Duran’s Farm Fresh Products

Today the contractor and his crew have begun building our little country store!! After almost a whole year, it is finally becoming a reality. We are excited, anxious, and nervous all at the same time !

Summer is busier than the other seasons with the animals and the garden and now we are adding a whole new aspect. Bear with us as we journey through this project. I will try to keep the ‘current items’ page updated as much as possible. As of today (7/12/10) we have a few veg plants left to find homes for–tomatoes, peppers, cabbage and fresh herbs. There are 2 crab apple trees, and 1 flowering pear left and some beautiful white geraniums for your landscaping.

I have picked cucumbers, zucchini, yellow summer squash and fresh lettuce for your tables. Beans will be ready soon and the peppers are coming along very nicely. Tomatoes look good as does the sweet corn.

We moved some pigs around yesterday, some with very plump bellies !! They will be delivering little pigs in the coming months. .

We are up and running on Facebook now! You should be able to find us there with updated pictures of products and the progress of the building. Go to:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Waterford-PA/Durans-Farm-Fresh-Products/135637499802030?ref=mf

If ever you have a question please feel free to call us—anytime.

We FINALLY have received our approval from Waterford Township!!

We have building permit in hand and soon we will have construction work being done !

Soon our little country store will be up and running!!

Loving this weather lately! Not a whole bunch to update you on , but try to get here at least once a month to keep you informed.

Still waiting on Waterford Township for a formal approval so we can finally get going on building our little country store. It will have a variety of items you can purchase. We were hoping to be up and running in the Spring/Summer, but now it looks like it will be more like Fall. Everything else is in line and ready to go. Just need the approval for a small holding tank for our hand washing sink and we’re good to go. I never thought that it would take this long (9 months so far !!) but government is a very slow moving machine, I’ve come to find out.

We have increased our cattle and hogs recently and we now have 14 sows and 1 very happy, busy boar. We have 17 cows–beef and dairy with 4 due to deliver this month. There are 3 hogs to be delivered to the local butcher shops for customers this month, and another 5 in May. The beef we are raising for our customers will be ready–1 this fall and then 5 next fall. Beef takes longer to raise to market weight.

The plants in the greenhouse are looking very well. I did not get very many tulips and daffodils like I planned, but will try again next year. Once we get past the possibility of frost, we’ll be ready to get the plants in the garden and ‘get things growing’ !!!

A special note— we have found an Amish family where we will be getting a few hanging baskets and more bedding plants to have available for you the first of May.

I have made a change in my work schedule, so that now I should be here and available to help you if you stop out on a Friday or Saturday during our hours of 9am to 7pm. Also, I will be available on Sundays, but after we get home from church.

We’ll be adding 60 more hens to our flock on the 24th of April. They will be ready to start laying those great brown eggs probably the beginning of June.

We have placed and received our first order of items from Troyer Cheese in Millersburg, Oh, and now have ready for you: rolled butter, raw milk cheese, other cheeses, some snacks, some health care items and some fudge. I also have purchased local honey, local maple syrup, jams and some relish mixes along with local potatoes (red or white).

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us via email or just call 814 490 2179

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you soon!

Blaine & Karen

Did everyone enjoy the taste of spring we had? We sure did! Nice to get outside and get things taken care of without the snow!! Okay, so there’s the mud issue, but this too shall pass.

WORKSHOPS & CLASSES !

With all the activity going on here in the next few months, we are hoping to hear from you all, so that we may begin scheduling our classes and workshops in the store. Now, we realize that we haven’t broke ground just yet, but when that happens, we’ll be so busy that we want to be fully prepared and have these workshops scheduled and on our calendar. Our class Coordinator, Laurie, is waiting to hear from you, so that we can get a feel for how many to prepare for, what time of day/night fits into your busy schedules, and all that goes into the planning stages. PLEASE CONTACT HER AS SOON AS YOU CAN @ gertysburg@aol.com and she will be VERY GLAD to help you!!

Blaine and I were able to buy 6 more pigs at the New Wilmington bred gilt sale this past Saturday. We picked up 2 gilts (girls) that will deliver the end of this month, 3 more girls who are in the process of ‘dating’ the new boar we bought. The boar (boy) is a Heritage breed–Hereford–like the cows. Boy is he nice looking! Can’t wait to see the pigs we will have from him and the girls. We could be the punch line of that old joke…”what’s black and white and red all over?”….”our pigs!”
There are 2 Hampshire (they are black with white stripe) He is Brown/Red and white, and then of course we have the Yorkshire and Landrace pigs which are all white. The litters are being sold even before we get them weaned, so if you need one or two for 4H projects, you should probably contact Blaine soon, as people are showing up and putting a deposit on them to be sure they have what they want for fair time. We’ve had a few more questions about adopting them for your freezers, and that is still available to you. When they are all spoken for, then it will be a few months until we have more born and available.

BEEF:
We have decided to try out a system to offer you 1/4 and 1/2 packages of beef rather than the whole animal. We’ll see how this works, but it is always easier if you find someone to split or share the animal with. I’ve made out a very rough estimate of your costs so you can compare and decide. We have 5 dairy breed steers that are up for adoption. They will give you 59% of their live weight in beef for your freezer. They will not be ready to butcher until NEXT fall, 2011 at the earliest. You have the choice of how much beef you wish to purchase. The figures below will give you the rough estimate:

1)small size 800# live weight—472# beef
2)medium 1200# ” —708# beef
3)large 1500# ” —885# beef

Blaine would get 90 cents per pound live weight, and the butcher (a new one, since Walter’s and LeBoeuf’s are out of business) charges 45 cents per pound. Same animals as above would cost you:

1) $720 to Blaine and $294.40 to butcher= $1014.40
2) $1080 to Blaine and $400.60- butcher = $1480.60
3) $1350 to Blaine and $480.25 -butcher =$1830.25

When you divide those amounts by the pounds of beef, you will be paying aprx $2.15 per pound overall. Remember, this is a rough estimate and every animal is different.

To buy 1/4 or 1/2 packages, simply divide those amounts by 2 or 4.
example: small animal costs 1014.40. Half would be $507.20 for 236# of beef.

EGGS–
The new hens are laying nicely. We are getting 3-5 dozen eggs per day and finished our first week with no one getting shorted or having to wait to purchase eggs! FINALLY! They are usually stocked by noon every day. We’ll be adding 60 more hens the end of April who will begin laying about June, so we’ll have PLENTY of eggs for everyone!

MILK–
This past week, we did NOT tag all the ordered milk like we usually do. Due to the rising amount of bottles and the need for space, this is a change we will have to live with. So far , so good. No one has complained about not getting their milk and being shorted, so this will be our new routine. Of course, if you want your order tagged, I’ll be happy to do it, just let me know.

Randy Messinger (of Pot O Gold Dairy) is scheduled for surgery on April 5th. We’re not sure how this will affect your milk orders, because he will not be allowed to do anything at all for 2 weeks. Once we know anything for sure, I’ll post to the mailing list. If you’re NOT on the mailing list, you might want to be added, so as to keep updated on everything here. I don’t get to the website to post as much, so just click on our email addy and request to be on the mailing list. Worst case for milk will be possibly no milk for 2 weeks- they WILL do the RAW but not the others. Again, when I know more, I’ll be sure to let you know via email.

NEW ITEMS AVAILABLE–
We have added a few new items to the stand while we move ahead with the store. We have Country Kettle Jams and Jellies, we have Byler’s Relish House products, we have RAW Honey, We have potatoes–red or white– and will be getting local maple syrup in the very near future.

We are making arrangements to travel down to DUTCH VALLEY FARMS who will be our bulk foods supplier and perhaps bringing back some items from there to put in the stand prior to getting the store built and up and running. Might bring back some rolled butter and items that will not have to be packaged, since we’ve not bought our packaging scale yet. We’ll also be picking up our deli cooler on this trip and another boar to ‘date’ the girls in the barn.

I’ve started some daffodils and tulips in the greenhouse and some flower seeds as well. As time allows, I’ll be starting the tomato and pepper seeds, some herbs, lettuce gardens and spinach pots too.
With a little bit of sun and very little snow, we should be good and have plants ready about the first of June.

CONTESTS
We’ve side lined the contests for a bit due to not having alot of time to devote to it. If you have an idea for a contest you’d like us to run, just let us know! So busy with spring activities so something has to be side lined, and this is the one to go….temporarily.

Hope all is well in your little corners of the world!
Thanks for stopping by!
Blaine & Karen

I mean that literally!! I just got word today of another birth due this year to one our familes! That makes 4 so far, 3 sharing their Blessed news just within the past 2 weeks! CONGRATULATIONS!!

We have our own little growing going on as well. 6 of the 9 sows delivered their little families so we have 40+ little pigs all warm, cozy, and snuggled up to their mommas. It’s hard to think of them as someone’s ‘freezer pet’ in the future, when they’re at this age.

I would guess that all the local 4H youth will be calling and coming out buying them for their fair projects soon after they are weaned from their mothers, later on this month. We have 2 more mommas in the barn that will be due to deliver in April..I think. AND..3 Black Angus mommas who also will deliver in April as well.

I’m waiting on a gentleman to come out and add a venting system to the heater in the greenhouse, so that I can be sure of a constant temperature and will be starting the daffodils, tulips and flower seeds I have purchased. It’s so nice to get things growing in there and walk in and get a taste of spring, eventhough there may still be snow outside !

I have one detour from the farm coming up, but that’s only a day or two. My brothers and I will be helping my parents with an auction they are having on May 29th in Summit Township. Doug Chesley will be taking care of that and I guess I’ll be providing the food tent. We’ve been looking for a 1 level home in Summit or Waterford for Mom and Dad now that they are older and need something easier.

The new hens have begun laying–!!! What a long wait it seems to have been! We’ll pick up 60 more hens in late April so come May/June we’ll be able to gather 10 dozen eggs per day for your purchases! That should be more than enough….we hope!!

Headed off the township meeting this evening to hopefully push along a zoning variance for the store to be built, then it’s time to wait on the snow to go!!

Many Blessings to you and yours!

Blaine & Karen

Lately it feels like we are idling fast, with our wheels spinning. Lots to do, lots of things getting done, and then waiting on better weather to accomplish things that have to wait.

I’ve ordered all the seeds for this season, they should be coming in the next day or so. I have (200?) daffodil and tulip bulbs that will be put into the greenhouse in the coming weeks, to force into bloom for Easter. I just LOVE my greenhouse !! The flower seeds will be started first, then I’ll have to curb my intentions and keep from starting the vegetable seeds too early. It’s hard…a fresh BLT is a terrible thing to waste!!

Of the 9 pig litters we have due before the end of March, we have 3 here and are waiting on the other 6 yet. They will be born in that small window of time for 4H youth to purchase and raise for the local fairs. Any left over, are always ready to be ‘adopted’ for your freezer or if you are able to raise them yourself…they will be weaned and ready beginning March 10th.

We added 3 black ANGUS heifers that are bred and are due to deliver in April. This will add to our herd of: Hereford, Hereford-Angus cross, and Jersey cattle. We have a few that are ready to adopt, if you would like the all natural quality beef for your family. We give you the option of paying by the month, and you always have total control over how the animal is processed and packaged.

The end of April we’ll be taking a ride to pick up 60 MORE laying hens to add to the 90 we have now. This will give us at least 10 DOZEN Brown eggs per day to gather, and hopefully NO MORE WAITING LIST for you all!! hurray!

Seems like we add 2 to 5 more milk customers every month yet. Word of mouth is a powerful tool and people are becoming very aware of the food they purchase and consume. The raw milk, especially is a huge draw, plus the fact that the milk is produced and bottled by the same family. Randy and Becky Messinger and family are the nicest people, hard working and enjoy what they do. It’s hard to believe that we are serving over 60 families now each and every week ! We appreciate your support and we know Randy & Becky do as well.

Our country store is coming along nicely. Slow, but that’s to be expected. Once we get the formal ‘go ahead’ from Waterford Township (paperwork basically) and the weather breaks…you’ll see the building begin to take shape. We’ve gotten quite a few surveys back (which we truly appreciate!!) and many great ideas for workshops and classes! It will be a small, cozy area for the classes, but we are eagerly anticipating this unique aspect of the store. I am shopping around for a meat slicer and a grain grinder so that you (or we) can grind your whole grains right there in the store ! The smell of fresh bread from the oven, some freshly churned butter from the raw milk, slices of juicy tomatoes and leafy lettuce from the garden and a couple strips of thick sliced, hickory smoked bacon from our own pigs…now that’s what I call a perfect meal!! yum!

We’ll truly appreciate your patience once the store is up and running, as we acclimlate ourselves to our new environment and work very hard to offer you the products you seek and at a fair price. We’ll be a ‘work in progress’ as we change and add to our inventory to best suit your needs.

If you ever have questions or need to contact us, please feel free. Use our email, or call us and we’ll do our very best to help you.

Thanks for dropping by !
Blaine & Karen

Being February 1st, I watched for the first customer to pull in today, and Miss Olivia was the lucky (or unlucky!) one ! She gladly helped me as I shook the names in the container several times and she pulled out the winning name.

Our Janurary winner is “GRETCHEN B.” Congratulations Gretchen!!

Gretchen will be picking up her $25.00 in gift certificates this week and she can use them anytime before the end of the year.

This month the give away will be $25.00 CASH !
You may enter to win, by completing a simple survey to help us with the opening of our store this spring. You may complete the survey by email, stop at the farm and pick one up, or request one by regular mail. Each completed survey will enter that person in the CASH give away, to be drawn March 1st.

PS:
We delivered the first of 9 litters of pigs this past Friday the 29th. These pigs will be ready to purchase for 4H projects or to adopt for your freezer at 6 weeks, which should be about March 12th.

Been busy driving, still split shifts, and getting all our seeds ordered. I cannot wait until it’s time to ‘play’ in the greenhouse!!

….only a few more weeks of winter….