FAQ

How will I receive my products?

We offer regular deliveries in Bullard every Friday, Tyler every Saturday, and Dallas/Houston alternating Wednesdays. Our delivery zones are within 20 miles of Bullard/Tyler/Dallas proper, and for Houston within 20 miles of The Woodlands Mall. If you live inside these areas we will drop off to your front door (don’t worry if you’re not home, just leave a cooler out and we’ll pop your items inside for safe keeping). If you live outside of the delivery zone, we are happy to work out a location to meet you, just ask! Very often people live in suburbs we drive through anyway to get to our delivery zone! You can place your order any time you like, and it will be delivered on our next scheduled delivery date. We’ll shoot you a text message the day prior to remind you that we’re coming.

Can I get my products shipped?

All of our meats are processed in USDA inspected facilities, and thus available to ship nationwide. We ship exclusively to customers who have our farm membership (launching early 2021). We have worked out a shipping system mostly free of single use packaging. Your farm membership is essentially and annual deposit for the continued use of the insulated shipping totes (so rather than having the cost of shipping materials added in to the price of each item, it is an optional add on for those who choose to use this service), that also comes with additional perks like early access to our new harvest quantities, subscription services and more. The shipping totes are packed with a return label that you can easily slap on and send back to us for the next shipment - no wasted cardboard, styrofoam or ice packs.

Unfortunately TX cottage food laws prohibit us from shipping baked goods, pickles, or jams (basically any food item prepared in our home kitchen). In the spirit of our supporting our local communities rather than trying to be a mutli-state operation, we prefer to do deliveries. If you really need something (must be a shippable item) shipped, we can make arrangements, feel free to email sara@hoodfamilyfarms.com with any questions.

Why do your chickens lay different colored eggs?

This is a really interesting question, and we did an IG TV episode explaining the science in detail. But the short answer is, that different breeds lay different colors, shapes (some are more round, others more conical), and sizes. We believe that something can be both a healthy food staple and beautiful, so the more variety the better! All of the edible egg parts look the same once they’re cracked and in your frying pan!

Glossary

Continuous grazing

A grazing system in which livestock are turned into a pasture or grassland and left for an extended period of time. It is characterized by low stocking densities, selective grazing, and no specific rest period for forage recovery.

Non-selective rotational grazing

A grazing system in which livestock are held on restricted areas of forage at high stocking densities. It is characterized by sub-day livestock movements to new grazing areas, near total forage removal, and longer rest periods for forage recovery. Sometimes called mob grazing.

Regenerative farming/ranching

Regenerative Agriculture is in essence food production in a manner that cares for the animals, improves soil quality over time, and is profitable.

It is a system of farming and ranching principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services.Regenerative Agriculture aims to capture carbon in soil and aboveground biomass, reversing current global trends of atmospheric accumulation. At the same time, it offers increased yields, resilience to climate instability, and higher health and vitality for farming and ranching communities. The system draws from decades of scientific and applied research by the global communities of organic farming, agroecology, Holistic Management, and agroforestry.

Selective rotational grazing

A grazing system in which livestock are held on restricted areas of forage. It is characterized by multi-day livestock movements to new grazing areas, 1/3 to 1/2 forage removal, and rest periods for forage recovery.

Stocking rate

The number of livestock per unit area. Livestock counts are usually normalized to “animal units” (AU). This term is usually associated with continuous grazing.

Stocking density

The weight of livestock per unit area. Occasionally expressed as number of animals per unit area. This term is usually associated with non-selective or mob grazing systems.