April 2024 CSA Newsletter

An early start to the season and it is welcomed. A new batch of pigs should be arriving next week and our meat chicks in about 4 weeks!

Speaking of early, Easter is in March this year… say what? A CSA member asked if we could ship their share early – A most excellent suggestion! So, if you would like to order something special ( Lamb Shoulder, Boneless Leg of lamb or Loin Roast or small Beef Rib Roast?) OR would like your share to arrive next week ( March 25th) – Please let us know ASAP! Lamb is disappearing from our freezer shelves rather quickly.

Our Spring/Summer Shipping Schedule is below! Share invoices come out on the 21st of every month and I will post this newsletter on our blog shortly after. I will also email you the link so you don’t miss the news. If the first shipping date doesn’t work for you, just let us know and we can arrange a later ship day. Here is the upcoming schedule!

• April Shares Shipping; April 1st 
• May Shares Shipping; April 30th 
• June Shares Shipping; May 28th
• July Shares Shipping; June 25th
• August Shares Shipping; July 30th
• September Shares Shipping; August 27th

We drive all of your shares/orders about 3.5 hours south which allows those precious boxes to arrive the following day at your home.  Less time in transit means the meat arrives cold and ready for your freezer. We can ship from the ranch on other weeks, however we do not offer coverage on losses or thawed meat. Please email or call if you would like to discuss a different schedule. Also, we are happy to double up on a month if you will be away the next delivery date.

Share options for this month ( below is an example share for a Small Beef, Pork & Chicken, your share may be different) are pretty flexible, let us know if you would like to switch out any cuts or need something for a special dinner. LAMB! Finally… if you love it and want a 5 lb. additional share ( $75) let us know or we are happy to add some to your current share.  Just let us know! This is about the last month we will have any chicken available until we harvest again in July.

• Beef Roast – Chuck, Brisket or London Broil
• Ground Beef or Beef Patties ( 1/4# or 1/3#)
• Ground Pork or Sausages ( Breakfast, Sweet or Hot Italian, Chorizo or Kielbasa)
• Berkshire Pork Chops – Bone-in or Boneless
• Berkshire Pork Shoulder Steaks, Spareribs or Stew/Kabob
• Chicken Breast ( we do have a small amount of Drumsticks or Leg/Thighs that you can request instead)
• Lamb! OR a request extra of something you want!

You can also add; Maple Syrup, Honey, Meat Sticks, Jerky, and Sausage to your share. Just email us with what you are looking to add and we do the rest!

Spring cleaning is just about wrapped up, or rather, warm weather and the demands of feeding, moving, and watering of the various groups of beef, pigs, chickens and of course, the dogs will force me to wrap up the ‘spring cleaning’. On to outside work! Fence maintenance because, my goodness did we have some windstorms. On a recent walk, the branches sticking out of the field looked like something akin to the after affects of a tornado.

Over the winter a power outage cooked our one walk-in freezer compressor. Cole is cleaning a the now re-wound unit and both Eathon and him are doing a ‘last-ditch’ effort to repair it. Even our local refrigeration team is excited to hear the results. This is what you call, “Why not?” At a cost of $4000 to get a new one and the power company saying it was the result of animals, thus no insurance, this may save us about $3500. A calculated risk and one I’m praying will work.

They recently finished cutting out steel gussets that we will install in our Hennery for chicken brooder. Think of when you tie up a tent for your kids, these gussets will allow us to affix a large “tent” for our chicks in and keep them safe from predation, wind, and hopefully nice and toasty for that first crucial week. 12 weeks into the year already, my crocuses have popped up and the mourning doves are trying to nest outside my window.

Time to get this newsletter out to all of you and move onto the rest of my days list. Hope you all have a lovely Easter and April flowers abound!

Kassandra

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