I have been getting a lot of inquires about where to acquire different cuts of beef besides ground beef.  Our ground beef comes from dairy animals that no longer meet the needs of our dairy.  While our ground beef has excellent flavor and is extremely lean, which many of our customers love.  Cuts of beef from these same dairy animals just wouldn't be up to our standards.  We would love to eventually add a small beef herd to our business to further meet the needs of our customers but for now we need to stay focused on the dairy.  In the meantime, here are the links to a few local beef producers that I know of.  Many of these producers sell at local farmers markets so you can sample some of their beef before committing to larger quantities.  I hope this helps folks get their freezers full!

Janzen Family farms is located north of Wichita and is ran by Norm Oeding.  

http://www.janzenfamilyfarms.com/

Barry Barber runs Turkey Foot Ranch located in Winfield.  He just sent out an email saying that he is taking whole and half beef orders right now.

http://www.localharvest.org/turkey-foot-ranch-M3804

Julie Bachman has a beautiful ranch out by Augusta.  

http://www.jbranchkansasllc.com/

Kevin and Cherie run Schenker Family Farms out by McCune.  While this isn't as close by as the other producers I know they make regular deliveries to Wichita and they can also be found at the Old Town Farmers market on Saturdays.  

http://www.schenkerfarms.com/

We've got some chicken stocked in the sales area freezers.  The roosters are butchering out to 5-6 pounds and the hens are around 4-5 lbs.  Chicken is $2.85/lb.  Today I'm also going to pick up some more pork.  We'll have chops and steaks back in stock.  We are also adding some new items.  We will have pork cutlets and unseasoned ground pork.  I'm excited about the cutlets.  They are a lean cut of meat that is perfect for grilling.    

I learned a great cooking trick from one of my Udall neighbors recently.  Being born and raised on a farm I can't believe I had never heard of this trick.  For years I had been plagued with the problem of peeling FRESH hard boiled eggs.  It's impossible!  Here's the trick my neighbor told me- Steam fresh eggs, don't boil them.  Here's the reasoning behind it.  Store bought eggs always peel well because they are old.  Those eggs sit around for weeks before they ever hit a store shelf.  Those eggs have had a chance for moisture to evaporate out of them.  This pulls the membrane away from the shell of the egg making them easy to peel.  Fresh eggs have not had a chance for any moisture to evaporate out.  This is where steaming a fresh egg comes in.  When you steam a fresh egg moisture can leave the egg during the cooking process.  Boiling doesn't accomplish this because the egg is surrounded by water.    

This year we are splitting our Saturdays between Old Town and Walnut Valley Markets.  We will be at each market every other Saturday.  Below shows where we will be throughout the season.     

Old Town Farmer’s Market-Wichita

Saturdays 7am-Noon

May 8, 15, 22, 29

June 12, 26

July 10, 24

August 7, 21

Septmeber 4, 18

October 2. 9, 16

Walnut Valley Farmer’s Market-Winfield

Saturdays 7:30am-Noon

June 5, 19

July 3, 17, 31

August 14, 28

September 11, 25

Central Park Farmer’s Market-Andover

May 12th-September 29th

Wednesdays 3:30- 6:30pm

We will be attending every Wednesday of the market season.  

*please note, due to state law, we cannot sell or deliver raw milk at the farmer’s markets.  Don't worry though, our sales area at the farm will still be open 7 days a week.   

Mark's birthday is next week.  I wanted to get him something special that was made locally.  I contacted Mark Horst in Yoder, KS and he made me a custom handcrafted mug.  I just received it today and I absolutely LOVE it!  Mark H. did such a fantastic job I just had to share it with everybody.  Just don't tell my husband!  You can check out more of Mark H.'s work on his website or Etsy.