Farm Reflections & New Beginnings by Raya Carr

We are the community of folks eating sustenance gratefully received from farm animals, from the earth, and from the sun. We are a small staff of people; we are a family. 

We have just been through a weird year. After weathering many pandemic-related adjustments to operations during 2020, it seemed like the theme of 2021 was adding back a lot of what was on hold in 2020. BUT, somehow we did it with limited resources, while still doing everything new that arose as well. How was that possible? The farm survived! It was only possible because a lot of incredible folks in our community, staff, and family went the extra mile to make it happen.

There have been some gaps in product availability and service that our customer community has been very patient with. When farmers’ markets were closed, you supported us through extra home delivery orders, keeping our business alive. Also, we are grateful for all of your understanding during the times we’ve been low on specific products, when there were long wait times for red meat processing, and when the poultry and eggs quickly sold out. We spent much of the last year understaffed at the farm, and thankfully, we’ve just recently hired a couple of new farmhands. We are hopeful to work towards catching up on much-needed farm work.

The meat chickens were so labor-intensive in 2020 that after caring for all those birds nonstop, in smaller batches totaling over a thousand by the end of the season, my mom and dad, Gwen and Harry, started referring to the chicks as their constant little task-masters. They couldn’t have any time off without those determined little chicks’ permission and a stock pile of good food and water. My parents were actually soaking, fermenting, and cooking, via a huge cauldron, the organic beans included in the chicks’ rations. Harry introduced this practice at the farm during difficult financial times when OMRI fishmeal was not a viable protein option. This farming practice uses carefully prepared organic beans of various varieties to add a nutritious and protein-rich element to the birds’ food. (And beans become much more digestible after the soaking/cooking/fermentation learned about from time-honored, Eastern traditions). 

My parents and those fat and sassy chickens helped save the farm in 2020, though, when red meat processing wasn’t available for the 2nd half of 2020 into the beginning of 2021. Only poultry meat processing was available at the time, so thank goodness we raised so many chickens that year, or we would have been empty handed for too many months, despite our large inventory of live animals. There is strength in having a diversified farm that raises multiple species. We have every intention to get back into the groove with the meat chickens. To make the birds’ demands a little easier on us, we are applying for funding for improving the chicks’ shelter and water infrastructure in 2022. Another big 2022 goal is to yet again increase our egg-laying flock, as many hens are getting old, and we are having to turn down far too many egg customers lately! Don’t give up, as we are working on it!

At Mint Creek, everything moves a bit slower in winter, and it is often the hardest part of the year. Of course, the cold is hard on our bodies and on the herds and flocks we steward through the seasons. Cold is also hard on pests, disease, parasites. The winter kills without discriminating between our ideas of desirable and undesirable, good or bad. This week we mourn Missy the goat, a dear, favorite nanny, who we just lost to old age, sped along by the extreme cold weather. Missy has been the farm’s Instagram mascot for years - and this is fitting as she was always a social goat. If you visited Mint Creek, you might remember her epic horns (as many Kiko breed goats sport!). Musing thoughts of a peaceful, goat heaven are in our minds, and we miss Missy already. In other goat news, we are working on their infrastructure, too. They have a new shipping container house out on winter pasture, and a lot of work has gone into the indoor warehouse that we use for newborns that need attention & warming up after birth. 

Although animal mortality is all too real right now, sometimes it seems to me that the fleshly beasts are tougher against the elements than the vehicles we use. Distribution becomes harder because of winter roads, and it’s more than the struggle to keep your hands and feet warm. Winter is also hard on the farm’s cash flow, as farmers’ markets take breaks, slow down, and lose participation. This year, particularly, we are noticing a real drop in winter farmers’ market sales. Of course, farming isn’t the only place these struggles are felt; close to home, Chicagoans and Midwesterners intimately know winter. Moreover, folks have persevered through times of great change and tribulation the last couple years, on top of the regular difficulties of the winters. 

During the pandemic, I believe we all have feared for the health and survival of our families and community, as well as at large in the world. When wondering what would happen to our small farm, we quickly found that the community was there for us as we were there for them, supporting our pivot to contactless delivery. And with more cooking at home and food supply chain issues, we saw folks order meats locally more than ever before. We had a new beginning and new hope despite concerns and much unknown. The farm continues to offer contactless delivery, providing local, organic, and nutrient dense food. We do what we can to donate to events around the west side of Chicago feeding those in need, as well. 

After pivoting to increase home delivery capacity, we realized just how much of a problem meat processing during the pandemic was shaping up to be. Mint Creek has always traveled to USDA-inspected, small meat processors to get our animals butchered. We are used to traveling just under two hours to get there. But the butcher dates we had reserved regularly, usually confirmed six months or more in advance, dried up. Our email confirming butchering dates earlier that year was not honored. We found that we had another pivot to make, another hurdle to be able to continue the farm business.

Before repeated follow-up, research, and calls resulted in success overcoming this meat processing hurdle, first we ran up against a distressing lack of availability at area processors. In some situations, meat processors were interested in our business but just didn’t have the services/inspection level to fill the farm’s product needs. We had expanded research into what it would take to acquire and run an on-farm slaughter unit, and we considered different business plans for starting a separate butcher shop in the city, where dry-aging and cut and wrap of meat cuts could happen. But these options, though still under consideration, require more capital and resources than the farm currently has ready.

The pandemic-related meat processing bottleneck situation was just starting to improve last winter, and now this winter, capacity has improved greatly after we expanded our business with additional meat processors. This took a lot of time, though, and that time costs us greatly. Just barely were we able to feed and preserve our growing herds of cattle, pigs, and goats, as well as our flock of several hundred sheep while waiting for processing! Having less butchering availability meant keeping more breeding stock and growing the herds and flocks further, though. Today, there are more four-legged animals at Mint Creek Farm than ever!

So, we go into 2022 with a huge inventory of animals available to continue to provide you and your family food. It’s a great time to order quarter, half, and whole animals. For more variety, I recommend the Annual Meat CSA Share as a good way to secure a year’s worth of super clean, nutrient-dense proteins including both red meats and poultry. These meats are raised on Illinois pastures using organic-regenerative farming practices by a staff and a family who adore their animals and the wild ecosystem around the farm, too. 

P.S. My family and several close friends have had the indescribable joy of welcoming new family members in 2021! A real blessing to the Soler and Carr families this year was the birth of Cecilia Jean Carr to Kathleen and Jonathan. Cece is a sweet, silly, and precocious baby of almost one now! We aren’t sure how she feels about farming yet, but one of her first words was “cat.” I wanted to share our joy with you all!