Looking forward to another year to serve you!

2013 was a good year for each of us as we look back and see how God met each of our needs and fulfilled many of our wants.  We added new customers and continued to grow relationships with those who have become family friends.  This year we want to get to know you better.  We enjoy providing you and your families with healthy food, but ministering to others through a listening ear, a caring heart or a timely smile is the most important thing for us to offer others.   Jesus Christ is our best friend and is the only source of joy in the middle of a broken world.  I hope that He will become your best friend also; He will if you ask!

                                                              The boys say "Hi"!!

We are starting an email list this season of customers that would like to get personal messages from us.  Monica or I will be sending out short messages to those who are on the list about a devotional thought, events happening at our farm, other events we recommend, and products that are available for purchase.  This will more of a personalized message over the content posted on the farm blog.  It would be a great way to build a continuing relationship with our family.  The email list will be protected, not shared with others.  If you are interested, please contact Monica at monica@pastureplace.com to be added to this list.

Local Fresh grown Shrimp

We have a friend that has started raising shrimp over by the town of Flora.  He is a great guy, who wants to raise locally grown food for his community and surrounding areas.  The shrimp are raised in a controlled environment (small pools) and handled with upmost care.  The business is called Big Barn Shrimp Farm and is located right on the south edge of Flora on State Road 75.  You can talk to Jerry if you would like at 574-967-3266 or BigBarnShrimpFarm@gmail.com also follow him at www.facebook.com/BigBarnShrimpFarm Jerry sells his shrimp fresh by the pound at his store or he is planning on being at several of this years summers farmers market.  Enjoy! :)

Feed them grass, not grease!

 

In yet another short-sighted experiment, researchers at Washington State University are feeding recycled restaurant grease to feedlot cattle in an attempt to raise the CLA levels of their meat. Although grease will indeed enhance CLA levels, it cannot compete with grass when the total nutritional value of the meat is taken into consideration. Meat from cattle raised on grass and legumes is not only five times higher in CLA than meat from feedlot cattle, it is also higher in vitamin E, beta carotene, and omega-3 fatty acids. Also, restaurant grease is high in a type of fat called "linoleic acid" or LA that is known to stimulate tumor growth. Although grease-fed cattle will have more of the cancer-fighting CLA, they will also have higher levels of the cancer-promoting LA, perhaps canceling out the anticipated benefits.

Comments: As long as researchers focus on artificial ways to raise CLA levels in animals, we will continue to have beef that is nutritionally inferior in other areas. We will also be plagued with all the problems linked with the feedlot industry including nutrient leaching, odor, diseased animals, and the indiscriminate use of growth promoting hormones and antibiotics

Happy New Year!!

Thank you for all your support over the last growing season!  It is a pleasure for us to provide you with healthy, quality local grown food products for your family.  We enjoy getting to know each of our customers better, many of them become like our extended family.  We look forward to serving you in the coming 2014 season.  Please let us know if there is anything we can do to serve you better.

Healthy Eggs: What we knew in 1932

 

In the 1930s, scientists and food producers were creating the first plans to take poultry off family farms and raise them in confinement. To enact their plans, they needed to create “feed rations” that would keep the birds alive and productive even though they were denied their natural diet of greens, seeds, and insects. It was a time of trial and error.

In a 1932 experiment conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, breeding hens were taken off pasture and fed a wide variety of feed ingredients. When the birds were fed a diet that was exclusively soy or corn or wheat or cottonseed meal, the chickens didn’t lay eggs or the chicks that developed from the eggs had a high rate of mortality and disease.

But when birds were fed these same inadequate diets and put back on pasture, their eggs were perfectly normal. The pasture grasses and the bugs made up for whatever was missing in each of the highly restrictive diets.

“The effect of diet on egg composition.” Journal of Nutrition 6(3) 225-242. 1933.

Boundaries

Today I was thinking about the perimeter boundaries on a piece of property that we keep livestock on.  It is fenced on the southern half of the land, and sometime in the future, will be fenced on the northern half.  When we started building fences, we looked at the land survey, found the corner post, talked to the neighbors, and decided what fencing type would best work for us.  We did all this work for the benefit of owning livestock, for the animals good and for the good of those around them, mainly our neighbors.  If you could ask our cows, they would tell you that they don't need boundaries, nor do they want them, for they are smart enough to make their own choices of grazing and roaming areas.  Now, we all know that livestock left to themselves will make irate neighbors by eating flowers, dirtying sidewalks or drives with cow pies, and putting large hoof prints in manicured lawns.  So, we went to the work to set boundaries in place that allow our cows to enjoy their prescribed areas.  They are free to live life to its fullest, running, eating, relating to other animals, soaking the sunshine, gazing at the stars on clear nights and doing all the other fun things that happy cows do.  As long as they stay within the preset boundaries that their loving caretaker outlined, they will thrive, and our neighbors will be happy. 

As I thought more about this subject, I couldn't think of any area of life that this same principle doesn't apply to us as humans.  The laws of nature, society, and God all serve as boundaries in our lives.  If we live within the preset boundaries, we will thrive. But, if I decide that today I am going to walk on air, stepping off the end of the haymow, I will suddenly be reminded that gravity is one of those boundaries that cannot be crossed without experiencing some kind of consequence.  It is the same with the boundaries that our loving heavenly Father has put into place for our good.  If I choose to ignore his predetermined boundaries for mankind and steal, lie, adulterate or any of His other boundaries, I will hurt those around me.  I will cause myself and others to suffer the consequences of my behavior. 

Our fence boundaries keep our cows in the area that is best for their well-being.  Likewise, when we choose to stay living within God's boundaries for mankind, we also will experience the best pasture for us to roam. :)

Apples, applesauce, and cider!!

One of the best things about fall is all the apples that God provides us!  Our family lived on a property in Oregon that had its own small orchard consisting of 10-12 apple trees and 4-5 pear trees.  We loved our little orchard!  Every fall we would work as a family to gather the bounty and bring it into the storehouse to be enjoyed when the cold winds blew. 

Last year the frost got most of the apple and pear tree blooms so we didnt get much crop, but this year made up for the loss.  The crop was soooo good, it made me wonder about God's call for letting the land rest every few years, and what the bounty may look like.  Anyway, this year we were able to visit some friends and family that had trees and fill numerous containers with bright colored fruit.  Monica canned and froze over 40 quarts of applesauce for the winter months.  As I type this, apples are cooking in our basement to process for apple butter, one of our favorite toppings for bread!  We are planning on making our own cider this coming week (look for upcoming pictures).  Monica will also can it so we can have tasty cider when the cold winds blow this winter.

MONEY SAVING TIP FOR YOUR FAMILY:  The crop was so good this year around the Midwest that many apples are laying on the ground going to waste.  I suggest you go to your neighbors or friends and ask them for the apples if you clean them up.  Contact us if you need help on how to preserve your apples in the form of canning, freezing, or cider.  We would love to help!!  Enjoy God's rich bounty this coming winter season for little or no cost.