Hello and welcome to the January 2026 newsletter for Laughing Duck Farm! I hope your holidays were cozy and filled with love and peace. Ours was pretty uneventful, which is always good news around here. When you raise livestock it seems that the holidays can be very “eventful”. I always say that it seems that the animals sense when there is a lot going on and that is the moment that they will choose to escape or have some life threatening situation. I get all of my chores done in the morning, make sure everyone is secure and healthy, sneak back into the house and get everyone around the dinner table only to have someone say “Whose goats are those on the street?”.

Mine. Those are my goats on the street. The same goats that literally five minutes ago were secure, calm and well fed. Now they are on the street acting like the four horsemen of the appocolypse are chasing them down.

This year there was none of that. At least not during Christmas. I think part of the difference is that I’ve dealt with it enough to have learned that the enemy of the peace and containment on the farm is my panic level. I am by nature an anxious person. I’m very good at panicking. Panicking is one of my strongest gifts. Animals are very good at sensing people’s emotions, especially when the animals in question know you very well. They can tell right away if I’m stressed or starting to panic and they think “If she’s freaking out, there must be a reason to freak out so let’s all freak out together!”

This is when the chaos erupts.

Lately, though, I have reached my limit. I have no more panic left in me. Also, I am getting much better at reminding myself that everyone’s Christmas joy does not rely on me cooking the perfect dinner or having the cleanest house. This peace has spilled over into my farming. I am not in panic mode about everything so the animals decide that everything must be okay. There is no reason to break out and fill the streets with goat or cow chaos.

So when I say that our Christmas was uneventful, please know that I mean we were filled with all of the peace and joy that I hope fills the earth.

On the Farm

This is the quiet time of year on the farm. There are no pigs or meat birds. I am just making sure everyone is fed and has access to water. I do a few smaller scale chores, milk the cow and call it a day. I am embracing the quiet, the beauty of snow, and my favorite weather condition, winter fog. I think winter fog is one of the most beautiful things and we have seen quite a bit of it this year. The seed catalogs are arriving daily and I am planning and dreaming. I am also resting because I know we are just a little ways away from gearing up for the big spring rush.

In the Store

We aren’t doing much for markets this time of year so the store is stocked and manned. We are open Thursdays through Saturdays from 10am-6pm. We are a bit bored so it would really give us a thrill if you wanted to stop in for a little shop and chat. There are chairs to sit in and usually some quiet jazz playing. There are healthy meats, herbs, and dried goods to help you meet all of your New Year’s health goals. There are also classes. You can see these by looking at our facebook page. This month we will be doing a class on how to make your own dishwasher tabs with very basic ingredients, and how to make your own sourdough starter. Both of these classes are “make and take” classes so you can bring home your creation!

Just a reminder that the store is located right here on the farm at 2482 170th ave, Emerald WI.

Bulk Food Order

This is the part of the newsletter where I tell you about the bulk food order. It is either the part where you stop reading or the part you scrolled down to find. Bulk food ordering has been part of my lifestyle for decades. I like the security of knowing that if we were ever in a financial pinch (which seems to be happening to more and more people lately) that our grocery needs would be taken care of. It also saves us a lot of money and saves me on costly runs to the store. It was also handy when I was feeding a large family. My suggestion for people starting their adventure with bulk food ordering is to never order anything that your family doesn’t enjoy. Don’t store large amounts of beans if your family doesn’t like beans. Don’t store tuna if you don’t already eat tuna. If your family is in a stressful situation where you are relying on food that you have stored, don’t force yourself to stress them out more by feeding them food they don’t like. Instead, load up on things your family enjoys and eat from that storage even when things are going well. If your family eats popcorn once a week or more, then stock up on popcorn. If your kids can’t get through a meal without peanut butter, then stock up on peanut butter. If you love to bake, we have tons of flour and grain options for you.

You get the picture.

Now, how to order.

Start by looking through the list below. It’s a big list. Trust me, you do NOT want to print it out. I tried to alphabetize it the best I could to make it easier to brouse. If you are looking for something in particular, feel free to ask me. It’s winter and I’m bored. Also, I love helping people.

Once you know what you want, send me an email at northhaus@gmail.com with your list. It should include the item number, item description, and price of the things you want. You need to have this list to me by Saturday January 3rd at 7pm. I will take it from there. If I don’t respond to your email by the end of the day on Saturday, check in to make sure your email didn’t get lost in the maze of email files. Sometimes I find them in strange places.

Then, on Friday January 9th after 4:30 pm you can come out to the farm at 2482 170th ave, Emerald WI and pick up your order. We are always open on order pick up days so you can shop in the store at this time if you’d like too! This will also be the time you pay for your order with a check or cash.

Your next opportunity to get a bulk order will be February 6th with orders due January 31st.

Well that is it for this month. I hope you have a lovely, cozy month. I hope to see you sometime this month. And I hope that you don’t have to deal with goats on the street level chaos for this entire month.

Peace and blessings to you and your family.

Kathy