2026 Pastured Pork Savings Event NOW LIVE until Feb 20... Shop Pork Deals while they last!

Family Picture Night

written by

Edwin Shank

posted on

June 7, 2022

Good morning Family Cow Tribe!

It's been a few years since we shot 'pasture pictures', as our family affectionately calls them. I think the last was 2019. So it's time again! 

But first of all, just a bit of nostalgia...

As I recall, Summer of 2010 was our first pasture picture. Some of you may remember that too! It was 12 years ago! Jefferson was only 4 and I guess that means that Dawn and I were only 40.

August 2010: The very first 'Shank pasture picture'. There were only eight of us! (Nine if we'd count Dingo. Judging by the way she's smiling, it seems she thinks she's family!)

Fast forward 12 years, now we have 21 'somethings' to line up. While the lining-up gets done... Winfred gives his 1 year old Addison, the littlest Shank farmer boy, some Daddy time.

And cousins, Tatiana and Clara, spend a little girly time.

"We're just going to see the turkeys, mommy!"

Ok so let's get a grandchildren picture first. All nine of them... The littlest, Sofia and Kataya are pretty new! Sofia is 5 months and Kataya is not quite 2 months.

Kataya looks like she wonders what this is all about. Nikolas knows... it's time to throw grass in the air! :)

Is everyone here yet? 

Wait, Grandma wants one with the two newest, Sofia and Kataya... "They won't stay babies long," she says.

Seriously, Dawn? Were these nine 'grands' all born in the last five years? And one more is coming yet this August? 

Whoa! The grandchildren sure come faster than the children! But it's all good... Someone else is potty trainin' em! :)

Now it's time for the whole family. The bigger family almost takes a traffic director. Dawn rises to the challenge! When Mom says, "Jump" the family says, "How high?" :)

"Oh, stop it." she says. "Somebody needs to be in charge of the posing!

See the camera, children? Be sure to look at the camera!

Hey, looks like we're starting to get our ducks in a row!

Click photo for high quality view...

Everyone smiling?... This one might be good!

Click photo for high quality view...

Now let's spread out so we can put names with everyone... Hey! Is this our extended family? :)

Roland and Jefferson / Kaylita & Wesley and Kataya / Winfred & Brianna, Tatiana and Addison / Dawn & Edwin / Laverne & Gwendolyn, Nikolas and the twins, Gianna and Geneva / Jeanette & Rodrick, Andre, Clara and Sofia.

It's been a delightful evening... We hope you enjoyed it as much as we have. So long! See you around! It might be 3 years till the next 'pasture picture' evening.

If you think our hands are full... you should feel our hearts. The Lord has been so good to us!


Yes, it’s a timeless truth.

Children are an eternal blessing,

An heritage of the LORD:

The fruit of the womb is His reward.

As arrows –

In the hand of a mighty man,

So are the children –

Of one’s youth.

Happy is the man who,

Having his quiver full of them,

Shall not be ashamed.

He shall speak with

The adversaries of God

And will have their respect.

Thoughts based on Psalm 127:3-5

Grateful to be...Your Farmers,

Edwin and Dawn Shank and Family

YourFamilyFarmer.com

God Designed it. We Respect it. That Explains it!

More from the blog

Pork now CORN-FREE as well as free from all Soy, Chemicals, GMOs, Antibiotics, etc.

Good morning, Farm Family! This month feels like it has been a flurry of activity as I finally get to share the many long-awaited announcements we've been working on all throughout last year. Today brings this news: Our Pastured Pork is now CORN-FREE as well as Soy-Free! :) Soy-free has been our standard for years. Since we've had so many folks express appreciation for allergen-friendly pork, we decided to push even harder to reach the next level. Our family set a goal to bring you the Corn-Free status without raising pork prices. The task was daunting but the effort worth it. We are committed to raising our own grain to verify our livestock feed is always Chemical-Free & GMO-Free. It would be much easier and cheaper to buy organic grain on the open market but we believe there is too much risk of organic grain fraud considering that around 50% of the organic grain in USA has been imported. So now we not only had to face the hurdle of formulating a new Corn & Soy-Free diet but it also had to be ingredients that we could grow on our regenerative, organic farm in southern Pennsylvania. Thankfully I have two talented brothers, Winfred and Roland, who are dedicated to the difficult work of raising the specialty grains our chickens, turkeys, and pigs require. They also grow the hay to supply our grass-fed cattle during the winter. In a future post I'll share more of the grueling farm challenges they face so you can enjoy foods guaranteed chemical-free & GMO-free every time. After much experimentation to learn what does or does not work we finally settled on a feed blend we've proven over the last year.All our pork inventory is now officially Corn-Free & Soy-Free! As planned, your pork prices remain the same although it does cost us more on the farm... It's our pleasure to do this for you. Our freezer is now stocked with pork raised on lush fall pastures so we are prepared to fill all orders. In fact, February we plan to offer our best deals of the year for all who want clean, pastured pork. The new Corn-Free protocol is exciting, but of course, all our other top-notch standards are still in place as well. Our pastured pork is always Humanely Raised & Harvested, Chemical-Free, GMO-free, Antibiotic-Free, Soy-Free and now Corn-Free so your family can eat nutrient-dense pork with confidence. A picture is worth a thousand words. Because we also run our own butcher shop, this meat is NEVER exposed to Citric Acid, Nitrates or Nitrites, MSGs, preservatives or any kind of fillers! All of our bacon, sausages and ham uses super clean recipes and the butcher shop smokehouse uses real Hickory Wood and NEVER liquid smoke.Order now to enjoy clean, nutrient-dense Pastured Pork direct from our family farm to your family table.Your Farmer,Wesley ~5th generation on the farm God Designed it... We Respect it... That Explains it!   P.S. Grocery store Industrial Organic foods aren't truly pastured. And sadly, too many small pastured farms allow chemicals in the animal feed.Your family deserves chemical-free AND truly pastured foods so you can eat every meal with confidence.That's why our farm is dedicated to only high integrity foods... that taste amazing. We are committed to raising our Pastured Pigs with zero antibiotics or artificial growth hormones. Everything they eat is Chemical-Free, GMO-Free, Antibiotic-Free, Corn-Free, and Soy-Free. We even grow the grain to verify these high standards.It's our goal to treat you like friends and feed you like family.

Beef Price Freeze for 2 weeks

Good morning Family Cow family! The last week here on the farm has been more like spring than early January, so we are enjoying every minute of it. :) It's the start of a new year and a new season of life for me. I haven't done very well with sharing farm stories in 2025 and so I plan to carve out more time to make it happen this year. A lot of exciting and crazy busy days over the last 12 months, but that's not a valid excuse. You trust us to grow nourishing food for your family and we will do our best to repay that trust by sharing as many farm life details as possible. Be sure to stay tuned for regular farm emails from me or maybe even my dad, Edwin, over the coming weeks... We have a lot of exciting news on the horizon! Today this email brings the one hard fact to announce... Seems the year shouldn't start like this, but I want to get it out of the way so we can save the best for last in coming emails. And this truly is the only negative point of what I plan to share. The next weeks are all full of exciting news and fun farm announcements. :) As we reviewed our 2025 financials, the niggling fears were sadly confirmed. Our beef margins have not kept up with inflating costs.Regenerative, 100% Grass-fed beef farming is beautiful and plays a key role in restoring health to our rescued farm land.But that's not enough. It must also be financially sustainable for family farms to continue from one generation to the next.Beef prices need to go up nearly 5% on average. Some items won't move at all but others, like burger and steaks, will bump more.Our family does not take any price correction lightly.In an effort to help make the change easier for everyone, we will freeze all beef prices at the current rate until January 27. Now is the chance to fill your freezer with 2025 Beef prices.Our family and team truly appreciates your understanding of the need to keep our cattle farming sustainable!All the best of food and blessings, Wesley~ 5th generation on the farm Real farmers. Real Caring. Real Food.YourFamilyFarmer.comP.S. Our frozen meats will easily last a year or more in your freezer. We recommend stocking up now. If a package becomes unsealed just use it first to avoid freezer burn taste.