Blog - Nature's Gourmet Farm

UnScrambling Egg Labeling Claims

Hello from our farm, If you’ve been to the egg counter in your local grocer lately you have seen all the different egg carton claims. Maybe you wondered what they mean? Today I want to briefly help you make sense of these claims by describing what the actual production definition is. First, what is driving all these claims in the first place? Well, the demand for pasture raised eggs is skyrocketing and affecting commercial egg producers. So, like many other products, commercial producers start working through their lobbyist to come up with claims that sound good, but still allows them to commercially raise the eggs as quickly and cheap as possible. PROBLEM – commercial producers do not take into consideration the natural instincts of the hen. The most popular claims are….

Customer's Are Excited About Our Changes

Hello from our farm, Last week I shared three milestone accomplishments for 2019 as well as a peak at changes coming for 2020! This email was opened by 411 recipients - the highest number ever. This week several customers emailed me these comments: "So glad you finally moved your deliveries to Saturday..." "Been wanting to buy from you for a long time. Glad you added Ocean Springs pickup location."

A New Chapter Begins for Nature's Gourmet Farm

We are GRATEFUL to our many loyal customers who support our farm principles with your food dollars. This allows us to grow and expand our product offerings as well as improve convenient access in your area. 2019 Has Been A Pivotal Year For Nature's Gourmet Farm!!! A couple of key highlights are: 1) Completed the first on-farm USDA Poultry Processing Plant in MS. This will allow us to raise and distribute our pastured NON-GMO chicken anywhere in the USA 2) Installed feed bins to be a distribution point for Resaca Sun NON-GMO feeds. This helps our farm as well as other like minded farms with feed availability & cost 3) In 2019, 336 people have signed up on our website to be customers

What DECEPTION Is Doing To Our Customers That Is Not Right!

Hello from the farm, Today, I want to talk about DECEPTION and how it may impact you. So, what am I talking about? How can DECEPTION affect me? There is a new risk out there called "Product Greenwashing" that threatens to Destroy The Regenerative, Humane, and Rural Community Building Farm Movement. Please continue reading-

The Ins & Outs of Feeding Our Cows Hay

Hello from the farm, Today, I want to take you out to the pasture as I feed hay to our cows. Our process is a modified "bale grazing" technique used by regenerative farms out west. For us, setting a whole bale out in the pasture for the cows to break into and eat caused to much hoof action and destroyed the perennial sod because our winters are much wetter. So, we simply break the bale apart into 8-10 mini piles per feeding. This way all the cows have a place "at the table"

SACRED COW: The Case For Better Meat

Good morning from the farm. With today's message I want to introduce you to a friend of mine, Diana Rodgers, and the incredible work she is doing. I also hope to communicate to you WHY what she is doing matters to you and your health. I first met Diana when she spoke at the GrassFed Exchange Conference in Albany, NY in 2017. Diana (RD, LDN) is a “real food” Licensed Registered Dietitian Nutritionist living on a working organic farm west of Boston.

Our Second Hen Hoop House Has Arrived!

Updates: late last week I received word that our new hen hoop structure would be ready for pickup Monday, November 25th. So, I made a fast trip to Dundee, OH Monday morning. Mr. Yoder once again had a place for me to stay the night. Tuesday morning while I enjoyed a nice breakfast his sons loaded the metal into my cattle trailer. From there, I traveled to Seven Sons farm and Hen Gear to pickup the 20 new nest boxes. While there, I was able to discuss our plans as well as see all the updates to their farm since we last

Do You Know That Your Food Is Safe?

You Should Not Have to Wonder if Your Food is Safe! - Weekly I receive notices of product recalls from the USDA. Here is an example: JBS Tolleson, Inc., a Tolleson, Ariz. establishment, is recalling approximately 12,093,271 pounds of non-intact raw beef products that may be contaminated with Salmonella Newport. Dr. Mercola explains Why Contamination Affects Such Large Amounts of Meat "The answer is quite simple. While many think of a pack of ground beef as being the meat from an individual cow, it's actually an amalgam of meat from many different cows — a single fast food hamburger can contain meat from more than 1,000 animals,6 and all you need is one sick animal to contaminate nearly unlimited amounts of meat as it all runs through the same processing equipment and gets mixed together in gigantic batches.

ANNOUNCING Exciting Changes Coming In 2020 For NGF Customers

Hello from Ben. I want to take a few minutes to highlight some changes coming in 2020 that we are making to better serve our growing customer base. First, we are pleased to announce that our oldest son, Eric, has joined our farm. His priority will be managing the hen & egg business, helping with daily chores for meat chickens, and operate as a backup to me as needed. EGGS - we will double egg production beginning by March. A second hoop structure has been ordered for pickup the first week of December and new hens will arrive the first week of January. We appreciate your patience. MEAT CHICKENS - with our new plant we can now process an unlimited number of chickens. Demand is strong - we sold out of the pieces in less than 1 hour last Friday evening. Many of you missed an opportunity to place an order and we receive calls and emails daily. That said, we will continue to raise and process chickens through the winter months. We have a batch on pasture now plus two batches in the brooder. For 2020, we expect to

Shopping Tips From Westin A. Price Foundation

Hello from Ben. What do you know about The Westin A. Price Foundation? Maybe you've not heard about WAPF - "The Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) is your source for accurate information on nutrition and health, always aiming to provide the scientific validation of traditional foodways. People seeking health today often condemn certain food groups — such as grains, dairy foods, meat, salt, fat, sauces, sweets and nightshade vegetables — but the Wise Traditions Diet is inclusive, not exclusive". We just renewed our membership after reading an excellent article by Sally Ann about a new campaign called Fifty-Fifty Pledge.

Latest Farm Updates

Hello from Ben. What a big difference in the weather! We went from no rain for seven weeks when needed to germinate the cool season forages to over 9 inches mostly last weekend. And, we had our first frost (lite frost) Friday morning. This year I'm No-Till planting just over 200 acres of cool season forages to include Oats, Triticale, Rye Grass, Hairy Vetch, Arrowleaf Clover, Persian Clover, Plantain, Chicory, Collards, and Radish. About 170 acres were completed by mid October and received good moisture to germinate the seeds. Those pastures are starting to look good. I have about 45 acres yet to plant and hope to finish early next week. Our forages not only feed the livestock, but also the biology that lives in the soil and are responsible for nutrient exchange between soil and plants.

Good Friends & Neighbors

Friday, October 18th started out like every day - taking care of the chickens. However, the rest of this day was going to be different. About 6-weeks ago I was contacted by Laurie in Olive Branch, MS about her and husband Daylon coming for a visit to see first hand what a regenerative farm looks like. She explained they had researched and chose our farm - we are grateful for their confidence. I was able to spend all day with them showing & discussing each of our four enterprises (beef, pork, chicken, and eggs). They were very eager learners and soaked it all up like a sponge. I got them involved with chores as well.

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

Nature's Gourmet Farm