Merry Christmas!

At Jack & Dick's we pride ourselves on selling our customers only the highest-quality feed and related products. That means we need to foster long-lasting relationships with our vendors built on trust and the shared expectation of good business ethics and high-quality products. If any of these aspects of the professional relationship begin to falter, we immediately re-evaluate our situation to see where we can improve. One relationship we've fostered that does not relate to livestock feed or bird feeders is that of our maple syrup supplier.
   Skarda Maple Farms, operated by brothers Andy and Jeff Skarda, is a company that produces fresh, high-quality maple syrup from the family farm near Denmark, Wisconsin, where the brothers grew up. The Skarda brothers' grandfather, George Skarda, wished for the land to be kept in the Skarda name in future generations, so Andy and Jeff decided to build a log cabin on the property using as much product directly from the farm as possible. Tapping maple trees for syrup came shortly after as a way to help make the farm self-sustaining.
   The Skarda brothers and their families are proud of the work they do on their family farm. They're pleased to offer several high-quality products including syrup, sugar, crumble, candy and cream. They also build log furniture made from trees on the farm. Here at Jack & Dick's we sell 8-ounce, 16-ounce and 32-ounce bottles of Skarda Maple Farms syrup and the 4-ounce bottle of maple sugar. We can tell you, from our personal experience, this syrup is absolutely delicious! Andy and Jeff don't use any food coloring, as many larger syrup producers do to keep the color consistent, so the lighter-colored bottles are from early in the season while the darkest-colored bottles came from taps later in the season.
   Syrup is not only used to soak into your pancakes, waffles or French toast sticks in the morning. It can also be useful in recipes and when creating your own meals.
   Please stop in today to check out our selection of delightful maple syrup products from Skarda Maple Farms! These items make great gifts, are wonderful for your own uses and are a taste sensation!

   Spring has arrived, and we would like to take an opportunity to remind everyone of our city-route delivery service here at Jack & Dick's. We take orders each week and then deliver them directly to residences here in Janesville and surrounding cities in the mornings on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Our friendly delivery folks will pour your softener salt into your water softener for you or leave your birdseed or pet food in a stack in your garage.
   Our primary city-route delivery man, Adam, is a hard-working guy who takes pride in providing top-notch customer service at each and every one of his delivery stops. Adam will happily stack your bags anywhere you'd like or fill your softener with salt. 
   If you need anything else during these delivery days, just let us know when you call to place your order. We're happy to add whatever you need to your order.    

   Tomorrow spring officially arrives! After the last two months we've experienced here in southern Wisconsin, we are ready to do a happy dance (or three) as we welcome a new, warmer season with open arms here at Jack & Dick's. Every spring is exciting for us simply because winter is on the downhill slide, but we are all especially excited for it to arrive this year, as we think you all are, this year because of the extreme snowy, icy and rainy winter we've had since the first part of the year. This is getting tiresome.
   As the final traces of winter (hopefully) fade away over the next few weeks, our hearts are always full of pure joy and excitement as we daydream about warm weather, family parties, camping trips, outdoor activities, weddings, our gardens and many other fun activities that are just better with warm weather. These are events and things to do that can help us lower our stress levels, making it crucial for our well-being to do these things. After all, what's better than digging our hands into the soil, planting seeds and exercising our faith that we will have a harvest and beautiful flowers in a few months?!
   My husband, Matt, manager of Jack & Dick's, has been poring over all the seed catalogs that are delivered to our house. These catalogs started arriving back in December. Matt has saved nearly every one of them; they sit on the kitchen table until he has an available evening or a day off work, at which point, he arms himself with them and hits the couch with his pad of grid paper to sketch out his garden. He spends hours looking through all the catalogs trying to be decisive about what it is exactly he wants to plant this year. If he doesn't decide, his seed list becomes a little too long. and then he knows I'll be asking how much money he wants to spend. 
   Matt grew up with his hands in the soil. His parents are avid gardeners and pride themselves in dispensing real-life advice and experiences to customers with questions here in the store. He learned the art of gardening by simply doing it. 
   He goes to work and enjoys his job. He likes helping customers find what they need to go back home satisfied and happy with their small business shopping experience. He enjoys spending time doing things with me and with our dog, Bella. We love to kayak, interact with our families, watch new movies and do construction projects in and around our house. But Matt LOVES to garden!
   Gardening is his passion. It's simple really...he just relaxes when working in his garden. He loves to see things grow into something fruitful and beautiful. As his wife, I can see happiness throughout his entire being when spring arrives and he can finally get back into his garden. This, I know, is one significant opportunity for him to spend time with God, practice his faith like so many farmers do when they sow seeds and say a prayer for a fruitful harvest, and simply be happy.
   Be happy this spring. Be grateful you've survived another winter and can start anew again in 2019. You are blessed to have this opportunity. 
   Stop in today to see our terrific selection of garden seeds! Onion sets, potatoes and live plants arriving soon!

   As we are in the heart and soul of autumn with slightly cooler temperatures, some rain and thoughts of the Thanksgiving holiday just around the corner, we would like to take an opportunity to remind everyone of our city-route delivery service here at Jack & Dick's. We take orders each week and then deliver them directly to residences here in Janesville and surrounding cities in the mornings on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Our friendly delivery folks will pour your softener salt into your water softener for you or leave your birdseed or pet food in a stack in your garage.
    We are charging $1 per bag on all home deliveries. Please take this into account when placing your order, and also be sure to give instructions on where to stack your order.
   If you need anything else during these delivery days, just let us know when you call to place your order. We're happy to add whatever you need to your order.    

   Our custom goat mixes and pre-made products will provide your goats with the necessary nutrition for high production while simply keeping them happy because they're fed well and they feel good! There are several goat farmers in our area who are terrific at what they do and they have helped us design some great mixes.
   Our part-time salesman, Korey Statton, a dairy goat farmer west of Janesville, designed and uses our Jack & Dick's Dairy Goat 18 percent textured feed on his dairy farm. 
   Another area goat farmer, Matt Loudenbeck, uses our Jack & Dick's 16.5 percent meat goat mix. This is a medicated textured feed.
   We also offer several other goat feeds. They include a 16 percent goat grower medicated textured feed from Economy Feeds, a product great for growing kids, especially does; a 16 percent non-medicated pellet from Kent Feeds, a good product for all classes of goats; a kid starter product called Kent Lader Custom Kid, which is a medicated pellet with 18 percent protein; a versatile product great for dairy and meat goats called Kalmbach Milk and Meat, which is a pelleted, non-medicated 16 percent grower; and two non-medicated, textured products useful for all classes of goats:  Kalmbach 16 percent goat and Nutrena Country Feeds 17 percent goat.
   Please note all medicated products contain Rumensin, a medication approved for all goats EXCEPT dairy/lactating goats. Ionophores of Rumensin and Deccox are approved in all classes of goats except lactating does. 
   We also carry goat milk replacer. 
   Our custom mixes can be ordered through several of our vendors. We have a 2,000-pound minimum order requirement for bagged mixes and a three-ton minimum order requirement for bulk mixes. 
   Stop in today to visit with us about all your goat feed needs! Or call us at 608-752-3058. Feel free to message us through our Facebook page.

   I am Jack & Dick's Store Manager Matt Hookham's wife, Mary and I'm writing today because I recently had the opportunity to travel with my Leadership Wisconsin group to Croatia for 15 days. I toured the entire country and arrived back in the States with plenty of exciting stories to share. But you may be asking why I am blogging about Croatia when my family operates a feed store.
   One of the primary learning themes I explored with my group in Croatia was agriculture. The Leadership Wisconsin Fellows began an unforgettable Croatian tour along the eastern edge of the country in the city of Osijek, the breadbasket of central Europe. But first, a bit about the country itself...
   Croatia has a population of 4.5 million people, uses the Kuna as its currency and joined the European Union in July 2013. Its capital city of Zagreb is a bustling city in the north-central part of the country. It's called Hrvatska, the country of 1,000 islands because it has more than 1,200 islands and all its websites end with ".hr." Neckties, or cravats, as they're called locally, were created in Croatia.
   As a result of the recent civil war in Croatia, the economy, both agricultural and political, has suffered over the last 25 years. As the country emerged from Communist rule,  it transitioned from a central planed economy to a market economy. This liberalization brought drastic changes in the domestic market as well as in the foreign trade market. 
   The eastern part of the country is made up of low, arable land and the main crop production consists of wheat and maize. Other agricultural products consist of sugar beets, oilseeds, tobacco, wine, livestock and fish farming. 
   Rural areas throughout the country lack vital population necessary to improve the agriculture economy and production. There is a general under-utilization of human and natural resources and infrastructural disconnects. The land is used to grow whatever products possible but most of the dirt is not of great quality. Farmers there are unable to afford fertilizer and don't have the skills or resources to experiment with other farming methods such as rotational grazing. Sixty-six percent of the land is under private ownership while 34 percent is owned and utilized by the government.
   There are two major vertically-integrated agricultural companies that control the farming in the country. They have production contracts with farmers that give the farmers directions on what to plant, how much of it, maintenance methods throughout the growing season and the pricing for their products. 
   So we spent the first 5 days or so in Osijek, four hours east of Zagreb. We had a gracious local host, a gentleman who taught at the University of Osijek, J.J. Strossmayer University. We had the opportunity to meet a representative from one of the vertically-integrated agriculture companies, then he gave us a tour of some of his company's facilities. Some of us toured a salami processing plant while others chose other plants within the company to visit.
   From Osijek, we took our bus back to Zagreb where we stayed to experience the local culture for just a couple nights. From there we moved on to Rijeka, a city on the western edge of the country. We took in the scenic countryside as we continued our journey down the coastline. And scenic is an understatement! No descriptions or photos can really do proper justice to the breathtaking mountains, the glistening Adriatic Sea, white, sandy beaches and winding roads heading down the coast. 
   At the halfway point in our trip, we arrived at Krka National Park (see waterfall photo above) part way down the coast. We spent a leisurely afternoon touring the scenery there before heading to our evening destination, the city of Split. Split is where the youngsters in the country dream of going because there are clubs, bars and other establishments that cater to them more than in any other city. 
   Our final destination on our trip was the city of Dubrovnik at the southern tip of the country. This is the city where several scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed. We spent the last few days exploring the city, taking tram rides over it and the Adriatic and simply soaking up the history and culture during our final days in the country.
   My trip was one to remember, no doubt. I enjoyed so many diverse learning opportunities and was exposed to not only the Croatian lifestyle, economy and culture, but also the global perspective. 

   At Jack & Dick's we pride ourselves on selling our customers only the highest-quality feed and related products. That means we need to foster long-lasting relationships with our vendors built on trust and the shared expectation of good business ethics and high-quality products. If any of these aspects of the professional relationship begin to falter, we immediately re-evaluate our situation to see where we can improve. One relationship we've fostered that does not relate to livestock feed or bird feeders is that of our maple syrup supplier.
   Skarda Maple Farms, operated by brothers Andy and Jeff Skarda, is a company that produces fresh, high-quality maple syrup from the family farm near Denmark, Wisconsin, where the brothers grew up. The Skarda brothers' grandfather, George Skarda, wished for the land to be kept in the Skarda name in future generations, so Andy and Jeff decided to build a log cabin on the property using as much product directly from the farm as possible. Tapping maple trees for sap came shortly after as a way to help make the farm self-sustaining.
   Some of us here at Jack & Dick's had the opportunity recently to go see the syrup operation. We enjoyed seeing how the sap is collected in the woods and how it's cooked down to make it into syrup in the family's sugar shack. Jeff and Andy showed us the entire operation.
   The Skarda brothers and their families are proud of the work they do on their family farm. They're pleased to offer several high-quality products including syrup, sugar, crumble, candy and cream. They also build log furniture made from trees on the farm.
   Here at Jack & Dick's we sell 8-ounce, 16-ounce and 32-ounce bottles of Skarda Maple Farms syrup and the 4-ounce bottle of maple sugar. We can tell you, from our personal experience, this syrup is absolutely delicious! Andy and Jeff don't use any food coloring, as many larger syrup producers do to keep the color consistent, so the lighter-colored bottles are from early in the season while the darkest-colored bottles came from taps later in the season.
   Syrup is not only used to soak into your pancakes, waffles or French toast sticks in the morning. It can also be useful in recipes and when creating your own meals.
   Please stop in today to check out our selection of delightful maple syrup products from Skarda Maple Farms! These items make great gifts, are wonderful for your own uses and are a taste sensation!

   We do our best here at Jack & Dick's to keep the lines of communication open, not only among our employees but also between employees and our wonderful customers. This allows customers to approach us and easily ask any questions. The ways of contacting us are numerous and important for our customers to keep handy.
   Our favorite method of communication is when our customers simply stop in to the store! Our address is 975 S. Jackson Street, Janesville, WI and we always love to see the folks who keep us in business. Of course, we can give our customers the best advice and support when we're able to visit with them face-to-face in our store.
   Calling is another good option. We can be reached on our primary phone line at 608-752-3058. Our secondary number is 608-752-3258. We welcome any and all phone calls and are always happy to take feed orders for delivery or answer gardening and bird seed questions as needed. We also encourage folks to leave us messages whenever we're closed. We check them every morning before loading our delivery trucks.
   Electronic mail is another useful form of communication. Please feel free to email us anytime at jndsfeed@gmail.com. We also check our email inbox daily for orders, questions and other communication. 
   Finally, we also offer a text line for anybody who prefers texting instead of calling, emailing or stopping in to the store. All text messages from this line actually come into our email, which makes it more convenient for us to respond. Feel free to text us at 608-352-3190. 
   Since we're all on social media so often, feel free to look us up on Facebook! Facebook messaging is another great way to send a short message to us quickly. We will respond as we're able during our regular business hours. 
   We hope all of our customers will contact us using any of these forms of communication at any time with questions, deliveries or anything else they need.

   At Jack & Dick's we pride ourselves on selling our customers only the highest-quality feed and related products. That means we need to foster long-lasting relationships with our vendors built on trust and the shared expectation of good business ethics and high-quality products. If any of these aspects of the professional relationship begin to falter, we immediately re-evaluate our situation to see where we can improve. One relationship we've fostered that does not relate to livestock feed or bird feeders is that of our maple syrup supplier.
   Skarda Maple Farms, operated by brothers Andy and Jeff Skarda, is a company that produces fresh, high-quality maple syrup from the family farm near Denmark, Wisconsin, where the brothers grew up. The Skarda brothers' grandfather, George Skarda, wished for the land to be kept in the Skarda name in future generations, so Andy and Jeff decided to build a log cabin on the property using as much product directly from the farm as possible. Tapping maple trees for syrup came shortly after as a way to help make the farm self-sustaining. 
   The Skarda brothers and their families are proud of the work they do on their family farm. They're pleased to offer several high-quality products including syrup, sugar, crumble, candy and cream. They also build log furniture made from trees on the farm. Here at Jack & Dick's we sell 8-ounce, 16-ounce and 32-ounce bottles of Skarda Maple Farms syrup and the 4-ounce bottle of maple sugar. We can tell you, from our personal experience, this syrup is absolutely delicious! Andy and Jeff don't use any food coloring, as many larger syrup producers do to keep the color consistent, so the lighter-colored bottles are from early in the season while the darkest-colored bottles came from taps later in the season.
   Syrup is not only used to soak into your pancakes, waffles or French toast sticks in the morning. It can also be useful in recipes and when creating your own meals.
   Please stop in today to check out our selection of delightful maple syrup products from Skarda Maple Farms! These items make great gifts, are wonderful for your own uses and are a taste sensation!