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Petit Jean Farm

Dear Folks,

Market season is back!  We don’t like to have to compete with the rain, but we are glad to be back. 

We have two winners from last week’s challenge about what “box social” means.  Meg Koziar provided this description:  “Box social:  Ladies prepare a picnic lunch or supper, put it in a box or covered basket.  Men bid on the boxes, and the winner had lunch or supper with the lady.  I still remember one in grade school when my box was picked by the loneliest little waif of a boy in the class.”  It is also fun to know that box socials aren’t completely obsolete.  Here is the other winning response from Sue Tanner:  “Box socials were the rage in the AR early days.  We have used it for a fund raiser in the last year when we were trying to help a single mom get through college.  Each lady fixed a decent picnic lunch for two, put it in an attractive basket or decorated box.  The boxes were then auctioned off to the highest male visitor and he had lunch with the lady whose box he won.  We got the student through the semester and had a good time!” Thanks for the great entries!  How would you like it if your children’s or grandchildren’s school brought back box socials regularly instead of selling you all that cookie dough?

Lambing season continues and the field is full of little “maa”s!  Actually, the field is full of little high pitched maas and big low maas bouncing back and forth.  It just takes one misplaced lamb to start a plaintive cry.  Its mother instantly recognizes the voice and calls back.  Several other mothers have to be sure that wasn’t their lamb, so they call out too.  Soon, sheepy voices of every pitch and timbre are reverberating through the field.  Each ewe recognizes her lambs, and the lambs all know their mothers. 

The flock knows its shepherd, too, at least according to this week’s lectionary reading at church.  “I am the good shepherd.  I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”  We like to take advantage of this for our kids’ Farm Day program.  One of the themes groups can choose is the Good Shepherd program.  In all our kid events, we let kids learn experientially where their food comes from.  In this particular version, we let them practice feeding, caring for, and protecting a select group of demo sheep.  To start it off, I stand around the corner out of view from the sheep.  Then I call out, “She-eep!”  The sheep, recognizing my voice, echo back with a very satisfying, “Maa!”

We hope you recognize the call of the market this week, and e’mail or phone us with a “Maa!  Here’s my order.”  Even though we are going to market in Little Rock and Hot Springs on Saturdays, we still encourage you to place your orders ahead.  We don’t want to miss you!

Please place those orders by noon on Thursday, May 7.  You can call 501-727-5659, e’mail ed@gatewayfarm-ar.com, or order online.  You can also view our available inventory online at www.petitjeanfarm.com/farminventory.html.

Maaa!

Your Petit Jean Farmers

Petit Jean Farm

1039 Winrock Drive

Morrilton, AR 72110

501-727-5659

www.petitjeanfarm.com

Weekly Farm Newsletter

May 4, 2009