As I sit here this morning, listening to the birds sing after a nice rain shower, I am reminded of the great power of God and the perfect world he has created.  Everything he has created in nature has a purpose and is like a piece of a bazillion piece jigsaw puzzle. By looking at how nature works, we can learn to farm better.

Growing up, I read a lot of farm magazines, studied what the ‘professionals’ taught, went to college for agriculture, and worked on some pretty large modern farms. I learned a lot over the years, unfortunately most of it was what not to do. After  buying our farm and fighting the system for a couple of years, I realized, this is not the way it is supposed to work. Those jigsaw pieces only fit in a certain spot, and we, as stewards of those pieces, have to quit trying to reshape those pieces and use them as they were intended.

I quit reading about conventional farming, and discovered a magazine called Acres USA. It is primarily about organic farming, but also about human health. As I gained a little knowledge, I started seeking more and more. I started buying books on Organic, seeking out all I could find on the internet and looked for other farmers practicing organic methods. That was the hardest part, finding other farmers.  Virtually no one around here was or is doing it.  Finally I met one near Athens who had very similar principles and views on how we should live our lives and conduct our business. Over the years, we have become great friends and have taught and learned a lot from each other.

One of those principles is being honest with our customers.  Our farm is open to anyone who wants to visit, we will show you anything you would like. Can’t say I really want you to see everything , like the junk we haven’t hauled off, or the yard that hasn’t been mowed, but we are open about how we raise our animals and why we do things like we do.

Care for our animals extends all the way to the butcher shops. Our cattle are hauled to R&C Packing, which is only a couple of miles away. Jamie and Amy Graham have worked really hard there to make everything as comfortable and humane for the animals as possible. They are also farmers and understand the care and respect that is given to the animals as part of God’s creation and him putting those animals under our care to provide the best nourishment possible to us. They use the most humane methods available to harvest all the animals that they receive, and they treat each one as if they were preparing it for themselves.

Our chickens have to make about a 3 hour trip to their harvest. There are currently only 2 facilities in Ohio that do custom poultry. Both are a 3 hour drive for us . We use King and Sons near Greenville. The Kings are a German Baptist family who custom process as many as 1500 chickens a day. They also take care of business in a manner that shows respect to the animals as a gift to nourish our bodies.  The birds are killed in a quick, swift,  humane manner. They are then cleaned and eviscerated and put into an ice bath to chill them to 40 degrees as quick as possible.

I am proud to do business with both of these  Godly, family businesses. In todays world, small businesses like these are a critical part of keeping our food supply safe, clean, humane, and local. They, like us,  provide the personal service, education and customer appreciation, that you cannot get at a large chain store.  Think about it, you know your DR’s name, you probably know who cut’s your hair, but do you know who produced any of the food you eat? Get to know them, whether it’s us or someone else.  When you do, that  steak, or chicken, or tomato, or salad, or watermelon or whatever else you are eating, will take on a whole new meaning, when you think about all the love and care and hard work that farmer put into raising it.

Phil