August 23, 2012

Harvest Time

We are starting to pick items almost daily at this point.  Our late plantings and regular watering are starting to payoff.  This week we seem to have an abundance of patty pan summer squash, tomatoes and cucumbers. 

Amanda and Dan are helping me to preserve some of the harvest.  Yesterday we canned 6 quarts of whole tomatoes, froze 8 pints of tomato sauce (with basil, olive oil, cheese and a variety of herbs), and canned 13 pints of mustard dill pickles.

The Purple Chopstix of Richland Avenue has started purchasing some of our fresh vegetables to go with the eggs they have been buying for several months.

The Aracuna pullets (36) are starting to really lay their eggs (up to 10 a day!)  We purchased them less than a week old in March.  The eggs are small and a beautiful aqua blue.  We will be selling them at the Athens Farmer’s Market for $3 dozen starting on Saturday. They are fed Non Genetically Modified layer feed, with a mix of grit and oyster shells (to keep the egg shells hard). 

Last summer we forgot the oyster shell for a few days and had some eggs laid with out a hard shell.  They were fascinating.

We continue to move the sheep and cows from pasture to pasture to keep from overgrazing the fields from the drought earlier this summer.  It is almost time for another cutting of hay in the two front fields then we reseed with orchard grass this fall, to give an even healthier feed for the animals next year.

The barn renovation planning is moving along with scaffolding up to start getting measurements for all the new building we will be doing.  The current barn has no doors that close on any of the four sides and seems to be built into the side of a hill with one corner being almost 3 feet lower than it’s opposite side…..no wonder it is a muddy mess in the winter!!

If you have any special requests for large amounts of vegetables, for canning or freezing, to be held for you or you would like to come to farm and pick your own give me a call (740-541-4190).  I would be happy to work something out around your schedule. 

This week at the Athens Farmers Market we will be having Squash, beets, kohlrabi, okra, green beans, garlic, cucumbers and radishes.  We will try to remember some of the fresh Sunflowers this week also.  See you at the Athens Farmer’s Market!