Lots of New Products, Some Seasonal, Some Not 12/14/18

Hello Small Farm Enthusiasts,
We are pleased to offer some new beef items from our Tallahassee Partner.  We know some of you only want beef that we produce here, at FCF, but we are very limited in what we can do here because our main focus is dairy cows.  We know the producer's at Lotus Hill Farm very well.  Craig Hardin is their beef manager, who we have known for more than 10 years.  He is passionate about sustainable/regenerative agriculture and is a close follower of Joel Salatin and Sally Fallon.  We love the beef that we get from our Tallahassee Partner (Lotus Hill) and eat it on a regular basis.  It is 100% grass fed, rotationally grazed, beyond organic and, an added benefit is that you get nutrients from a different farm when you eat their beef.  Some new items available on our site: London Broil, tri-tip steak, porterhouse steak, ground sirloin, kabob meat, beef shanks, flank steak, and rump roast.   Also available, seasonal satsumas and sweet potatoes are back again. Lettuce is coming soon. In a couple of weeks we will just have a little extra items from our garden. We would love for someone to come here and do big gardening to sell to our customers. If interested, or know someone, have them be in touch.

Meyers Lemons: Our dear friend and neighbor, Ms. Lemonade, had a bumper crop of Meyer lemons, a cross between Eureka or Lisbon lemons and a mandarin orange, that are less acidic and naturally sweeter than other lemons. These are by far, the best lemons we’ve ever had. Her property has had no chemicals on it since she bought in 2010. She really “babies” her soil, dousing a huge array of minerals, and her production reflects that. Buy in bulk to juice and freeze. You can also juice and freeze in ice cube trays and when frozen, store in a freezer bag, to use for any recipe calling for lemon juice, e.g., Caesar salad. Or indulge for the holidays and make lemon curd.Her lemonade recipe:6 large squeezed lemons (more for smaller lemons)1 cup organic Grade B (more minerals) maple syrup, 6-10 drops sweet leaf stevia.  Makes one gallon. Alternatively, omit maple syrup and just add stevia to taste.

Butter Shortage:  We are very sorry to say that we will be out of butter for about a month.  We are very sorry for this inconvenience.  We buy Kerry Gold butter or make our own from our cream when we run out of the Amish butter.

The Importance of Vit. D:    https://www.vitamindcouncil.org/ shows the importance of Vitamin D in our diets, stating how people who have good vit D stores do not get cancer etc, etc. This time of year our cows do not seek shade much and thus the D in the milk could be VERY high as they get many hours of sunshine. Same for our pigs and chickens that lay eggs. Pigs and chicken produced in confinement have little D but Lard from pigs  who get to enjoy the outdoors is one of the highest food sources of it. Eggs are high in D too, IF the chicken can “lay out” in the sun. They actually spread their wings out to get more D for you and put it into the egg. Sunshine is so amazing!  On our farm we have solar panel like things we call cows, pigs, chicken and grass all collecting and concentrating D for you, our beloved customers and cheer leaders. It is the ultimate green food production machine that actually takes CO2 out of the atmosphere and sequesters it as carbon in the soil, making the grass more and more nutrient dense and reducing global warming at the same time.

Cheese. I have to tell a bit of a back story on the cheese we carry. These farmers are 25 plus years away from using any chemicals on their farms and making the most incredible cheese anywhere. You cannot find truly raw cheeses in stores, raw in stores can be heated to 140 degrees, that is not truly raw, ours is!  And our prices are better than any store prices on cheese. You probably cannot find 100% grass fed milk cheeses in stores but ours is. Our new apple wood real wood smoked cheddar comes from the farm I grew up on, in PA. This smoked cheddar is more expensive but just incredible and so worth the flavor. If you are keto like me you will really love this food. The farm where this cheese comes from is chemical free for 35 years and I watched that farm come back to life after chemicals were stopped. Earth worms are dancing there now and I mean big time. A warm Spring rain used to wash gullies down off those hills, now the rain soaks in like greased lightning…..ZERO washing. ZERO dirty water in the rivers and streams on that farm. ZERO pollution and in fact they sequester CO2 out of the atmosphere and put it into the soil. Land healing at its best is what we are supporting here. I just wish we could get more things from them. I am working on it as there is nothing I do not know and trust about this farm.  It would be awesome to get some more products and support them. We have, over the years, added more cheese flavors but recently reduced the number. This was an effort to lean up and streamline the farm's operations.  But I think I have come up with a good compromise. I will order one box of the less favored flavors each shipment so when you see them available grab a block quick if you want it. We have always sold 5 boxes of mild cheddar for each box of other so now with the smoked flavor we want to just focus on the good ones, the winners but also serve those of you who want the other, I think this compromise will work out great.

Jax Apartment for Rent:  Christian family seeks tenant for North Jax apartment on a Permaculture mini farm for $850.00 per month,  sq footage is about 1000 sq ft, contact Robert Goodson, rjgoodson4@gmail.com, phone: 904-323-2522. This is the second home on the property with the family living in the other one.

Thanks for supporting a small, family farm and contributing to a more REGENERATIVE future,
Dennis and Alicia