Zettel Family Farms is a pasture based organic livestock farm. All of our roughly 200 acres of workable land is devoted to grazing for the pigs, chickens and cattle, or the production of hay to feed cattle over winter. The grain that we need for pigs and chickens is purchased from other organic farms, as […]
Spring has sprung! The mountains of snow that accumulated in Bruce county in one of the most severe winters in decades, disappeared in short order here on the farm. Early March saw unseasonably high temperatures uncovering the land and setting up for an early pasture season. As I write, on the first of May, (International […]
One word sums it up: SNOW! Items currently on sale “In the bleak mid-winter, Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron,Water like a stone;Snow had fallen, snow on snow,Snow on snow,In the bleak mid-winter Long ago.” This opening stanza from “A Christmas Carol” (Christina Rosetti) fits the bill as I look out my front door […]
Orders Galore We have had a surge of orders this fall, causing us to run short of some products. For us, this is a good problem. It’s a problem, because we are committed to the very best service for our customers. We strive to fill every order promptly. When one of the items on an […]
Where did summer go? As we write this, the summer break for school kids is three-quarters gone. These weeks seem to fly by, with long awaited days of vacations, festivals, sporting events and family gatherings sneaking up and then disappearing into memory. On the farm, a succession of deadlines come and go; Fences to fix, […]
Some photos from May and June Hey folks, how about chicken? As we noted in the last newsletter, our chickens are grown only in the summer when they can be raised in moveable hutches and have access to fresh grass daily. This means we have to estimate how many drums, wings, bone-in and boneless breasts, […]
Clearance Sale! Big Discount on chicken drums and bone- in thighs. As most of you are aware, our chickens are raised on pasture in the summer in movable hutches where they get fresh grass twice a day. Since we like to eat chicken all year round, that means we must estimate the amounts of each […]
Mud Everywhere! It’s March, and the only sign so far that spring is on it’s way is that the snow seems to be (mostly) gone. And in its place, we have mud! Our pigs spend a lot of time indoors unless the sun comes out on these dreary days, and the cattle would prefer to […]
An early spring or a late winter? Happy (late) New Year! Ted wrote a great article looking back at 2023 and forward to 2024. You can read the article on our website, but we didn’t post it here because… well, it’s February! Products You Should Try Maple Ham We started making this late last year, […]
Happy New Year! (a little late, I know) “Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset, swiftly fly the years.” This line from the wedding scene in the famous motion picture “Fiddler on the Roof” comes to my mind at the close of each year, as I reflect on and record the highlights of the previous 12 months. It […]