Weekly Newsletter

April 2020 vol. 3

Beef is back in stock!

We'll be selling at the Elgin and Taylor markets this week. 

Pre-Order for pick up at either market using the button below. 

Amber Oaks 

Meat Buyers Club

Concerned about your food supply and quality?  

Worried about going to the grocery store? 

Want to support your local farmers? 

Sign up now for a year’s supply of pasture raised beef, pork, or chicken delivered monthly.  

Big Time Freeze

We've been running up to 8 assorted freezers here on the ranch to store our product in. While this method enables us to shut down some units when they aren't needed, it does require frequent shuffling of stock from freezer to freezer and complicates inventory tracking, which drives me crazy. 

Recently we purchased a freezer truck body from Blue Bell Ice Cream in Brenham to replace our clutch of smaller units. What an improvement! We picked it up April 8th and the loading went beautifully. The Fleet department at Blue Bell replaces their trucks on a regular basis and sells about 8 of these freezer boxes a year. Their loading process has been honed with much practice and they did a great job getting our box off their truck and on to our trailer, as you can see in the video below.

The unloading process was a bit more daunting. Ever ready to tackle a job on his own and always unwilling to spend more money than absolutely required, John decided to figure it out on his own.  Well it ended up being a much bigger job than anticipated. After a lot of help and a few dings and scratches, the freezer was settled onto railroad ties, plugged in, and functional. It's running well now, and the only issue we've had is that the door tends to freeze shut. This is a bit of a problem if you are inside trying to get out - it was quite terrifying the first time it happened to me. 

My incident occurred while John was gone (of course). I was inside the freezer, inventorying the beef we had unloaded earlier in the afternoon. I'd gone in and out of the box several times to warm up while counting - it was below zero inside and even in a coat, hat, and gloves, I could only stay in so long without loosing function in my hands and knees. I suppose it was my coming and going that allowed moisture to build up on the door's edges, but regardless of the cause the effect was that the door wouldn't open. At all. No matter how much I kicked or pushed. The handle was working, but the door wouldn't budge.

All's well that ends well.

 - W. Shakespeare

I almost panicked - then I remembered that I had my phone in my pocket. But I just couldn't call for help. Maybe I'm just as stubborn as John when it comes to doing things on my own, and the odds of me getting a signal out in the pasture and inside the box were slim. So with renewed vigor and less and less feeling in my toes, I began furiously kicking the edges of the door.  It didn't budge. Next I tried several full on body slams (a great way to release frustration, incidentally). I stopped and checked the door again but there was no movement. I thought I might actually have to try the phone at this point. Before giving up, I gave the bottom of the door one more kick and tried the handle. With a dramatic sucking noise it opened!  

So, no matter what John says about efficiency, that's the last time I'm working in there with the door fully shut. Other than that one issue, the walk-in is a perfect fit for our operation, with room to expand.

This Week's Markets

Upcoming  Markets

Be well, 

stay safe,

John & Molly