Restock Dates: Please see our Farm Blog where we post our weekly newsletter for the latest updates

Around The Farm Updates

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

May 4, 2019

Look what I got from that stewing hen. 3 and 1/2 cups of meat and this beautiful stock. Dee M.

Product Update
1) Chicken- The second batch will be harvested May 24th. Due to rough handling during shipment we will not have any pieces available from this batch. There may be a few whole chickens available for July & August. Otherwise, they are all sold out.

2)Beef - Individual cuts - we are back in stock on all beef items and will be adding more late May

Custom Half Beef - I have added more for processing the week of May 13th. If you are interested in a half beef please follow this link to learn more and place your deposit to reserve your order https://naturesgourmetfarm.com/custom-bulk-orders

3) Pork- We are back in stock on pork (except chops) as I picked up the past group from the processor April 23rd. If you are looking for a half or whole pig we will process again in July

4) Eggs- Egg production is running on ALL cylinders! Lay rate is 95-98% which is outstanding. We have added all size options to our website and can easily fill your orders.

Stew Hens are back in stock. As we processed them we noticed all the rich "yellow" fat". A TRUE Pastured Raised and NOT grain fed animal's fat will be yellow. This is a sure sign that you are buying a true forage or pasture raised animal vs. grain fed.

FARM UPDATE:
Good Morning from the farm! Praise Lord for He is faithful. What an amazing week! What's so amazing? Well, NGF Customers are "The Best". The number of website orders were 73% higher than our previous high month. Plus, nine customers picked up chicken frozen on the delivery route.

I'll be honest. I was really concerned about keeping on schedule. Even though Beth & I had planned and worked to make sure everything was accounted for, all I could think about was what could go wrong. Beth came along to help! I sent out an email Wednesday morning to let customers know we had a much larger order month than usual and asked for your help to be prompt for pickup.

Well, everything went off with "NO ISSUES". We meet every stop on schedule - could not have done that without great customers helping us out. I want to make a special call out to our Gulfport customers. Gulfport is our largest order stop. When we arrived the first customer commented he counted 17 cars waiting for us. And they kept coming. We handed out about 30 orders in less than 20 minutes. And, we were able to make it home - get the hens moved/fed/eggs gathered and feed the pigs all before dark. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

A new customer picked up at the farm late Wednesday. He commented that our grass was the best he had seen. He's right. March & April our pastures have responded extremely well. Friday, I moved the cows & calves to a new paddock of Oats, Rye Grass, and 3-way clover mix that was taller than the calves. The forage completely hid them. What they don't eat will be trampled and become fertility & food for soil biology. This is how you regenerate soil health and start the nutrient and water cycles.

Last week I shared an article by Joel Salatin titled Organic Glyphosate? Thank you for all your feedback. As many know, most farmers and consumers do not know what organic really means (according to the USDA standards). They just know it is a buzz word that is suppose to help sell farm goods - without any idea what is required to really be organic. This time of year peoples yard hens are laying good and they have more eggs than they need. So, they make a post to offer "organic" eggs for $1.50 per dozen! Really? I Have my doubts. The organic feed would cost them almost that much - if they could find it locally. Then, there's the cost of the carton, hen, time, etc. It always pays to check things out with a critical eye... and ask questions.

At Nature's Gourmet Farm, we thank you for supporting (integrity) regenerative food sources to create a food system that is better for the animals, better for the land and better for the community. That is the only way to make a positive impact.

Customer Feedback-
"I wanted to let you know what a wonderful meal my family shared at my home yesterday, Resurrection Sunday! I oven roasted one of your wonderful chickens, cooked one of your rump roasts in my Instant Pot, and braised two packages of your short ribs in my slow cooker! I can truthfully say it was nothing but “praise to the cook” for me from my meat eating clan!! Thank you for what do to help us eat healthy!" Lydia C

Quote Worth Re-Quoting
– “Farming cannot take place except in nature; therefore, if nature does not thrive, farming cannot thrive. But we know too that nature includes us. It is not a place into which we can reach from some safe standpoint outside it. We are in it and we are part of it while we use it. if it does not thrive, we cannot thrive. The appropriate measure of farming then is the world's health and our health, and this is inescapably one measure.” – Wendell Berry

Thank you for supporting our regenerative, local farm.
Ben & Beth

More from the blog

What Would You Tell Politicians About MAHA?

What would I tell politicians about MAHA– This week Joel Salatin’s lunatic farmer musing was titled Organic Dependency. The gist of the article was about all of the organic | sustainable | regenerative | ecological farming organizations screaming that Trump’s budget cuts through the USDA will hurt their business….no more free hoop houses and such. I understand the solution may not be as simple as I make it out to be, but my number ONE position is that any law, regulation, funding, education, academic studies, etc. should be equal regardless if you farm conventionally | organic | sustainable | regenerative | or, ecological.

How We Bring Nutrient Density To Our Products

PLEASE NOTE- The market situation with eggs has softened and the $4 surcharge has been cancelled. Additionally, our new pullets have just started laying so we will soon have plenty of eggs. Many thanks for your understanding and support – we have the best customers!!! How We Bring Nutrient Density To Our Beef – Harry, a relatively new customer, picked up his first order at the Hattiesburg location March 1st. He had watched the new Joel Salatin documentary published by Angel Studios and was fascinated. Frankly, I think it is the best documentary of Polyface Farm I have seen as it filled in blanks from before Joel first started farming till now and HOW regenerative farming completely changed a once very degraded farm. Learn more here. Then, Harry visited me March 28th.

Cows & Pigs

Brand New Services– About six weeks ago Dixie Electric Power installed a brand new electric line with poles down my road. They replaced the old copper lines with aluminum and the poles are much better quality and taller. I asked the district manager when was the old copper line installed and he said since electric service was available for us… so, maybe since the mid 1940’s? Then, this week our complete road was blacktopped!!! If you have visited our farm you know it was long overdue. For years it has been patched to the point where the patches had patches. Hahaha