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Dead of winter

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Yes it is the dead of winter, but we're still farming.  The seeds are all ordered for spring, but the carrots, beets, potatoes and cabbage are still holding in the cold storage.  The chickens continue to lay, and the pigs are still growing as they sleep through the cold.  We are still doing market 3 days a week in Anchorage at the Midtown Mall Wednesday and Friday 10-6 and Saturday 10-4.  In January we started our third year doing market 3 days a week.  Yes that means lots of markets, and lots of work. The food is still wonderful so come by the market and get some dinner or breakfast.
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One of the best things of farming is watching your kids grow up and take responsibility for parts of the operation.  Our oldest is fully responsible for our bird operation, she pays for the feed,  does the chores, and I do the marketing.  We always have chicken eggs on tap.  She has a thriving duck flock.  Also she keeps turkeys, geese, and Geuini hens.  At times we even have finished birds for sale.  All you have to do is ask.  
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The food avalanche is about to begin.  I was out in the field picking yesterday and found myself finding much to pick that I wasn't expecting. What do we have? Red romaine lettuce Kale Salad mix Cauliflower Zucchini Chard Beet greens Cabbage Every picking day there will be more variety and volume. 

How we raise our pigs

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We approach raising pigs a little differently than most "modern" farmers. We are have been raising pigs since 2010.  We pasture raise them, allowing pigs to be pigs.  Our pasture is 6 acres.  We have a heated sow barn where be put the girls shortly before they have babies.  The sows and babies typically live in the barn about 8 weeks.  There are seven large stalls each with their own outside exercise area.   We feed all of your pigs barley fodder, grass, that is 7 days old every day.  Our fodder barn produces about 700lbs of feed a day, there is plenty of grass in the pasture to eat as well, during the summer.  For supplemental feed we feed them cull vegies, carrot and beet tops, and leftovers from our market.   At night they get supper which consists of bear mash, spent grain, and rehydrated peas.  As you can see in the picture we have a wide genetic net.  Some pigs grow better on pasture.  Our pigs are selected for temperament, mothering ability, and meat quality.
It is July and this is what we are offering at our market booth; radishes, snow apples, kale, beet greens, salad mix, spinach, rhubarb, fiesta potatoes, German Butterball potatoes, micro greens, grass fed beef, pasture raised heritage pig cuts, bbq pig, fresh chicken/ duck/ turkey/ guinea eggs, barley products, home made jam, biscotti and more every week.