Snow - Again!
| Spring Break is next week and today is March 5. We had five inches of snow last week and last night another three inches. Maybe we will get our spring garden seeds in the ground before Easter. Potatoes ae still in bags sprouting eyes. Really rather amazing, but os so beautiful. |
What to do on the Farm
We are often asked what is there do on a farm stay.
There are lots of activities to choose from
Feeding animals (late afternoon when eggs are collected)
We are occasionally bottle feeding animals
Barn yard viewing - ducks, pigs, geese, goats, sheep and lambs, roosters-
whatever is around
Chickens lying and egg collecting
Hand feeding quarter horses and Pepper our Zebra
Cat feeding
Hiking trails on the farm
Fishing (provide own gear, no license required)
Water craft: kayaks, canoes, jon boats, paddleboats
(Provided in cabin rental)
Sand beach
Volley ball, tetherball, and horseshoes
Bocce court play
Bicycling (provided in cabin rental)
Paddle boards (fee)
Fire pits
Star watching
Shooting hoops (Basketball court beside shop)
Do nothing- rock and relax on the porch
Ride the back roads on bicycles (we have 2 adult, 2 kids bikes)
Picking blueberries and blackberries in late May into the mid-July or later
Scheduled Farm to Fork private cooking classes
Private cooking classes for groups
Picking vegetables in our gardens in the summer
Outside the farm activities:
Visit Daingerfield State Park or Caddo Lake (Uncertain, TX),
Jefferson, Winnsboro, Gladewater antiques and more
Shop at Something Special in downtown Daingerfield
Visit local wineries: Enoch's Stomp 903-240-1587 or Los Pinos 903-855-1769
Winter on the Farm
We still have lots of clean up work in the berry patch after planting new blackberries in the fall. Irrigation needs to b upgraded and new lines installed before it get dry again. Our lake is over three fee low so I anticipate another dry summer.
We have had a good calf crop this year and a few will still be coming in th elate spring. At Rocky Branch Grass Ranch we have three herds of females with their calves and each herd has a breeding bull.
After the diaster of trying to raise chickens for eggs in the winter we finally moved 175 into a field house to free range only to lose 10 more to a fox!
Onions and leeks are planted and the garlic is doing well in th egarden. Fingerling purple potatoes are in a dark room and are sprouting so they can be planted soon. Several rows have been prepared for cool season vegetables like sugar snap peas, kale, carrot, beets, etc. They go in the gound next week. Seeds will be started soon in the greenhouse.
We still make weekly deliveries fo eggs and meat to Longview and the Historic Longview Farmer's Markets start Arpil 4 on for Saturday market and April 9 at the Institute on Wednesdays. Since we do not have an intern, that will make our life busy until the first week of November. I like getting up at 4:00 am two days a week!
We kept a heritage breed gobbler and three hens and are starting to get turkey eggs. We need to see if one will sit on them or if we need to use an incubator.
It is time to update our newsletter and get out another irregular edition. Eva will have her cooking classes ready to post. the first Farm to Fork Cooking Class of the year is March 7.
August is Over
We had as good a summer as one can expect on our family farm. The berry season was late, lasted long and was successful. Vegetables were slow to start, faltered in some cases, but we have what we need. The Farmer's Market season continues on for another 11 weeks. Seems like the start back in April was ages ago. Nothing like those 4:00 am get-up and-go starts twice a week. We expect over 60 calves to start hitting the ground in six weeks. If all goes well, our sow will have drop babies in three late November.
Eva has been busy making all sorts of interesting jams. We have harvested plums, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, apples, pears and more. The freezers are full of fruit waiting to be turned into wonderful jam. Now is pepper season and that is an entirely different type of sauce or jam. We smoked tubs of jalapeno red peppers today for sauces.
The fall gardens are planted and most of the plants are well on their way to bringing us nice coller weather vegetables. The tomatoes planted 6 weeks ago are now starting to produce for the fall.
Out in the berry patch we are working almost every day on pruning and row weed clearing. It seems like an endless task but in 2-3 weeks we will be finished until next spring.
The cabins have been very busy all summer and it continues. We enjoy meeting the interesting families that come out to see our farm and kick back relaxing by the lake.