Farm Report #9 – Growth and Harvest

I haven’t shared about our farm since June in Farm Report #8.  Our relationship to the farm is maturing.  We are settling into farm life and finding more rhythm with it.  We did lots of fencing this year to allow for our plan of rotational grazing.  Our animals have been healthy and our numbers are growing.  Here is our current farm population:

• 8 Dexter Cows (1 bull, three cows, 3 heifers, 1 steer)
• 15 Barbados Blackbelly Sheep
• 9 Chickens (7 hens and 2 roosters)
• 18 American Guinea Hogs
• 5 cats (3 adults and 2 kittens)
• 2 dogs (1 Golden Retriever and 1 Great Pyrenees)

This year has seen us be able to supply basically all of our own meat from the farm.  This is one of our primary purposes of the farm.  Here are some pictures and highlights from the year I wanted to share.

Amanda making elderberry juice.

1.  Amanda had some firsts this year with the farm.  She started canning.  She canned pickles and other vegetables.  She froze several vegetables as well that we have been enjoying.  She loves picking berries too.  She finds it joyful to go out on hot summer days with long sleeves and pick wild berries!  It seems crazy to me, but I think the secret is the solitude from four kids!  She made wonderful blackberry jelly from our farm.  She also made elderberry juice which has lots of medicinal value.  We were also given some pears and she turned them into marvelous pear jelly.  I love the fruits of her labor!!
2. 

   The beginning of our bacon!

   I had some firsts this year as well with the farm.  I cured some bacon!  I salt-cured bacon and smoked it.  It turned out good.  It is a little too salty for us, so I will shorten the time it sits in the salt next time, but we have enjoyed it.  It is wonderful on BLTs.  I also did something, I once never thought I would do, I slaughtered two of my own animals.

   

   Us working on slaughtering one of our pigs.

   We had two pigs that had prolapse and needed to be harvested before they got an infection.  I learned very much in the process and had a great little helper in Landon.  The biggest mistake I made in processing these suckling pigs that weighed about 40 lbs each was not letting them hang or set for at least 24 hours.

   

   One of our whole pigs smoked.

   Because of this, the meat was somewhat tough.  We also processed a deer and grown our own meat.  I hope to soon grind a hog and make sausage, bratwurst, and hot dogs.  We also had two of our lambs processed.  We are enjoying eating it.  I smoked one “leg of lamb” which turned out very good.

   

   The leg of lamb smoked.

3. We are preparing for the future also when it comes to plants and nuts.  We prepared an asparagus bed.  It will be about three years before we will enjoy the asparagus, but it will be good and should last a long time.
   

   Our asparagus bed we built.

   We also planted blueberry and blackberry bushes.  We also love pecans, so we planted three pecan trees for the future, though it seems they have been damaged by deer and rabbits.

4. We painted and updated our barn.
   

   The barn before renovation.

   Since purchasing the farm, the barn has been needing some work. In  September of this year we power-washed, painted, and put wood boards on the front of the barn.  We took down all the old plastic and used leftover wood from the house to create a wood slat exterior cover.  It turned out well. We repaired the window doors.  The next barn project will be adding sliding doors on the front and end.

   

   The barn after renovation!

5. We enjoy the beauty of the farm.  Enjoy these pictures Amanda took! That gives you a quick farm report with some highlights over the last 6 months.  Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions.