Traditional Foods of Minnesota

A local home-made brewers club held a little meeting right next door to our Sheepy Hollow booth. They were nice guys who had been taught to share.

Buyers and sellers all seemed ready with a friendly smile!

On some Saturdays they turn the big warehouse into a farmer's market.

Badinage is a part of the "schtick" of Warren Burgess, one of the volunteers at Traditional Foods of Minnesota

This market is a wonderful idea by some very nice and cheery people. I wish them luck and hope the whole idea really works!
by Charlie Leck

We spent a full day yesterday showing off my wife's wonderful meat product. It was tiring, but it was also fun because the people who run Traditional Foods of Minnesota make it fun, led by Warren Burgess, a jocose guy who seems able to be in dozens of places at once without seeming overly busy. This is clearly a labor of love for Warren, whose business card informs us he has a B.Sc, B.E., Ph.D, and also a post doctoral degree.

The neat thing about a day like this is that it enables you to make lots of new friends, and that we did.

The lamb stew we spent so much time on went over extremely well and our business was brisk.

For those of you who don't know about Traditional Foods of Minnesota, we urge you to visit its web site and get out to visit the warehouse at 302 61st St W, just off Lyndale Avenue in south Minneapolis.

Tyler (left) stopped by our booth to try some of our lamb stew!

Some home made Italian style breads!

Products of all kinds and types were packed into the roomy warehouse!

This Little Piggy Went to the Market

This little piggy doesn't get to stay home this time. I've been ordered to go to the Market!
by Charlie Leck

Sheepy Hollow at Native Oaks Farm is going to try a new market today. It's an indoor Farmers Market that has been open in Minneapolis -- way over on the south side of the city -- and the boss wants to see how it functions. So we're heading over there to show our products off. We'll serve samples of a lamb stew that I worked all day yesterday on (Julia Child style).

I'm telling you because this has kept me away from my blog the last two days, but I'll return with a vengeance on Sunday. Don't forget me while I gone, baby!

Today we'll hand out the recipe for the lamb stew and this little blurb to introduce people to the farm and my wife's work.

Sheepy Hollow is at Native Oaks Farm, which is in both Independence and Minnetrista, Minnesota, is 25 miles straight west from downtown Minneapolis. You can learn more about the farm by going to our web site (simply google us). The farm is owned and operated by Anne W. Leck, a life-long resident of Minnesota and this part of the state.

The most important thing for you to know is that all the lamb we sell comes from our own farm. All the food fed to our sheep and lambs is raised by us on our own farm. We are able to keep track of what they eat. If you would like to know more about how our sheep and lambs are raised, we’d be happy to talk to you about those
subjects.

During the summer, we offer our lamb for sale every Saturday at the Midtown Farmers Market in Minneapolis, and every Thursday at the Excelsior Farmers Market in Lyman Park in Excelsior. During the winter, we also offer our lamb for sale at the warehouse of Traditional Foods of Minnesota (302 W. 61st St, Minneapois). Again, you can google this organization to find out more about them and the store
hours.

We also sell whole lamb and lamb by the side. If you are a devoted lamb eater, this is indeed the budget conscious way to purchase lamb. The cost of purchasing lamb in volume like this is approximately 50% of the cost of cut by cut prices.

Please call us if you would like any additional information. We’d be happy to answer your questions.

“Anne Leck is the woman behind Sheepy Hollow, which produces the best lamb around in my opinion.”[Brett Laidlaw, on his web site, Trout & Caviar]

“Tell Anne the lamb was wonderful, and the butchering was perfect.”[Lynne Alpert, founder and owner of The New French Café]

Sheepy Hollow at Native Oaks Farm
15 Copeland Road
Independence, MN 55359

awleck@frontiernet.net

952-955-3180 (farm) 612-298-9293 (cell)