Time for something different

Good morning! 

It's time to make a few changes in the Cattle Rattle (and some aspects of the farm!).

Between school and life, trying to publish a Cattle Rattle every month just seems a bit overwhelming right now. Soooo . .. . I'm going to work at sending an update out weekly on Sundays.  It will include updates on product, changes we're making and a story or two from the farm.

Beef:  We are well stocked for the winter and have several quarters and bundles available if you're looking for beef to get you through until June when we'll take our grass-fed beef to the processor again.

Chickens:  The chicken season ended in mid-October.  A little later than we're used to and some of our last birds got pretty large.  There are some very nice 5-6 pound roasting birds in the freezer.  We also have smaller birds and lots of chicken parts - wings, thighs, drumsticks and boneless/skinless breasts.  We are well stocked here too and expect to be able to keep chicken in stock through June when we will have birds on pasture again.

Turkeys:  Oh what a season!  We started with 50 poults and put 12 in the cooler.  We must come up with a better way to raise turkeys if we're going to continue to sell them.

Pork:  It's so good to have freezers stocked with pork again!  We do still have some bacon in stock (Kurt hid a box in another freezer).  We also have some beautiful hams that would make great centerpiece dishes this holiday season.  Kurt will be hauling hogs to McPherson in the middle of December and again in January.  If you would like to have your own supply of pork in your own freezer, let me know and we can put your name on a whole or half hog. 

Holiday meals:  We have many cuts that would be great for entertaining!  Pork tenderloin, hams, roasts are quick and easy.  We have 3 beautiful standing rib roasts - we can't wait to enjoy ours at our "employee dinner." 

Gifts:  It's really, really too early for me to think about Christmas time BUT Dale Family Farms has some great gift options available:
*Any cut of meat - steaks make great gifts though
*Gift certificates - you pick the dollar amount
*Summer sausage, jerky and beef sticks make great stocking stuffers or gifts for the men in your life
*All kinds of links - again great for those guys you love
*Homemade soap - we have many scents and they make great soaps for teachers and other women you want to pamper
*Gift baskets - I can put together baskets with jerky, etc AND I have some really nice ones with 3 bars of soap and a raffie bag that holds the soap.

Story from the farm:  Kurt and I went to the Kansas Rural Center's Farm and Food Conference last Saturday and really enjoyed ourselves.  We made several great connections and it got the creative juices flowing again - trying to figure out how we can do it better - on the farm and serving you.  The ideas have turned a bit wild - a small school bus as a delivery van to make Schwann's like deliveries into the city - each seat could hold a few coolers and you could place your order ahead of time or add to your order based on availability; more on farm storage - hmmm. . . . what could we use there? We'll keep you posted!

Oh, and if you see Kurt, ask him about our freezer woes this past month.  We saw way to much of Sears this month.

Enjoy these fall days!