Hello all! I realize, very guiltily, that it has been over a year since I last updated this little corner of the web-world. I will attempt to explain and excuse us for that....
As I am not sure that I ever mentioned it, our entire family are walking cases of Chronic Lyme Disease (something which the CDC denies to actually exist). Chronic Lyme (along with the numerous co-infections that generally goes with it) exhibits symptoms such as the following: extreme fatigue, joint paint, random muscle aches, brain fog, overall malaise, and an inability to carry through. (The author of this post suffers with stomach pains in addition to the above.) Some days, we have a very, very hard time just doing the basics--which is one of the reasons that if you drove by our place, you would find that the yard needs mowing, the garden looks something of a jungle, and there are rubber boots sitting at the southern end of the house awaiting a hosing off.
The Eldest Daughter was wed in late April, thus the time of year that would usually be spent garden planning and Farmer's Market stratagizing was rather used for Wedding Planning and Preparation. The Mother, before and for several weeks after the wedding was dealing with a highly irritable case of eczema (on her face, no less) which tended to confine her indoors as the sun aggravated it (this has continued, on and off, throughout the year). That, among other things, hindered the putting in of the garden. The garden was not even begun to be planted until the end of May!!
July saw the family congregated in a hospital for nearly an entire month keeping vigil around The Grandpa as he eased from this world into eternity.
As of this writing, we have a couple Farmer's Markets left in both Peru and Greentown. Peru has done decently, though not spectacularly this year and the Greentown Market is verging on non-existent (for instance, I was the one and only vendor this past week). There is, however, an undercurrent bent on reviving our once thriving Greentown Market. I am hoping that over the winter we will all begin to feel better and consequently be able to advance certain plans and ideas as the weather warms next spring.
Concerning the Farm itself though: we attempted a version of no-till in the garden this year, also using only half of our space, trying to let the western-most end of the garden rest and revive as the dirt there has had nigh all it's nutrients used up. Having been largely an indoor person this year (oddly for me) I cannot really either sing praises nor cast dispersion on the method. Suffice to say, it's a little odd yet in my mind.
I did not get my first batch of meat birds until July 7th. I got 25 of an assortment. I am highly against ever getting any CrossX's again because the poor birds put on weight at a speed that out-strips their skeletal growth, leaving them miserable masses of feathers unable to move about like respectable birds.
My second batch of meat birds (this time 51 Red Freedom Rangers) arrived this a fortnight ago and so far I have had a but single death. I highly recommend Freedom Rangers due to their gentle personality as well as their weight (roosters, if left past "optimum" butcher time are capable of breaching the 9 pound mark.) They will have to be butchered rather late in the year, but I've butchered in cold weather before, so it won't be a first.
As usual, our layers are bought from a friend who raises eggs for sale. We have purchased a number of his older hens a couple of times and I am pleased to say, they generally keep us in eggs. Last fall, a mink wiped out my entire layer flock and we did not get around to replacing them until spring.
We have added a number of barn cats as well. The one, Miss Mosby, is quite the lady-hunter--catching sparrows, mice, and even rabbits nearly twice her size. I began to wonder if we would have any rabbits left by the end of the year!
I lost both my colonies of bees over the winter and I subsequently replaced them. I now have three hives actually, for one of my hives swarmed and I was able to capture the swarm. I still won't be able to harvest honey off them this year, but if I do things right this winter, I hope to harvest next year!
That is where things stand, more or less, at this point here at Third Generation Farm.
As I am not sure that I ever mentioned it, our entire family are walking cases of Chronic Lyme Disease (something which the CDC denies to actually exist). Chronic Lyme (along with the numerous co-infections that generally goes with it) exhibits symptoms such as the following: extreme fatigue, joint paint, random muscle aches, brain fog, overall malaise, and an inability to carry through. (The author of this post suffers with stomach pains in addition to the above.) Some days, we have a very, very hard time just doing the basics--which is one of the reasons that if you drove by our place, you would find that the yard needs mowing, the garden looks something of a jungle, and there are rubber boots sitting at the southern end of the house awaiting a hosing off.
The Eldest Daughter was wed in late April, thus the time of year that would usually be spent garden planning and Farmer's Market stratagizing was rather used for Wedding Planning and Preparation. The Mother, before and for several weeks after the wedding was dealing with a highly irritable case of eczema (on her face, no less) which tended to confine her indoors as the sun aggravated it (this has continued, on and off, throughout the year). That, among other things, hindered the putting in of the garden. The garden was not even begun to be planted until the end of May!!
July saw the family congregated in a hospital for nearly an entire month keeping vigil around The Grandpa as he eased from this world into eternity.
As of this writing, we have a couple Farmer's Markets left in both Peru and Greentown. Peru has done decently, though not spectacularly this year and the Greentown Market is verging on non-existent (for instance, I was the one and only vendor this past week). There is, however, an undercurrent bent on reviving our once thriving Greentown Market. I am hoping that over the winter we will all begin to feel better and consequently be able to advance certain plans and ideas as the weather warms next spring.
Concerning the Farm itself though: we attempted a version of no-till in the garden this year, also using only half of our space, trying to let the western-most end of the garden rest and revive as the dirt there has had nigh all it's nutrients used up. Having been largely an indoor person this year (oddly for me) I cannot really either sing praises nor cast dispersion on the method. Suffice to say, it's a little odd yet in my mind.
I did not get my first batch of meat birds until July 7th. I got 25 of an assortment. I am highly against ever getting any CrossX's again because the poor birds put on weight at a speed that out-strips their skeletal growth, leaving them miserable masses of feathers unable to move about like respectable birds.
My second batch of meat birds (this time 51 Red Freedom Rangers) arrived this a fortnight ago and so far I have had a but single death. I highly recommend Freedom Rangers due to their gentle personality as well as their weight (roosters, if left past "optimum" butcher time are capable of breaching the 9 pound mark.) They will have to be butchered rather late in the year, but I've butchered in cold weather before, so it won't be a first.
As usual, our layers are bought from a friend who raises eggs for sale. We have purchased a number of his older hens a couple of times and I am pleased to say, they generally keep us in eggs. Last fall, a mink wiped out my entire layer flock and we did not get around to replacing them until spring.
We have added a number of barn cats as well. The one, Miss Mosby, is quite the lady-hunter--catching sparrows, mice, and even rabbits nearly twice her size. I began to wonder if we would have any rabbits left by the end of the year!
I lost both my colonies of bees over the winter and I subsequently replaced them. I now have three hives actually, for one of my hives swarmed and I was able to capture the swarm. I still won't be able to harvest honey off them this year, but if I do things right this winter, I hope to harvest next year!
That is where things stand, more or less, at this point here at Third Generation Farm.