Here’s the weekly roundup from Watson Farms and your direct connection to your farmer. Enjoy the latest edition of Pasture Posts!
It’s starting to get even busier around the farm as we are wrapping some things up for the year on the production side and ramping some things up in anticipation of the holiday season on the marketing side.
Layer Chickens
We have moved our layer chickens into their winter housing where they can be much more comfortable during wet and cold weather. This is a huge task as it involves re-homing thousands of chickens to a new house. If you know about chickens you probably know that they fall into habits easily so making the big transition to a new house, nest boxes, feeders and drinkers is a big shakeup for them. Nevertheless, they have done well with it and are settled in nicely to a deep-bedded house with outdoor access and thermostatically controlled curtains to keep them comfortable.
Broiler Chickens
We have also begun processing our last 1500 broiler chickens for the year. We won’t place anymore chicks so we’re focusing on making sure these birds do the best they can so that we can stockpile as many as possible in the freezer for our winter supply of chicken. Truly pastured broilers cannot be raised during the winter in our area due to several reasons including the lack of pasture and freezing temperatures.
No-tilling Winter Annuals
We have also gotten off to a good start sowing our winter annual grasses that play such an important role in grass-finishing cattle during the colder months. This mix of rye, ryegrass, and oats provide some of the best gains for our cattle because of the high carbohydrate content. It’s always encouraging to see the newly-sprouted grass pop up through the brown crabgrass stubble.
Holiday Offerings
We’re excited about some of the things that are in store for the Holiday Season.
If you haven’t heard about our Carving Hams be sure to check them out. These are smoked and ready to eat. For more warming instructions check out the product page.
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Carving Ham$98.32
We are also offering fresh (never frozen) whole chickens again this year. This was very popular last year as some customers enjoyed a roasted pasture raised chicken for Thanksgiving and bypassed the confinement-raised turkey from the grocery store.
You can choose different sizes and we will do our best to match your selection as we process the birds on Nov. 21. Check out the product page for more details on the pick up and delivery options for these fresh chickens. Deadline to reserve your chicken(s) is Sunday, November 20th at 5:00pm.
Modified Schedule for Thanksgiving Week
Home Delivery Schedule
We wanted to bring it to your attention that due to the Thanksgiving Holiday we will be performing Greenville/Spartanburg and Columbia deliveries on Wednesday, Nov. 23 instead of Thursday, Nov. 24.
Charleston area deliveries will remain on Tuesday, Nov. 22 and Charlotte/Rock Hill/Local area deliveries will remain on Saturday, Nov. 26.
Order deadlines for the week of Thanksgiving:
Charleston area: Monday (21st) at noon
Greenville/Spartanburg area: Tuesday (22nd) at noon
Columbia area: Tuesday (22nd) at noon
Charlotte/Rock Hill/Local area: Friday (25th) at noon
Order deadlines for Produce the week of Thanksgiving:
Charleston area: Sunday (20th) at 9:00pm
Greenville/Spartanburg area: Sunday (20th) at 9:00pm
Columbia area: Sunday (20th) at 9:00pm
Charlotte/Rock Hill/Local area: Thursday (24th) at 9:00pm
Farm Store Schedule
The Farm Store will be open normal hours except for Thursday, Nov. 24 when it will be closed. So for the week of Thanksgiving, it will be open Monday, Tuesday, and Friday 10am to 6pm; Saturday 10am to 2pm.
As our farm continues to grow so does our team, and as team members move on to other endeavors, we find ourselves in need of talented individuals to help us continue to serve our customers with the high quality proteins and services they have come to expect.
We have one position open right now for what we call a Field Specialist and Fulfillment Assistant. This person would play an important part in making our various feed rations as well as using our tractors and equipment to tend to livestock, mow pastures, and otherwise work to produce the high quality proteins that we are committed to. In addition to various other responsibilities, this position would also provide assistance to our Order Fulfillment Manager.
Use the button below to check out the full job description, and if you know of a talented individual that would like to play a big role in producing and bringing pastured proteins to customers’ doors please send them our way.
Tell a Friend!
It’s now easier than ever to Give $15 and Get $15 through our Referral Program. We don’t spend a lot of money of advertising, but rather we focus on producing products that people love and are willing to tell others about. So we depend on word of mouth to find new customers and ultimately to heal more land.
So in an effort to streamline this process we have made it easier to tell others (via email, Facebook, or Twitter) about Watson Farms. And it’s all automated on the backend, so you don’t have to rely on us to issue the store credits manually. Just head over to our Referrals Page and start sharing!
Product Spotlight
We have a special offer available with our Quarter Beef Bundle. For a limited time you get 5 extra pounds of ground beef (over $45 in value) when you purchase a Quarter Beef! Head over to the site and take a look!
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Quarter Beef Bundle$949.00
We have an exciting announcement for our UPS Customers as well. We have made some of our Bulk Bundles available for UPS shipping (including the Quarter Beef). Shop our Bulk UPS Bundles category if you are not in one of our Home Delivery areas.
Produce Boxes Available!
Our partnership with Wild Hope Farm continues this fall as they are working hard to provide you with superior organic produce that can be delivered to your door right along with anything else that we deliver on our van. (Not available for UPS Shipping at this time.) In order to provide you with the freshest produce possible, we have implemented the deadlines below.
Produce Box Order Deadlines:
CHARLESTON HOME DELIVERY – SUNDAYS at 9pm
GSP/COLUMBIA HOME DELIVERY AND FARM PICK UP – TUESDAYS at 9pm
LOCAL HOME DELIVERY- THURSDAYS at 9pm
Head over to the product page below to order now.
We re-use packaging!
We’ve seen a good response to our efforts in re-using packaging! Thanks and keep it up.
You can help us reduce our carbon footprint by returning your CLEAN egg cartons and meat boxes.
The main reason that we switched to plastic egg cartons a while back was because they are so much more durable than paper which could only be used once. They also protect the eggs much better!
So if you have some egg cartons or boxes to return, you can just place them on your porch on your home delivery day. Farm pickup customers can, of course, drop them off when you come to pick up your new order.
***We can only re-use OUR cartons or boxes. Please re-use or recycle other boxes or egg cartons elsewhere.***
We redact your personal information found on your meat boxes when we re-use them, but feel free to redact to redact it yourself without damaging the box if you would like.
Thanks for helping us re-use our packaging!
Order Deadlines and Store Hours
Charleston Area: 12 noon Mondays
UPS Orders: 12 noon Mondays
New Deadline: Columbia Area: 12 noon on Wednesdays
GSP: 12 noon on Wednesdays
Charlotte/Fort Mill/Rock Hill Areas: 12 noon Fridays
Farm Pickup: Please wait until you receive an email stating that your order is ready to be picked up (usually 1 business day from when you place your order). Farm pickup is done during store hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 10am to 6pm
Saturday: 10am to 2pm
Closed Sunday and Wednesday
Did you know that we have a webpage that displays all the reviews we have received?
Check it out!
Check out this ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review:
“Ordered a pasture Box and was very impressed with the variety of meats/cuts. We were getting Butcher Box which we really enjoyed but really liked the idea of supporting a local farm but also it is clear the Watson Farms takes exceptional care of the animals and their customers. The delivery was on time and clearly communicated.”
We would greatly appreciate it if you would be kind enough to leave us a review. It helps first-time customers purchase with confidence.
Thanks again for being partners in this endeavor of local, pasture-raised proteins that has truly transformed our farm. We look forward to continuing this transition while serving you long into the future.
Sincerely,
The Watsons
Pasture Posts is written by Matt Watson.