Lots and Lots of Summer Goodness

So much going on right now at the farm.  This is our second growing season here and it couldn’t be more different than last year.  Instead of endless rain and cool temps, we have record breaking heat and are having to figure out solutions to keep all of the plants and animals adequately hydrated.

The garden is amazing, all of the things that failed last year (beans, corn, squash) are thriving.  It looks like the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant will produce amazing amounts, and even our potatoes are doing well.  We began harvesting greens for salads the last week of May and yesterday Mike mowed down the greens section as it was just too weedy.  But, for a good solid month and a half, we had daily salads.  We will start some lettuce and other green seeds and transplant them for a fall crop later this month.

The fruit trees and bushes are looking a little sad, not enough rain, so we are having to water.  We got just enough raspberries and blueberries this year to eat as we pick, hopefully in years to come we will get enough to preserve as well.

The cows are great, we moved their pasture and they seem to like being closer.  We will be having a sweet Belted Galloway bull come and stay with us for a month or so to breed our girls.  The two CVM rams and our goat are in the paddock behind the barn.  In September they will all go to the butcher for meat and pelts.  Our four ewes are great and the little ram lamb is getting big.  The pigs are flourishing with all of the garden leftovers and the rabbits will be bred soon.  Our goose hatched two eggs (one gosling died, it’s stomach wall had not fully closed).  The surviving gosling is so cute and follows it parents everywhere.  We did have a duck sitting on eggs, but something must have disturbed her nest, as the eggs are all gone.  One chicken hatched a few rouge chicks, and we rehabed a rooster that was attacked by the fox.  Our turkey poults are getting big and next week we will move them to an outside run.  We will also be getting a shipment of broiler chicks and roosters to raise for meat.  We will be trying a new technique with the meat chicks, raising them on the grass, so hopefully they will be less gross.  If this doesn’t work, then no more broiler chicks for us.

We have been having lots of gatherings at the farm.  The food is amazing and it is so nice to be able to share in the bounties of our harvest with friends and family.

Enjoy your summer and remember to eat as much local food as you can with the people you love the most!