Just Before Christmas

As I write this, its snowing! December 23, 2010 and we're wondering if the snow will stay until Christmas?
Its certainly been a strange autumn and very early winter. This particular storm is lying off the coast and has produced weather for three full days now including wind, snow, rain and now snow again. Temperatures have been between 18 and 37 here and they say we'll continue to have weather from the storm until Thursday afternoon.
But anyway ...

Hi and Merry Christmas from Us All! You are really apreciated here and, we want to thank you for comments and responses to our Farm's growing methods and products. And to those who have forwarded information about Us? Special thanks. We just took our angus rib roast out of the freezer to prepare for Christmas dinner. On Christmas Eve, the treat of tradition around here is Helen's turkey pie. We'll eat well during the holidays and hope you do too! Watch those portions though :) Just a word this week about roasts. Angus cattle have only one big rib roast so there's none of that available but: a few comments lately have mentioned the smell of something roasting in the house, and how the homey and mouth watering smells of a roast fill a winter afternoon with anticipation of a great meal. We have pork, beef and chickens to roast and many are sized for smaller families of 3 or 4. Of course, chops, steaks and hamburger is still available too! While we've been in Monument Square, some folks have ordered things in advance. That way, they get what they want before someone else buys it. We pack it specially and hold it aside. Would you or a friend like to buy pork for your freezer? We will be processing pigs on January 3. They will be available as whole or half animals, cut to your specific instructions. Cutting, vacuum packaging, freezing and smoking are included for $3.10 per pound. Each animal carries a processing fee of $40, so half would be $20. You can call or stop by 28 Monument Square on Friday to discuss, and if you have a friend who may want to purchase, let them know too. This is the same quality pork, raised on pasture that we have available in cuts at our Farm and Stand. Angus beef, pork, chickens, eggs and garlic will be in Monument Square Friday, Christmas Eve. We'll be there, with our stand and Santa hats from 11 to 4; right in front of the Public Market House, 28 Monument Square. If you'd like to order now call 207-445-2141. Of course, someone will usually be at the Farm, but leave a message if noone answers, we may be outside. We'll wrap up the year in Monument Square too, and hopefully, we'll have a newsletter for you by then. In January, we'll take at least the first week off, we're working on our application for a grant to go toward a poultry processing operation for us, and for other farmers in our area. Its a mission we believe in and so we pursue it with vigor. Thanks for all of your support of our Farm and family. Rose, Steve and Helen Emma's Family Farm 135 Windsor Neck Road Windsor, Maine 04363 207.445.2141 Emmas.family.farm@hotmail.com Search for Emma's Family Farm on Facebook and Find us on Twitter at http://www.twitter/thehoads

Emma's Food Holiday Offer valid thru Dec. 31, 2010

Hello:
 There's a real food Holiday offer below: hope you'll see us in
 Portland or at the Farm and enjoy some pastured meats!
 
Each remaining Friday of 2010, including Christmas and New Year's Eve,
 we'll be outside of the Public Market House at 28 Monument Square
 from 11:00 AM until 4 PM. We will have grassfed beef, pastured pork
 and pastured chickens for sale. And, of course, our eggs and some
 wonderful red garlic!
 
Here's our Holiday offer: (only available in Maine) 
We're offering 10 percent off our meat prices for packages of $50 or
 more. you can build a package for a gift or for yourself. Our meats
 are high quality with the mark of Maine state inspection and will make
 perfectly pleasurable meals for You or anyone who would apreciate a
 good food gift. For a gift, we offer a certificate so the receiving
 party can choose their preferences of meats. For You? Tell us what you
 like from our selection. Packages begin at $50.
 
You can call the Farm and order, or see us in Portland before the
 Year's End! We're hoping the Portland appearances in 2010 will become
 regular occurrences in 2011, too!
 
Thanks for your support: it is so wonderful to read how many people
 enjoy our products.
 
Please Encourage a friend to join our list; your word of mouth can
 help us and help your friends find real Maine food.
 
We will have a recipe corner coming up in January and would love
 submissions. Anyone who'd like to share a recipe can write to
 emmas.family.farm@hotmail.com and maybe, we'll have a contest
 too!Comments are always welcome too!
 

 Hope your holidays stay enjoyable, calm and collected.
 Rose, Steve and Helen Hoad
 Emma's Family Farm
 135 Windsor Neck Road
 Windsor Maine 04363
 (207) 445-2141
See what we're doing on the Farm at
http://twitter.com/TheHoads

An Early December Update from Emma's Family Farm

 Hello to All:
This is a message sent to our Email list here at Emma's Family Farm. If you'd like to join the list, use the link at the bottom of this post.
 
 We wanted to make you aware of a few things and also, of utmost
 importance, thank you all for being our customers and interested in
 our products. In many ways, this year has been a bit trying but we
 seem to be muscling through and finding our way with as much grace as
 possible.
 So, thank you all for your assistance.

 And, if you haven't been our customer before? Hope to meet you soon.

 We are visiting Portland on Fridays in December. We will be at 28
 Monument Square in front of The Public Market House. Times should be
 generally between 11 AM and 4 PM; please pardon any confusion and we
 hope you'll stop by. We will have whole chickens, pork chops, roasts
 and kabob or stir fry, and beef steaks and hamburger. We raise all of
 our meats on pasture without hormones. The cattle are grass fed, the
 chickens and pigs get grain.
 We will also have fresh free range eggs, while they last.

 We have all of these items available at the Farm, as well. If you'd
 like to purchase at the Farm, just give a call and make sure someone
 will be here.

 We sell our products to other retailers too! You can find some of them at
 Barrels Community Market in downtown Waterville
 Sweets and Meats in Rockland
 Farmers Fare in Rockport
 The Good Tern Co-Op in Rockland.
 Ask for products from Emma's Family Farm!

 In early January, we will be taking pigs to the processor. You can
 order a half or whole animal for your freezer, custom cut just the way
 you like it. Like your chops THICK? Want a BIG roast? Custom cutting
 allows you to get exactly what You like. To order a half or whole
 animal, give us a call or drop us an Email and ask for details.

 At present, here on the Farm, we're working hard to make a grant
 application ready for submission. We have dreams and goals, and our
 biggest one, at present, is to build a USDA poultry slaughter and
 processing facility. We worked on the project last year, investing a
 significant amount of time and Farm monies, so we will continue during
 this winter and spring. Our plans include a facility that will process
 poultry for us as well as for other farms here in the area. If you
 just happen to know someone who would be interested in investing in
 local farm and food infrastructure, please send them our way and we
 can provide details. Its a big project that is outside of the scope of
 our Farm finances so we're working for grants, loans, and investors.

 And, our final paragraph? Hoping your holiday times are working out
 well and there isn't too much stress. Eat well (but not too much)
 breathe deeply, and remember that stressed spelled backwards is
 desserts!

 Thanks for reading our Email, forward it to a friend if you like, and
 we hope to see you, and your friends, in Portland or at the Farm in
 Windsor.

 Rose, Steve and Helen Hoad
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To subscribe to our list:
 http://www.mailermailer.com/x?oid=1025201z
 
Our address:
 Emma's Family Farm | 135 Windsor Neck Road | Windsor, Maine 04363
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The Last Sunday in October 2010

 

October 23, 2010

 

It looks like a showery but fairly warm week:

Leading to the last Sunday in October; this year? Halloween!

Historically, Halloween night can be a blustery cold time and it was one reason the U.S. Congress extended daylight savings time into November. Around here we consider that silly 'cause there's only 24 hours in any day no matter what..

 

Mixed visions for me of that strange Americanified day, Halloween,  include collecting money for UNICEF ([the] United Nations Childrens Emergency Fund). There's always some emergency for children, worldwide – even today when hundreds of thousands of children are tramping America's streets and roads searching for candy! That's Halloween too, with a costume and imagination. No way that buying of a store costume is as much fun as making one out of stuff around the house. One year? Helen and I dressed the dog, usual stupid human trick. Other years we helped our children build a costume, make up their faces and have a good, clean time. But ...

 

I also remember Halloween being the aftermath of "mischief night" (in Detroit they call it "devil's night" because people did really nasty things like burning buildings). I never did anything that horrible, just a few windows soaped here and there and the occasional smashed pumpkin; Halloween was the day when I found out how angry, upset, or chuckling my mischief night victim was. "Nasty boys!" (tee hee hee)

 

Today, looking forward to the last Sunday of 2010, October 31, Halloween, I'm thinking we won't have many trick or treaters and hopefully no mischiefy pranks to worry about. The only trick or treaters here come in cars, but mostly everybody now goes to relative's houses or in to town where the real candy bonanza is found in a cluster.

 

I do think my grandchildren will dress up, have fun, maybe party with their little friends and enjoy themselves. It should be an interesting day to see what the local Baptist Church puts on their sign, when Sunday meets Halloween, some Baptists get a bit preachy. You see, they don't approve of the day's festivities surrounding ghouls, goblins, ghosts and such for their religion seems to believe in – Well, I'm getting off the track here.

 

The reason for this reflection, a week early, actually does have something to do with the Farm and our products. The animals don't know its Halloween and they don't dress up but they do love their feedings every day. The price of grain is rising fast right now. We hope, as Halloween comes and goes, that this year's pumpkin crop was good enough that there will be fields to glean. Our turkeys and our pigs love pumpkins. In fact, over the years, we have fed hundreds of pounds of pumpkins and squash to our animals with beneficial effect. They like it, it keeps our feed costs down, and we think it gives our meat another quality to add to its flavor.

 

So here's to a good leftover pumpkin and squash crop, here's to weather good enough to glean some from the fields of willing farmers, and here's to a Happy day on Halloween!

 

Whether you're trick or treating, partying, or going to church! Even the last Sunday in October is a good day to enjoy Your freedoms. You can, if you like, enjoy a ride in Maine's countryside, stop by the Farm and collect for UNICEF, trick or treat, just to say hi, see the animals or buy some meats. Be careful though, there are still pranksters out and about so on the last Saturday in October, as it gets dark, be on your guard. Watch your bars of soap around children, hide your pumpkins! That way, nobody will worry about what somebody thought of a prank and nobody will have pranks to clean up  during the last Sunday in October.

 

posting from Emma's Family Farm,
 Windsor Maine;
 Steve Hoad
See what we're doing on the Farm at
http://twitter.com/TheHoads
 

Forming an Email List and Our Fall Farm Prices

Hi From Emma's Family Farm:
We'd like to start an "official" mailing list, one that is set up to easily send messages to all of our customers with information they want to see. Mailings would include newsletters, availabilities (much like what is below), occasional specials, and possibly recipes. We would not expect mailings to be heavy, maybe once a month or less.
Would you be interested in being on such a list?
If so, please send us an Email at 

emmas.family.farm@hotmail.com with the subject line "Email List". Yhaphappeningou would then receive a message that would "opt" you in to the list with your confirmation acknowledgement when you reply to the list host.
 
You would be able to unsubscribe at any time.
 
Thank you.
 
And now ...
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Fall 2010

Meats Available at

Emma's Family Farm

 

          Chicken, Beef, Pork and Turkey

    

     Chickens!

Currently there is a wide range of pastured chicken available, all priced at

$2.65 per pound.

 

There are a few Rhode Island cockerels available ranging from 3.5 to 5.5 pounds. These birds raised until 5 to 6 months, have the maturity to insure great flavor and wonderful soup stock.

 

Of course, we also have a broad range of frying and roasting chickens available; from 3 to 6.5 pounds. Their flavor is so much different from barn raised birds, we receive feedback from store owners and individuals marvelling at the "real" taste of our chicken.

 

 

     Beef

You can still purchase half of a Jersey cross steer,

$3.29 per pound plus Processing costs: $25.00 per half animal

Raised on quality, high protein grasses here at the Farm. Totally grass fed, this meat will be tender and have the flavor that only grass and sunlight can provide. Cut, wrapped in vacuum packages and frozen, this beef will be a tasty addition to your meals; it will remain high quality until you eat it.

  (Note: There is only one half available for sale.)

 

We also have some angus beef, steaks and hamburger,  available by the package and priced according to the cut.

 

 

     Pork

Pasture raised pigs are available in half or whole, custom cut, wrapped, smoked to your specifications. Like the beef, this meat is delivered frozen. Pork products will be available for delivery in early November and MidJanuary.

$3.10 per pound plus processing costs: $ 40.00 per whole animal $20.00 per half animal

Pigs at our Farm have plenty of pasture so they develop naturally on the local and high quality grain mix we feed them. They supplement their diet with grass, soil, fruits and roots that they find and do a beautiful job keeping their quarters neat and clean. The idea that pigs are dirty comes from somewhere else; usually the only reason we know the pigs are around is the sound of their excited squealing at feeding time and their happy grunts as they forage and nap.

As you order, discuss your cutting and smoking preferences with us, there is a natural smoke option available for your bacon and hams.

We are asking for a $50 deposit on your pork order.

 

 

     Turkeys

Currently we have heritage turkeys available.

$4.25 per pound

Some shortages of turkeys will be experienced by customers as they shop this Fall. One large provider of pastured birds has raised fewer turkeys. In past years, we have sold every bird we've raised (excepting the ones we eat) so we're encouraging you to order early. Turkeys will be available the week of Thanksgiving. As we aproach that day, your preferred size should be reserved with a deposit of $10.

 

Raising Methods

We raise all of our animals in the most natural way possible. No hormones are given, all animals use our pastures in a rotational grazing fashion, and low stress is accomplished with careful management and individual care. Each of our animals is here for multiple purposes and we respect them all, even through their slaughter and processing into quality meats. We only medicate when absolutely necessary for animal health, and when meats are processed there is no medication residue. Our husbandry practices and careful monitoring create optimum health and growth conditions and our processing methods ensure quality products ready for stocking your freezer or creating a fine meal. If you have questions about what we do, just ask! We're always willing to share information and visits to the Farm are welcomed.

 

     Ordering

You are able to order by telephone, by Email, by US mail or in person. Payment can be made in cash or by check. We are unable to accept credit cards or SNAP.

Wholesale prices are available on some items for stores and restaurants. We are licensed by the State of Maine for wholesale and retail sales.

 

Thank you so much for reviewing this information. Contact us any time to ask questions or order.

Emma's Family Farm

  135 Windsor Neck Road

  Windsor, Maine  04363

    (207) 445-2141

      Emmas.family.farm@hotmail.com

                                                            Rose, Steve and Helen

                                                            Emma's Family Farm

 

Open Farm Day at Emma's Family Farm; July 25 2010

(press and public release)

For Immediate Release:

Windsor Maine:

We'll be open and ready for Visitors on Open Farm Day July 25 from 9 AM to 4PM.

Our family Farm welcomes very young children, families and elders. . We offer age appropriate information for everyone and visits with our animals.
Handouts will be available; coloring pages, recipes, information on food quality, safety and storage.

 

We raise our animals on pasture here on this 70 acre farm located in Windsor Maine. We will gladly answer any questions about our practices.

Attendees will see heritage turkeys of various breeds; Pekin, Muscovy, and Khaki Campbell ducks; Emden and Toulouse geese; Americana and Rhode Island Red laying hens; two varieties of meat chickens and chicks; pigs, and some beef steers; and our guardian donkey Ozzie. Here's an opportunity to see where they live, what they eat and how we help them grow on our pastures.

We'll Offer Tastings of egg dishes and pastured poultry.

We'll have beef, chicken, free range duck and chicken eggs, garlic and other produce items available for Purchase and an opportunity to order chicken, pork, and beef for the freezer.  
This is also a chance to order a Thanksgiving turkey early enough to be sure to get the size that's best for the holiday dinner.

Hours: 9 AM to 4 PM
Location: 135 Windsor Neck Road

Windsor, Maine  04363

Phone: 207-445-2141

Email: emmas.family.farm@hotmail.com

To get to Emma's Family Farm you can use this Googlemaps link

http://bit.ly/dCglh9

Or go to Husseys General Store corner of Rt32 and 105 in Windsor. Watch for signs leading to the Farm on the Windsor Neck Road & parking at our Farm.

Here is our
Web presence:
General Farm Listing:
http://tinyurl.com/emmas-localharvest
Day to Day goings on with other info on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thehoads
Many pictures and a chance to "like" on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Windsor-ME/Emmas-Family-Farm/118705158157752

 

For more information contact Steve or Rose Hoad

207-445-2141

 

 

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The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. Get started.

Come join me at Open Farm Day at Emma's Family Farm on NEFOOD!

NEFOOD! Steve Hoad Steve Hoad has invited you to the event 'Open Farm Day at Emma's Family Farm' on NEFOOD!!   I know some might not be able to attend but just wanted to let you know what's happening. We're currently busy getting ready: if you surprise us and show up we'll love it! Steve, Helen and Rose Hoad Time: July 25, 2010 from 9am to 4pm Location: Maine 04363 Organized By: Rose, Helen and Steve Hoad Event Description: Event: Emma's Family Farm Open for Visitors July 25 Visitors gladly welcomed on Open Farm Day July 25 from 9 AM to 4PM. Our farm welcomes very young children, families and elders. . We offer age appropriate information. Handouts will be available; recipes, food quality, safety and storage We will gladly answering questions about our practices. We will show turkeys, Ducks and ducklings, geese, Laying hens, chicks, meat chickens pigs, and cattle, where they live, what they eat and how we help them grow on our pastures. We'll Offer Tastings of egg dishes and pastured poultry. We'll have beef, chicken, free range duck and chicken eggs, garlic and other produce items available for You to Purchase. Hours: 9A to 4P Go to Husseys General Store corner of Rt32 and 105 in Windsor. Watch for signs leading to the Farm on the Windsor Neck Road & parking at our Farm. Here is our Web presence: General Farm Listing: http://tinyurl.com/emmas-localharvest Day to Day goings on with other info on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thehoads Many pictures and a chance to "like" on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Windsor-ME/Emmas-Family-Farm/118705158157752 See more details and RSVP on NEFOOD!: http://www.nefood.org/events/event/show?id=2044592%3AEvent%3A19821&xgi=1S3ZRyVIAsLmt0&xg_source=msg_invite_event About NEFOOD! The Northeast Food and Farm Network (NEFOOD) is a project of the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG). 897 members 559 photos 291 Events 112 blog posts   To control which emails you receive on NEFOOD!, click here