Today Hannah and I went to a farm with Diane Gaskins and her boys. We got eggs and chickens, and got a tour of the farm and how the family raises their animals. It was really fascinating! I hope I didn’t seem stupid asking so many questions, but I was really interested by the whole thing and I like to know how things work. The family homeschools and are Christians. They are committed to organic, natural farming but are not hippies. 
Their farm is just lovely – it’s beautiful land, well-tended, and has lots of trees. The chickens are pastured, which keeps the ground in great shape, the chickens very healthy, and nothing smells or is dirty (this is due to frequent moves of the chicken house and pens, so the chickens have lots of ground to run about and not enough time to muck things up). In addition to chickens, the family has a friendly donkey, a duck who thinks he’s a chicken, a bee hive, a peacock, some wild turkeys, and an enviable garden. I know farming is hard work, but I was glad for a chance to visit!
In related news, tonight I made pork chops from our organic, grass fed, fresh from the farm meat collection (which now includes 50 lbs of beef, 19 chickens, and 15 lbs of pork), mashed potatoes with our fresh raw milk (produced by our very own 1/20th of a cow that we now own!), and organic broccoli. Josh raved about the mashed potatoes, and declared that although he usually doesn’t like pork, the pork chop was the best piece of pork he has ever consumed in his entire life. He commented that he especially enjoyed that it was so lean. Grass fed meats are quite lean, and don’t have fat within the meat itself as do grain fed conventional meats. Anyway, rounding out our wholesome day I also baked fresh whole wheat sourdough bread and made cookies with our fresh eggs! Below is a picture of our dinner.
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Hi, I'm Catherine Gillespie and A Spirited Mind is where I post about reading, writing, and parenting and the lessons I'm learning as a result. Thanks for stopping by!
