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We at Fisher Family Farm & Ranch are myself, David, my wife, Ya, and our four children, Zachary, Ethan Jim, Katheryne and Audrey.
I guess you could say our story started sometime around 1850, when my great-great, grandfather, Forest Fisher, moved into the Grand Saline area of Van Zandt County. Like many people of the time, he started farming and raising animals. Now, more than150 years later, our family is still rooted in the same industry, though we now have computers, John Deere equipment and ample irrigation to produce more from less and better maintain the quality of the environment that so graciously provides us a living.
So when I say that much of what I know was passed down through eras and generations, you can better understand our unique appreciation for what we do and how we do it. My most direct influence is my father, Jimmy Fisher, 81 years strong and allegedly retired. Even now though, at his age, the days he puts in would put most people half his age to shame. That work ethic is what he passed along to me and my wife and I are working to instill it in our children as well. That and respect for what we do.
The land that gives us its bounties is treated with respect and our ongoing commitment to ensure that it is viable for the next generation of Fishers if they choose to follow our steps. To that end, we rotate crops, grow high quality organic matter that is plowed back into the soil to help replenish it after all the hard work it has endured, and on a yearly basis, we leave some portion of our land out of production so it can more completely recover.
Each year we grow a variety of crops and are always looking for a new variety to add to the list so our customers can enjoy a diverse offering of fruits and vegetables on a regular basis. Our core crops are almost always tomatoes, cantaloupes, watermelons, okra, green beans and Irish potatoes. However, as the seasons allow, we also grow, broccoli. cauliflower, eggplants, greens, and fruits such as blackberries, strawberries, figs, pears and plums.
A major reason we can offer so many varieties goes back to the work of my parents who started groups of fruit trees and plants long ago and we have added and deleted as required from year to year and are able to include in a given year's rotation.
In addition to selling these items fresh for sale, we also offer them as pickles, jellies, jams, preserves and in some instances, dried peppers and fruit as well.
Our cattle are another source of pride and something we hold dear. All our animals spend all their lives in open pasture, are never penned for any amount of time unless they are sick and are allowed to graze grass year round, as we plant winter grass to supplement their stored winter forage. We use no antibiotic laced feed at any time, nor hormones or growth injections . Our Angus and Brangus cattle are truly 100% natural. When it comes time to harvest them for meat, they are not treated harshly and are sent only to a USDA approved 'humane kill' facility. From that point, our beef is dry aged before being custom cut, processed and vacuum sealed packaged before being presented at market for our customers enjoyment.
We are now signing up folks for our 2015 CSA. What is CSA? Community-Supported Agriculture (“CSA”) is a unique type of direct farm business is a method of growing and distributing food where the farmer sells the season’s crops in advance of the growing season to individuals who are called shareholders or members. After production begins, the CSA farm’s shareholders receive a portion of the harvest on a weekly basis throughout the growing season. The philosophical underpinnings of CSA are that the risk and reward of food production should be shared between farmer and eater.
Our CSA will begin in April and run through the end of October, making it a total of seven months . Many CSA agreements are rigid and not flexible. As independent business people, we know that simply does not work. Thus, we are going to be offering packages that are full shares, half shares and opt into or out of fruit such as cantaloupes and watermelons that makes a package more expensive. We also have a dry-aged beef option that runs in 6 and 12 month increments.
Please take the time to review our CSA options in Our CSA Store section of the site and let us know if you have any questions. We are always happy to answer all queries.
Thanks for taking the time to visit our site and we hope we can be of service to you in 2014 and beyond.
Sincerely,
David & Ya Fisher
I guess you could say our story started sometime around 1850, when my great-great, grandfather, Forest Fisher, moved into the Grand Saline area of Van Zandt County. Like many people of the time, he started farming and raising animals. Now, more than150 years later, our family is still rooted in the same industry, though we now have computers, John Deere equipment and ample irrigation to produce more from less and better maintain the quality of the environment that so graciously provides us a living.
So when I say that much of what I know was passed down through eras and generations, you can better understand our unique appreciation for what we do and how we do it. My most direct influence is my father, Jimmy Fisher, 81 years strong and allegedly retired. Even now though, at his age, the days he puts in would put most people half his age to shame. That work ethic is what he passed along to me and my wife and I are working to instill it in our children as well. That and respect for what we do.
The land that gives us its bounties is treated with respect and our ongoing commitment to ensure that it is viable for the next generation of Fishers if they choose to follow our steps. To that end, we rotate crops, grow high quality organic matter that is plowed back into the soil to help replenish it after all the hard work it has endured, and on a yearly basis, we leave some portion of our land out of production so it can more completely recover.
Each year we grow a variety of crops and are always looking for a new variety to add to the list so our customers can enjoy a diverse offering of fruits and vegetables on a regular basis. Our core crops are almost always tomatoes, cantaloupes, watermelons, okra, green beans and Irish potatoes. However, as the seasons allow, we also grow, broccoli. cauliflower, eggplants, greens, and fruits such as blackberries, strawberries, figs, pears and plums.
A major reason we can offer so many varieties goes back to the work of my parents who started groups of fruit trees and plants long ago and we have added and deleted as required from year to year and are able to include in a given year's rotation.
In addition to selling these items fresh for sale, we also offer them as pickles, jellies, jams, preserves and in some instances, dried peppers and fruit as well.
Our cattle are another source of pride and something we hold dear. All our animals spend all their lives in open pasture, are never penned for any amount of time unless they are sick and are allowed to graze grass year round, as we plant winter grass to supplement their stored winter forage. We use no antibiotic laced feed at any time, nor hormones or growth injections . Our Angus and Brangus cattle are truly 100% natural. When it comes time to harvest them for meat, they are not treated harshly and are sent only to a USDA approved 'humane kill' facility. From that point, our beef is dry aged before being custom cut, processed and vacuum sealed packaged before being presented at market for our customers enjoyment.
We are now signing up folks for our 2015 CSA. What is CSA? Community-Supported Agriculture (“CSA”) is a unique type of direct farm business is a method of growing and distributing food where the farmer sells the season’s crops in advance of the growing season to individuals who are called shareholders or members. After production begins, the CSA farm’s shareholders receive a portion of the harvest on a weekly basis throughout the growing season. The philosophical underpinnings of CSA are that the risk and reward of food production should be shared between farmer and eater.
Our CSA will begin in April and run through the end of October, making it a total of seven months . Many CSA agreements are rigid and not flexible. As independent business people, we know that simply does not work. Thus, we are going to be offering packages that are full shares, half shares and opt into or out of fruit such as cantaloupes and watermelons that makes a package more expensive. We also have a dry-aged beef option that runs in 6 and 12 month increments.
Please take the time to review our CSA options in Our CSA Store section of the site and let us know if you have any questions. We are always happy to answer all queries.
Thanks for taking the time to visit our site and we hope we can be of service to you in 2014 and beyond.
Sincerely,
David & Ya Fisher
