Spring is on it's way!! As I have lived in both rural and urban places, I notice that when I'm close to the earth and the animals I notice the early and slight signs of spring long before it's very evident that spring is on it's way.  I've attached a video of one morning that the ground was still covered in snow, but the birds were hard at work warming up their voices!

In this newsletter we're encouraging you to think like a farmer. I started to become very accustomed to knowing I always have beef in my freezer. As long as I remembered to get a few bits out at the beginning of the week and let it thaw in the fridge slowly (when you slowly thaw it, the texture is slightly better). Then I have fresh meat in my fridge ready for me to do whatever I want with it! I tend to love to entertain and having big round roasts in the freezer was super handy. I could easily either make beef bourguignon (a Julia Child Recipe, a little bit arduous but SOO tasty and worth it, even the kids love it when I serve it to friends and family). If I couldn't be bothered with proper beef bourguignon I would do the cheater version. My cheater version is sticking a hunk of meat in the crock pot (usually a tougher cut, like a round roast or a bunch of stew beef), and tossing a cup of red wine, a can of diced or crushed tomatoes on top. The acidity of the tomatoes and the wine helps to break down the meat into delicious tender tasty meat. If you are being extra lazy add a cup of water. If you aren't lazy and have some bone broth around, throw that in for extra rich flavour and nutrition (needs no introduction "Stock Exchange" which uses Vibrant Farms bones is a good option).  Add a diced onion, 3 sliced carrots and 3 cloves of garlic, some thyme, and a bay leaf and turn it on and come back to an aromatic dinner. Technically adding mushrooms and bacon is part of the proper beef bourginion recipe. It still tastes great without!  Also makes awesome left overs for kids lunches and mom and dad's lunches for work. The sauce that results from this dish is also really awesome to use in stir fries, and to flavour pretty much anything, I even pour it over top of broccoli! 

This year  marks my 7th official year of running Vibrant Farms and it's morphed and changed over the years, however inevitably what happens is people get stuck in the fact that it's still REALLY cold outside and since they aren't thinking like a farmer they miss out on beef later and have to go on a waiting list. So think like a farmer, while baby calves are being born now, it takes about 24-36 months to get the animals to proper weight, which is right about now!!  Over the years we've done our best to provide packages that work for your family and our $200-$300 variety package has become the most popular. Less freezer space, no major up front cost. There is a lot to love which makes sense why this is our most popular package. ~Written by Melissa Baer, The Farmer's Daughter & Owner/Founder of Vibrant Farms

"I have been buying and trying various sources for beef over the last year. Your beef is by far the best taste I have come across yet, very distinct beef taste - I could not be more happy with my order" ~Garrett H, valued customer