Petit Jean Farm

Weekly Farm Newsletter

July 27, 2009

Dear Folks,

We’re told to “eat the rainbow” and the height of summer is the perfect time to do that at the farmers’ market.  Red tomatoes, orange cantaloupe, yellow squash, green peppers, blue berries, and purple eggplant create a kaleidoscope of choices.  Don’t forget your meat, though.  Our fresh bacon with juicy sliced tomato on homemade bread can’t be beat!  Here’s another reason to come out to the Carmona Center market in Hot Springs Village – you can get free ice cream with a purchase from any vendor.  Yum. 

We provide beef, pork, and lamb all year round, but the peak of the green growing season in an important time for our farm, too.  Our animals eat grass, and the height of veggie season is also the height of grass season.  Our family uses a unique grazing system in which we move the animals from section to section across the field as they eat down the grass.  This keeps the animals on clean ground, lets them eat the most nutritious forage, and keeps the fields manicured and productive. 

The sound of sheep grazing is one of my favorite sounds.  I was picking blackberries just outside the sheep’s most recent paddock early in the morning.  At first the sheep were very curious about what I was doing and flocked toward me, watching and maa-ing.  Soon, however, they went back to their own work of munching on grass.  The careful process of selecting ripe berries without getting caught in the brambles, underscored by the gentle, rhythmic biting and chewing of the sheep is very soothing. 

Mark your calendars now for those of you who prefer browsing at the outdoor markets to ordering online.  On August 14 and 15 we will not be attending the Little Rock River Market, the Hot Springs Village Community Market at Carmona Center, or the Downtown Hot Springs Farmers Market.  We will, however, have our products available online at www.littlerock.locallygrown.net (ASN), www.village.locallygrown.net (Carmona Center), www.spacity.locallygrown.net (downtown Hot Springs), and www.conway.locallygrown.net.

You can place your orders for this week by phone (501-727-5659), by e’mail (ed@gatewayfarm-ar.com), or online.  Please make your orders by noon on Thursday.  You can check our available inventory on our website at www.petitjeanfarm.com/farminventory.html. 

We look forward to seeing you at the market!

Your Petit Jean Farmers

Petit Jean Farm

1039 Winrock Drive

Morrilton, AR, 72110

501-727-5659

www.petitjeanfarm.com