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

Family Picture Night 2024

It's been two years since our last pasture picture, as our family calls them. Since then, our family has grown by five, so I believe it's high time! But first, just a little nostalgia...

Rodrick & Jeanette are moving to Colombia, South America

Good morning Family Cow friends, Today I have some news that's a bit personal, but it only seems right that you should know. Our oldest son, Rodrick, with his wife, Jeanette, and family are planning to move to Colombia, South America next month. Yes, you heard right. Colombia South America. Just above the equator. We still can hardly believe it either :) Our church conference is starting a new congregation there at the request of local Colombians asking for a Biblical church and faith community. But it's also located on the border with Venezuela, so a big part of their work will be to help relieve the ongoing Venezuelan refugees crisis. This new congregation, "Amigos del Prójimo" (Friends of the Neighbor), is located near the border town of Cúcuta, Colombia. Jeanette grew up in Guatemala, and Rodrick has spent time there so both of them are fluent in Spanish and understand the Latin American culture. For this reason, Dawn and I were really not totally surprised that the mission board thought of them when looking for families to establish the new church plant. Their combination of skills and cross cultural experiences made them seem a natural fit. But that did not exactly make giving them up any easier! We are still working on that process! Here are a few pictures from the area near Cúcuta. Distributing meals to the homeless...   Música, anyone? 😉 I'm not sure what the point of this car was, but Rodrick said they heard it coming from several blocks away...   Checking out the countryside...   Sofia with a new little friend  Exploring a mountain road (part of the Andes mountain range)  After months of prayer and consideration and several visits to Colombia, Rodrick and Jeanette made the tough decision to answer the call to move there for an indefinite length of time. Though it is hard for us to let them go, we do give them our blessing.One comfort is that Rodrick is not abandoning The Family Cow. With today's technology, he'll still be able to do much of the management work and accounting work that he has done before... so this change shouldn't necessarily impact you, but it will represent some definite changes for our family and team.Rodrick plans to work remotely, doing many of the same business administration duties, but he will turn over the General Manager role to his younger brother Wesley. Rodrick also plans to continue giving management support to the Olde Tyme Meats butcher shop team.The other four brothers tell Dawn and I not to worry about the farm and business management, but I know there will be changes. We'll just need to find our way one step at a time.Dawn and I are not sure who's making the greatest sacrifice—the ones staying or the ones moving. :) I guess it is all of us. And that's ok.As far as Rodrick and Jeanette's Amen Acres farm, if all goes as planned, we'll have one of the other brothers live on that farm to manage the care of the grass-fed beef and pastured pork.There is no doubt about it... we will greatly miss having Rodrick and Jeanette, Andre, Clara, Sofia and Leo nearby. But they remind us that airplanes fly both ways, that they will return a few times a year for visits, and that we of course can come down to visit them too.Who knows—maybe someday Rodrick and Jeanette can grow cacao beans and make single origin organic specialty chocolate for our Family Cow tribe. How neat would that be? Don't think it's impossible. Just last week we introduced single origin organic coffee straight from Jeanette's family in Guatemala. :)In spite of unknowns, some things never change. We do know that "all things work together for good to those who love God." (Romans 8:28) So... we'll just focus on loving God and we'll trust Him to work out the good that only He knows! Faith, Hope and Love,Your farmer - Edwin for Dawn too

NEW: Organic Coffee direct from family in Guatemala!

Good morning Family Cow tribe! I have exciting news: Organic Coffee direct from Rodrick & Jeanette's family in Guatemala! Yes, this dream is finally happening. 😊 Know your farmer, know your food... taken to a whole new level! This single origin coffee is Chemical-Free, Shade-Grown, Hand Picked, and Small Batch Roasted to create a premium brew. It is a Medium-Dark roast to highlight the delicate coffee notes without the strong "burnt" flavor of many cheap brands. Coffee is often dark roasted to burn away undesirable flavors of low-grade coffee... Definitely not the case with these specialty beans! :) Taste the difference and enjoy with confidence. It's fresh organic coffee direct from a single source you can trace and trust. This specialty organic coffee is always: Single Origin from family in Guatemala (pictured below)Shade-Grown and Bird FriendlyRegeneratively FarmedSmall Batch RoastedChemical-FreeHand PickedSun Dried100% Arabic2,200 foot ElevationRetalhuleu RegionMedium / Dark RoastWhole Bean so you can fresh grind for optimum flavor! :) Meet your coffee farmers: Virgil & Jolene along with Sheldon & Dianna carefully manage each step of the process to bring you the best coffee possible without any chemical contamination. Know your coffee source and enjoy fresh brew with confidence. Coffee farmers: Virgil & Jolene with Sheldon & Dianna   Stay tuned for coffee updates in the future!We plan to share more photos of their regenerative farm along with details of how they use "good bugs to fight off the coffee pests" instead of relying on harsh chemicals the way most coffee is raised.I'll do my best to show the Hand Picking, Sun Drying and Small Batch Roasting in action! :) Blessings on your day,Wesley~5th generation on the farm P.S. If our coffee is sold out when you are ready to purchase, please check back in a few days. We fresh roast a small batch every week or two coffee so it won't be sold out long! :)