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Pasture Posts #18

Here’s the weekly roundup from Watson Farms and your direct connection to your farmer.  Enjoy the latest edition of Pasture Posts! 

Ag + Art Tour!

The Ag and Art Tour was a great success!  We saw nearly 200 people come through, and gave 5 tours during the day!  Each tour lasted about 45 minutes and I (Matt) gave an informational overview of each enterprise on our farm as we visited the different animal groups.  Alan, my father-in-law, was gracious enough to be our tractor driver while a team led by Kelly stayed back at the store to handle sign-in and store operations.  It truly was a team effort! 

In case you missed it or if you’re curious as to some of the questions that were asked on tours that you weren’t on, here’s a quick rundown of some of the conversations we had with various attendees (in no particular order).

  • Why all the birdhouses?
    • We have deployed about 40 bird houses around the farm in an effort to attract tree swallows.  A pair of tree swallows will eat around 8,000 flies per day.  This is of our effort in natural fly control for our cattle.
  • How many animals?
    • Right now we have about 35 pigs, 150 head of cattle, 500 larger broilers, 1000 broiler chicks, and 2000 layer chickens.  
  • How many acres?
    • We have about 350 acres which my grandfather purchased in 1979 when he moved from southern Indiana to South Carolina.  Here’s a blog post with more information about the move from Indiana to SC.
  • How do you contend with predators?
    • We don’t, but our dogs do.  We have a total of 4 Great Pyrenees dogs who do a fabulous job protecting mainly our chickens.  We would probably lose up to 500 layer chickens per year if it weren’t for Sky and Bell whose presence alone deters any hawks from landing in their pen.  
  • Do you have any third-party certifications?
    • No.  We think the only certification that matters in the end is the satisfaction of our customers.  That’s why we do farm tours throughout the year and participate in the Ag + Art Tour!  This transparency imparts more confidence to our customers than any certification could.  
  • How many people work at Watson Farms?  
    • Fewer than most people think.  Here’s the list:
      • Kelly
      • Matt
      • Mason
      • Walter
      • Gary 
      • June
    • We also have some great volunteers that pitch in for things like Ag + Art when we need a few extra hands.  Thanks so much to you guys!
  • What are your store hours going to be?
    • Saturday was the grand opening for The Store at Watson Farms!  Hours will be:
    • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 10am to 6pm
    • Saturday: 10am to 2pm
    • Closed Sunday and Wednesday
  • What are some films or books that take a look at our food system and how we can improve it?
  • There were many other great questions and tons more information that we shared with all the great folks who came out.  One thing that I tried to convey to each group though, was how much we depend on consumers like you who make the conscious decision to support local farms like ours which can truly change our food system for the better.  

Product Spotlight

Don’t have time to make bone broth?  We have it back in stock!  Choose from chicken or beef!

Referral Program

If you enjoy our products please consider passing the word along to your neighbors, friends and family!  We don’t spend a lot of money of advertising but rather depend on customers like yourself to advertise for us if they are amazed by our products and customer service.

All you have to do is refer someone to us and when they place an order for the first time they will get a link to a form where they can say who referred them.  You and the new customer will receive a $15 credit!  So make sure they tell us your name.  Hit the button for more info!

Referral Program

Order Deadlines

Charleston: 12 noon Mondays
GSP: 12 noon on Wednesdays
Charlotte/Rock Hill: 12 noon Fridays
Farm Pickup: Please allow 1 business day for us to assemble your order.  Farm Pickups will now be done during our store hours: 

  • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 10am to 6pm
  • Saturday: 10am to 2pm
  • Closed Sunday and Wednesday
Place an Order

Check out this ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review:

“What a great product and great people. We had been kicking around the idea of buying local, better quality meat for a long time. I’m so glad we decided to make the move. Watson Farms does a tremendous job throughout the whole process. They always answer all our questions, provide great updates on orders and deliveries and the quality of the product is superb. We even took our girls (4 and 2) on the farm tour and we all enjoyed it. It’s so great knowing where our meat comes from and the time and attention they put into their whole operation. We have been a customer for about 2 years and will be continuing to order our meat from Watson Farms. We just got our 1/4 beef today and can’t wait to dig in!!”

We would greatly appreciate it if you would be kind enough to leave us a review.  It helps first-time customers purchase with confidence.

Leave a Google Review!

Thanks again for being partners in this endeavor of local, pasture-raised proteins that has truly transformed our farm.  We look forward to continuing this transition while serving you long into the future.

Sincerely,
The Watsons

Pasture Posts is written by Matt Watson.