Rebekah & Tom
OUR STORY
Supporting local food producers has always been a big part of our lives. We didn't feel settled in our town lives despite using our front yard as a veggie garden, keeping honey bees and working hard to change the City regulations prohibiting urban chicken keeping. We spent countless hours on YouTube discovering that we were not insane in the longing for a different and more grounded sustainable life. While searching for our dream property we poured over books, created enterprise plans and made a clear vision of what we wanted to do in this next chapter of our lives. Everyone we told of our crazy plans, family included, thought we were non compos mentis.
The Pandemic brought so much clarity into our lives - a more fulfilling life, control of our food chain, and the ability to share with our friends, family and community. We made a plan and almost one year to the date, on April 1, 2021, we closed the deal on our property and Out to Lunch Farmstead was started.
OUR FARMSTEAD
Perched on a finger ridge of the Saddle Hills a few kilometers from the Town of Sexsmith, our farmstead has three district bio-regions: wetland forest, prairie grassland and dry Alpine forest. The native vegetation is spectacular and the views of the surrounding country side and Rocky Mountains to the southwest are unmatched.
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Our property is at the top of the watershed. Runoff leaving here finds its way to Kleskun Lake, the Smoky River and eventually to the Peace River. Stewarding our land for generations to come is what gets us out of bed. We rotationally graze our stock to ensure all vegetation has time to recover and biosequester atmospheric carbon in the soil.
In everything we do, we ask the question how will this impact our environment?
OUR SHEEP
We raise Katahdin hair sheep. They are called hair sheep because they grow hair not wool. Like other animals which acclimatize to different seasons, they put on a thick coat to keep warm in winter, and then shed it in the spring for a light summer coat. That way, they can adapt to the seasons very well - and we don't have to sheer them!
Our Katahdin's prefer grazing broadleaves and bush and are often confused for goats. Our sheep are moved to fresh grass regularly. We grow lamb for customers and offer On-Farm processing as well as Alberta & British Columbia government inspected options. Lamb is sold on a pre-order basis. To secure your lamb, visit our store, place your deposit. We will email you an order sheet to complete. Once your order is ready we will deliver it to you cut and wrapped for your freezer.
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Our sheep are raised and finished on grass or hay and are not fed grain. They often take longer to reach finished weight. We sell both spring lamb and hogget. Hogget is term for lamb in its second spring or summer – aged between one and two years. Hogget is still very tender and the extra time on pasture allows it to develop a flavour that is richer and fuller than spring lamb generally. This slower growing rate on a grass-only diet increases levels of omega-3 fatty acids as well as many other essential vitamins and minerals, including selenium, zinc, B12 and iron.
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Katahdin sheep are naturally tolerant of climatic extremes and capable of high performance in a variety of environments. They have outstanding natural resistance to internal parasites which allows us to go without the use of chemical wormers when properly managing pastures. We do fecal testing annually to ensure we are reaching our health goals with the flock. We select our breeding stock for flocking and mothering instincts, docility, solid feet and fully shedding hair coats. Katahdin meat is light in flavor, an excellent source of protein, and lower in cholesterol than chicken. You will not find this lamb in your grocery retailer.
OUR POULTRY
Our poultry arrive on farm as day old birds. Our main poultry enterprises are meat chickens (also known as broilers) and turkeys. We've raised Pekin ducks in the past and may look at this enterprise again if we have interested customers.
To protect our birds from predation they are moved around the pastures in chicken tractors that are moved daily to fresh grass. These open-air structures house the birds water and grain and provide shelter from the elements. We monitor birds as they age to determine their stocking rate per tractor. Batches of birds are divided as they grow to ensure they have lots of room to avoid overcrowding. The chicken tractors are equipped with wheels to assist with movement forward. The birds learn very quickly that movement means new grass and fresh bugs. They eagerly move to the front of the tractor to get the best grub.
We grow all poultry as pre-orders requiring a deposit for customers in accordance with Alberta's On Farm Slaughter regulations.
