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Posts Tagged ‘grass-fed beef’

The Cost of Convenience

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

Our lives are quite convenient.  We enjoy the pleasures of refrigeration, air conditioning, the ability to run to the grocery store when we run out of flour, and the ability to visit a restaurant when we don’t feel like cooking dinner.

What do these conveniences cost us?  Lynn Jenkins, a local columnist, recently argued that the convenience of air conditioning cost us the pleasure of hearing the natural sounds of the night.  Refrigeration allows us to preserve food without fermentation, smoking, or salting and costs us not only the pleasures of such tastes but the benefits of the preservation methods to our own health.

Grocery stores allow us to have all types of food, from all parts of the world, whenever we want.  We no longer relish the tastes of the season since we can have that taste and season anytime of the year.  Many restaurants cost us the benefits of healthful food and beneficial interactions that could be had through the enjoyment of cooking, eating, and of course cleaning up.

I’m not suggesting we give up our conveniences.  I rather enjoy them myself.  Just recognize the costs of your conveniences and occasionally enjoy life without them.

Allow me to offset the cost of this convenient medium and visit with us face-to-face at the farmers’ market this week.  We will be at the Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farm, Friday, August 23, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.  We will only have a dozen eggs and we are down to roasts on our grass-fed beef.  Betsy’s Kitchen has plenty of treats though.  This week, she is trying a new Paleo bread, Paleo Spicy Chocolate Brownies, Paleo Zucchini Bars with Cashew Frosting, Paleo Apple Cider Donuts, and Flour-less Chocolate Cake.

Please continue to support:

Zionsville Farmers’ Market, Saturday, August 24, 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. – corner of Main Street and Hawthorne

Decatur Township Farmers’ Market, Tuesday, August 27, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – 5106 S. High School Road

We also sell all of our products at the farm.

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State Fair

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on August 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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We had a new addition to our farm this week.  Meet Bea, our newest lamb.  One of our older ewes has begun to cycle out of season, giving us a lamb in August each of the last two years.  Bea is the latest.

Most of the Full Circle Farm family had the opportunity to visit the Indiana State Fair this week.  We enjoyed visiting Pioneer Village, seeing the antique tractors, and visiting the animal barns.  Farmer Paul also visited the new Glass Barn.  Below is my take on the Glass Barn.

*Bea will not be raised on a 2,000 acre farm.

*Bea will not be raised in a slatted-floor climate controlled building.  She will be raised outdoors, as nature intended.

*Bea will not be micro-chipped so that we can track her temperature and general health.  Her health, as that of the rest of the animals, will be evaluated through daily visits by the resident farmers.

*Bea will not wear a pedometer and GPS locator.  We’ll find her on an easy tour of the farm.

We will be taking a hiatus from the Zionsville Farmers’ Market.  Thanks to your support, our supply of grass-fed beef is going quickly.  We plan to be back at the Zionsville Farmers’ Market September 14, September 21, and September 28.  We will have pasture-raised chicken and pasture-raised pork.

In the meantime, we will continue to sell at the Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farm.  We will continue to sell organically supplemented free-range eggs and the remainder of our grass-fed beef.  Betsy’s Kitchen will continue to sell gluten-free and paleo treats.  This week she will be selling Spicy Chocolate Paleo Brownies, Paleo Zucchini Bars with Cashew Frosting, Paleo Apple Cider Donuts, and Flour-less Dark Chocolate Cake.

Friday, August 16, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farms (79th and Marsh Road)

Please continue to support the Decatur Township Farmers’ Market

Tuesday, August 20, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – 5106 S. High School Road

We also sell all of our products at the farm.

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What is a Farm?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on August 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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A couple of weeks ago, we attended Farmer Betsy’s family reunion.  This reunion has been held for more than 60 years on her great-grandparent’s homestead.  Earlier in the year, the current resident of the homestead had applied for the Centennial Hoosier Homestead Award.  The application was initially denied because the farm was not at least 20 acres and did not earn at least $1,000.

The family bought 70 acres in 1913.  Those 70 acres were owned and farmed for 99½ years until the family matriarch passed.  The settlement of her estate reduced the homestead to 8 acres that was not farmed for profit.  Thankfully, a well written letter to the Indiana State Department of Agriculture detailing the history and tradition of the homestead as well as the income that could be made were the land farmed for profit, finally garnered the cherished award for the family homestead.

Is that what we have been reduced to that even our farms must be large and business-like?  What about those cultures where subsistence farmers truly make a “living” on much less land with much fewer resources?  What about the new urban “farms” that raise animals and grow produce for city dwellers using much fewer than 20 acres?  By those standards, Full Circle Farm, (currently with 31 sheep, 6 cows, 2 goats, 9 turkeys, and more than 200 chickens) doesn’t qualify as a farm.  While our earnings have improved thanks to your support, we operate on only 19 acres.  I suppose we will have to change our name to just “Full Circle”.

We still have grass-fed beef available.  Eggs are running in short supply as the daylight begins to dwindle.  We are currently sold out of chicken and lamb.  We plan to have more chicken by October but more lamb will not be available until at least January.  We also plan to offer a limited supply of pork beginning in October.

We will also be selling gluten-free treats from Betsy’s Kitchen, including the newly popular apple cider donuts.  To celebrate National Farmers’ Market Week, we will be offering special deals on the treats.

We will be at three markets this week.

Friday, August 9, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farms (79th and Marsh Road) (Our grass-fed beef will be part of the feature picnic this week.)

Saturday, August 10, 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. – Zionsville Farmers’ Market (Main Street and Hawthorne)

Tuesday, August 13, 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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Road Less Traveled

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on July 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Full Circle Farm is located at the intersection of two roads.  The road at the south end of the farm is a nicely paved road.  The road at the east side of the farm is a dusty gravel road.  The gravel road leads north to another gravel road.  The residents of that road have been trying for some time to get their road paved.  Due to the recent closure of a nearby highway, the traffic along all of our roads has increased quite a bit.  Now they are trying even harder to get the road paved as the dust has increased substantially.  I’m not sure that is the best idea.

Our paved road has people driving too fast, recreational bicyclists yelling in conversation at each other in the early hours of the morning, and a markedly higher traffic rate.  The gravel road is less traveled.  While some still drive too fast, if they are using the road, you know they belong in the neighborhood.  Gravel roads also give a certain ambiance to the farm and deter the development that will eventually come to the area.  Like Robert Frost, I’d rather take the road less traveled and keep my gravel road.

We will be at three markets this week.

Friday, July 26, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farms (79th and Marsh Road)

Saturday, July 27, 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. – Zionsville Farmers’ Market (Main Street and Hawthorne)

Tuesday, July 30, 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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NKOTF

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on July 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »

New Kids on the Farm

We’ve had some new additions to the farm during the last several weeks.  The first were three chicks hatched by one of our own hens.  She had found a nice quiet spot in the corner of the barn.  This is reminiscent of our first chickens on the farm when we brought out a hen and her three chicks from Farmer Bud and Farmer Melinda’s farm in Randolph County.

We also have been getting lots of broiler chicks.  A batch of 100 was delivered three weeks ago and another batch of 100 was delivered this week.  We will have lots of chicken for sale later this fall and into next spring.

Finally, we had another new calf born on the farm this week.  Daisy blessed us with another male, Sir Loin.  With our beef now, T-Bone coming up next year, and Sir Loin the year after, we should be able to continue providing grass-fed beef for some time.

We will be at two markets this week.  We sold most of our lamb last week but still have two pounds of ground lamb.  Come early on Friday if you want it.  We will also have a limited number of whole chickens and eggs but we will have plenty of grass-fed beef.  Betsy’s Kitchen on Full Circle Farm will again be offering grain free treats including Spicy Chocolate, Carrot Cake, and Zucchini Banana.

Please visit us:

Friday, July 19, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Farm to Fork Market at Normandy Farms (79th and Marsh Road)

Tuesday, July 23, 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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