This week has been a hard week for me mentally. Sometimes grief hits at the weirdest times and this week it hit like a ton of bricks. You see Monday was my sister’s birthday. I lost my sister due to cancer 26 years ago when I was 6 months pregnant with my first daughter. She was only 27 years old. Losing her left a huge hole in my life. Then Wednesday was the birthday of the Marine Corps. ( My dad was a die-hard marine) We lost my dad six years due to exposure to agent orange in Vietnam. And then add in Veteran’s Day the next day, I was a mess. I spent a lot of time on the road visiting graves last week but that got me thinking me being a writer I have the luxury of taking some time off for my mental health.
But guess what farmers don’t always have that luxury of taking a mental health day. Sure some farmers do but when you have livestock that are dependent on you feeding them then not so much. I will have to say that all the farmers I follow and interact with on social media I am in total awe of all that they do. (Sometimes just watching their stories make me tired.) Sometimes they don’t have the luxury of a huge staff to help share the load. That is why I wanted to start this blog some of my favorite farms to follow are run by farmers who have very little staff and do a lot of the day-to-day themselves.
So I thought that I would share some of my favorite farmers to follow on social media. Why are they my favorite because they not only share their farms but also their day-to-day operations (the good, the bad, and the ugly)?
Bravo Steaks
As you can tell by most of the blogs ( especially the recipes) I love Bravo. It is run solely by the husband and wife team, John and Emily Barnes. I honestly don’t know how I found them on social media, I think I just stumbled on them one day. I started following them and was impressed with how upfront they were about their cattle business. One day I bit the bullet and ordered from their website and from that point on we were hooked. We are actually members of their coop right now. (Side note: My oldest daughter and her husband live in California, a Bravo Steak box is always an easy gift to send for the holidays, birthdays, and their anniversary. )
Emily manages most of their social media and she is always so eloquent as she explains how they raise their cattle as well as their Berkshire pigs. She also doesn’t share the highlights, she shares when they lose an animal as well. I think I have peppered her Instagram messages at least 1000xs if not more and she is always so willing to answer any questions that I may have. ( Also I am crushing on their new addition Persi – she is making me want to own a cow even more.)
Purpose Driven Farm
I love this family so much. Saira is the main force behind the farm. I mentioned her here. But you will get to meet her in her own words this week as she will be the featured farmer in my Meet the Farmer series. I first met her family at the Dirtbag Ales Farmer’s Market. I don’t know if it was the fact that they were a family or Hispanic or just so interested in chatting with me that drew me to them but I knew that even though they don’t ship their product, I would be buying from them in the future. And I did just that my hubby and I drove an hour to their farm to buy from them during the pandemic. Their chorizo reminds Raul ( the hubby) of the chorizo that he would get in Mexico. And I think my daughter Mikaela ( the middle one) almost ate a whole rack of their ribs by herself. And at 4’11” and barely weighing 100 pounds that is a feat in and of itself.
Sunset View Creamery
I will have to give Emily from Bravo Steaks credit for introducing me to this farm in upstate New York. I love listening to Jess (Jess and her husband Jer run the farm) share stories about the farm. I have yet to purchase from them because I am a little picky about cheese but I do plan on ordering from them in the future because I love supporting small farms. Following their social media also feeds my cow addiction. In fact, each year I chose a theme for the Christmas tree in the Blog Cabin and after seeing their Lucy ornaments in their shop- I decided since I launched The Writer and The Farmer this year the tree is going to be farm-themed. And they have had cow cuddling too.
They also just had an adorable baby girl. And they share how they manage their farm with their daughter in tow. Which if you ever had a baby, you know they are always the easiest to get along with – so I am impressed with how they handle it all sometimes with very little sleep.
Dean’s Farm
I was first introduced to this many many years ago, like when my oldest was in Kindergarten. My oldest is now in the 3rd year of her Ph.D. Program so you do the math. It was just a place for field trips at that point but they have grown to be so much more. They still do field trips but they also have a market that is open throughout the year, and they even have meals to go. I will be writing more about them in the next weeks because this will be the second year of getting our holiday meals from them. Last year, our Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners from there were amazing and I already taste the turkey for this year. Look for a more in-depth feature on them soon.
Pinkney Farm
This farm fuels my flower addiction. I was a member of their flower CSA delivery program. I received a floral bouquet every Tuesday I was never disappointed with the number of flowers or the price. This is a young farmer, I mean she went to school with my middle daughter. But I was impressed with how she handled her budding business ( see what I did there 😉 ) when she was planning her wedding. I can’t wait for you to meet her for a feature on the blog.
Odom Farming Company
I saved the best the last. Without Emily taking a chance on me and hiring me to help her out with her CSA, I never would have been exposed to the inner working of what farming life is like. I mean helping her out these past few years, I only saw a tiny bit of what she goes through but still, it has made a big impact on my life.