Quality products for home-based food prep.

Thrive – We live a long ways from a grocery store. And, who wants to go to the grocery store anyway? Thrive is a great mail-delivery option for organic and natural product essentials. I like to describe it as Whole Foods meets Costco meets Amazon. It’s easy, convenient and affordable to still receive quality products to supplement what we can grow and produce here on the farm.

Dry Farm Wines – A few years ago we discovered Dry Farm Wines subscription service and have never looked back. They work with small family farms using regenerative practices all over the world to make the best, natural wine I’ve ever tasted. It’s free of sugar, 100% naturally fermented and lower in alcohol. All the bottles are lab tested for purity and won’t undo all your efforts to eat clean, nutritious food. You can sign up for their subscription service to receive wines directly shipped to your door (or to a local liquor store if you’re in Utah like us!) monthly or every few months based on your preferences. And if you’re a new customer, you’ll receive an extra bottle for a penny if you use the link above!

Quality knives – Good knives are essential for anyone taking farm-to-table cooking seriously. Whether your breaking down primal cuts of meat, dicing raw fruits and vegetables, or slicing into a homemade loaf of sourdough, you simply cannot achieve great results without quality knives. We’re so passionate about knives, we’re going to give three separate recommendations. First, the absolute best harvest knives come from Opinel. Even if you only have a small herb garden, you’ll appreciate the functionality and durability of an Opinel folding knife. They make kitchen knives as well, and you cannot beat their kids knife set (see the kids section for more details). Second, F Dick knives are excellent for breaking down your farm-raised meats. Whether you’re raising your own animals, or purchasing directly from a farmer in your community, quality butchery knives for boning and filleting are essential. F Dick knives are made of rock solid German steel and they are professional quality. Like Opinel, F Dick has a line of premium chefs knives as well. And, that leads us to our third category, knives for the kitchen. There are so many quality kitchen knives on the market, it really becomes a matter of personal preference. If you’ve never before used “real” kitchen knives, it’s worth visiting a kitchen supply store where you can feel several different brands in your hand. Handle shape, weight, and balance will all influence your opinion, and it’s worth getting it right. That said, we have several Hammer Stahl knives in our kitchen, and we recommend them because they are heavy duty, the blade is made of hard German steel, and the price is reasonable. It’s easy to spend a lot on kitchen knives that end up chipped or tarnished because they’re made of delicate steel or ornate materials that don’t hold up to heavy abuse. That won’t happen with Opinel, F Dick, or Hammer Stahl knives. These knives will be with you for the long haul.  

Cookware – Quality cookware is absolutely essential and Le Creuset is one of the very best. Le Creuset has a wide range of products, all of which are great. But, the single most valuable product we recommend is their round enameled dutch oven. There’s a range of sizes, and if you’ve never used a dutch oven before, we recommend a small to medium one. The number of ways you can use a dutch oven are countless, but one of the uses we’ve found it to be indispensable for is baking sourdough bread. We also love our Lodge Dutch Oven, which has a much lower price point, but is still super durable! Check out Tartine Bread if you want to know why.

Lodge cast iron – We know some people are intimidated by using cast iron, but once you season your pan (essentially just heating and adding a film of oil several times), it gradually forms a nonstick surface and is the most versatile cookware ever created. Listen, we love Le Creuset, but to suggest your kitchen should be outfitted with it is a bit over the top for most people. The good news, there are other companies producing very high quality cast iron at a more reasonable price point. Lodge is a USA-based company producing some of the best cast iron products from their own foundry in Tennessee. Lodge is a go to for cast iron products other than the enamel coated dutch ovens mentioned above.

Cutting board – You really only need one good cutting board as long as it is big enough to hold a whole chicken or large roast. However, we find it helpful to have a few cutting boards so we can engage more members of our family in the prep work. Wooden cutting boards are easier on your knives and can be maintained with a simple hand washing. Occasionally it’s helpful to oil wooden cutting surfaces with a mineral or olive oil to prevent it from drying ou