Thanksgiving is for the Birds

written by

Edwin Shank

posted on

December 9, 2019

As an organic farmer, I just totally love finding creation's answer to a problem... You'd have to experience the thrill to know. It just feels so right, so satisfying... so rewarding.

It feels like God looks down, and smiles, and says "Yes! That’s my way! Use life to balance life. That is the way I designed my eco-system to function – Each life group balancing out the others so that none become out of control."

Examples of God's symbiotic balance on our farm are: Great Pyrenees dogs guarding chickens to balance out fox and coyote; Good grass to balance out thistles on fence rows; Good bacteria in kefir and raw milk to balance out bad bacteria in GI tracks. God's balancing combinations of created life forces are endless… if we’re only respectful enough to notice and encourage the balance.

Birds – Purple Martins to be exact – are the latest 'respectful noticing of God's way' on The Family Cow farm. Birds are God’s balancing answer to insects. So yes, we give thanks for Birds at Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is for the birds! :)

Purple Martins feast on houseflies, stinkbugs, Japanese beetles, June bugs, wasps, flying ants, dragonflies, leafhoppers, and mosquitoes. One bird may consume over 1000  insects each day depending on the size of insects! See why we are thrilled? Who needs insecticide when God has given us fantastic feathered flying friends like these?

I’ll let our youngest son, Jefferson, tell his Purple Martin story via this Photo Journal. Jefferson has long been a birder. He’s a member of the Audubon bird society and has about 350 birds on his life sighting list. It you want to spark up Jefferson’s day... just talk to him about birds.:)

Show them a good time, Jefferson!

Your farmer,Edwin

 

 

More from the blog

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.

Bonus Free jar of Pastured Lard for all orders this week 1/12

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