August 10, 2012

Water and Honey!

What a difference a week can make!  We have finally gotten some rain.  Using our rain gauge here we measured a total of 1.85 inches since last Friday: compared to a total of zero rain for several weeks prior.

The repair crew have arrived and started making some starts to getting some house

and general maintenance done: painting, staining, roof and gutter repairs, fencing repairs and new gates up. 

The cows got to literally go to a greener pasture since we got the new gates in and some fencing. We have been practicing intensive grazing in their last field and it was brown by the time we moved them.  The sheep seem to be ignoring the fresh hay bale we put out for them and continue to stick their head through the fence for all the green they can find.  We will be moving them from the pond area next week.

The big news is we harvested our honey.  We purchased and set up two bee hives in April and spent most of Tuesday collecting and extracting the honey.  Gratefully Amanda only had one bee bite through her costume. (See Pictures!)  Sorry to say while we got plenty honey it will not be available for sale this year ( just for personal use) but next year with two chances a year to gather we should have some to share with our customers. 

An interesting note is that it is the fructose of the honey which makes it taste sweet.  Local honey from hives in your part of the country are said to be extremely beneficial to people with allergies and more.

Another fun moment and always a surprise was finding a praying mantis while watering the porch plants early one morning.  I think it looks a bit like ET!

As for market this week we have picked some of our Red Delicious apples, squash (Patty Pan, Raven, Costa Romanesca, Blue Hubbard and Zephyr), beets, kohlrabi, okra, green beans (Provider),  garlic, cucumbers (Marketmore and Poona Kheera), onions (Alisa Craig),  tomatoes (Peacevine, Cassady's Folly, Orange Banana, Pink Brandywine and Amish Paste) and four types of radishes.  We will try to remember some of the fresh Sunflowers this week also.  As always remember we use no chemical insecticides, herbicides or pesticides.  See you at the Athens Farmer’s Market!

August 3, 2012

Drought on the farm

I have been passing an older couple by the side of the road on my way into town the last few weeks and finally stopped for a chat this week.  They have been coming to fill two water troughs with water each morning  for their Angus herd of cattle.  Apparently their pond dried up a few weeks ago.  Their son owns a beautiful herd of Holsteins and a dairy farm on down the road.  I think I may have a source now for more young steers after I butcher a couple of my “boys” this fall.

We have had to give the four boys (Tre, Par, Even and Steven: two steers and two bulls) another bale of fresh hay this week and also are giving hay to the sheep that have been grazing at the pond.  The ground is so hard and dry the quality of nutrients for them is minimal at best without the supplements.  

The new enclosure for the cows is now finished and we will be moving them tomorrow and next week have electric fencing coming in so we can also move the sheep to somewhat greener pastures.  The solar powered electric fences help keep the animals in and the coyotes out. 

I saw my first coyote in daylight this week on a back road of south Franklin county. If they are this bold now next winter will be tough.  I am still dreaming of a donkey to help to protect my flock.  Jade the Pyrenees can only do so much.

So much for my rambling about the farm…and it’s trials.

Today we have picked summer squash, okra, roma type tomatoes for sauces, garlic, onions, beets, yellow and blue/gold fresh potatoes, and beautiful green beans. (If the beans don’t sale I am canning them myself.  )

Amanda and I will see you all at the Athens County Farmer’s Market tomorrow at 10!

July 27, 2012

Wow! July is nearly over and the fall planting season is here.  We are putting in

green and wax beans, peas, cucumber, radish, beets, kohlrabi, carrots, spinach, kale, chards and collards.

With the rains and cooler weather we have finished the weeding and cleaning up the

vegetable beds for now and are still trying to get the mulch down.  The garlic is drying and smells amazing on the front porch.

We harvested our first zucchini, green beans and okra this week.  The tomatoes are turning their respective colors…

We are planning more perennial beds to go with the red raspberries, horseradish, blue berries and asparagus.  These new beds will be lined with chicken wire buried in the ground to keep the baby bunnies and larger rodents out.  The fall garlic (7 kinds) will be planted there as well as more brassica  (cabbage, broccoli and brussel sprouts) and some greens.

For the farmers market we will have garlic, onions, potatoes, beets, okra, kohlrabi, green beans, and zucchini and a few sunflower blossoms.  

I am new to cooking okra so any favorite okra recipes will be appreciated.

Amanda and Dan completed the run for the guinea fowl this week and they are slowly trying it out.   They were in a small cage on front porch for a couple weeks.  We are enjoying watching their growth.  We are trying to decide our long term plans for them at the moment.

July 20, 2012

Another week on the farm.  The temperature has definitely dropped in the last few days.  We finally got a little rain yesterday afternoon and last night after watching storms go around us for several days.  We are finally putting up a rain gauge to keep a more accurate record of what is happening here.

We hired a couple extra hands to help with the weeding that was becoming overwhelming.  With the weeds pulled we can now go back in and finally mulch, mulch and mulch….which will keep the new weeds from coming in and the moisture we do get near the roots.  The beets, kohlrabi and squash are starting to look good. 

The new Aracuna chicks we purchased in March (36) just started laying their eggs yesterday so we will be having eggs to sell next week.   The new eggs are a beautiful pale green-blue-grey which compliment the chocolate brown of the Maran hens that are still around from last year. 

We will be selling more garlic, potatoes, onions and beets at the Athens farmers market on Saturday @10.

This week we also were able to finally brush hog the middle field for future pasture and Amanda continues to check on the bees in hope of honey soon.

We are also stumped by an interesting moth that seems to arrive in the mornings.

These moths are about two inches tall and four inches wide and are usually near the front porch and plants there. 

Farming is so much about enjoying the little things…. A cool rain. An interesting new moth.  A farm cat that likes to bring gifts like dead mice…..

Another week to celebrate!  

Life on the farm

July 13, 2012

The heat has finally dropped but the drought pretty much continues. Crops are slowly coming in but the quality and amount are dependant on our watering schedule.

Two weeks ago.  With temperatures above 90 most of the week we started earlier than usual with our daily chores and watering and weeding.  We can almost see the plants growing in front of our eyes from morning until evening, with the weeds as always seemingly winning the race.

Two weeks ago on Friday Daniel carefully picked our Lodi apples, our earliest breed, which are green and tart but seriously are so ripe they are (were) bruising on the limbs of the trees. 

We packed for the Saturday morning Athens Farm Market and early in the evening

the derecho storm arrived.  Going out to the porch to bring in the light weight cushions and what ever we could grab, Scott and I ended up running for the cover of the house as the lighter weight porch chairs became projectiles aiming at our heads.

As the winds twisted and turned the trees, seemingly every apple left bounced on the ground and covered the grounds with all the apples missed in our first picking.

As of last night the raccoons have discovered the ripe and ready apples and were driving the dogs crazy in the middle of the night….as the raccoons in the tree munched to their hearts content.

Products available this week at the market include: early potatoes, radishes, green onions, beets, and two kinds of garlic.

Hope to see you at the market on Saturday.

June 28, 2012: Summer on the Farm

Jade and Bandit (one of orphan lambs)

 The last couple weeks have been busy on the farm.  Amanda took a much needed break while Daniel helped me to get the hay bales stacked and covered for winter.   When Amanda returned they both went to “Grazing School” offered by the local Soil and Water Conservation District to learn about good grazing practices including best nutritional grasses which will help us give the best possible nutrition to the 19 sheep and 4 steers currently chomping away in the fields.

Saturday at 10 am Amanda and I will be at the Athens Farm Market finally with a few items including: radishes, green onions, beets, two kinds of garlic, eggs, apples (for applesauce) and more flower and vegetable plants to sell.

We are currently awaiting three new guinea fowl to add to our poultry collection of 36 Arucana Chicks  and five Maran laying hens.  

The sheep seem to be doing well with their new home.  The cows are now being helped with their normal summer issue of fly swarming in the most organic method we can find…Diatomaceous Earth.

We are now looking at new plans for the grazing pastures and also finishing up planning for the up and coming Barn Re-Model.

Hope to see you at the Market.

Lambs on the farm

In early April on Judy's first day of vacation Amanda (our farm Manager) adopted a pair of twin orphaned  
lambs.  Bottle feeding them around the clock and hauling them back and forth across the county for weeks she finally agreed to leave them at the farm in the field with our Pyrenees Jade.

This week she somehow got Judy to agree to purchase the rest of the flock.  We are now proud owners
of 19 sheep, including a ram.  With 10 lambs and plans to find a butcher this fall.  Lamb recipes are now being collected.