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The Future of Willows Edge Farm

We have spent a lot of time in the last few months discussing the farm's future. In the last weeks, we have spent some time putting it all down ... writing out what it is exactly that we are wanting to accomplish with the farm, where we want to go and how we'll get there.

From 2007-08 we saw our little farm grow by leaps and bounds - 1211% to be exact. 2008-09 saw triple digit growth of 266%. 2010 will be another growth year and we are expecting our numbers to hopefully double again. While the growth is good, we will be bursting at the seams come fall.  In this exciting year, we will be adding farm direct sales of pastured poultry as well as more fresh herbs. The first set of broilers have been ordered and will be ready for pick up in late April with the second set ready mid June.

Our parties and tours are already booking for spring and we are looking forward to large growth from these areas of our farm. Finding something new and different is always a great find for parents and we apparently have something they are looking for. It also falls in line with what we love to do: teach about the farm, animals and work with children.

We're also looking at adding one other of our dream livestock animals ... pigs. Don't laugh, they are gentle, kind and highly intelligent animals. They are also easier to raise on a small farm (easier than Corinne's other dream livestock: The Irish Dexter Cattle) and are good breeders. Pork is gaining popularity as a healthy meat protein; recent studies - in comparison to the "old" studies of the 1950's showing pork as highly fatty - show the new breeds as lean, mean working machines. Many studies compare them as BETTER than chicken in terms of fat AND protein! I will guess that they weren't comparing bacon to chicken breast though ;-)

Further into the future, Willows Edge Farm hopes to grow into a larger facility. We are actively searching for that perfect piece of property along with a few sponsors who want to see farming activities, like we offer, be expanded and grow in Western WA. Small family farms are rapidly disappearing - did you know there are more people in prison than farming in this country? We want to be one of those farms that is around for the long haul and continue on for generations to come!

1 comment:

  1. Oops - the photo shown is of the portable "housing" that the pastured poultry chickens are moved daily in around the property.

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