Sisu Farms

06/17/2026

This week's Food For Thought from Food Fix Uncensored has to do with the hidden price of food, especially soft drinks.

How much do you spend a year on soft drinks?

06/11/2026

We've Got Goats!

Farmhand 1 and I headed out on Tuesday to pick up 50 goats that we'll be leasing for the summer. Until a few weeks ago, I didn't even know leasing goats was an option!

This year we're adding Targeted Goat Grazing to the farm. If all goes well, we'll look at building a full-time herd of our own in the future.

Targeted grazing uses goats and/or sheep to manage specific areas for w**d control and fire mitigation. In simple terms, it's the strategic use of livestock at the right season, for the right amount of time, and at the right intensity to achieve specific vegetation and land management goals.

Goats offer several advantages over traditional w**d management methods.

Herbicides can run off into waterways, require careful handling, and often lead to herbicide-resistant w**ds. Mechanical equipment burns fossil fuels, creates emissions, and can struggle in rough terrain. Goats, on the other hand, go where people can't, eat what many animals won't, and leave behind nothing but fertilizer.

Benefits of targeted goat grazing include:

* No herbicides or fossil fuel-powered equipment
* Goats can safely navigate steep, rocky, and hard-to-reach terrain with minimal erosion
* Most w**d seeds are no longer viable after passing through a goat's digestive system
* Valuable natural fertilizer is the only by-product
* And let's be honest—it's fun to watch!

We turned the goats into a small test area Tuesday evening, and by midday yesterday they had already trimmed back a surprising amount of willow growth and mowed down a good portion of the w**ds. They'll spend a few more days in this area before heading off to their first official project with us.

ADD PHOTOS

Farmhand 1 has really stepped up to help lead this new enterprise. He attended the training with me, joined me on site visits, and has been taking an active role in many of the decisions as we get started. It's been a lot of fun to watch him become invested in the project and take ownership of it.

This summer we hope to work on a variety of projects as we learn more about how goats utilize the forages and vegetation common throughout Grand County.

If you think targeted grazing might be a good fit for your property, we'd love to chat. For our first season, we're focusing on projects in the 1-10 acre range.

https://www.goatsonthego.com/grandcounty

We'll be sharing plenty of updates along the way, so stay tuned.

Have a wonderful day,

Aila

06/09/2026

129,000,000,000,000.

That's $129 trillion.

I'm currently reading (and listening to) Food Fix Uncensored by Mark Hyman, MD. I listen to the book while I drive or chore and keep the physcial copy at my desk to reference.

The book opens with that staggering number and explains that the Milken Institute estimates the cost of chronic disease to the American economy over the next 35 years will reach $129 trillion. That figure includes both direct health care expenses and the indirect costs of lost productivity, disability, and reduced quality of life.

Dr. Hyman argues that one of the major drivers behind the dramatic rise in chronic disease in the United States is our highly processed diet. Today, 59% of our farmland is used to grow corn, wheat, soy, and other commodity crops. Those crops are often transformed into highly processed food products that now make up approximately 60% of the average adult's diet and 67% of the average child's diet.

The result is a food system that provides plenty of calories but often falls short on nutrition. As a nation, we're becoming sicker year after year. The United States spends more per person on health care than any other country in the world, yet ranks only 49th in life expectancy. Those statistics are hard to ignore.

Dr. Hyman believes we can make the greatest impact on our health, economy, and environment by transforming our food system. I have to agree. If you've followed our story for long, you know we didn't start farming because we grew up dreaming of raising livestock. We started because we experienced firsthand how dramatically our health improved when we moved away from the Standard American Diet (SAD) and toward a diet centered on whole foods.

My guess is that if you're reading this, you've probably come to some of the same conclusions.

Over the next few weeks—or however long it takes me to work through the book—I'll be sharing some of the ideas and insights that stand out to me in these Food for Thought emails. One thing I particularly appreciate about both Food Fix Uncensored and the original Food Fix is that Dr. Hyman doesn't stop at identifying problems. In every chapter, he offers practical actions that individuals, communities, and policymakers can take to create meaningful change.

I'll keep things a little shorter this week. Next week, we'll dive into one of the book's central themes: the hidden costs behind the highly processed foods that often appear "cheap" on the grocery store shelf.

For now, I'm off to pick up our new goats! I'll share more about that tomorrow.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. What does a $129 trillion burden from chronic disease over the next 35 years mean for our economy, our communities, and our families?

Aila

06/08/2026

Last week, our sow, Pineapple (I have no idea how the Farmhands came up with that name), welcomed her piglets in one of our barnyard paddocks. The farrowing trailer was already full, and she was ready, so the barnyard became her maternity ward.

She and the babies are doing great!

This was a smaller litter from a smaller sow, which made it a little easier for Pineapple to keep everyone safe in the shelter. One of the biggest risks for piglets during their first few days of life is being accidentally crushed. At birth, a piglet weighs just 1–2 pounds, while a sow can weigh anywhere from 350–550 pounds. When Mom decides it's time to lie down, making sure every baby is out of the way can be a challenge—especially when there may be a dozen little piglets running around. Imagine trying to sit down on your couch with twelve toddlers racing circles around your feet! A smaller litter makes that job a bit easier.

For the first week, the piglets mostly stayed tucked safely inside the shelter while Pineapple ventured out to eat and drink. Now they're big enough to follow her around the barnyard and explore the world beyond their little nest.

One of the things I enjoy watching most is how attentive a sow can be with her piglets. As Pineapple moves around the yard, she seems to keep track of every one of them. It's pretty amazing to watch a pig "count" and make sure all her babies are present before moving on.

Our long-term goal is to have most of our sows farrow on pasture during the summer months. We're working toward adding more farrowing huts and pasture fencing so more mothers can raise their litters out on grass when the weather cooperates. Until then, we're celebrating Pineapple and her successful barnyard litter—and enjoying watching these little piglets grow a little bigger every day.

We hope you can come by and see the piglets soon,

Aila

06/07/2026

Summer is HERE!! And that means cookouts, busy evenings, family gatherings, and fewer hours spent inside planning dinner.

It also means chicken season is almost here at the farm.

As we prepare for the year's worth of chicken to finish over the next few months, we need to make room in our freezers. To help us do that, we've reimagined our pork bundles to make them more flexible, more practical, and a better value for you.

Introducing the:

🐖 Straw House Pork Bundle – 20 lbs

🐖 Stick House Pork Bundle – 40 lbs

🐖 Brick House Pork Bundle – 80 lbs

🐺 Big Wolf Pork Bundle – 160 lbs

Clearly, we are also feeling a bit goofy and possibly nostalgic for children's stores as the farmhands have outgrown them :)

Each bundle is built to fill your freezer with a variety of our pasture-raised Dirt Pork while giving us the flexibility to include the cuts we have available, and you actually want to cook.

Message me for more details!

05/22/2026

The two year old egg:

Tuesday night we ate dinner with a two-year-old egg.

Now, we didn’t actually eat the egg for dinner… but in another time and place, we probably could have.

Two years ago, Asa gathered a bucket of clean, uncracked eggs and set them in the garage as an experiment to see how long eggs truly last. The garage isn’t climate-controlled, so the eggs experienced both summer heat and winter cold.

You can read our one-year update here:

At 30 and 60 days, we tested and ate the eggs without issue. By 90 days, they were getting thicker in texture from the heat, but still usable. Honestly, refrigerated unwashed eggs at 90 days are often comparable to many store-bought eggs.

A little secret from the food system: grocery store eggs are often far older than people realize by the time they reach your refrigerator.

After that 90-day mark, life got busy, and we forgot about the bucket for a while.

After one year, the eggs were mostly dried out but showed no smell or signs of spoilage. Last night, at the two-year mark, we found much the same thing — dried and brittle, but not rotten. In fact, at Easter, the Farmhands and their cousins used some of them for “egg fights.”

This experiment speaks to the power of the bloom on unwashed eggs.

When a hen lays an egg, she coats it with a natural protective layer called the bloom or cuticle. That bloom seals the shell, helps prevent bacteria from entering the egg, and slows moisture loss. Washing removes that protective barrier.

Ironically, many of the industrial systems designed to make food feel “safe” actually strip away some of the natural protections built into it. Commercial egg washing became necessary because eggs are produced, transported, and stored in massive centralized systems where uniformity matters more than the egg's natural function.

Once the bloom is removed, eggs must be refrigerated continuously because the shell becomes more porous and vulnerable.

With smaller flocks, where eggs are gathered daily and handled carefully, keeping the bloom intact often makes far more sense. Now with the rollaway nesting boxes, the eggs are being gathered clean, even on muddy pasture days.

At this point, I think the experiment is complete. We’ll probably save the bucket for another round of kids’ games and reclaim the shelf space.

Now, if we were in some sort of zombie-apocalypse situation, I’m fairly confident we could rehydrate those yolks and survive 😅 But until then, we’ll stick to fresh eggs and properly preserved ones.

Tomorrow, I’m going to share some of our favorite ways to preserve spring and summer eggs for the winter months when laying slows down.

What are your thoughts on washed vs. unwashed eggs?

Aila

05/03/2026

We’re officially kicking off calving season at Sisu Farms! 🐮✨

There’s nothing quite like this time of year on the farm, fresh beginnings, new life, and plenty of excitement in the pastures. Our very first calf has arrived and is already doing well, exploring his surroundings and keeping close to mom. He’s healthy, strong, and settling into farm life beautifully. 💛

Now he’s patiently waiting for a few more friends to join him as calving season continues. Each new arrival brings its own personality and charm, and we’re looking forward to watching this little group grow together in the weeks ahead.

Stay tuned for more updates as our spring herd expands, we can’t wait to share more of these special moments with you all! 🌱🐄

Calving on pasture isn’t just about the calf—it’s about the fold(herd). Watching cows instinctively protect a new mother and her baby is a powerful reminder of the wisdom built into animals when they’re allowed to live naturally.

04/23/2026

It doesn’t get more Earth Day than this 🐷🫶🏻🌎

Mud, sunshine, and a whole lot of happy pigs — just the way nature intended.

Today, slow down, take a breath, and appreciate all that Mother Nature and the land gives us.

Want to experience with your family? Soon you’ll be able to schedule Sisu Farms tours for later this spring and summer.

Stay tuned for all the details — you’re going to want this on your summer activity list 🌿

04/23/2026

04/23/2026

Yesterday was a big day for birds here on the farm!

Our first batch of meat birds arrived bright and early at the post office. We dipped their beaks so they knew how to drink, then set them loose in the brooder with food no more than a foot away. They will spend 3 weeks in the brooder. This first week, the temperature is about 95 degrees. Starting about a week from now, we’ll lower the temperature every day so they get ‘hardened’ to outdoor temperatures. This is critical for them to thrive on pasture. In three weeks, they will be well feathered and ready for life on the grass. They then spend 5 weeks moving across the pasture in the sunshine, exploring new ground each day. And then they are fully grown and ready for your table.

Now is a great time to sign up for a “Chicken CSA.” By committing now to an 8, 13, 26, or 52 pack of chickens, you know you’ll have all the pasture-raised, organic-fed chicken you want for the year. CSA members get first choice of when and how often they want chickens during the year. Don’t worry about freezer space; we’ll hold them for you until you are ready.

I'd love to answer questions about our CSA options and our farm tours if you want to come see these fluffy little guys.