With the arrival of the new year, we are deep into farm planning for the 2015 season which will be our third year in business! While we were selling eggs and raising meat chickens long before settling in at our place in Lowell, this will be our 3rd official season as Two Sparrows Farm. And, the biggest news for the new year is that this season will be the first that the farm is 100% non-GMO!
Beginning in December, our lactating cows have been receiving a non-GMO grain treat during milking but we are in the process of finalizing the prices for our non-GMO pig and poultry feed. We couldn’t be happier about this development since this has been a huge goal of ours since the beginning. We are grateful to Simon & Kara Kelley, who own Starbard Farms Feed in Lowell and have helped us source growers and work with the local mill to mix rations for us.
We will have non-GMO pork, chicken, turkey and eggs this season in 
addition to the milk. Since our beef is 100% grassfed it’s already non-GMO. 🙂 Prices for the 2015 season will be finalized very soon but expect an increase for the pork, chicken, turkey and eggs. Milk prices will stay the same and beef should stay around $4.99/lb (hanging weight). We haven’t had to raise prices since we began but I’m sure you’ve noticed prices at the grocery stores have increased – cost of production goes up and we try to stay consistent for as long as possible but with the switch to non-GMO we are looking closely at margins and feel it’s time for a small increase.
Thankfully, this past week was a return to the normal routine of the farm and gave us time to prepare for the oncoming actual winter weather. We woke up to standing water in our basement on New Year’s Eve so Dan spent his “day off” finding and fixing the problem. It turns out that one of the original 1880’s clay pipes that drains water from our kitchen sink, dishwasher and washing machine had broken underground and eroded a small area of the stone foundation causing a flood of warm, soapy water to flow into the basement.
Luckily, Dan was aided by our plumbing expert, Leo the Cat (until he went on a milk strike) and by the end of the day the pip was replaced, the leak fixed and our basement beginning to dry out thanks to the ShopVac. And, I have a working kitchen and laundry again! What a gift!
We were also able to get another cord of firewood for the winter weather headed our way – kind of important since we’ve been exclusively heating with our wood stove this winter. Our next project is to install non-wood heaters to keep the house a more even temperature. Maybe I won’t have to wake every few hours to stoke the fire either – although, the whole pregnancy thing makes bathroom trips fairly frequent anyway so it hasn’t been too big of a deal so far!
Until next week, enjoy the snow & Happy New Year from the farm family!
Fantastic on the no gmo!!!
Yes! We are incredibly excited too Diane!
Non-GMO! Fabulous news!
😀 Glad to hear everyone else is just as happy as we are about it!
This is so awesome about the non-GMO direction! You and Dan are amazing! It’s so great to know that not only do you care about the animals you raise, but the families who are nourished by your hard work. Thanks for the update and Happy New Year to you all!
P.s. Another fabulous turkey this year, feeding 13 of us for Christmas dinner and for several days after! Yum!
Thanks so much Mandy! We feel like everyone is “winning” in this situation – our customers get an even better product, we are helping to support another local, small business family, local growers and our animals will be healthier. 🙂 So happy to hear about the turkey, too!
Keep us posted about beef. I think Matt and I are up for purchasing some especially since we have a lack of venison in the freezer! Stay warm and healthy! Let us know when Cecelia can come to play again, too!