The grass is green and the animals are loving it! Our spring calf numbers are up to 11 and more on the way.  This years lambing was long and challenging but we have about 70 bouncing leaping lambs enjoying spring and mothers milk! Soon our layer hens (all 475 of them) will be roaming in search of some great bugs and cleansing the pastures while following behind our sheep flock.

Please note! This Saturday (May 12th) is the first outside summer farmers market at City Hall Park in Burlington. Come find us at our seasonal spot adjacent to the fountain. We’ll have the grill going for sausages and local hot dogs and maybe a few other surprises to fill your stomach. Take home a delicious grass fed steak or some pasture raised pork for your grill. We’ll be there every Saturday through October!

Other markets this season: Shelburne – Saturdays 9-1pm begins May 26   AND    Richmond – Fridays 3:30-7pm  (we apologize to our Middlebury customers that we will not be at the Saturday Middlebury market this season)

Save the date! All welcome to our ANNUAL OPEN HOUSE AND FARM TOURS.  Sunday June 3rd from 10-2. Come join us at Maple Wind Farm for some fun on the farm! There will be grilled items, farm products for sale and a great time for all to roam and see the farm.  Our 12th annual!

Chickens 2012. We are not partnering with the VYCC this year so as to focus on our operation which will include our own Pasture Raised Broilers.  Reserve yours today! We will be raising 1/3 of the birds on organic grain so let us know if that is your preference.

Any questions about purchasing our products email Beth. (beth@maplewindfarm.com)

Thats all for now, I hope we see you at an upcoming market! Let the summer begin!

and PLEASE COME TO OUR OPEN HOUSE JUNE 3!

All the best, eat well,

Beth and Bruce

PS. Like us on FACEBOOK! Im looking forward to posting (not spaming I promise) with fun farm photos and news of the farm this summer from my new cracked smartphone!

We will be a busy farm team this Saturday covering 3 farmers markets! Come see us in Burlington, Middlebury and Shelburne. We’ll be grilling up some delicious pasture raised burgers, sausages and our own grass fed beef hot dogs!  Summer markets are winding down just a few more weeks but we’ll be regular vendors all winter in Burlington twice monthly at Memorial Auditorium starting Nov 3.

Taking reservations for our delicious ORGANIC pasture raised TURKEYS! Email us or download the turkey reservation form from our site to reserve yours for Thanksgiving (fresh) or Christmas (frozen). $5/lb. $25 deposit holds your turkey- we have limited numbers and we do not guarantee a certain size (sorry about that). They hopefully will be a range of 12-28lbs.

We are still waiting to hear from our requests for flood relief. We did have damage to over 300 round bales of hay (1/3 of our winter feed) as well as our tractor that needed quite a bit of repairs since it was under 6 feet of water. We’ll keep you posted. Keep your fingers crossed.

Still time to get some pork, beef or lamb in larger quantities for your freezers this winter.

Let us know if you have any questions,

Eat well,

Beth and Bruce

Come join the fun this Saturday September 17 at Shelburne Farms from 10-4pm. We’ll be there grilling some delicious brats, hot dogs and our own organic turkey salad in pita. Great time for the whole family! Enjoy the farmyard, crafts, corn on the cob, Very Merry Theatre, tractor rides and MORE!

Its time to get your reservation in for one of our delicious organic pasture raised Thanksgiving turkeys! We have forms at our farmers market tables or email me and I can send you one. We do require a 25$ deposit please.  We promise to have some small/medium sized ones this year (even if that means they will be frozen and processed earlier).

Enjoy the change of seasons, the crisper weather, apple picking and good eating from  your gardens.

Don’t forget, we can put together a 20lb box of pork or beef for your freezer this fall! Call us!

Eat well,

Beth and Bruce

Wednesday August 31 at the Farmhouse Tap and Grill, Bank St, Burlington. Come join the evening dedicated to MWF. Chef Phil Clayton will be featuring our products as part of the Farmer Series.  There will be a whole lamb in their smoker! wow- sounds amazing!  www.farmhousetg.com

In September: where you can find our delicious grilled items…

Shelburne Orchards Small Farm Food Festival! Good times by all! Sunday Sept 11 11-5

Shelburne Farms Harvest Festival, Sat. Sept 17th

Monitor Barns Farm FALL vegetable shares & Winter Frozen Vegetable CSA still available

Fall Share is one time pickup in November of storage crops and Winter Share is 5 months (1 delivery per month of freshly frozen vegetables!)

Now is a great time to stock your freezers with meat for Back to School convenience. We still have our 20lb Small Family Packages of Pork only cuts and Beef only cuts. We are gladly still accepting CSA customers on a rolling basis. 6 mo or 12 mo.  (10lbs each month of a variety of meats we raise)

Taking orders now for our Organically Certified Thanksgiving Turkeys! Dont wait too long!

Enjoy the last of summer. We are still waiting for our dairy cow to have her baby, making hay, rotating the animals and collecting alot of delicious eggs. See you at Farmers Market! Call us if you would like to make a special order pickup.

Eat well,

Beth and Bruce

Sunday July 31st DRAFT HORSE DEMO at the Monitor Barns Farm in Richmond. Watch Bruce work with Herbie and Henry do some cultivating in the garden. FREE EVENT! 10-12:30 pm Please kindly rsvp since a light lunch will be served. 434-3969 x113.  Rte 2 Richmond at the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps.

Saturday August 13th VALLEY STAGE MUSIC FESTIVAL, Huntington. We will be vending our delicious hamburgers, sausages and local hotdogs while music fans enjoy a whole afternoon of great music!  www.valleystage.net.

Stop by and see us at a farmers market and take home a grass fed steak or sausage for your grill!

Our local community general store, Beaudry’s,  in Huntington has expanded their kitchen to offer more prepared foods—–featuring Maple Wind Farm beef hamburgers and our pork sausages!  Thanks Linda Pecor and kitchen manager, Daimen!

PLEASE ‘LIKE US’ ON FACEBOOK, We have some fun postings of goings on that dont get mentioned in these emails. Our goal is 150 friends by the end of August!

Enjoy summer and eat well!

Beth and Bruce

A few important farm announcements:

For those of you on Facebook, please check us out and “like” us- spread the word. We post some fun ongoing photos from our farm life and special announcements from the field.

NOW is the time to order your custom cut pork, lamb and beef.

Deadline for summer/fall pork is July 20th! 1/2  or whole.  (20lb boxes available year round)

Deadline for whole lamb- while supplies last.

Deadline for beef quarters/halves or whole is August 15th! (20 lb boxes available year round)

Fresh chickens available from our partner farm the Monitor Barns Farm this week! Stop by the VYCC Thursday 3-6 or our weekly farmers markets. Did you know we LOWERED the Chicken CSA price! wow! 6 chickens for 100$

Upcoming Events you will see us grilling our amazing burgers, sausages and hotdogs:

July 24th. Shelburne Farms Cheese/Wine Tasting Festival

August 13th. Valley Stage Music Festival, Huntington

Sept. 11th. Shelburne Orchards Small Food Festival

Sept. 17th Shelburne Farms Harvest Festival.

and of course at Richmond Farmers Markets on Friday eves and Shelburne Farmers Markets on Saturday mornings.!!!! Come visit us.

Thank you to all of you localvores and friends that support us. Keep in touch and come see us at a market or at the farm.

Eat well,

Beth and Bruce

We had a fantastic Open House Farm Tour yesterday. Thanks to all that attended- it was great to see so many families enjoying the animals, horse tours and delicious grilled goodies.

Speaking of grilled goodies, we are debuting our all local meat hot dog at this weeks Shelburne Farmers Market (open for the season) from 9-1 on Saturday. Stop by and try one with relish or saurkraut. Of course we’ll have our burgers and pork sausages too!

All summer long find us in Richmond on Fridays, Shelburne and Middlebury on Saturday mornings. Shop local and often at these great farmers markets!

Did I hear someone say, FRESH CHICKEN? The first of the season pasture raised chickens will be available next week at the Monitor Barns Farm in Richmond on Rte 2. Stop by there if you cant make it to one of the Memorial Day weekend markets.  Fill your freezers by joining the Poultry CSA. Just $100 for 6 chickens! Our website has order forms.

Enjoy the change of seasons, pray for sun, and eat well!

Beth and Bruce

Please note:  We are now taking orders for 20 and 40# variety boxes of beef and pork. Custom butchered 1/2 and whole pigs for July AND whole lambs are available now thru Fall. (about 25 lbs of meat each). Larger quantity of beef available July/Aug/Sept too!

Fill your freezers with great local meat!

Its springtime and at Maple Wind Farm that means the grass is greening and the animals are heading out on pasture.

Please join us for our Annual Farm Tour Open House. All welcome and free event for the community!

Sunday, May 22 10-2 (rain or shine)

Come see the 2011 lambs and stroll through our pastures and enjoy the amazing views at our hilltop farm.

Horse drawn farmer led tours. Kids activity area, trivia table, and plenty of exploring.

Grilled items available as well as Maple Wind Farm meat and syrup for sale (or bring a picnic of your own).

www.maplewindfarm.com. No dogs please. Wear your walking shoes! 1340 Carse Rd. 20 min from Richmond, Waitsfield, Hinesburg and Bristol.

Come join us at the farm for some fun! Beth Whiting and Bruce Hennessey

As the sun shines, temperatures rising and  daffodils peaking out we just wanted to wish everyone a HAPPY SPRING!

If a delicious local ham is on your menu for Easter, please call us. We have delicious, 4-5 # boneless smoked hams (frozen) in addition to some larger non smoked bone in hams (also frozen) ready for your gathering.

We have 1 more indoor Burlington market on April 23 and then May 7 summer markets begin! We’ll be in Middlebury that Saturday and possibly the outdoor Burlington market at City Hall Park.

In May, we’ll have our Open House Farm tours again. Date most likely Sunday May 22. Another reminder will follow!

Until the next post, enjoy the weather and eat well!

Beth and Bruce

Thursday April 7th from 5-7pm all are welcome to drop in at the Monitor Barns in Richmond on Rte 2 for a Q and A about our Summer Vegetable CSA. Undecided about renewing your membership or  joining a CSA? Would you like to know more about our program?  A summer of fresh vegetables, pick your own garden, weekly newsletters and on farm events.join the farm! Two sizes of shares to fit your families needs or share with a friend! Pasture Raised poultry share available too! Call 434-3968 x145 for more info. Monitor Barns Farm is a food partnership between Maple Wind Farm and the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps.

Maple Update: The Maple Wind Farm sugar shack has been boiling! We finally got in the groove and had a great stretch of cooperative weather. 2011 syrup is tasting good! Come by a farmers market for some of the new batch!

Meat Purchases: You can still sign up for a Meat CSA (any time, rolling start) or consider a larger purchase of a custom butchered lamb, pig or beef for your freezers for the upcoming season. Sharing with neighbors is a great way to get an economies of scale of the best tasting, healthiest meat you can by!

Farmers Markets: 2 more Burlington indoor markets! April 9 and 24. Then we’ll see you all outside in Richmond, Shelburne and Middlebury this summer!

Lambing is under way! The 2011 flock is growing by leaps and bounds, literally!

May Open House Farm Tours- we’ll be hosting our wonderful day in May again, stay tuned for exact date in next posting. (ps usually the 3rd weekend in May)

Thats all for now, keep in touch and eat well.

Beth, Bruce and Nate