Farmer's Market

Last week was our first time as vendors at the local farmer's market.  I was not sure how much to take so I didn't over do it, but in the end I could have sold lots more.  I sold spinach, radishes, kohlrabi and cherries as well as fresh eggs and the beautiful garden art my husband handcrafts. 

Within an hour or so we were out of eggs and not long after we were sold out of produce.  I was a little surprised the garden art didn't sell better, but that's okay.  I was pleasantly surprised that the produce did sell so well! 

The hardest part was pricing everything.  I didn't want to be too low so that I sold everything quickly but didn't make any profit on it and I didn't want to be so high nothing would sell.  After our first market we have decided that the price on the eggs was too low but the veggies, I think, were just about right.  I was so excited to go and very glad we did, finally!  This is something I have thought about for a couple years now and finally just made the commitment.  Our market is on Thursday afternoons, which works great for me with a funky work schedule.  

We are debating applying for a market license for meat products, which is required in our state, but will wait until we have a few more markets under our belt.  Next week we will return if we have enough produce, which we should.  We have started picking zucchini and the tomatoes may start  by then and possibly the cabbages could be ready.  Oh and green beans and sugar snap peas should be ready.  Next time I will also try to take dried egg noodles (great grandma's recipe) and maybe some bakery goods (everyone loves cupcakes!).  This is such an exciting next step for us and our hobby farm.  It's also a great place to meet more people who also farm on both large and small scale.

I would call it a success and I look forward to more markets.  We do have more to learn and it is a decent amount of work to get everything ready, packaged and hauled there, set up and to be there for 3 hours selling.  It is quite a time commitment, but well worth the rewards if I can keep up enough produce to continue!

Unbelievable Rules

I wanted to post an update to my recent post about our new adventure that would include being licensed to sell farm-raised meat from our home.  We recently were "inspected" if you want to call it that.  

First of all, a little background on the process: I spoke with the department of inspections and appeals to find out what was required to be able to sell meat from your home.  There is very little to absolutely no info on this available online unless your are actually producing the product yourself.  I was told you have to have a warehouse license and they emailed me an application, which included absolutely no instructions or requirements.

Secondly, in the past few months while attempting to "get everything ready", I made 2 more calls to the department in an attempt to obtain more info on any requirements and both times I was told that the only requirement is a working freezer separate from our own use products.

That was fine, we purchased a small freezer set up in our garage (this is what one gentleman at the dept. said most people do) on our farm and a couple weeks ago sent our application in with the $67.50 fee required for one year.  When I received our letter stating who our inspector was and his number, I called to set up the inspection.  I again asked if there were any specific requirements I should know to have in place for inspection.  He told me there wasn't much to it other than a working freezer.  Ok, fine.

He showed up last Monday, as expected, and was a less than friendly person right off the bat.  Secondly, he looked at the freezer and said his concern was that we use the garage for other uses such as parking cars! No kidding!  Don't most people?  About that time our dog (yellow lab) looked out the door to see who was here and the man said "you have pets?"  I said "yes, we do live on a farm and it's not like the dog will be in the freezer or the car touching the inside of it".  He probably thought I was being rude, but I was flabbergasted!!  He then stated that the freezer has to be in an area free of other activities and pets!!  I was in shock!  I darn near fell on the floor!  No wonder more people don't attempt to do this. 

Needless to say we flunked inspection for the time being and unless we build a "room" for the freezer by itself, will never pass. Don't get me wrong, because I do believe in food safety.  That being said, I think some of the rules are a little outrageous.  Also, if they would have told me the rules on one of the 4 times I spoke with them before sending the application and my fee, I wouldn't have even bothered.  Sounds to me like a way for them to make money without having to do much but show up once to say you are denied.

I am still a little steamed- ok I am a lot steamed- about the whole thing as I have spent $255 to date to get things ready and apply.  We are still mulling over whether or not it would be worth it at all to spend more money on the "room" and risk being denied again for some stupid reason.  And yes, I do think the reasons stated are just plain stupid.  I hate when people are not honest in the first place, which I feel is exactly what has happened here.

Not sure what regulations are like in other states, but I have heard that some don't have any at all for such ventures.  I will not let this setback get us down, but we have some more thinking to do as to what our next step will be.

Hope everyone has a great week as always!  

English River Farms -Our New Adventure!!

Ever since purchasing our piece of heaven on earth, we have been brainstorming ways that we could possibly make a living with our farm or at least the farm could sustain itself.  It is very difficult to revamp a farm, acquire animals and feed them all if you are on a limited budget.  We finally have built our animal herd into something potentially profitable.  Time to start thinking seriously!

We do all we can to save money such as:

1.  Raise grass-fed livestock (except the animals the kids show in 4H) -This allows us to only have to buy feed (hay) in the winter.  Since we don't crop-farm it would never be profitable to feed our livestock grain as it is expensive to purchase.

2. We do 99.9% of the work ourselves.  From fencing to chores to cutting trees and maintaining everything  --WE do it!

3.  We have mostly been able to grow our herd by retaining the young --except last year we did buy quite a few Boer does for our goat herd.  We only did this after deciding our budget could afford it since goats don't cost an arm and a leg.

Recently, we have been thinking more intensely on the profit side of things and how could we possibly make a decent profit.  That is the point in keeping livestock in the first place! (Also, I love them all)  We are truly blessed to have our 40 acres and maybe someday will be able to sustain our living from it.

We have started the process of obtaining a meat sales license from our state which will allow us to sell frozen meat from our home after being processed and inspected at a licensed facility.  This may sound a little sad, but that is in fact what livestock is intended for. (I just keep telling myself that when it's time to refill the freezer.)

The meat we will be selling is goat, beef and possibly lamb.  The animals are grass-fed.  This takes longer, but the meat is tender, flavorful and leaner than grain-fed meat.  We don't use antibiotics but we do vaccinate.  

I am very excited to get this adventure started and start to market our farm, English River Farms.  I have started planning our marketing strategies, also.  I will be putting up a website featuring our herd, our farm and life on the farm.  We will also sell produce this summer at a local farmer's market.  This is also very exciting as we always have extra produce from our huge garden and will be planting some extras this year for this purpose. 

It's always exciting to begin a new adventure and while it is not exactly "new", it will be different.  I do have high hopes for our adventure.  It will take hard work, but that is something we would never shy away from. 

This farm really is our little piece of heaven on earth!