As season's change don't delay in stocking up on healthy and tasty pastured chicken!
Contemplating the end of summer usually brings a lot of different emotions. The carefree, vibrant growth in nature is often reflected in our behavior through the growing months of May-August are intoxicating. And the different shades of green of the forest and fields seem to give us comfort that things are just fine despite our many social challenges.
And many people including myself love fall. Relief from the heat of summer and the harvest are the great exhale from the busyness and hustle of summer. Hopefully we fit it all in during those short months.
Our summer has been a lot of things, but the word that sticks out most to me is unrelenting. Starting a product driven agricultural enterprise from scratch is no small feat. Building infrastructure and attempting to run animals in a low stress, ecologically sound way has kept us on our toes. Just recently, over the last couple of weeks we all feel the tide has begun to recede and we are catching our breath.
We only have a batch of 250 chickens left, they will be harvested about 2 weeks from now. Watch our video below for a brief overview of how we operate, its not your unfortunately all too typical factory farm.
There is a level of sadness after their absence. They have been a huge part of our lives over the last 5 months. Each batch of chickens has had its own challenges and personality. Each one of our animals have a unique expressions and its our job to create an opportunity for them to be totally expressed. The cycle of life and death has become very tangible for us. Life and death follow us everywhere, but it seems modern society has done its darnedest to make it as a distant concept as possible.
Falling into fall we see our pastures begin to go dormant. That means planning for winter, which normally means buying hay. For whatever reason hay prices haven't fallen despite a lot of rain during the summer and a massive cull in the cow herd in Utah due to last years drought... Utah may be one of the most expensive states in the nation for hay right now. We are hoping prices drop because it's beginning to not make any sense.
Fall also means planning for next year. The 3 Springs will get in a room and do financial planning, holistic grazing planning, and review the year. Truthfully we have been flying by the seat of our pants somewhat this year, and we hope to get more grounded.
To all of you have supported us in our enterprise, Thank You! This would not be possible without you. Truly.
Our Best,
McKinley, Mitch & James