Lamb is Back In Stock! --- Order now for immediate delivery!

Yes! After a long wait... we finally have lamb products back in stock! And some exciting ones at that!

This year we have:

Ground lamb in 1 lb packages
Mildly spicy breakfast links
Mint Cranberry Dinner Links! WOOHOO!

The mint cranberry is our favorite! After much testing and adjusting, we developed this recipe our-self, in our kitchen. It is quite honestly an exquisite blend of tart, sweet, and minty.  You have GOT to try this one!

And the best news?  All of this lamb is, as always, super nutritious.

Pasture Raised year round on organically grown grass
Heritage Breed
Free of antibiotics, hormones, chemical parasite control, and vaccinations
Humanely treated with love
Naturally bred in communities as in nature


The jacob sheep that we raise is (in our humble yet passionate opinion) the best lamb anywhere. It is milder, yet more flavorful than any other breed we have tried. Often people do not even know that this is lamb! It taste quite similar to grass fed beef.

If you are looking for an alternative to beef that is just as tasty, yet perhaps more nutrient dense, this is it! But hurry, we often sell out quickly and it only becomes available once a year!

The kitchen sheep

This little lady fell prey to the bad weather... Approaching 4 inches of cold rain this weekend is a lot for our area. It was just too much for this younger girl. She somehow got soaked with rain and mud.

Kaelyn found her struggling to stand this afternoon... So naturally she brought the sheep inside. Doesn't everyone have sheep in their kitchen?

After a long warm bath, a towel dry followed by some serious blow drying.... she is much better. Regaining her body heat and strength quickly. So ... Naturally.... Kaelyn fixed her up with a little recovery spot in the kitchen. Dry towel, some fresh dry hay, and there are sits!

Kaelyn is definitely becoming our resident vet... Her natural instincts for caring for animals is quite strong.

Even the lamb is attached to kaelyn now. When she went out to get another handful of hay, the lamb went roaming around the kitchen calling for her nurse.

So yea.... Another kitchen sheep for the afternoon.

Mint cranberry lamb sausage test

One of the fun parts of selling sausage off farm is the need to develop our own recipes. Usually YUM!

Today we are exploring a new lamb recipe... mint cranberry lamb sausage.



Recipes often take several rounds of tweaking and testing... so we can not predict when this will be available... but we have high hopes!

Stay tuned!

posted from Bloggeroid

Lamb Hospital - 2016

the rains this week did more than stick our vehicles in the mud... the weather endangered the new born lambs greatly! Cold in manageable.. wet is manageable.. but wet AND cold.. not so much.

So we started hourly "lamb checks" to keep an eye on things... and put bedding once or twice a day around each shrub or shelter area.  IT worked pretty well, but still.. we ended up bringing a few inside.

THAT is a risk.. because drying one off, handling it, carrying it.. in the first day or two of life, will leave scent on the lamb that the mom rejects. Scent is how she identifies her baby and we destroy that saving the lambs life. So in the end we end up with some "bottle babies" that the moms wont take back.  Its unavoidable, a pain, but oh so cute!

Here are some pics of the "hospital" that kaelyn set up for this year's patients.

Violet and Nichole were lucky enough to get private rooms. Violet actually suffered a broken leg through some mishap and is awaiting a leg wrapping by the nurse.  

Ammon, the boy, keeps close eye on the two young girls.. he is already starting to show the personality of a ram, keeping an eye on things. 

Unfortunately Ammon does not like to hold still for pictures!

The stool is where the nurse sits every few hours to feed them and check on them, plus a little cuddle time. 

Nothing better than a lamb!

We love this time of year.. when the lambs arrive! There is just something special about cuddling with a little lamb, only a few days old.

Kaelyn snuggling with one of the new arrivals

If you want to do a farm visit... now is a great time. There is still mud everywhere but with little faces like this running around... its worth it!

First lamb of 2016

Jan 2... And we have 2 lambs on the ground! They both look strong and healthy!

Make plans to come see these little guys if you can. Cutest animals on the farm!

posted from Bloggeroid

Sprouts.. Nutritional powerhouse

This paragraph from the linked article below should catch your eye:

 "A powerhouse of nutrition, sprouts can contain up to 30 times the nutrition of organic vegetables grown in your own garden, and allow your body to extract more vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fats from the foods you eat. During sprouting, minerals, such as calcium and magnesium, bind to protein, making them more bioavailable. Furthermore, both the quality of the protein and the fiber content of beans, nuts, seeds and grains improves when sprouted. The content of vitamins and essential fatty acids also increase dramatically during the sprouting process."

Think about that.. 30x increase in nutrition by turning a seed into a sprout!

This is why we feed hogs and poultry sprouts instead of dry grain. Sure... Its more labor to sprout grain every day instead of just opening a bag of feed, especially at 400lbs per day... But 30x is worth it!

Or animals are raised from birth with sprouted grains and organic produce we grow ourselves. There is simply no substitute! 30x nutrition! No factory formula feed can compete with that. And since "you are what you eat"... What farm animals eat determines YOUR quality of health. Most farms buy the cheapest feed they can... Not us. Little sprouts is dedicated to our customer health... You. We won't skimp on quality!

So when your enjoying the incredible flavor of our ribs, loins, chops, sausage, chicken.... Rest assured we used every aspect of nature we could to increase the health benefits. Health matters, and everything done at the farm makes a difference on your plate.



http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/05/23/edible-garden.aspx

posted from Bloggeroid

NewsFlash -- Little Sprouts Meats now available at Medford Food Coop

That is right.. for the first time ever, Little Sprouts is going to begin offering meats through a retail outlet, namely the local Medford Food Coop!

Starting this Thursday,  July 2, Some of our USDA inspected meats will be available for purchase through the Food coop in Medford.  The Little Sprouts team will be there throughout the day to offer information, and FREE SAMPLES of some of the meats to customers.

We invite you to stop by to say hi, sample the meats, and take some home with you.

Little Sprouts meats are quite special. Our meats are "all of the above", meaning we feature everything you need in one product instead of forcing you to pick and choose which benefits are important. Have them all!

• Pasture Raised
• Humanely Treated
• Organically Fed
• SOY free
• GMO Free
• No Antibiotics
• No Hormones
• No Vaccinations
• No Chemical Parasite Control
• Heritage Breed
• Locally Raised
• Small Farm Produced

We stand behind our meats as well as all of our products as the healthiest we can make. PLUS they just taste great. The texture, flavor, freshness, and quality is second to none.

We hope to see you Thursday!

New Items - Lamb Breakfast Sausage!

We are very pleased to announce the arrival of a totally new product that is a MUST TRY!

Breakfast link, made from our own pastured. heritage, organically fed, antibiotic and hormone free, soy free lamb!

You will not find a healthier breakfast meat, and this recipe is a surprisingly mouth watering flavor.  We offer two varieties, mild and spicy. Neither one tastes like lamb is expected to taste and both are delicious!

Even better, this is USDA processed so it is available for purchase by free farm members without needing a paid membership.

Order yours today.. you wont be disappointed!

USDA pork and lamb available now!

We have made a major shift in our products, starting NOW (actually yesterday). For the first time, we have both pork and lamb available in a variety of forms, by the cut, USDA processed! This means that anyone may purchase this meat in small quantities without a paid farm membership. It is legal for retail sale.

If you have not taken a look yet, browse the online store now. I am slowly adding all the new cuts into the pork and lamb section. The available items will be increasing over the next few days.

Some products, like lard, bacon, cracklings, etc will remain members only, available for the $24 per year membership (billed quarterly).

Enjoy!

Pasture Heritage Lamb available now in smaller quantities

Finally! after 5 years of raising our own herd of Jacob sheep from the original 12 breeders, we are now able to offer lamb cuts, lamb organs, and ground lamb. AND... this is available to all farm members, with or without a full paid membership!

In the online store you will find:

Ground lamb by the lb
Lamb Chops by the lb
Lamb neck - bone in
Lamb heart
Lamb kidney
lamb liver

and coming soon.... lamb sausage!

Feel free to browse and purchase at will, if you see it in the store, it is available!

Again.. no need for a paid farm membership, all these lamb products are now USDA processed, packages, labelled, and available to you immediately!

The lucky mom and baby

Last friday we moved the sheep flock back to foothill to take advantage of the dense spring grass there... and as noted in that blog post, there was one mom who just refused to go.  Well, her resistance has now paid off... as she finds herself and her baby in the Ritz Carlton!

We moved her today from the pasture into the circle around the front yard pod where the richest densest grass anywhere around is waiting for her. The grass is over 3 feet tall in some places! It is well fertilized by the ducks last season.

So here she is.. the lone protective mom.. now in the best accommodations possible!

Why do animals fear humans?

Interesting observation to share, about the universal fear of man found within animals in nature.

We moved the sheep back to the foothill property friday to allow them access to the fresh green grass of spring there.  But something interesting happened in the process that brings this topic up.

There was one late born lamb, only a week or two old. S single lamb born to a new mom.  As expected, she is very aloof. Moms usually keep their young away from everyone, even the herd, for a few weeks. This protects the lamb from abuse from others in the herd fighting for food, etc.  This new mom was very good at protecting her young, and even herself.  We loaded 2 trailers of sheep and older lambs quite easily , lured by alfalfa and grain.  But not this mom. Nope! she stayed far back and even took a dozen or so of the sheep with her, all refusing to load.

We ended up separating her from teh rest, and successfully lured the others into the last trailer load. But then we tried to catch her and the lamb. No way! even with 5 of us out there she refused to be cornered or driven or lured. She kept her baby right at her side and together they eluded capture repeatedly. At one point, the baby took a wrong turn and ended up separated. We thought "Great!" now just catch the lamb and the mom will follow.

You see, new lambs, just born, have zero fear of man. in fact the problem is often the baby responding to interaction with humans by identifying with them instead of sheep, causing the mom to reject the lamb!  A new born lamb will walk right up to anyone and snuggle. They are NOT born with fear of humans.   But within a few days, that changes.by a week or so they run away.

This little fellow was no exception, he ran feverishly like a world class sprinter and.. in the end.. we gave up. They can stay at the farm for a while. We couldnt risk over stressing the little lamb in trying to catch him further.

So here's the thing... we also have this little lamb named Nephi. He was a bottle lamb, rejected by his mom. Grandma took him in and hand fed him, then the kids took over, so he was raised by humans.  This little guy LOVES people. he will always leave the flock to be with any person within sight. He much prefers humans!

So here is the odd thing. Lambs are born with zero fear.  If you keep them from their moms, they never develop fear and actually prefer humans  But send a week with mom, separate from the herd, and they are deathly afraid of humans.  It must be that mom is teaching the lambs to fear humans. I see no other explanation! How she does that, I have no idea. whether this applies to other species is hard to say, but it is true in sheep.

We know that part of the result of the global flood in noah's day was that animals would "now fear man" at the same point that noah was told he could eat meat for the first time ever. How did God put that fear into animals? Thats what I ponder now. It does not appear to be something genetic, nor inherited. It is something taught by parents. Amazingly it is taught even in the absence of humans during the teaching time.  I find this amazing to ponder.

Some things we just dont know.. many things actually, in the miracle of nature. The complexity and awesomeness is unmatched by anything man could conceive.

Sheep update

It has been a tougher than normal first week of lambing season.  We have had a number of lambs that need a bit of assistance.  Nevertheless,  things are progressing.  Right now we have 8 total healthy lambs running around,  1 was stillborn,  1 didnt make it,  and 1 found a new home after being abandoned. 

To help the herd get stronger we have increased the "hotter"  feed. (oats,  alfalfa).  This will provide a bit more energy and help milk production.

The cutest one during lambing season is perhaps rainey the llama.  We call him uncle rainey as he often fills in for the moms when they go eat...  Attentively watching the little ones until mom is back.

Uncle rainey!

There is a sheep in my kitchen!

Interesting thing to see in the morning...  A lamb walking around your kitchen.... 

This little guy was having an acceptance problem with mom...  So he spend the night in the house.

But still...  There is a sheep in my kitchen!

Lambs on the ground!

What a surprise!  We returned home this afternoon to find 2 sets of new twins on the ground.  Lambs just born!  These 4 are the first lambs of 2014.

Great time to plan a visit to the farm!

Late Season Lamb Born!

We do not artificially  control the breeding cycles of our animals, who all live in communities of male and females, just as they would in the wold. This results in the occasional our of season birth.  This year we were blessed with a late season lamb born just this week!

I am happy to report that mom and baby are doing fine! As the only small lamb in the pasture, he is very adorable!

I hope to add a pick to this post soon so you can meet him!

Excelerite Minerals Available Now

We are pleased to announce that Little Sprouts is now a re-seller of  Excelerite Rare Earth Minerals.  We will be using these minerals ourselves as well as stocking them in smaller packages for resell  through farm pickup or home deliveries.

Excelerite is the brand of rare earth minerals from US RareEarth Minerals. It is produced from an ancient evaporated lake bed in Panaca Nevada. Many scientists consider this lake bed to be the world's richest source of micro, macro, and nano nutrients.

Excelerite is provided in two forms, agriculture  and livestock. the only difference is that the AG type is filtered to remove some unneeded silica and has a slightly higher price.  the mineral content otherwise is the same.

You can read more about his amazing product at their website: http://us-rem.com/

Why minerals? Minerals, especially ancient sea and lake minerals, contain the building blocks that make life work. Everything improves in the presence of abundant minerals in the proper balance, both pant and animal. In fact, life is not truly possible without minerals! Unfortunately much of the worlds soil and therefore foods are depleted of minerals through years of abuse and use. Remineralizing with excelerite restore the soil to its healthy natural state, providing benefits to the ecology (life) of the soil itself and any plants grown in it.

For livestock (poultry, hogs, sheep, etc) these minerals in livestock form are added to their feed to give them the boost that is not contained in their feed and world.  This gives an immediate benefit to all livestock in a number of ways.

We encourage you to try this amazing product and see for yourself how ancient minerals can boost health, vitality, fertility, and production.

you can find Excelerite in our online store: http://www.farmigo.com/store/littlesproutsfarm

Sheep / horse feeder

What can you build from 3 pallets, 2 old plywood pieces, an old fence gate, couple 2x4 pieces and some screws? Well..one idea is a combo horse sheep feeder! We needed one that allowed hay to be shared between 3 horses and 24 sheep. The head horse has been a little aggressive with bales of hay. Actually picking up a sheep to move (throw) it out of his way, and we didn't want anyone hurt!
So we designed a sort of combo feeder where sheep feed from the bottom, protected by the hay itself and horses feed from the top. It can hold 3 large bales at once, all accessible on top and bottom. The best thing is... didn't really cost anything but leftover parts and time.
Sorry the pic is not so good... but ,might give you an idea. This is a view from the back.

First taste of little sprouts lamb

We finally had put first taste of our heritage lamb.  In a word.. . WOW! The meat was amazingly tender, mildly flavored,  and just plain delicious!
The most amazing thing is ease of use.  Instead of an elaborate lamb recipe with all the preparation. .. it was so easy.  Brenda took the leg of lamb from the freezer in the morning, placed it frozen into a Dutch oven with some water,  sprinkled a little salt, pepper,  and thyme - baked it for the day in the oven. 
It tastes much like grass fed beef. In fact I had to think about it to tell the difference. It was  more tender than beef though.
So we are pleased with our lamb.  It is totally grass fed,  organically raised, heritage Jacob sheep. Healthy,  nutritious,  and delicious.
If you would like to sample some lamb this year,  just contact us.  You can also reserve yours for next year now!