We expect to sell out of all of our available pork by May 30, 2013 (or before) and will not have additional product (chicken, turkey, pork or eggs) going forward. We will cease selling our products from the farm and from Farmers Markets we sold at last/this year (Leesburg, Palisades and Crystal City).

The only reason we have stayed with this little experiment so long is due to you, our loyal customers. You have kept us going when the times got tough. If it weren’t for the extraordinary support we have received over the years, we would most certainly not have made it this long. We consider you, our customers, each to be friends of the family.

You might be wondering what caused us to have to wind down our beloved farm business. In November of 2012, we had two events that significantly impacted our ability to continue:

1)      Our USDA chicken cutter informed us that they would no longer be cutting our chicken

2)      Our farm helper, who committed to working for us until December, 2013 told us she was leaving us a year early, at the end of December, 2012

Of course, both of these problems can be overcome. But, both would take additional time and money which is where the problem lies. In addressing the issue of USDA chicken cutting, we could use the processor we used for turkeys for processing our chicken but there are a couple of issues with this plan:

1)      We would have to drive many more miles in order to accomplish the chicken cutting, requiring a large expenditure in equipment (trailers)

2)      The alternate processor is much more expensive than our existing processors combined

As for interns, we have found finding a good one problematic. Furthermore the cost of paying a fair wage and offering housing is an issue. We have tried to work through this but money is really at the heart of it. Our little farm does not make enough to support hiring help and building more infrastructure.

Both of the issues outlined above would cause us to have to outlay more cash. We were in a time crunch and needed to find someone quickly to replace our intern, as we only had about 45-60 days before the preparation started again for the 2013 season. We were getting burned out and needed help desperately.

In addition to all of the above problems, when we looked at the return on our investment, it was very small and doesn’t support all of the required funds/cash flow to fix the above problems. Basically, we could hire someone and give our meager return to them and not have anything to invest in the farm for the future or to keep for ourselves.

Without some help (labor), the amount of time required to keep this experiment going was also problematic. As many of you know, Bob has an off-farm job that in fact pays the mortgage. This required a lot of late nights caring for the 4000 chickens/year and 50 hogs/year that we raised. While Mary was doing the daytime chores it was Bob who came home from his job and did the heavy work. In most cases we were working alone. Most nights we would throw some dinner together (usually after dark), eat, and head to bed. Bob took up a Mountain Dew kick and Mary drank Coke...not exactly fitting with our lifestyle. We were tired A LOT! Let’s not even talk about time together as a family. Getting everyone together for one of the kid’s concerts was about all we could manage.

So we came to the very difficult decision to shut our farm business down. We know that we are impacting our customers, but we have no other choice available to us. We will do our best to refer you to other producers who use similar methods to ours to help you with the transition.

So what will we be doing now with all of our free time? We hope to stay in the agricultural arena by raising meat goats. We feel that goats are a good fit for our property (lots of rocks, brush and hills) and for our marketing goals by not attending farmers markets. Our sales will be in the form of live animals for breeding, meat and wholesale carcasses to restaurants/etc. Bob is interested in performing vendor inspections for market operators to ensure each vendor adheres to the rules of the market operator. Also, we plan to stay in the farmers market scene by blogging with a unique perspective about all aspects of the subject. (Before we were farmers we were, and still are, farmers markets junkies of the first degree!!) So stay tuned, as exciting times are ahead!

In closing, we would like to thank every one of the customers who have supported us over time, as well as all of the people who have helped us get going and stay going over the years. We will most certainly miss you, but we expect to be seeing many of you as time goes on. We will continue writing about our adventures on our new re-designed web site and our existing Haskins Family Farm Facebook page.

We’ll end this writing with what Bob has ended each and every electronic communication since the start of our little adventure:

Thanks for your support of our farm!!

Our Local Harvest page - a great way to find local foods and occasionally read a blog

Our Pinterest page - our bulliton board of recipes and other interesting stuff

Twitter

Leesburg Farmer's Market Our Saturday market

Fresh Farm Markets - Crystal City Our Tuesday market

Palisades Farmer's Market Our Sunday market

If you would like to stock up for the winter please contact us about purchase 5 or more whole birds. We are glad to offer a discount on purchases over $100 that are picked up on farm.

Check back in January for our 2012-2013 CSA offering or join our email list.

Welcome to the fourth season of the Haskins Family Farm CSA shares. We have enjoyed the opportunity to get to know folks through our CSA and sharing the bounty of our farm.

This year we are offering different “share” opportunities. By offering different size shares we hope to “meat” the needs of different size households.

Shares are picked up once a month. Pork shares offer a variety of cuts each month but do not include cured/smoked product nor loin (1lb of pork chops are included with each share). We attempt to mix it up some so you don’t get the same thing each month. Requests for particular cuts will be considered but not guaranteed. You may pick up on farm as well as any of the farmers markets we attend. Markets will be announced as soon as they are confirmed.

The first CSA pickup is in May 2012 and runs through April 2013 (6 month plan runs May to October). Chicken is only available for 6 months. We will offer our CSA members a deal (15% off $100 or more purchase at the farm) if you want to "stock up" for the winter months.

Deadline for membership applications & payment is April 1, 2012. If you opt for the 2 payment plan, the second payment is due in September. Shares are limited so please return your application as soon as you can. Applications are available here.

Pork Only Share: 5-lbs of fresh, non-loin, non-smoked/cured pork cuts per month

Single Chicken Share: one 4-lb chicken per month

Egg Share: one dozen eggs per month on designated pick up day.

Prices below do NOT include VA 2.5% food tax.

 Sales of CSA memberships are closed for the 2012-2013 season. Check back in February of 2013 for our next season's offering.

Eggs come in many colors depending on the breed of chickens we have at the time. We currently have Leghorns, Americanas, Naked Necks, Brown Leghorns, Golden Comets, Plymouth Rocks, Ostralorps, Rhode Island Reds and many more. We see white, brown and blue eggs at this time. The taste and nutritional value are the same regardless of the color of the shell. You will find plump bright orange/yellow yolks every time.

Our content chickens are given free access to food and water with lots of space to roam. Maybe this is why customers constantly report that we have the best eggs. They scratch, take dust baths and share their space with our one rooster "Junior."

Eggs are sold one dozen to a box and are ungraded.

We will gladly reuse your clean, undamaged egg cartons. Feel free to drop them off the next time you see us!

Our hogs literally frolic in their pens. These happy critters are offered lots of space to run and root. Shelter is always available to them but we often find them in a pig pile in the middle of their pen.

Pastured hogs will eat grass, weeds and grubs. They create mud holes to wallow in during the hot days of summer. We enjoy watching and working with these very smart critters.

Pork Products*

Pork chops

Sliced loin

Boston butt roast

Back bone cut

Ground pork

Sausage *(Med. Italian, Hot Italian, Chorizo, Andouille, Sage, Breakfast, Maple Breakfast)

No Nitrate bacon

Deli ham

*availibility varies

Typical products available include:

Whole broiler chicken

Boneless breast

Bone-in breast

Thigh/drumstick combination package

Wings

Boneless thighs

Drumsticks

Carcasses

Stewing hens (seasonally)

Birds can be picked up in Leesburg on Saturday, 11/17 (Catoctin Circle market location), in DC (Palisades Farmers Market) on Sunday 11/18, at the farm on Monday, 11/19, or at Arlington (Crystal City FreshFarm Market) on Tuesday, 11/20. The price for on-farm pickup of whole or half turkeys will be $6.00/lb plus tax, and for off-farm locations the price is $6.50/lb plus tax (if applicable).

There is a $25 deposit required for each turkey (half or whole) ordered. The balance will be due when picking up the turkey. You can order your turkey at one of the farmers markets we attend, over the phone or by stopping at the farm or by sending us a check for $25.00 to the address below. 

The order form is located here.

Please drop us an email or give us a call if you have any questions!

On Farm sales: Saturdays from 2-5 pm. If you are in the area stop by! 

Occasionally we take Saturday afternoon off so if you'd like to call ahead it may save you the drive (and the trip up our driveway). 540-869-3795

Spring 2012:

Leesburg Summer Farmer's Market Saturdays 8-12

Palisades Farmer's Market - Sundays 9-1

Crystal City  Tuesdays you will find us at the Fresh Farm Market located on Crystal Drive in Arlington, Virginia - 3-7 pm

For the purposes of this discussion, I will focus on meat producers (since that is what we do) and producer only farmers markets (markets that do not allow resale of product from other farms, since that is basically what you get at the supermarket). Your questions should be based on what you value, what your goals are, what your world view is, and a whole host of other topics that create your "frame of reference". What you want to establish is does this vendor meet your personal values or goals? Some people's goals are pretty clear. For example, the folks that shop on price are just worried about the cost to their pocketbook. That's OK, but not really applicable at a *Producer Only* farmers market because costs are so much higher than the factory farmed products. (Don't believe me? I'll show you my prices and then my bank account, and then you'll better understand.)

Besides price, there are a whole host of things that matter to people