Providence Farm

11/15/2021

This Thanksgiving, do the decent thing and spare a turkey.

Eat a duck instead.

We'll have an ample supply of beautiful plump ducks this Saturday, Nov 20th, at Farmers Market of the Ozarks to aid you in starting a new holiday tradition. Used to preparing a larger bird? We have no 20-pounders, but there's no rule that says you can't cook more than one. Here's to a delicious and festive turkey, er, duck day!

This Thanksgiving, do the decent thing and spare a turkey.

Eat a duck instead.

We'll have an ample supply of beautiful plump ducks this Saturday, Nov 20th, at Farmers Market of the Ozarks to aid you in starting a new holiday tradition. Used to preparing a larger bird? We have no 20-pounders, but there's no rule that says you can't cook more than one. Here's to a delicious and festive turkey, er, duck day!

09/17/2021

Duck demi-glace? Why, yes, I think I will.

08/28/2021

Our corn patch got a haircut this past week. I went through with a pair of pruning shears and removed the tops above the developing ears. These tops were then dried and cured and will be stored in the hayloft to be used as winter fodder for the cows and sheep. This also allows the corn plants to put more photosynthetic energy into the developing ears, and allows more sunlight to reach (and ultimately ripen) the winter squash and pumpkins growing at ground level. Unfortunately this reduces the magic felt when walking through a sea of tall corn, but we think the trade-off is worth it.

08/14/2021

Wanting to up your garlic game? Swing by Farmers Market of the Ozarks today and grab some! We've got six varieties available, plus bundles of what we like to call "Your Guess Is As Good As Mine" garlic.

Wanting to up your garlic game? Swing by Farmers Market of the Ozarks today and grab some! We've got six varieties available, plus bundles of what we like to call "Your Guess Is As Good As Mine" garlic.

08/14/2021

See that little (wild) Mallard hen swimming out there? She's been hanging out with those (domestic) Muscovy drakes for the last week or so. I love the integration of wildness and domesticity that conscientious farming fosters.

See that little (wild) Mallard hen swimming out there? She's been hanging out with those (domestic) Muscovy drakes for the last week or so. I love the integration of wildness and domesticity that conscientious farming fosters.

08/05/2021

A little garden love. In the middle foreground is a bed of Tithonia sunflowers, with summer squash below. To the left is a bed of (mulched) fall carrots, just starting to pop up, and to the right are pole beans on a trellis. San Marzano (sauce) and Principe Borghese (for drying) tomatoes in the background, each bed of which will soon also be home to fall broccoli and cabbage. In the back right is this year's corn/bean/squash/pumpkin/cantaloupe/watermelon/sweet potato patch. Some of those cornstalks are at least 12' tall!

A little garden love. In the middle foreground is a bed of Tithonia sunflowers, with summer squash below. To the left is a bed of (mulched) fall carrots, just starting to pop up, and to the right are pole beans on a trellis. San Marzano (sauce) and Principe Borghese (for drying) tomatoes in the background, each bed of which will soon also be home to fall broccoli and cabbage. In the back right is this year's corn/bean/squash/pumpkin/cantaloupe/watermelon/sweet potato patch. Some of those cornstalks are at least 12' tall!

07/30/2021

Yes, it's summer. Yes, it's stinkin' hot. But our ducks are still delicious, so don't make the mistake of thinking they're cold-weather fare only. Don't want to turn on the oven and heat up the house? Then throw one on the smoker or grill, and thank me later.

We'll have plenty of beautiful, plump ducks at Farmers Market of the Ozarks this Saturday (and every Saturday for the foreseeable future). Stop by and pick one up. It's miserably hot, but at least you can still eat well!

Yes, it's summer. Yes, it's stinkin' hot. But our ducks are still delicious, so don't make the mistake of thinking they're cold-weather fare only. Don't want to turn on the oven and heat up the house? Then throw one on the smoker or grill, and thank me later.

We'll have plenty of beautiful, plump ducks at Farmers Market of the Ozarks this Saturday (and every Saturday for the foreseeable future). Stop by and pick one up. It's miserably hot, but at least you can still eat well!

07/01/2021

Need a break from the same ol' chicken? We will have *fresh* guinea fowl at Farmers Market of the Ozarks this Saturday!

Need a break from cooking AND from the same ol' chicken? Then swing by (maybe make a reservation first...) Harvest Restaurant to see what wonders Chef Craig and team have made with these very same birds.

Our guineas roam wide and free across our farm (and, if I'm being honest, on to the neighbor's...), where they forage extensively and develop a musculature that gives them a depth of flavor unparalleled by other domestic poultry. They are then carefully processed on farm, where they are dry plucked and air chilled, resulting in a truly superior bird. You would have to travel far and wide to find another farm raising and processing guineas to such high standards--but thankfully we're just right over here!

Need a break from the same ol' chicken? We will have *fresh* guinea fowl at Farmers Market of the Ozarks this Saturday!

Need a break from cooking AND from the same ol' chicken? Then swing by (maybe make a reservation first...) Harvest Restaurant to see what wonders Chef Craig and team have made with these very same birds.

Our guineas roam wide and free across our farm (and, if I'm being honest, on to the neighbor's...), where they forage extensively and develop a musculature that gives them a depth of flavor unparalleled by other domestic poultry. They are then carefully processed on farm, where they are dry plucked and air chilled, resulting in a truly superior bird. You would have to travel far and wide to find another farm raising and processing guineas to such high standards--but thankfully we're just right over here!

06/17/2021

Some things are great to share with those you love.

But not wild black raspberries. Eat those as fast as you can pick 'em and deny you found anything. (Be sure to wash the purple off your fingertips.)

Some things are great to share with those you love.

But not wild black raspberries. Eat those as fast as you can pick 'em and deny you found anything. (Be sure to wash the purple off your fingertips.)

05/28/2021

I think we'll skip picking from this particular gooseberry bush this year. Good luck little birdies (but you're barking up the wrong tree)!

I think we'll skip picking from this particular gooseberry bush this year. Good luck little birdies (but you're barking up the wrong tree)!

05/27/2021

Get those pie crusts ready! We're bringing up the next generation of gooseberry pickers (can you spot all four?), and we'll have the season's first wild Ozarks gooseberries at Farmers Market of the Ozarks this Saturday.

Get those pie crusts ready! We're bringing up the next generation of gooseberry pickers (can you spot all four?), and we'll have the season's first wild Ozarks gooseberries at Farmers Market of the Ozarks this Saturday.

05/13/2021

"And now the past must come
To serve the future: dung
And straw from the barn floor
You carry to the fields,
Load after load until
The barns are clean, the cropland
All covered with manure."
- Wendell Berry, from the poem "The Farm"

This is last winter's accumulation of manure and bedding from the barn, put to use now as hills for planting corn. When the corn is about 6" tall, we will then seed winter squash and pole beans in the hills, taking advantage of the synergy involved in what multiple indigenous tribes referred to as the "Three Sisters."

This 1/8-acre field will also have a bed of sweet potatoes running down the middle of it, a row of hills each for pumpkins and melons (those are the rows whose hills don't all align with the others), plus a bed of sunflowers running alongside the southern edge and additional sunflowers seeded wherever the corn does not germinate.

This is unapologetically human-scale agriculture.

"And now the past must come
To serve the future: dung
And straw from the barn floor
You carry to the fields,
Load after load until
The barns are clean, the cropland
All covered with manure."
- Wendell Berry, from the poem "The Farm"

This is last winter's accumulation of manure and bedding from the barn, put to use now as hills for planting corn. When the corn is about 6" tall, we will then seed winter squash and pole beans in the hills, taking advantage of the synergy involved in what multiple indigenous tribes referred to as the "Three Sisters."

This 1/8-acre field will also have a bed of sweet potatoes running down the middle of it, a row of hills each for pumpkins and melons (those are the rows whose hills don't all align with the others), plus a bed of sunflowers running alongside the southern edge and additional sunflowers seeded wherever the corn does not germinate.

This is unapologetically human-scale agriculture.

05/11/2021

It's a bird-y time of year in the barn. We had a Muscovy duck hatch out 14 ducklings in the hayloft late last week, there are two chickens sitting on nests in one of the stall mangers, there's a pair of barn swallows getting ready to start laying in the mud-and-straw nest they built on a rafter, starlings in a hole in the wall, and this little fledging wren that offered up an adorable photo op.

It's a bird-y time of year in the barn. We had a Muscovy duck hatch out 14 ducklings in the hayloft late last week, there are two chickens sitting on nests in one of the stall mangers, there's a pair of barn swallows getting ready to start laying in the mud-and-straw nest they built on a rafter, starlings in a hole in the wall, and this little fledging wren that offered up an adorable photo op.

04/22/2021

Be still my heart. Pasture-raised duck breast, available fresh this Saturday at Farmers Market of the Ozarks. See you then!

Be still my heart. Pasture-raised duck breast, available fresh this Saturday at Farmers Market of the Ozarks. See you then!

04/11/2021

Well, good morning to you, too!

Well, good morning to you, too!

04/09/2021

Sassafras gets plenty of respect, but I don't know why nobody seems to celebrate the fact that it sprouts *popcorn* early every spring.

Sassafras gets plenty of respect, but I don't know why nobody seems to celebrate the fact that it sprouts *popcorn* early every spring.

04/06/2021

Getting ready to take these beauties to Harvest Restaurant. We've done our part, and now it's Chef Craig's turn to work his own brand of culinary magic on them.

Dinner out not in your weekend plans? No problem. We'll have more plump, fresh ducks this Saturday at Farmers Market of the Ozarks!

Getting ready to take these beauties to Harvest Restaurant. We've done our part, and now it's Chef Craig's turn to work his own brand of culinary magic on them.

Dinner out not in your weekend plans? No problem. We'll have more plump, fresh ducks this Saturday at Farmers Market of the Ozarks!

03/22/2021

For the love of all that is delicious, why don't we eat duck more often in this country?

A fair question, indeed. Sign up for our CSA (link in comments) to correct your duck-eating deficiency!

https://www.salon.com/2021/03/20/for-the-love-of-all-that-is-delicious-why-dont-we-eat-duck-more-often-in-this-country/

Ariane Daguin, who founded the gourmet food purveyor D'Artagnan where duck is revered, teaches us how to cook it

03/09/2021

After a week spent confined to their pasture shelter (so they can get used to their new home), this year's first batch of ducks can now be let out to roam for the day. This exercise makes them happier, healthier, and, in the end, tastier than mass-produced ducks, whose lives are no better than industrial meat chickens.

So buy pasture-raised! We will have *fresh* whole ducks available in only four weeks!

After a week spent confined to their pasture shelter (so they can get used to their new home), this year's first batch of ducks can now be let out to roam for the day. This exercise makes them happier, healthier, and, in the end, tastier than mass-produced ducks, whose lives are no better than industrial meat chickens.

So buy pasture-raised! We will have *fresh* whole ducks available in only four weeks!

02/11/2021

A heated mattress. Brilliant!

A heated mattress. Brilliant!

02/09/2021

And there's a lamb in the house. Again.

And there's a lamb in the house. Again.

01/28/2021

When you have a new lamb that's going to need help feeding overnight, you realize a trip to the mud room every two hours is a lot more inviting than trudging through the snow out to the barn every two hours, and you take steps accordingly.

When you have a new lamb that's going to need help feeding overnight, you realize a trip to the mud room every two hours is a lot more inviting than trudging through the snow out to the barn every two hours, and you take steps accordingly.

01/07/2021

We've got three hogs leaving the farm next Wednesday, and when they return they'll be bringing home the bacon. (Forgive me.) Available by the whole or half. Price is $4.60/lb on the hanging weight, which will be about 140 lbs for a whole and 70 lbs for a half, which includes basic cutting and packaging (sausage/bratwurst seasoning and ham/bacon curing are extra). Actual package yield will be about 100 lbs for a whole and 50 lbs for a half, depending on how you choose for it to be cut up. We will deliver to Springfield at no cost.

These gals have been entirely outdoor raised. They spent the summer and fall clearing the vegetation from our future high tunnel spot, and their last job is churning up last winter's bedding pack from the sheep shed so it'll be ready for spreading on the garden this spring. Fed on non-GMO whole grains, cull garden veggies, and skim milk from our home dairy.

Please let us know if you're interested! Only 2 wholes / 4 halves remaining.

01/01/2021

Remember, kids, a good wool coat will keep you both warm and dry.

12/23/2020

There's still time to celebrate in style. Stop by Farmers Market of the Ozarks this evening before 8 pm and pick up a fresh (!) goose or a nice plump duck.

12/12/2020

If you're looking for something for your favorite duck and goose farmers...

Give a present, not a boring card.
Purchase a $100+ gift certificate and we’ll ship you what you see:
-Two real blown out duck egg shells
-Printed gift certificate
-Duckling box to wrap up and give as a fun present
#ducksofinstagram #backyardchickens #backyardbirds #ducklings #lastminutegifts #giftideas #giftsforher #giftsforhim

11/28/2020

Now that Thanksgiving is over we can officially start talking about Christmas, right?

What better way to feast than with a beautiful, plump goose as your centerpiece? Pre-order yours now--we only have about 10 left! Call or send us a message for details.

11/17/2020

Around here, food production and procurement comprises the entirety of the farm, woodlot included.

11/13/2020

I love when the shift in seasons brings hay-feeding time. There's a peaceful calm that pervades the barn at times such as these, with the rustling of hay in the mangers, the contented chewing of the cows, the soft knocking of the wooden stanchions, even the deposition of garden fertilizer to the floor behind the girls. And then you've got Violet here, who, in her exuberance to dig deep, shoves her muzzle to the bottom of the manger and so ornaments her horns with a tangle of good aromatic grass hay.

11/06/2020

Tired of turkey? You're in luck! We are once again offering pasture-raised, non-GMO geese for your holiday feasting. Stop by and reserve yours tomorrow at Farmers Market of the Ozarks from 8a-1p.

09/12/2020

When a voice in the back of your head says, "Remember that elm stump that had a few oyster mushrooms last fall? You might want to go check it out...," you'd do well to listen.

09/12/2020

Our newest arrival. Hannah's a fan.

09/04/2020

The reason God created farm ponds. Nathaniel with a lunker largemouth.

07/25/2020

Looking for something a little out of the ordinary to grace your table? These black-skinned Silkie chickens ought to fit the bill.

[$9.50/lb., 1.5 to 2 lbs each.]

06/15/2020

This year's batch of porkers, clearing the spot for next year's high tunnel.