Leaves Fall & Markets End
Seasons come and seasons go. That is how it is here on the farm as well. We are very much aware of this principle. We are ending the Farmers’ Market season now, as Summer comes to an end, Fall colors are at the height of their glory, and the nights (and days) are dropping their temperatures like the trees are dropping their beautiful leaves. It has been a wonderful market season. We’ve met some wonderful people, made new friends, established new customers, and we’ve even fallen in love with some new puppies as they’ve been introduced to our Slow Roasted & Sun Dried Dog Bones from our 100% Grass-Fed Beef.
Many are asking questions like, “Now what?! Now that Summer is over, how do we keep getting your amazing beef?” Have no worries. The end of this season has not caught us by surprise. We have several options for you. Stay tuned, I’ll be addressing that question though in the next episode of The Stream.
Can I tell you a story? From time to time, one of us at the Ranch will find some token of yester-year and we are flooded with memories, stories, of nostalgic days gone by. The other day this happened. You see, when we first started years ago, we used to load up several large ice chests full of our beef, load them up in the back of mom’s Explorer or my pick up, and we’d drive to the market, the sale, the Meat-up, etc. We always hoped to find (or create) a shaded spot, where the temps wouldn’t be too hot. We were even known to cover our coolers with towels or reflective bubble protectors that someone might put in their windshield to keep out the sun’s rays. We’d do all we could to protect our precious beef. Soon, we were selling out of our supplies that would fit in a cooler, so we began buying freezers. First it was a small one that we could load and unload into my pickup, then we eventually graduated to three freezers in a trailer. Those coolers are still a part of our operation but more often than not, they are stacked up in a corner of the storeroom, covered by the same towels that once protected them from the heat of the sun, now they guard against dust and cobwebs. Looking back on those days, days when we’d sell from coolers, we marvel at how we’ve been blessed. Now we service over 17 counties, thousands of customers, traveling hundreds and hundreds of miles, carrying more beef now in one trip than we used to sell in an entire Farmers’ Market season.
Seasons have changed, we seldom use those coolers any more, we are thankful for how things have progressed. We acknowledge that between God’s favor, amazing customers like yourselves, and our family that works together, none of this would be remotely possible. For that we are so humbled and thankful.
Jonathan Watson (The Happy Farmer)