Hard labor, low pay, constant problems....

Farming... an occupation of low pay, long hours of back breaking work, constant problems to solve, working through holidays and bad weather and sickness. Yes... that is all true and at face value it is easy to see why so many people left the farm for the promise of a better life. But I have to say... after a long day of processing turkeys in the cold with an aching back.... I wouldn't trade this life for anything. The payoff is not in vacations or money. The payoff of farming is much deeper... much more satisfying, much more valuable than the fleeting luxuries of the world.

I took a call the other day from a mom in California. She was desperate yet determined to provide a thanksgiving meal for her daughter. You see... the young girl has developed an actually rather common allergy to soy. Since soy is the primary ingredient in virtually all animal feed, this little girl can not eat common meat. No thanksgiving turkey or ham... ever.  The mom was overjoyed when she found our website advertising soy free turkeys. Finally her daughter can have a traditional thanksgiving meal!

Unfortunately the story doesn't end happy. I had to turn her down due to the legal restrictions on shipping our turkeys out of state.  Nevertheless... there are plenty of local people in the same boat... unable to enjoy meats due to one problem or another in the conventional factory farms.  We have dedicated our farm to helping those people, and the thousands that are soon to follow when realization of the failure of conventional factory farming becomes better known.

You see.. this isn't a job.... this is a life mission.farming is not about making a living... it is about helping people to live. Families depend on our food for life itself... just as there are those that depend on the medical profession for life. Farming is about people, about health, about enabling people to enjoy life.

As I lay here with an aching back from the days activities... there is a smile on my face and more importantly a smile if my heart. Nothing can satisfy more than realizing your efforts have helped someone else, made the world a little better, one meal at a time. That far exceeds any vacation.... any toy.... any sum of money.  It makes life and work worthwhile.

Sometimes I think that the average American focus on wealth is in itself stealing our joy. Wealth should be a potential side effect of our efforts, not the goal. Wealth didn't satisfy the heart.  I know from personal experience ... having livrdin both sides of the fence on this... wealth is not the answer. It is not evil, but it also doesn't make life worthwhile.

I encourage young people to embrace farming... it is an occupation... a mission, a ministry, a calling that is well worth the long hours, hard work, and low pay. It is one of the things you can do with your life that leaved you proud and satisfied at the end of the day as well as the end of your life.

Farming... who knew it was soon profoundly deeply satisfying.

First round if turkey processing today

Well its here. As I awake this morning we start a busy 2 weeks of the Thanksgiving season, clearly our busiest time of the year. Over the next two weeks we will process and fill orders for thanksgiving turkeys while maintaining our full customer base support for other products... or try to! This is a real test of our effeciency and resolve.

The turkey orders are right now at five times what we had last year! And we are still getting several calls per day asking for soy free pastured organic heritage turkeys, or some combinations of those benefits. We have officially stopped taking orders but are trying our best to accommodate all those who call in. So far we have been able to fill all orders.

Today marks the beginning of processing. Those birds ordered as smoked are being processed and put into the brine to tonight. Then they go off to the smokehouse Friday. So... as much as we'd like to... we simply can't fill any more orders for smoked birds, that window has closed for the year.

We have made many improvements to our process over the last several months to make this more efficient, and today we put that to a first test. I am very happy so far with the timing, the bird coops we designed this year, the raising process we finalized on, the resulting size and size and demeaned and health of the birds, and anticipate our biggest and best turkey harvest ever.

Check back later to see if I am right!

The 2012 Turkey harvest has begun!

Today marks the beginning of the 2012 turkey harvest here at little sprouts.  It will be a busy two weeks indeed!

This morning we did some catching and test weighing. It was quite a challenge! These birds are feisty and strong.  I think I might have a couple bruises  to show for the experience.

The weights came out nice though.. we have a nice mix of large, medium, small birds. the largest were 20 lbs 6 oz live weight, which should come out to about 17 to 18 lbs processed weight.

If all goes well, the birds due for smoking will be processed tomorrow and placed in this year's new sugar free brine to soak until friday. then they get transported to the smoke house.  The rest of hte birds will be processed starting this weekend.

Busy times!

Turkeys, Sunshine, Apples, and Pears

It's a  - - P A R T Y! - -

Yep. mix open air, sunshine, turkeys with plenty of fallen apples and pears and you have party time! These guys are having a ball hunting and consuming the beautiful organic fall fruit leftovers!

The Great Turkey Escape

It happens every day...  the door comes open and a few curious souls peak out. Slowly they emerge from their safe hiding place. Cautiously looking around, sniffing, watching for anything that might be a danger. They venture further, a few more faces following suit behind. As the first few brave souls reach the edge of safety, the crowd behind is pressing them forward. Is it safe? can we relax?  They cant be sure.

then suddenly someone decides freedom is valuable. They cant go back against the pressing crowd so they keep moving forward and realize its a good thing!  Sunshine, fresh air, freedom! Wings stretch out, voices embolden, and then.. critical mass is reached and the whole flock takes off together... hopping, running, even flying through the air. They are free...

Until nightfall when they return to their safe haven, only to replay the drama on the next day.