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Mid-Winter on the Farm
February 07, 2012 - 07:14 AM
It is mid-winter on the farm and a year ago we still had snow piled up in the shade. This year it is more like late March. Except for a couple of nights near 20 degrees, we have not had any cold weather. The rain we have had has been a blessing and the Rocky Branch Grass Ranch lake is full now. At home, the lake has recovered half of its summer loss. It may be adequate for berry irrigation his summer.
Being milder has not lessened the appitite of our cattle. They seem to be eating hay at a fast and furious pace. The rye grass planted in the fall is starting to grow and that gives them a bit of fresh forage. Clover is also starting to sprout. If it remains mild, we will perform soil test samples this week and fertilize the rye grass the end of the month. Warmer temperatures will kick start it and really cut back on our hay needs.
A set of beef steers have been harvested and customers picked up their beef. We will have more available in a month and then more even later. The steers are eating fresh rye grass and clover in the paddock they are in so less dependent on alfalfa hay now. They look good.
The chickens are doing great, but we can not wait to move the egg mobil to fresh green grass as soon as we have some to go to. We are currently getting about 8 dozen eggs a day. They get large buckets of alfalfa hay every day to supplement their diet. We have ordered more day old chicks for March delivery. Shortly we are ordering 50 meat chickens that will be processed at a near-by farm that has a licensed facility. These we will sell. They are not the normal Cornish Rock chickens most raise, (ugly and after 5 weeks can’t walk) but free range red ones that are derived from French stock. It takes an extra 3-4 weeks for them to reach harvest weight and they relay in large part on pasture grass and bugs for their diet. The breast is smaller, but the meat succulent.
Eva’s minature pot belly pig is doing great. She thinks she owns the barn yard. She get a good belly scratch several times a day. Before summer, we hope to have some meat pigs to raise and harvest. If we do, some of the meat will be sold. After watching Food Inc again, I am really turned off on factory farm meats.
Our Farm to Fork Cooking Classes are popular. They gives folks a chance to brush up on their cooking skills, have fun and enjoy some very good food. The classes are small and as hand-on as you wish.
Bryan has been very busy planting seeds on the greenhouse for our vegetable CSA. There are thousands of little dirt cups with tiny seedlings sprouting out of them. March 31 is our target for the first delivery date. We have planted aobut 3,000 onions and have maybe another 1,000 to plant. Potatoes go in the ground next. We will have both regular Youkon Gold, a selection of heritage large potatoes, and also fingerlings.
Cabin bookings have startedt o pick up and sevceral weekends are fully booked. We are fully booke dthis weekend.
In Eva’s flower gareden she has started to prune her roses (over 100) and we pruned 5 truck loads of old seasonal plants this past weekend. Spring bulb flowers are coming up on schedule. We are not planning any additions to the flower garden this summer except flowering annuals.
Winter breeding of cows continues. Our plans to flush older cows is behind schedule and one of them had to be put down this week. The vet did what he could and so did we hand feeding and watering her for days, but she could not get up and walk any longer. So sad.
Well that covers recent event on the farm.
Being milder has not lessened the appitite of our cattle. They seem to be eating hay at a fast and furious pace. The rye grass planted in the fall is starting to grow and that gives them a bit of fresh forage. Clover is also starting to sprout. If it remains mild, we will perform soil test samples this week and fertilize the rye grass the end of the month. Warmer temperatures will kick start it and really cut back on our hay needs.
A set of beef steers have been harvested and customers picked up their beef. We will have more available in a month and then more even later. The steers are eating fresh rye grass and clover in the paddock they are in so less dependent on alfalfa hay now. They look good.
The chickens are doing great, but we can not wait to move the egg mobil to fresh green grass as soon as we have some to go to. We are currently getting about 8 dozen eggs a day. They get large buckets of alfalfa hay every day to supplement their diet. We have ordered more day old chicks for March delivery. Shortly we are ordering 50 meat chickens that will be processed at a near-by farm that has a licensed facility. These we will sell. They are not the normal Cornish Rock chickens most raise, (ugly and after 5 weeks can’t walk) but free range red ones that are derived from French stock. It takes an extra 3-4 weeks for them to reach harvest weight and they relay in large part on pasture grass and bugs for their diet. The breast is smaller, but the meat succulent.
Eva’s minature pot belly pig is doing great. She thinks she owns the barn yard. She get a good belly scratch several times a day. Before summer, we hope to have some meat pigs to raise and harvest. If we do, some of the meat will be sold. After watching Food Inc again, I am really turned off on factory farm meats.
Our Farm to Fork Cooking Classes are popular. They gives folks a chance to brush up on their cooking skills, have fun and enjoy some very good food. The classes are small and as hand-on as you wish.
Bryan has been very busy planting seeds on the greenhouse for our vegetable CSA. There are thousands of little dirt cups with tiny seedlings sprouting out of them. March 31 is our target for the first delivery date. We have planted aobut 3,000 onions and have maybe another 1,000 to plant. Potatoes go in the ground next. We will have both regular Youkon Gold, a selection of heritage large potatoes, and also fingerlings.
Cabin bookings have startedt o pick up and sevceral weekends are fully booked. We are fully booke dthis weekend.
In Eva’s flower gareden she has started to prune her roses (over 100) and we pruned 5 truck loads of old seasonal plants this past weekend. Spring bulb flowers are coming up on schedule. We are not planning any additions to the flower garden this summer except flowering annuals.
Winter breeding of cows continues. Our plans to flush older cows is behind schedule and one of them had to be put down this week. The vet did what he could and so did we hand feeding and watering her for days, but she could not get up and walk any longer. So sad.
Well that covers recent event on the farm.