Bald Eagles are a “Soar” Subject at White Oak Pastures Workshop January 16

That bald eagle in your pocket...the one on the quarter? Our national symbol of freedom and strength since 1782. The imprint doesn’t do it justice like seeing this awe-inspiring, majestic bird in action. Here’s your chance. On Saturday, January 16, zip to White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia for an enlightening indoor/outdoor bald eagle workshop led by two eagle experts, Jim Ozier and Brad Alexander. Bundle up for a 10 a.m.-noon farm tour to view these protected birds of prey in their natural habitat. The eagles are on their own for lunch, but workshop participants will dine in the Pavilion before nestling in for the afternoon’s educational workshop. $55 per person. Sign up online, designating CSA pick up to avoid shipping charges. Find more info nuggets on our blog -- and a connecting flight over to the White Oak Pastures eagle album. 

White Oak Pastures Adds Westside CSA Pick-Up Location

The farm just moved a little closer to the house for those on Atlanta’s Westside, thanks to White Oak Pastures. The USDA Certified Organic farm in Bluffton, Georgia is adding Doguroo as a second metro-area pick-up location for weekly Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) deliveries and online farm store orders. Now CSA shareholders can gather their goods on Thursdays at Doguroo, located at 1456 Northside Drive, NW, from 1-7:30 p.m. and at East Atlanta Village Farmers Market from 4-8 p.m. White Oak Pastures adds freedom from shipping charges to its produce, meat and product freebie list of freedoms from GMOs, hormones, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides when shoppers specify delivery to these two locations. A limited number of CSA program memberships are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign up online to secure your spot.

What’s the Doguroo-White Oak Pastures connection? The West Midtown full-service dog care destination sells White Oak Pastures dehydrated duck and chicken gizzards and lamb and beef liver treats in its store, every day.

The (Bald) Eagles Have Landed at White Oak Pastures Workshop January 16

Sink your talons into an informative indoor/outdoor bald eagle workshop at White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia on Saturday, January 16 that’s flying high under guidance from Jim Ozier and Brad Alexander. Ozier, a retired program manager for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, has monitored bald eagles in our fair state for almost three decades. Alexander is a wildlife biologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Swoop in for a 10 a.m.-noon farm tour and view these protected birds in their natural habitat. Reptiles, small mammals, fish, chickens -- whatever is handy -- are “fare” game for the regal predators. Workshop guests, however, will alight in the Pavilion for a delicious lunch before settling into the afternoon’s workshop. $55 per person. Sign up online; please choose CSA pick up as the shipping method to sidestep a ghost shipping charge. As this eagle album shows, the 75+ eagles at White Oak Pastures certainly aren’t camera shy.  

Take a Walk on the Savory Side with Will Harris and Savory Institute’s Allan Savory at White Oak Pastures December 12

Walk the walk while the Savory Institute’s Allan Savory and Georgia’s own Will Harris talk the talk about holistic land management at White Oak Pastures on Saturday, December 12 at 1 p.m. Already a leader in sustainability practices, educational outreach and a provider of pasture-raised meats and organic produce, the Bluffton, Georgia farm is now a Southeastern U.S. regional Hub for the Savory Institute. Allan Savory also will speak at Andrew College in Cuthbert, Georgia on Friday, December 11 at 7 p.m. Trek over to our blog for more details and tickets ($30 per person/event). 

Plow Your Way to White Oak Pastures’ Harvest Gathering October 17

Join the White Oak Pastures farm team and reap what they’ve sown, pretty darn close to where they planted it. The Bluffton, Georgia forecast calls for a Harvest Gathering on Saturday, October 17 during the afternoon and evening at Will Harris’ homestead. No picking (they’ve already done that), just grinning over the farm tour, music, tailgating games and a whole hog roast feast and fixings followed by a bonfire and s’mores. Cash bar for beer and wine. $10-$40 per person. Glean details on our blog; buy tickets at the White Oak Pastures online store.

Food, Fellowship and Fall Rendezvous at White Oak Pastures’ Harvest Gathering October 17

Celebrate the harvest season where the harvest is close at hand, down on the farm at White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia. Will Harris and his team are already planning Harvest Gathering activities for Saturday, October 17. Join them for a farm tour, music, tailgating games and a whole hog roast sided by farm-fresh fixings. Toast the harvest with beer and wine from the cash bar. Don’t eat and run, slow down and circle up around the bonfire to make s’mores after dinner. Opt in for a tour and dinner combo ($40), dinner only ($30) or just the tour ($10) when purchasing tickets through the White Oak Pastures online store. 

All Abuzz about White Oak Pastures Beginner’s Beekeeping Workshop on May 16

Those bumbling around, interested in beekeeping but not sure where to begin, will find a sweet Saturday awaits them at White Oak Pastures. The family owned, organic farm is leading a Beginner’s Beekeeping Workshop on May 16. Pull into the Bluffton, Georgia farm at 10 a.m. for a tour of the farm (optional). A noon lunch in the Pavilion officially opens the workshop, followed by an introduction to honeybees, apiology and colony organization, tools of the trade, managing hive pests naturally, colony collapse disorder and Q & A time. Inspect an open hive, weather permitting. No hives of your own? No problem. It’s still a golden opportunity to learn how to make your own honey and create bee-friendly environments to keep the world buzzing with these important food chain pollinators. Limited to 25 participants; $65 per person. Call 229-641-2081 for information or reservations. Reservations also may be made online. 

May Day Blooms at White Oak Pastures with Seed Workshop, Farm Tour, Dinner + Live Music May 2

For those of you yearning for a veggie garden this summer,White Oak Pastures Seed Starting Workshop sows a fast start to success on Saturday, May 2. Learn tricks of the trade for greenhouse and outdoor gardening and how to optimize conditions to render vigorous transplants and contend with harsh weather. A 10 a.m. farm tour and noon lunch in the Pavilion inspire your inner farmer and verify the full-on flavor of farm-fresh produce. Come dressed to impress the soil and seeds because you’ll get up close and personal with dirt at the 1-4:30 p.m. workshop. (Good excuse to throw some cute gloves in your cart the next time you’re at a big box store or garden center.) $60 per person, includes lunch in the Pavilion. Limited to 15 participants. Reservations required; reserve online or by calling 229-641-2081. Don’t uproot yourself, stay on for a special May Day dinner at the only farm in the United States that pasture raises and hand butchers 10 red meat and poultry species as well as produces pastured eggs and certified organic vegetables.

Also on Saturday, May 2, celebrate May Day White Oak Pastures style down on the farm in Bluffton, Georgia. From 3-4 p.m., meet and greet the farm crew and your fellow May Day merrymakers, eat appetizers and enjoy drinks in the Pavilion. Embark on a two-part farm tour from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Return to the Pavilion to appease farm-fed cravings with a four-course garden- and pasture-to-plate dinner featuring White Oak Pastures raised meats and seasonal vegetables, a cash bar and live music from 6:30-9:30 p.m. No maypole, but feel free to improvise a May Day dance if you’re so inclined. Tour, dinner and music, $75 per person; dinner and music only, $65 per person; tour only, $20 per person. Make reservations online or by calling 229-641-2081.

White Oak Pastures Hosts Composting Workshop on February 7

Learn the nitty-gritty, down-and-dirty facts about composting at the White Oak Pastures composting workshop on Saturday, February 7. Done correctly, composting is stink-free, easy and economical, and it diminishes waste while building a nutritional jackpot for your plants. Early birds, show up at 10 a.m. for the optional farm tour. The workshop officially begins with a noon lunch in the Pavilion. Guests rake in heaps of fun after lunch when class digs into the nuances of composting, including an overview of composting and basic requirements, how compost heaps work and various designs, methods and monitoring. After guests warm to those topics, the agenda moves on to black soldier fly biology and vermicomposting (don't try to worm your way out of that one). A Q&A session wraps up the pile of information relayed during this fruitful day on the farm. $60 class fee includes lunch and optional farm tour. Class size limited to 25 students. Call 229-641-2081 for more information or to reserve a seat. 

Soar to Bluffton for White Oak Pastures' Bald Eagle Workshop on January 31

Sprawling White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia is home to more than grass-fed beef, pastured poultry and organically raised produce. America's bird, the majestic and strong bald eagle, finds this sustainable, idyllic habitat to its liking. Georgia Department of Natural Resources Eagle Coordinator Jim Ozier leads an all-American day of educational talks, bird watching walks and observations of bald eagle natural habitats on the farm on Saturday, January 31. The morning takes wing with a White Oak Pastures tour at 10 a.m. that nests at the Pavilion for a noon lunch before buckling down for the bald eagle workshop at 1 p.m. $65 per person includes lunch. Groups of 10 or more receive a discounted rate of $50 per person. For more information or to make reservation, please call 229-641-2081.

Register Now and Save $15 on White Oak Pastures' Hooves & Horns Ruff Run March 14

Time to hit the turf on that New Year's resolution and start training for the White Oak Pastures Hooves & Horns Ruff Run canvassing the Bluffton, Georgia farm on Saturday, March 14. Your first step to overcoming the obstacles strewn throughout the course is to register for either a competitive or more leisurely heat. After that, only 3.1 miles of terrain on Georgia's largest organic farm and 10-12 fun, albeit challenging, obstacles come between you and the finish line. Early birds who register and pay the $60 entry fee before January 16 will receive a White Oak Pastures' Ruff Run T-shirt, a free beer at the end of the race (one per entrant age 21 and over) and a special lunch at the farm's own Pavilion restaurant. After January 16, registration fee jumps to $75. All paid entries receive goodies, and everyone will enjoy the day's live entertainment. Register before the 5 p.m. Friday, February 27 deadline or you're out to pasture on this year's run. Kick up more details here or call 229-641-2081.

Get Down and Dirty at White Oak Pastures Seed Workshop on September 6

We city folk don’t know much about gardening. Luckily, just a two-and-a-half hour drive heading south of Atlanta will put you at White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Ga., where you can learn how to get that seed started for a fall or winter garden. At the Seed Workshop, learn the tricks of the trade for starting seed in an outdoor or greenhouse setting. Beginner and advanced gardeners are welcome! For reservations, call 229-641-2081. 

Appetizing Aperture

What’s more refreshing than a couple of days away from the city? Absolutely nothing. Even better, White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Ga. is only a two-and-a-half hour drive south of Atlanta. With newly built lodging, stay a few nights and get rejuvenated. During your stay, get up close and personal with cattle and poultry by taking a farm tour. After working up an appetite on your journey through the ranch, pay a visit to the farm store or White Oak Pastures’ open-air dining pavilion.