Friday, July 11, 2008

Farm Update




See below for some exciting news!!!

I grounded myself from the blogging world for about a week. There have been A LOT of things that I needed to do sitting in front of my computer other than blogging- a wedding to edit, a website to design, product pricing, research, and the list goes on. That's the life of a farmer's wife.

I'm finding so much satisfaction and joy being a helper to Farmer Jason and am overflowing with thankfulness that I can do so.

Jason and I toted the girls around the farm in their rubber boots and stroller so that I could take some photos of the farm for our website.

Laney Rae in her jammies!

I wanted to find photos that represented our farm and the way we treat our animals. We want people to see content cows grazing in pastures, peaceful pigs rooting up dirt (I actually think one smiled at me when I was taking his photo- see below), and colorful chickens pecking at the dirt and grass.

Its been a long time since I've taken pictures of our cows. They are doing amazing. They rye and clover that Jason seeded last winter came up wonderfully which led to wonderfully fed cows. Watching these cows grow quickly and beautifully, was truly amazing to watch.

All of our baby piglets have graduated to pasture. We moved them from their mommas a few weeks ago out to our pasture area for our pigs. It was actually quite sad for a momma like me to watch because the sows (momma pigs) stood at the fence line watching their piglets for days. They were and are amazing mommas.


Our chickens are doing well too. The egg production has slowed down a lot due to the heat, but we are hoping for it to pick up again in the fall. By then, our 300 pullets should be laying. Can you imagine? 300 eggs a day! Wow. I know this is best case scenario, but still. That's still a lot of eggs.

You wouldn't believe this. We've had almost one person A DAY (***this week, exaggeration corrected after initial post. Sorry Honey! We'd be really popular if we had a person a day drive down our road...sheesh.) drive down our dirt road and asking questions like......

"What are you doing with all of those chickens?"

"Do you have chickens for sale? Frozen or live?"

"Do you sell eggs?"

"What are you doing rotating your cows like that?"

"Can we see your set up?" Farm terminology for "We want to see what you are doing."

A farmer that Jason ran into was telling him a story of another farmer talking about a farm off Highway 105 that "treats their cows so good they have sprinkler in the pasture for them to cool off with."

Jason said,"Hey, I think that is us."

And the ole' farmer said,"I think you're right! It is you."




People are taking notice that this isn't your typical farm today. However, our farm looks similar to what a farm years ago would have looked like.

I think people miss the old American farm that had a plethora of animals all dwelling within a natural environment living out their days grazing, rooting, and pecking. I didn't realize how rare a farm like ours is. But, the more cars that brave the drive down our dirt road overflowing with curiosity, the more I'm convinced that we are the exception and not the rule.

This is not to boast by any means. We are extremely blessed and thankful the Lord has given us this vision. Our hope is to spur on others.

As a result of these frequent "drive-ups" and also having product available soon, Yonder Way Farm has a storefront in the works. We will have a small store that will be open during certain hours and by appointment, where our customers can come out and pick up their products directly from our farm. Our intention behind this is to draw folks out to the farm in order to see their meat being raised and experience what we are doing firsthand.

We are beyond excited about this! Stay tuned for more info on this and photos as the building process gets underway.

Now for the photos! Here are some that will be featured on the Yonder Way Farm website that will be up and running soon!















15 comments:

Anonymous said...

exciting times... y'all are the real deal man. That's good.

I look forward to visiting... someday...

Mommy, M.D. said...

Lynsey, i'm so excited to get to buy your stuff! i can't wait.

it's so sad and ironic that it was actually EASIER to buy organic, free-range etc. food when i lived in DOWNTOWN HOUSTON. whole foods was right around the corner! but you can't get stuff like that here, at least not as conveniently. but with you guys for meat and eggs and home sweet farm for veggies, we're doing pretty well. any thoughts of a dairy???

Brandi Tejeda said...

How exciting Lynsey! I love your family farm! Its wonderful!

Sarah Shalley said...

i love it! i can't wait to eat your food. :) the farm is AMAZING.

Claire Walker said...

This really is sooooo cool! I would LOVE to be able to enjoy all that you guys have to offer! One question, though...do you guys get attached to the animals? Is it hard to move on after you know what?!?!?

Just curious!

Lyndsey, I miss seeing you at weddings. In fact, I wanted you to be snapping photos at my wedding, but you had to go off and decide to stop taking photos! I guess Brandon and Bethan will have to do!!! HAHAHA!!!

Miss you!

QuiltedSimple said...

Oh I wish I could fly to Texas to see what you guys are doing. The pictures are amazing! And yes, those piggies are smiling at you!!

And your cows and chickies look so happy! Love all that green, green grass and the bloom on those cows!

And your package will go out by Monday - I am the LOSER now!! hehe.
Kris

5 Chicks and a Farmer said...

Brandi H- That is SOOOO true. We drove to College Station to grocery shop last week! It makes me sick. And we would LOVE to have a dairy some day. We drive to Cameron (about 2 hours) for raw milk. That's crazy!

Claire!!!! Wedding?!?!?!? Congrats. That is so amazing. I'm so happy for you. BB Rogers are stinkin' awesome (I know you know this:). I need to take some lessons from them! But, you KNOW I would have came out of retirement for you....for real! I can't wait to see photos. They will be amazing!

I did get a tad bit attached to the animals at first. But, then I realized they are living out their purpose and being cared for by the nicest farmer anyone could ask for. A sprinkler for the cows???? Are you serious. Why don't we build them a pool while were at it. Ha, ha!

Carrie said...

I still think our babies look alike! You might like to look at www.thepioneerwoman.com. She takes great pictures of her cattle as well.

My hubby and I bought a quarter of a cow in Feb. because of the health factor. Very good natural cows. If that's even the term to use. Will you be selling any? I don't like the blogging world to know where I am from - in case of weirdos!! Heather, your sister in law knows. But if you sell, I might be interested in driving down for some one day.

5 Chicks and a Farmer said...

Hey Carrie!

I love the Pioneer Woman! I'm a regular visitor and contest participant:).

We will have cows in the fall. We will be selling different cuts of beef instead of the entire cow. I will get with Heather and add your e-mail to our list to notify when we have some available.

Thanks so much for your interest!

Lyns

Anonymous said...

Wow! Amazing photos! I'm so happy for you guys that it is all coming together so nicely for you! And a store front!! How exciting!! Couldn't happen to a more lovely family.

Heidi said...

Gorgeous, Lyns. I'm so proud of you and your hubby for all the time and effort you've put into your farm, and for doing things the right way. :) Your cows are positively glowing! Excellent photos. I wish we lived closer so that we could get meat from you!

mandi said...

hey lynsey!
what you guys are doing really resonates with me. thanks for following god's path in this. i know his heart is in us taking better care of our bodies and our earth (and all his little critters!). now, get on with the harvesting- i need some chicken!

texasmcvays said...

Wowie,

You are a working woman I may have to ban myself also. I need to get on the stick around here and put some much extended projects to their needed ends! Though I do a lot of scheduled posts now I probably would not be missed! Do you go to see Alysha and Ben for your milk at Sand Creek Farms?

5 Chicks and a Farmer said...

Hey Kyle!

I know what you mean!

Yes- we go to Sand Creek and pick up our milk. We usually go once every 2-3 months and buy a ton of milk and keep it in the freeze. It freezes and thaws really well.

5 Chicks and a Farmer said...

Oh, I've heard there is another raw milk dairy in Industry. I might check into that one as well to see which would be closer for us!