Holiday 2012 Farm Gift Guide: Stocking Stuffers

The holiday gift giving season is upon us and why not give something unique this year.  

Our farmstead goat milk caramels - infused with Madagascar bourbon vanilla and sprinkled with sea salt will accomplish a few things for those on your list:

1. It's made in the USA - it helps the economy

2. It's made by a small goat farm

3. It's an artisan - it's hand made - hand crafted in limited quantities (small batches)

4. It's a goat milk product - meaning those who are lactose intolerant can have an enjoyable experience

5. All ingredients are organic - (except sugar) - cream, butter, non GMO light corn syrup - all organic

6. Caramel is 'hip' these days - it's the new thing. Well, it should be causes it's delicious!

7. It helps our little farm

8.  We will ship as fast as we can (usually the same day of order) to anywhere in the USA.

Go {here} to order at from our farm store.

An All Encompassing Market In Each Neighborhood

What Michael and I like about Essex Farms is that their coop provides a year-round, full diet coop membership. They produce grass-fed beef, pastured pork, chicken, eggs, fifty different kinds of vegetables, milk, grains and flour, fruit, herbs, maple syrup, and soap. Read about them here.

As we've been reading Kristin's memoir on The Dirty Life, we are seeing that much of our own personal farm journey parallels theirs.  Not only the journey, but that our farm's market has unfolded into almost a "full-diet" market.  We don't provide meat or syrup or grains, but we do provide milk, cheese, eggs, breads, honey, herbs, flowers, salted goat milk caramel (you can order them online and we will ship them to you quickly - go here to order) and a beautiful assortment of local/in season vegetables.

This neighborhood farm is also providing community.  We never ever ever imagined that our simple steps and thoughts to grow a bit of food for ourselves and some for others would lead us to The Simple Farm and what it looks like today.  . . a place where community has begun to gather - to converse and experience something most people say....is 'different' than all the other places.

Food For Thought
Now, what would happen if there were a little farm and market like ours in EVERY neighborhood? How could that happen?  What would your part be?  What if each neighborhood had it's own farm coop like the one at Essex Farms?  Would you change the way you shop and prepare meals to be a part of such a coop?

Tomorrows Baskets of Goodness
So - all that said, what will you see at our market Thursday and Saturday? And, remember it takes a different mindset to shop a market than it does to go to the big box food place with a list. If you don't know how to properly Shop A Farmer's Market - read this post.

Beets, Tuscan Kale, Red Russian and Dandelion . . . . . . as well as potatoes, sweet onions, eggplant, yellow pear and cherry tomatoes, lettuce mix, tatsoi, salad mix, squash, honey, goat milk, goat cheese, caramel, some jelly and lots of herbs - fresh herbs. See you this week!

Miss Storm's 2012 Kids {Video}

Just a little something we're looking forward to and to think that the little brown tailed one is probably gonna be a mama now too. She will be on the milking line late spring - more milk for more caramels!

See here for our caramels.