Some of you may have seen us mentioned in a recent Indy Star news article for their “Going Local Week: Culinary pros share their favorite finds“. Simpson Family Farm was highlighted as the favorite find for Joseph Hewitt, our friends and owner/executive chef of The Indigo Duck down in Franklin.

This is what Joseph had to say about us in the article:

Chicken from Simpson’s Farm Market in Martinsville. It’s produced by a seventh-generation family farmer, Darby Simpson, and his family. Darby raises the best chicken (“pastured poultry”) I have ever had the pleasure of eating, and I enjoy serving it — from buttermilk-fried to slow jerk roasted.

Darby and his family visited The Indigo Duck last weekend for lunch and it was absolutely a fantastic meal. If you’re looking for a dining experience outside of your normal routine, we highly recommend visiting the Hewitt’s down at The Indigo Duck. Oh, and you might just start making it part of your normal routine.

Something else you can add to your routine is stopping by and visiting us today at the farmer’s markets. Darby will be at the Binford Farmer’s Market today and Kim will be back in at the Greenwood Farmer’s Market on the south side.

You’ll be able to pick up some of our pastured poultry and pork for yourself today. We’re also taking orders now for Thanksgiving and Christmas pastured turkeys. Stock up on chicken wings for the freshly started NFL season or perhaps grab a few smoked ham hocks and chicken frames for a rich and hearty soup to go with this cooler weather starting to show-up on our calendars.

This past week we stumbled across an article by Jeffrey Smith (author of the book “Seeds of Deception”) about the new Food Safety Czar that was being appointed by the White House. Normally not something that would make mainstream news (which it didn’t) or that anyone would really pay attention to (which most haven’t).

The scary news though is exactly who this new czar is going to be and the history he was with food products over the last couple of decades that may have had more changes impacted on the average human being’s health than any other person. The actions that this man has taken might make McDonald’s look like a viable competitor with a Jenny Craig health food ad.

Here’s a clip from the article:

But the biotech industry had rigged the game so that neither science nor scientists would stand in their way. They had placed their own man in charge of FDA policy and he wasn’t going to be swayed by feeble arguments related to food safety. No, he was going to do what corporations had done for decades to get past these types of pesky concerns. He was going to lie.

If you’re worried about genetically modified (GM) foods, you should really take a few minutes and read this article. If you’d like to know a little bit more about what happens to the food we’re eating and where it’s coming from, read this article. If you’d rather not know, and just keep eating like nothing is changing and it’s the way it’s always been, then move along, there’s nothing to see here.

You’re Appointing Who? Please Obama, Say It’s Not So!

If you do read the article, I’d love to hear your opinions.

One of the newer products available is our ground pork. This is just like ground beef but is made with our pasture raised pork.

I know, I know what you’re thinking. That doesn’t sound appealing at all! Do you eat it like you would ground beef and just make a hamburger patty out of it? After all, the first part of “hamburger” is “ham”. You’re exactly right, that’s all you do and let me tell you, the finished product is absolutely fantastic.

I had my own reservations initially, but I grilled some for our family a couple of week’s ago and they were fabulous! I actually couldn’t even really tell the difference between them and a lean, ground beef. They were juicy, great taste and with the chopped up onions and hot peppers I had garnishing mine they were great!

Next time you’re at the Binford Farmer’s Market or Greenwood Farmer’s Market, be sure and ask Darby or Kim for a package of your own ground pork and head home to fire up that grill!

Many of you know by now that the small meat processing facility owned by This Old Farm in Colfax, IN was destroyed by fire on December 27. If you know Erick and Jessica Smith, the owners of This Old Farm, you know that they put their heart and soul into everything they do, and they do it with graciousness and determination. The meat processing facility was no exception. Dedicated to combating the steep, nationwide decline in small, local slaughter houses, and the general shortage of those that process primarily organic and natural meats, the Smith’s had opened this facility just last summer. Small-scale, sustainable agriculture is alive and well in Indiana, and This Old Farm’s latest accomplishment was more evidence of that.

It’s a testament to Erick and Jessica’s faith and strength that they decided to rebuild the facility almost as soon as the ashes were cool, and they have indeed nearly completed reconstruction. However, it’s no secret that the gap between insurance coverage and actual rebuilding costs are often substantial.

I’m sharing this information with our readers and customers because I know many of you are all eager to help support local farmers and our efforts to increase the appreciation of local agriculture and farming.

On Saturday, May 21st from 6pm-9pm, Friends of the Green Market at Traders Point Creamery is hosting a gala evening of local food and wine tasting, good entertainment, and a chance to meet the Smith’s personally. Tickets are $25/person or $100 for a family of five and are available at the Valentine Hill Farm booth at Traders Point, Binford, Zionsville, Broad Ripple, and City Farmer’s Markets or by e-mailing [email protected]. Maria can mail you the tickets or hold them for you, please make checks out to “Friends of the Green Market” and mail your payment to:

ATTN: This Old Farm Rebuilding Gala
7549 South Retriever Lane
Zionsville, IN 46077

Download PDF Flyer for This Old Farm Rebuilding Gala

If you’re not signed up for our e-mail newsletter list you may not have heard. We have bulk chicken and pork orders available now!

Down on the farm we’re looking to take a pulse on things for the summer. Many times that’s made possible by checking in with our core customers and finding out about their interest in purchasing bulk orders of our products for the year. However, we don’t want to exclude any of our new or potential customers from those estimates either.

If you’d be interested in purchasing our pasture raised chicken and pork products we encourage you to visit those pages on our site for more information. If you’re ready to buy now, visit our Chicken CSA purchase orders form or Pork Orders purchase form. Also, while we have not sent out an e-mail yet we will be taking beef orders very, very soon.  If that is something you are going to be interested in please let us know as quickly as possible.  Once I mail that opportunity out to our full list, the beef will all be spoken for very quickly. There will be more information to come on our beef orders. Be sure to sign-up for our email list for more information as well.

If you want to participate in one or more of these programs but need to make alternative payment arrangements, please contact us.  We will be happy to try and work around individual needs to make this possible for your family.  We want your family to be able to have access to quality, nutritious, safe food and will do what we can to work that out for you!

Lastly, for those of you that have already sent in your deposit checks, thank you!  Without each of you, this farming venture would not be possible so thank you so very much for your support. It literally means the world.