You reap what you sow....

Day 6 of the FFF Photo a Day

The winter solstice has come and gone and we can now look forward to more and more daylight and the slow march towards spring. At this time of year, all farmers are dreaming of the next season and planning new adventures. For us, that means flipping through the seed catalogs, researching new varieties to grow next year, planning what we will grow where, etc. 

As some of you know, we offer a weekly vegetable box in the summer months through a program called Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Interested consumers pay in advance for a share of what we grow for 12 weeks. We seed, nurture and grow and then provide a box of wonderful goodies each week to our shareholders. We appreciate this type of connection with our customers as we get to know each one in a more personal way than is possible in a farmers market transaction. Also there is less waste as we know before we seed how many families we are feeding during each season. 

Feeling sheepish?

Day Five of our FFF Photo a Day: 

With the weather a bit on the chilly side, we've been bringing some of our projects inside to work on... 

Here you see our sheepskin in progress. These come from a number of sheep we had a few years ago. We've been curing these for quite a while and they are now ready to be washed, carded and stitched together. Eventually, they will be a wonderful mattress topper for our bed! 

This is the first time we have attempted such a project, so we likely have done a number of things wrong... however, that is the way one learns, right?

A Day of Grace

Today's photo features Grace, our Dexter cow (she's the black one) along with her current boyfriend that we affectionately call "The Bull" - (we frequently don't name those animals that aren't likely to be staying long....)  Grace is our current mama cow and has given us two healthy calves so far. Not pictured is Gaston - the bull calf that she gave us last summer.

He's likely hiding in the barn! Dexter is a miniature breed, which means that the cattle are much smaller than your more traditional breeds. They are a good dual purpose animal giving you both meat and dairy. We got into Dexters as it meant we could use the same fencing systems for both our cows and our goats as well as ease of handling. While Grace is a good mom, she is a challenging milker... we are hoping that next summer she will give us a heifer (female) calf that may be a bit more amenable to the task! In the meantime, we will continue our daily negotiation with Grace. 

Even when you don't want to... Day 3 - #FFFPaD

Day 3 of our Photo a Day project features a pair of boots and coveralls.... Philip's boots and coveralls to be exact. On a day in which the temperature reads -43C with the windchill, this images epitomizes the sheer hard work that comes with the rewards of farming. Even on days like these, where others are cancelling activities, staying indoors and hunkering down, farmers still need to slip on their coveralls and boots and make their way out to the barn. Even more so on days like these... where the welfare of the animals on our farm is also a concern in this cold weather. 

One of the things about farming, is the work still needs to be done... even when its too cold, too hot, too buggy, there are other things to do or you are feeling sick... it still needs to get done... even when you don't want too. If you are lucky like me you have a wonderful husband or partner who will take the cold shifts (when I get a choice, I'm definitely a warm weather farmer!). Don't get me wrong, the rewards of farming are definitely worth the energy... you just have to remember that one doesn't come without the other.  So I leave you with a pair of boots and some things to ponder, should you be dreaming of owning your own little piece of heaven someday.

Eggs-cellent!

For Day 2 of our Farm Photo a Day #FFFPaD campaign, we thought we would show you a rare sight on the farm -- a fridge full of eggs! 

We have approximately 90 laying hens - a mix of hardy Isa Browns, Columbian Rocks and Leghorns that fairly regularly (dependent on weather, light conditions and motivation) give us a steady supply of eggs. The sight of a full fridge of eggs is fairly rare given the high demand for high quality, local eggs right now. We have way more demand than we can meet so often our customers are receiving eggs that quite literally have been laid that morning, as we cheer our girls along to meet the current orders!

The excitement of the holidays and a typical hiatus in orders while people celebrate has provided us with an opportunity to get caught up and a little ahead of the game. It won't last long... in fact, right after I took the photo we took 17 dozen out to fill today's orders! 

Until tomorrow...