Monday, December 1, 2008

2008 Christmas Turkey Newsletter





Posting 2008 Christmas Turkey Newsletter HereAdd Image


Hello and Thanksgiving greetings from Coulee View Family Farm!

Pastured Heritage Turkeys Available. Thanksgiving is almost here. We just processed our pastured heritage turkeys - just in time for a very special Thanksgiving dinner. Most of these have been spoken for and picked up, but we do have a couple extra smaller hens available. Contact if you are interested. Pastured heritage turkey pricing is $4.00 per pound. The dressed weights of the hens ranges from about 8 to 10 lbs and would work well for a small group. I've attached several recent pictures of these magnificent birds.

Pastured Eggs. With the days getting shorter and the nights getting colder, our layers have really slowed down. As such egg availability will be limited until spring.

Heritage Turkey Recipes.
I found good information on cooking heritage turkeys at the Coon Creek Family Farm website ( http://www.cooncreekfamilyfarm.com/ ). Go to their "Turkey" page and scroll down to their discussion on brining turkeys.


That's all for now. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Dean & Kim Zimmerman
Couleeview Family Farm
http://www.couleeviewfarm.com/
drzimmerman1@yahoo.com
608-874-4144












Monday, November 24, 2008

2008 Christmas Tree Newsletter

Posting 2008 Christmas Tree newsletter here.
Hello again and and post Thanksgiving greetings from Coulee View Family Farm!

Christmas Trees. Thanksgiving is over and the snow is falling; the time to start Christmas planning is upon us. A number of years ago we planted a good number of White Spruce seedlings for Christmas trees and those trees are now ready! Come on up and cut your own tree so you know it's fresh. We will be open weekends (Saturday from 9 to 5 and Sunday from 11 to 5) until Christmas and weekdays by appointment. We'll have a couple of handsaws available but if you have one you like, feel free to bring it. We can't loan out our chainsaws for liability reasons so bring your own if you want to use a chainsaw. If you call ahead, Dean can also be available to cut your tree for you. We've attached a couple of pictures of our trees. The cost is $30 for any Christmas tree in our planting.

Christmas Dinner. Let us help you plan an extra special Christmas dinner. We have pastured pork roasts, smoked hams and other cuts available from our fall butchered lean range hogs. We also have delicious pastured slow growth broilers and a few pastured heritage turkeys that we held over for Christmas. All of our animals are raised outdoors, humanely and without hormones or medicated feed.

Pricing:
Pastured Slow Growth Broilers (approx 3.5 to 4.5 lbs) - On Farm Processed $3.25/lb
Can only be sold from our farm
Pastured Slow Growth Broilers (approx 3.5 - 4.5 lbs) - USDA Inspected $3.75/lb
Can be sold off-farm
Pastured Heritage Turkey hens (approx 6 - 10 lbs) - On Farm Processed $4.00/lb
Can only be sold from our farm
Pastured Pork - State Inspected (can be sold off-farm)
Smoked Ham Roast (approx 3.5 - 6 lbs ea) $6.00/lb
Smoked Ham Roast Steak (approx 2.5 - 4 lbs ea) $6.00/lb
Shoulder Roast (approx 4 - 5.5 lbs ea) $4.50/lb
Tenderloin (approx 1lb pkg) $8.00/lb
Smoked Lean Bacon (approx 0.75 - 1 lb pkg) $5.00/lb
Pork Chops w/o Tenderloin Medallion (approx 1.75 - 2.25 lbs pkg) $4.80/lb
Pork Chops w/ Tenderloin Medallion (approx 2 - 2.5 lbs pkg) $5.00/lb
Pork Hocks (approx 2.5 - 3.2 5 lbs pkg) $3.00/lb
Spare Ribs (approx 2.5 - 3 lbs pkg) $3.50/lb
Seasoned Pork Sausage (approx 1 lb pkg) $4.00/lb
Pork Liver (approx 1 lb pkg) $3.00/lb

We also offer bundled pork baskets with each basket worth over $205 and including approximately 40 pounds of various cuts of lean pastured pork. The cost of each basket is $190.
Pork Basket #1: A total of 40.98 lbs of meat valued at $210.02
Five (5) packages of lean bacon totaling 4.96 lbs.
One (1) large 4.79 lb smoked ham
Two (2) packages of smoked ham roast steaks totaling 7.52 lbs.
Four (4) packages of tenderloin medallion pork chops totaling 8.65 lbs
Two (2) shoulder steaks totaling 7.63 lbs.
One (1) 2.47 lb. package of hocks
Five (5) packages of seasoned pork sausage totaling 5.66 lbs

Pork Basket #2:
A total of 38.63 lbs of meat valued at $203.19
Five (5) packages of lean bacon totaling 5.12 lbs.
One (1) large 5.46 lb smoked ham
Two (2) packages of smoked ham roast steaks totaling 6.83 lbs.
Five (5) packages of tenderloin medallion pork chops totaling 11.34 lbs
One (1) package of liver totaling 1.07 lbs.
Two (2) shoulder steaks totaling 7.58 lbs.
Two (2) packages of seasoned pork sausage totaling 2.30 lbs

Pork Basket #3:
A total of 44.5 lbs of meat valued at $210.76
Four (4) packages of lean bacon totaling 3.99 lbs.
One (1) large 4.83 lb smoked ham roast
One (1) 3.72 lb package of smoked ham roast steaks
Five (5) packages of tenderloin medallion pork chops totaling 10.98 lbs
One (1) package of liver totaling 0.97 lbs.
One (1) 4.52 lb. shoulder steak.
One (1) 4.03 lb. shoulder roast.
One (1) 3.28 lb. package of spare ribs.
One (1) 2.90 lb. package of hocks
Four (4) packages of seasoned pork sausage totaling 4.21 lbs

Pork Basket #4:
A total of 44.12 lbs of meat valued at $211.33
Four (4) packages of lean bacon totaling 4.24 lbs.
One (1) large 4.49 lb smoked ham
One (1) 3.64 lb. package of smoked ham roast steaks
Five (5) packages of tenderloin medallion pork chops totaling 11.07 lbs
One (1) 1.14 package of liver totaling.
One (1) 4.20 lb. shoulder steak.
One (1) 4.34 lb. shoulder roast.
One (1) 3.23 lb. package of spare ribs.
One (1) 2.82 lb. package of hocks
Four (4) packages of seasoned pork sausage totaling 4.25 lbs


That's all for now. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Dean & Kim Zimmerman
Coulee View Family Farm
http://www.couleeviewfarm.com/
drzimmerman1@yahoo.com
608-874-4144

Monday, September 15, 2008

2008 September Newsletter

Greetings from Dean, Kim & Family at Coulee View Family Farm. This is the sencond newsletter from Coulee View Family Farm. We are again sending this out to friends, acquaintances, customers and folks that have previously expressed an interest in our products. If you wish me to remove you from this mailing list, please drop me an email stating so.

Summer is almost over, the nights are getting colder and the days are getting shorter.

Pastured Meat Chickens. We raised two batches of Freedom Rangers thus summer. This is a slower growing breeds that take slightly longer to reach maturity which means their taste is richer and deeper than the Cornish Cross chickens found in grocery stores. We still have some frozen chickenes available, so contact us soon if you are interested.

The cost of our pastured chicken Freedom Ranger is $3.25 per pound which really compares well to other pastured poultry prodcuers such as this site ( http://www.trautman.net/farm/foodproducts.htm ) which is at $4.50 per pound (but theirs are fully organic except for processing).

We will also be raising one last batch of chickens that will be available mid August. This will be the Cornish Cross variety and the cost will be $2.75 per pound if picked up at the farm on the processing day (we'll have bags, you bring the cooler) and $3.00 per pound frozen. Contact us by email ( drzimmerman1@yahoo.com ) or phone ( 608-874-4144 ) to reserve your's now.

Pastured Heritage Turkeys. We are also taking reservations for our pastured heritage turkeys that will be ready for Thanksgiving. We have added pictures of these birds to our website at https://www.couleeviewfarm.com/Pictures.php . Call or email now to reserve one for a very special Thanksgiving dinner. Pastured heritage turkey pricing is $4.00 per pound fresh on processing day and $4.25 per pound frozen. The estimated dressed weight will be in the 8 to 16 lb range.

Pastured Pork. We will be taking our first pastured pork of the year to the butcher on October 13th. Our pigs are truely pasture raised outdoors in large, frequently moved pens. Be sure to check out the pig pictures on the website. They are primarily fed pasture (grass, weeds and roots) and our grain mixture and supplemented with garden waste when available (currently lots of fallen apples). They are not fed antibiotics, growth hormones or other unnatural chemical stimulants. Studies show that meat from pastured livestock to be high in the heart healthy Omega-3 fatty acids in addition to superior taste and quality.

Our cost and estimated weights are shown below:
Product
Processing
Price Per Pound
Estimated Weight
Pastured Whole Hog
State Inspected Butcher
$3.00/lb plus processing costs*
120 - 175
Pastured 1/2 Hog
State Inspected Butcher
$3.10/lb plus processing costs*
60 - 90
Pastured 1/4 Hog (split half)
State Inspected Butcher
$3.20/lb plus processing costs*
30 - 45

* Processing costs include a $24 kill fee $0.34 per pound to cut and package. The cost to cure & smoke bacon is $0.75/lb and the cost to cure & smoke ham is $0.55/lbThe meat would be picked up at the state inspected locker in Eastman, WI (about 10mi north of Prairie du Chien on Hwy 27).

Be aware if that comparing our pricing to supermarket pricing isn't an apples to apples comparison. Not even close. The normal supermarket pork is CAFO raised pork fed a computer calculated blend of the cheapest foodstuffs available at the time resulting in a bland product. To see our our pricing compared to similar pastured pork and I compared our pork price to this farm http://sugarmtnfarm.com/ which does naturally grown pastured but not certified organic pork (so very comparible to ours). They are at $3.50/lb for the whole pig and $4.50 for a half and their local processing costs are much higher. So, our pricing would seem to be reasonable for the Pastured Pork product.

Pastured Eggs. Our egg layers are doing well. They now live in a modified RV that was donated by a good friend where they are closed in and safe from predators at night and let our to range during the day. Recall that testng has shown that pastured eggs contain:
• 1/3 less cholesterol • 1/4 less saturated fat • 2/3 more vitamin A • 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids • 3 times more vitamin E • 7 times more beta carotene
We sell these eggs ocasionally on Saturday mornings at the farmer's market at Blackhawk Junction Mall (near True Value) in Prairie du Chien. If we get enough interested customers in one location, we can also set up a delivery/drop off. Contact us if you are interested in becoming an egg customer. The cost of these superior eggs is currently $1.50 per dozen. As an incentive to purchase our pastured broilers, a free dozen of eggs will be given for every 6 broilers purchased. If eggs are sold out at the time a rain check will be given.

Chicken Recipes.
I found a nice compilation of chicken rescipes on the "Pete & Jen's Backyard Bird" website at: http://peteandjensbackyardbirds.com/recipes.aspx
If you need a basic recipe for grilling or ove roasting a chicken, go to this site and click on the CHICKENRecipes.pdf link.


That's all for now. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Dean & Kim Zimmerman & Family
Coulee View Family Farm
http://www.couleeviewfarm.com/
54247 Valentine Lane
Wauzeka , WI 53826
608-874-4144

Sunday, June 15, 2008

2008 June Newsletter

This is the first newsletter from Coulee View Family Farm.. We are sending this out to friends, acquaintances, customers and folks that have previously expressed an interest in our products. I will try to publish monthly updates in season. If you wish me to remove you from this mailing list, please drop me an email stating so.

We have processed our first batch of Freedom Ranger broilers and have frozen product now available. My homemade plucker wasn't quite ready in time for our processing date, so the family got an unexpected lesson in good, old-fashioned hand chicken plucking. When I got the plucker going the following week and demonstrated it to the family the general comment was "sweet". If you are interesting in seeing more about this plucker design, go to this website: http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2006/09/whizbang-plucker-story.html

I've attached a brochure/price-list in case you are interested in any of our latest batch of broilers. Information on our products can also be found on our website at http://www.couleeviewfarm.com/. A more detailed price list (including USDA processed pricing) can be found on the "Ordering" page on our website at: https://www.couleeviewfarm.com/Ordering.php

We have recently added laying hens to our fields. We obtained "spent laying hens" from a nearby organic egg farm. These are now pastured hens, so the eggs are better tasting, more nutritious and higher in Omega 3 fatty acids that normal eggs and even barn raised organic chicken eggs. According to this article from Mother Earth News,
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx
free-range/pastured eggs can contain:
• 1/3 less cholesterol • 1/4 less saturated fat • 2/3 more vitamin A • 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids • 3 times more vitamin E • 7 times more beta carotene

Here are several more articles from Mother Earth News on pastured and free-range eggs.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2005-08-01/Free-Range-Eggs.aspx
http://www.motherearthnews.com/uploadedFiles/Eggs%20chart.pdf
http://www.motherearthnews.com/eggs.aspx

The cost of these superior eggs is $1.50 per dozen. As an incentive to purchase our pastured broilers, eggs can be purchased at a price of $1.25 per dozen when purchased at the same time as broilers at a limit of 2 dozen eggs at this price per broiler purchased. A free dozen of eggs will be given for every 6 broilers purchased. If eggs are sold out at the time a rain check will be given.

I have also attached a brochure with tear-offs at the bottom. If you have a suitable place to post this where new potential customers would see it, please consider doing that.

Consider ordering a Pastured Turkey if you are interested in an extra special Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. We will have a limited number of Pastured Turkeys available and these will be offered on a first-come basis based on when they are reserved. Go to the "Pastured Heritage Turkey " page on our website at https://www.couleeviewfarm.com/Pastured_Turkey.html to learn more about this special product and to reserve one for yourself.

Remember, our next broiler processing date is July 6th. You'll note on the "Ordering" page of our website that there is a $0.25 per pound break for broilers picked up on the processing date. The reason for this incentive is that broilers picked up on the processing date will not require any of our limited freezer space. We will have bags available for any customers planning to pick up broilers on the processing date. Please bring a cooler and ice to keep your broilers fresh. Plan on arriving anytime after 1pm so that we are ready with your broilers. Please let us know if you do plan to come on a processing day, so that we have a sufficient number of broilers available. Note that you are free to come early and witness the processing event in action (the plucker is really a riot), just give us a call and we can let you know what time to show up so that you don't miss all the fun. For directions to our farm, go to the "Directions" page on our website at: https://www.couleeviewfarm.com/Directions.html

Note that based on current broiler inventory, THE THE 8/2/08 PROCESSING DATE HAS BEEN CANCELED as no broiler chicks were started for this date.

That's all for now. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Dean & Kim Zimmerman & Family
Coulee View Family Farm
http://www.couleeviewfarm.com/
54247 Valentine Lane
Wauzeka , WI 53826
608-874-4144