It's just feels so good when we get letters like this. I had to share this one:

Sometimes my guilt about not-posting, keeps me from posting. The fall has been so, so busy with many changes all around, that computer time has not been my priority. However, this posting was too good to pass up. We have been distributing our first ever round of grass-fed beef to folks who bought a quarter of a cow's worth.

Here's what one satisfied customer has to say:

http://hvfood.ning.com/profiles/blogs/a-split-n-share-success-story

Awesome Farm is teaming up with our neighbor Wardsback Farm to bring you 100% grass-fed and grass-finished local beef. These steers are raised right down the road from us, and they are ready for slaughter now. We will take them to the butcher and have them cut to your specifications. The beef is sold in split quarters, halves, or whole steers. All the meat is cut and wrapped in butcher paper. All beef is $4/lb. You can expect between 100-175 lbs of beef per quarter. A split quarter means that we mix up the cuts from the front and the back of the animal so that each quarter gets a little of everything.

Excellent, local beef for a price that is way lower than what you'd pay in the grocery store!

You can order right from our website: AwesomeFarmnNY.com

People are often curious about how much freezer space they will need to store their beef. A cubic foot of freezer space will hold 35-40 lbs of beef. So, if you're ordering a half a steer, expect to need about 8 cu ft of freezer space.

Feel free to contact us with any questions!

Awesome Farm yarn is now available through Fabulousyarn.com! We're pleased to be able to work with this business, which is based in our town. Thanks, Judy!
This is the link: http://www.fabulousyarn.com/awesome.shtml

Dana Gentile is working with us this summer and has been an amazing help enabling us to get so much more done on and off the farm!

Guest Blog Entry: Livestock farming

I am living upstate this summer, interning with KayCee and Owen on Awesome Farm to learn about livestock farming. They are hard at work producing really great quality grass fed meat, and they inspire me every day with their dedication and enthusiasm. When working on a livestock farm, every day is a workday. For now I look forward to my weekends off, but I can't help to think that every day workdays are in the near future for me as a livestock farmer. I think this hard work and commitment is sometimes forgotten when we buy meat in a store. We forget the farmers behind the product and also forget that the product was alive and had a healthy life. Working with Awesome Farm, I am grateful for the hard work and dedication that goes into livestock farming, and it certainly makes me want to know the farmers behind the local protein product. It's not just anyone who can care for these animals and deal with the life and death that occurs daily on a farm.

I have seen Awesome Farm's meat birds, also called broilers, go from chick to carcass. About 120 chicks are shipped via USPS to Awesome Farm. Their new home, a brooder barn, is ready for them with brooder lamps, wood chips and hay for bedding, water, and feed. The first thing we do when we unload the chicks from the box is to introduce each chick to the water by putting their beak in the water so they know what it is and where to find it. These little chicks get the idea and are drinking water and eating feed shortly after coming out of the box. They are so cute and very fast. We have to walk very slowly in their area as to not step on these little guys. The chicks live in the brooder until they are old enough to live in the meat bird pens out on pasture. These pens are moved daily so that the birds have the best fresh pasture. They are also given feed and water daily. I have to say, for me, moving the chicken pens each day is quite challenging and physically hard work. But the chickens deserve the best grass--as do the future chicken eaters--and that makes it worth the effort.

I have also had the pleasure of working during Awesome Farm's chicken slaughters. Being part of the slaughter process, makes me feel more connected to the food that I am eating. It is really important for me to understand how a chicken becomes dinner on my plate. After seeing the chicks from day one, it is pretty amazing to be part of the slaughter and see the bird turn into the meat you and I will consume. At first I wasn't sure how I would feel going through the slaughter process but my thought going into this was: "If I can not participate in the slaughter, I should not be eating meat." Thank goodness I am completely comfortable with the slaughter process because this Awesome Farm chicken is so good!

After a good run with the laying hens, we're saying good bye to them. We are quickly phasing out our egg operation in order to put more of our energy into our meat bird and lamb enterprises, and into planning for the future. On one hand, it's sad . . . we get really great feedback about our eggs, and we certainly love eating them. On the other hand, this transition is part of us moving our farm more in the direction that we want: more animals that eat grass and less animals that eat grain.

We're glad to have been able to provide you with eggs over the past year. Now, we're focused on making our chicken and lamb the best it can be.

*Owen*

We were named to a list of 40 farmers under 40 list put out by Mother Nature Network. This list is very exciting and full of farmers doing all kinds of amazing things. Apparently Fortune.com is also picking up this list and we may end up there soon as well.
See all of the 40 farmers under 40 by going here:

http://www.mnn.com/food/farms-gardens/stories/40-farmers-under-40