Spring is coming soon

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posted on

March 31, 2022

Hello from Hidden Stream Farm.

It seems like spring is trying to make an entrance. At this point we finally have robins in the yard. Going by the old rule of thumb… “Three Snows on a Robins Back” before spring can finally arrive. I know that we have had one for sure and another probably as you are reading this email. The Doves are cooing as I write this and all signs point to spring.

Our biggest sign of spring and summer is the first group of baby chicks. They will arrive on Thursday April 14^th. This is always a great time of new life as we get busy with caring for 1000 baby chicks. We have local poultry processing again this year and will hopefully be able to offer fresh chicken again to our weekly customers. Soon we will be able to move the egg layers out to pasture and the cattle will be back to rotational grazing.

As the farm wakes up from its winter rest we also start thinking about the garden and the farm. We are proud that this year all our crops will be 100% certified organic. We really like knowing that we don’t use any chemicals and work towards building healthy soils and improve the ecosystem around us with regenerative farming practices.

Now that it warms up we can also find time to take walks and enjoy the changes. Visit our website and look at the snack section. There are great treats to take with you and share.

Thank you for your continued support

Eric and Lisa and Kids.

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Wheat Berries from our farm

Our path to creating wheat berries. On our organic farm we have always grown spring wheat on our organic farm. The wheat pairs well with our rotation of crops and helps us add more diversity. It is very important in an organic system to have as much diversity as possible to help break pest cycles and allow the soil to regenerate and be alive. As most farmers often do, we grow our crops and sell them to a buyer so that we can hope to make a little money from all of our work all summer. Planting and cultivating and harvesting take a hug amount of time. Mostly cultivating. Our wheat was just like everything else. We would grow about 30 acres of spring wheat (planted in the spring of the year). Then in august we would harvest the grain and hope to find a buyer and a good price. This year the buyer went away. When corporate food companies decide its time to change, they just closed the mill and won’t call you back. We had no end buyer unless we wanted to sell at a discount, but this is really high-quality wheat that was destined for the milling industry to make organic flour. So, we decided to try and sell our wheat directly to our customers and add value 1 pound at a time. We scrapped together a little money to buy a very modest and basic seed cleaner to get us going. It is a lot of work trying to dial it in, but it is better than sitting on a bucket cleaning it all by hand. As we continue this journey, we are hoping to invest in a small mill that will also allow us to provide flour for you for your own baking. For our home milling, we went online and purchased a “mock mill”. They have a stand-alone unit, but we purchased the model that is attached to our 7qt kitchen aid mixer. Katy has been testing and creating this fall with lots of ideas. We have used the flour for everything from sourdough bread and crackers to using it in brownies to replace that awful white bleached flour. Last week Katy got the idea for making of cream of wheat. We simply set the mock mill on a coarser grind, and it was amazing. I haven’t eaten cream wheat in 40 years. I am glad that we took this opportunity to continue our journey to eat healthy. You can really feel the difference just by using real flour and wheat. I will share more as we continue to learn and grow. Check out the wheat in the shop. Wheat Berries Here's a recipe for Cream of Wheat for you to try! I am happy to discuss that process and help others with our limited experience if you want to have a conversation.

What to do when you receive your box from Hidden Stream Farm

How to best recive and thaw out your products from Hidden Stream Farm

Picking Your Holiday Ham

In this PDF we give you all the details on our hams and provide a guide for ordering the perfect ham for your holiday meal. Scroll to the bottom to see the ordering guide. Happy Holidays!

Spring is coming soon

More from the blog

Wheat Berries from our farm

What to do when you receive your box from Hidden Stream Farm

Picking Your Holiday Ham

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Hidden Stream Farm, 27079 County Road 25, Elgin MN 55932