Week 24: Hope

In the pack this week we expect to have apples or pears; squash; garlic; carrots; lettuce; bok choy; sweet peppers; beet greens or brussels sprouts; potatoes; hot peppers; kale or chard; herbs; and eggs.

As the colder weather settles in, people start making more soups. Vegetable soups taste so good with chicken stock. Soon we will have some hens for sale frozen. We simmered one yesterday and the resulting stock really warms the belly. They have been on pasture all their lives, supplemented with whole grains, kelp meal, kitchen scraps, and oyster shell. We will only have about 25 for sale. If you are interested, email Jen at jenredfox@gmail.com with the number you would like.

As usual, it has been an eventful week on the farm. The mother hen and her three chicks have gone to live at Moonfire farm close by. Vogue, the cow, and Apple, her newly born bull calf have gone back to Parkside Farm where Vogue will join the milking line.

Apple, 1 day old, and Vogue, his mom.

The winter herd

I was sad to see Apple go. He was so soft and fresh. Phil and Bernice at Parkside Farm brought a new young bull, along with three cows/heifers to spend the winter here. They’ll be out on pasture for the next few weeks, and then they’ll move to the luxury cattle shed. It has nice fluffy peat moss bedding, and the animals can go in and out at will. Over the winter, they will produce the material for our next big compost pile. And we all know that compost = delicious vegetables and fertile land. We really value our relationship with Parkside Farm and with Moonfire Farm.

After weeks of searching, we decided to buy a truck to haul produce to the city. The minivan couldn’t handle the loads anymore. This truck is OLD (1986) and we hope it will do the job. David is in love with her, and so was the previous owner. I saw testosterone in action as Adam handed over his beloved old diesel Ford to David. We are hoping to use veggie oil to run her, and save on the fuel bill. Does anyone know good places (restaurants) to pick up clean vegetable oil? We’re keen to hear about them.

The old Ford is brown and tan. (Sorry it is not a great photo).

This week Cassie, Stephanie, and I harvested potato seed from our disease-resistance trial. They looked good! Everyone was impressed with the row of potatoes that looked better than all the other potatoes. I am hoping that we will be able to select a variety or two that will be resistant to blight AND taste great.

We are on the lookout for bags of leaves. We use them for bedding in the barn and the animals find them very comfortable. We’d be happy to take away leaves from anyone living near the pick-up locations. Just let us know.