Did everyone enjoy their first share of Fall? Hoping to keep the goodness coming your way!

It takes pretty much all month to plan and prep for each distro. From knowing how many members there are and what shares they have ( all beef, all pork or mixed which is the most popular share) we make a tally of what is needed. As soon as the meat has been dry-aged ( 2 weeks right there), cut, wrapped and frozen we go and pick it up from Tri-Town Packing, bring it to our shipping barn and then sort all of the cuts and start packing shares that we already know what they wanted in them. After sending out this newsletter, we print shipping labels and make notes on them for share options & any extras you may want. I gather the troops ( on hopefully a rainy day) and then we pack, pack, pack. The very last we see of your boxes is on Monday afternoon when our local FedEx driver shows up and the massive haul is pulled from the freezer. We are legendary at the local shipping station.

Thanks for making that happen.
John, Kassandra, Eathon & Cole

Our Month – September

The new building pad was poured just over a week ago. Abe is coming tomorrow morning to lay out the footer for the steel arches. As soon as we have 2 solid days to commit, a crew will attack it and up she goes. It was a bit of a push to get this building but the barns will be bursting at the seams without it. For this winter, the new building will store extra hay and will be the new maternity area for the sheep. The big barn will go to the beef, they will need it all!

The breeding rams arrived, finally, in a flurry of last minute plans they were whisked from the hills of Virginia to the valley of the St. Lawrence river. Our three gorgeous, stocky, thick rams will hopefully improve our leggy ladies offspring. We are excited for the next lambing, just 6 months to go!

Many of you who have been members for years know that we have been renting the land on which we ranch from my husband’s grandfather, and then when he passed from his father. Over the summer attorneys have been consulted, land valuations made, paperwork was filed and the ranch is now ours! It is with much gratitude towards my father-in-law for his generosity, it certainly would have taken a much larger leap if not for him.

Well, tis late ( for me at least). I just got back from picking up our meat at Tri-Town and stowing it in the walk-in freezer. Tomorrow we shall print labels ( don’t freak out when you get a notice of a shipment, we are NOT shipping until Monday), pack your shares and work on the new building. Time for bed for me.

Akins Crew hard at work