Pitchfork Farms

03/21/2022

Remy is loving the new calf. We are patiently waiting for Emily to have hers. She looks like it could be my any minute. Such an exciting time of year.

03/17/2022

☘️ Happy St. Patrick's Day! ☘️

03/15/2022

🐄 The first calf of the season was born yesterday and the kids named her Lizzie. This is her, getting her first bath from Mama, within minutes of being born. So cute!

03/14/2022

🎉 Wishing the Happiest Birthday today to my Mom. If you were in the market this year on Saturday, you probably met her. She made the four hour drive every week to run the market for us on the weekends. She also helps with a lot of things you don't see like washing eggs and planting berries. In true Mom form, she only asks to be paid in food and hugs. Thank you Mom for all you do, have a great Birthday! 🎉

03/12/2022

I have been taking advantage of some of these sunny days and snowshoeing all over the farm. I sure do love this place.

03/10/2022

Couldn't resist 🤣

03/09/2022

🐖The pigs are loving all the sunshine. ☀️

03/08/2022

Let me set the stage.

I was a kid, too young to be in school so I stayed home on the farm with my dad. At the time, we milked in stanchions and when he changed groups, he would put me on top on a grain bin in the corner so I didn't get stepped on. But that put me at eye level with the cows when they walked in. I was terrified. I would cry every time because they would stop and sniff me. My dad, who was not known for being sympathetic, would holler at me, stop crying you are scaring the cows. Cows don't eat people. I had this idea that they were going to eat me.

Fast forward 30 years later and yesterday Matt and I were trying to separate and load the bull. For a few minutes, I found myself two round bales high with Beefy, the kids named him, standing in front of me. Matt seeing that I was wanting to panic, hollered, you are fine, he is not going to eat you. That brought a smile to my face and reminded me again how much my husband is like my father.

I just want to clarify that Beefy was not mad, did not chase me up the bales, and I was not being threatened in any way. I climbed up when he started in my direction because I don't quite trust my hands yet to throw myself over a gate in a hurry so wanted to give myself a little extra time. And I may have a slight fear of bulls 😬

The saying is true, all bulls are "good" until the one time they are not. As far as bulls go, Beefy really was a good bull. He was very slow moving and would let you handle him. Don't think that made us stupid while in with there with him. You never take your eye off of him and you always know your fastest escape route.

In Beefy style, he took his time getting on the trailer but finally did. Thanks for all the calves you produced Beefy and being a "good" bull.

03/05/2022

Back at it!

My hands are feeling good enough to knead dough so I whipped up some buns for dinner last night. The next challenge will be gripping a rolling pin and making pie crust. Looking forward to another season at the market.

03/03/2022

🐣 Spring must be getting closer, we have secured all of our ship dates for chicks. They will start arriving before we know it. 🐣

03/01/2022

CHARLEVOIX OLESON'S EGG CUSTOMERS!!!

The store is replacing the dairy case this week so we will not deliver eggs over there until Thursday.

I know many of you like to get there right after we deliver them. If you need them before Thursday and are over our way, just let me know and you can grab them from the farm. Thank you!!

02/28/2022

There is a special place in my heart for brown cows. They sure are pretty, especially outside on that blanket of white snow.

02/20/2022

💗

The kids will often find us standing at the gate or sitting in the grass and say, "What are you doing?"

Just watching the cows we say. There is something wonderful about them when we are not trying to separate them 🤣

02/18/2022

🧊Took advantage of the kids snow day yesterday and had Bo scrape down all the driveways.

They went from slush pits the day before to pure ice. It was a skating rink walking to the barn.

02/17/2022

Surgery ✔️

Thank you for all of the love and prayers, my surgery went great yesterday. Big shout out to Dr. Goetz and all the staff at McLaren for everything. Thank you!

I got home and I sat down for maybe an hour and said to Matt, I am bored! 😂 The pain I can tolerate, it is the not doing anything that makes me crazy.

02/15/2022

Bone Broth: delicious and nutritious. This is a batch I made of the weekend and look at all the gelatin in it.

We are excited to announce that we will offer both bone broth and stock in our market this year made from our pastured meats.

02/14/2022

💗 Happy Valentine's Day to my forever valentine. 💗

02/11/2022

👨‍🌾 When you wake up, get dressed for school and Daddy comes in from the barn with the same shirt on. Always a little farmer.

02/09/2022

🥓 That is a lot of pork! We will have some very happy customers in the next couple days
Matt went down yesterday to pick up the pork from the processor. All of these pigs were sold by the half and whole and our customers have been waiting patiently for their return. 🥓

02/07/2022

SALE!!!

Yesterday was the perfect day to roast a whole chicken.

All this week you can pick up whole roasters for $3.50/lb. Message me to arrange a pick up day and time.

02/05/2022

Showing off the family farm at big brother's basketball game today. 💗🏀

02/04/2022

The best thing about delivering eggs before school is I have helpers. 💗

Yes we have to take turns because it is so much fun pushing the cart and go into the back of the store 😉

02/03/2022

🐂 Good Morning from some of the ladies. 🐂

02/02/2022

🥚 Our first egg delivery of the day today, is to Julienne Tomatoes Deli & Bakery !

After a much deserved break, they are back open today. Stop by for some breakfast or lunch today or this week.

Support local!

Looking forward to welcoming you back!

Thankful for a great break, our great crew and all of you!

We will open at 8:00 on Wednesday morning. Stop by for your favorite soon!
🍅🍅🍅🍅

02/01/2022

We are back! After a couple weeks off of social media, we are back.

I wish I could say we were doing something really interesting or fun but, we haven't. January is always a slow month for us. We have been collecting eggs multiple times a day, thawing waterers, plowing snow, and trying to play outside when it is not freezing cold.

But we are back and ready for another great year. We have some exciting things coming out of the farm this year and can't wait to share them with you soon.

01/11/2022

Egg

🥚Do you know the best time to be a chicken farmer? ....summer!

This cold weather we have been working with the last few days is rough on chickens. We see egg production drop as fast as the temperature when it is this cold. We collect eggs multiple times a day but eggs still freeze. Like most things, an egg will expand when it freezes then shrink when it thaws and crack the shell.

Watch this video below (with sound) to see our very scientific way of checking for cracked eggs immediately 😂. They are then checked again before being put into cartons.

01/10/2022

Who else still does Sunday dinners? We do! Yesterday it was one of our roasts, cooked all day with potatoes and carrots. I love the smell of the house all day and sitting down to a hot meal after being outside in the cold.

What are you Sunday dinner favorites?

We still have lots of roasts available at the farm if you want to grab one for dinner this Sunday.

01/09/2022

A change in season means a change in sports. Our Saturdays are not spent traveling the great North watching the kids play basketball.

#30 is my favorite.

Something that my kids have learned pretty quickly is that I will sign you up for things you are interested in but you will work hard, you will be respectful, and you will say thank you to the coaches and referees after every game/practice. This is something I have made my kids do every time since they were little. Bo now does it on his own without being reminded. It is important for my children to understand that these coaches and referees are volunteering and they are giving them the greatest gift of all, their time.

Thank you Coaches and referees. Go Bo!!! We are so proud of you. 🏀💗

01/06/2022

🐈 Some people have watch dogs but we have a watch cat. When he isn't traveling farm to farm catching all the rodents, Toby can be found sitting on the rail by the back door waiting for the kids to get home from school.

01/05/2022

🐖 Sorting piggies before daylight yesterday. Got the pigs sorted and the kids to school on time 😉 Another great day!

01/04/2022

I love summer but one of the things I love about winter is the slower pace. It gives me more time in the kitchen to teach my kids how to cook. This week we made chicken noodle soup with our own stock, noodles, and bread.

So yummy!

01/03/2022

YES!!!!

01/01/2022

🎉 Happy New Year!! Wishing you a year of health and happiness! 🎉

12/31/2021

We have taken this week off of social media to rest, relax, heal, and spend as much time as we can with the kids before they go back to school next week. We have spent so much time outside and wandering through the woods.

As we reflect on 2021 we continue to feel blessed and are extremely grateful for everything and everyone that we have in our lives.

We have said it before but really mean it that we have the best customers. We put up a farm market this year and your support of that blew us out of the water. It was way more than we expected for the first season. We look forward to next year. But more than that, you support our family. You send messages, texts, cards, and you repeatedly offer your services. You care about our family more than we could have ever imagined. We appreciate that so much more than the support of our farm. Thank you for a great 2021!!!