Our off season came to an abrupt end last week when one of our goats delivered triplets, launching us into a frenzy of baby goat bottle feedings. We also received our first order of chicks last week, and opened our farmstand up for the year. Since then, we have had two more does deliver their … Continue reading Baby Season
Category: Farm Updates
It’s the season of giving! This year, we are continuing our annual tradition of funding a new Kiva loan to a fellow farmer. Normally, we encourage people to think locally when it comes to the food system, but in this case, we are supporting our global community of agricultural practitioners by making a contribution where … Continue reading Funding a Loan to a Farmer in Need (2023)
This week, one of our pigs gave birth to a litter of piglets. These were her first piglets, but they were also the first piglets to ever be born on our farm! I'll be honest, this is a milestone that we never expected to hit. Raising pigs was not a part of our vision when … Continue reading Why We Raise Kune Kune Pigs
Slugs are our worst enemy, and this year, they are everywhere! I wish that getting rid of them were as simple as just carrying a salt shaker around the farm with me, but unfortunately, I think that that would only work in a cartoon. To be completely fair, it's not the slugs themselves that I … Continue reading The Trouble With Slugs
If you’ve been reading our blog for a while, you may remember our post from last year about Virgilio. He was the first farmer we ever lent to through Kiva, a platform that allows ordinary people like us to help folks with limited access to capital by crowdfunding micro loans to start or grow their … Continue reading Funding a Loan to a Farmer in Need (2022)
A little over a year ago, we took a leap and acquired our farm's first ever livestock guardian dogs. Yes, I said dogs as in more than one! We purchased TWO Great Pyrénées puppies within a couple months of each other. We're sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly about our experiences with our … Continue reading Lessons from Our First Year with Livestock Guardian Dogs
Earlier this year, we were awarded a grant by the Adirondack Council to enhance the environmental benefits provided by our farm. The funds were used to partially cover the cost of constructing a cement compost containment area, basically a bunk in which we can compost our bedding, manure, and garden waste. Having the compost contained … Continue reading Compost Containment Area
La pièce de résistance, the sliding door! We are ALMOST done with the quonset hut build! Since my last update, we sheeted the end walls, installed the sliding door, set up the pens inside, and built a heated washroom (complete with a slop sink, stainless steel countertop, and lots of shelving). We still have one … Continue reading Barn Construction: Finishing Touches
Once we finished assembling our quonset hut, the next step was to build the end walls. We opted to build our own, rather than purchase them as part of the building kit, so that we could completely customize the size and placement of the doors and vents. First, we screwed pressure treated boards to the … Continue reading Barn Construction: End Walls
Since our quonset hut is now more than half assembled, I figured it was time to share an update! We started out doing things the VERY hard way. First, we tried standing up a fully assembled arch, with the help of Brandon's father and brother. We quickly learned that the arches have a propensity to … Continue reading Barn Construction: Halfway There!