I got all of the garden bed boxes finished on Saturday, and got started on shovelling the topsoil from the walkways into the beds. I couldn't believe the number of nightcrawlers and earthworms in that soil, every spadeful had about 10-20 worms in it. That's a good sign, I think. I'll take some pictures of the setup this week and get them posted here.
We went to the Krell farm yesterday to pick out our pigs for this year. We found four gilts with black-spotted rumps that look pretty good. Jack will be delivering them on April 14th, so we'll have a bit of a headstart on last year. I think we should have a contest to name them this year, the winner gets 2 pounds of bacon in October. All ideas are welcome.
All of the seedlings indoors are in good shape, the peppers are just now sprouting. My tomatoes are about 90% sprouted, as is the cabbage.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007
Starting the garden 2007
In the past week I've got my mini-greenhouses started. We now have seeds from 7 varieties of tomato and 5 of hot peppers started, as well as cabbage and broccoli. I might be starting a little bit early, but I think I'll be okay.
I don't think I need to start anything else inside, most of the other seeds will be sown in the garden just about a month from now. I hope to have all of the raised beds finished this weekend and then I'll start working in the compost.
Not much else happening. We have decided to have four pigs this year after all. I need to get to the feed mill and see when the owner is going to start ordering birds, I'd like to get the turkeys about 2 weeks sooner than we did last year. I also need to ask how much more feed prices are looking to be this year, corn prices are sky high with so much of it being used to make ethanol.
I don't think I need to start anything else inside, most of the other seeds will be sown in the garden just about a month from now. I hope to have all of the raised beds finished this weekend and then I'll start working in the compost.
Not much else happening. We have decided to have four pigs this year after all. I need to get to the feed mill and see when the owner is going to start ordering birds, I'd like to get the turkeys about 2 weeks sooner than we did last year. I also need to ask how much more feed prices are looking to be this year, corn prices are sky high with so much of it being used to make ethanol.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
The latest..
It looks like we'll be getting some above-freezing temperatures soon. That will be a welcome change, I'm getting a bit tired of winter.
I have been reviewing my gardening calendar and prepering to start some seeds indoors. I have a little better plan this year, I think, and should see an increase in the viability of my seedlings. Speaking of the garden, it looks like we have probably sold all of our CSA shares, now I just need to make sure we have plenty of veggies for our customers! I am not too concerned though, as I feel I was very conservative in estimating the number of customers we could support.
The number of pigs we will be purchasing seems to be up in the air again, as Nikki and I were comparing notes the other day and it looks like we already have 3.5 pigs spoken for in the fall! So we will have to sit down and talk about exactly what we want to do. We raised 2 hogs pretty easily, but unless my math is off, 4 pigs would be twice the work.
I had a phone conversation with a representative of Naturally Grown, and after a short interview, they agreed to proceed with our certification. We'll have an inspection sometime and then things should be complete. I'll add a link to them soon.
I have been reviewing my gardening calendar and prepering to start some seeds indoors. I have a little better plan this year, I think, and should see an increase in the viability of my seedlings. Speaking of the garden, it looks like we have probably sold all of our CSA shares, now I just need to make sure we have plenty of veggies for our customers! I am not too concerned though, as I feel I was very conservative in estimating the number of customers we could support.
The number of pigs we will be purchasing seems to be up in the air again, as Nikki and I were comparing notes the other day and it looks like we already have 3.5 pigs spoken for in the fall! So we will have to sit down and talk about exactly what we want to do. We raised 2 hogs pretty easily, but unless my math is off, 4 pigs would be twice the work.
I had a phone conversation with a representative of Naturally Grown, and after a short interview, they agreed to proceed with our certification. We'll have an inspection sometime and then things should be complete. I'll add a link to them soon.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
2007 seed orders are in!
I placed our order with Jung Seeds on Monday. Looks like we will have plenty of potatoes and onions this year, we'll be getting 225 onion sets and 4 different kinds of potatoes. I also ordered buttercup squash, 2 kinds of sweet potatoes, snap peas, swiss chard, and a mix of lettuces. All of the other seeds will come from leftovers from last year's order and saved seeds. I can't wait to get back out there in the dirt, it will be a while though.
More bad weather on the way, we got about 20" of snow last weekend and they are forecasting 2-4" of slush for tonight, which sounds dreadful. 4" of slush? Yuck!
Not much else happening. Have to start making calls about getting some feeder pigs and getting some horse manure and topsoil delivered for the garden beds soon.
More bad weather on the way, we got about 20" of snow last weekend and they are forecasting 2-4" of slush for tonight, which sounds dreadful. 4" of slush? Yuck!
Not much else happening. Have to start making calls about getting some feeder pigs and getting some horse manure and topsoil delivered for the garden beds soon.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Shoulda checked the forecast..
I guess I shouldn't have said anything about the weather, because we are currently under a blizzard warning. Nikki is up north for the weekend, involved in a program called Becoming an Outdoorswoman. They are going to teach her how to tie flies, ice fish, shoot a bow and other outdoorsy stuff, I hope the weather isn't too terrible up there and that she can make it home safely. I have already plowed the driveway twice, just trying to keep up with the drifting, and we are supposed to get another 12-20 inches of snow tonight and into tomorrow.
In other news, I have completed the application for our farm to become Certified Naturally Grown. It's along the same lines as being Certified Organic, with the same requirements for decent treatment of animals and no use of drugs or hormones, it just has somewhat less stringent rules on feed. It will be nice to get the certification, I don't know exactly what use it will be other than to reassure our customers.
Some editing of the previous post, we are now thinking of maybe only raising 3 hogs this year and seeing how much more work it is than 2 were. Also, I forgot to mention that I think we are going to raise a few pheasants this year as well.
Hope everyone is keeping safe and warm, Cheers!
In other news, I have completed the application for our farm to become Certified Naturally Grown. It's along the same lines as being Certified Organic, with the same requirements for decent treatment of animals and no use of drugs or hormones, it just has somewhat less stringent rules on feed. It will be nice to get the certification, I don't know exactly what use it will be other than to reassure our customers.
Some editing of the previous post, we are now thinking of maybe only raising 3 hogs this year and seeing how much more work it is than 2 were. Also, I forgot to mention that I think we are going to raise a few pheasants this year as well.
Hope everyone is keeping safe and warm, Cheers!
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Winter survival
Well it looks like we have made it through (hopefully) the worst of the winter. We had about 25 days in a row of sub-freezing and sub-zero temperatures, but things have warmed nicely the last week or so. The warmer weather, along with a second surge of gardening catalogs, have me thinking spring but that is still a good stretch away.
We are starting to put together our garden and livestock plans for 2007. Right now the plan is to get 4 pigs, 10-12 turkeys, and half a dozen or so meat chickens. If the chickens are worth it we may raise them all summer, we shall see.
The garden will, in theory, provide at least twice as much produce as last year and we'll be experimenting with some new varieties and some different companion plantings. Some of the new vegetables this year will be red potatoes, sweet potatoes, swiss chard, a strange Peruvian hot pepper, and some new herbs. We will most likely not plant soybeans again this year,except as a cover crop.
Now that spring is approaching, you can look for more timely updates to the blog. Thanks to all of our faithful readers!
We are starting to put together our garden and livestock plans for 2007. Right now the plan is to get 4 pigs, 10-12 turkeys, and half a dozen or so meat chickens. If the chickens are worth it we may raise them all summer, we shall see.
The garden will, in theory, provide at least twice as much produce as last year and we'll be experimenting with some new varieties and some different companion plantings. Some of the new vegetables this year will be red potatoes, sweet potatoes, swiss chard, a strange Peruvian hot pepper, and some new herbs. We will most likely not plant soybeans again this year,except as a cover crop.
Now that spring is approaching, you can look for more timely updates to the blog. Thanks to all of our faithful readers!
Friday, January 05, 2007
Hello again!
It has been a VERY long time since I updatedthe blog, but things are pretty slow in the winter. Here's the skinny:
1) No more critters. All of the livestock is now gone from the farm and is in the freezer.
2) Unseasonable warmth! The weather is unbelievable, it has been in the low 50s this week and I can't remember the last time it was below freezing in the daytime.
3) New garden. I have been taking advantage of the warm weather to get a head start on next year's garden. I have begun building garden beds out of pressure-treated 2x8s. The beds are 16'x 6' and we will have 10 of them, with 3' pathways between. Hopefully this will cut down on the weeding and increase the productivity of the garden.
4)Vacation! Nikki and I had a wonderful 4-day vacation over New Year's in Door County, WI. We stayed at a nice B&B, ate great meals every day, and we both jumped in Lake Michigan on New Year's Day with the Jacksonport Polar Bear Club. The lake temperature was 38°, it was bracing!
That's about all I can think of, hope everyone had a great holiday season.
1) No more critters. All of the livestock is now gone from the farm and is in the freezer.
2) Unseasonable warmth! The weather is unbelievable, it has been in the low 50s this week and I can't remember the last time it was below freezing in the daytime.
3) New garden. I have been taking advantage of the warm weather to get a head start on next year's garden. I have begun building garden beds out of pressure-treated 2x8s. The beds are 16'x 6' and we will have 10 of them, with 3' pathways between. Hopefully this will cut down on the weeding and increase the productivity of the garden.
4)Vacation! Nikki and I had a wonderful 4-day vacation over New Year's in Door County, WI. We stayed at a nice B&B, ate great meals every day, and we both jumped in Lake Michigan on New Year's Day with the Jacksonport Polar Bear Club. The lake temperature was 38°, it was bracing!
That's about all I can think of, hope everyone had a great holiday season.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Cold..
The cold weather moved in today, ending what was a pretty nice November. I got to go deer hunting last weekend at my great-uncle Don's and shot a fair-sized doe on saturday morning, I got it all butchered on Sunday night as soon as I got home and spent Monday evening grinding hamburger. We ended up with just about 10 lbs worth. I'll be taking another 10-12 lbs of trimmings in to Saukvile to get some hot sticks made. The rest is steaks and roasts.
We have gotten some more good feedback on the turkeys from some of our customers, which we were glad to hear.
I forgot to mention a few weeks back that one of the ducks did finally lay some eggs, I got a grand total of three eggs. That was fine because I really just wanted to see how they tasted. I thought they were good, just a bit richer than a chicken egg. The first egg had 2 yolks, so that was a nice surprise.
We have gotten some more good feedback on the turkeys from some of our customers, which we were glad to hear.
I forgot to mention a few weeks back that one of the ducks did finally lay some eggs, I got a grand total of three eggs. That was fine because I really just wanted to see how they tasted. I thought they were good, just a bit richer than a chicken egg. The first egg had 2 yolks, so that was a nice surprise.
Friday, November 24, 2006
A success!
Just a quick note to say that our turkey turned out great and I hope everyone else's did too. I ended up cooking him on the grill as he was just too big for the oven. I took about 4 hours for our turkey and I threw some fresh cut applewood on the grill to give it a little bit of smoke flavor
We got lots of compliments on the bird, so I am happy. Tasting was the last component of the decision whether or not to raise them again next year, so it looks like turkeys will be back.
We got lots of compliments on the bird, so I am happy. Tasting was the last component of the decision whether or not to raise them again next year, so it looks like turkeys will be back.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving!
Well, Sunday was doomsday for 5 of the turkeys, 4 of them have been delivered to their purchasers and we are going to eat the 5th tomorrow. I sure hope they taste good, everyone is very excited about having a farm-raised turkey for Thanksgiving. I can't think of any reason why they wouldn't be good, but I'm nervous just the same, I want our customers to be happy.
It was pretty rough killing the turkeys. I had definitely grown to like them over the past 5-6 months, but it had to be done, and unfortunately I was the one that had to do it. The remaining turkeys didn't make it any easier on me, they spent the whole day calling for their missing buddies, it was depressing.
I got a call today from Outpost Natural Foods, an organic supermarket chain in the area, asking if we would be able to supply them with any ducks for the Christmas season, I have no idea if they would be interested in the 3 that we have left, but I'll give them a call back on Friday and find out. Our LocalHarvet listing has gotten us more attention than I anticipated. It's a great resource for a small-scale operation like ours.
Hope everyone has a great Turkey Day and I sure hope our customers are pleased with their birds!
It was pretty rough killing the turkeys. I had definitely grown to like them over the past 5-6 months, but it had to be done, and unfortunately I was the one that had to do it. The remaining turkeys didn't make it any easier on me, they spent the whole day calling for their missing buddies, it was depressing.
I got a call today from Outpost Natural Foods, an organic supermarket chain in the area, asking if we would be able to supply them with any ducks for the Christmas season, I have no idea if they would be interested in the 3 that we have left, but I'll give them a call back on Friday and find out. Our LocalHarvet listing has gotten us more attention than I anticipated. It's a great resource for a small-scale operation like ours.
Hope everyone has a great Turkey Day and I sure hope our customers are pleased with their birds!
Monday, November 13, 2006
Testing, testing, is this thing on?
Hello faithful readers, sorry it has been so long since I wrote anything but the truth is there hasn't been much to tell.
We have received excellent feedback from all of our customers about our pork, and we agree. I think we have had every cut at least once already and we couldn't be happier with how the meat turned out. Kewaskum did a great job in processing and packaging everything, too. Next year we will probably not be offering 1/4 pig packages, unfortunately, because it became difficult to get everything cut to the cutomer's specifications. Next year it will most likely be 1/2 pigs only.
This weekend I'll be processing all of our turkeys, except for two that are getting a reprieve and will probably be heading to a petting zoo in northern Illinois of all things! I think it's nice that they'll have a chance at a long life, even if they will probably have kids yelling at them most of the time.
Weather-wise we had about 3 inches of snow and sleet fall on Friday afternoon, so I got my first chance to use my plow truck. It worked great, took me about 20 minutes to get the whole drive cleared off.
I'll most likely miss the opening of deer season this weekend, because I'll be at home butchering turkeys, but going second weekend is looking pretty promising. I'll be happy just to get a nice doe like last year.
We have received excellent feedback from all of our customers about our pork, and we agree. I think we have had every cut at least once already and we couldn't be happier with how the meat turned out. Kewaskum did a great job in processing and packaging everything, too. Next year we will probably not be offering 1/4 pig packages, unfortunately, because it became difficult to get everything cut to the cutomer's specifications. Next year it will most likely be 1/2 pigs only.
This weekend I'll be processing all of our turkeys, except for two that are getting a reprieve and will probably be heading to a petting zoo in northern Illinois of all things! I think it's nice that they'll have a chance at a long life, even if they will probably have kids yelling at them most of the time.
Weather-wise we had about 3 inches of snow and sleet fall on Friday afternoon, so I got my first chance to use my plow truck. It worked great, took me about 20 minutes to get the whole drive cleared off.
I'll most likely miss the opening of deer season this weekend, because I'll be at home butchering turkeys, but going second weekend is looking pretty promising. I'll be happy just to get a nice doe like last year.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
The pigs have returned
I went and picked up our pork yesterday from Kewaskum Frozen Foods, you can see the spread here. The picture doesn't include the bacon or hams that were in boxes on the floor, that's quite a bit of meat! Kewaskum did a great job, everything looks really good. The only mistake they made was they gave me all of my cased sausage as brats instead of half brats, half smoked sausage. Not that big of a deal really.
Thanks again to everyone that ordered from us, I think you will be pleased with your purchase, I know I am!
Anyone that didn't have the freezer space to order 1/4 or 1/2 of a pig, you still have a chance at some pastured pork. We have a very small amount of bacon, pork chops, pork steaks, and roasts available. Check out our Local Harvest page for more info if you are interested.
Not much else is going on at the farm. Turkey orders are still coming in, we're getting close to having them all sold. The weather is rotten again this week, cold and rainy and useless. I have training this weekend for the Washington County CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and on Sunday we're heading up to Oshkosh to celebrate all of our October birthdays. I'm hoping to get some duck and pheasant hunting in at some point this fall, cross your fingers for me.
Friday, October 13, 2006
SNOW!
I think I mentioned a month ago or so that it seemed like the doves and starlings were flocking up earlier than usual, and wondered if that meant we were going to have an early winter. It looks like that is indeed what has come to pass. We had a hard freeze on Wednesday night and woke up to a dusting of snow on Thursday morning. I don't think we got much over 35° yesterday and it's only supposed to be mid-40s today. I sure wasn't planing on running the furnace this early in the year, I hope we can get a company to come and replace the chimney pipe for our woodstove soon, none of them seem to be in too big a hurry to get back to us, though.
I harvested every tomato out of the garden Wed. afternoon, we'll see how many of them we can get to ripen indoors, also brought in all of the peppers and anything else that was still out there, just a few small zucchinis and a butternut squash. I left the carrots and parsnips in the ground and just covered them with some straw, apparently they will store in the ground just fine and we can just dig them up as we need them. I have no idea if it will actually work, but we'll see.
I had a fun 30 minutes or so on Wednesday evening. I went to go throw some more straw in the turkey pen and must not have latched the door behind me. When I started spreading straw the turkeys freaked out, as usual, and a few of them must have pushed the door open. So I suddenly had 6 turkeys walking all over the yard. With Nikki's help I got them all rounded up and back inside, but it took some effort!.
I harvested every tomato out of the garden Wed. afternoon, we'll see how many of them we can get to ripen indoors, also brought in all of the peppers and anything else that was still out there, just a few small zucchinis and a butternut squash. I left the carrots and parsnips in the ground and just covered them with some straw, apparently they will store in the ground just fine and we can just dig them up as we need them. I have no idea if it will actually work, but we'll see.
I had a fun 30 minutes or so on Wednesday evening. I went to go throw some more straw in the turkey pen and must not have latched the door behind me. When I started spreading straw the turkeys freaked out, as usual, and a few of them must have pushed the door open. So I suddenly had 6 turkeys walking all over the yard. With Nikki's help I got them all rounded up and back inside, but it took some effort!.
Monday, October 09, 2006
This little piggy went to market
Nikki and I pulled, pushed, shoved, wrestled and otherwise over-exerted ourselves, but we managed to get both hogs in the back of the truck this morning and I got them to Kewaskum Frozen Foods without incident.
We did really well with these piggies. My target was to get them to 220-240lbs in 6 months and we succeeded. Breakfast weighed in at 253 lbs and Lunch was 218 lbs when they were weighed this morning. They didn't seem to mind taking a ride in the back of a pickup, they were calm the whole way.
We'll be picking up the pork on October 18th, so we'll try to get everyone's orders to them on the 19th and 20th. Thanks to everyone that ordered pasture-raised pork from us, we really appreciate your business. Those that didn't get a chance to order this year, we'll probably have 3 pigs next year, so please keep us in mind.
We did really well with these piggies. My target was to get them to 220-240lbs in 6 months and we succeeded. Breakfast weighed in at 253 lbs and Lunch was 218 lbs when they were weighed this morning. They didn't seem to mind taking a ride in the back of a pickup, they were calm the whole way.
We'll be picking up the pork on October 18th, so we'll try to get everyone's orders to them on the 19th and 20th. Thanks to everyone that ordered pasture-raised pork from us, we really appreciate your business. Those that didn't get a chance to order this year, we'll probably have 3 pigs next year, so please keep us in mind.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Playing catch-up
Sorry I haven't written in a while, but life has been pretty routine on the farm lately.
Nikki and I got away last weekend to attend a friends' wedding in Chicago, we think it was the first weekend away from the farm we had together all summer, so that was nice. We stayed at a great hotel in Oak Park and had a wonderful dinner Friday night.
Pigs go to the slaughterhouse on Monday, so we're giving them lots of treats of apples and pears and just trying to keep them fat and happy. They are certainly big animals now. We may have 1/4 pig left to sell, if anyone is interested let us know!
I bought a pickup for the farm last week, so we have something to haul the pigs in. It also has a snowplow, so I'll be able to keep the driveway clear this winter. it's a 1985 Chevy K10 4x4 with a 6.2L diesel, so it should have plenty of power for plowing. That's a picture of it up above. It's in good shape for being 20 years old.
In the garden all that is left are a few peppers, a few tomatoes, and a few squash. I wish the last dozen tomatoes would ripen, it's been over a week since I've had a fresh tomato.
The weather has been miserable for the last few days, so we haven't been able to get out and do much, hopefully things will get brighter the next few days so that we can enjoy the fall colors before they are all blown away.
Friday, September 22, 2006
New pictures
We hadn't taken any pictures of the critters in a while, so last night we snapped a few to show how big they are getting. Above is a picture of 2 big turkeys. There are more in the albums at the Farm Pictures link.
The ducks still haven't laid any eggs, I guess they were just messing with my head. The other disturbing thing about the ducks is that they have started flying around, something they haven't done before. I hope they aren't planning on flying south for the winter!
We had some patchy frost the other night, I had to cover the tomatoes and peppers, and it looks like everything made it through safely.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Turkeys
Today we'll be talking turkey.
Business first. Anyone that has already ordered a Thanksgiving turkey from us, or anyone that would like to, please send an email to ardwyn_farm@earthlink.net including the following information:
1) Your name
2) What day you would like to pick up your turkey (Nov. 19 - 22)
If you have a preference in breed, feel free to include that and we will do our best to accomodate your request. New orders will be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.
The way these turkeys are growing, the flat price of $75/ bird is looking like more and more of a bargain. If we were selling them at the national standard of $4/lb I think they might go for more.
Okay, now that we have that out of the way.
I had the opportunity this weekend to talk with an employee of one of the larger organic distributors in the country. During the course of the conversation somehow the fact that we raise a few turkeys came up and he was interested. He asked how many turkeys we raised and if we considered them to be a big hassle. The nub of the conversation was that the company is looking for someone to raise turkeys for them, but someone raising a dozen apparently wasn't worth dealing with.
I will admit that my first reaction was to think about converting the stock room and pasture area for turkeys and raising 120 turkeys next year. After considering it for a while, though, I actualy became a little upset. The concept of organic farming is supposed to be a farm full of biodiversity, with each animal and crop depending on others in a mutually beneficial way. But it seems that the tide is turning and now raising "organic" livestock is just a matter of reading the rules and not doing anything against them. A giant feedlot of steers eating organically-raised corn trucked in from 3 states away is hardly an improvement over the current system. So feeling pressured to ditch all of the other animals on the farm in favor of raising a single variety of animal makes me more wary of the growing corporate organic suppliers. It seems to me the better solution is to eat locally, see the places your meals come from, and judge for yourself if you're comfortable with the treatment the animals receive and the way the crops are grown.
Business first. Anyone that has already ordered a Thanksgiving turkey from us, or anyone that would like to, please send an email to ardwyn_farm@earthlink.net including the following information:
1) Your name
2) What day you would like to pick up your turkey (Nov. 19 - 22)
If you have a preference in breed, feel free to include that and we will do our best to accomodate your request. New orders will be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.
The way these turkeys are growing, the flat price of $75/ bird is looking like more and more of a bargain. If we were selling them at the national standard of $4/lb I think they might go for more.
Okay, now that we have that out of the way.
I had the opportunity this weekend to talk with an employee of one of the larger organic distributors in the country. During the course of the conversation somehow the fact that we raise a few turkeys came up and he was interested. He asked how many turkeys we raised and if we considered them to be a big hassle. The nub of the conversation was that the company is looking for someone to raise turkeys for them, but someone raising a dozen apparently wasn't worth dealing with.
I will admit that my first reaction was to think about converting the stock room and pasture area for turkeys and raising 120 turkeys next year. After considering it for a while, though, I actualy became a little upset. The concept of organic farming is supposed to be a farm full of biodiversity, with each animal and crop depending on others in a mutually beneficial way. But it seems that the tide is turning and now raising "organic" livestock is just a matter of reading the rules and not doing anything against them. A giant feedlot of steers eating organically-raised corn trucked in from 3 states away is hardly an improvement over the current system. So feeling pressured to ditch all of the other animals on the farm in favor of raising a single variety of animal makes me more wary of the growing corporate organic suppliers. It seems to me the better solution is to eat locally, see the places your meals come from, and judge for yourself if you're comfortable with the treatment the animals receive and the way the crops are grown.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
No eggs yet..
..but the mallard hen has definitely built a nest next to the house. She has hollowed out a little bowl shaped area in the woodchips and has begun to line it with feathers, so it's only a matter of time, I hope.
It has been rainy, gray, and chilly all week so I haven't had the chance to do much outside other than the usual daily chores of feeding and watering everyone. It is less than a month now before the pigs go to the slaughterhouse. I'm still trying to work out how I'll get them there, hopefully I'll have bought an old farm truck by then.
Since Labor Day weekend has passed , and it is pretty much the end of summer here in WI, it makes me look back over our first full summer here on the farm. I think we did very well and I am proud.
The garden was big, but not unmanageably so, we never felt like we grew way too much of anything. the sweet corn was the only big failure and we realize now that was probably because that half of the garden has poor soil. We have cans of salsa and spaghetti sauce and soup in the pantry to last us into the winter, and memories of that first big salad from the garden as well.
We successfully raised 7 ducks to maturity, and it looks like all of the turkeys will make it, too. Turkeys are notoriously delicate in their first few weeks, and only losing one, to an unknown illness on it's first day, makes us feel confident. We have raised two little piglets into big old hogs, and have done it the way we intended, with no medicated feed, no added hormones, and giving them the best and happiest pig lives that we could.
Other benefits that the farm has given us are; knowing that we can work full-time but that there is still plenty of time for more work and play outside of our jobs, lots of exercise, less TV watching, healthier eating habits, more time spent together as a couple, a new appreciation for where our meals come from, the enormous amount of new things we have learned, giving our family and friends the chance to share in what we are doing and the products of it, and making new friends with people that are interested in the goings-on out at the farm.
Thanks to all of our faithful readers, please keep coming back and sharing your comments.
It has been rainy, gray, and chilly all week so I haven't had the chance to do much outside other than the usual daily chores of feeding and watering everyone. It is less than a month now before the pigs go to the slaughterhouse. I'm still trying to work out how I'll get them there, hopefully I'll have bought an old farm truck by then.
Since Labor Day weekend has passed , and it is pretty much the end of summer here in WI, it makes me look back over our first full summer here on the farm. I think we did very well and I am proud.
The garden was big, but not unmanageably so, we never felt like we grew way too much of anything. the sweet corn was the only big failure and we realize now that was probably because that half of the garden has poor soil. We have cans of salsa and spaghetti sauce and soup in the pantry to last us into the winter, and memories of that first big salad from the garden as well.
We successfully raised 7 ducks to maturity, and it looks like all of the turkeys will make it, too. Turkeys are notoriously delicate in their first few weeks, and only losing one, to an unknown illness on it's first day, makes us feel confident. We have raised two little piglets into big old hogs, and have done it the way we intended, with no medicated feed, no added hormones, and giving them the best and happiest pig lives that we could.
Other benefits that the farm has given us are; knowing that we can work full-time but that there is still plenty of time for more work and play outside of our jobs, lots of exercise, less TV watching, healthier eating habits, more time spent together as a couple, a new appreciation for where our meals come from, the enormous amount of new things we have learned, giving our family and friends the chance to share in what we are doing and the products of it, and making new friends with people that are interested in the goings-on out at the farm.
Thanks to all of our faithful readers, please keep coming back and sharing your comments.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Watch those ducks!
I'm pretty sure I caught the mallard hen starting to make herself a nest next to the house in a big tangle of flower vines, which may mean she is getting ready to start laying eggs. I thought it would be about mid-September that we would see eggs from the ducks so I am happy that my prediction was probably pretty close. Although I shouldn't count my eggs before they are even laid! I bought some crushed oyster shell and started mixing it with their feed to help them get calcium for shell production. So we need to start keeping an eye on them for weird behavior and looking for eggs.
The turkeys are growing SO fast, it's really unbelievable. I am going away for the weekend and fully expect to be shocked at how big they are when I get home.
The pigs are really enjoying the fact that our pear tree was overloaded this year. They are going through a 5 gallon bucket full of pears about every 2 days. They love those pears. I also chucked a few butternuts into the pasture while they were standing at the fence and watching me hull. They have very powerful jaws, they crunched right through the shells and, judging by their spinning tails, they like butternuts too. I have also heard that pigs like acorns, so I'll try to rake some up from the big oak in the front yard.
I'm thinking about expanding next year's garden plot by tilling up some of the grass patch between the two garden areas. I've been watching the way the sun travels over that part of the lawn all summer and it looks like it would be plenty of sun for more veggies.
The turkeys are growing SO fast, it's really unbelievable. I am going away for the weekend and fully expect to be shocked at how big they are when I get home.
The pigs are really enjoying the fact that our pear tree was overloaded this year. They are going through a 5 gallon bucket full of pears about every 2 days. They love those pears. I also chucked a few butternuts into the pasture while they were standing at the fence and watching me hull. They have very powerful jaws, they crunched right through the shells and, judging by their spinning tails, they like butternuts too. I have also heard that pigs like acorns, so I'll try to rake some up from the big oak in the front yard.
I'm thinking about expanding next year's garden plot by tilling up some of the grass patch between the two garden areas. I've been watching the way the sun travels over that part of the lawn all summer and it looks like it would be plenty of sun for more veggies.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
A bushel of butternuts
Our butternut tree produced it's first crop this year. here is the first bushel. I harvested them this morning and only got conked on the head once when shaking the limbs.
Butternuts are very similar to walnuts, but the hulls have a sticky, sort of resinous, feel to them. I am not sure what the evolutionary advantage of this is, I find it hard to imagine a butternut falling off of a tree and sticking to the coat of a passing mastodon. But, they have it anyway. So when you are picking butternuts, I advise gloves. They also stain just like walnuts do.
I got just about half of the butternuts hulled using the old corn sheller you can see in the picture. I borrowed it from my grandma, thanks grandma! I hulled 219 of them, to be precise. At that point I was already feeling a little strain in my shoulders and forearms, so I put the rest of them off until tomorrow. The black walnuts will be falling from the trees soon. I ran a few of them through the sheller today, too. They clean off a lot faster and easier than the butternuts do, that ovoid shape makes the butternuts difficult.
I also harvested some grapes today, we really got some giants this year. There were a few that were bigger than a quarter! I put some pictures up at the picture link.
All of the animals are still doing great. The turkeys are starting to create a little bit of stink, I suppose we should have realized that as they got bigger so would the mess. Somehow I conveniently forgot about that concept. Still not as bad as the ducks were though!
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