Flat Branch Farm Newsletter - January 1, 2026 - Vol. 16

Happy New Year Reader!

December was quite the rollercoaster ride for us - full of both ups and downs. Over the past few weeks we have also had a lot of new subscribers. That's really exciting to see. So... new year, new subscribers... I thought I'd add a couple new segments to today's newsletter.

But first - some housekeeping items, announcements, and reminders:

Holiday Hours

As the holidays wind down and we get back to "normal life" when everyone actually knows what day it is and cookies no longer count as breakfast food, the farm gets back to normal schedules and hours of operation.

Saturday 1/3/2026 - CLOSED FOR FAMILY FUNERAL

Herd Share Member Pick-Up will be self-serve and only regular milk shares will be available (no extra dairy or meat orders). Please see your Herd Share Update email for details regarding pick-up, jar return, and January payment.

We will not be distributing any public orders from the online store.

Dairy Cows

There really isn't much new with the cows these days. We're kinda in a wash-rinse-repeat season right now. So, I've included a video of the cows all snuggled in the barn at night from a couple weeks ago when it was really cold out. This is actually one of my favorite things about winter - I love seeing the cows all tucked in at night with full bellies and protected from the cold. It's so quiet and peaceful and perfect.

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Cows all tucked in for the night.
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Re-Quoting

"What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year." — Vern McLellan

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On the Blog

The five most popular blog posts of 2025 are linked below.

1. Keeping Your Raw Milk Fresh - Tips to Extend the Life of Your Raw Milk
2. ​Raw Milk Benefits - The Benefits of Raw Milk
3. ​Recipe - The Best Chocolate Milk EVER
4. ​Cooking a Whole Chicken - Why You Should Buy (and Cook) Whole Chickens
5. ​Herd Shares - What the Heck is a Herd Share

I have 20 different blog posts published on our website. My 2026 goal is to write or update 2 posts each month. If you have any ideas for topics or questions that would make a good blog post, send them my way! I love suggestions for content! Just reply to this email...
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Recipe Share

Spiced Waffles

This is a fun deviation from regular waffles. I especially like to make these in the fall and winter because of the cold-weather spices such as cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg; but really... they are good all the time. We just had them earlier this week for Elliot's birthday breakfast.

1. Mix together 3 eggs, 1/2 cup cultured dairy*, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cup milk, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 cup salted butter (melted), and 1/2 tsp salt**.
2. Add in flour 1 cup at a time until you have added 3 cups. Mix well but be careful not to over-mix.
3. Cook in a pre-heated waffle iron until golden brown.

*I use clabber as the cultured dairy in this recipe, but buttermilk or sour cream are great, too. If using sour cream, you may have to thin it out with a little bit of milk depending on the thickness. You can also make fake-buttermilk by adding a half-tablespoon of white distilled vinegar to the 1/2 cup of milk. If you don't have any of these cultured dairy products, just replace it with regular milk (same amount).

**If using unsalted butter, add an extra 1/2 tsp to make the total amount of salt 1 tsp.

These are great served with fresh fruit and powdered sugar or topped with real butter and half-cut maple syrup. You can refrigerate any leftovers or make a double/triple batch and freeze them between parchment paper or in individual Ziploc bags. Pop them in the toaster before serving.

Other Farm Updates

We will be raising butcher pigs again this year. We're continuing to cut back on the individual packages of meat we will be stocking in our online store. This means that - besides a few bundles much later in the year - the only pork Flat Branch Farm will have available in 2026 is whole and half butcher hogs.

We will be opening up deposits for the whole and sides later this month, but in the meantime, I would like to gauge interest. This is 100% non-committal and just to help me plan. I don't want to reserve 5 feeder pigs and find out 10 people are interested. Or vice versa. We are doing these 100% pre-order and I don't plan on having an extra whole or half in the fall like we did this year unless someone backs out after paying their deposit.

Are you considering purchasing a whole or half butcher hog in 2026? Possibly but I'm not sure Yes - a whole butcher hog Yes - a half/side Yes, but I plan to purchase from another farm

Good Advice

The New Year by Kit Pharo

Some say the first day of the new year is no different from the last day of the previous year. That may be true – but, in my mind, starting a new year allows me the opportunity to hit the refresh button on my life. Therefore, I start every year with excitement and anticipation.

As we say goodbye to one year and hello to the next, it is always good to reflect on where we have been, where we are, and where we would like to be. Is everything in your life exactly the way you would like it to be? You may be content and satisfied with things as they are. However, that would be falsely admitting there is no room for improvement. There is always room for improvement!

Additional Information

Hopefully you have made it to our website before now, but just in case you haven't, here are a few links:

• ​About Us​
• ​Our Herd Share - More info and downloads at the bottom of the page
• ​Blog​
• ​Digital Products & Free Downloads​

As you may or may not have seen, we have taken a brief pause from social media. I planned on coming back after Christmas but might just extend the break a little longer. Each year we learn a little more, figure out what's working and what's not, and make decisions about how to make the best use of our time and resources without burning out. Email and this newsletter are the best way to keep in touch and up to date on what's going on around here.

If you know of someone else that would like to join our little-but-growing community, feel free to forward the newsletter to them. Anyone can join here! Just remind them NOT to click unsubscribe in your forwarded email...because that will actually unsubscribe YOU instead of them.

Talk Soon!

Lori

P.S. You can go back and see all of our weekly newsletters here. I also have a handful of “freebies” available - a Raw Milk Cheat Sheet, Benefits of Yogurt download, and several collections of recipes.