Blog - Nature's Gourmet Farm

Annual Cattle Roundup

Every year we bring the mama cows, bulls, and calves up to the corral where we "work" them. Since the day starts early, we move them into the pivot pasture late the evening before. That way we know we have everyone the next morning. So, what is involved in this "working" of the cows? Well, it is basically a modified cowboy wrangler day. You know, where the cowboys on their horses would bring up the cows and separate out the calves that would then be roped and tied so the expert could brand, castrate, etc. Except our method does not involve horses. We move them by walking them into the corral where we sort them and move them a few at a time. We don't use ropes to catch and tie them up- our tool is called a head gate/squeeze shoot. We use this to catch the calves just behind the head and hold them still.

Food as Medicine!

“Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food.” This famous quote is often attributed to Hippocrates. But, as research by Diana Cardenas in 2013 shows, this quote can not be found anywhere in Hippocrates' writings. Diana Cardenas discovered that the quote started to emerge from 1926 onward, and really started to get popular in the 1970's. There are good reasons for the quote to go round, though. Hippocrates considered nutrition one of the main tools that a doctor can use. More than that, dietary measures play a lead part in the original oath of Hippocrates.

Building Resilience In Farming

Every person on earth needs food every day. Every day, food is tended, harvested, transported, stored, and served up on our tables. In a very real sense, food cannot be separated from life itself. And so it has been said that changing the way we grow and eat food is one of the most powerful tools we have for changing our economies and society as a whole. So when we ask: what will the farms of the future look like? We should really be asking — what do we want the future to look like? And then answers may begin to emerge. Resiliency is NOT industrial monocultures - those big farms where you see acres and acres of corn or soybeans, not to mention the giant cattle feedlots or huge pork & chicken confined feeding operations. These are systems that degenerate, they die, over time.

A Customer's Request

Good Morning and hello from the farm, Last weekend one of our Gulf Coast customers asked me to write and compare our farm with companies like ButcherBox. My objective here is NOT to be critical of the ButcherBox (BB) model, but to simply provide information and my thoughts to help you make an informed decision. While I have heard of BB I must admit that I did not know much about them. So, like you, I went to their website. They were founded in 2015 and are headquartered in Brighton, MA (Harvard Square). So, BB is NOT a farm nor do they own the land or animals. They are basically a sales and marketing company that buys meat for resale to consumers. Their staff all appear to be office staff which mean they outsource things like warehouse, packers, logistics, etc.

Farm Updates

June is an "extra" busy month on the farm - especially for Beth - as that is when our garden vegetables are ready. As you probably guessed, when it is ready you have to make time to harvest and then comes the canning, etc. You cannot procrastinate or simply put off till another day. When it comes to varieties like zucchini an extra day or two past optimal and you have an overly large specimen that is typically shared with the hens. Now that July has arrived, most of the garden is only a memory.

Farm Announcements

Today, I want to let you in on three important announcements from Nature's Gourmet Farm. As a way of introduction, back in the 1990's i was introduced to a man named Joel Barker through his best selling business film titled "Paradigms". One of the illustrations he used in the film was of an elderly couple walking on the beach when they came upon a young boy who was picking up up the many starfish that had washed ashore. They stopped to ask him how he ever expected to make a difference as there were so many. As he picked up another starfish and tossed it into the surf he looked up at them and said "it made a difference to that one."

The Value of Good Nutrition

Weekly we hear from customers who comment how much better their health is after committing to eating a healthy diet of quality meats and vegetables. Beth has also written to share her story about how improved nutrition helped her reduce her risk of diabetes by simply eating GOOD carbs with QUALITY meats (protein) or GOOD fat with QUALITY meats. She lost more than 35 pounds and dropped her numbers into the safe zone. Last week a regular customer told me since the lock down he has not traveled as much with his work and that his wife has fed him our meats and fresh vegetables. In about 6-weeks he lost 35 pounds and is feeling much better. All from replacing processed foods, snacks, and soft drinks with quality farm fresh foods.

What Is Your Food Freedom Vision

Last week our newsletter discussed what Food Freedom is NOT! This week I would like to touch on my vision what Food Freedom is. Your comments are welcomed and appreciated. First a short story about vision I heard about Walt Disney when he wanted to build Disneyland Orlando. The story goes that he took possible investors out to a plot of land that was mostly cut over and swampy.

Food Freedom

Inspiration for this article came from reading a recent Facebook Post by Ag. Commissioner Gipson about his families Jersey milk cow. You can read the post here. Actually, the inspiration came from reading the more than 100 public comments to his article from Mississippian's who want to make their own choice who they buy their food from. When i was growing up my Simmons Grandparents milked 6-8 Jersey girls twice daily. What milk they did not use for themselves was sold to local families straight from the farm. This included sweet milk, buttermilk, and butter wrapped in wax paper. Sales were made without internet sites. In fact, my Grandparents never had a telephone - because when the

Memorial Day Tribute To The American Soldier

What do you know about Memorial Day? (the following was taken from the editors of History.com) Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades.

Farm Updates & Family Garden

It’s Beth this time, as Ben has asked me to write the newsletter this week. He is trying to plant grass on newly mulched ground and round up more beef and pork. Those of you who pick up orders at the farm know that we try to have a garden each summer. Sometimes it looks better than others, but we keep trying. Recently I saw there was a webinar entitled Homegrown Food Summit that sounded interesting, so I signed up. We already have our garden planted, but I thought maybe I could glean some tidbits going forward and maybe be able to have a fall garden as well.

Farm Update PLUS Really Exciting News

We continue to have so many NEW folks (>3000 per month) visiting our website only to find we are sold out! While we cannot meet the needs of everyone, we see many missed opportunities among this group. Processing of beef & pork continues to be the bottleneck for our farm. The COVID-19 issue has only made the situation worse! For the past 6-8 weeks I have encouraged Homestead Packing to add a second shift to process beef. This would let them basically double their capacity. When I recently picked up the ground beef Ethan told me they had worked out "how" to make this happen. They needed another butcher, helpers, and an expensive saw. Wednesday, when I delivered beef Ethan told me his current butcher had given notice.