Farm Hopping: Meat & Cheese at Nature's Harmony Farm


Cows Grazing at Nature's Harmony

It’s hard to believe the trip to Georgia was almost six months ago. Now that fall has officially arrived springtime seems long ago and far away.

Along our farm journey we’ve made certain to visit as many farms as possible, many of which we’ve been profiling in our Farm Hopping series. One of the most exciting visits (for us personally, not because something exploded or we won the lottery or anything) was our trip down to Nature’s Harmony. Ever since we got all wrapped up in this farming stuff we’ve been fans of Tim and Liz Young, who run the show down in Elberton, GA. They always struck us as a little bit different and I always admired their ability to ask “why?” when they started farming. Some people view their questioning of current farm practices as being a bit presumptuous, but I always found it inspiring. It takes a lot of courage to challenge an industry that is so well rooted in its practices.

So, Who is Nature’s Harmony Farm?

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Farm Hopping - Chicken Tractor Comparison at Full of Life Farm


Egg Mobile, Chicken Tractors & Cows on Pasture at Full of Life Farm

Our latest farm hopping adventure took us out to Portland, OR where we were traveling for a friend's wedding. Oregon is a bastion for grass farmers, so we had lots of options to choose from and we were lucky enough to end up at Full of Life Farm with its owner, Bernard Smith.

Although Bernard and his family live in the SF Bay Area, they raise animals in Oregon's fertile Willamette Valley and sell the product in both regions (North CA and OR). The Willamette Valley offers an excellent climate for a grass-based farm and Bernard is lucky enough to have a piece of land that his family has owned/farmed for over a century! The farm produces pastured eggs (egg mobile pictured above), meat chickens and turkeys raised on pasture, grass fed and finished beef, as well as pasture raised pork and goat. A lot going on to say the least! In many ways Full of Life's operations are modeled after Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm, which incorporates multiple grazing species and promotes humane and sustainable livestock production. 

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Farm Hopping: Milking and Cheesemaking at Sprout Creek Farm

In the latest installment of Farm Hopping, Scrapple and Sweetbreads go to Sprout Creek Farm! Twice!

Sprout Creek Farm, Little Seed Farm, Barn, To Be A FarmerSprout Creek Farm - Photo by Sprout Creek's Georgie Blaeser Sprout Creek Farm is a highly diversified farm with farm enterprises including dairy cows, sheep, pigs, meat & laying chickens, turkeys, an on-farm retail market and more. The farm is structured as a non-profit and is operated by the Society of the Sacred Heart. Sprout is most well-known for its cheese and youth summer camp. The farm produces 15 varieties of cheese from approximately 400,000 pounds of milk from herds of ~40 cows and ~65 goats. As if Sprout’s excellent cheese wasn’t enough of a highlight, the farm also offers kids the opportunity to spend the summer on the farm participating in all aspects of farming. Gardening, milking, animal husbandry, you name it! The staff’s ability to teach 10 yrs olds about farming turned out to be perfect for getting us up to speed!
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