November 30, 1991 - November 30, 2012

21 years today... 

9 babies, bills, 

mountain top experiences, Jesus, 

walking through the valleys, tough times 

 and forgiveness...

We would do it all over again...  What an adventure it truly has been!  It has been an encouragement to see both of our parents keep their marriage vows for over 45 years!

Real love is always forgiving and never giving up...  forgiveness cannot be mentioned enough...  forgiveness...

This marriage is not a fairy tale of romance or an ideal you may look and see "their" story as...  

-Moving to a 40 acre farm and living old fashioned, having a slew of babies at a big farm table with oil lights and big farm dinners from scratch...  Hubby working as a farmer and the family singing hymns by guitar and farming with horses-  Our marriage is all of this for sure...  But our marriage has walked through some deep valleys, we have had mounting bills and living way below any means, hard times, disappointments and more.  But what keeps this marriage going  strong is Jesus and forgiveness.  Marriage is hard work with God in the mix...  I cannot imagine making it without Him...  

The real romance of this story is that we stuck together through thick and thin...

I am thankful we have the legacy of 21 years so far to give our children our children's children...

We would do it all over again.  It has truly been an adventure and I cannot imagine doing it with anyone else...  

This song was sang at our wedding day 21 years ago today and still stands true today



xo

HomemakerAng and The Gentle Giant

Crazy Ideas :: The Perfect Processor/Butcher

I know that Joel Salatin bought one ... I know that Walter Jeffries is building one ... and I know that I would love to have my hands in one somehow. I mean don't you ever just get those crazy little ideas in the back of your head? You know ... ideas like making a career change or I don't know ... starting a farm! Well, I get crazy ideas in my mind all the time if you haven't noticed already! My latest crazy idea involves having my hand in the meat I produce from the very beginning until the very end.

Now I'm not trying to disparage my current processor or any other processor for that matter, but there is something appealing to me about having as much control over my final product as I can. I would say that on my ideal farm I would have as much control as possible raising the animals from beginning to end, producing all of my feed and forage, processing and curing the meats, and of course marketing the bounty of the farm!

It's not that I'm trying to create my own little bubble world, but rather that I would love to be able to have the control and ability to try as many different things as possible (different cuts, seasonings, cures, etc.). There are just certain things that a locker that is trying to cater to as many different types of customers as possible can't do. But, boy would it be cool!

So, what do you think? Are you in favor of small scale meat processors or cooperatively owned small scale meat processors? Do you think the are feasible (maybe Mr. Jeffries can chime in on this one)?

grattitude

Thankful to rose an petunia - they were lovely animals and had a great life and last day basking in the warm fall sunshine! They had good clean pasture kill and then we hung them over night here on the farm. I butchered one of the two pigs in Portland with Melinda at the Portland Cunlinary Workshop! and our friend Paul came by and helped out as well. (thanks you two!) The farm is certainly quieter with out the girls... 

 

enjoying some laughing pig rose with melinda at PCW as we butchered the beautiful pig.

After the big thanksgiving weekend the pigs are the last of the big fall projects behind us- 

Thank you to everyone who came out over the big holiday weekend!! We hope you love the wines you took home!!  The Cattrall is now sold out and there are only about 3 cases of the wirtz left so if you want any of that speak now... There is a little bit of gris, work horse and syrah left but when it's gone that will be it till spring...

 a few rare days of sunshine on the farm this week - so welcome!!

grattitude

Thankful to rose an petunia - they were lovely animals and had a great life and last day basking in the warm fall sunshine! They had good clean pasture kill and then we hung them over night here on the farm. I butchered one of the two pigs in Portland with Melinda at the Portland Cunlinary Workshop! and our friend Paul came by and helped out as well. (thanks you two!) The farm is certainly quieter with out the girls... 

 

enjoying some laughing pig rose with melinda at PCW as we butchered the beautiful pig.

After the big thanksgiving weekend the pigs are the last of the big fall projects behind us- 

Thank you to everyone who came out over the big holiday weekend!! We hope you love the wines you took home!!  The Cattrall is now sold out and there are only about 3 cases of the wirtz left so if you want any of that speak now... There is a little bit of gris, work horse and syrah left but when it's gone that will be it till spring...

 a few rare days of sunshine on the farm this week - so welcome!!

Talking Turkey ...

Hopefully you realize that Thanksgiving day was just last week ... and with Thanksgiving comes a nationwide focus on the turkey. Which means we see video of the president and governors pardoning birds to live out their lives on a farm, we search the internet for ideas on how to cook the perfect turkey, and in my case we hear lots of radio news stories about turkey production in Iowa. Of course the reason I heard so many radio stories is because I really only listen to talk radio stations and the played the same or similar stories all week long!

The basic story that I heard quite a few times last week is that Iowa is the number nine turkey producer nationwide and the number five processor of turkey in the country. According to this article that I found we produce about 11 million birds each year in the state! But, the thing that article says, and all the radio stories I heard said was that when you sat down for your turkey dinner you wouldn't be eating an Iowa produced bird (unless of course you purchased your turkey directly from the farmers). It seems that almost all of Iowa's turkey meat ends up in sub sandwiches at Subway or Jimmy John's.

I'm not an economist, I'm not a financial guru, in fact I'm not even an intelligent agricultural guy! So, I understand that maybe I have no reason to even think about this sort of thing and that there is probably some large answer that I could not completely understand. In fact according to this flyer from the Iowa Turkey Federation there are 85 turkey producers in Iowa (it may not be a real up-to-date flyer) and I always think it's a good thing to have more farmers in Iowa!

But, I just have to ask the question ... If we produce 11 million birds each year in our own state and we have multiple turkey processors, then why can't we purchase an Iowa raised and processed turkey for Thanksgiving dinner? That was just the thought that kept running through my head ...

With all that being said ... as long as there are no set-backs and I feel like we are set up enough to get things going we are planning on raising a limited number of heritage breed turkeys next year. I see it as another opportunity to bring a bit more diversification to the farm ... and to have a great tasting bird for Thanksgiving dinner!

Thanksgiving photo

After 3 days of cooking on the wood fired cook stove, we were blessed to have 9 at our farm table eating and thankfully giving love to one another.   Life is good and we all are a little fluffier now.

What did you do on Thanksgiving or what do you still plan to do?  Do tell!

In the spirit of farming, family and faith,

xo

HomemakerAng 

not forsaken but thankful...

So much to be thankful for and not just today. I am in awe of how God loves us so much and is our provider, friend, miracle worker and more. Life is not easy. Life is very hard. I cannot imagine trying to live life without Him. I am so thankful that I have a God that is real and I can talk to Him like my best friend all day long, even in the bad times, He is always there and has not forsaken me! Xo

  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD0cvWImVjA

In the spirit of farming, family and faith,

Xo

HomemakerAng

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

We hope your tables are filled with a community of family and friends, love and great food and wine!

 

 thank you jeremy for the beautiful shots from our harvest dinner celebration!

This coming weekend we invite you to come out and taste our fall wines and take some home for your table.

We will be open 11am to 5pm Nov 23rd,24th and 25th
(if you come please use the directions on our web site)

For those of you who are waiting to buy your fall wines there are literally a hand full of cases of the fall release 2010 pinots available - so don't delay. I'm sure they will be gone by the end of the holiday weekend  - the 2011's will be released in the spring.

The Work Horse Red is drinking beautifully and is my pick for the holiday table - as our friend laura said ... "this wine is greater than the sum of it's parts" - with it's parts being our two top tier vineyards - the resonance vineyard fruit and our white hawk fruit! It's a stunner and was an inspiration on Brian's part to combine them in this blend of 90% pinot and 10% syrah.

The rains have come and we are starting to hunker in for winter. We are happy that all the beautiful 2012 wines are snug in there barrels.

Thank you all for the enthusiasm and support of our project - it means so much to have our wine on your tables.

Happy Holidays -  Cheers! Clare and Brian

 

and on a note of thanks  - thanks kim for the beautiful wreaths~!

you can buy kim's wreaths at the mcminnville saturday market 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

We hope your tables are filled with a community of family and friends, love and great food and wine!

 

 thank you jeremy for the beautiful shots from our harvest dinner celebration!

This coming weekend we invite you to come out and taste our fall wines and take some home for your table.

We will be open 11am to 5pm Nov 23rd,24th and 25th
(if you come please use the directions on our web site)

For those of you who are waiting to buy your fall wines there are literally a hand full of cases of the fall release 2010 pinots available - so don't delay. I'm sure they will be gone by the end of the holiday weekend  - the 2011's will be released in the spring.

The Work Horse Red is drinking beautifully and is my pick for the holiday table - as our friend laura said ... "this wine is greater than the sum of it's parts" - with it's parts being our two top tier vineyards - the resonance vineyard fruit and our white hawk fruit! It's a stunner and was an inspiration on Brian's part to combine them in this blend of 90% pinot and 10% syrah.

The rains have come and we are starting to hunker in for winter. We are happy that all the beautiful 2012 wines are snug in there barrels.

Thank you all for the enthusiasm and support of our project - it means so much to have our wine on your tables.

Happy Holidays -  Cheers! Clare and Brian

 

and on a note of thanks  - thanks kim for the beautiful wreaths~!

you can buy kim's wreaths at the mcminnville saturday market 

A view from the Gentle Giant's hunt in the woods

Leelanau at it’s finest…

Xo

HomemakerAng and Co.

How about you?  Have you or your loved ones been out hunting?  Do tell J

a HomemakerAng ecard

I created this one today. 

100% truth!

Xo

HomemakerAng

8 points to remember while at Maple Valley Farm

After a leisurely farm breakfast from the wood-fired cook stove a friend of ours went out on the back 40 and returned with this!

A nice 8 pt. buck taken from the farm

Congrats!

In the spirit of farming, family and faith,

Xo

HomemakerAng and Family

Ps.  Post a link to your harvest this year in the comments!

one of my favorite pictures!

Age 11…

She went out to the pasture and dressed him up all by herself and rode him the rest of the day.

Our POA, “Smoke” is so fuzzy and sweet right now.  All ready for winter!

Xo

HomemakerAng

not ready for winter...

Leelanau is calling...



Sand, sun, wind and even fresher air than the farm ;)



Michigan summers are amazing!



I have snow shoes for this winter...



Looks like I will be pulling them but soon :)



Tell me your favorite winter past time...



xo



HomemakerAng



Angela M. Kuncaitis

"HomemakerAng"

Maple Valley Farm

www.MapleValleyFarms.net

last political rant, but you need to watch this video!

The truth is the truth!

 

“PEOPLE, we need to take conservatism to a much higher and Biblical level in America!!!!”

 

Do not be disappointed that Obama won the race.  Mitt is the same!

 

Here is your “Pro-life” representative that is stating here OVER and OVER his passionate “Pro-Choice” stance that many, many, MUCH to many “Christians” voted for.  I don’t care that it was over 10 years ago when he said it either.  He had pro-life discrepancies right up until the election.  It is only 5 minutes, you deserve to see who Mitt really is. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_w9pquznG4

 

The parties are the same…

 

When are you going to wake up and see this…

 

You deserve better.  Quit compromising your vote for the lesser of two evils, the lesser of two baby murderers!

 

I might lose readers.  I do not care.

 

I am the voice for the unborn babies that will never have a voice.  I am the voice of those precious tiny feet that move and kick and for the beautiful heart that beats inside of their little life!

 

I cannot compromise for the murder of the unborn… 

 

When will we truly take a stand for the unborn?

 

Xo

 

HomemakerAng

 

 

A Post Election Thank You

Tonight ... we stand before you ... with victory in our hands! (wait for applause to subside) The votes have been counted ... you and others from around the surrounding counties have spoken! (wait for this round of applause to subside) We want you to know that it is because of you that we are here today ... that without you none of this would be possible and we just want to offer our thanks from the bottom of our hearts ... Thank You ... each and every one of you Thank You! (there will be more excited applause here so just wait it out) Now, just as we have promised we are going to head out to the fields and woods and pastures and bring you some of the best heritage breed meat available! We're going to put on our mud boots and dig in just as we promised! Thank You! (wait for applause) Thank You! (wait for applause) Thank You! Good night and may God Bless the farm! (exit stage right to extreme amounts of applause)

Over the past few weeks I've been talking with and e-mailing some of our whole and half hog customers and I've often found myself saying or writing, "thank you so much for your support". It sort of made me feel like a politician in this political season, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. I think that when a customer decides to purchase a half or whole hog from us (or any other item) it is like they are voting for us and for our farm and for the work we put into it. And I am very thankful for their support!

I can't tell you the last time that I checked out at the grocery store and had the cashier say, "thank you so much for your support." I'm not saying that they aren't thankful (who am I to know that), but I do want my customers to know that I am very thankful for them and their support. In fact I don't really see them as customers as much as friends and supporters! All of the "votes" for our pasture/woodlot raised heritage breed meats are what makes it possible for our farm to keep going and even grow (which we are growing). Without our supporters we wouldn't be around for very long.

With all that said ... I am very thankful for all the support that we have as farmers. Thankful for the support that comes from family. Thankful for the support that comes from all those who love our heritage breed meats. Thankful for all those all over the country that encourage us in our mission. So ... truly ... from the bottom of our hearts ... Thank You!!!

For the locals!

CANCELLED!!! Do not for get our CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE AT THE MAPLE COTTAGE IS CANCELLED THIS WEEKEND! Please spread the word!

 

Thank you!

 

In the spirit of farming, family and faith,

 

November 6, 2008

We went to bed not knowing who the president was…

 

This year we may know, but truly, we  are not that interested…

 

See, when you know who your President is, you do not worry…

 

And you certainly, if you truly know who He is, do not compromise by wielding your man-made power to  the lesser of 2 evils…

 

It is not up to you nor I to “save” our country and truly no man can do it…

 

This family loves our soldiers,

 

This family loves America,

 

But this family only pledges allegiance to God…  That is it…  Not the flag, not a president and not a party…  Romans 3:8 and Matthew 6:24

 

This video is spot on!  100% truth and we just couldn’t have put it in to words but this is how we feel…

Thank you Messy Mondays!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7l5Q6aehF4

 

 

Another great harvest!

Brian was on the farm with me most of the day today! We moved the chickens and fixed some fence ... it was so nice to have his company.  I'm very glad for all of us that the long days at the winery are over! It was a beautiful harvest and all the wines are all sleeping now and we are pretty confident 2012 will be a great vintage. We had an amazing crew again this year - Katie, Lester, Jeremy and Sean were all rock stars!  These are some shots from Lester : ) who I'm so grateful to for coming back for year three!!

These are some sneak peeks at our end of harvest dinner...  more about that to come 

 

Speaking of sneak peek our 2011 labels are getting letter pressed over the next few weeks! We finalized all the drawings and sent them off to my printer : )  --  there are some new vineyards and some fun new animals from the farm gracing the labels... one of the wines I'm super excited about is the 2011 chardonnay - not sure when it will be released yet but when it does don't miss this beauty! 

 

 

the chardonnay label features my honey bees : ) 

Another great harvest!

Brian was on the farm with me most of the day today! We moved the chickens and fixed some fence ... it was so nice to have his company.  I'm very glad for all of us that the long days at the winery are over! It was a beautiful harvest and all the wines are all sleeping now and we are pretty confident 2012 will be a great vintage. We had an amazing crew again this year - Katie, Lester, Jeremy and Sean were all rock stars!  These are some shots from Lester : ) who I'm so grateful to for coming back for year three!!

These are some sneak peeks at our end of harvest dinner...  more about that to come 

 

Speaking of sneak peek our 2011 labels are getting letter pressed over the next few weeks! We finalized all the drawings and sent them off to my printer : )  --  there are some new vineyards and some fun new animals from the farm gracing the labels... one of the wines I'm super excited about is the 2011 chardonnay - not sure when it will be released yet but when it does don't miss this beauty! 

 

 

the chardonnay label features my honey bees : )