Cheese Selection is growing!

We are very excited to have eight different blocks of cheese available in the online store for immediate sale!  There are 3 new plain cheddars plus 2 flavored cheeses.

The plain cheddars are again all unique. Each block has a different flavor and texture. You can browse through the online store to see a description of each one and choose the type of cheese you prefer.

The flavored cheese are exciting!  There is a cranberry cheddar and a jalepano cheddar!

My personal favorite, just so you know.. is plain cheddar block number 8. MMMMM, sweet moist and creamy. My second favorite is the jalepano cheddar. Hunter much prefer the cranberry cheddar, because it is dry and he loves dry hard cheese best.

The amazing good news is.. there is not a hint of "goaty" flavor or aroma in any of these cheeses! We have been very worried because, quite frankly, we dont like any goat cheese we have tried before. They always had such a pronounced "goaty" flavor that it was just unpalatable. It was quite scary going into the goat cheese business when we have never had any goat cheese that was ... pleasant. BUT... looks like things worked out. The cheese we are selling are full of flavor but absent the characteristic goat flavor we feared.

So browse through and order some cheese! There will be one or two new blocks appearing each week, and when a block is sod out, it will disappear, never again to return. If you find a personal favorite... you might want to purchase some extra!

Special Purchase! Heirloom Purple Hulless Barley!

We are very excited to announce the availability of Purple Barley, available immediately in bags of 1, 2, or 5 lbs.

Purple barley is an heirloom (really old!) barley with no hull, so it can go directly from farm to table. It has a pleasant nutty flavor and is very high in protein while low in gluten. The flavor is similar to old fashioned oats, but perhaps more pronounced.

This barley can be soaked as is for a breakfast cereal  to replace oatmeal, or it can be added to soups and stews instead of rice. It could also be used as a side dish to replace rice for a low glycemic low gluten substitute.

This barley was a grain used in ancient Tibet. It was collected in 1924 by an American visiting Tibet, this heirloom variety of hulless colored barley was brought back to the United States and tucked away for many years in the USDA Seed Repository in Idaho as PI 60205. Pat Hayes of Oregon State University heard about this grain from his colleagues Victoria and Tom Blake at Montana State University, who had named it “Karma.” Tom Hunton saw Pat’s test plots, liked what he saw, and increased seed stock of Karma at his farm in Junction City.

We acquired a few thousand pounds of this amazing grain from a certified organic farm near Klamath Falls, oregon and are offering it for immediate sale.

You can also sprout this barley for human or animal feed!

Check our online store to order a bag of this amazing ancient grain!

First batch of little sprouts pure lard soap

Here it is!  Our first batch of pure old fashioned lard soap!  36 bars pl7s some fun shape molds for hand soaps.

Simple ingredients...  Lard and lye.  (plus a LOT of stirring!)

Watch for this in the online store.

The new sunroof

So....  This was the view from inside the milking room this evening.  It appears the ladies have decided on some minor remodeling of the holding stall.  A new sunroof!

OK,  so it's only roughed in at this point,  but it does give a nice roomy feel!

Cheese ready for sale!

We are so excited!  This week marks the beginning of a new chapter for little sprouts!  Wet are officially in the artisan cheese business!  This week or first blocks of raw goat cheese reached the required minimum 60 day mark in adding and can be packaged for sale!

There will be one or two blocks made available each week going forward.  Each block is unique,  much like tests and batches in wine.  Each one had a different character and flavor even if from the same recipe.  Wet will do our best (with help from our cheese club members)  to revive each accurately so you can choose which you prefer before purchase.

The first cheeses will be plain cheddar,  but in a couple weeks the special cheeses are due...  Such as :

Jalepano
Cranberry
Onion and sage
Onion and garlic
Italian spice
Raisin and cinnamon
Blueberry

More details to come soon on how to order and what's available.  You should have some options for ordering this week. Stay tuned!

possibly canceling egg subscriptions

Yes,  bad news.  We are considering canceling all egg subscriptions for a season.  The laying flocks are aging and just unable to keep up with demand.  Our reality is that since we lost our replacement laying flock and genetics in the fire last winter,  we simply don't have the ability to build back enough to silky the demand.  The small rescued flock we managed to keep is simply to small to be efficient.

So.  We will be deciding this week on how to proceed.  We may just cancel all subscriptions and instead place weekly available eggs in the online store for purchase first come first serve.  It pains me to say this but we have may have no choice.

In the long run  (about 9 months)  we will be back with a brand new flock or two of a new breed for both chicken and duck.  Efforts towards this are already under way.

If we choose to go this route... All egg  subscription members will receive an email notice.  Thank you for your support and understanding on this.

Sold out of feed for the week

Just wanted to let everyone know..  We are almost totally sold out of chicken feed this week.  Our shipment didn't arrive late last week and will probably not be here till Friday this week.  So if your thinking of driving out to the farm to pickup,  please call before you do to find out about availability.

We will accept orders for this week delivery as normal in hopes that the guys at scratch and peck pull off a miracle and our order here by Friday.  They usually do better than expected!

The good news is that the guys at the mill are swamped!  More and more people are walking up to the realities of cheap mostly soy based feed and the damage these things cause.  The benefits of a prime feed such as scratch and peck are amazing,  and spreading!

Delays at Easy Valley drop point

Well well...  Coolers and freezers are forever a pain....  Yet again there is trouble with cooking...

The freezer at Easy Valley quit just add we were going to load it up with product...  So that project is paused for a bit.  Hopefully not long!

Drop spot and availability in rogue river - Easy Valley Farm

Little Sprouts is expanding!   We have been covering the ashland and medford areas with home deliveries for a couple of years now and we thank all of our loyal customers. Now we are making product available in the rogue river area through a new drop spot....  Easy Valley Farm.

Easy Valley offers a vegetable can with some of the best produce available in the valley.  They also have a small farm stand open pretty much all the time.  Little Sprouts will now have an official drop spot in their farm store for easy delivery of products.

Rogue river customers will be able to order online and pick up at easy Valley.  Some items will be stocked there for even faster pickup.   Our entire range of products (except perhaps raw milk)  will be available.

We are getting set up this week,  and can begin signing up customers and taking orders as early as this weekend!  If you are in rogue river,  or know someone there,  be sure to stop by and say hi!

Easy Valley Farm
2557 East Evans Creek rd
Rogue river
541.582.8089

First taste of the new sausage recipes

Wow...  How exciting!  We picked up our first batch of 8 different sausage recipes from the butcher :)  it's been a long time coming,  but it's finally here!

This is the list of sausage flavors (all links)  available immediately :

Authentic hungarian
Garlic and pepper
Spicy italian
Texas style
Chorizo
English bangers
Louisiana style

And of course breakfast links!

All of these are made with all organic ingredients,  and start with our pastured , heritage breed,  soy free,  organically fed pork.  You just can't find sausage like this in the stores!

So now the fun part...  Taste testing.  We are going to be eating lots of sausage in the next few days!  If you would like to try some,  check out the sample packs in the online store!

More pigs born!

Today we have another litter on the ground.  These are  black Wattle crosses.   There are 9 tiny little guys hanging out in the shelter with a new mom.

So far that is about 50 piglets for the spring season just ended.  Exciting! ....

Well..  Assuming we can manage to feed 50 pigs!

Pics soon.