Blog - Nature's Gourmet Farm

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.

What Customer's Are Saying

Hello from Ben. First, I want to thank each of you for supporting our farm with your food dollars. While this October did not set a new record like last year - sales have been good. And, folks really picked up a lot of the new sausage items. Your feedback on these items would be appreciated and help us make good decisions about the products we carry. Last week I shared the #1 reason Mom's choose our "clean" farm products is their concern about "What is all this stuff found in industrial food, where did it come from, and what are the risk to my families health?" This week we heard back from customers who expressed health concerns (issues) they are dealing with that relates

Listening To Our Customers

This week Beth started making calls to a cross section of out customers. We wanted to hear first hand what motivates them to buy from our farm as well as areas that we can do better to serve their needs. By far the #1 motivation that Mom's are concerned about "Is all this stuff found in industrial food, where did it come from, and what are the risk to my families health?" Guess what? You are not alone. In fact, a recent study by The Center For Food Integrity found that consumers are asking more questions than ever before about their food. The conversation today is less about "What's for dinner?" and more about "Should I be feeding this to my family?" We hear you!

Old Ways

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.

Meet Our Non-GMO Feed Supplier

Hey, this is Ben. Customers tell us they are concerned about the extensive use of chemicals in growing their food. A key concern is genetically modified crops that allow farms to spray the herbicide Roundup that includes the active ingredient glyphosate. There is a lot of reasons to be concerned! The World Health Organization has classified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen... that causes cancer. This week the Environmental Working Group reported that Austria announced a total ban of the pesticide in early July and that Germany would also ban glyphosate - because research shows the toxic weedkiller to be linked to cancer in people. Carey Gillam, author of Whitewash

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

Nature's Gourmet Farm