Fast Food

Ever have one of those days? Yeah...yesterday was one of 'em. Started the day out early by walking the bike path for miles in search of my daughters lost wallet and visiting two police departments just in case some good samaritan turned it in. Yeah, no. 


So, as the defeated daughter and I are pulling in the driveway "ring ring" its my sister calling to tell me a pig is out. Not only out but, in with the buffalo!!! Visions of flying pigs immediately start going through my head. Thank goodness we were in the driveway! I run around the house and there is the pig chasing the buffalo. Good Golly! Many "here pigs" later and he runs out of the buffalo pasture towards his buddies watching from their pen. Pigs are so bad, they absolutely delight in being chased, they twist and run barking all the way. By this time backup arrived and we put him back in. After an exhaustive pig fence check we find no holes. Hmm? get out the meter and there is no juice on the fence. 
Meanwhile the little booger is back out but, he brought them all! 3 rotten, barking, twisting pigs running joyously through the barnyard. At this point I'm ready to call the butcher and see if he has anything open right that minute while visions of bacon and pork chops are running through my head. Instead, we put them back in the training pen. Many hours, cuss words and wraps of electric tape later ...the fence is fixed and running at voltages we hadn't seen in years ...note to self put fence maintenance on the to-do list more often. As we nervously re-released the pigs into the electric fenced pasture I can't help but think of Dirty Harry  "Do you feel lucky? Well do ya, punk?" as I wait for a pig to *test* the fence. Satisfaction wasn't long in the making...as I'm in the barn getting feed I hear pig yipes to curl your hair. As an evil grin spread across my face, I knew the pig chasing was over for the day. 

A New Direction

As we begin a new year we are making new plans, plans for growth. In 2010 we ceased attending farmer's markets as we had more than enough business for our bison right here at the ranch - still do. However, we have been adding new ventures every year and we want to expand our chicken, pork and turkey production. While we have had great support from our customers who visit us often here at the ranch, we need a bigger audience for our wares. 

Enter Newark's new farmer's market, the Canal Market District, a perfect opportunity to get into a market on equal footing with the other vendors. Getting into an existing market is tough and people have their faves, it's hard to be the new kid on the block. After learning about what a cool market The Downtown Association was planning,  we applied and were accepted! YAY! So, this coming summer, you will find us in Downtown Newark, Friday evenings, 4pm-7pm June through October. It's especially exciting because Newark has been like a second home for us, it's where we shop and hang out, and Jarrod and I both worked in Newark for many years before we became farmers. We hope to see a lot of familiar faces at the market and a lot of new ones too!

Check out what the new market is all about:
http://www.downtownnewarkoh.com/canal_market.php

Bison...its what's for Christmas

Greetings all! Hard to believe another year is drawing to a close. Its been a busy year here at the farm. We had a great garden, the bison are still grazing and turkeys are ready for Thanksgiving. We have this years pigs going to the processor soon and we have one more bison harvest!

Yes! More bison! We are sending one to the processor  on december 1st and should have meat back mid December , just in time for Christmas!  If you have any hard to buy for people you might consider a healthful gift of bison...of course its always a great gift of health to yourself.  If you would like to place an order please contact us by email at cherokeevalleybison@yahoo.com by phone or text at 740-403-3763 or you can message us on Facebook. We can accept checks or we can invoice you and you can pay by credit card. Due to the high demand we can only hold prepaid orders, we appreciate your business!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving !

Spring Has Sprung

Hallelujah! Spring has sprung! This past weekend was so wonderful, all that good vitamin D from the sun had us smiling all weekend :) We will just pretend that the next couple of days aren't going to happen, after this past winter SNOW is the dirtiest 4 letter word I know! Nonetheless, things are going great at the ranch.

We have 2 rooms of our house filled with vegetable plants and they are growing strong. Soon, we will move them to the greenhouse to await the last frost while soaking up plenty of sun. Phase 1 of the garden relocation is complete. The piggies plowed their hearts out and the soil is ready for tilling. Weather permitting that will be done this week. Hard to believe but it's time to plant cabbage and kale this week. Next week we have lots of early season goodies going in like peas, radishes and lettuce to name a few! MMM I can already taste fresh salad.

In the barnyard, Rosie is due to farrow (have baby pigs) in the next couple of weeks she has been growing wider and wider! We are also on the lookout for little red calves, baby bison season is right around the corner and we could get our first calf anytime. Turkeys are in the hen house and laying eggs, already planning your Thanksgiving dinners. Our future egg layers have been weeding the greenhouse for us and will be out on grass within the week, it will still be a few months before they are laying but they are getting big! Meat chicks will be on their way soon and on their way to delicious chicken dinners. YUMMY.

I cant hide the fact that spring is my favorite season, my eyes are overjoyed at the sight of all the green, my ears by the sound of birds chirping and peepers at the creek romancing their mates and the smell of flowers that have been hiding for months. Hoping you all are finding joy in the season of awakening, too!

Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'

We gotta be startin' somethin'...seeds that is! Last week marked the beginning of the gardening season for us. We planted some cabbage, peppers and thyme. Now we have a bunch of green sprouts peeking out at us. It warms my heart, even though the weather is still cold. Next week we will be starting the 5 varieties  of tomatoes we are offering this year as well as celery and oregano. By April our living room will look like a jungle! It gets me to salivating thinking about all of the delicious vegetables we will be raising and providing to our CSA members.I personally cant wait for homemade tomato sauce with fresh herbs!  It's not too late to join us for 2014! Send us an email or give us a call to find out how to get started! I've made myself hungry...gotta find a snack! Here's some photos of last years bounty:

Spring Is In the Air

Spring is coming! Even though we are sitting here watching it snow we know its coming. Our animals are telling us so. Every morning for the past week Sir Lancelot, our beautiful peacock, has been tuning up his signature call. It was pretty rough at first, like a singer warming his voice, but now he is singing his love song loud and clear! We have also seen him fanning his spectacular tail! What a welcome sight after all these cold months.

The turkeys are also starting to hang out like a bunch of shy teen agers, the boys are hanging in a group and the girls are hanging in their own group. They are scoping each other out! We have been frantically trying to get the new turkey barn finished before the urge strikes and they start mating and laying eggs anywhere and everywhere besides where we want them to. It's that wild turkey streak in them that sends them to the woods, weeds etc. to make their nest.

Miss Rosie Piggins, our sow, seems to be "in a piggy way". She has been taking it easy and getting lots of rest in her delicate condition. Although a 600 pound sow seems anything BUT delicate. We are anticipating little bacon bits mid-May. There's nothing cuter than baby pigs!

Spring can hurry along any time and we'd be just fine with that! Stay warm!

Rural Heritage Magazine

We've made the big time! Your favorite bison ranch was featured in Rural Heritage magazine in the Feb/March issue. What an honor! The magazine is sold at TSC and Farm and Fleet. It's also available from the publisher. Thanks to Karen Kirsch, the author, for writing such a great article about our farm.

Here is a link to the magazine article available to read online.

https://www.ruralheritage.com/reading_room/sample.htm