10/22/2020
🐓🎃 When you bring the "treat" wheelbarrow out full of pumpkins and a few hundred chickens run and wait patiently by the fence.
Pitchfork Farms
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- Petoskey, MI
- Pitchfork Farms
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We are not certified organic but follow organic guidelines. Meet Matt and Ellie. Matt has wanted to farm all of his life, while Ellie on the other hand, grew up on a dairy farm and wanted to leave as soon as she could. After getting married, having a few kiddos, and moving back to the farm, they are excited to offer real food to local consumers. We currently offer non-GMO pastured chicken, non-GMO eggs, and raw milk herd shares. We will process our first pastured beef in a few months and hope to have to have a steady supply come fall. Stay tuned...we have a lot more surprises up our sleeves. Thank you for your support!
Operating as usual
10/21/2020
🌽💕 As we approach the one year anniversary of losing my Dad, I feel him on this farm just as much as when he was here.
Though we farmed together, our practices were not always the same. One of our life long disagreements was corn. Him growing corn for his cows that he had sprayed, us using no chemicals of any kind. We were different generations that had different mind sets and that is okay. We had lots of serious conversations about it and Matt and him were talking about alternative ways to grow it. Once we started farming he moved his corn farther away every year, which we greatly appreciated.
This year, we moved our meat birds down to a pasture past his house and this one corn stalk grew in that field. This field has NEVER been corn ever. It has always been pasture. I know this corn stalk is probably from a seed the chickens did not eat, but it is a constant reminder that he is here. Missing him as much today as every day.
10/20/2020
🐷 We welcomed these little piggies to the farm yesterday. There are 8 of them and they are SO cute. The kids love them. 🐷
10/19/2020
😂 Agreed! When we first started, we bought 24 laying hens. Word spread, demand increased, and within 2 months we bought 100 more, then another 100, and so on. In 6 months we went from 24 layers to 700. What a ride it has been. 💕🐓
10/17/2020
⛄First snowman of the year on the farm 😂
10/16/2020
WE PASSED!!! Yesterday we had the Health Department out to the farm to inspect our water source and waste water source for the commercial kitchen. We passed! This means we can get started on the kitchen this winter.
This inspection was the one thing that could have been a set back for us. Had we failed, we would of had to go through the DEQ which is a lot longer process and could have prevented is from getting it open for the spring.
So excited!!!
10/15/2020
Annie helping Daddy fill the chicken waterers. She takes her jobs very seriously 🙂
10/14/2020
🚜 Matt has been busy working up the ground for next year's strawberry patch. 🍓
10/13/2020
Christmas came a little early this week for these farmers. Our new mulch lifter finally got delivered after being back ordered for so long. This will make pulling the old strawberry beds up easy peasy. Hoping to try it out this week. 🍓
10/12/2020
Fall family photos. 💕
10/11/2020
♥️ Bo was my right hand man yesterday morning for chicken catching. It was 5:30am and he wore his pajamas but he was a great helper.
We catch chickens for chicken processing in the dark because it causes less stress for the chickens. They usually do not get up and moving until they see light. So it is much quicker and calmer if we catch them before they are moving. 🐔
10/09/2020
🥟 Looking for something delicious to eat? Try empanadas from Laurita's. She has lots of different flavors and we have tried most of them. They will not disappoint. These jerk chicken feature our chicken and the crust uses our eggs. The breakfast ones are a favorite of our kids, but we like them all. Thank you Laura for your continued support. We love your empanadas.
10/08/2020
🍓 Do you remember earlier this spring when we planted next year's strawberries? That first picture is right after we planted them. The second picture is those same strawberries this week. This is the absolute best the patch has looked going into fall. We are excited for next strawberry season already.
10/07/2020
As a kid, we always had to wait for my Dad to finish chores before we could eat dinner. That is a rule that we also follow in our house. So when I am literally getting ready to put dinner on the table and Matt calls and says, "go ahead and eat. I am going to be a while, I have to fix the fence." He says it but he knows we aren't going to eat without him. So I load the kids up and we go help fix fence. It gets done faster and we all get to eat dinner together. My hope is that when my kids look back on their childhood, they will remember sitting down as a family and eating breakfast and dinner together every day.
10/06/2020
🥚 The top egg is a pullet egg, the first egg a chicken lays. They start out smaller and get bigger the more they lay. This is great news that we are seeing these smaller eggs and that means that our winter chickens are starting to lay.
In a normal year, we purchase laying hens twice a year, hundreds at a time. They are normally about 18 weeks old when we get them and they begin laying a few weeks after they arrive. This year, we were not able to get our normal order of birds in the spring because every one was buying laying hens. To guarantee we didn't have that issue again this fall, we bought chicks in the spring. We will have 400 new birds to carry is through the winter this year. 🥚
10/04/2020
😂
10/03/2020
We are starting to see some progress 😍
10/02/2020
Today's employee introduction, our third child, Tucker Clyde. This kid lives and breaths farming. If it was up to him he would be out farming all day. He can identify any tractor or piece of equipment he sees and will tell you what it is used for. You rarely see him not wearing cowboy boots and jeans, even in the heat of the summer. That is what cowboys wear, he will say. He is a giver. He is the first one to give something up, even if it means he goes without. He is our wild child with a huge heart. Love this little farmer 💕
10/01/2020
🍗 This is one of our favorites and what we had for dinner last night. Chicken pot pie.
Our market will have lots of sweet treats but will also have other things to purchase, like my chicken pot pie. Made with our chicken of course.
09/28/2020
🐂 Did you know that a "cow path" is a real thing? The cows walk the same line in and out to the pasture day after day forming this line in the ground. Some days you can see them walking in a line.
09/27/2020
🐂 Green grass, blue skies, and cows out on pasture. ♥️
09/26/2020
🐓 Matt has been working this week to get the hen house ready for the chickens. Power washed and new dirt. Happy layers this winter.
09/25/2020
💕♥️💕 I love our little farmers.
09/24/2020
🎉💔 Happy Birthday to you Dad, you would have been 64. Today you celebrate up in heaven with Grandma and Grandpa and we celebrate down here thinking about the amazing person you were.
What I wouldn't give to get to call you this morning when your light comes on to wish you a Happy Birthday. You would tell me what a stud you are for 64 and how I can only hope to look that good when I am that age 😂😂
There aren't enough words to tell you how much we all miss you. Here are some pictures from your past birthdays. Happy Birthday Old Man, we love you and miss you SO much!!! 💕♥️🎉
09/23/2020
💕 Agreed.
09/22/2020
When I come around the corner and the kids are working together to clean the barn without being asked. 💕♥️
09/21/2020
Excavating equipment, the stuff farm kids dream of. Big shout out to Jack's Trucking who did a GREAT job excavating and who patiently honked the horn on their dump truck EVERY time Tucker asked 😂 Highly recommended.
09/19/2020
🐖 4 piggies went to the market...4 piggies stayed home. 🐖
09/18/2020
COMING SPRING 2021: We broke ground this week for our new farm market. You will find all of our meats, eggs, jams, and of course our berries. But that is not all. We are also adding a commercial kitchen and will have lots of delicious treats available.
09/17/2020
This field, 8 acres-ish. It is a drop in the bucket of our 175 acre farm but it has seen the most change, has held the most hope, and has brought the most number of people to our farm.
This field has history. Our farm is made up of four separate parcels and our house sits on this parcel. Years ago my dad inherited this piece of the farm from his parents then Matt and I bought it from my Dad 7 years ago. Three generations of Foltz's have farmed it. This field has been many different crops through the years but for at least the last 10, it has been the best hay field we have. When we planted our first berries four years ago, my dad smiled and said, sure plant berries in my best field, no problem. Every year we joked as we planted something else. Dad would laugh and say when I said do whatever you want, I didn't think you were going to take over the whole field.
We always farmed all of the land together, every decision made together because we both had the same end goal. The goal was for our farm to grow enough for Dad to be able to slow down as work when he felt like it.
I stood in his driveway and took this picture. You see our house, our hen house, and all of our dreams. What used to be our best hay field is now full of raspberries, blackberries, saskatoons, and acres of strawberries. I have literally walked a ridiculous amount of miles in this field planting, weeding, picking, and hoping.
This field will see the most change again this year. We are so excited for the future. Stay tuned for tomorrow's BIG ANNOUNCEMENT to see what big things are happening on our little farm 💕
09/16/2020
🐖 "Piggy training" started this week. Because our pigs are raised out on pasture, they have no experience with enclosed spaces. For about a week before they go to the processor, we back the trailer up to their pen and put their feed in there. This gets them used to going in the trailer and helps make loading them much easier.
09/15/2020
🐂 Matt and his cows. This picture tells a lot because this is Molly and she has always been a wild one. Until we put her out this year with the beef cows, she would jump fences daily and run. We debated getting rid of her because we spent so much time chasing her but decided to put her out with the other cows. She comes when you call her name and hasn't gotten out in a long long time 🤞
09/11/2020
Let me introduce you to our youngest employee. Annie was such a quiet baby that it is hard to believe she NEVER stops talking now. She is a little spit fire that keeps us laughing all day. Her clothes rarely match and she loses her shoes ten times a day but she is a hard little worker. She doesn't care what the task is, she just wants to know what "her job" is. Love you Annie girl.
09/10/2020
A little laughter for your day 😂
09/09/2020
Tucker has always been an early riser. So when he wakes up before day light on chicken processing day, I put him to work 😂 He was mostly just excited to get to wear the head lamp. But he did catch a few chickens.
Address
2398 Lake Grove Rd
Petoskey, MI
49770
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Videos
🐔
🐔 When we first started raising animals on pasture, we had several people tell us that chickens won't eat grass. 😊
Raspberries
Happiness....picking raspberries and eating them while singing the song you made up. Come and be happy with Annie tomorrow, Friday and pick raspberries from 8-10am ♥️
Hay
👩🌾 Next to strawberries, Mama's favorite farm job is making hay. We have had the perfect hay weather the last several weeks. This is me knocking some down. It was drying so fast because of the heat, Matt was chopping right behind me.
Chickens
🐓 Someone once tried to tell us that chickens won't eat grass. We didn't believe him. This is the chickens as soon as we moved them to a new pasture. Healthy chickens, healthy eggs. 🥚
After
Before
Cows in the Spring
🐄🐂 This video is for you Dad. I had tears in my eyes and a smile on my face yesterday as we let your cows outside for the first time this year. When I was growing up, the cows going out for the first time in the spring was one of your favorite days. I remember EVERY year you would make us come outside and watch. When we were little it was fun. Then I remember rolling my eyes as a teenager telling you I have seen it a hundred times. You didn't care, you made us watch. You would watch with a goofy little kid on Christmas smile every time. They hit that opening and they run and kick their feet. You will be happy to know we made our kids watch but they are still young enough they think it is cool. You can hear them laughing and cheering in the background. I know you were watching with that goofy smile yesterday. Missing you so much. We love you Dad 💕
🍗 Does you chicken stock look like this? Homemade stock has so many health benefits, especially when it wiggles and jiggles like this. We have stock bones available. 🍗
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3379 Lake Grove Rd
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Comments
Hey Ellie-don't know if you're old enough to remember Gary Larson's comic strip-"The Far Side." He did a lot of anthropomorphic stuff that was hilarious. I thought of you guys when I saw this one!
Saw this sweater, instantly thought of you! Hope it makes you laugh!
Have a great day!
https://www.facebook.com/108621420580091/photos/p.250698276372404/250698276372404/?type=3&theater
I'm guessing you guys would need a much larger version of this little garment!
I’m going to cook a whole chicken today. Not something I do very often. Sooooo. Looking for everyone’s favorite whole chicken recipes. Thanks in advance.
Yum. Best bacon & eggs - great way to start my day! Thanks for all you provide for our community!
Wow-you guys are a credit to your family, to your community and to the human race. I know you’re not seeking kudos but accept from me that I am honored and humbled to be among your friends. Love you guys!
Ellie-I stumbled on this while on YouTube the other day and thought it was a northern fishing/trapping northern thing and when I realized it wasn't I almost didn't keep watching it. But when the old guy goes out in the barn I choked back a few tears when I realized how much it reminded me of your dads' barn! I could smell the smells and feel the space as if I was in there talking to your pa while he was doing chores. I don't know if you'll want to or even have time to watch the whole thing but it is really something-probably very similar to how your great grandpa was farming many years ago. Here's what the maker (I think it was done by his son) of it says about it: This is a full documentary movie including all 4 seasons about Grandfather. The movie uncovers one day in each season in his life It talks about his daily routine and dedication to his down to earth lifestyle his fathers lived. His passion and love is horses. He is an old and experienced horse logger and is doing all the farm work all year round using only horse power. He is a hard worker and fully self-sufficient and independent. He has been living off the grid, before there even was a grid. Grandfather turned 76 May 2019. Since his wife passed away 10 years ago he works on his farm almost alone. He says - I do not need anyone to help me - I have horses...
We did our last load of square bales for the year. The kids scraped out the wagon for one last time. 🚜
We had so much fun picking strawberries 🍓 tonight!!! We can’t wait to eat them🍓
What cuts of pork do you guys have ?
I think you need these. 😅😅
❤️