Our family farm website homepage, Burns Best Farm, is now featuring the Spring/Summer Berry Bucket Newsletter. Several article are featured, including a great piece by Mike on buying food within your geographic "foodshed".
And there are pictures! Go check it out.
Showing posts with label farm life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label farm life. Show all posts
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Read This and Weep
I did. Peaches. Blueberries. Apples. HAY, for crying out loud. All of it, frozen and worthless because of this cold weather. With more on the way for this weekend.
Blackberries are the only fruit we've got left for the year. That's a dent in the ol' wallet.
Blackberries are the only fruit we've got left for the year. That's a dent in the ol' wallet.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Effects of the Weekend Freeze
All of the blueberry plants were in full bloom last week after two weeks of glorious warm weather. And all of those plants now have withered, brittle blooms after the deep freeze that hit last weekend.
I will be very surprised if we get enough fruit from 260 bushes to make a couple of pies, some smoothies, and if we're really blessed, I might be able to freeze a couple of quarts for the off-season. There won't be enough to sell at market.
My potato plants are looking like goners, too. The leaves are mostly dark brown and the stems seem soft, which I can't think is a good sign. Never having grown potatoes before, I'm not exactly sure what a dead plant looks like, but I'll be shocked if any of them survived. The wheat straw mulch, although applied thickly, does not seem to have worked. I should've gone with plastic. Rookie mistake. I don't know....it was so cold for four days, it might not have made a difference.
To say that I'm crushed is a bit of an understatement right now. I'm pretty heavily crushed.
I will be very surprised if we get enough fruit from 260 bushes to make a couple of pies, some smoothies, and if we're really blessed, I might be able to freeze a couple of quarts for the off-season. There won't be enough to sell at market.
My potato plants are looking like goners, too. The leaves are mostly dark brown and the stems seem soft, which I can't think is a good sign. Never having grown potatoes before, I'm not exactly sure what a dead plant looks like, but I'll be shocked if any of them survived. The wheat straw mulch, although applied thickly, does not seem to have worked. I should've gone with plastic. Rookie mistake. I don't know....it was so cold for four days, it might not have made a difference.
To say that I'm crushed is a bit of an understatement right now. I'm pretty heavily crushed.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Chicks
Got the phone call from the post office at 5:56am. The baby chicks are here, can you please come get them. Yes, sure, will be right over. On a Monday.
The first order, two weeks ago, arrived on a Tuesday morning, making me think that maybe the first flock spent an extra day in transit. Which might explain the high mortality rate we experienced (at least I thought it was high.....the CS rep at McMurrray didn't seem fazed by it.) There were two other shipments of day-old chicks today, too, and both of the other families were there to pick up their boxes. We had a nice little chat session in the lobby of the post office, comparing notes on what we'd ordered and what we already had at home.
These little babies look great and hopped right out of the box to drink and eat. So far, everyone's still alive and scratching. It's very interesting to see how much the chickens from two weeks ago have grown. I knew they were a good bit bigger, but they seem grown-up now by comparison to the fuzz balls that arrived this morning. So cute.
On a botanical note, the tomato plants are coming right along and the spinach in the raised bed has germinated. I love global warming.
The first order, two weeks ago, arrived on a Tuesday morning, making me think that maybe the first flock spent an extra day in transit. Which might explain the high mortality rate we experienced (at least I thought it was high.....the CS rep at McMurrray didn't seem fazed by it.) There were two other shipments of day-old chicks today, too, and both of the other families were there to pick up their boxes. We had a nice little chat session in the lobby of the post office, comparing notes on what we'd ordered and what we already had at home.
These little babies look great and hopped right out of the box to drink and eat. So far, everyone's still alive and scratching. It's very interesting to see how much the chickens from two weeks ago have grown. I knew they were a good bit bigger, but they seem grown-up now by comparison to the fuzz balls that arrived this morning. So cute.
On a botanical note, the tomato plants are coming right along and the spinach in the raised bed has germinated. I love global warming.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Chicken Feathering
We have chickens in our basement. I've lost count on exactly how many. I think it's 59 total. They came in the mail as day old chicks and we've had them now for ten days.
I cannot adequately express in words how much I love watching these little chickens. They are completely instinctual at this point in their young lives and if the urge hits them to scratch or peck or stretch or fly, they follow the urge. Immediately. Sometimes they try to do two or more of these urges simultaneously, and that makes me laugh out loud. Which sets off another round of silliness in the brooder box.
When they came in the mail and I lifted off the box top, they were so cute and downy and small. Ten days later, they've lost the down on their wings and tails and their feathers have replaced the cute fuzz. When they stretch, they will move their wings to the side and back of their bodies and you can get an idea of how big the wings already are, even though their bodies are still small by comparison. The chicks have doubled in size, at the very least. But their wings look like they are four times as big.
And the feathers! Marvelous, beautiful colors and markings. The breeds are easy to spot but the markings on same-breed birds are ever so slightly different from chick to chick. Darker, lighter, more blond here or more brown there. It's just so amazing to watch their bodies grow and change day to day.
I think that's what I'm liking about farm life right off the bat. Being able to take the time each day to observe exactly what's happening at the moment, and pointing those things out to the kids so they can stop and appreciate the moment, too.
Did I mention I love those chickens?
I cannot adequately express in words how much I love watching these little chickens. They are completely instinctual at this point in their young lives and if the urge hits them to scratch or peck or stretch or fly, they follow the urge. Immediately. Sometimes they try to do two or more of these urges simultaneously, and that makes me laugh out loud. Which sets off another round of silliness in the brooder box.
When they came in the mail and I lifted off the box top, they were so cute and downy and small. Ten days later, they've lost the down on their wings and tails and their feathers have replaced the cute fuzz. When they stretch, they will move their wings to the side and back of their bodies and you can get an idea of how big the wings already are, even though their bodies are still small by comparison. The chicks have doubled in size, at the very least. But their wings look like they are four times as big.
And the feathers! Marvelous, beautiful colors and markings. The breeds are easy to spot but the markings on same-breed birds are ever so slightly different from chick to chick. Darker, lighter, more blond here or more brown there. It's just so amazing to watch their bodies grow and change day to day.
I think that's what I'm liking about farm life right off the bat. Being able to take the time each day to observe exactly what's happening at the moment, and pointing those things out to the kids so they can stop and appreciate the moment, too.
Did I mention I love those chickens?
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