We'll try to make each Market each week, but sometimes for one reason or another we have to miss one.

 We bring pork every week and later in the summer we hope to have chicken.

Available pork items are:

 bacon, chops, spare ribs, country style ribs, ground pork, bratwurst, Italian sausage,

breakfast sausage links and wild rice brats!

Finally! We have more chicken in stock! It's $2.75 a pound. Right now we still have whole chickens, entire chickens cut into 8 pieces, and half chickens cut into 4 pieces.

Coming soon.... by popular demand....grassfed beef     

We'll have ground beef, steaks, all beef weiners,

 msg and nitrite free beef sticks and jerky.

If you call 218-984-3235 or email wycoff@frontier.com, we'll be able to tell you in advance if we'll be at a given market on any given day.

As a convenience for customers who may be pressed for time when they come to shop at Market, as well as to insure we don't sell out if you can't get to Market right away, we are going to try taking advance orders.

Email us (or phone...whatever you prefer) and tell us what you'd like us to set aside on Market Day. We'll bag it up and make out a bill ahead of time.

  No order is too big or too small. If you email your order, we'll email a confirmation so you know we'll be ready for you.

WE PLAN TO PARTICIPATE IN BOTH THE ELY AND TOWER FARMERS MARKETS. 

Market Days and Schedule

The Tower Farmers Market

Fridays 4 PM to 6 PM

In the Depot Parking lot next to the train

This was a new Market that opened in of June 2009. We had a great first year and look to get even bigger in 2010.

Ely Farmers Market

Tuesday Nights 5:30 PM - 7 PM

The Ely Farmer's Market is at Whiteside Park in Ely. If the weather is icky look for the vendors in the Log Pavillion in the park. Or...just follow the crowd. The Ely Market is well established and very well received. We have a loyal bunch who check out the Market every Tuesday.

There is also free live music outside of a few stores on Tuesday nights as well as music in the park.

It's a really fun way to spend an evening.

We raise our hogs on pasture rather than the confinement style hog barns  that the big operators use. The hogs are out in the fresh air and sunshine living like....well, like pigs! They wallow in mud, romp around, and root up the pasture.  They keep themselves happy and busy. This is all  good for the pigs and good for the people who eat them.

Pork is available in two ways - in bulk or by individual cuts.

To buy in bulk, you can buy a whole or half pig which we'll deliver to a meat processer.

We normally bring our pigs to Great Scott Meats in Buhl for custom processing, but this is negotiable. Some people may want to process the pig themselves or have the pig processed elsewhere. Your meat is ready about a week after we deliver the pig along with your custom cutting instructions. If you live or work near other people who are getting our meat, we can usually work out delivery to you. If not, we may ask you to meet us somewhere.

The hanging weight of half of a hog is about 100 pounds.  The cuts you can expect are chops, steaks, roasts, ribs, side pork (or bacon), ground pork, a package of pork neck, and , if you wish, your unrendered lard. Your box of meat will measure  about 19"x15"x9". This doesn't include your smoked product which is about 25-30 pounds of additional meat.

Prices are based upon hanging weight and are subject to change. Please contact us to make sure these prices are current.

Pork by the whole or half for purchase in the spring of 2010 was 2.09 a pound. We hope to be able to hold that price into the fall.  Of that the processor will receive .45 a pound for slaughter, cutting, wrapping, and freezing. Bear Creek Acres receives the balance for the hog. You will write one check for the full amount to the farm because we will have paid your processing fees for you when we pick up the meat.

This does not include fees for smoking. When we talk on the phone, we can make those arrangements. We have a business that we are comfortable recommending for your custom smoking. They normally charge $1.00 a pound to smoke hams and bacon. We can drop off your meat for smoking when we bring in our own. Or perhaps you want to have someone else do the smoking for you. That's fine. When we take your cutting instructions, you'd tell us this -  and we would relay that information to the processor.

On the other hand, you don't have to have meat smoked. The ham on the pig makes wonderful fresh roasts and steaks. If you prefer to take your pork belly as fresh meat, it's called side pork. 

For those with less freezer space, we can now sell pork by the individual cut.

We have a full line of pork cuts that we had processed under USDA inspection in Clear Lake, MN at McDonald's Meats.

A wide variety of our pork cuts are also available at Natural Harvest Food  Co-op in Virginia, MN.  Natural Harvest is  also handling our Breakfast Links, Wild Rice Brats, Italian Sausage Links, and Bacon. These products were made with our meat (and only our meat) by McDonald's Meats of Clear Lake, MN.

We also sell our meat off the farm and at Farmers Markets.

Please call first (218-984-3235)  before visiting to purchase meat. We'd hate for you to make the trip and find us not at home or out of the cut you wanted.

Off the Farm and Market Prices as of August  2010

(subject to change without notice)

Pork Chops (avg 1#, 2 chops per pkg)........$5.00 lb

Spare Ribs (1/4 rack avg weight 1#)......$5.00 lb

Country Style Ribs (avg weight...2 1/2 #).....$4.00 lb

Ground Pork (1# bag).......$ 4.00   sold out!

Bacon (1# package)........$6.00  sold out!

Bratwurst (1#pkg)...........$6.00

Wild Rice Brat  (1# pkg).......$6.00

Italian Sausage  (1# pkg)....$6.00  sold out!

Breakfast Links (1# pkg).......$6.00  sold out!

Braunschweiger (about 1# pkg).......$5.00

 Thanks for your interest in our chicken!

Our chickens are raised on pasture until it’s time to bring them to a small family business near Brainerd where they are processed in a professional facility under inspection by a Minnesota meat inspector.

The Nelson family does a lovely job. The birds are cleaned well and frozen neatly in sturdy bags.

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Normally the chickens are sold whole, but Nelson’s will cut up chicken for about  dollar a bird.

If we are aware of a customer’s desire in advance we can order them processed accordingly.

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We plan to have chickens available on a regular basis

July through October.

Chicken is available in any amount.Customers who want a large number of chickens can preorder by calling us at the farm, and we'll set them aside.

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Ordering in advance is encouraged and appreciated! It helps us plan how many chickens to raise since our freezer space is limited. 

Chickens are  $2.75 a pound for whole chickens.

 If you'd like Nelson's to cut your bird into 8 pieces we just tack on a $1 charge to the bird for their fee. They are also willing to custom cut up birds for you. So, if you'd like a few birds cut up with all the legs in one bag,breasts in another, etc.....they'll do if for a slight fee.

The birds average 5 pounds each. We've found it's a nice size whether you want to cut up the chicken or roast it whole.

We have already sold out of our fist batch of chickens for the summer. Our next batch will be ready around mid August. As of August 1st, they are about 2/3 pre-ordered. The batch after that will be ready around the second week of October. Depending upon pre-orders we may have another batch after that.  Typically, the last batch goes to the processor late fall. Those chickens always sell out way in advance as people order a bunch to put in their freezer and hold them through the winter.

Call (or email) if you'd like to get  on one of the lists. too!

Thank you for your interest in our beef.

We raise our beef on pasture. They are not stuffed into a feed lot with hundreds of other cows. They are on grass with plenty of fresh air and sunshine . They are also fed an all natural grain ration. This means that the feed is not organic, however the animals receive no anti-biotics, no hormones, and there is no animal by-products in their feed.

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Currently, we are only selling our beef by the whole, half, and quarter. The meat will be processed at Great Scott Meats in Buhl. The price we quote you includes the processor's fee of .40 a pound (based on hanging weight) for slaughter, cutting, wrapping and freezing your meat.

The beef we sold in June 2010 was  $2.99 pound - based on hanging weight.

We will have a few 1/4s available for sale in the fall on 2010 and should have a bunch ready in the spring of 2011.

So, let's say you think you might like a bunch of beef in your freezer.

Here's how it works:

First you call us and get on the list. We'll give you an aproximation of when we'll have beef again. Right now we are taking names for the Fall of 2010.

A couple months before we bring the cattle to Great Scott Meats, we'll call you and take your cutting instructions. This is easy. We'll ask you how you want your ground meat packaged...usually people want 1 pound packages. My family's made up of big eaters...so I get mine in 1-1/2 pound packs. Do you want 3-4 pound or 4-5 pound roasts? Do you want your prime rib whole...or would you rather have it cut into rib steaks? Don't worry. We'll guide you through it step-by-step. After we talk about your instructions, we'll let you know when we expect to deliver the meat. If you live or work in a fairly convenient location, we'll bring it to you. Or we may ask that you meet us somewhere. We will be able to give you an aproximate total for your meat, but since all animals weigh different amounts...it's something of a guess. You can expect a 1/4 of a beef to hang between 160 -175 pounds. All animals also have different amounts of waste, as well - but once the animal is processed you can expect aproximately 2 boxes, measuring about 19"x15"x9" each, for your freezer.

When we bring the animal to Buhl, we will also deliver your custom instructions to Jim. He'll cut and wrap your meat to order.

When we deliver your meat...a personal check is just fine.

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We looked at the baby meat chickens, Roo our dairy cow, the beef cow mamas and babies, the beef steers, the horses, and the laying hens.

Wandering barn cats always steel the show from the farmer.

 This year we are between batches of pigs and sadly, had no swine to show off.

There was also time for tractor admiration.....we must allow time for sitting on tractors.

Here's what's been happening. I plan to blog about all of it in the days and weeks to come.

First, I'd like to thank everyone for the great feedback on the profile in Hometown Focus as well as the mozzeralla cheese article I wrote. It's been fun hearing from you! If you missed it, you can find it here. Lots of people have tried and succeeded! I acutally havent' heard from a failure yet.

We have just finished selling about 50 half hogs. They are all (but one) safely tucked away in their owner's freezers ( and tummies!).

Calving has started! Here's a photo....blogs are boring without at least one photo.

We took a bunch of hogs to McDonald's Meats in Clear Lake MN for USDA processing. That meat can (and will) be sold at Natural Harvest in Virginia, MN, Tower and Ely Farmers Markets, and right here off the farm!

 The first batch of baby chicks is in the brooder!

A winter's worth of manure needs to be scooped up and spread on the fields.

The fields need to be disced and planted.

We picked up the USDA meat in Clear Lake, delivered to Natural Harvest, and filled our freezers here at the farm!

On a personal note, we have our oldest graduating this year and are racing to finish an addition on our house.

We have a couple Head Start groups coming to visit again. This year, I swear I'll get photos!

Shannon still has to sqeeze in a little firewood making....our wood shed in running low a bit too quick.

And we are still milking twice a day and dealing with all that milk.

Keep checking in...I'll fill you in on all the stuff I mentioned.

  We brought bacon, sausages, pork chops, roasts, ribs (both country style and spare ribs), and pork cutlets.

I hesitate to brag....but I just have to! The sausages are even better than last year. Super moist and juicy. McDonalds Meat did a wonderful job taking our pork and making regular brats, wild rice brats (our top seller), Italian links, and little breakfast links. You won't believe how yummy they are.

New this year are pork cutlets. We hadn't had those made before. So we held back 3 packages before we delivered The Coop's meat so we could play with them here at home. Think of it as a pork minute steak. It's a small piece of meat that was run through the tenderizer. There is no waste and it cooks up super fast. Here are some photos.

You'll notice there are no images of the cooked meat. That's because the family gathered around and gobbled them up. Sorry.

Frankly, I lost my head, too.

All I did to prepare them was put a little olive oil in the bottom of a pan (I use cast iron...but you can use whatever you like). Fry on medium (or a smidge higher) heat 'til you see the blood rising to the top of the meat, flip over and brown nicely. You  only want to cook them  til there's no pink in the middle. They cook up super fast -And boy, were they ever juicy. Two of them I cooked plain, two I just salted and peppered, and two I sprinkled with garlic, salt, pepper and ground fennel. All were just great.

The bummer? We only had those made for the Coop, so our family has none for our freezer and none to sell at the Farmer's Market.

They are only available in Virigina, and I think that once people try them, they are going to sell fast.

How many teenagers do you know who ask for tools for Christmas? Our Jack does, and he puts them to good use. He has a more complete workbench than a lot of 30 year old men.

He runs and maintains equipment and helps lift heavy things. Every family should have a Jack!

Maggie is a big help at the Farmer's Markets.

She also is showing an interest in calves and driving small tractors. We may need her on a tractor now that Jack will be a working man this summer.

Taylor will be getting me some another photo of her and her horses soon. She'll want to pick those out herself.  She rides competetively.  She is also a dandy cook.....and I mean a wonderful from-scratch cook. So often, when there are big jobs going we'll  have her take over feeding us so we can keep working.

Here's Shannon.                    

It seems he usually has his head down and working hard when I bring out the camera!

And I'm Mary Ann.  You'll probably talk to me when you call the farm with questions and to place orders. I'm also at the Farmers' Markets. 

• • • Shannon and Mary Ann Wycoff had always been “do it yourself” type people, according to Mary Ann.

When they wanted fresh vegetables, they learned to garden. When they wanted to till that garden soil, they bought a brokendown tiller and made it run again. When they wanted humanely-raised meat, well, you can guess what happened.

After moving to an old Embarrass farmstead with a picture-perfect red barn, the family wanted to raise food and meat for their own use. Shannon, who works at Northshore Mining in Babbitt, was supposed to order two piglets from a co-worker. Instead, he ordered four.

Here’s what he told Mary Ann: “Everyone says not to worry, you’ll have no trouble selling [the extra two].”

It turned out that Shannon was right. The night before the Wycoffs planned to take the pigs to the processor, someone called to order the last available meat. In the meantime, Shannon had ordered more feeder pigs.

And so it began – soon enough the Wycoffs were raising eight pigs at a time, then 12, then 25, Mary Ann said. They added beef cattle and “chicken tractors” that the Wycoffs move around their fields so the plump chickens can peck at bugs and fresh grass.

And the more animals they added, the more they sold. They sell the meat from Bear Creek Acres directly to customers, to the Natural Harvest Co-op in Virginia, and at area farmers markets.

“We never looked at each other and said, ‘Wanna be a farmer?’” Mary Ann Wycoff said. “It just happened by itself, it was entirely unexpected and unplanned. We still haven’t said, ‘Wanna be farmers?’”

They have tapped into a market that wants their products for a variety of reasons, Wycoff said. Some customers want to know the animals were raised humanely, others want to support sustainable and local agriculture, she said. Some customers believe they are getting a more healthful product, and others “like to get to know their farmer,” she said.

Shannon Wycoff still works in Babbitt, and, though it’s a hard way to try and earn a living – “there are lots of ways of losing money doing this,” she said -- Mary Ann has found that the rhythm of farming at Bear Creek Acres suits her.

“I don’t do monotony easily, so I like the constant challenges of farming,” she said. And she looks to others to help her and her family meet those challenges – whether they are neighbors, fellow farmers, retired farmers, or anyone else willing to talk about their own experiences.

“Every day, I’m reading something, learning something,” she said. “I could do this for 100 years, and never know anywhere near enough.”

Janna asked me to write a little  how-to article to accompany the interview. She suggested it be my mozzerella cheese recipe - which really isn't mine...it's just the one I make.  I added lots of coaching notes to it though. I don't know how much of the recipe and instructions will appear in the paper.

 I was kinda long winded. People who know me will not be surprised by this!

I have added  a few pictures.

Making Mozzarella Cheese in the Microwave in 30 minutes?

Yes , you can!  Really you can! Well, okay the first time might take 45 minutes while you fumble around a little bit...but the next time it'll be zippy quick! You also don't have to use the microwave. It's just a bit quicker and easier.

It takes just a few ingredients that are easily purchased at Natural Harvest Food Coop in Virginia ( you don't have to be a member to shop there!) or online from http://www.cheesemaking.com/.  My recipe is from that website. The owner of the company is Ricki Carroll who is known as the Cheese Queen. She is mentioned in lots of magazines and books, including Animal, Vegetable , Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.

I am lucky and have my own milk cow and use her milk for my cheese, but you can use raw milk or plain old grocery store whole  milk for this recipe.  It's important to note that it cannot be Ultra Pasteurized Milk which is a process some organic milk producers use to increase the distance they can ship their products.  The citric acid costs about $5 at the co-op is is enough for many batches of cheese. The Co-op is great about selling rennet and lets you buy just one tablet at a time for about 75 cents....this is enough for 4 batches of cheese.

Put one gallon of milk in a big pot on the stove,  add 1 1/2t of citric acid  and stir for just a bit to mix it in. This is going to sour your milk...don't be alarmed by the little clumpy things that form.

Place a 1/4 of a rennet tablet into a 1/4 cup of cool water and dissolve it. When you cut the tablet...it probably won't cut very neatly. Don't worry about using a 1/2 tablet instead. I do it all the time. Keep the rennet solution handy. Heat the milk slowly to 90 degrees. Remove the pot from the heat, slowly stir in the rennet solution in an up and down fashion for about 30 seconds. Cover and let it sit for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes check out your milk. It should have sort of gelled into one firm unit like a big white jello. Take a finger and press into it. In a perfect world you'll have a clean break and the cheese breaks apart without crumbling. You'll see the liquid (whey) has separated from the jello-y stuff (curd).

In a perfect world, the whey will be clear liquid with a bit of green tinge to it. If your curd hasn't set really nice, you can try giving it just a bit more heat and let it sit another 5 minutes.  Then -  no matter what it looks like - we move on.  If your curd ended up looking like a swirly globby mess on top of that greenish water, do not fear! The cheese will turn out great anyway. It happens to me every now and again. Don't stop now!

Take a long straight knife and cut down into the curd in a checkerboard fashion making little cubes.  Then do it again holding your knife at an angle to make those long deep cubes into smaller chunks.

We are  breaking up the curd to release more whey. No need for perfection we are just gently breaking up the curd.  If you have the swirly messy looking curd, you can skip the curd cutting.  Hang it there, swirly curd people. It really will be okay.

Put the pot back on the stove and heat it to 105 degrees stirring gently.  It's okay that the whey is  turning white...it's supposed to.

Now you need to work quickly. You want to pull your curds out of the whey. You can dump the whey down the sink, feed it to your pigs and chickens, or use it for special recipes. But your goal is to save the curds.  I tip my pot to gently pour out the whey and then use a big slotted spoon to work the whey out. You'll get the hang of it.  Dump your curds and what's left of the whey into a microwave safe bowl, and microwave for one minute on high power. 

Dump your curd into a  colander and work out some more whey in sort of a kneading fashion.  Don't worry. You can't do it wrong. It's going to look sort of smooth and shiny. As it cools you'll see it becomes harder to work. Pop the curd back into the bowl, and microwave another 35 seconds.  Work out some more whey....it's getting pretty hot now isn't it? 

 I keep cold water running in my sink and cool my hands as I work the cheese. Add some salt, start with a 1/2 tsp and see what you think. I use more.  When it comes out after the 2nd 35 seconds it might be hot enough to stretch..this is fun. Grab your curd and pull it apart, it should stretch without breaking.  Work it this way until it cools too much to work. If it won't stretch, zap in for another 35 seconds. After you've stretched it, microwave one more time to make it pliable again. Taste to check the salt level adding more if needed. Shape into a nice disc. Put it in a bowl or on a plate.

Let it cool a bit and enjoy. Or cover with plastic wrap and keep in fridge...but it's really the best when it's warm and fresh.

After you have done this a few times, you'll note that the more you work it and the more times you heat it the firmer a cheese you'll get. That is the kind my husband likes  - while my son prefers is a little softer. Don't worry. It's all good. Make it and let me know how it came out by emailing me at wycoff@frontier.com