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. 

Even though winter doesn't seem to want to loosen it's grip we are thinking spring here at the farm.  I've been really excited about planning for the upcoming farmer's market season.  Mark is itching to get some sweet corn and watermelon planted.

Poultry

Our group of Rhode Island Red pullets are coming along nicely.  I'm hoping they will start laying eggs this month.  I've had a lot of people asking about chicken.  I plan on getting some meat bird chicks to raise up towards the end of this month.  I'm waiting for overnight temps to warm up so that I can raise the birds in our portable poultry pens. 

Pork/Pigs  
We are working hard on expanding our hog operation to meet the growing demand for our pork.  Our next batch of whole hogs will be ready sometime in June or July.  Then we will have another big batch for sale this fall. For those folks that prefer to buy pork by the cut we just stocked our sales area freezer with plenty of it.  This is what we are offering:

BREAKFAST SAUSAGE $4.00/LB 
Normally $4.50/lb.  We will have breakfast sausage on sale until April 1st.  Comes in one pound packages. 

PORK CHOPS $6.00/LB 
There are 2 chops per package and they are cut 1 inch thick.  Packages weigh approximately one pound each. 

PORK STEAKS $5.00/LB
2 per package.  Packages weigh approximately two pounds each.  

PORK ROAST $4.75/LB 
This includes shoulder, loin and fresh hams.  Roasts are around 3-4 lbs each.

FRESH SIDE PORK $6.00/LB 
Fresh side pork is uncured bacon.  

HOCKS/ORGANS $3.00/LB

Beef
We recently ran out of ground beef.  We have plans to have more made but we are waiting for the animal we have scheduled for this to put on a little more weight.  I"m hoping we can have more made within the next couple of months.  

Dairy
Raw milk sales continue to grow.  So far we have been doing a fairly good job making sure the milk fridge is well stocked.  We have only run out of milk a few times in the last 5 months.  This mostly happens after a stretch of bad weather.  When the weather turns from crumby to nice everybody decides it's a good day to come out to the farm.  I do ask that if you are planning on getting 6 or more gallons at once that you let me know a day ahead of time.  This helps me make sure everybody gets what they need.    

My family and I are big kefir drinkers.  Kefir is a cultured milk drink loaded with probiotics.  Would this be something that folks would be interested in buying here at the farm?  Let me know.    

Soap
I'm working on getting some new soaps listed on our site.  I have added some requests such as Lemongrass & Clary Sage and Clove soap.  I have also been having fun trying out some new scents.  Carnation, Jasmine, Amber Essence Nepal, Monkey Farts, Twilight Woods  and Wranglers.  I made up a couple batches of shaving soap filled with all sorts of lovely oils.  There is a batch made with a scent called Parsley Water and a batch scented with Black Vetyver Coffee.  For those folks that love my Sand Plum scented soap I have found anther supplier for this fragrance oil.  As time allows I will be making up more of this soap. 

Odds and Ends
If anybody is in need of boxes or packing peanuts I have plenty to share.  I keep some extra boxes in the sales area so feel free to grab one if you want.  Let me know if you need some packing peanuts.   

Thank You for supporting local!
The Faye Family 

I've had many folks curious how my milking parlor works.  I took a little video of milking this morning to show how the parlor works.  Before I start milking I gather up all the cows and put them in a holding pen on the south side of the barn.  When they are done milking they exit on the northeast side of the barn and then they can go out to pasture.  

I've had many people ask me what they should do with all of the cream on their milk.  I've also had many inquiries about making butter.  

The first thing you can do is simply shake your jar of milk before each use to mix the cream back into the milk.  Because whole raw milk is not homogenized the cream rises to the top.  If you shake before use, all of that creamy goodness will be evenly distributed throughout the milk.  Your second option is to skim your milk.  After your milk has sat overnight in the refrigerator, take a soup ladle and slowly dip it just below the surface of the cream.  Keep doing this until you have all the cream ladled out.  I like to use straight cream in my coffee in the morning, to make butter, to make ice cream or use it in some decadent soup recipes.  Cream also freezes well so you can put it in the freezer to use on a later date.  When you defrost frozen cream, you may notice some separation but it will mix back together just fine.

I've had many people ask me about making butter so I put together this little video.  I've never made any sort of instructional video before so I hope people find this useful.    

Happy Holidays

Enjoy the Season

Season's Greetings and Happy Holidays from Faye Farm's!  We would like to thank all of our family, friends and patrons who have supported and encouraged us in 2009.  Your business and friendship mean a lot to Mark and I and we are looking forward to all that 2010 holds for us.  

One of the great things of living on a farm is that we can celebrate the joys of the season all year long!   At Faye Farms we do not seek to standardize our production to eliminate seasonal and artistic differences in colors, textures, or flavor.  Rather, we celebrate the differences!  The milk produced from dry hay in the winter will naturally differ in flavor, color and butterfat content from milk produced by grazing the lush green grasses of spring.  The hog harvested after grazing down green cornstalks will be different than the hog harvested following an autumn of gleaning windfall nuts, fruits and garden vegetables.  One batch of homemade soap may vary in color and fragrance from another, as every batch is an artist's creation.  

We hope that you will enjoy celebrating these, and many more, differences with us. Please know that we are working hard for you to produce healthy, natural products and will continue to grow to meet your needs in the coming years.

Have a safe and happy holiday season!
Mark and Heather Faye