The last couple weeks have been busy ones for Ironweed Farm. The days leading up to processing on the 30th of July had us moving the chickens twice a day to fresh pasture. They were eating so much grass that by midday they were pretty much out and we didn’t want to leave them wanting. Processing day was long but rewarding. We processed 115 pasture raised chickens with our small team of five. We incorporated a number of our Lessons Learned from previous processing days and in the interest of always improving, looked at our operations this time around and came up with some ideas about how we think we can improve the next time around. We would be remiss if we did not take time to thank all our customers who not only believe in what we are doing but also trust us to provide great tasting, nutritionally dense, pasture raised chicken for them and their families. We thank you all and hope you enjoy they chicken as much as we do.
After processing, there were normal farm chores that needed to be done and then we had to start getting ready for an Ironweed Farm first. This year we co-sponsored St Mary’s (our local parish) annual Pig Roast on August 6th. We donated thirty of our pasture raised chickens to the event and grilled up 300 pieces of chicken for the over 450 people that came out. For those doing the math, we butchered the chickens into ten parts each, two wings, two legs, two thighs, and we cut each skin on, bone in breast into two pieces for a total of four breast pieces per chicken. Granted, not everyone there was able to have a piece of Ironweed Farm pasture raised chicken, but we got great feedback from the people that did and there were other great co-sponsors there with us.
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| Seibert’s Swine Farm provided two whole hogs that were lovingly smoked for many hours and was delicious. I enjoyed it on a bun with BBQ sauce, topped with coleslaw. I washed it down with locally brewed beer from another one of the co-sponsors, Old Firehouse Brewery from Williamsburg, OH. Their motto is “Think and drink local” which is in-line with our philosophy of eating local. They brought two great selections, their Code 3, a copper colored red ale, and Pin Up Girl, a traditional American blonde ale. Both tasted great on the hot day with all the great food. We want to thank St Mary’s for letting us be part of this event. We hope everyone had a great time and enjoyed all the great food, drink, and comradery. We look forward to being part of this great event next year. |   |
Finally, two days after the St Mary’s Pig Roast, we moved the 128 chicks from our third batch of birds from their brooders out to pasture. Much like the last batch, these chicks attacked the grass as soon as they were placed in their pens and we know they are going to look forward to their daily moves to fresh grass. The chicks have been looking great since day one and we have no doubts that these guys will do great over the next 5 weeks out on pasture.
If you can’t wait 5 weeks, we do have whole birds left from this run frozen and ready for you to pick up. We also have some parts packages that are vacuum sealed and frozen ready to go as well. Contact us and let us know what you want! If you are interested in placing an order for our third and final processing date in September, please check out our Ordering Information page. Thanks again to all our customers and all that support us and what we are trying to do – provide nutritious, great tasting pasture raised chicken… From our pasture to your plate.
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