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Posts Tagged ‘eggs’

Spring Has Sprung

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on March 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

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Today was the first day of spring and a beautiful one it was. We may wonder if spring is really coming with the wild transitional weather we’ve been experiencing but the chickens seem to know spring has arrived. Eggs have long been a sign of spring and renewal. It’s easy to see why as they are quite plentiful this time of year. Over the past month, we’ve gone from gathering a dozen eggs a day to nearly four dozen eggs a day. Spring has sprung.

Visit us at the Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farms on Saturday, March 22 and take a dozen eggs home with you. We will also have pastured pork and pastured chicken. Betsy’s Kitchen will be bringing Paleo Almond Delight Power Bars, granola bars, and granola.

As always, we also sell our eggs and grass-fed meats at the farm.

Full Circle Farm. Working with Nature.

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Mud Season Has Begun

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

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It’s official.  I’m declaring the start of the 2014 Mud Season as Wednesday, March 12.  Mud season is the season between winter and spring when the ground is saturated, the rain keeps coming, and nothing is yet growing and able to soak up the excess moisture.  Mud season doesn’t have an official beginning or length.  We may get brief respites through periodic freezes and dry spells but it won’t completely end until the grass, trees, and other plants turn green and bloom and are able to again drink of the earth.  I knew this season was official when I lost a boot in mud several inches deep and the animals were slogging through as if it were the La Brea Tar Pits.

We will be at the Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farms on Saturday, March 15.  We have pastured pork, pastured chicken, and plenty of eggs.  Betsy’s Kitchen will be bringing Paleo Almond Delight Power Bars, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars, Cinnamon Raisin Granola Bars, and Cinnamon Nut Granola.

As always, we also sell our eggs and grass-fed meats at the farm.

Full Circle Farm. Working with Nature.

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Ducks and Taxes

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

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Our taxes are done!  Our bookkeeper is always late getting our annual financial information to the accountant.  This causes our accountant to always be in a rush to finish the taxes before the deadline for college financial aid.  We should fire both the bookkeeper and the accountant.  The problem is the bookkeeper is also the accountant and the accountant is also the chief animal care specialist for the farm.  I guess we’ll have to keep him around and hope he does a better job next year.

Last Saturday I drove to Waveland and traded two chickens for two Pekin ducks.  Hopefully they are a hen and a drake since we are planning for little ducklings.  We already have several eggs.  Time will tell.

We will be at the Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farms on Saturday, March 1.  We have pastured pork and pastured chicken and will be bringing Paleo Almond Delight Power Bars and peanut butter chocolate chip granola bars from Betsy’s Kitchen.  We’ll also have eggs again, at least a few dozen.  The chickens are picking up the pace.

As always, we also sell all of our grass-fed meats at the farm.

Full Circle Farm. Working with Nature.

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What’s for Dinner?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Farmer Betsy visited This Old Farm today and picked up our lamb and beef.  So, we will have organically raised grass-fed lamb and beef, while supplies last.  We only sent one lamb and one cow so supplies won’t last long.  This will be the last lamb until winter and our only beef until Fall 2014.  Come get it while you can.

Farmer Betsy is also going to begin offering baked goods at the Farm to Fork Market and the Decatur Township Market as “Betsy’s Kitchen on Full Circle Farm”.  This week she will be offering grain-free and Paleo chocolate goodies.

We will be at three markets this week.

Friday, July 12, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farms (79th and Marsh Road)

Saturday, July 13, 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. – Zionsville Farmers’ Market (Main Street and Hawthorne)

Tuesday, July 16, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Decatur Township Farmers’ Market (5106 S. High School Road)

We also sell all of our products at the farm.

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Tool of Trade

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on July 3, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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As a farmer you have to be a jack of all trades.  At some point, you will need to be a mechanic, a plumber, and a carpenter.  With livestock, you will also need to be a nurturer and a veterinarian.  Whether you are plowing fields or hauling hay, the ultimate tool of our trade, though, is the tractor.

Our first tractor was a 1946 Ford 2N.  It was a good tractor, but difficult to keep running and I am not a mechanic.  After many attempts and temporary fixes, it was time to get a reliable tractor.  Farmer Betsy convinced our accountant that we could afford a newer tractor.  In late April, we purchased a brand new John Deere 3038.  The tractor comes equipped with a 60” bucket and we bought a 55” tiller to go with it.  We have mostly used the tractor to haul water to the field for the livestock.  It has got some other work pulling hay wagons and moving the pig shelter through the field.  The tiller has been very useful preparing our vegetable gardens.  We are all happy to have a reliable tractor.

Happy 4th!

We will be at two markets this week.

Friday, July 5, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farms (79th and Marsh Road)

Tuesday, July 9, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Decatur Township Farmers’ Market (5106 S. High School Road)

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Stumped

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on June 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I’m stumped this week.  I’ve tried to come up with a quirky post but can’t find it in me.  There’s been plenty happening though.

We only had seven turkey eggs hatch in the incubator last week.  We had set 20 eggs and were hoping for quite a few more to hatch.  Our predator is still around and took a guinea hen right off of her nest of 20 eggs.  We have 100 new broilers arriving Friday and 100 more in three weeks.

The piggies got their first move last night.  They were new to an outdoor environment so we left them in one place for more than a week to acclimate.  The first move was an ordeal.  My hooks broke free from the shelter, making my pull chain useless.  I was able to wedge the loader inside the shelter and pull it to the new location.  The pigs weren’t sure what to do and it took quite a bit of coaxing and prodding to get them to a new spot.  They are now following directly behind the cows and sheep, which still aren’t sure quite what to think of them.

Farmer Paul will be baling hay Friday and will likely be spending a good part of the weekend putting it up in the barn.  Farmer Betsy is out of town so young Farmer Sid will be running the Friday market.  We are out of lamb until mid-July but we will still be selling whole pastured chickens and free-range eggs.

We will be at two markets this week.

Friday, June 21, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farms (79th and Marsh Road)

Tuesday, June 25, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Decatur Township Farmers’ Market (5106 S. High School Road)

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These Little Piggies

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on June 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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These Little Piggies

. . . cried wee, wee, wee; all the way home.  Saturday I drove down near Seymour to pick up three feeder pigs.  While our first experiment with raising pigs did not work out, there is a demand for pork that we have decided to tap into with feeder pigs.  We are starting with three to get our system worked out.  The plan is for the pigs to follow the sheep and cows through the pasture.  We would like to run them all together but the feed and shelter needs of the pigs cause issues with the other livestock.  In addition to the pigs, we also picked up a new milk goat Sunday afternoon and the turkey eggs started hatching Sunday night.

We appreciate your support at the markets.  For the most part, they have been quite successful for us.  The problem is, we weren’t quite geared up for such support.  We will likely sell out of lamb, goat, and chicken this month.  That will only leave us eggs, of which we have plenty.  We are doing our best to supply your local, organic food needs.  We will have some additional lamb and our first beef available in July.  We also plan to have more chicken and pork available in October.  If all goes well we will also have three or four turkeys available for Thanksgiving.

We will be at two markets this week.

Friday, June 14, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farms (79th and Marsh Road)

Saturday, June 15, 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. – Zionsville Farmers’ Market (Main Street and Hawthorne)

Please also support the Decatur Township Farmers’ Market at 5106 S. High School Road, Tuesday, June 18, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

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We Have a Problem

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on June 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I was stopped at an intersection on the way home from the Farm to Fork Market this past Friday when a Papa John’s delivery car pulled up behind me.  As we sat at the intersection, a Dominos delivery car passed from one direction and a Noble Romans delivery car passed from the other.  After I got through the intersection, I was passed by a Fox’s Den delivery car.

I realize we all have busy lives (see Stop and Smell the Lilacs from last week).  Our family also breaks down on occasion and orders a pizza.  We’re all human.  But that food is what’s causing our health problems and our economic problems.  Most “dining out” food is highly processed and is devoid of the proper nutrition we need.  The money we spend for that food goes to shareholders and out-of-state corporate hierarchies.  I know many of these businesses employ our teenagers, but so would your locally-owned food establishments if they had the financial support to do so.

As a society, we need to spend more quality time with our families, eating quality food from our own gardens and local farmers.  When we treat ourselves to meals away from home, we need to support our locally-owned restaurants, cafes, and pubs.  Doing this will allow us to lead healthier lifestyles, both physically and mentally, and will provide economic support for our neighbors and communities.

Eat healthy.  Grow your own garden.  Support your local growers, farmers, and artisans. Support your locally-owned businesses.

We will be at two markets this week.

Friday, June 7, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farms (79th and Marsh Road)

Tuesday, June 11, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Decatur Township Farmers’ Market (5106 S. High School Road)

If you can’t make it to one of the markets, we will also be happy to sell to you at the farm.  We will be fairly busy this weekend but will be around during the weekday evenings after 6:00 p.m.

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Stop and Smell the Lilacs

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on May 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

We will be at three markets this week.

Friday, May 31, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farms (79th and Marsh Road)

Saturday, June 1, 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. – Zionsville Farmers’ Market (Main Street and Hawthorne)

Tuesday, June 4, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Decatur Township Farmers’ Market (5106 S. High School Road)

We all have busy lives working and pursuing endeavors that are important to us.  During the busy times, please don’t forget to set aside time for yourself.  Lilacs are in bloom for only a short time in spring.  They also happen to be my favorite flower.  We were so busy this spring that I didn’t take the time to smell the lilacs that grow right outside our kitchen window.  I didn’t even get a picture to share with you.  Now I have to wait until next spring for the opportunity to smell fresh lilacs again.  Make sure you take some time out of your busy life to smell the flower of your choice.

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Livin’ in Paradise

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on May 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

. . . but they’re already home, and so are we.  After 24 days of rotational grazing, the livestock made an entire trip around the pasture (minus a couple of paddocks due to some strategic netting issues).  The picture shows their last paddock in the rotation, one they hadn’t grazed in 5 weeks.  Thankfully, we have had plenty of rain and as you can see, the pasture is taller than the sheep.  This total rotation is just barely enough to break the parasite cycle of 21 days.  I’ll fix that though, by buying another length of netting (to make 8) so that my paddocks don’t have to share a side.  This will allow me to add 2 or 3 more paddocks to the total rotation for an additional 4 to 6 days of grazing.

We appreciate your business.  We will be at only one market this week, the new Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farms.  The market is Friday, May 24, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.  Normandy Farms is located at the corner of 79th Street and Marsh Road on the northwest side of Indianapolis.  We look forward to seeing you.Image

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