Pasture Raised Chicken with Berryhill Farm

A few years back we raised and butchered our first round of meat chickens. It took us all day to butcher, process and package 18 chickens. My, how far we’ve come! Just this past summer we did nearly 70 chickens in one day. Whew! It is a reward well worth the chore, in our opinion.

A little about our birds:

We take great pride in raising quality meat. All of our animals are raised with great care, great feed, well loved, and given the respect they deserve. We don’t get attached, but we do make sure they have a great life!

And that starts with where they’re raised.
All of our meat chickens are raised on green pasture, with access to grass, bugs and seeds. We move them to fresh grass every morning in our chicken tractors. They are heavy! But the birds never sit on the same patch of grass for their entire lives. Very ideal!

I don’t know if you knew this, but chickens need scratch grain. They don’t have normal stomachs like most animals. While living on green grass, we also feed them an organic, non-gmo feed from a local feed supplier. We ensure they are getting the best quality grain at all times.

We know and value the importance of quality meat. It’s important to us to have access to pasture raised meat when possible, so we are happy to be able to provide that for you!

Our chickens go up for pre-sale a few weeks prior to ordering chicks. You’ll receive an email a week before butchering so you can prepare for pickups, and schedule accordingly.
Each bird is shrink wrapped and ready to be frozen upon purchasing.

Our chicken is $5.50/pound averaging 4lbs-6lbs.

Easy plants you can start now!

As weeks go by and we head into Spring, more and more people are becoming interested in maintaining their own garden. It may be because of current world circumstances, or otherwise.

Nonetheless, I think it’s fantastic! It’s something I wish more people took pride in doing, learning about, and starting. In fact, when Chris and I first started adding produce to the farm, it became my dream to one day mentor people and show them how to “garden” right in their back yard. Whether you live on 5 acres or .5 acres, you can do this! There’s something so rewarding in planting, watering, nurturing, growing, harvesting and consuming your home grown goods.

I truly believe this turn of events that we face today is forcing us ALL to slow down, remember our roots, remember where our food should come from, spend time with the people we love, doing the things we love, picking up old hobbies, realizing we are more than capable of training our kids, bringing back home economics, and genuinely enjoying a slower pace. I’m always asking myself at what point did we become so busy? So busy we can’t eat a meal together. Or learn a new trade. Or create. Or grow our own food. It seems as though many people like the busy, non-stop lifestyle…. or do they? Now we are all being forced to stop, think, slow down and just be. And I think it’s extremely good for the world.

Maybe you have tried heading to the grocery store like I have only to see that they are completely out of stock on most common groceries. Meat, breads, pastas, veggies, and don’t even get me started on the tp situation……
While wandering through the aisles it hit me like a ton of bricks. I am SO thankful I know how to grow/raise most of my own foods. I didn’t always.. although I believe it’s in my blood. My grandfather was into gardening and took much pride in his herbs and homemade sauces. He even made red wine vinegar himself. I wish he was still around to see our farm and give me more tips and fun facts about all we are growing. I vividly remember running through the greenhouse aisles when I was just a kid (Caiden’s age) where my head was just barely taller than the tables in there. And the smell. Oh the smell of fresh clean dirt, potting soil, tomato plants.. Every time I walk into our greenhouse now, the smell reminds me of him and those days I would pull up a stool and help him make pasta sauce simmering on the porch stove all day long using fresh ingredients he grew himself. That was normal to him.

I believe my passion in homesteading, growing my own food, knowing where it all comes from and how it’s raised, came from him. The desire and fascination runs through my veins and on day like today, I am so grateful.

So if you find yourself wanting to start a garden this year (as one of the easiest, simplest ways to be more self-sufficient) here are my top recommendations that are easy to grow from seed. And if you cannot find seed in stores or online, we will be doing a plant sale end of May/beginning of June selling baby plant starts.

TOMATOES:
Cherry/grape tomatoes, beef steak varieties, roma tomatoes make a GREAT pasta sauce.

ZUCCHINI:
Both green and yellow summer squash are easy and FAST. They also freeze well so plant extra.

RADISH/TURNIPS:
Best direct seeded and now is the perfect time/temp as they are a cool weather crop.

BEETS:
Super easy and fast.

CUCUMBER:
Both for slicing and pickling

LETTUCE:
Almost all varieties are super easy to grow and make perfect potted plants that can be brought inside for extended season growth. Our favorite are red/green lettuce mix, romaine, butterhead, buttercrunch.

SPINACH:
Another perfect cool weather crop that grows fast and freezes well.

SUGAR SNAP PEAS:
These grow very fast and need some sort of fence to climb. Cool weather crop only so start them now!

KALE:
This is my fave! It grows fast, and one plant will keep growing and producing leaves all year long. Even after multiple cuttings!

MELONS:
Start those closer to may/june.

MICROGREENS:
These little unpopular beauties are often over looked or sadly not heard of, but they are SOOO nutrient dense! They are basically the baby plant of any veggie. They contain 10x the nutrients as when the veggie is mature. And bonus, they only take 8-20 days to grow and can be grown right on your window sill!!

Eventually as the summer goes on you will want to grow things like corn, green beans, egg plant, pie pumpkins, bell peppers, hot peppers, and much more.

You do not need to have a greenhouse to do this or a large back yard. If you’re just starting out, pick a few that you know you definitely want to have (think preserving, freezing, canning, remember we are trying to be more self sufficient and not depend so heavily on the grocery store chains to supply our fresh foods) and start with those. Almost all of these can be grown in large pots right on your back deck too! Even the peas and zucchini! There are ways to do it.

If you ever need help or need variety suggestions, just reach out to us! I am always happy to help. These are my top veggies that I always recommend people try to grow themselves because in small quantities like back yard gardens or pots, they really are easy and minimal work involved.

Quality dirt, sun, water and a little TLC and you can have your own garden this summer. Involve your kids and try it out! Packets of seeds are super cheap right now.

I hope this post inspires you to begin looking into homesteading and seeing what more you can do yourself, grow yourself and raise yourself. It really isn’t as daunting as it sounds. I love that this slow lifestyle right now is forcing us to dig deep and return to our original roots.

Learn how to garden. Learn how to make bread. Learn how to make butter. Learn how to teach your kids. Learn how to make your own soaps and cleaners. Support small businesses and farm. Get to know your neighbor. Figure out where your consumables come from. Every little bit is important and will benefit your family.
I plan to do a lot more blogging now that I have the time…. hehe.. this is one thing I am “picking back up” now that we are attuned to a slower pace. I will be sharing more posts about specific veggies as well as how to preserve them and the best methods. How to cook/eat them too! If there’s anything farm related that you’d like me to share and talk about, let me know!

And as always, we are here if you ever need help with anything!
Berryhill

Gearing Up for 2020

Hi friends!

Now that Christmas and New Year are coming to a close, we are gearing up for the 2020 growing season. I am personally ready for warm sunny weather and greenery again. Chris on the other had, loves the cool weather where he’s not sweating. I can’t seem to agree yet. ;)

We have started taking inventory of our seed supply and making lists of new things we want to grow, stuff we don’t plan to grow at all, and new fields of flowers and sweet corn still in the planning process. Our goal is to have a few acres of sweet corn and a u-pick flower field!

As we head into the new year, we can’t help but look far into the future when it comes to planning. We will eventually be adding another field of red raspberries and 5 more rows of black raspberries. They were a hit this year! Our CSA program will continue this year as well as selling to some local cafes, and going to the farmers market. We will be at Sugarcreek again but will also be looking for a larger Saturday market possibly in Grove City. All of this is still so up in the air as we begin to plan out the year. I always suggest signing up for our newsletter so you can stay up to date and not miss a thing.

Our big green house is still under construction but we plan to have that completed before summer so we can use it for tomatoes.
Xenia township also agreed to bring and dump leaves collected from the city for us to compost. This will provide a rich compost to enhance our soil making growing even better. We are thankful to Xena Twp for doing this. We will now just turn over the leaves every so often, and in about 6 months it will be beautiful dirt.

We are hoping and praying we do not have another spring like last year. The constant rain last spring put such a hold on things, and pushed us back about 4 weeks with growing. A lot of farmers in the area were suffering from this. Having both hoop houses will help.

Next priority will be pruning. All of those blueberries and blackberries have to be pruned by hand, one by one. Most of our winter and early spring is spent doing this. It’s tedious but must be done. Only good thing to look forward to is after pruning is complete, berries come next!!!

We cannot wait to see what 2020 brings us as we continue to grow and expand the farm, reach more of our community and build relationships with people.
As always thanks for your continued support year after year.

Chris & Sarah
Berryhill

Microgreens: Explained

You may have seen this green trimmings pop up in the produce section at your local grocery. Or maybe you’ve seen them labeled “shoots” at the farmer’s market. You’re probably wondering who in the world eats these grass clippings and what in the world they’re for! Let me help explain:

They are called microgreens.

A microgreen falls in between a sprout and a baby plant. They are cut before the plants’ first true leaves appear. Microgreens are typically around 1.5 - 3 inches tall. They are extremely nutrient dense and good for you.

Microgreens are 10x more nutritious than the plant in it’s mature form. For example, radish microgreens contain 10x the amount of vitamins and nutrients than eating a radish alone. They may be small, but they pack a punch in the health department! They are full of antioxidants, iron, and many other nutrients.

So, you grab a small bag of them. Now what?

Microgreens can be used in SO many ways! The most common ways to eat them are in salads, wraps and on sandwiches, but people also love to use them as garnishes on pizza, soup, omelets, and many other dishes.
They can also be blended into a smoothie, juiced, or my personal favorite, on top of a burger or BLT! Anywhere you use lettuce, microgreens can be used as well.
They are super tasty but not overpowering. I highly encourage you to give them a try. They’re very good for you and will make your dishes extra pretty ;)

Microgreens also have a long shelf life. They will last anywhere from 10-20 days in the fridge if stored properly. (Keep a napkin inside the container to soak up moisture).

So the next time you come across some microgreens or pea/sunflower shoots, give them a try! And come back and let us know what you think! Better yet, join our CSA program where we ill be including microgreens in many of the boxes this season!
Sign up HERE

Spring Farm Tour

Join us Saturday morning, May 25th for a special tour of the farm. This will be your chance to tour the brand new growing field (and see the size difference from the new field to our previous “garden field”), tour the new greenhouse and what kind of production is happening in early spring, you’ll quite possibly even get to pick a few goodies to taste test for yourself! AND there may even be a flock of sheep out in the pasture that you can pet. Still working on that one :)

We will walk through the berry fields and show you what it looks like this time of year, about 6 weeks prior to opening day. A lot changes in those short 6 weeks! Raspberries are small, almost nonexistent plants at that point, blackberries are usually still covered in beautiful white flowers, and the blueberries begin dropping all of their flowers while the bees are at work.

Mark your calendars for May 25th! Time is still TBD.