Posts by Lee Atwood

A mild winter coupled with early warmth has brought the earliest spring we can remember to Broadview Ranch! The activity on the farm has increased right along with the temperature. The grass is growing much to the delight of the animals and soon the trees will be in full bloom. This past weekend we worked the cattle herd, planted trees, gave chef tours and pony rides, hosted hikes, and generally enjoyed the fantastic weather. Northern VA customers will want to be aware of Chef Russ and Chef Grant that stopped by.  All in all, there was probably a total of between 40 to 60 people that spent a portion of their weekend with us. Let us know if you would like to come and enjoy the farm, we would love to show you around! Just email rebecca@broadviewranch.com or...

Humane and ethical treatment of animals is an area in which Broadview Ranch excels. I am personally very proud of what we do at Broadview.  We get a lot of comments from visitors that are surprised at how happy, friendly, and calm our animals are.  This is very important to us and something that we actively work everyday to improve upon.   We, as human beings, are designed to be omnivores.  Some of us make the choice to not consume animal products, especially those products that are industrially farmed.  We understand the dilemma and seek to produce and sell meat from animals that were raised with kindness, knowledge, and dignity.      Today, our culture shies away from teaching our children that chicken nuggets are made from the meat of chickens...

Over the last few years we have noticed that our customers tend to buy from us for a combination of 5 reasons.  In no particular order the reasons are: Taste Humane treatment of the animals Nutritional value Environmental impact Economic impact Typically a customer will come to us for one of these reasons and learn about some of the other benefits as they get to know us and our products.  Very few people are fully aware of the benefits of sustainable ethical agriculture. In the next couple of weeks I will explore each of these advantages in greater depth. Hopefully you will learn an aspect of sustainable food production that you hadn’t thought of before and, in turn, your comments will inform us of your goals and concerns for food...

Here is a great video about farming by observing and facilitating nature. The specific subject is one of the most universally derided foods around: foie gras.  Foie gras is made, almost exclusively, from inhumanely force feeding geese.   The speaker explains how a farmer in Spain is making humane foie gras by watching and learning from nature. He is also winning in blind taste tests! Nature knows best! Watch a few minutes on the video below and see if you don’t get sucked...

We had a fantastic weekend with the 2011 Sheep Dog Trials and Open House! We had over 70 dogs compete in the 3 day event, and hundreds of visitors to the farm! The weather was gorgeous and the fall colors provided a great backdrop for the trials. The dogs guided sheep through a 400 yard course for 3 days. Competitors came from as far away as Canada, Florida, Michigan, and Georgia, and some spectators came from even farther! Many people stopped by our chicken and pig displays to meet our animals and inquire about how we raised them. Our pumpkin patch was quite popular with families and folks inspired by the spirit of Autumn. All in all it was a lovely weekend to spend out on the farm talking with folks and enjoying the land and the beauty of the...