Happy Christmas!

Well, it's that time of  the year again.....who is like me and hasn't done a thing towards Christmas preparation? I'm sure it will all come together eventually - well it usually does.

If you are looking for a present for that hard-to-buy-for person, how about a Gift Voucher from Dawson Valley Free Range? We can do any amount that you like and then the recipient can order whatever they like to that value.

I love the idea of supporting local businesses, and if you do too, this is a good idea! Also we will have some of our soap for sale, which could be another gift idea.......I will have some certificates available to fill out at the markets, but if you know that you would like to get one, please email me ahead of time and I can bring one with me.

This will be our last market for the year and we won't be back until the 17th of January, so if you want to stock up, please get your orders in by Sunday night.

Kim and I would like to give a big Thank you to all our supporters this past year. I especially appreciate your understanding when we stuff up an order or don't have what you want or would like. Our life does seem to get busy at times and I don't always get to spend enough time in the office doing the planning! We are very grateful!

So all the best for the holiday season and we hope that you spend the time how you want! Whether that be with family or friends. Take care if you are travelling and we look forward to a busy year ahead!

Markets in December

We have only got two markets left for 2015! The weekends of the 5/6 December and 19/20 December we will be in Yeppoon and Rockhampton. Gladstone delivery will be on the 19th December. Please get your orders in. I will need the orders for the next market by Sunday night, and the orders for the following (and last) market would be great as soon as possible. Especially if you want any special requests for Christmas.

Sad news......most of you would be aware by now, but we won't have any hams for Christmas this year. We will be building up our pig numbers next year, so will definitely have them for Christmas 2016!!! We have had so much trouble this year with our supply keeping up with demand (it just isn't!) so I do apologise for all the times that we run out of meat at the markets. It's a good thing for the long term, just not very good when we disappoint you, our customers.

The beef has been getting very good feedback, so that's been really good to hear. We will have plenty of beef this time as we have done a bigger beast! We will also have goat along with the usual porky products.

We've had some lovely rain over the last month, so the place is looking pretty green - although the heat lately is starting to zap some of the grass. This paddock below has been left empty to freshen up since the beginning of the rain, but we are now putting weaners into it. We have them fenced in a small area first, but will open it up today to let them have the whole paddock. When the piglets get weaned from their mothers, they need to be confined for a couple of weeks, otherwise they would escape back to mum.

Change of Plans (Again)

We have to cancel the markets next weekend - in Yeppoon and Rockhampton. I'm terribly sorry, especially to those who have pre-ordered, and I will contact you separately if I have contact details.

Therefore our next market will be the 14th and 15th November. I have also changed the order form. I am changing the 5kg packs and deleting the 3kg ham and bacon pack. We have been having a few problems with the way the orders are being packed and so I thought I'd change it to be a bit simpler.

Now, you can choose 3-5 (or more) items of fresh pork and if your order is over 5kg's you will only pay $15.60/kg for the total of the fresh pork received. Eg, instead of the Roast Pack with sausages and mince, an example order would be: 1.8kg Roast, 1.6kg mince, 1.8kg sausages = 5.2kg x $15.60. You can choose any meat that you wish to be in the pack, except ham and bacon. Also, I will use my discretion if you order 5kg's of one product - eg I can't supply 5kg's of belly roasts! Either type the list of cuts in the first box, or select from the full list. Ham and Bacon can be ordered separately on the order form.

If you choose to order, please get your orders in before the 31st October. I ran low last market on many items, especially bacon, and this is mainly due to not being prepared enough when orders come in late. We take the pigs over to the abattoir on the 2nd November so it's much easier for me to plan if I have an idea of how many orders I will be getting. For Gladstone customers, this will be your delivery weekend also.We will have goat, beef, pork, salami, chorizo and beer sticks available. We may run low on bacon this time and so I will reserve the right to reduce large orders. Our pig numbers are a little low at the moment, but will pick up soon.

Thankyou for your patience with my market date changes. One of the inconveniences of being a farmer is that circumstances can change and we need to be able to change plans with them!

Markets and Delivery 17-18 October

Next market we will have beef, goat and pork. We will also have salami, chorizo and beer sticks again. These sold like hot cakes last weekend. What did people think of them - luckily I tried the chorizo before the weekend, because we sold out of it.

Hopefully our nitrate free issue will be sorted and we'll have plenty of propper NF bacon and ham!!

This post is also a quick reminder to the Gladstone Area customers that we will be delivering there again next weekend - 17/18 October. Most likely the same place and same time. Saturday the 17th October: 1 - 2pm at the Puma Service Station, Calliope Crossroads.

If you would like to order could you please get back to me this weekend.

A couple of weeks ago I had a spare pork belly. It wasn't really big enough to feed us all, so I decided to make some bacon. I don't smoke it as we don't have a smoker, but after salting I dried it out in a very low oven. It was delicious!!! (although I did overdo the salt a tad!)

Change to market date

They say it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind.......so I did. I told everyone last weekend in Yeppoon and Rockhampton that I wouldn't be back for  a month. I changed my mind and decided that I would go again on my usual day - the first weekend of the month, which is next weekend the 3rd and 4th of October.

I will however, only have pork, ham and bacon. We will have beef and goat on the following trip, which will be the 17th and 18th October. That weekend will also be a delivery for Gladstone customers, so please get your orders in as soon as possible for that weekend.

This might be a good recipe to try out - all the vegetables are in season and locally grown (except the mushrooms) at the moment, so pick up some while you are at the markets.

Pork Ratatouille Bake

Diced Pork - approx 1kg

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

500 g tomatoes, pureed or chopped (substitute 2 tins crushed tomatoes)

Basil

1 red or yellow capsicum, chopped

200 g mushrooms, roughly chopped

300g zucchini or button squash, chopped

Eggplant

Mozzarella cheese

Sauté onion and garlic in butter or lard until softened. Add pureed tomatoes. Simmer until thickened - may need to add more liquid (eg red wine or chicken stock if it looks like drying out), add chopped basil and sit aside while preparing the rest.

Brown the Pork in batches.

In a shallow baking dish, layer the vegetables and pork. Top with the tomato sauce, then place sliced or grated mozzarella on top.

Cover with Foil and Bake in a 200^o oven for 15 min. Remove foil, turn heat down to 180^o and bake for a further 15 minutes, or until cooked.

Farm Interships and Farm Holidays

Well, we have come to a point in our business that we have been concerned about for a while. We no longer have an endless supply of Backpacker helpers coming to work on our farm.

We have been fortunate over the last few years to meet some really lovely young people who have come into our lives for short periods and have won a piece of our heart. If an overseas tourist is in Australia on a working holiday visa  and they spend 3 months working in regional and remote Australia, they are eligible to apply for a second year working holiday visa. We have had many people come to us for this reason. We have offered them accommodation and food in return for their labour and the signing off on their visa form. We have gained so much more than simply labour! We have gain some (hopefully) life long relationships, we have had the joy of having young people sharing our home and our lifestyle, we have had the pleasure of seeing these young people go from "townies" to country kids in a few short months. We hope that we have taught them a little about how important good food is to the health of their bodies and minds and that they will go on to influence others.

Some of our helpers have come from a life in the city at university or work, where they have had little or no exposure to animals, dirt and dust and physically hard work! They have learnt to drive quads, tractors and even cars. They have learnt to care for sick or injured animals. They have learnt to put up with the dust and heat of summer and the cold, windy days of winter. Even though most of them come from places where there is snow, they still find it cold on a winters morning getting up to feed the pigs. They have mentally and physically challenged themselves. They have worked without complaint alongside us and sometimes they have been quite long days.

Most of them have come to us as they had heard stories of people being mistreated when fruit picking, or they just didn't really want to do that sort of work and thought it would be better to work for nothing and be looked after than work very hard and not be treated well. We even complained on their behalf to the media hoping that things would change in the fruit/vegie picking industry and they would be treated better. The only result was that the government decided that voluntary labour should no longer be accepted as eligible for the second year visa application. This is going to affect a lot of farmers. Most of the farmers that use this form of labour, do it so that they can keep their cost of production down. Producing sustainable or organic food is a lot more labour intensive than conventional food and it therefore costs more to produce. It is very difficult for us to compete with the Colesworth model but unfortunately we do

We have worked on an Internship / Farm Holiday program to enable us to encourage people to come to our farm to help us out. We will exchange their labour for a great learning experience and some really good food and accommodation. If you could share this post and the website, I would greatly appreciate it.

As I was finishing this post, Edmund walked in with the mail. There was a parcel from two of our recent helpers - Loum and Marie (these are gifts from their home regions in France). This is what they sent us and so I suppose that shows how much people enjoy their time with us. These two girls were very special, (as are all our helpers) and it just makes me sad to think that we may not have the pleasure of sharing our life with others.

Please have a look at our website and share it with anyone that you think might be interested in taking up one of our options for a cultural exchange! We've called it Farm Internship Australia. This experience is aimed at people wanting to complete an internship with us, have a tree change learning experience, or a working farm holiday. I do use the word holiday loosely, because it won't be a holiday, people will come here to work.

Market Time

Markets are on again in Yeppoon and Rockhampton this weekend coming - 19th and 20th September. I will be doing a delivery run to Gladstone area on Saturday. It's too late to order anything for the Gladstone run, but if you would like to come along and see if there's anything you would like to get that will be fine, or send me a text message Saturday morning to put something aside.

Saturday 19th September - Puma Service Station, Calliope Crossroads. From 1 - 2 pm.

We will only have beef and pork this weekend. Our goats and sheep have slowed growth down over the winter and I think they are waiting for the pasture to freshen up before they start growing again! One of the pitfalls of grassfed meat is that the few months from about May to September are very slow grass growth months and therefore the animals growth slows down to. Our beef cattle are in short supply too!

We would normally be at the markets in the two weeks following this one (first weekend in October), but we are going to cancel it. Therefore the next market following this weekend, will be in a month, which will be the 17/18 October. This will be a Gladstone Area delivery as well and we should have Pork, Beef and Goat available.

Don't forget that we now sell Soap, Bone Broth, Lard, Pet mince and Pet bones. I should have all these available for sale this weekend. Unfortunately I won't have salami as it didn't get made, but hopefully we will have it for the October market - salami, beer stick and chorizo.

Seeyou all soon,
Lucy