Grassbelly Farm LLC
We are a small family farm specializing in Non-GMO meats and eggs.
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
We have spent many hours as a family discussing and evaluating our goals with Grassbelly and our ability to continue producing the products our customers have come to enjoy. We have come to the point that we need to either double production or step away from farming for a while. We do not have the time, man-power, or energy to pursue larger production. Anthony is still working full-time and after three years of full-time farming, we are both ready for a change. We have enjoyed this adventure and we have loved getting to know our customers but doing this halfheartedly is not fair to you all. We have the best customers and you deserve to have products available in quality and quantities that you can depend on. For us, spending time with our children, making memories, and experience new things with them has to be a priority. They will only be this young for such a short time and when all is said and done, we want them to be able to say we were present. We don't want for their memories of their parents to be as constantly rushing, constantly stressed, always working people who never had the time or energy to play, read, or laugh with them. We will be listing all available inventory this weekend and when it is sold we will quietly step away from Fall Line Farms & Local Roots. In the Spring we will be acquiring a small flock of laying hens and will begin processing broiler chickens again. These will be done on a much smaller scale and available as direct from farm sales for customers who are interested. I will continue to update our Facebook page with current farm offerings and changes. We will miss working with you all and providing you with delicious beef and pork products but we know that we will be leaving you in good hands. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your continued support over the years. God bless you all.
Beef is almost here! Plus other news
We just took our first steer for processing last week and are hoping to have the product back in a week or two. We will be offering a variety of cuts from our 100% grass-fed, grass-finished Dexter beef. Like with all our animals, our beef is hormone and antibiotic free and rotated through chemical free pastures. We are very excited to be able to offer our wonderful customers a new product and look forward to your feedback!
Speaking of new products, very soon, hopefully this weekend, we will be adding a variety of produce to our inventory. We've started a small market garden, mostly for our own consumption but with a bit extra for our loyal customers. We will be offering white turnips, carrots, collards, kale, spinach, arugula, snow peas, and a salad mix to name a few. Keep an eye on our inventory to see when these are available.
Last but not least, our pork inventory is low at the moment. We did some logging in our wooded area and it wasn't a safe place to keep pigs for the past couple of months. We have acquired two new pigs now that the logging is done and are hoping they will be ready for processing before Christmas. We will post here and on Facebook as soon as inventory is restocked. We thank you for your patience.
A little about us
Our farming adventure began about 7 years ago when we decided to go in with a group of friends on a small batch of meat chickens. A few short years later we were buying land and building a house. Just over two years ago we added cows, pigs,and laying hens to the farm (two goats also but they're just for fun). We are a family of six. Anthony (aka Dad) works full-time as a mail carrier for the USPS. Amy (that's me) resigned from the USPS about a year and a half ago and is now a stay-at-home Mom. We have four children, Morgan (12), Mason (6), Cary (2), and Carter (4.5 months). It is because of our lovely children that we decided to become farmers. Farming provides the opportunity for them to learn the value of hard work and the fun of getting dirty but more importantly, it gives us the comfort in knowing how their food is raised.
That is why we don't use hormones, antibiotics, or chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers on the farm. Our animals are given quality, non-GMO feeds from Sunrise Farms in Stuarts Draft, VA. We use a rotational grazing method meaning everything moves to fresh ground regularly.
We raise Freedom Ranger meat chickens which, unlike Cornish crosses, are not a double breasted bird. They tend to be more proportionate and grow slightly slower. They are kept in mobile chicken tractors (much like Joel Salatin's) and moved to fresh grass daily. Our chickens are processed on site and freshly frozen.
We raise heritage breed pigs from the time they are weaned until they reach processing weight and they are rotated through our woodlands. They are supplemented with quality feed and garden scraps. Our beef herd is 100% grass-fed, grass-finished. They are rotated through our pastures using a strip grazing method. Our first steer will go to processing in October of 2017. Both our beef and pork is processed at Fauquier's Finest, a USDA facility in Bealeton, VA.
Our laying hens free-range a large pasture with free access to their mobile coop. The coop is moved around the pasture several times and then the entire flock is moved to fresh pasture every 5-10 days. Eggs are collected and cleaned daily.
Our belief is that happy, healthy animals raised responsibly provide a superior product than what you will find from a factory farm environment. Our goal is to provide the freshest and highest quality products that we can. We invite customers to come to the farm to see the operation for themselves. We appreciate every single customer who supports our small family farm and we welcome feedback on any/all of our products.