Full Diet Farm

So much has happened at C’est Naturelle Farms during the last 22 months.  We began the farm-building process knowing that we were literally starting from “the ground up” on land that had been in pasture and blackberries for over a decade, had minimal fencing, and with no improved buildings for animal housing, product preparation areas, nor any infrastructure to support agricultural production.  It wasn’t ready for immediate start up, but we knew that the land was beautiful, the production potential was wonderful, so we got to work.

Here’s the quick run-down of events in 2011:

  • fencing over 3/4 completed for perimeter, pastures, and paddocks on 100 acres
  • New dairy barn and loafing/sleeping shelter completed
  • 32 intensive grazing paddocks, cow “sidewalk”, and permanent watering troughs completed
  • New milk kitchen with stainless steel cooling tank, milk lines,  and cheese vat partially completed (the progress goes on daily!)
  • New pig complex with large farrowing pens, piglet nursery, individualized sow and piglet pastures, and intensive grazing pastures for our pasture raised pork nearly completed
  • New garden barn for washing, sorting, packing, and storing farm member produce and weekly baskets partially completed.
  • 22 greenhouse frames erected for 12 month food production
  • An ingenious (as the wife of the inventor I’m allowed to call it that!) recycled material, all-purpose, tractor driven garden cart “Thing-a-ma-jig” built and used for planting, transplanting, weeding, and harvesting.  This is seriously the greatest invention…you should see it in action!
  • 20+ cows cared for and milked twice daily to provide milk, butter, cream, and skim milk to over 120 families
  • Garden produce cultivated, cared for and delivered to over 50 families
  • Pigs, cows, and poultry (as well as their eggs!) raised on our pastures without antibiotics or hormones to provide meat for over 50 families
  • 2 new farm housing homes put up on the Kirk Rd. farm to allow 24/7 farmer presence on the farm…HOORAY!!!

All of this progress means…WE’RE READY!!!!

The C’est Naturelle Farms “Full Service Farm” is finally ready to launch.  Here’s a breakdown of how it works, why we have chosen this model, and how YOU can participate in the 2012/2013 farm year

HOW IT WORKS

  • The farm season runs 12 months from July to July.  Anyone who wants to order produce before that time can utilize our current webstore purchasing options.
  • So why purchase now for a membership that starts in July?  Because we’ll start planting in late January, it takes time to grow your food, plan now for plenty later on!
  • As a full-service farm C’est Naturelle Farms takes the job of growing food seriously.  We don’t want the goods from our farm to be a snack, an afterthought, or just one meal on our farm members tables.  We want to provide the staples your family needs to sustain a happy and healthy lifestyle, including: meats, eggs, dairy, vegetables, and some finished products.  We hope to add fruit and grain as our farm progresses and the current price reflects the lack of those items.
  • As a farm member you agree to purchase your staples from C’est Naturelle Farms and choose weekly from the abundance that is available what you would like to feed your family.  The amounts and varieties that you have to choose from will vary from season to season, but will include all of the items listed above through the course of the year.
  • Members will sign up for payment options that give them the flexibility to choose yearly, quarterly, monthly, or weekly payments but they DO commit to a year of purchasing at the following rates (Everyone in a household participates as a member for this all you can eat model to work):

First Farm member:  $2500

Every additional farm member over 13 is $400 less so:  2nd member $2500-$400= $2100,  3rd=$1700, 4th=$1300, etc.

Children 3- 13: $100 per year of life (5 yrs=$500, 7 yrs=$100, 9 yrs=$900)

Children under 3: Free

Large family discount:  If your family total exceeds $10,000 per year we will not charge you for any individuals over $10,000

This is a non-refundable purchase.  You will be paying us to grow your food for you.

BUT WAIT A MINUTE!!!

You may be thinking “What if I only want to buy a couple of things from you, not everything I eat?!”  We can do that to.  You just follow the steps below with the only exception being that you will only be able to get from the farm what you have pre-ordered or any extra that might be available on our farm store.  The all-you-can-eat farm benefit is reserved for the full-time members, but you are more than welcome to participate at whatever level you feel will work for your family.

  • Members fill out our Farm Produce Survey.  You are not required to take only what is on your survey list, nor are you required to take what you may have wanted 6 months ago but now doesn’t excite you.  It is just a way for us to gauge the eating habits of our farm members and grow the garden accordingly.  We WANT to grow what you WANT to eat.  Some of the items we will have are only available during the summer months, but will be available in enough quantities for our members to take home and preserve in the way that best suits their families needs: canning, drying, pickling, juicing, freezing etc.  We encourage all of our farm members to make use of the harvest when the harvest is on…that’s the farmer way!
  • The all you can eat feature includes meats, but it takes a long time to raise an animal in anticipation of butchering and processing the meat.  We need to know in advance what your average family consumption is so that we can plan for it.  If it isn’t planned for early, it isn’t available later.
  • Members take weekly ONLY what they need for the week (with the exception of seasonal extras for canning).  We will provide freezer space for meats and refrigerated storage for items that are best kept in a cool, dry environment like potatoes, winter squash, apples, etc.  While we want and encourage our farm members to participate in the abundance it requires frugality and thrift to maintain abundance.  If everyone fills their freezers with meat the first week it is available, there will not be any later in the year so please plan to take enough to enjoy and eat well with a balance of items from all areas of the farm.
  • The all you can eat feature will also include basic bakery items like bread, breakfast cereals (granola and grain-nuts), and rolls as well as dairy items such as butter and cheese.  These items will be available as soon as the new certified kitchen is completed and we have our Oregon Department of Agriculture seal of approval.  Occasionally specialty items will be available for individual purchase and added to the all you can eat option as the year progresses.
  • Farm members MUST fill out a weekly “shopping cart” on our ordering system in order to receive their basket, otherwise they are welcome to come out to the farm on Friday afternoon and pick up their share of the harvest directly on the farm.  This will be very similar to our current system in that you’ll have a basic “standing order” which you can customize to your hearts delight each week.
  • Buying clubs do not constitute a farm member household.  We love buying clubs and we think it’s fantastic for individuals to organize themselves into purchasing units to save a little money, but it doesn’t translate well into our model.   If you are a member of a buying club and are interested in participating with us on the farm we’d be happy to see what your needs are and to see if we can meet them.  Please call the farm at (503)956-2902  and we’ll see what we can do to help you out.
  • We do offer a few options for lower income members.  Give us a call at (503)956-2902 to see what we can do for you.

WHY THE “ALL YOU CAN EAT, FULL MENU FARM” OPTION:

  • We like to eat well. Eating is a basic need, but growing, preparing and enjoying delicious food is an art form.  Many families today love good food, want to eat good food, but feel that they can’t afford to purchase it.  They are left choosing between poor quality food that fills everyone’s bellies or a tiny amount of high quality that simply leaves them hungry for more.  Many eaters debate about whether they will get to have meat or milk this week for their family based on what they can afford.  What if the dollar amount per item were removed from their food choices?  What if a family could pay a set amount for food and have an abundance of choices available to them that could be tailored to fit their needs?  Healthy eating costs more, the cost of organic produce is sometimes as much as four times the price of conventionally grown produce and meat.  What if a family could get vegetables, fruits, and meats that were grown using organic, sustainable, natural methods for less than or comparable to the price of conventional products from a large chain grocery store?  And then what if they could get enough of those products to fill their stomachs this week and still have enough extra to put away for future use?  That’s the kind of world we’d like to see become the norm.  So we’re doing our part to make it happen right here in our little corner of the world.
  • We want to keep farming. Farming sustainably costs a lot of money.  Because we don’t buy into genetically altered, subsidized, over-sprayed crops it is harder for us to find affordable feed for our animals.  The only way we can make a living is to guarantee that we can sell our crops when the harvest is on and when the animals are ready.  Too many times to count we have offered food for sale that is beautiful and at it’s peak in nutrients, flavor, and texture but it isn’t purchased, a week or two goes by, the product has lost it’s quality and we’ve fed it to our livestock only to have someone want to order it two days later and saying “But I thought you offered that product!”  In order for us to keep growing, eaters have to keep purchasing when the products are ready.  This requires a real commitment on the part of both the consumer and the producer.  Real Food requires Real Commitment.
  • We believe in abundance. There is dire news reported, on a near daily basis, about the lack of resources and humanity in the world today.  We’re apparently running out of water, compassion, air, brotherly love, land, space, and hope at an unheard of rate and we should all be waiting for the sky to fall.  But we don’t buy it.  We know that there are some unscrupulous individuals who will stop at nothing to get what they want, whether it be a larger profit margin, political power, or popularity, but we also know that for every one person like that there are 99 people  who go out of their way to make life better for the people around them, who take care of what they’ve been given, who love and nurture their families, and who seek to strengthen the people and community around them.  We farm for those 99, because they need good food to keep going.  And we farm for the 1, because perhaps that individual who keeps using up all those resources indiscriminately needs to let go of their false notion of scarcity and fear that their resources are going to run out tomorrow so get it while the getting is good, and start seeing the bounty of the earth if it is given even the smallest amount of respect and dedication.   There is an abundance of food, joy, and hope to be harvested from a land that is cared for diligently, patiently, and with gratitude for everything that is gained.
  • We believe in sharing our abundance.  Abundance only happens when you are able to share what you have, otherwise you’re still in the survival stage of existence.  It doesn’t really matter how much you have, it’s a measure of how much you give.  We know that our farm has the capacity to give between 75-100 families a food source fit for a king and we want to share it!

HOW CAN YOU JOIN THE FARM?

  • visit our farm website at www.cestnaturellefarms.com and follow the link that  says “Become a Farm Member Today”.  It will guide you through our sign up process.  Or just click this link here to sign up.  JOIN NOW
  • Fill out our Family Food Planner so that we will know what your food needs are.  There is no limit on what you can request…within reason.  If you order 10,000 bushels of tomatoes we may get a little suspicious.  Also our full service farm is based on a well-rounded diet that consists of vegetables, dairy, meat, fruit, and grains.  Please keep that in mind while filling out your form.  You can access the form by clicking on the highlighted words “Family Food Planner”
  • Fill out our Farm Member Agreement which allows us to operate a dairy herd share operation in the state of Oregon as per the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s recommendations to us.  Link to Agreement