Other Newsletters: 05 Newsletter -- 04 Newsletter

Welcome friends of Full Quiver Farm!

Children, our "Arrows"
With such a large family, 3 boys and 6 girls, people ask, how can you afford all those children! And we ask, how could we possibly get along without them! In our paradigm, children are assets. What a privilege to be able to come along side and mentor a developing soul. Character is one of our long term crops, it takes about 18 years to mature. All of the children make vital contributions to each aspect of our operation.

Today, more than ever, we are thankful to be involved in natural clean food farming. As the industrial food system in this country moves further and further away from treating people, animals and the environment with any sort of respect, it's a blessing to come home to our little oasis of natural practices.

Technology never seems to ask the questions, "should I"? It only asks, "will this make more money"? When industry feeds chicken poop, and dead ground up chicken to cattle as a cheap protein source, they think they have found a clever way to dispose of their waste products. When technology splices genes and creates genetically engineered and patented seeds; when we continue to poison and pollute our streams, rivers, and groundwater with toxic farm chemicals and manure run off... we need local earth friendly farmers more than ever!

Eggs
Morgan, our 16 year old, has been doing a wonderful job managing our laying flock. She leads the team that looks after our hens and pullets. William and Hannah make up her crew. Each morning they go out and fill the feeders, waterers, and collect eggs. Remember, eggs last a long time in the fridge, so stock up on eggs each pickup day.

Broiler Chicken
Morgan and her team also did a super job for caring of most of the broilers last year, keeping them well supplied with feed, water, and minerals. Our meat chicken continues to be our centerpiece product. The key ingredients that make our chicken the best in Hampton Roads are:
1. Grown locally with integrity, not diesel trucked halfway across the country.
2. Eat fresh green pasture, nothing green grows in a metal building.
3. Fresh feed, ground and mixed locally, not old stale feed that sits and becomes rancid.
4. Grown outdoors in the sunshine, not in big metal buildings where tons of manure reeks with ammonia fumes... unhealthy.
5. You get to talk to and have a relationship with the farmer/steward that produces your food... Not just have blind faith that the stuff in the cellophane package in the supermarket is OK to eat.
6. Our farm enhances the environment. Compost and manure nourishes our pastures and gardens to help grow organic vegetables. We don't stink up the air and pollute the water with giant manure lagoons.
7. Our farm enhances people, providing a means to raise healthy, faithful and responsible children for our next generation.
8. We firmly believe that our health depends on the health and quality of life of the food we eat.
Healthy, happy animals = healthy happy humans!

Dairy Cattle
Lilly provides our family with nutritious fresh "raw" milk daily... the kind your grandpa used to drink... you know, the kind that's not cooked at high temperature to kill all of the good enzymes and organisms... then mixed with the milk of thousands of other cows, put in a plastic jug and sits on the grocery shelf for weeks. I'm sorry, but it's just a nutrition and flavor sensation that you can't get from that cooked stuff! On his first sip, a friend described it as drinking melted French vanilla ice cream. There's nothing bland about it! Call about purchasing a share of your own cow for delicious raw milk.

Beef Cattle
It's a little hard to get emotionally attached to a chicken. Calves are a little different. Especially when your 10 year old plays with them and gentles them down enough to let you jump on their back and ride them! I thought that giving them appropriate names like "Hamburger" and "Meatloaf" would help keep their ultimate destiny a constant reminder, but to no avail. I do take comfort in the fact that they will have lived happy, contented lives on this earth... much more than their feedlot counterparts.

We are excited to finally have beef available through our beef share program! Most folks don't realize how long it takes to raise one from a calf to full size... usually 18 months to 2 years! It takes longer on grass, which is our method. Grass fed beef is much leaner and we believe healthier than feedlot grain fed. But because it is leaner, it needs to be slow cooked to be tender.

Most factory concentrated feedlot steers spend the last 2 to 3 months of their lives with a hormone implant, being stuffed full of grain and protein concentrates, propped up with daily antibiotics to keep it from dying in this hostile environment. All this to fatten it quickly to get it to market. It's unnatural, it's cruel, it makes an un-naturally fat animal, it stinks up the environment, it pollutes our streams... and I could go on and on. Is it any wonder that our nation is the most overfed and undernourished people in the world!

Indigo (our older dairy cow) is helping us by nursing two beef calves that will be ready next year. We have two Guernsey steers that we intend to process this fall. Finally we bought two Angus steers that hopefully will be grass finished this summer. Email us for info on our beef share program. Please be patient as we ramp up, we fully expect the demand to far exceed our capacity.

Pasture Raised Pork
Our pasture raised pork is a real hit. People say it seems to shrink less in the pan and the flavor is wonderful. We have frozen cuts in the freezer and shares available year round.

Thanksgiving Turkey
We will be offering Pasture Raised Thanksgiving Turkey again this year. We're increasing our quantity somewhat to get a little closer to meeting the demand. Reserve yours early, we always sell out! Plan on putting one in the freezer for Christmas!

Goats
William's Nigerian Dwarf goats are for entertainment purposes only! Entertainment for our children and guests, and a study in patience and long suffering for Dad! Goats are escape artists and love to climb things. Whatever type of fence you erect, they count it their life's mission to test all weak spots until they find a way out. I really wouldn't mind if they just hung out in the back yard, but they like to live on our back deck and make a big mess, not to mention chewing on everything in sight! Recently, Snickers was found climbing around on top of my car! (fortunately we're not big goat meat fans, although I believe I did mention it!) They are extremely personable and friendly, so we'll keep ‘em, for now!

Full Quiver Farm Mission
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children we are given from the Lord
How blessed is the man whose quiver is full
our children, our heritage, His reward

May our sons run and not grow weary
May our daughters walk and not faint
May they fly straight and strong, like arrows to the mark
for the kingdom, for the glory of His name

Lyrics by Judy Rogers
adapted from
Psalms 127:4
Isaiah 40:31