At sunset the other night my soon to be daughter in law Megan stood next to me and gazed across the fields towards Yamhill. The sun stretched its fingers out and lingered on the city proper, leaving the surrounding areas in the shadows. At the time we didn't notice the way the sun shone, just that it was so breathtakingly beautiful we nearly couldn't tear our eyes away from the view. Megan snapped a few photos and we talked for awhile, but the bugs came out and drove us inside.

It was only the next day when Megan looked at these photos that we realized what an incredible picture she had captured.

I wanted to share it with you to make you understand why we love this place so much. Why it means so much to us and why we do what we do. Every day that view is there, just the same as always; and every day that view changes and reveals something we've never seen before.

I wonder every time I am there if my forefathers were as captivated by the view as we are. Did they stop in the middle of a mundane daily chore and just gaze over the fields in amazement like we do? I wonder if they built the house on this knoll with a 360* view on purpose? They must have. I would if it were up to me.

A picture will never do this view justice. It is something only to be seen in person to be believed.

Garden Update:
Summer is marching on at the farm and we've yet to get a ripe tomato. A few ripened in the city garden already but they had a little help because they were planted near a south facing rock wall.
Blackberries are ripening by the bowl full and we can't pick them fast enough at this point.
The zucchini has gone a little mad, but the pigs don't complain much!
Our plum trees didn't do anything this year, but the apples are loaded.

Animal Update:
We have 16 pigs on the hoof right now, most of which are spoken for.
They have lived a life of piggy luxury for the last 9 months...mud wallows, hay nests, walnuts, apples, fresh local wheat, chevre, goat milk - the list goes on...but they eat better than most people I know ;)

We have 2 Nubian does who are looking for a Nubian husband (preferably spotted) so if you know any dairy quality bucks who need a small harem please inquire within!

We will have very limited pork available for 2011 as we are transitioning to breeding Tamworths. We will also be growing all animal feed on farm! This is a huge milestone for us.

I added a donation button at the top of the page - we have 22 acres to fence for pig pasture rotations & honey that's a HUGE deal ;)

Stay tuned for more updates. Thanks for stopping in.

Best regards,
Heather

On layoffs, new adventures and being a full-time mama & farmer

Today marked the end of my 9 year employment with Hollywood Video corporate offices. Hollywood is closing all their stores in the coming months and my position as a Specialty Sell Thru buyer was no longer needed.

That said, I loved my job at Hollywood and will cherish the memories and friends I made while I worked there.

But in the words of Walt Disney, I need to "Keep Moving Forward!"

I've been spread pretty thin with a 2 year old, farm, full-time job and a house in the city; so I'm really looking forward to being able to devote myself full-time to the two real loves of my life (family & farm).

What we're up to:

We'll be sending a fresh batch of pork to "Farm to Fork" restaurant in Dundee, Oregon sometime in the near future.

Patience is a virtue when watching pastured pigs grow as they do not make the same astounding rates of growth in six months like a confined feed operation pig does.

Chef Paul Bachand did all sorts of fun things with our pork last time, and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.












We're also one of the suppliers for chef Jeffrey Kingman at "Cognito" that opens this summer in PDX. We'll be providing pork & vegetables for their top secret menu!

The Willamette Week also mentioned us in their article about Cognito today which was pretty thrilling I must say!

We can be found on Twitter @Rosemont_Farm.

We're hoping to partner with a few more local restaurants in a CSA type model to allow us to expand what we can offer from our sustainably run, ethically grown 22 acre slice of heaven.

Here's to a fun and healthy summer full of family and farm memories...plus some really darn good food.