Our Mission

We bought the farm in November of 2004. At that time the fields had been intensively farmed, 3 crops a year, using a lot of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. We stopped that. The first year planted oats, lespedesa, buckwheat, clover and sunflowers and raised only poultry and children.

These days we are still raising poultry and children, but have included cattle, goats, honey bees and cats and dogs from the local shelter (we adopted a duckling from the shelter too). And the truth is, we don't really have a mission. We're just trying to raise well-rounded, well-grounded kids, feed them the best we can, and improve what little we have. We're not out to change the world nor make a name for ourselves. We're not interested in starting an on-line web business or to be on television. We just want to do the best we can with what we have.

We raise some of the best beef going. That is our customers' opinions as well as ours. We raise Dexter, Dexter X Belted Galloway and Dexter X Guersey cattle. We move our animals to a fresh pasture every day and they eat just grass. We don't feed them any grain or by-products. We also don't give them growth hormones or antibiotics. Our beef is born and raised on our farm. We don't go to auctions and buy calves to feed-up and fatten out. Our animals are processed at around 18 months. We age our beef at least 21 days, then it is cut up and vacuumed packed. It is intensely flavorful, and if cooked properly, every bit as tender as feed-lot grain-fed beef.

Proper cooking does take a bit of effort and according to Christopher Kimball at Cook's Illustrated magazine, and this is used without his permission (but others site this technique as well). What follows is for a 2 inch thick steak. First, make sure the steak is thawed and at room temperature. Next, put the meat on a rack on a baking tray and put into a 195 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Take the steak from the oven and pat on coarse salt, then place the steak on a "3 Mississippi fire" (instead for the usual 2 Mississippi fire) for about 5-7 minutes per side. After taking the steak off the fire, allow the steak to rest for about 15 minutes before serving. This will allow the meat to relax and the juices to redistribute.