Reflections on 2024

written by

JESSE STRAIGHT

posted on

December 25, 2024

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2025 is just around the corner!

It’s hard to believe another year has flown by. As always, it was a year filled with adventure, and looking back, we are grateful and encouraged by all we were able to accomplish. So here’s the recap of Whiffletree’s 2024!

Whiffletree Crew:

This year, we had another set of amazing interns come through our farm!

  • Tyfani (Maryland): Tyfani joined us over the winter to gain some experience working on a regenerative livestock farm. She did a great job and was always cheerful and friendly. And bonus - she was a great cook! Now she attends the University of Maryland, pursuing a degree in horticulture. 
  • Lily (Florida): Lily came to join us during her gap year before starting school at the University of Florida. She was an excellent intern and worker, attentive to detail, and so great to have around!
  • Caroline (Virginia): Caroline is a track and cross country runner at JMU. She joined us as an intern for the summer with the interest of maybe getting something going on her grandparent’s old farm. Every now and then on breaks from school she pops in for a couple days to work with us!
  • Andrew (Virginia): Andrew is a local who graduated from the same high school as Jesse. He is a great and solid guy, and he is starting up his own business of growing mushrooms and micro-greens. We’re excited to see where that takes him! He also works part time now as the delivery driver for Whiffletree!
  • Akili (Virginia): Another Virginia local, Akili is a fellow you might recognize from being featured in the newspaper for completing the Appalachian Trail last year. He did the summer internship with us and has since stayed on as an all-star, full time employee!
  • Andy (Virginia): Andy grew up in a military family and attended college in Florida, but now lives with his family in Bristow, VA. He came for the fall internship, and was a good and thoughtful guy. He did great work with us! 
  • Anna (Virginia): Anna is a local to the Warrenton area, and her family has known Jesse since he was in high school. She helped out with chores, deliveries, and working the farm store, and she learned a lot! Her kind and cheerful spirit and smile were a treat, and she was a great worker!
  • Lani (Virginia): Lani is a long-time customer who is digging into the details of regenerative livestock farming over this winter and into the spring of 2025.  She is an enthusiastic and thoughtful addition to the team!

Some of our team also had some pretty cool things they did this year or life changes that happened to them!

  • Melanie (bookkeeper; inventory, processing, and freezer manager): Melanie and her husband Patrick are welcoming their first baby in January! The whole farm is so excited to meet their baby. Congratulations, Melanie and Patrick!
  • Elliot (cattle manager): After two years of working as the cattle manager for Whiffletree Farm, Elliot is moving on to work for the farm who supplies us with our calves. He was great to have as our cowboy and will be missed!
  • Carmen (farm store and neighborhood delivery manager): Carmen, who has been a part of the Whiffletree team for almost five years now, is engaged! We’re all excited for her and her fiance Brendon!
  • Bethany (wholesale, communications, marketing, and events manager): Bethany took a six month leave from Whiffletree to go intern at a farm in England! She had an amazing time learning regenerative farming there and exploring England, Wales, and Scotland.
  • Ben (pig manager): Ben is taking over as our cattle manager (and pig manager) here at Whiffletree! He’s excited for the opportunity and we’re looking forward to seeing what he’ll do with it.

Whiffletree Farm:

The farm has had a few big changes and fun happenings over the year…here are some of the highlights!

  • We got a third freezer installed. That has been a huge help to us to have more storage for our products here on-farm, and the people who work the freezers and help pack orders are all very happy for the extra space!
  • We welcomed Anthony Schiano as our new poultry manager. It’s been great to have him around and he’s done great work!
  • A fun highlight was getting to supply a Neil Young concert with our beef patties. Neil Young is one of Jesse’s favorite artists, and it was cool to have a celebrity want his concert to be supplied with products that align with our standards!
  • We got a vacuum sealer for our products! That has been a major difference in the quality of our poultry items. Retail and wholesale customers alike have all loved the change!
  • One of Jesse’s daughters has added a couple dairy cows to the animals of Whiffletree Farm. We’re hoping for the older heifer to have a calf next year!

The Straight Fam:

Liz and I (Jesse) are very grateful for each other, our kids, my parents, all the farm team, our church, and all our friends.  We are very blessed with all the good people that surround us.  Here are some of the highlights this year from our family:

  • Liz has done a great job homeschooling 7 of our 8 kids (Whew!  No small task.)
  • Our oldest daughter got her driver's license!
  • Some of our older kids have really enjoyed being involved with a local theatre group.
  • The kids and I have read/are reading so many good books together!  I love Story Nights with the kids!  Some examples:
    • To Kill a Mockingbird
    • The Virginian
    • Lord of the Rings
    • The Hobbit
    • Mossflower
    • The Little House on the Prairie stories
    • First Farm in the Valley
    • Murder in the Cathedral
    • The Yearling
    • The Sherlock Holmes stories
  • The older kids do a great job helping on the farm (for pay!) and doing their school work and having fun with each other and friends.  
  • We are all looking forward to when my daughter’s new dairy cow has her first calf in August, and she starts milking!

Blessings to you all, and thank you for all your support of our farm, our team, and our family!  We will continue to work so diligently to raise you food that is tasty and truly healthy for you, the land, the animals, and our community!

Jesse Straight

More from the blog

Meet the Team

Meet the Team

Hello 2025! Wow…can’t believe another year has gone by. We’re excited to launch into 2025 and keep doing what we’re doing plus get some new things going here at the farm! For the beginning of the year, we wanted to get a new series going on our blog, reintroducing you to the team at Whiffletree so you can meet all the great people involved in putting food onto your table. First off in the series is none other than our very own farmer, Jesse Straight! Here are the questions we asked Jesse... ~~~~~ Where did you grow up? I grew up in Warrenton!  Born at Fauquier Hospital!  Started out in Warrenton Lakes, and then moved to New Baltimore when I was 5, and grew up playing in the woods and romping on our neighbor's farm (sledding, squirrel hunting, fort building, camping with friends). I have 3 older brothers and 2 younger sisters.  What did you do before you came to farming/Whiffletree? Liz and I got married the summer after I graduated from UVA.  We stayed and worked in Charlottesville.  I got a job working for Habitat for Humanity.  I did that for a couple years, then I left to work as a carpenter working for a friend-- the 2 of us building quirky spec houses in Charlottesville.  What inspired you to become a farmer? Reading Wendell Berry and Joel Salatin.  Visiting farmers, dabbling in some farm enterprises myself.  Loving working outside and being a part of life actually growing forth!  Not many people actually get to work with life growing in front of you!  And learning about how bad conventional food is.  Here was an area where I could do some good.  What are some things you didn’t expect to learn that farming has taught you? Running a farm business has really challenged me.  It takes a lot of virtue to be a good boss and colleague.  I want to be a really good boss and worker myself.  And I have weaknesses and shortcomings.  So the challenge of doing the thing I need to do now (not procrastinating the scary thing), and being a good boss challenges me to be a better person.  How has farming benefited you? I have loved the work with the animals, plants, and soil, and with Liz and my kids, and with great employees and interns.  It is a privilege to do this work with these great people.  What do you hope to accomplish through farming? I hope to raise food that is incredibly tasty, and healthy for our customers, land, animals, and community.  Additionally, in this work I aim to provide for my family.  And like I said above, I hope this work challenges me and helps me to become a better person. How has your role at Whiffletree evolved in your time here? In the beginning, I did almost everything!  But of course, we only had a small number of animals and customers.  I did all the chores, all the marketing, all the communication, all the order packing, all the driving, etc.  And it was intense, but also so exciting to be getting going!  My favorite things to do now are: the chores (I love to be outside making animals happy on lush fresh pasture!), talking with and helping customers, strategizing on how to make our processes better, and writing newsletters and making videos to explain what we do and how we do it and why it is so good!  Most memorable Whiffletree experience? I have a lot to choose from!  On the rough side, Super Storm Sandy and the crazy storm we got in June of 2022 were very chaotic and tough--infrastructure damaged, animals everywhere, freezers down--all the stressful stuff!  On the upside, I have a ton to pick from, but probably finding my wedding ring in the compost pile after being lost for 10 years! What’s your favorite animal on the farm? And why? I love the cattle.  They are such incredible animals.  Magical really.  They take grass and water and turn into these beautiful huge animals.  Their 4 chambered stomach is the most amazing and underrated thing ever!  I love to move them to fresh pasture, and hear and see them chomping down the grass!  Favorite hobby?  Or favorite things you like to do when not working?   I love cozying up and reading with my kids!  We have read some awesome books!  I love going for walks around the farm with Liz, the kids, and buddies.  I love making trails on the farm.  Me with a chainsaw and my kids or buddies, making trails is my favorite day.  I love playing pickleball and pingpong.  I love watching soccer.  I love bonfires.  I love getting friends together for all the above, and for the hot tub/cold plunge experience.  I love playing with my little kids--chasing them around and getting them riled up.  Favorite food? Thanksgiving dinner, steak caesar salad, fried chicken.  Favorite dish you like to make with a Whiffletree item? Steak and grilled chicken! ~~~~~ And that’s Jesse Straight…say hi to him if you see him around the farm!

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Christmas Memories

Christmas Memories

Sometimes in the rush of the Christmas season, I have to remind myself to slow down and take in all the little things that make the season special. I tend to go from day to day checking off my lists, and I forget to stop and just enjoy the moment. But I’ve found it’s in those moments that the best memories lie. Christmas is one of those times of the year that has so many good memories attached to it. Or, it’s the perfect time of year to create new memories and traditions for you and your loved ones to make the season special. So today, we wanted to share with you the favorite memories from some of the folks here at Whiffletree. Grab a cup of hot chocolate or eggnog and some cookies, sit back and relax, and enjoy! Christmas Memories from the Farm… Jesse Straight “Some of my favorite memories from growing up are the Christmas Eve service with all the candles in a big dark church, all the beloved Christmas books that came out each year, my mom's "monkey bread", playing with my family’s nativity set much like I would with playmobils/legos/etc.(camels and wise men were more likely to be in a Western-style battle with the shepherds–ha!), writing funny notes on the gifts for my siblings, the handful of classic Christmas movies we would watch each year, and just getting off from school! Some of my favorite traditions now with my family: we love getting our tree from Oakshade Farm and just hanging out there a bit. We have lots of great Christmas books that we only bring out this time of year–and as a family we read “A Christmas Lie” and “Christmas Day in the Morning.”  I am a total sucker for both.  The kids and I like to go around to our neighbors on the morning of Christmas Eve and give out gifts and notes, and then decorate the tree in the evening.  I love the kids piling on our bed with their stockings early in the morning on Christmas Day, and then off to the 7:30 Mass!  And then I like how we try to do something a little special or fun on all 12 days of Christmas.. And watching the Muppets Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life (my absolute favorite movie)!” Liz Straight “My favorite part of Christmas growing up was that we woke up Christmas morning to find the house all decorated and the Christmas tree lit up. My parents did all of it in the night and told us that Santa did it for us. We had to wait at the top of the stairs and go down all together after my dad turned on all the lights and made sure everything was ready. I can’t imagine staying up late and doing all of that now that I am a parent, but it was truly magical and so much fun! Now, my favorite part of Christmas is that we take it really easy that day. We eat tasty foods that we have made ahead of time, go to Mass either at midnight on Christmas Eve or early in the morning on Christmas Day, and then relax together enjoying our new gifts, favorite games, favorite Christmas movies, and taking walks around the farm.” Carmen Ashwell “I have lots of wonderful Christmas memories of my family, but something I look forward to every year is the Christmas cookies. Coming from a large family of home chefs and bakers, my family goes all out with Christmas cookies. We have easily up to 20 different types to try some years! I don’t remember what year it was exactly, but I baked 13 different types of Christmas cookies, and I love to watch my family try each one and hear their thoughts. It seems like almost every year we find a new favorite to be added into the regular rotation, but that list is getting bigger and bigger! And I love to eat Christmas cookies for weeks after Christmas!” Elliot Anderson One Christmas Eve, my family made ginger cookies, and we walked up and down our road in Wisconsin (3.5 miles) in the slushy snow, caroling to our neighbors.” Bethany Fisher “I have a few favorites from the Christmas season. My absolute favorite memory from Christmas happened a couple weeks before Christmas, when we would go pick out our Christmas tree. That day was as big as Christmas Day for us. We would go to the Christmas tree farm in the morning, trudge through the snow (I grew up in Minnesota, so we usually had a few snowfalls in early December!), find the perfect tree and cut it down to bring home. Then we would make an assortment of Christmas snacks, hot chocolate, cider, and homemade eggnog. In the evening, we would put on the same Christmas CD each year and decorate the tree and house while we ate all the goodies. A couple other favorites…on Christmas Eve, we always watch a ‘Christmas Carol,’ and then my little sister and I grab our sleeping bags and sleep under the tree. (The reason is definitely not so we can spy on our Mom as she brings out wrapped gifts for under the tree…). And then homemade caramel rolls for Christmas brunch are the best!” Anthony Schiano “My favorite tradition would have to be the food! More specifically, the cake that we bake every Christmas. Fittingly named the “Jesus Cake,” it’s a coffee cake I look forward to every Christmas morning.” What is your favorite Christmas memory or tradition? Let us know in the comments below! Merry Christmas! ~Bethany

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Maple-Glazed Christmas Turkey Recipe

Maple-Glazed Christmas Turkey Recipe

Christmas is in the air! Trees are going up, Christmas lights enchant people’s homes, carols spread the Christmas cheer…all of which means it’s the time of year to begin planning your Christmas gathering with family and friends! My family’s home (Bethany here!) was the gathering place for our family Christmases. I love cooking, especially for large groups of people. I love how food brings everyone together, and seeing all the smiles and hearing the laughter around the table as we enjoy a good meal is the best part. The star protein of our family’s Christmas meals vary from year to year, but the maple orange glaze is always a constant. So this year, I wanted to share with you a recipe for the tastiest Christmas turkey ever! Sweet meets savory in this take on a Christmas turkey. Maple glaze with bright notes of citrus…a gravy with Whiffletree seasoning meat and thyme…what’s not to love? Grab your pasture-raised Whiffletree turkey HERE and give this recipe a try! What you’ll need: For your turkey: 1 whole pasture-raised turkey, thawed and giblets removed (brined or not brined! I did just a simple 24 hour saltwater brine for my turkey) 4 oranges Handful of thyme sprigs 6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed ½ tsp whole allspice For your maple butter glaze: ¾ c. unsalted butter 1 c. maple syrup ½ tsp whole cloves For your gravy: 1 package Whiffletree seasoning meat (similar flavor to bacon! You can use bacon, but I used seasoning meat in this recipe because it’s fattier and I wanted the fats for the gravy) 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 ½ tsp thyme leaves ⅓ c. flour 3 c. reserved drippings and broth (you’ll make this from the turkey neck and giblets) Salt and pepper to taste Optional garnish: Pomegranate seeds (adds a nice contrasting color and a pop of flavor!) How to Prepare: Preheat your oven to 325F. First, make your maple butter glaze. Melt ¾ cup butter over low heat. Add the maple syrup, the juice from two of your oranges, and the cloves. Bring to a simmer and let cook for a few minutes before removing from the heat.  Remove your turkey from the package, take off the plastic truss, and set into a roasting pan. Make sure to take the giblets out of the cavity and save them for your gravy! Now is also the time to remove the turkey neck if you wish. Next, cut the 4 remaining oranges into halves and place in the cavity of the turkey, along with 6 cloves of garlic, ½ tsp whole allspice, and a small handful of thyme (make sure to save enough thyme to get about 1 tsp of thyme leaves from). Then, if desired, take some kitchen twine and truss the legs together. Now take your maple butter glaze and spread all over the turkey skin with a pastry brush. (Make sure to leave about a cup for serving later with your turkey!) Then place the turkey into your heated oven. *Note: The rule of thumb is 8-10 minutes per pound of turkey, but always plan for less so you don’t overcook your turkey. If you have one, place an oven-safe thermometer into the breast before putting it into the oven. You want the meat to reach 165F to be safe for eating, but no more as you don’t want dry turkey! The breast tends to cook faster than the leg, so if it reaches 165F but the leg doesn’t read that temp yet, simply cut off the legs and leave in the oven to keep roasting until done. This way you don’t overcook any part of your turkey! While the turkey is roasting, you can start prepping your gravy! Put your reserved giblets (and turkey neck if you removed it) into a small pot and cover with 4.5 cups of water. Set over medium low heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, take out the giblets and turkey neck, and set them aside to cool, saving the broth in the pot. After the giblets have cooled, finely dice them. After the turkey has reached 165F, drain off the drippings into a bowl and set the turkey aside somewhere to keep warm while you prep the gravy. Next, fry up your Whiffletree seasoning meat in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once the meat is fully cooked, remove to a plate, leaving all the fats behind in the pan. Turn the heat to medium low. Mince your remaining two cloves of garlic and add to the fat, along with 1 tsp. thyme leaves stripped from the stalks. Cook until the garlic is starting to brown and is fragrant. Then, add in the flour, whisking to make a roux. Let the roux cook for a few minutes while stirring often to keep it from burning. Next, slowly pour in 3 cups of your reserved drippings and your giblet broth, whisking the entire time to keep clumps from forming. Cook the gravy for a few minutes or until it reaches your desired thickness. Once it reaches the right consistency, remove from heat, add the diced giblets, and stir in salt and pepper to taste. And you’re all set! Carve up your turkey and serve with the seasoning meat, thyme gravy, maple butter glaze, and optional pomegranate. Enjoy!

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Whiffletree Farm

8717 Springs Road
Warrenton VA 20186
(540) 935-0600

info@whiffletreefarmva.com

Store Hours: M - F 11AM to 5PM; Sa 10AM to 5PM