We are all going to the dogs!

Day 7 of FFF Photo a Day

This is Avery, fresh from a romp outside as you can tell from her icy beard! She is a Newfie cross and for those that haven't already met her she's a gentle giant who has a need for affection that surpasses any mammal on earth. Once you start petting her she won't let you stop! 

With her heavy coat, Avery loves this weather and can usually be found patrolling the property (or lying in the middle of the road!).  In the summer, she finds the coolest shade she can find and barely moves until the sun goes down. 

Avery has been part of the farm (and our family) for several years now and she does a great job on keeping all predators and deer away from our animals and plants. She co-exists quite nicely with all the other animals on the farm, with the exception of the barn cat, who she seems to love to torment by eating her food and chasing her daily. 

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...

Beginning again...

I love the new year... all fresh and clean slate-like, it lends itself to new hope, energy and ideas. While it comes in the middle of the cold, (often harsh) winter when all smart life forms are hibernating, it reminds me that we all can begin again, start over, pick ourselves up, dust off and walk forth into the promise of spring, warmer days and new life. 

January 1st on the farm is always spent doing inventory, finalizing the financials and making plans for the next year. Our modest enterprise did well last year and by that I mean, we actually made a small profit this year! After several years in the red, its wonderful to see our hard work pay off even just a little. While our primary motivation was and has always been to feed our family first - with wholesome, natural, high quality food - its rewarding to see us able to share this with others and make a bit of money doing so! 

A couple of days ago, one of our customers sent us a link to a CBC article on Ontario farmer, Andrew Campbell who was planning on sharing a picture a day during 2015 on social media to help connect with and educate others on what farming is all about. Campbell who has over 7000 followers on Twitter - @FreshAirFarmer - has a great opportunity to help a great many people gain more insight into where their food comes from. 

I loved the idea and we've decided to follow Campbell's lead and post a photo a day in this coming year!  While we have nowhere near the number of followers or fans on either Twitter or Facebook, we know through events such as Open Farm Day just how interested people are in knowing their farmer, understanding how and where there food is raised and becoming informed consumers! 

So.. I invite you to follow along with us this year. The Fenez Follies Farm Photo a Day or #FFFPAD will go up daily on our Facebook Page, on Twitter @FenezFollies and on Instagram at fenezfolliesfarm. 

To start it all off.... I thought that it would be appropriate to capture sunrise on the farm on the first day of the year. I thank my lucky stars everyday that I get to live in such a gorgeous part of the world!

From our home to yours... wishing you the best of best in 2015!