Big Sky Farm

Big Sky Farm is situated on 30 acres (half woods & half tillable/pasture area). We acquired our farm in early 2013 & have been busy getting it prepared to accept regular CSA members. Our first 3 years have been quite productive; gardening, adding a pond, working on fencing & improving the pasture area for our cows Aggie & Bess. This year Aggie had a calf which has been fun to watch & which is maturing rapidly. In 2015 we acquired a bull after we didn't have any luck the prior year with artificial insemination. Renee named him Timmy since he is timid. If Timmy has done his job we look forward to offering our members hormone free, grass-fed beef later this year. Our garden has been quite productive this past year for our four founding members. Our founding members have already committed for the 2016 season and we have decided to limit the founding members to four this season. We seek to provide an enjoyable environment in which to spend time at Big Sky Farm as you help grow & harvest your own sustainable food supply. We have established two Purple Martin bird colonies who soar over our lake, feasting on mosquitos and other critters. Last year we added Tilapia rather than using harsh chemicals to help keep the algae in the pond at bay. We have many feeders and plants that attract a wide variety of songbirds & hummingbirds to serenade us as we go about our chores. We have now hosted several canning & food preservation seminars for our members & their friends, processing untold jars of; Bread & Butter Pickles, Dill Pickles, Green & Wax Beans, Pickled Beans, Summer Squash, Tomatoes, Sweet Pickle Rellish, sour kraut, salsa, etc. We do not believe in using harsh chemicals to grow our food, and don't grow or use genetically modified seeds in our garden. In general, we aim to work with nature as much as possible, including raising our livestock in a humane way. In 2016 we have two major projects in mind. The first being a feeding/hay storage barn, so we can store enough hay for the following winter inside. The barn would be roughly half hay storage & half feeding area. The feeding area would be covered from the elements, which would allow much better control of manure management, have a calving stall, working area, etc. The second project is to start to improve a new gardening area. The current garden is temporary, being a fenced off area with the cattle pasture. The new area is roughly an acre, next to the pond, where we leveled Mt. Renee last fall. This area needs soil improvement before we make it our permanent garden. We are excited to add a couple new offerings this year; asparagus, goji berries & garlic (12 varieties). We plan on adding bee hives to help pollinate our crops, after recently coming across an exciting new hive technology, www.honeyflow.com.