2024-03-22 21:41
Mother Earth News gave me the opportunity to write the cover article for this month’s magazine topic “Chickens in Organic Pastures.” The article was all about how I manage… Read More
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Wrong Direction Farm Blog
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A weekly blog about life on our farm raising grass fed beef cattle and pasture raised chickens.
2024-03-02 13:42
Chef Katy sent me the following note along with this recipe:
The inspiration for this dish came from my thriving basil plant this past summer. Thefragrance of the basil made me think imme… Read More
2023-12-16 05:00
This week I’m excited to announce some new breakfast sausage options. Both of these recipes are ones that I’ve worked on in our home kitchen, running lots of trials and tweaking… Read More
2023-12-02 16:08
This fall I’ve been working through my paperwork and inspections for our farm’s annual organic recertification. And the process is always unsettling.
Fundamentally, I really d… Read More
2023-11-04 03:15
Well, it took long enough. But we finally got our first killing frost along with a light snowfall. So fall is here.
The conditions this year created an unusually warm October. Apparently… Read More
2023-10-21 03:29
This week Rachel and I were herding turkeys out of their pasture onto the farm lane when we came under attack by helicopters. Or at least that’s how the turkeys would tell the story… Read More
2023-10-07 02:30
Last year we started an experimental project using our chickens to help us plant crop seeds. The idea came from the observation that sometimes seeds from spilled chicken feed would germinate… Read More
2023-09-23 03:03
I was in the garage welding angle iron when a neighbor pulled up to tell me he was missing six calves. He’d gone out to check on them and, not finding them, looked across the fence to… Read More
2023-08-26 03:32
The title of this week’s post comes from one of the shorter works by Wallace Stegner, an author who wrote a number of books that have lodged themselves individually into my memory. Amo… Read More
2023-08-12 02:59
Turkeys are surprisingly dedicated diggers. I’ve written before about how they need to eat pebbles to maintain their digestive system, so it makes sense that they have this instinct to… Read More
Minute Steak Sandwich With Provolone, Roasted Pepper-Basil Mayo, And Buttermilk Fried Zucchini Chips
2023-07-29 02:49
For this month’s recipe Chef Katy created a satisfying beef sandwich using our thin-sliced minutes steaks (sometimes known as shaved steaks or cheesesteaks), served on a bun with homem… Read More
2023-07-22 12:38
There’s an oft-used visual representation of farmers depicting them chewing on a stem of grass. The wardrobe managers for films and photoshoots depend on old tropes, probably under the… Read More
2023-07-08 04:11
We’re glad to announce that we have ground chicken made with our Certified Organic, pasture raised chicken. Some of you have been patiently waiting a long while for this, so we’r… Read More
2023-07-01 03:45
This spring I built a new turkey shelter starting from a forty foot long mobile home frame. I purchased the frame from a Craigslist seller over a year back in anticipation of this project, b… Read More
2023-06-17 02:00
Earlier this week three farmers I know spent some time testifying before the House Judiciary Committee about the state of meat production in the country, and more specifically about the USDA… Read More
2023-06-10 04:43
With grilling season upon us, now is a good time to roll out a recipe for spatchcocked chicken. Also known as butterflied chicken, the chickens have been cut down the backbone so they lay ou… Read More
2022-12-03 03:09
This was calf week on the farm. On Saturday our neighbor Mike brought twenty-four newly weaned calves across to our side of the fenceline. And then on Friday, Josh, another cattle farmer in… Read More
2022-11-26 04:49
This year’s drought has laid additional stresses on the farm. Everything is harder without water. The well for our house has been completely dry for two months. The pasture plants didn… Read More
2022-11-19 03:37
I enjoy leafing through discolored and spotted old magazines, studying the advertisements. There’s something special about old ads, because ads are only effective during a narrow tempo… Read More
2022-11-12 03:47
Foliar sprays. Biochar. Compost tea. Kelp. Apple cider vinegar. Good luck amulets. Chances are, if you’ve spent any time at any organic farming event, you’ve been hounded by huck… Read More
2022-11-05 04:34
This year we’ve been running an on-farm research project, and I’m excited to share results. Just to set expectations: no, this isn’t the kind of research with clipboards, d… Read More
2022-10-29 03:29
Turkey, particularly the white meat, seems always to do well when brined in the juice from naturally fermented vegetables. I stumbled into this idea with my Fried Turkey Wings recipe. At fir… Read More
2022-10-22 03:41
Six months ago I was enthusiastically reporting the beginning of our poultry season. And now we’re at the end of the poultry season. Turn, turn, turn.
This Thursday, well before day… Read More
2022-10-15 04:38
This spring we bought a secondhand ATV to replace our old, beat-to-death machine. We’ve found that a four wheeler, properly set up, makes a tremendous difference in our efficiency for… Read More
2022-10-08 02:59
It’s a pleasure to check another job off the list, particularly one that’s been in the works for a few years.
This week I finished construction on a mud-season feeding area fo… Read More
2022-10-01 13:08
We’re glad to let you know that our Certified Organic, pasture raised turkeys are ready for this Thanksgiving. We’ll be offering them through the weekend before Thanksgiving. We… Read More
2022-09-24 03:22
You’d be forgiven if you looked at our pasture after the cow herd moved across it and thought, “this can’t be good.” But I want to make the case for trampling, for do… Read More
2022-09-17 03:16
Sometimes people ask if we’re a regenerative farm. Depending on the clues I have about the intent of question I’m receiving, I might answer with a straightforward “Yes, we… Read More
2022-09-10 03:10
Our grass fed and grass finished Skirt Steak is a supremely flavorful cut, but because it is thin it cooks really quickly over high heat. It only requires a few minutes in a simple steel or… Read More
2022-09-03 04:10
Whenever I’m involved in a project of deconstruction, I feel a pang of sympathy for the folks who originally put in all that effort to bring something new into the world. Whether I&rsq&hell…Read More
2022-08-27 04:39
We’ve talked a lot about what we mean by grass fed and grass finished, but it might be helpful to show some photos to illustrate what we mean when we judge that a steer or heifer is at… Read More
2022-08-20 13:56
This summer we’ve been feeling the hurt from a droughty weather pattern. We experienced a July heat wave overlaid with a few dry months, causing our pasture growth to stall. The low-ly… Read More
2022-08-13 13:34
This week we’re featuring a recipe Chef Katy developed for our Certified Organic and pasture raised chicken wings. It uses the pairing of bright pineapple and the spicy bite of chili p… Read More
2022-08-06 06:29
This is a topic for which I’ve started and then abandoned more blog posts than any other I’ve attempted to cover. It’s one of those things that can, with just the slightest… Read More
2022-07-30 02:26
Watching our cattle graze, I’ve been thinking about how best to communicate the powerful connection between grasslands, grazing animals, and the overall environment in which they exist… Read More
2022-07-23 14:37
Then Athena held up her aegis, the bane of mortals, on high from the roof, and the minds of the wooers were panic-stricken, and they fled through the halls like a herd of cattle that the dar… Read More
2022-07-16 03:42
When dividing up a chicken, my druthers always go to the dark meat. So this week’s recipe from Chef Katy has a special place in my hierarchy of reliably great meals. Fried chicken drum… Read More
2022-07-09 06:20
The term “grass-fed” has been used often enough that most people come to us with at least a general idea that this is the kind of beef they’ve been looking for. But there&r&hell…Read More
2022-07-02 04:12
A farming friend sent me a provocatively written news story that was almost perfectly calculated to rile us both up. As will become clear, my purpose here is not to debate or to dispute that… Read More
2022-06-25 01:10
This week we hosted a forest survey workshop. Our local USDA agent asked if they could use our small parcel of woodland as a training opportunity for the staff from the surrounding field off… Read More
2022-06-18 02:42
This week’s recipe from Chef Katy uses our pasture raised, Certified Organic chicken breasts in a simple miso butter preparation. Katy included some suggestions for a great medley of s… Read More
2022-06-11 15:50
Currently, our beef liver is out of stock. Someone wrote to ask me about that. It was a fine question I was happy to answer, but it got me thinking about some of the logistics of a farm-cent… Read More
2022-06-04 04:35
Our lawnmower is broken, and I’ve been stuck waiting a few weeks, held up by slow-to-arrive parts. Meanwhile the grass is growing quickly.
On a grazing farm, a lawn full of grass ca… Read More
2022-05-28 04:30
Here’s an updated version of a home cooking classic. The meatloaf itself comes together as a pretty simple meal featuring our grass fed ground beef. The blistered tomato topping makes… Read More
2022-05-21 13:00
Think about what happens when we’re stretching tight wire fence across the farm. You can probably imagine that the wires create a tremendous pulling force on the fence posts at each en… Read More
2022-05-14 12:03
This week we started our first batch of turkeys for the season. We’ll raise two more batches later during the summer. They’re a lot of fun at this newly-hatched stage, just fuzzy… Read More
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