Had us some funky weather!

Made a lot of stuff :)

Stopped to smell the roses.

We just LOVE our neighbors at Picket Fence Creamery. All the best in local/organic/farm fresh foods :)

We LOVE being part of the Downtown Des Moines farmer's market!! It's an honor to be a part of one of the nest markets in the nation (so rated, time and time again, by various groups and national publications!)

The diversity of local meats, cheeses, crafts, veggies etc is simply amazing. And there's always TONS of live entertainment. And the food...oh heavens, the FOOD. *swoon* We feasted on panna cotta with fresh berries nuts and honey. Fresh vanilla cream tarts. Vegan chorizo tacos. Tall hot breves. Freshly roasted cinnamon pecans. Beef vindaloo. Fresh mango on a stick. (being there for 6 hours gives you plenty of time to eat and eat and eat!)

Of course we got some grass-fed "happy" steak and burgers from out favorite cowgirl, the lovely Shanen Ebersole of Ebersole Cattle Company!

And swoon-worthy elderflower cordial from Jill Beebout at Blue Gate Farm :)

And the world's biggest bucket of HUGE delicious blueberries from Berry Fresh Farm!

Here's what our fantastic neighbors, Picket Fence Creamery, are cooking up for next week's Sample Sunday!

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Join us for a 3-farm tour and

Thanksgiving Sample Sunday!

Nov. 22 Noon to 5 p.m. Admission is FREE

Kids...come out to the farm to see

SANTA CALF!

(A live, Jersey calf complete with a box of FREE TOYS!)

*Pony rides, bottle calves, pigs, and cows!

*Food samples: pumpkin ice cream, cranberry wine, cheeseballs, pumpkin butter, pumpkin muffins, elk sticks, buffalo summer sausage, creamed honey, pasta salad, cashew and almond butters, Pella bakery goods and more!

*Guest vendors: Pella's VanderPloeg Bakery, Rosey Acres Winery, Runnells.

*Lunch: Hot sandwich, $3, coffee, milk, pop.

*Thanksgiving foods: milk, cream, butter, ice cream, home-grown turkey, beef rib roasts, brown sugar cured ham, buffalo and elk roasts, lamb, goose, duck, rabbit, chicken, eggs, Kalona noodles, gouda cheese, maple syrup, jams, spiced apple rings, 4-bean salad, honey, breads, pies, and MORE!

HOLIDAY SUPER DEALS:

All Iowa wines - 2 for $22!

90% lean ground beef, $2.99/lb. with 10 lb. purchase

2 dozen farm eggs - $5

FREE 1/2 pint ice cream with $25 purchase!

OPEN NOV. 23-28 - 8 to 8 (open all day Thanksgiving!)

News from our neighbors at Picket Fence Creamery! :)

Happy Valentine's Day from Picket Fence Creamery!

Yippee! Temperatures in the 50s this week even though the ground hog saw his shadow! Our cows and calves will be kicking up their heals for sure! And the rest of the Picket Fence crew is celebrating by inviting you to our...

Valentine Sample Sunday

Feb. 8 Noon to 5 p.m.

Admission is FREE!

(This event is being held in conjunction with our great neighbor across the highway to the north, Prairieland Herbs. They'll have samples of body butter, whipped shea and facial serum you won't want to miss!)

Local Food Samples Galore - Cherry vanilla ice cream, Neva's famous cheese ball, Bob's Red Mill 10-grain muffins, elk sticks, freshly made peanut butter, local gouda cheese, creamery butter, "the best chocolate milk this side of the Milky Way!", creamed honey, and MORE!

Kids - Explore the barn and see the bottle calves and cows. Enjoy a bag of freshly popped, Picket Fence buttered hulless popcorn for 50 cents.

Guest vendor - Stan from Penoach Winery will be here to sample several of his wines - perfect for Valentine's Day!

Valentine goodies

Chocolaterie Stam Chocolates - the finest chocolates in the area - made in Des Moines. Priced right too - we'll have selections under $10, and up to $20. Treat your valentine to the BEST!!!

Joan's Cheesecakes - the finest cheesecakes in the area - made just east of Woodward with Picket Fence cream! The selections will be black forest, pink champagne, and white chocolate with raspberries. All are heart-shaped and very reasonably priced at $18.99. You have to see them to believe them! (Also available will be the cutest minature cheesecakes (look like cupcakes) in containers of 6 for $6.99!)

Iowa Wines - Buy any bottle of wine and receive a FREE wine basket or valentine bag! Your valentine will definitely be impressed!

Cherry Pies - Homemade lard crust pies from tart cherries made right here in Woodward! Priced right at $9.99 for a deep dish 9" pie. PIE AND QUART OF ICE CREAM SPECIAL $12.99!

Valentine All-Iowa gift baskets - Choose from the beautiful baskets that sister Julie made up, or grab a basket and make your own - full of yummy Iowa foods! You're sure to be popular!

Ames's Cafe Diem coffees - Choose from Chocolate Seduction (dark chocolate, sweet caramel and a hint of berries), Cafe Amore (rich custard with sweet brown sugar and vanilla), vanilla creme, snickerdoodle, and caramel crunch. Reasonably priced at $2.99/small bag, and $6 for the large bag.

And don't forget the 25 flavors of ice cream!!!

SUPER DEALS

1. Buy a bottle of wine, and get the gift basket or bag FREE

2. Apple crisp and quart of ice cream - $10

3. Buy a local salsa, and get a bag of fresh tortilla chips for $1.

4. 90% lean ground beef, only $3.49/lb. with 10 lb. purchase. And for our newsletter readers.....

90% lean ground beef, only $3.39/lb. with 20 lb. purchase; $3.29/lb. with 30 lb. purchase! WOW!

DOOR PRIZE! Sign up for an All-Iowa Valentine Gift Basket - value of $50!

Farm-raised PUPPIES! Jack Russell-rat terrier mix - adorable! They'll be here Sunday, or call 515-438-2641.

Other News...

NEW! Kutztown sodas - made with pure cane sugar and no caffeine - only 99 cents!

Choose from grape, orange cream, root beer, and sasparilla.

New Location for Ice Cream - we are now in the Johnston Dahl's store (along 54th St. on the north side) with our ice cream!

Teacher Supplemental Grants - The Farm Bureau is again offering grants of up to $200 to teachers to increase agriculture knowledge from books and supplies to field trips. (We have hosted many school groups who have benefited from this money.) Contact Melissa Brooks at 515-225-5425 or mbrooks@ifbf.org. The deadline is Feb. 13.

If you are interested larger quantities of beef, contact our friend, Jerry Peckum, at 515-370-0077. He has quarters and halves of pasture-raised Angus beef available.

That's the update for now. If you want to special order anything for Valentine's Day, give us a call at 438-2697. If you have friends in your address book who would like to spend a warm and wonderful February afternoon in the country, feel free to forward this message! Hope to see you this weekend - the specials start as soon as you receive this email!

Your friends,

Jeff, Jill, Jenna and James Burkhart

14583 S Ave.

Woodward, IA 50276

515-438-2697

http://picketfencecreamery.net

We accept MC, VISA, EBT

Just passing along some information we got from our neighbors at Picket Fence Creamery.

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Happy New Year from Picket Fence Creamery!

Just a quick note to wish you a Happy and Prosperous New Year, and to let you know what's happening around the farm as we usher in 2009!!! The "ladies" are snug in the barn, along with 13 bottle calves, with about a dozen more cows to calve in the next month. You're welcome to bring the kids and walk up to the barn to say hello to all of them!

The store is full of goodes for your New Year's celebration, and is also hosting a special event...

Jill's "39th" Birthday Party"

Wednesday, Dec. 31

At the store, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Enjoy FREE birthday cake and ice cream!

You're invited to browse to store for some yummy local foods - great for the big football games too!

*Elk sticks, elk and pepper cheese summer sausage, and elk ring bologna

*Neva's famous cheese ball

*Cheese curds

*Iowa wines, including Penoach Winery's "Tickled Pink" champagne

*Salsa, chips, snacks

*Chocolate milk

*Deal's cider

*Chevre, Brie, Limburger and local Gouda cheeses

*Pumpkin pies

Super Deals

*90% lean ground beef, $3.49/lb. with 10 lb. purchase (Reg. $3.99/lb.)

*Apple crisp and quart of ice cream - $10

*WOW! Buy any jar of local salsa and get a bag of fresh round tortilla chips for $1!!!

You're welcome to stop by if you're traveling through this week or weekend; we'll be sampling Iowa wines! Our hours:

New Year's Eve - 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

New Year's Day - 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Friday and Saturday, Jan. 1-2 - 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

First and foremost - I'd like to announce last week's Freebie Friday winner - MATT! Matt, we'll send you an email to get your address. Congratulations!!!!


And - this week's "Friday Freebie" - an 8 oz. bottle of our "Tranquil Sleep" Body & Linens Mist. Because we all need to take a deep breath and chill out, after the craziness of the holiday season! This is a perennial best-selling item in our store, and we have heard countless people tell us that it really does work!! Plus, it smells great. :)

Da Rulz:

If you'd like to win the item - you must leave a comment on that day's blog post.

Rules:
1) One entry per person.
2) You must have a registered ID to post - if your post shows up under "anonymous", we don't know who you are, and therefore you can't win.
3) You have until the next Thursday at midnight, CST, to enter your comment.
4) Winner will be announced the following Friday - you must check back to see if it's you!
5) International folks are welcome. We ship Prairieland Herbs items all over the world, so we'll ship our "Friday freebie" anywhere too!
6) Each eligible post will be assigned a number, and we'll use a free online random number generator to determine the winner.

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Weather news: We seem to have escaped the huge ice storm they were predicting for yesterday. We have snow, and some ice, and last night were treated to "thundersleet" (ah, the weather in Iowa - always interesting!!), but overall, things aren't too bad. The fellow who is supposed to plow out our driveway and parking lot at Prairieland Herbs seems to be MIA though. We have left 2 messages and have yet to hear from him. So if you come to our shop today, please be careful!!!

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Business news: We're getting ready for the farmer's market tomorrow - should be loads of fun!

Sunday we're having an impromptu Sample Sunday, in conjunction with our neighbors at Picket Fence Creamery - and it's going to be a doozy!!!

At Picket Fence, they're sampling wines from TEN LOCAL WINERIES (!!!) and oodles of cheese! Local gouda, limberger, chevre, brie, cheese curds, spreadable holiday cheeses, their famous cheeseball, and more!!

At Prairieland Herbs - we will be sampling divine handmade candies (peanut butter bars, english toffee, and cashew crunch) as well as a selection of locally made gourmet jams and jellies. Candy and jams both sell for $5 and under - it doesn't get much bette than that. Guest vendors will be on hand with unique handmade jewelry, and handmade pens. If you need a last minute gift (or three) and want to avoid the malls, rural Woodward is the place to be! We'll treat you right, and feed ya good. What more can you ask for??

We'll be open 12-5 on Sunday - see you there!!!

And this kitty lives at our neighbors, at Picket Fence Creamery. I don't know her name, but we just happened to see he cuddled up in these flowers when we went to get milk. Isn't that a great pic?