Farm Newsletter April ‘24
Farm Wide Update: What’s happened and what’s to come 🌱
Hey there, Hillsiders! The first quarter of the year has already flown by and it’s been 3 months since our last update, so we wanted to catch up and say hi. Already we’ve seen heatwaves and flooding, and we’re somewhat dreading the first frost of the season, which we’re expecting any week now. Bigs things are happening on the farm, so read on if you’d like to hear about them.
If you're just keen on seeing our available products, scroll down a bit, and you'll find all that info neatly laid out. But if you've got a minute or two, stick around for some behind-the-scenes farm news.
Our 2024 so far 🗓 🍽
We continue to be blown away by the support we’ve received every fortnight at Carriageworks Farmers Market. We love seeing our regular customers and discussing the dishes they’ve created with their Hillside Food Forest pork and chicken. We’re lucky enough to see their photos and hear about how much they have enjoyed our produce. Another highlight for us has been chatting to new customers about our farming practices, how we’re different to conventional farms and how that translates into what we produce. We enjoy being amongst this community so much we’ve decided to increase our stall from fortnightly to weekly in the not too distant future! Keep your eyes peeled on our socials for dates.
Hillside Happenings 🌧 ☀️
Mother Nature showed us who’s boss this summer. She was lovely enough to keep bushfires at bay, despite minimal rainfall last year. The scorching summer temps brought forth its usual challenges including keeping our chickens comfortable throughout the extremely hot afternoons. Much ice was needed to keep drinking water cool and our new chicken tractor was put to the test. With our new design, we are able to allow better air flow through to bring down the temp whilst giving our birds enough shade to escape the suns rays. Check out our handy work in the pics below.
In an interesting turn of events, we were inundated with a whopping 230mm of rain over a 2 day period! With a bit of practice managing floods under our belt, we were prepared and despite a lack of sleep in order to monitor the rising water levels and a 2am paddock move for the pigs, everything went smoothly. We were gifted with 2 full dams and power that only went out for 2 hours! How good!
Harvey Norman Delicious. Produce Awards 🏆 🥹 🐷
We are beyond thrilled to announce (and still somewhat in disbelief) that we have been nominated for the Harvey Norman Delicious. Produce Awards for 2024! The awards help showcase and recognise the amazing primary producers we have here in Australia. With sustainable production practices as the main focus, we are so proud to be included and recognised for the effort we put into producing food using a regenerative and ethical approach.
🐓 🐓 Chicken Subscription Boxes Are Live 🐓 🐓
Our very own Pasture Raised Chicken Boxes are now available on our website! We are so excited to bring this option to you, making it easier, more affordable and convenient. Each box contains 4x Pasture Raised Whole Chickens which have been freshly frozen and will be delivered straight to your door every 6 weeks. You can find our subscription boxes on our website in our Farm Store or click here.
Special on Pork Boxes 🥩🥓🍖
For the next month or until sold out, we are offering 10% off our 5kg and 10kg pork boxes. This is a great chance to stock up your freezer with our delicious pork for the upcoming cool season. As winter approaches so does the time to pull out a yummy pork roast with all the trimmings. For a perfect crackling on your roast or belly, be sure to pat the skin dry, leave unwrapped in the fridge overnight and crank up the temp at the end of your cook. 🤤
New Products Coming Soon 👀 🥟 🍲
As you may already know, here at Hillside Food Forest we’re all about nose-to-tail eating. It’s important that the whole animal is used and nothing goes to waste. For this reason, we have been in the kitchen experimenting with fat, skin, offal and bones to create some awesome products to offer. You may have seen the occasional sneak peek on our Facebook and Instagram stories. If you haven’t already, give us a follow on Insta or like on Facebook. You’ll get to find out straight away when our new products are available.
We'd Love to Hear From You!
Your feedback fuels our journey. So, drop us a line, let us know if these updates resonate, or if you're content tracking our day-to-day on socials.
Until next time, sending you wholesome vibes from Hillside Food Forest.
Thanks for reading our newsletter!
Sincerely
Sam and Liz
