Photo by: Currie FitzHugh http://www.curriefitzhughphotography.com/blog/

We are pleased to introduce our new sales manager, Rebecca Tilson.  Rebecca is homegrown, raised on Broadview Ranch living the charmed life of a farmer’s (me) daughter, bottle feeding calves and riding ponies.  She is a graduate of Christopher Newport University.  We have lured her away of from her job as territory manager for World Equestrian Brands, LLC to come home and market our products.   We are very happy to have Rebecca to give the marketing side of our operation the attention it deserves.  For most of you Rebecca will be the face of Broadview, she will be happy to talk to you and help you in any way that she can.

This is just a quick reminder that orders for our August sale must be placed by tomorrow Thursday August 12th at midnight. We will deliver to Roanoke, Richmond, Charlottesville and DC over the weekend. Please visit broadviewranch.com/store to place your order or check the delivery schedule.

Keep in mind that we have a sale on ground pork at the moment. We sent out several good recipes that call for ground pork in our last email, links to which can be found below:

• Pork Burgers
• Pasta prima-sausage
• Albondigas Subs (Spicy Spanish Meatball Subs)
• Homemade sausage recipes

It would help us greatly if you could spread the word by telling your friends and family about us. Thanks!

Matt Broxterman was nice enough to send us an picture of his meal.

We received two great compliments last week that I wanted to share with you. The first came from Joel Salatin, who many consider the patron saint of alternative agriculture (see The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Fresh, and Food Inc).  Joel, his son Daniel, and his two grandsons came out to inspect our pigs regarding a possible partnership.  His email the following day stated:

Daniel and I visited Broadview Ranch yesterday and were delighted with what we saw… To say we were impressed would be an understatement.  We deal with so many folks who fantasize about everything so to see somebody really put the package together and get it is truly encouraging. We were extremely pleased with the way the pigs looked.  That is exactly the way it’s supposed to be…they looked totally happy and healthy.

Joel’s email meant a lot to us because he has spent a significant amount of his valuable time with us and helped us in many ways.  There are many aspects of his very successful business that we wish to incorporate into our own.  He has been a very positive influence on our journey so far.  His compliments let us know that we are on the right track.

The second compliment came from a family of new customers.  Matt and Amy Broxterman and their brand new baby visited me at the farmers market and sent us the below email later that day:

I passed this compliment on to the other family members working on this project. We all agree that it is a really great feeling to be a small but acknowledged part of a family sitting down and enjoying a good meal together.  While nutrition, ecological impact, animal husbandry, economics and sustainability are all  core components of our mission, the most important aspect is the enjoyment of a meal, responsibly produced, through taste and family fellowship. A shared meal with family and friends provides so many more benefits than just the nutrients that you ingest.  As much as we appreciate Joel’s compliment, we  appreciate Matt’s even more because it sums up why we are in this business.  Our greatest wish is to have a small part in a million more such meals!

Coopestoga and Short Hill

The chickens graze under the wagon when the sun gets hot

Rhode Island Reds

The chickens please us with how beautiful they are - a great addition to the farm.

Back To Back

There are many pairs of alert eyes scanning in all directions when they are foraging.

Coopestoga From the Hill

The chickens venture out in search of bugs and grazing.

Foraging Hen

The hens are voracious eaters of grass, legumes, insects and seeds.

Alert Chicken

The hens are generally alert and active when they are outside the Coopestoga.

Chickens coming out

The girls wake up in the morning.

Foraging in pairs

The birds often venture away from the Coopestoga in groups.

Pastured, free range eggs are available from our laying flock effective immediately!  We will sell them for $3 /dozen but you are likely to get a few more thrown if for free for a limited time.  Stop by the farm at any time to pick up a couple of dozen or order on our website for delivery August 29th during the next buying club sale.

Our chickens live in the “Coopestoga” – a chicken coop on wheels that allows us to move the flock behind the cattle herd.  The Coopestoga provides shelter, water, nesting areas, organic grain and free choice suppliments; basically everything a chicken needs to thrive except for bugs, grass, and a little freedom which they find just outside.

Moving the Coopestoga several days behind the herd accomplishes several things.  First chickens aren’t comfortable in long grass and the cattle have just mowed it allowing the chickens to be more active and relaxed.  Second the chickens harvest many of the parasites that thrive behind the cattle herd.  Think of the flocks of birds following the great bison herds or the wildebeast migrations.  This is a great source of protein for the birds that ends up positively effecting your eggs.  The birds also spread their manure through out the farm eliminating any problems associated with their high nitrogen manure. Finally the birds eat a significant amount of green matter.  Their favorite is clover but they eat many types of grasses and legumes.  All of this positively effects the nutritional value of the eggs when compared to store bought eggs raised in barns.

The birds are let out of the Coopestoga early in the morning.  They eat and forage all day.  Around dark the chickens naturally start heading into the Coopestoga to roost.  We round up the staglers, collect the eggs, and close up the wagon for the evening to keep out predators.  Come out and give us a hand sometime.  Its a relaxing experience and a chance to be apart of your food chain.  Also remember to save your egg cartons for us.

Welcome to the Broadview Ranch blog. Keep checking back as we are just getting this blog online. We have also started to twitter. Follow us at www.twitter.com/broadviewranch.