Farm Fresh News - 2007 Spring Editon

Dear Friends & Loyal Customers,

Well, spring will be here soon and we have some very exciting plans to share with you for the 2007 year. But first, let us say that we are incredibly grateful for the wonderful support you have been to our business this past year. We realize that you care about eating foods that are clean, healthy, locally grown and responsibly produced. It is our goal to bring these wholesome products to your dinner table for many more years to come.
This year we are sending out order forms so that you can pre-order product. If you are not familiar with pre-ordering please read on. At the beginning of every year we will take orders for the products that we produce. The amount of meat that is ordered determines the number of animals that we raise each year. When you pre-order it allows us to produce enough product to meet your yearly needs and also keeps us from producing too much. We also offer special discounts when you pre-order!
Throughout the growing season as animals are raised and product becomes available we will arrange a time and location for you to pick-up your meat. Now that's what we call grocery shopping at it's best!
The earlier you get back with us the easier it will be to secure your order. For your convenience we have included a self addressed envelope for you to use. Orders can also be placed through our website.

- WEBSITE UPDATES -
Here are some of the new features we have added to our website:
- Online pre-ordering (www.sevensons.net/pre-order)
- Product availability charts (product pages)
- On-farm store product in/out of stock status (On-farm store page)

- BEEF UPDATE -
Our beef business just keeps growing every year and it is exciting to think about what 2007 will bring. Last year we sold nearly 10,000 pounds of grass-fed beef and we expect that number will double within the next few years. We are building our herd each year but the demand seems to be growing even faster. We will do our best to keep plenty of beef in our store, however we may temporally run short on certain cuts from time to time. We will keep an updated list of in stock and out of stock products on our website.
Freezer beef is nearly sold out already for this year! If you would like to get your name on the waiting list please do so right away using the order form we've sent or go to www.sevensons.net.
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Most orders will be filled in the fall. You will also notice that our beef price has risen slightly due to an overwhelming product demand.
Remember that just like all of our products it is first come first serve. Obviously our goal is to get to the point where we have enough beef to fill everyone's orders but we will do what we can for now. Thank you for your patience in this matter.

- PASTURED CHICKEN - It’s FINALLY COMING!
We are very excited to announce that this summer we will be offering Free Range Pastured Chicken! This has been a highly requested product and finally we plan to gear-up and add this enterprise to our business.
Allow us to explain what kind of chicken we will be raising and how it differs from conventional chicken.
Free Range Pastured Chicken is in a class all of it's own. Chicken that is labeled 'free range' simply means that the animals did not spend their entire lives cooped up in cages. Actually almost all chicken can be labeled 'free-range'. Conventional chickens are usually raised in large barns where thousands of birds roam about on concrete or dirt/manure packed floors with limited access to the outdoors. Because these birds are raised in such large numbers and are not given proper access to sunshine and fresh air disease becomes a big problem. Producers are left with nothing else to do but give the birds drugs and antibiotics which as you know filter down to the consumer. Their diets consist of medicated feeds mixed with the remains of dead chickens for added protein. The result of these irresponsible production practices is a very unhealthy and tasteless product. Yes, this is the kind of chicken you will find in almost every grocery store and fast food restaurant.
So, when we say Free-Range Pastured Chicken we are talking about birds raised on green pasture with lots of sunshine and all the fresh air they can possibly breathe! Their foods consist of fresh grass, green leaves, plant roots and all the little bugs, worms and small critters they can find. The birds are also given access to free choice feed which consist of mainly ground seeds like corn & soybeans mixed with plenty of vitamins and minerals (NO drugs and NO antibiotics of any kind.) We grow our own corn and soybeans utilizing non-conventional farming practices. Our grains are then ground and mixed in our own on-farm feed mill which gives us complete control over the entire process.
The birds are raised in small portable floor-less pens that provide good shelter and let in plenty of sunlight. Each day the pens are moved to new pasture providing the chickens access to the freshest of foods. This allows the birds to receive 30% of their food from what grows and lives on the pasture!
What are the results? An extremely nutritional and flavorful chicken!
When production practices are in sync with nature and are working with and not against God's intricately designed creation the results will always be better. It is really that simple!
Birds will be sold whole and cutup (consisting of eight pieces: two wings, two drumsticks, two breast quarters, and two thighs.) If you are not accustomed to cutting up your own birds you may want to take advantage of this option at only 10¢ extra per bird.
Please remember that chicken is a seasonal product and will NOT be available during the cold part of the year. However, chicken will keep good for at least 9 months in the freezer. So, when your reserving your Continued on next page
last birds of the season be sure to order enough to get you through until the following spring. We may have a limited supply of chicken at our on-farm store during the off season but it is not guaranteed.
When you pickup your birds please bring coolers and if you have a long drive you may want to bring ice or gel packs. For safe handling purposes the chicken will already be frozen. As far as a pickup location, we are considering establishing a pickup time on certain Saturdays from 8 AM - 12 PM at the Roanoke Farmers Market. Our thought on this is that Saturdays would probably be the most convenient time for you to pickup your order and it would also allow you to shop around at other vender carts for items such as fresh fruits & veggies. Any thoughts, ideas or concerns on this matter are welcomed. Either way you will be informed of an exact pickup time and location.
Please let us know how many chickens you would be interested in throughout the year. The sooner we know what you need the better prepared we will be.

- ALL-NATURAL FREE-RANGE PORK -
If you are one of those folks looking for a healthy alternative to conventional factory raised pork we have just what you're looking for! This year we are also planning to raise all-natural free-range pork. Just like all of our other farm animals these pigs will be raised in a healthy natural environment. Our pigs will spend most of their time rooting around in the woods eating all kinds of things like plants, roots, leaves and wild berries. When they’re not eating they will probably be either relaxing or having fun taking a mud bath and doing whatever else pigs do best. Now that's the LIFE!
Just like our chickens the pigs will be given access to our own specialty blend of free-choice feed. The feed will consist of seeds such as corn and soybeans and will be packed full of all kinds of healthy vitamins and minerals. Again, all our feed is freshly ground and mixed on our farm to ensure the utmost integrity in the nutritional quality of our feed.

Free-Range Pork is a product that we are uniquely passionate about producing simply because we feel it gives us a second chance at producing pork the right way! Some of you may be surprised to learn that less than 10 years ago our entire farm was based around a commercial factory hog operation producing thousands of pigs per year. We produced these animals using a mass production model just like commercial hog farms today. We know first hand how animals are raised on conventional farms - we were once one ourselves.
When we say that factory raised animals are crowded into large pens left to breathe toxic fumes and fecal dust we are not just feeding you some line, we have seen it for ourselves. When we say that factory raised animals receive all kinds of unnatural drugs and antibiotics we know this because we administered these medications almost everyday to our animals. This was how the industry ‘experts’ were telling us to raise livestock. It was what every other guy was doing and at the time it was all we knew how to do. This is how the industry was functioning and still is to this day.
During the late 90’s one of our family members contracted a serious autoimmune disease that required further treatment beyond what the medical field could offer. We began learning about health and nutrition Continued on back side
and became aware of the negative impact that conventionally raised foods are having on consumers. We recognized that our farming practices and philosophies needed a lot of change to say the least.
Long story short, we are now part of a new breed of farmers who are challenging the conventional wisdom of today. Whether it's cattle, chickens or pigs, animals are meant to eat what they find in the wild. Nutritional quality is far better when animals are raised using responsible production practices, allowed to live in the environment they were created to live in, AND allowed to eat the foods they were created to eat. Again, it's pretty simple once you think it through! For more about our farming history please visit our website: www.sevensons.net.
Pork will be sold by the whole or half. We will also have a limited supply available in our on-farm store. All processing will take place late fall.

- EGG UPDATE -
From the very beginning our farm fresh eggs have been a very popular item and like the rest of our products the demand just keeps increasing. It is our goal to continue providing this product to you for as long as we possibly can. Unfortunately, because of higher seed corn prices coupled with expansion costs and much needed building renovations our price will need to increase 50¢ per dozen this year. This is not something we like to do but in order to continue production, profitability must continue as well.
We appreciate your understanding in this matter and are grateful for your continued business.

- THANKSGIVING TURKEYS - (Free-Range & Pasture Raised)
Yes, we are considering adding yet another product this year. During Thanksgiving we always receive calls asking for pastured turkeys and finally this year we would like to have this product available. Our free-range pastured turkeys would be raised similar to our meat chicken with the same all-natural diet. No drugs, antibiotics or hormones of any kind.
Please let us know if you would be interested in any Thanksgiving Turkeys. If we receive enough interest and if all production and processing arrangements can be made on our end we will have this product available.

We are looking forward to serving you again this year (and as writer and farmer Joel Saliton puts it) "while we do operate a business, we prefer to think of it as a relationship-builder; and while you are customers, we prefer to call you friends."
We echo these exact same thoughts and want you to know that you are collectively the best boss we could ever want. Have a great season and we look forward to seeing you!

The Seven Sons Family