Baby Wanda Coming

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posted on

April 4, 2020

This blog post is really personal and I want to be completely honest and share briefly our journey how this really has been a blessing! Our life has not been perfectly planned like we imagined it would, but God has blessed us along the journey and helped us rely on trusting in Him.

Hannah and I got married in January 2014. We were both two young married adults freshly graduated from college. We had big dreams. We both loved God, family, learning, and the idea of homesteading on a farm. We dreamed together before marriage, and would talk how we imagined it would be. Joe would manage the farm and Hannah would also help on the farm, but mainly would be a home maker. She would manage our home, meals, garden and care for our future children. We wanted lots of kids to help us on the farm.

Then marriage happened. We found out it doesn't go as planned. The business of life took over, both us working full-time to try and pay the bills. Feeling like we weren't getting ahead and working dead end jobs. Then struggles of infertility, depression issues, marriage problems, and more. But through it all we both had a commitment that we would not give up on our marriage and our future dreams. Thankfully with much support and help from friends, family and God, we have been able to break through some of our struggles over time. We by no means have it figured out, but today as I write this, I do feel a ton of gratitude for where we are today and all the blessings! Hannah has been great at reminding me that "our life is a journey, we can reach our goals, but it won't be the path we have planned".

We both still work off farm jobs to make ends meet, our marriage still isn't perfect, we still have days of doubt. However, I feel that we are getting closer to our dreams. Now with our first baby on the way, we are feel like we are on cloud nine, which we haven't felt since we first got married. We are super excited!

Thank you for being apart of our farm and family. You, as our customer, are apart of the dream. We hope that we not only can help you eat healthier, but can be an encouragement to help you reach your personal life purpose!

Please share your comments below! Also we would love to hear your BOY name suggestions??

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Baby pig farm visit

Howdy there friend, Most weeks this time of year, we are super busy all week, so many of our family Sundays turn into a farm task activity and I try to include the whole family when I can. :)Last Sunday as a family, we enjoyed visiting our hog breeder's farm to pickup a group of weaned pigs for our summer pasture. When we were there, we had the chance to take a short video of all the baby pigs running around his farm and interviewed farmer Brennan to share just how unique his methods are to raising hogs compared to the conventional pork you will find in the grocery store. I hope you enjoy watching the happy little pigs out on pasture. It's truly a fun sight and brings me a sense of satisfaction knowing we support pigs to live a wonderful natural life on pasture vs the conventional factory farm model that the houses 74 million pigs annually in overcrowded concrete barns (Which is 93% of the U.S. pig population). I hope you'll watch the video as we cover 3 key takeaways that make our pasture hog operation unique. 1. Farrowing on pasture, no crates! (farrowing means birthing) When a Momma pigs (Sow or gilt) are ready to have babies, they are moved into a confinement crates where they can only lay down and get up to eat/drink and that's all. They can't turn around or walk in these crates. This is the industrial pork's standards for the sows to prevent them from accidentally laying on their young. However, we feel that only when they are overcrowded this is a potential problem. Thankfully our momma pigs as you see in the video are free to be independent outside to move and lay down where they choose with plenty of room. The 1st week or 2, Brennon gives the momma her own hut and area, so there's no other pig competition. Then she can relax and have a baby moon! ;) With this, the baby pigs are free to run around outside to get exercise, play in the dirt, grass, and be a pig as well! Once our hogs leave our hog breeders farm after weaned from their momma's milk, they continue to enjoy the outside pasture here at Wanda Farm. Unfortunately, pigs in a confinement barn on concrete never get the opportunity to dig with their nose and sometimes never see daylight in their entire lives. Our pigs are truly raised humanely as God intended them to be raised! 2. No tail docking (cutting off the pig tails) We explain in the video how in the industrial hog operations the pigs are confined in the barn all their lives and therefore, they get bored without having dirt to dig, mud holes to play in, and food to hunt for. A bad habit the pigs develop is chewing on their pen mates tails. This usually creates problems of cannibalism in the hog industry. So therefore, the industry has made it a common practice to intentional cut off the pig's tails when young. Thankfully, again because our pigs are outside in a natural environment, they don't get bored and we don't have this problem! 3. Old heritage genetics that keep meat quality like a 100 years ago Today the pork industry has been breeding the pork out of pigs. They want it to be a lean, white meat. The genetics have changed so much since the industrial hog operation started that pork isn't what it used to be. So many don't like pork for this reason. Thankfully our breeder is focused on good quality heritage genetics that perform well on pasture, not a confinement barn. On that note, 93% of hogs today are confined to barns and fed a diet of solely GMO grains. Can you imagine eating only GMO grains that have been sprayed with chemicals and being healthy? Thankfully these old school genetic hogs are made to hunt for their food in the pastures. They eating a diverse diet of acorns, walnuts, roots, grubs, grass, legumes, forbs, and whatever else is edible in our pastures. Of course in addition to support their growth and health, we offer grains, but never feed GMO feed to ensure they never have nasty chemicals apart of their diet. Obviously this unique, natural diet keeps the hogs very healthy and improves the meat quality as well. Our pork is probably the best pork you will ever taste! I mean it. It is a unique flavor and not the other white meat. You certainly will never find comparable pork in the grocery store as pastured pork is very unique and certainly can't be produced in a mass scale as factory farms do. All I can say from experience, is that our pigs are probably some of the happiest pigs and best tasting pigs in northern Illinois! I hope you enjoy the video and learn something new. God bless, Farmer Joe P.S. Are you ready to try some Wanda Farm's pork? While it might cost more than the grocery store pork, I think you can feel better knowing that you supported a pig with a more ethical, natural lifestyle on pasture and can enjoy/taste the difference in quality of flavor, nutrient density, and clean ingredients without chemicals, GMOs, growth hormones, and other pharmaceutical drugs. Try Wanda Farm Pork Here

He Arose

Happy Easter Friend! Today, we are taking it easy on the farm. I just finished morning chores and now have a short moment to write you this email before we bustle off to church. Thankfully we worked pretty hard yesterday to get all the chores done so today we can take some extra family time to celebrate this Easter Sunday.Of course there will be the Easter egg hunt this afternoon as we do everyday ;)However, we look forward to celebrating the magnificent miracle that happened 2,000 years ago. Our Lord, Jesus Christ arose from the death of his crucifixion with our family today. As many of you know we are a faith based family farm. This means we hold very closely our faith in everything we do. That said, I wouldn't be acting out of faith, if I didn't share His story as it reflects who we are and stand for. If you are willing, please watch this really cool poem that I found encouraging!It sent chills up my back! It's such a beautiful poem sharing what Christ accomplished with his death, burial, and then resurrection. We are so thankful for his love and grace to save us. Choosing him as our savior vs our good deeds can uplift anyone from the bondage we face. I hope you enjoyed the poem as well. God bless you on this Easter Sunday. The Wanda Family

Pasture-Raised Thanksgiving Turkey Sale 9/8-9/15!

Baby Wanda Coming

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Baby pig farm visit

He Arose

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