Maid-N-Meadows: Fall 2018 Update!

      Life feels so crazy these days, but I am happy to report that it is a good kind of crazy. After a long summer of chaos and endless days, we have reached a time of busy punctuated with times of rest. Plus! We are seeing the people we love and nourish us from before Maid-N-Meadows. The only problem is, now, we miss our market friends!
       We have been doing a lot of craft markets this past month and Daniel has enjoyed meeting new people. We are always blessed by the warm welcome and kindness we receive from the folks in the Springfield/Clarksville, Tennessee area.
      It was at these markets that our newest project/product made its debut. We have been donating our whey to Daniel's brothers hogs. They live an outdoor life with plenty of range and lots of opportunity to root and wallow. They also only eat GMO free feed and what they find in their outdoor environment. So they are pretty clean eating, as pigs go! We feel charcuterie is a nice compliment to cheese and these pigs fit the sort of practices we wish to promote. So we combined forces with Webb's Butcher Shop to create this summer sausage and snack sticks.
 

     The summer sausage has been a spectacular hit and we plan to make more when we run out!
      Progress on the facility is moving slowly. I am very worried we will not be able to pour the concrete floor as it is cold now and only going to get colder! Not getting this done would be a major problem as it would hold up the rest of the building process. We are not going to return to the old facility, so our cheese inventory would definitely run out come spring. So we sit at the edge of our seat as we do what we can to keep things moving, watch the weather, and ultimately wait for the temperatures to be right. All things work together for good, so we will just have to accept God's timeline.

     But with some major help from family, the walls are poured and standing strong! It amazes me how Daniel has experience in so many areas of construction and practical living! He will be able to head up the entire project, except for the part that the state is requiring our commercial plumber to handle.
       Also, the editor of Edible Nashville blessed us with a great surprise this fall when she included us in the latest edition! What we love about this magazine is that it focuses on the local food chain. From local grocers to local producers and makers, this magazine promotes community through food. Food has been a connector for eons and here it is again, bringing us together for a purpose greater than any one of us......which is to promote a hopeful and bright future for the next generation.

     Manuela from Ella P. Photography took our pictures for us! She handles big families like ourselves with ease and produced unique shots of our family on the farm. Little Beulah was just three days old in these pictures!

              Last, but not least, I want to share that we have been enjoying our little Beulah. We have taken some time to reconnect as a family and celebrate our blessings. She has many arms to hold her and everyone loves to dote over her. Even three year old Pilgrim likes to "pet" her. We look forward to a quieter winter with time spent with family and friends, Lord willing. We have a lot to be thankful for! Blessings to all our readers and thanks for coming along for the ride!
                                                                   Showalters