The Flock Farm

05/06/2026

We absolutely stand by the coffee we carry. And the milk. And the eggs. And the honey. We genuinely believe in all of the meats – not only our stuff, but Harrold’s chicken and turkey, Margaret’s bison, David’s grass-fed beef. All of these things are clean, local, and of the utmost quality – they are the foundation of what we are doing. We just started carrying All Seasons Farm’s organic produce, which (especially because we just bought another display fridge) makes this upcoming growing season super exciting.

But with that, there are still plenty of puzzles to solve. A big one for us has been finding a really good, high-quality cheese. Something special. Something delicious, but also healthy. And consistent. And with a variety that ranges from the staples to the treats for charcuterie boards and wineries.

That’s not too much to ask for, right? Another dream to turn into reality.

Thankfully, a beloved mentor, Beth Lordan, taught me a thing or two about puzzle-solving.

“Go back to the beginning,” she would say, always.

Back to when we first started raising chickens, with no idea what we were doing. Back to the days of trial and error, with lots of lessons learned the hard way. In hindsight, most of our problems back then revolved around feed. The limping, feather loss, growth rates and strange behavior were all a result of various nutrient deficiencies. As it turns out, what we give the animals to eat determines whether or not they will be healthy. Amazing. We thought that buying the expensive “organic” lines from places like Rural King was being fancy, but what we learned was really everything on the shelf is highly processed and nutritionally empty. Turns out, that matters a lot when you’re trying to raise chickens sustainably.

That’s when Eli, the owner of Misty Leas Poultry Processing, sent me down the street to meet Harvey, a local feed producer in Pembroke, Kentucky. Harvey grows, grinds, and mixes high-quality nonGMO grains. He had a recipe to share with us for heritage breeds, and that’s when all of our chicken problems immediately went away. That was a big deal for us. That is what put our chicken in a different lane.

Harvey also owns and operates a small dairy, and going there for feed became part of our monthly routine. He would pull us raw milk right from the tank, mentor us tremendously on turkeys, and became a wonderful part of our business and our family. His boys and my boys would work together to get the grinder auger into the back of the trailer and fill totes with thousands of pounds of grain. But his real passion was always the dairy – we got to pet the cows and explore the farm, and every single month we got an open invitation to the local creamery.

He was so proud of the creamery – he spoke of the cheeses they were making with excitement and pride. But we never found the time to visit, or the desire for the detour required to give it a try – it’s a long drive with an old truck and thousands of pounds of feed in a trailer. Every single time, I politely declined.

Then tragedy hit and we found ourselves scrambling to figure out how to adapt. We started processing poultry on our own, on-site. We started the rebuilding phase of our broken farm-life. At the same time Cache River Farm and Garden opened up in Anna, 5 miles down the road, and they offer super-sacks of nearly the same quality feed at nearly the same price. So that was it. We stopped going to Kentucky entirely – it wasn’t personal – I could no longer justify the drive.

You can see where this is going. I called Harvey last week for the first time since Jonathan was born. I told him how we built a store – a food hub, really, with dozens of local venders. I explained that we were in need of a good cheese, and was hoping there was still an open door. That was Friday evening. By Monday morning we were packed up, driving past familiar black barns and to***co farms, heading toward a warm welcome and a VIP tour.

Things could not have lined up better. We spent the day at Country View Creamery, learning about the process, eating the best cheese, and meeting all the key players (the creamery is a co-owned collaboration between the local Amish and old-order Mennonite dairy farmers). The logistics have been worked out, the plan is in motion, and their product is already on the shelves in our store.

The cheese game is about to change in Southern Illinois. We are currently carrying five different blocks, bags of shredded, and a couple different curds. Stop in and try some out, then let us know what you think, and which flavors you’d like us to order.

04/23/2026

We’ve got to give a huge shout-out to Woodland Mills for not only having an outstanding product, but also for having the best customer service imaginable. I called when a part broke and they sent me a new one without question, quick and easy, and threw in a box of free hats for the boys and me. Even the hats are super high quality! Amazing.

Why a wood mill? Well, it started when we built the poultry plant – a big part of that process was septic. Both the contractor and the health department agreed what things needed to go where, and that involved removing a handful of big beautiful black walnut trees. In my mind, that meant getting a mill, if for nothing else just for the European mount plaques and a dining room table. Hopefully it will also inspire the boys to take up an interest in wood working. A tool like this seems to have unlimited potential.

So now, of course, the project list keeps growing. We’re planning an herb shed off the garden, a wrap-around deck around the house, a charcuterie board side-hustle, matching cedar bunk beds and a woodworking shop. One day we will build our own house, but that’ll be years from now. In the meantime, we’re starting off slow to figure things out. Our first completed project is our homemade smokehouse.

For the house itself, we used white oak, then pin oak for the overhang and wall, and a thick slab of cherry for a shelf. All three trees came from Holly’s dad’s farm – the oaks uprooted and naturally fell, and the cherry was a tree that we cut for Holly years ago.

Bacon and ham and cheese and salt and snack sticks and summer sausage and who knows what else. Here we go!

04/01/2026

It’s spring break! The seasons have changed. The boys spent today transforming the classroom into a display of the keepsakes they’ve found along the way (they’re calling it a museum, and we’re humoring them). It’s pretty impressive, really, and open to the public from 10-3. There are fossils and artifacts and even a cannon ball! Bring the kids, check out the chickens, feed the pigs, and, of course, shop local.

02/03/2026

We want to sincerely thank everyone who helped make our deer season a huge success. Between the help, the guidance, and the customers who trusted us with their harvest, it’s a long list and we’re very appreciative. We doubled our goal, and – unfortunately – had to turn away over a hundred people. There’s still a long way to go (we’re milling wood now to build our smokehouse) and a bunch of wrinkles to iron out, but lessons were learned and we love a good challenge, so thank you.

Now it’s time to shift our focus toward lambing. Nine sheep had 18 healthy babies in the last week, which puts us at about halfway through. Then a ewe had triplets and we had to bring a little guy inside the other night to help it out a little, but the next morning momma took him back with a warm welcome – so far so good. We don’t normally name the boys, but this one made the cut. They call him Ernie Blackfoot. Personalities go a long way in our world.

The plan is to be at the Carbondale Food Works Winter Farmers Market this weekend, and it’s looking like it’ll be a nice one. We’ve got plenty of chicken and pork, and this round is our favorite combination of all the hog breeds we’ve tried so far – Mulefoot and Tamworth. We’ve got one more combination to explore, and used a boar from that litter to breed three Red Waddle gilts, but those won’t be ready until fall.

Our shop is open all week, 10-3. We just butchered a handful of rabbits and quail, and Holly has a fantastic clean cookie recipe she’s submitting for approval to put on the shelves. Come on out and say hello, see what we’re up to, bring the kids, and be sure to check out the baby lambs.

01/23/2026

The bad news is the Food Works Winter Farmers Market will be closed tomorrow (Sat, Jan 24th) due to a winter storm watch and below freezing temperatures.
The good news is we will open our shop from 8am-noon and we just picked up extra milk, eggs, honey, and coffee!
See you tomorrow!

01/17/2026

We are bringing the bacon to the Food Works Winter Farmers Market this morning! 9-12 at the Carbondale high school. See you there!

12/27/2025

‘Till death do us part
felt like words we just say
until you stare them in the face
then suddenly it matters
and there is not enough time.

The children giggle innocence
that echo down the walls
of beneficence.
There are no more secrets.
She said yes.

Merry Christmas.

God is great.

12/06/2025

We are, unfortunately, going to be missing the opening day of the indoor Food Works Winter Farmers Market. It’s back in the high school, where we started eight years ago, instead of University Mall. Our farm store will be open all day today though, and we’re fully stocked with all your favorite local products. We’re also taking deer, making mounts, and hanging out with Corn the scarecrow. Come check us out!

11/23/2025

Full to capacity!
Thank you to all the hunters who made this weekend a huge success and super exciting for our entire family! Yesterday was non-stop unloading and tagging and skinning and caping and we had wonderful interactions with the community – everyone was so patient and polite – we didn’t know what to expect, but it turned out really great.

We apologize for having to turn so many people away, but the last thing we want to do is bite off more than we can chew, and we went way beyond playing it safe. So now there is work to do, and our goal is to get caught up and ready to take more before second season. In the meantime, we wish you a happy Thanksgiving – our shop will be open Tuesday and Wednesday if you still need a Thanksgiving turkey.

11/22/2025

Wow! Our first annual shotgun season opener was a huge success, despite the morning rain! We took a mountain of deer in last night and expect a bunch more today, so we will not be at The Farmers Market of Carbondale this morning. We will have our shop open from 8-3 though, so come on down and see a glimpse of the cultural phenomenon that is Southern Illinois deer hunting – meet your neighbors, see the harvest, and get a free cup of Cold Blooded Coffee Co.

Still looking for that pasture raised, nonGMO Thanksgiving turkey? We have a handful left, but they are going quickly. We utilize a no-hold policy, so it’s first-come-first-serve (feel free to call first if you’d like to know how many are available). We ate one last week and they are outstanding!

11/06/2025

We can now officially accept donated deer!
Another great program networked through U of I Ext Local Foods/Small Farms - Southern Illinois. Check out Hunters Feeding Illinois for details.

Welcome The Flock Farm of Anna, as a partnering meat processor for the 2025–26 Hunters Feeding Illinois season!
They’ll help turn donated deer into nutritious meals for families in need.