Last fall I replied to a posting on Craigslist for farm fresh chicken eggs. I made arrangements to go pick up my first dozen eggs, and that's how I first met Linda. The rest, as they say, is history. During my weekly egg pickups, Linda and I spent more and more time chatting each week, finding that we had a lot more than a love of fresh chicken eggs in common. I have learned so much from her in the last year, and she is such a huge inspiration to me. Something that I really admire about Linda is her dedication to heritage breeds, and her commitment to raising animals the way nature intended. They never do drugs - no antibiotics or growth hormones, and they never receive even a morsel of grain - just pure, sweet grass. Her animals are truly free ranging and pastured, rotating throughout the 17 beautiful acres that make up her farm. Most of the animals will be born on her farm, and they all will die peacefully on her farm. Linda, her husband, and children respect and love each of the animals that they raise, and take the utmost care in ensuring they live happy, healthy lives - something that is obvious when you look around their farm.
Matthew and I took the kids out there yesterday to meet our meat - the cow, pig and 2 turkeys that will soon be coming home with us to fill our freezer. We were all so excited to get our first in-person look at all the animals, and the farm.
Almost as soon as we got out of the car, we were greeted by this group of handsome guys (and a lady):
Have you ever seen more beautiful turkeys? The black ones are Spanish Blacks, and the red is a Bourbon Red, both heritage breeds. They were very interested in what we were doing, and followed us around for quite a while. They make the most fascinating drumming noise while they gobble, and were so much fun to watch.
The turkeys happily followed us to our next stop, which was to meet Borris, Linda's Berkshire boar, and his girlfriend for the moment. I cant remember if she was Piglet or Ruby, who are both Duroc's, but whatever her name she seemed to enjoy being wooed by Borris and will hopefully produce a litter of beautiful little piglets soon!
Right next to the lovebirds was a paddock with Linda's goats, and her livestock dog who guards them. I cant remember the dogs name either (I was to busy watching the goats frolic around) but he is a big beautiful mass of white fluff, and I instantly wanted one (or two!) of my own:
Our next stop was to check out the younger pigs, one of the black ones will be ours in a few months. Borris is the proud daddy of these little ones, and either Ruby or Piglet is the mother so they are Berkshire/Duroc crosses:
One of the first thing that I noticed about these pigs is how clean they were. I had always read that pigs were extremely clean animals, but most pigs that I have seen have not been kept in conditions that allow them to do so. But that's not the way Linda and Angelo do it - all the animals on their farm are rotated through clean pastures, and given more than ample space to root and run around. The result is beautiful pigs that look healthier and happier than any that I have ever seen before - just look at all that space they have!
Directly across from these guys was another paddock that contained a breeding pair of Large Black hogs, and their two piglets. Large Blacks are a heritage breed that does best when pasture raised, and they are excellent mothers who can very successfully raise and wean piglets outdoors. While they used to be one of the most popular breeds of hog, they nearly became extinct during the 1960's because they don't do well raised in the confinement conditions that are so common now. They are listed on the American Livestock Conservancy list as Critical, and I love that Linda supporting this wonderful heritage breed. The pigs were so friendly, and when the kids and I got into their paddock they were happy to stand there and let us give them back scratches:
And these two? From their floppy ears to those teeny tails and snouts, these piglets are just as cute as can be:
I loved how calm the pigs were, and they were even happy to pose for a few pictures with the kids:
The turkeys accompanied us again as we headed over to the barn, to check out Linda's other sow Lucy and all her piglets that were born towards the end of September. Along the way, we spotted a few familiar faces - these big eared fellows are two of Lulu's babies!
Lucy is a very protective mama, so we didn't go in her pen, but we watched the piglets antics from the gate:
Again, I was really impressed with the cleanliness of the animals. They had a huge area of clean, dry straw to lay in, and they also had a very large outdoor run, with plenty of dirt and a little of that mud that pigs so love to play in. The piglets had free access to roam around, but still be close enough for Lucy to protect them.
And that little guy, the fourth piglet from Lucy? He is the runt, and it took everything I had not to stick him in my pocket and take him home. He was so adorable!
As we talked we walked over to where the cows were supposed to be. Except through the tall grass, we couldn't see any of them. Angelo gave a quick holler, and what do you know, all the cows started running through the grass to see us. It was so cool - you can definitely tell that these are family cows, even the beef steers.
The one on the left is Annabelle, she is Linda's dairy cow. The two in the middle are beef steers, and the shorter guy on the right is the new dairy bull.
Annabelle is the sweetest cow, with these big beautiful brown eyes and a coat so glossy that she nearly shines. She came as close as she dared to the hot wire, to eat a handful of grass from Angelo:
These beef steers were a little more reserved, but definitely interested in us. One of the brown ones will be ours, at least half of him!
As we headed back towards the house, I couldn't help but think "This is pretty much the farm of my dreams". Plenty of room for kids and animals to run freely, and the scenery couldn't get more beautiful. All the animals on Linda's farm absolutely have the best life that they possibly could, and they are respected and cared for from the beginning of their lives to the end. Everything that Linda and Angelo do is done with the animals well being and happiness in mind, and it clearly shows when you take a look around the place and at the critters that live there. I feel honored to be part of these animals life cycles, as all they have ever known is comfort and peace, which is a far cry from the horrors of life for factory farmed animals. And we are not only supporting animal rights, but we are also voting with our dollars to support a local family farmer. Its a win win situation for everyone, and we are thrilled that we have chosen to go this route. Thank you to Angelo and Linda for letting us join them for a day on their farm, its not a place we will soon forget!
Matthew and I took the kids out there yesterday to meet our meat - the cow, pig and 2 turkeys that will soon be coming home with us to fill our freezer. We were all so excited to get our first in-person look at all the animals, and the farm.
Almost as soon as we got out of the car, we were greeted by this group of handsome guys (and a lady):
Have you ever seen more beautiful turkeys? The black ones are Spanish Blacks, and the red is a Bourbon Red, both heritage breeds. They were very interested in what we were doing, and followed us around for quite a while. They make the most fascinating drumming noise while they gobble, and were so much fun to watch.
The turkeys happily followed us to our next stop, which was to meet Borris, Linda's Berkshire boar, and his girlfriend for the moment. I cant remember if she was Piglet or Ruby, who are both Duroc's, but whatever her name she seemed to enjoy being wooed by Borris and will hopefully produce a litter of beautiful little piglets soon!
Right next to the lovebirds was a paddock with Linda's goats, and her livestock dog who guards them. I cant remember the dogs name either (I was to busy watching the goats frolic around) but he is a big beautiful mass of white fluff, and I instantly wanted one (or two!) of my own:
Our next stop was to check out the younger pigs, one of the black ones will be ours in a few months. Borris is the proud daddy of these little ones, and either Ruby or Piglet is the mother so they are Berkshire/Duroc crosses:
One of the first thing that I noticed about these pigs is how clean they were. I had always read that pigs were extremely clean animals, but most pigs that I have seen have not been kept in conditions that allow them to do so. But that's not the way Linda and Angelo do it - all the animals on their farm are rotated through clean pastures, and given more than ample space to root and run around. The result is beautiful pigs that look healthier and happier than any that I have ever seen before - just look at all that space they have!
Directly across from these guys was another paddock that contained a breeding pair of Large Black hogs, and their two piglets. Large Blacks are a heritage breed that does best when pasture raised, and they are excellent mothers who can very successfully raise and wean piglets outdoors. While they used to be one of the most popular breeds of hog, they nearly became extinct during the 1960's because they don't do well raised in the confinement conditions that are so common now. They are listed on the American Livestock Conservancy list as Critical, and I love that Linda supporting this wonderful heritage breed. The pigs were so friendly, and when the kids and I got into their paddock they were happy to stand there and let us give them back scratches:
And these two? From their floppy ears to those teeny tails and snouts, these piglets are just as cute as can be:
I loved how calm the pigs were, and they were even happy to pose for a few pictures with the kids:
The turkeys accompanied us again as we headed over to the barn, to check out Linda's other sow Lucy and all her piglets that were born towards the end of September. Along the way, we spotted a few familiar faces - these big eared fellows are two of Lulu's babies!
Lucy is a very protective mama, so we didn't go in her pen, but we watched the piglets antics from the gate:
Again, I was really impressed with the cleanliness of the animals. They had a huge area of clean, dry straw to lay in, and they also had a very large outdoor run, with plenty of dirt and a little of that mud that pigs so love to play in. The piglets had free access to roam around, but still be close enough for Lucy to protect them.
And that little guy, the fourth piglet from Lucy? He is the runt, and it took everything I had not to stick him in my pocket and take him home. He was so adorable!
As we talked we walked over to where the cows were supposed to be. Except through the tall grass, we couldn't see any of them. Angelo gave a quick holler, and what do you know, all the cows started running through the grass to see us. It was so cool - you can definitely tell that these are family cows, even the beef steers.
The one on the left is Annabelle, she is Linda's dairy cow. The two in the middle are beef steers, and the shorter guy on the right is the new dairy bull.
Annabelle is the sweetest cow, with these big beautiful brown eyes and a coat so glossy that she nearly shines. She came as close as she dared to the hot wire, to eat a handful of grass from Angelo:
These beef steers were a little more reserved, but definitely interested in us. One of the brown ones will be ours, at least half of him!
As we headed back towards the house, I couldn't help but think "This is pretty much the farm of my dreams". Plenty of room for kids and animals to run freely, and the scenery couldn't get more beautiful. All the animals on Linda's farm absolutely have the best life that they possibly could, and they are respected and cared for from the beginning of their lives to the end. Everything that Linda and Angelo do is done with the animals well being and happiness in mind, and it clearly shows when you take a look around the place and at the critters that live there. I feel honored to be part of these animals life cycles, as all they have ever known is comfort and peace, which is a far cry from the horrors of life for factory farmed animals. And we are not only supporting animal rights, but we are also voting with our dollars to support a local family farmer. Its a win win situation for everyone, and we are thrilled that we have chosen to go this route. Thank you to Angelo and Linda for letting us join them for a day on their farm, its not a place we will soon forget!