I kid you not, I’ve tried to sit down to write and update in this space no less than four times over the past several weeks. And yet, here I am, on the tail end of summer, filled with approximately 15 billion fun things to tell you since our last proper update and unsure how to get it all down except to just do it 😉
And so it goes.
Except now there’s exciting news to share and how could I not share exciting news with you all?!
Yes, you may have noticed a cute little hairy piglet above in the featured photo for this post… And with that you may (or may not) have wondered if you’d missed something.
Let me assure you, you didn’t.
Our two piglets just arrived yesterday and we are absolutely smitten!
But before we head into that chapter, how about that quick update, ha?
Because summer…whew…
Summer was a trip.
Filled with ups and downs, exhaustion and exhilaration, reflections and plans…
It was also hot and hard, filled with hail storms and crop losses.
I thanked the Universe more than once that we were/are not trying to make a full-time income off the farm yet because we would have had a helluva a time doing so this year.
Yes, there are apples on trees, but they’re all hail damaged and so not pretty enough to sell at Market. So, we’ll enjoy a ton of cider instead.
Yes, the berries have finally found their push, but only after a few setbacks due to hail and heavy storms. So, we’re freezing as much as we can and eating them fresh while they’re at their juiciest.
Yes, there is chile, but a mere fraction of what we’d hoped for due to the super chilly spring into summer period we had. So, we’ll have a few meals and count ourselves lucky to live in a state where others have faired better than we have in that department.
The blue corn is just starting to capture its color and I’m anxiously waiting to harvest it all and see what’s really under all those husks.
Definitely practicing patience on that one 😉
And the garden? Well, it’s boasted a few handfuls of bush beans and tomatoes. Nothing to write home about for sure, but there are pumpkins still in there giving it the old college try, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed for a proper harvest.
The goats are adapting to their new herd dynamics after we sold off several of our does in an attempt at relieving some stress and cutting a few costs. We didn’t realize how intensely the dynamics would change between each of the girls upon doing so, though. With our new learnings, will approach any sell-offs a bit differently in the future.
We had two mama ducks hatch out nearly forty fluffy butts (in total) a mere five days apart from each other, so we’re navigating how to sell a few and how to raise the rest up for a couple of months before dispatching them to Freezer Camp.
And then there’s the question about where they might live in the meantime while they size up because they surely cannot all stay in the same area. No answers yet on that one, but a couple of creative ideas are floating around.
Did I mention another mama duck has set a clutch as well?
Yeah…abundance at it’s best!
The Olive Eggers we added to the farm last Spring are laying the most glorious green eggs I’ve ever seen! Big Homestead Goal achieved on that one 🙂
It’s the little things, right?
The turkeys this year (four each of Blue Slates and Bourbon Reds) are just the sweetest birds we’ve raised. Curious and calm, I simply adore them! We are even contemplating (yes, again) keeping a mating pair to try our hand at letting them raise their own sweet babes next season. Of course, we may decide differently once the temps start to drop (as we’ve done the last few years) so only time can tell.
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And so now, minus all the silly details, I’ve brought you up to present time and a big announcement!
If you follow along on Instagram, you may already know that, crazy as it sounds, we went ahead and decided to add two (yet unnamed)Â Kunekune pigs to the farm!
Yes, two sweet babes arrived yesterday and are already creating so much joy in our hearts and on the property!
The intention for these cuties is three-fold:
- Weed control, orchard clean up, and land fertilization in a rotational grazing program with the poultry and goats
- These two will be our mated pair, making babies for two purposes: we will sell some to other breeders (yes, they’re all registered and legit) and
- We will, eventually send some to Freezer Camp because…bacon (plus other cuts, obviously)
Kunekunes have been on our wish list for years now but I’ve always been hesitant about our capacity for adding yet more animals to our workload. That being said, Kim must have caught me on a good day when she found the ad for these two because I said yes and my answer didn’t change after sleeping on it so…PIGS!
And so, there you have it! A quick (?) update after much radio silence due to all.things.farming.related.
Apologies.
How other farmers are able to keep a regular blog I may never understand…though maybe if I didn’t have an off-farm job I’d be able to carve out more time for such things as this space?
Surely that extra “free time” would get sucked up elsewhere, though, right?
As we slide into the cooler months, we’ve just celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary (though we’ve got 13 years total under our belts), Ember is playing her first season of soccer and there’s a vacation to Mexico we’re counting down to. The to-do lists that may be legitimately a mile long, but we’re doing our best to live our Bucket List, so we’re breathing into all the busy-ness of it and counting our blessings.
Whew!
Now, do tell… What’s happening in your neck of the woods?
I hope you’re well, Friends. Let’s try to catch up more often, please 🙂
xoxo,
M
It’s good to catch up with your hectic year. It sounds as though you’re all thriving despite the setbacks.