So far we have planted green peas, sugar snaps, beets, musclin mix, potatoes, arugula, cabbage, and broccoli. And that is just a start. Hopefully we can get more done next week.

The pastures are already turning green so the cows will soon be munching on fresh grass instead of hay. In fact, their hay consumption has already dropped considerably, partly because of warmer weather.

Our mockingbird is singing every day now so he must be pretty sure spring is right around the corner. All the birds are singing almost all day in celebration. And the spring toads have kept up their chorus for several days. Maybe spring will be early.

I’m sure you can sense our excitement about spring on the farm. Everything amazingly comes to life. Crops to be planted mean a harvest is coming soon. It is a fresh new season full of possibilities and promise. We get busy doing what we do…and enjoy doing. There is nothing more enjoyable to a farmer than planting seeds and seeing them grow and produce a crop. There is something special about being dog tired from work but happy and contented from interacting with the soil, plants, and animals. Working with the natural pace and cycle of things makes one feel connected to the life around him and to the Creator Who gives life to all.

I guess that is why I dislike conventional farming which is about overpowering and controlling nature and as much about destroying life as nurturing it.

We plan to be at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 until 3:00. We have grass-fed Jersey beef, pastured chicken, and free range eggs. There will be some collards, upland cress, and hopefully turnip, kale, and mustard greens that are big enough to harvest. We will have cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower plants.

We will look for you at the market.

The few warm days this week were too short lived. We did hear and see a mockingbird a couple of days and the spring toads began their chorus. But the return of winter weather and cold wind has temporarily halted spring’s progression.

We have been working in the greenhouse filling trays with soil and planting seeds. We plan to have a large selection of vegetable plants and a few herbs. Many of the varieties are heirlooms. All will be grown without synthetic pesticides or artificial fertilizers. In fact, we plan to have a few cabbage plants for sale this week.

The weekend weather is forecast to be dry but a little on the cool side. So we plan to be at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 until 3:00. We have all cuts of Pasture Finished Jersey Beef. In Pastured Chicken we have whole chickens and leg quarters.

Our hens are real troopers in spite of the adverse weather and are providing us with lots of fresh free range eggs and we will have them for sale. An article we read this week talked about in some areas people are willing to drive for miles to obtain fresh pasture based eggs. Prices ranged from 5 to 8 dollars per dozen. At around $4 per dozen our eggs are a real deal.

Collards have grown a bit so we will have a few for sale. Although the color is still bluish from the cold they are so sweet they taste like you added sugar. The other greens have not yet grown enough to harvest.

We hope you will put on your coat and hat and come visit us at the market!

The cows are sure eating hay so we are running short. In fact, we hauled in a load today which makes the third load we have bought. And we will need another one before spring arrives. At least there is plenty available due to the timely rains we had last growing season. With it being so cold our winter forage is not growing much but the cows seem perfectly content to munch on hay. And they really get noisy if they run out!

The hens are still laying eggs like crazy even with the bad weather. Of course, we feed them the very best feed available and they have some protection from the cold wind at night. They seem perfectly happy and keep singing contentedly. But they do not like to walk on the snow. I guess it is too cold on their feet.

We have some cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower sprouting in the greenhouse. It will be a while before the plants are big enough though. Soon it will be time to sow lettuce, tomato, pepper, and other things to get those plants started.

We already have most of our greenhouse supplies and we are beginning to obtain seeds, etc., for our outdoor gardens. Spring and the growing season will be upon us before long!

The weatherman has slacked off a bit for predictions of another winter storm this weekend. For Saturday, one predicts a high in the thirties and another in the forties with a chance of rain. So we are making plans to be at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market from 10:00 until 3:00 on Saturday. If things change and there is ice and/or snow we won’t be there. But, hopefully, it will remain above freezing so we can make it. I am sure some of you need meat or eggs by now so we want to make them available for you.

We have chicken, beef, and eggs. It is doubtful if we will be able to bring anything from the garden.

If all goes as planned, we hope to see you at the market on Saturday.

Recent news reports were that the grocery store chain BI-LO was purchased by Food Lion. What the news reports we heard did not say is that Food Lion is owned by a Belgian food company named Delhaize Group. The truth is Delhaize Group bought the principle interest in BI-LO and plans to integrate the 214 stores into the Food Lion 1300 store food chain here in the US.

The point is that many of the retail store chains are owned by entities in another country. When we buy products from them a large portion of the money goes out of our country. Add to that what might be called the Walmartization of our retail economy where virtually everything is imported and much more money is going to another country and we have an economic scenario that is, in our opinion, eventually unsustainable.

That is why we believe buying local products from locally owned businesses helps ensure a vibrant economy. And you are doing just that when you buy from farmers markets and local farmers. Purchasing local organic and pasture based food ensures the highest value available. The rapid growth of farmers markets is positive but the movement to local needs to extend to all types of products we need and use.

The only attraction of mass produced and imported goods is price. But what is the real price we are paying? The necessary practices to mass produce food creates environmental and health issues. A cheap imported item may last only a year or two and need to be replaced when a quality product may last five or ten years or more.

We can’t realistically expect quality on the cheap. Local companies are better poised to respond to quality demands in order to move their products. And the price may not really be higher when all the benefits are considered.

From our gardens we have turnip and mustard greens, Siberian kale, red Russian kale, toscano kale, arugula, red and green romaine lettuce, Swiss chard, turnip roots, and rutabaga. We still have some butternut squash, cayenne peppers, sweet peppers, and eggplant.

We have shiitake mushrooms in fresh, dehydrated, and powdered.

In our grass fed Jersey beef we have all cuts except sirloin and skirt steak.

There is a good supply of pasture raised chicken as whole chickens, split breast, boneless/skinless breast, whole legs, wings, backs, and necks. We have whole legs on sale at buy three packs and get one free. We also have some large whole chickens you might want to purchase for your upcoming Thanksgiving celebrations instead of turkey.

All meats are still on sale at 10% off the regular price. ( does not apply to special sale on whole chicken legs)

The new chickens are laying well and the eggs are already getting bigger. There are still several dozen medium size and we have them on sale at $.50 off the regular price. Eggs are available whenever we are open for business.

Due to seasonal changes in market traffic and cooler weather we are announcing changes in market hours. Beginning next week we will be open on Wednesday through Friday from 10:00 until 4:00; Saturday 8:00 until 4:00; Sunday 10:00 until 4:00.

Just a reminder that we have pictures of the farm on flickr. www.flickr.com/photos/petersonrealfood

As always we appreciate your business and hope to see you at

We want to announce you can view pictures of Peterson Farm on the internet! They will be updated from time to time. To view photos go to www.flickr.com/photos/petersonrealfood or go to our website at www.petersonrealfood.com and click the photo link in the upper right hand corner.