THE BACKYARD GROCERY, LLC
One of the many reasons to farm.
The highly involved general manager, Mr. Boy, overseeing progress.
The 2015 Galloway calving season began with a baby boy born in the ice storm. Strong, curious and a rare treat for him to be white!
One of the many reasons to farm.
The BYG Boys are on vacation!
Farmer Sara is now the GM at the River Market Community Co-op, so she's busy with that right now. One day soon she'll get back to the business of beef!
About The Backyard Grocery
It all began In 2009, when I started a business helping people in the St. Croix Valley learn to grow vegetable gardens in their own backyards. That interest in vegetable gardens led me down the path to becoming a farmer.
I have a passion for utilizing and preserving heirloom and heritage varieties of food crops. By choosing to eat plants and animals that were bred for disease or pest resistance, reproductive vigor, flavor, keeping qualities, preserving qualities or some other more human scale aspect, we can each do our part to keeping the genetic diversity in our food crops alive.
In the fall of 2013 after farming vegetables on leased land, I purchased a farm in River Falls, WI. That first year on the farm I brought in a few beef cattle and fell in love with cows for good! I was hooked.
The spring of 2015 brought a small herd of bred Galloway cattle to the farm and along with that a steep learning curve for me. Having never been a 'cow' midwife, I was a nervous wreck when the calves started coming. These cows proved to have excellent mothering skills and the joyful bundles of calf-y cuteness were well cared for by their mothers, despite my meddling. Listed on the Livestock Conservancy website as a breed to watch, there is an estimated world population of 10,000. These hardy cattle fit right into my system and stole my heart.
Grass fed and pastured animals make a farm system more resilient, complete and more fun to be around! Be sure to check out 'The Lads' here on the farm, they are never fed grain, antibiotics or growth hormones, and thrive in a planned rotational grazing system which provides fresh pasture and grasses.
My first calf, born in an ice storm one dreary March morning.
To me, there is no better pairing than tomatoes and garlic. Oh what joy!
The heirloom beet variety Detroit Dark Red...never had em' go woody, they are delicious raw, boiled, roasted, pickled, sauteed, etc. Sweet dirt!
This toad took up residence in the hoop house, and I was glad to have it. On a particularly toasty afternoon, there it was tucked into the Dandelion Greens appreciating the shower.