medium- $500 (for $475)

Large- $1000 (for $950) 

Let me know if I can answer any questions about the CSA.  

If you go by and see the birds following the cows, be sure to snap a picture and share it with us!

Aila

CSA Memberships