Our first sign!

Well, I think I can say it's official: we are a real farm!  I've decided to make this a regular thing on the weekends that we will have our eggs out for sale.  I plan to add the words "Saturday and Sunday" to the sign just so I can leave the sign out during the week, but I need to put some sort of weather protection on it since I made it from random material I found in the workshop!  We did get to meet a nice couple from the neighborhood across the street, and I'm hoping they not only become regulars, but get some word-of-mouth sales going for us as well.  I would love to, one day, maximize the efficiency of this farm to the point where I supply all families that desire Actually Natural food in that neighborhood!  I want to be a household name over there.  It only makes perfect sense to me!  And of course, if it only proves to be a pipe-dream, I have fun doing it, and the family stays healthy with great food.

 

Thanks for reading,

 

-Jay

Chickens at 6 Weeks - Getting Fat!

FATTIES!  These birds are definitely no stranger to a grain bin!  As you can see I did, in fact, upgrade that stupid watering unit to the galvanized 5 gallon unit that I'm used to.  So much easier!  Of course, balancing the stupid thing is my new puzzle every day!  All of the birds are doing great.  The injured bird only sat out for two days and she was returned to the flock.  I can't even tell which one she is anymore.  I established their butchering date.  They will all be dropped off in the morning of July 25th, and picked up that evening.  The great news is that I recently figured out that they will be sold for $1.69/pound!  I'm so excited that I finally have something that I'm raising that beats out grocery store prices.  That makes my chicken cleaner, more nutritious, more humanely and responsibly raised, AND cheaper!  That's progress.  Anyone interested in buying, please let me know.  If I get enough orders I will be raising up to 200 more birds!

Thanks for reading,
-Jay

Piggie Update - This is How They Sleep!

I had to sneak up on them because they're still afraid of me

Thanks for reading,

-Jay

Piggies!!! - First Morning in the New Pig Pen

Well, here they are!  As promised, 6 Hampshire/Yorkshire crosses for your entertainment and culinary pleasure!  Of course the farmer I bought them from gave me the runt, so Elaine immediately fell in love.  So once again, butcher day will be a tear-jerker.  They have their dates already set.  Three will see the man on December 16th (sorry Grammy, I know that's your birthday... at least the deed is not done that day!), and the other three will go on December 30th.  Delivery is approximately 1 1/2 to 2 weeks later.  As always, I will keep the piggies' progress as up to date as I can throughout the process.  For those interested, not all of the pork is sold, so let me know if you're in the market for pork.  I will be taking orders by the piece as I did last time, but may not have as much depending on how sales of halves and quarters go.  I am estimating approximately $200 for a quarter, and $400 for a half.  As always, I will be selling at cost, so if I save more than that, the savings will trickle down to all buyers. 

Elaine already named them...



This season the pigs have a new pen in the barn.  It is approximately 2 1/2 times the size of the old one, and the floor is over 6 inches of natural rough cut lumber sawdust.  It gives the little guys a clean, comfortable, open expanse to grow up in.  I am also building a 1200+ square foot outdoor pen that will be available to them as soon as they're too big to escape the split-rail fencing I constructed it out of.  It is located on the East side of our barn, and is shaded before the hot afternoon sun takes its toll.  I will be utilizing the old silo foundation leftover from the demolition as a mud bog for them.  I haven't really thought that project through, but that's the plan.  The setup I envision when complete is something spectacular.  Just up the hill from the outdoor pig pen is where the apple orchard will be once installed, and just past the orchard is the small portion of woods that we own.  The idea: each spring start the pigs in the barn where they're safest while young, then move them to the woods during the heat of summer to allow them a more natural environment while escaping the sun, then finish them in the apple orchard in the Fall for a great way to clean up orchard waste and fertilize the ground while they're "pigging out!"  It's the stuff real food is made of!

Thanks for reading,
-Jay

Outdoor Pig Pen - Phase 1

So today I decided to sink thirteen 5-foot 4x4's into the ground beginning the pigs' new outdoor pen... Yeah, you know, no big deal!  I also lost about 3 gallons of sweat in the process!  This is just phase 1.  In phase 2 I will put up the horizontals, and then in phase 3 I will dig the trench to sink the slab wood to prevent the pigs from rooting their way out.  I don't know when those phases will happen, but anyone interested in getting dirty, drop me a line!

Thanks for reading,
-Jay