May Newsletter • 2025 / Homestead Herald

Ronald Kern
2 days ago
4 min read

From planting and growing to expanding our farm family, May was packed full of excitement. We welcomed new chickens, celebrated the arrival of three baby cows (all girls!), and so much more.

As a little thank-you, we’ve tucked a special coupon code somewhere in this article—just for you. Use it to save some dough on your next order from our Country Store!

For our local folks, NOW is the time to place a deposit on our pigs and turkeys. These go very fast, so much so, we are offering them now instead of later. You can place a deposit on your pig here, and your turkey here. It might feel early to think about November, but trust us—these birds sell out every single year. Don’t miss your chance to bring home the best-tasting pig or turkey (or both) you've ever had.

Kick back and enjoy this month’s Homestead Herald—your peek into all the highlights from May here at Back Forty Farms.

BORN ON THE FARM!

The big news is that we had 3 Scottish Highland baby cows born this month! Our first one, Missy Moo, was born May 8th. Our second one, named Mabel Moo, was born May 12th and then on May 18th, Maisie Moo was born.

Due to Mama cow issues, we are bottle feeding Missy and Maisie, and people who visit for tours and come out for our amazing dinners, really have a unique experience bottle feeding them.

You can even sponsor these cuties, or any other animal you want, and get some cool swag and other items and all money goes toward the animal you sponsor. For more information, click here.

Enjoy a few short videos of our newest bundles of joy.

DINNERS ARE A HIT!

We had our first "trial run" of our Farmer's Table Dinner at Back Forty Farms on May 31st, and everyone really enjoyed it. It's a great time to unplug and nourish your body and your soul with amazing farm to table food that Lisa and Tony prepare. You can view all upcoming dates, get tickets, see some pictures, and all details by clicking here.

"The Farmer's Table dinner is a fantastic experience! Welcoming hosts and amazing chefs! The farm animals are friendly and the environment is very welcoming. The sunsets here are heaven sent!" - Tim (Boise)

PIGS COMING SOON!

We will be adding 6 pigs to our farm this year, and will have around 4 to sell. We are trying a new location, better grass, shade and in our front field, so we are excited to see if the new location works out.

We've already sold 2, so if you are local and want the best tasting and cleanest pork available, place your deposit now before they are gone. You can do that here.

HELPING OUT A LOCAL SCHOOL

We provided a local school our incubator so they could hatch chicks and learn about that process. The kids had a blast and they hatched 8 baby chickens. They loved our farm so they donated them to us, so they will be added to our flock, giving us more eggs to share.

PLANTING, GROWING, & WEEDING

Everything has been planted and is growing quite well. There is something special about starting from a tiny seed and nurturing it and then harvesting and sharing it with our community. We preserve lots of our produce by canning and freeze-drying, and also sell our fresh produce and support local families in need.

We extended our garden, added grapes, planted twice our normal amount of potatoes and over 400 stalks of corn.

WE WELCOMED 1 MILLION BEES TO OUR FARM! 🐝

We love offering raw, organic farm honey and now have the most bees we've ever had on the farm to date. Last year we had around 375,000, but this year, it's close to a million bees! Bees are so important to our farm, and entire planet, for pollination and other benefits, we need as many bees as possible everywhere.

Bee populations, including honeybees and wild bees, are experiencing a decline in many regions, posing a significant threat to food security and biodiversity. Several factors contribute to this decline, including habitat loss, pesticide use and diseases. Without bees, we don't have food, and without food...well, it isn't good.

Watch the short video below to see our bees in action.

WE ADDED 135 MORE EGG LAYING HENS

With our fresh and freeze-dried eggs being purchased at a high rate, we have added more to keep up with the demand. Most of these will lay the browns, blues and green colored eggs and we are excited to have more eggs!

Once they are big enough to fend for themselves (protect themselves from mature hens and roosters) we will move them into our big coop that has a little over 200 or so hens. Right now they are separated with access to shelter and the outside.

MEAT BIRDS ARE GETTING SO BIG!

Our first batch of 60 meat birds were put in the orchard this month. We keep them in our orchard as they eat all the bugs that can destroy fruit trees, they eat the weeds and grass and of course, they fertilize the entire orchard. It's a perfect symbiotic system and has worked well in the past.

We have been asked and the answer is yes, we will be offering fresh whole and parted out chickens for local members, and also freeze-dried chicken to all members.

We get our second batch of 60 more in a few days, and then another batch in September. We love to eat clean and healthy chicken from the farm!

NEW ARRIVAL IN A FEW MONTHS - A BOY!

Our daughter Heather and her husband Skyler are soon going to bring a little boy into the world, our second grandchild! We are quite excited as you can imagine.

Kennedy is excited to meet he brother but in the meantime, she's learning a lot about plants, cooking and animals. She's walking now so look out, a new farm hand in the making!