Sandy View Acres

EDIT: SIDE HAS BEEN SOLD

We have four cows going to the butcher on Wednesday. We still have one side that is not sold. If you are interested, please call Steve at 314-852-7151. WE ONLY SELL SIDES; IF YOU NEED A QUARTER, YOU WILL NEED TO FIND SOMEONE TO SPLIT THE SIDE WITH.

First harvest of the season! Can't wait to cook this up.

Can you tell which is a farm fresh egg versus store bought in this photo? Both of our flocks stopped laying at the exact same time. After over a month (probably closer to 2) and lots of trial and error in a new feed blend, they have started again, albeit it slow.

Seed orders are going to be made today. Have a few new items to add to the garden this year. I'm going to add San Marzano tomatoes, a few new pepper and radish varieties. Bring on spring!

Produce has finally started to.come in! Also have tomatoes but I forgot to get a picture. Green beans are $2.50 per pound, all squash are $1.00 each, cucumbers $.50 each and tomatoes are $1.50 per pound. Slicing and roma tomatoes are available.

We also still have beef, pork and eggs for sale too.

Blackberries are coming in! Available in pints and quarts. Message if interested.

The girls have kicked it in high gear with their laying the last week or so. If you need eggs, let me know and we can probably hook you up!

We have lettuce this week. 5 oz. bags for $3.50 each.

The blackberries are blooming. Fingers crossed that the crazy storms calm down and we don't get any more hail while they're blooming.

Pork is back in stock and available for purchase.

When you're tired of quarantine and you know where the humans keep the good stuff, you make a break for it and help yourself and a few of your closest friends. At least they were kind enough to close the bin again before the whole thing emptied.

Lots going on tonight. We caught the chicken killer so the girls get to stay in their home. They love moving day as they get into fresh grass. They are so funny to watch as it's like a new experience each and every time.

The garden is growing so beautifully this year! I'm loving the color of the lettuce. I'm sure I will be harvesting some of it next week. Now if the rain will stop so I can get everything else planted and actually get into the garden.

Out of ribeyes and sirloin but still good stock on other cuts. Contact us with any questions.

We are currently running low or are sold out of some product. We should be able to replenish our pork supply but will continue to be sold out of any beef until we are able to get another one processed. We called three new processors yesterday in the hopes that maybe they had some openings but they are booked out until next February. Some of the backlog will ease but with the fair season rapidly approaching and so many fairs cancelling, the 4-H participants are also now looking at different ways of marketing their hogs and steers and processors are making sure to keep dates open for them, which is the "old normal." All we can hope for is more grace and patience as the entire world navigates the aftershocks of this virus. Feel free to message us with any questions.

WELCOME to Sandy View Acres

We are now prepared to start taking online orders. The form is linked below. Just complete the form, submit it and we will be in contact shortly. We will send invoices through Square. Acceptable forms of payment are cash, debit card or credit card.

WELCOME to Sandy View Acres Thank you for shopping with us. After you complete your order request, we will contact you to go over details and availability before the order is completed. Once completed, you will receive an invoice and instructions on how to make your payment online.

Sharing this from another local producer. We understand this post from the beef side. This virus is affecting beef, pork, poultry and vegetable producers. At first glance it looked like it was only affecting the big farms but the trickle down effect has started and will impact us all.

Real talk/Farming in the time of Covid. We have two new pork problems:
1. Not being able to get a processing date.
2. Not having enough full size pigs to take in.

So this week Dave went to take two pigs into our processor. Usually he gets there early, gets in line, takes them in, gives the info to the floor manager and he’s off. After two hours he called me saying “I don’t know if I’ll be able to get these pigs in today. I don’t know if they’ll take them. There’s tons of people here bringing in 10-14 pigs in.” Luckily, we have an excellent relationship with our processor and we were able to get them in no problem. But our processor is completely booked up now until the end of the year. We got on the waitlist. I suspect big farmers that usually take their pigs into big facilities are hoarding processing dates like toilet paper. Leaving little to no room for little guys like us. So that’s pretty crazy and anxiety inducing.

This is something we had never experienced before and I’m guessing it’s stemming from the major meat processors shutdown. This is also creating another situation for us— we’re going to run out of pigs.

Not really, since we farrow (get pigs bred/have babies) out here we have the ability to make more pigs. Some farms do what’s called a grower/finisher relationship where one farm only makes babies and sells them as weaned piglets. The finisher farm buys those weaned piglets and grows them out, keeping no breeding stock on site. We’re lucky that we have babies on the ground and more sows knocked up right now. But we’re running out of full size hogs. We’ll run out of pork for people that need it immediately/right now. We have to carefully, tediously plan out our pork sales— like rationing our inventory.

As the demand for good, local pork goes up (which we are very thankful for), the more pigs we’ll have to take in. However they need to be big enough to do that. In order to get bigger they need to eat. And it’s important for us that they get bigger “the right way.” This means putting them out on good pasture and giving them a good balanced diet. This means giving them the right about of feed per day and not letting them gorge themselves on full feed. We’re very thankful for the other sources of free food we have for our pigs, spent grain from UCBC and waste produce from Richards Produce. Both of these keep our pigs healthy and our costs down. And it also helps them out too— their waste can be put to a good use instead of thrown away. But all of this takes time and lots of effort. We won’t sacrifice sustainably and ethically raising our pigs in order to get them out the door just to meet demand. That’s not who we are.

In the past we’ve only processed pigs to order. Meaning we don’t silly-nilly process pigs then try to find a buyer. When someone orders a pig or we run out of all of our retail cuts/summer sausage, then we take one in. We don’t take pigs in without that pork having a purpose. And we’ll continue to do that. But we still have to do it the right way. So please be patient with us and other small farms while we’re trying to adjust to this new situation. Buy from us, buy from another local farm, butcher shop, etc. Just be patient— pork IS coming. And getting on your plate the right way. It just takes time.

The girls got to move into their new house on Sunday. They are adjusting well. They just need to learn that the tall grass is not for laying eggs but we will get there. Their home is moveable and we plan to move them every day. They did great last night during the first relocation. Egg production is a little less than normal but that's expected and will return to normal in the next week or so.

Not my image -- something I saw on another farm page, but with the COVID-19 virus this definitely is making more sense each and every day.

A new world is possible.

If you are wanting to grow or buy local food then please join our 'Community Centred Agriculture' movement at www.farmnextdoor.org

We have $100,000 in funding to research and imagine what a 'hyper-localised' world will look like.

It was such a beautiful day today I decided it was time to clean everything out to make room for a fall cover crop. Now what to do with all of these peppers!

Unfortunately we will not be at the Olde Towne Fenton Farmers' Market this weekend. We plan to be back on June 23. Hope to see everyone then!

This is one of the reasons we love what we do. The views are beautiful.

Late dinner but alas it is getting to be that time of year. Crockpot to the rescue! Sirloin tip roast with beef broth, french onion soup and a dark ale equals french dip sandwiches.

Got beef? 🐮

Beef cattle production is a huge part of US agricultural, with thousands of people who play an important part in making sure quality beef products make it from the field to tables across the country. From the farmers and ranchers to the processors, we celebrate you and we thank you.

Happy ! Check out this awesome blog featuring Jim Gilles of Hill View Farms Meats, LLC in Owensboro, KY to learn more about this awesome industry.

http://www.whyifarm.com/blog.html#!/blog/posts/Why-I-Farm-Roadtrip-Jim-and-Jimmy-Gilles/36

Be sure to stop by the Olde Towne Fenton Farmer's Market this weekend for your chance to win this beautiful basket and see what all of the wonderful vendors have to offer.

Stop by this Saturday for your chance to win this Mother’s Day basket!
(includes a SISTERS TEA HOUSE gift certificate, insulated cup-Kearbey's Korner Custom Vinyl and Embroidery,and garden supplies)

New chicks arrived today. So excited to get egg production started back.

Fenton Community & Farmers' Market – Events

We will be back at the Olde Towne Farmers' Market in Fenton once again this year! Be sure to come by and see us on opening day!

Fenton Community & Farmers' Market – Events 2,817 followers

Beautiful morning to be at the market. Come by and see us and all the other great vendors before the season is over!

Grilled Personal Pattypan Pizza - Simple Seasonal

Here is the the recipe for the personal pattypan pizzas I made earlier in the week.

http://simpleseasonal.com/recipes/meal-types/entrees/grilled-personal-pattypan-pizza?utm_content=bufferb99ce&utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Grilled Personal Pattypan Pizza - Simple Seasonal If you think summer squash can't be wild and crazy, think again! These delicious little pizzas will have you saying "More pattypan, please!"

As much as I hate to admit it, we eat pizza a lot. With our regular jobs and then also farming, most nights we don't get in until after 9. Tonight's dinner is pizza with a twist. In searching for ways to use up our abundance of patty pan squash I found a recipe on Pinterest. No electric due to a lightning strike so I fired up the grill and the results were amazing! We will have copies of the recipe at market this weekend and I will post a link later...when we have power.

It's already been a busy morning. Purple green beans and black berries are fresh this week. Okra is already sold out.

Fresh beets from the garden ready to be roasted in the oven for lunches this week. Yum!

Another gorgeous morning at the market!

Market opens in 2 minutes. Stuckmeyers just unloaded fresh sweet corn from the truck. Better get here soon before it's gone.