Updates this week are around the continued sale of pork butcher cuts and the decisions we are considering around actually carrying some inventory (something we have thus far not done).  We also got our first egg in the chick wagon as the current laying flock slows way down with molting and the change of seasons. Finally we review the status of our sold out turkeys and the questions we get all the time about the difference (or perception of difference) between fresh and frozen meat.
Check out the link about some science of frozen meat! http://blog.doingsciencetostuff.com/2013/03/22/frozen-vs-fresh-rib-eye-steak/

This episode of the CoopCast was sponsored by Farmtek.  Check out Farmtek.com for over 30,000 different products to make you home and farm run smoothly.  If you visit now and use the promotion code we give you in this episode you will save $25 on any purchase of $75 or more...  that's like a 33% savings!  So support this podcast by supporting farmtek.com.

This week in the Veggie Patch we talk about the end of the CSA and discuss the Rowboat of Goodness from this year in our Rowboat Roundup! (The Rowboat of Goodness is our far less snooty take on the Slow Food "Ark of Taste").  So tune in to hear how some of our favorites like Celebrity, Costata Romanesca, Sultan Green and Sultan Yellow did in the 2013 season!  Be inspired to add some of our favorites you your farm or garden next year!

This weeks updates on the farm include our ongoing saga of selling pork sausage :)  Want some?  We als otalk pre-deposits and our business model as well as some of the lessons learned in appraoching farm sales with a deposit model. We have turkey orders coming up as well on the last day of the 2013 CSA! Ohh, and there was an areal predator strike on one of our chickens too...  but she's fine!

Hey - if you haven't visited FarmTek.com yet and shopped their great selection of items - now is the time.  By using the promoton code (listen to the episode for the code) when you check out you can save $25 on an order of $75 or more...  and to help you do that we spend some time in this episode talking baout some of the great FarmTek poultry products we use on our farm.

In the CoopCast Community we answer a pair of questions from Scott and Maggie about dual purpose chicken breeds and telling if a gilt is pregnant.

In the "In The News" segment we talk about the USDA decision to let US grown chicken leav the country, head to China, get processed and then sent back to the US as a food product.  Sounds like another well thought out government program to us!

Chicken from China reading includes:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/c3dab827-151d-4373-917f-139db6a2466d/China_2013_Poultry_Processing.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57601738/officials-say-okay-to-processed-chicken-from-china/

With only a month left for the pigs on pasture we are still selling a bunch of sausage...  and now bacon too! We also discuss the options we are considering around keeping the mom's like we have before vs selling them after a single farrowing and keeping smaller gilts over winter to save on feed costs.

We welcome our new sponsor to the coopcast - FarmTek!  We have talked about their products several times over the years and think we have found a terrific partner with them.  As a listener you can visit the FARMTEK.COM website and save $25 on any order of $75 or more by checking out with the code mentioned in the episode.  This is your chance to support us by supporting our sponsors!

In the CoopCast Community we talk a bit about listener messages and questions and how YOU can help US help YOU!  We also answer a listener question about bartering bunny meat for pork on a neighboring farm. This broaches topics like determining value of your farm products and goods in a bater situation.

We officially launch our new segment called Close Encounters with Free Ranging Farmers on the Front Porch...  where talk a bit about the name, the new iPhone next week, the use of social media by farms and what our

With a bit more relaxed schedule the CoopCast takes a bit more of a relaxed discussion of an injured pig and how amazing animals are with injury.  We talk about Hermione and piglets as well as a grower piglet with hemorrhoids!

We talk a bit about selling our sausage to folks and the process around that since we got over 240 pounds back from the USDA processor last week.

We then take a late season walk around the Veggie Patch and talk about what did well in this crazy growing season and what didn't.  Since it's late summer there are tomatoes galore now and we did a taste test of the best tomatores in your garden.  Kelli also talks about some of what she has been canning and freezing.

This week we have been challenged for time so we share a week full of pig centric farm updates.  We moved out lone sow back to in with the piglets and it's been a little exciting - both the move and the post move drama.  We talk a bit about all the work that goes into settin up a new pasture space for the pigs and the challenges that came with it. We share a piglet injury and a decision to move thigns inside the padock around after it was set up. We also update on turkeys and chickens...  and mention something big is happening to the podcast in the near future!

This weeks episode discusses our sleuthing around a dead turkey inside the fencing and what might have happened. We talk about bringing Katniss to the butcher and the plans for the rest of the pigs.

In the CoopCast Community we talk a little about Robert's post on Facebook about soy in food and spend more time talking about how science gets done as opposed to the paper on the subject - here.  Kelli updates folks on her hand treatments and we make a plea to try and move the needle over on Stitcher Radio - head on over and give our show a "thumbs up"! Our show on Stitcher!  Ohh - Go rate us on iTunes!!!

We are introducing a new segment that we need YOU (the listener) to give a name to.  It's kind of a near the farm, homesteading, farmsteading, rural living, country living segment.  A place to talk about all the OTHER questions we get about hunting, cooking, sweet tea and "what do you have in your barn" kinds of things.  You guys keep asking things that are not "farming" specific - so we figured we needed a segment to fit the bill...  but we need a name!  This episode we talk at a high level about hunting!

We are getting things ready to move Katniss off the farm and into the freezer. Part of that process is getting the rest of the pigs ready to move to a new pasture space in the next week or so. We talk turkey about the pastured birds as well as a brief CSA update.  Kelli reviews some suggestions for her chapped hands and considers alternative to gloves.

Farmer Andy reports from the field in this weeks In The News segment sharing the trends he noted from Empire Farm Days.  We talk tractors, alternative heating on the farm and other trends.

Finally the Food on the Farm segment returns with rave reviews.  This week we talk about (and share recipes) for eggplant nuggets and the best smoked ribs you have ever had in your life!

This week we share some updates about the pigs on pasture and how well the not so little guys are doing.  Katniss and Herm are in heat and lovin on Andy something awful. We talk a little about the new turkey shelter and the heritage turkeys - have we clipped their wings, find out! Finally we talk about how nice the chick wagon is!

In the Veggie Patch we talk about Fall planting and the staples of cooler weather late-season plantings like radishes, greens, bok choy, beans, and beets. In the greenhouse we are also testing an observation we have made about lettuce that sprouts in there. Farmer Kelli needs advice on some gloves.

Then we spend some time Cooking on the farm and share some of our favorite farm fresh recipes for eating seasonally.  Delicious recipes for Bruschetta, a grilled romaine BBQ bacon salad and gourmet pork based burgers. Delicious and simple summer concoctions to make your mouth water!

This weeks farm updates are short and sweet so we can get to a bunch of our listeners questions.  We did more pig castrations - not on ours, but super small mini-pigs.  It's a great example of how going slow on a farm make a lot of sense.  We also got the turkeys out on pasture - finally - with a redesigned mobile turkey shelter that ROCKS!

In our CoopCast Community section we talk a bunch of listener questions like:

Are we planning for fall planting?

Erin wanted to know about her NC property as a blank slate for a new farm.  How would we set things up to start in terms of the barn, the green house, and the animals.

Adam asked about our feed mixture for Cornish x and turkeys on pasture

Brent (who brought us the phrase "worm worshipping hippies") Asked about chicken processing and how soon after processing do customers pick up?

In our Ruminations we share our thoughts on food safety article regarding farm market chickens and their bacteria. http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/07/study-finds-raw-chicken-from-farmers-markets-more-likely-to-carry-pathogens-than-those-from-groceries/

This week the rain has stopped and the farmers are much happier in their daily chores.  We also are finished with our pastured broilers this year and introduce a visual element in this episode for you to follow along in our discussion of chicken processing. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chickenthistlefarm/9300657106/).  We then talk about the day in general, the size of the chickens this year and the financials of pastured poultry.  We then have a quick update on the pigs and the vegetable garden and CSA.

We then have a Rumination continuing on with last weeks whine-cast and talk about the things we have done that made the swampy weather just slightly more managable. Things like our drainage ditch, hut placement, round bales, checking during rain and how we need to improve our soil!

A new segment called the Chicken Thistle Nugget

This segment is a chance to share something small, a nugget of wisdom, if you will.  And this week Kelli talks a bit about a farm blog post she found to be very interesting... http://www.thoughtfulfoodfarm.com/2/post/2013/07/money-money-money-money.html