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

Old Ways

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

October 6, 2019

Ben-&-Beth.jpg

At Nature's Gourmet Farm you can trust our products to be:
* True Pasture Raised
* 100% Non-GMO
* Free of chemicals & drugs
* Ethically Raised

Hello from Ben. This week we had a new customer call to schedule an appointment to visit and buy beef and pork for their freezer. They are originally from the mountains of North Carolina and she was telling me that when she was growing up that October was typically the month her family would purchase their meat before winter set in and that she is going back to the "Old Way" of her family.

Much of what we do on our farm is based on nature's proven ways. No tillage of the soil so we grow organic matter and soil biology, diverse forage pastures to feed animals above and below the soil surface, and animal rotation so parasite cycles are broken.

Many of you are aware that the Seven Sons Farm in IN developed GrazeCart that powers our farms online store. This past Spring they released an Internet Marketing Course for farmers who are interested. Beth & I started the course, but had to put it on hold while building the poultry plant. Now that is completed we picked it back up. The course is very helpful and frankly I believe most direct market farms that fail will do so because of lack of marketing and investing in their business.

We are actively putting a list of projects together and setting priorities. One of the things that has been very clear is we cannot do it all by ourselves. Fortunately, our oldest son has expressed interest and we hope to utilize him in a greater capacity very soon. Another high priority is taking out the confusion when buying custom half beef & pork - the order process for buying club pickup locations does not work with custom order dates. Additionally, beginning with January 2020 we will no longer use an Excel reservation file for ordering chickens. With the new processing plant we are no longer restricted with how many chickens we can do in a year - YEAH!

We have a pretty long list that should take us through the next 5 years or so. Some of the items already mentioned are relatively simple and require little capital. Others will be implemented over time and require extensive investment. Our objective is be more than a farm that raises premium grassfed beef, pastured pork, chicken, and eggs. We want to effectively market our farm to be your convenient "go to" source that meet the needs of your family. We understand families have a lot on their plates today and should not have to worry about the quality of the food for their families.

Beth & I thank you for supporting local (integrity) regenerative food sources to create a food system that nourishes healthy families, that is better for the animals welfare, that is better for regenerating the land and that builds healthy communities. That is the only way to make a positive impact with your food dollars.

Customer Feedback –

"Thank you Ben and Beth, for all the hard work you do to bring what Mother Nature intended for us to have in food. Words can’t express how grateful we are to finally, after 50 years of eating unhealthy, flavorless factory farm food; to having the opportunity to consume clean, healthy, tasteful, affordable beef, pork, and poultry. It’s the best we’ve ever had! Thank you for all you do". Jennifer B


More from the blog

Exciting News From Our Farm

Before I share our exciting news let me update you on beef! You may remember that we communicated our intent to combine April & May custom half orders and process them late March. That way we could increase the amount of inventory we are able to sell through our website. This week our team spent three long days cutting and packing eight beef that was added to our store late Friday afternoon. That represents two beef extra than typical to satisfy the demand we have for our beef. Now, for the exciting news. For some time I have been wanting to add to as well as upgrade our beef herd.

Animal impact On OUR Pastures

The documentary Sacred Cow is known for the phrase "It's NOT the Cow, It's The How!" The meaning is simple. The cow is not responsible for any environmental effects on our land, water, or air. However, the way MAN insists on managing the cow IS RESPONSIBLE. The cow left to her nature and instinct would never confine themselves into a feedlot situration where they would be standing in their waste. Nor would the cow, when left to their nature and instinct, confine themselves to a single pasture on continuous graze. The cow's nature and instinct would be to eat, graze, and move - very similar to the buffalo

Government IS RESPONSIBLE For That

January 2024 LtGov Hoseman wrote an opinion piece that was published in newspapers across the state. The jist of his opinion was Mississippi's labor market is at a critical inflection point where only 53% of our population is working and the balance is not. While I fully agree Mississippi has a critical labor market issue - I also know GOVERNMENT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT!!! Full disclosure - I tried three times to discuss this point with Hoseman, but he never returned my call. I will be sending him