A year? Really?

But what a year it has been!

It is almost impossible to believe that when I wrote that post on July 11th, 2010 about BLTs, I had no idea that 20 days later I would have a brand-new baby boy in my life.

For those that don't know, my wife and I were attempting to adopt for almost two years, when suddenly last July we were contacted by our agency about a potential opportunity. We met the birth mom a couple of times and fell in love with her and learned that she was due in August! Panic ensued as we tried to prep our house for a new arrival and our son upped the stakes by being born on the last day of July.

I'm sure that you can understand now why updates have been so long in coming.

This year we are not raising any pigs, feed prices have exploded due to a number of factors, the most annoying one being ethanol mandates, but let's not get into that. We kept our 4 chickens over another winter, and two of them have been stubbornly trying to hatch eggs since the middle of May. Everything I've read says that they should have given up by now, but they are sticking to it. I may need to break down and put some fertilized eggs underneath them, but of course that is when they will probably quit.

The garden is also reduced in scale this year, I only have 6 of the 10 beds planted. Babies keep you busy! As the weather cools I will try to plant some more cool season crops, but I'm making no promises.

We are heading to an Amish produce auction this weekend and I'm hoping to make up for my lack of work by purchasing the fruits of others' labor. Maybe we'll be able to make some pickles and can some tomatoes this year after all.

Today is BLT DAY!

The day has arrived. Christmas, my birthday, Arbor Day, these are but pale phantoms against the most important day of the year, BLT Day.

Like Easter, you're never really sure when it is going to arrive. Not because the observance relies on some arcane medieval formula involving the full moon and goat entrails, but because it all depends on that first ripe tomato.

Tomatoes. Some of you get it, and some don't. Some things are just that way, but for those of you that do get it, keep reading. Today is July 11th, and I haven't had a tomato since October. I gave up on supermarket tomatoes 6 or 7 years ago, they fooled me back then with those "vine-ripened" one that still had a piece of the vine attached. They smell like tomatoes but, brother, those ain't tomatoes. Soggy cardboard mush with a vine attached is still soggy cardboard mush.

But back to the topic, today I will walk up to the garden and collect that scarlet orb that I have been monitoring for the past few days. I will cleave it into fat, luscious slices and place them gently atop lightly toasted 7-grain bread, liberally anointed with mayo. Then, 3 or 4 slices of pasture-raised bacon from last year's pig. A pig I knew by name and whose life I oversaw from the time she was a 30lb shoat until she arrived back at the farm in double-smoked glory. A few leaves of Buttercrunch lettuce to satisfy the requirements, another slice of toast, and the sandwich will be complete.

Then, my friends, it is time to eat. The BLT is a celebration of texture. The light initial resistance of the toasted bread giving way to the hearty crunch of the lettuce, the bacon offering its toothsome dual-densities of fat and flesh, the lush juicy tomato, all these underscored with unctuous mayonnaise. This is a sandwich like no other. A tall, cold glass of milk is the only accompaniment needed.

BLT Day. It's finally here. What are you having for lunch?

Ouch!

Yet another setback in spring plans. In my very first outing with the Sheboygan Sharks rugby team, I broke my right leg in three places, effectively putting me out of commission for the next six weeks or so.

There is so much work to be done, the only way we can catch up is to try and schedule a "farm blitz", where family and friends show up and work for a day in exchange for lunch. I just read about them in the paper a few weeks ago and think it might be what we need. If you are interested in helping out, please contact us!

Chickens are still sitting on their eggs, I hope they hatch soon, I can't wait to see what we get.

New chicks on the way?

Two of our hens have "gone broody", meaning they are sitting on their eggs and trying to hatch them. I finally figured out today that our rooster is a Gold-laced Wyandotte, a breed that got started in Wisconsin and was originally called Winnebago. Could make for some interesting looking chicks, assuming they hatch.

My friend Mike and I took down a giant maple tree yesterday, and then split and stacked the wood into the woodshed, ended up with just about a face cord. Was feeling pretty beat after that, but am less sore than I thought I'd be today. All of that exercise and conditioning this winter must have been worth it after all.

Still too wet to till the garden. These warm days have me itching to get into the dirt and start planting.

Looks like we'll be picking up this year's pigs sometime in mid-May. Same source as last year, so they'll be Hereford mixes. They worked out great last year, so we saw no reason to change things up.

Setbacks

Already overcoming obstacles this spring.

Second set of tomato plants are doing well after the first round died off.

All of our little ducklings have fallen victim to the local wildlife, mostly owls I think.

We will persevere. As the Japanese proverb says: "Fall seven times, stand up eight"

New arrivals

Mama hen had 4 ducklings hatch on Wednesday, and unfortunately something got one of them the very next day, but here's a picture of the family in the yard on Thursday.

As I posted the other day, these are the first animals actually born here on the farm, so we're very happy to see them.

It dropped into the twenties last night and we had snow, so I had to kidnap the ducklings and put them in the stable under a heat lamp, I lured the mama in as well, so she could help keep them warm. They are all looking alive and well this morning, so I hope they'll make it the rest of the way.

Tomatoes have re-sprouted after losing 99% of them to damping off. Should probably plant peppers this weekend. Not much else on the horizon, it's depressing to see snow again, but it shouldn't last.

Sprouts!

That didn't take long. The first tomato seeds sprouted after only three days, and by now almost everything has broken the surface.

We've already had numerous requests for Ardwyn Farm pork this fall, it's nice to see so much interest, we must be doing something right. I wish we could satisfy the demand, but there is no way I am going to try to raise more than four pigs. I need to come up with a "waiting list" or a sign-up sheet or something for the people that are interested in buying pork this fall. I don't feel comfortable with accepting deposits or promising anything before August because you just never know what could happen. I'd hate to lose a pig and have people with unmet expectations.

Starting to see more and more birds around and other signs of an early spring. I know I'm ready. Last year the spring and summer weather was mostly rotten, probably why I didn't post much on the blog last year. This year has got to be better.