Our Farm Kids

April 27, 2011....Today our youngest turns 21. WOW!




With that in mind, I would like to share some pictures of our “farm kids” and the cool things they got to do while they were still kids.






Kids learn SO much growing up on a farm. They learn responsibility, teamwork, compassion, math, life science, biology, research techniques, and a whole host of life skills. The list of things learned almost by osmosis is nearly endless. The coolest thing about all this learning…they never even know it’s happening. They just think they’re having fun. Ha, score one for “farmer moms and dads”!

Perhaps the most important thing is a good work ethic. While this is not something that is consciously taught, it is vital to life on a farm, and is admirable in any other chosen field. Our girls aren't afraid of hard work and they will definitely stick with a job until it's done. Many older adults have commented on this over the years. Farm girls are sure good workers!



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Both our girls are both grown now….old married ladies as it were. But, to my mind they will always be “farm KIDS"!



Here’s to you, kiddos…..keep being awesome!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMANDA!

Love,
MAMA

Sprint Season

“Sprint season” arrives without warning. I don’t know why it comes as a surprise, but it always does. After what seemed to be an interminably long, cold winter and then a wet, cool spring….suddenly, there it is …the moment has arrived when EVERYTHING seems to need some sort of attention all at once!

There are things to plant, seeds to start, tomatoes to put in bigger pots, lambs to wean, sheep to get to market, weeding, planting, tilling, bugs to battle, broilers to process, market to prepare for and attend, shadecloth to apply, weeds to pull…. (oh, wait…I’m starting to repeat myself).


In order to keep from forgetting anything, we do a ‘walk-about’ on Sunday afternoons, with notebook in hand, identifying the things that need attention in the upcoming week. Once we get back inside, we attempt to prioritize the list.Sometimes the list gets out of control and we decide to shorten it. The ability to cross off completely jobs during the week really helps morale. (particularly on my part!)

A friend once suggested that a “got-done” list should be written instead of a “to-do” list. The suggestion being that one would wait until week’s end and compile a list of accomplishments. She may have had a point, invariably there are numerous jobs that escape notice during our list making that somehow become priorities during the week. I may just try that approach sometime soon. The only fault in this system is the number of accomplished jobs I would invariably forget…that blasted “senior brain”…!

This past week, we planted potatoes,
took ewes to the stockyard, weeded the worst of the garlic beds (the rest are waiting ‘til this week). Tom mowed all the grass surrounding the gardens, while I started LOTS of seeds; we picked up two new lambs, picked and packed for the Market, and then attended the Market. Somewhere in there, we also did the town/feed store run, went to the repair shop with the tiny tiller AGAIN, had a family gathering, attempted to keep up with laundry and farm book work, prepared and ate meals…and actually got some sleep!

Despite feeling somewhat frantic and frazzled, I really like this time of year. It is easy to see the accomplishments. I actually like the feeling of tired muscles, provided they are tired at the END of the day…and not first thing in the morning. We both enjoy having more and more variety and amounts for the Market come Saturday mornings. Best part…our customers REALLY appreciate our hard work!


A long time ago, another friend used to quote a movie line this time of year…I forgot the movie, and will probably misquote the line, but, it was something like….”Run more (or was it faster?)….sleep less!” Either way, it sounds appropriate for “sprint season”!

“Sprint season” may be a misnomer; we won’t begin to slow down until fall. Perhaps we are entering Marathon May (June, July, August…)!


The “to-do” list, even the shortened version, is growing exponentially, on a daily basis!

Country Traffic

Having grown up in Northern Virginia, the change to the pace of life here in the Valley was one of the biggest adjustments Tom and I have ever made.

It would cause uncontrollable laughter when a resident would complain about sitting at a stoplight while 6 or 8 cars went through. We knew what it was like to sit for HOURS on a regular basis to go a very short distance.

After all these years, we’ve adjusted….adjusted just fine. Trucks hauling farm implements and tractors with hay wagons may slow traffic down, but they are a welcome part of the landscape. There is a feeling of camaraderie with farm trucks that greet drivers with a neighborly wave.

During the summer, I spent a frustrating day of driving to Charlottesville and back. So, I was absolutely THRILLED to "be stuck behind" a pick-up truck with calves in the back of it on my way home to the farm!


I love it….I love traffic in the country!

One Trough, Lots of Waiting

A creep feeder is one of the pieces of farm equipment that makes a farmer’s life just a little easier. Designed to allow the smaller animals constant access to feed, it improves growth rates dramatically.

Prior to the purchase of the creep feeder, we designed a pen in the barn with a special gate to provide essentially the same thing. The biggest downfall of this system was that the feeder was fairly small and had to be re-filled almost hourly.With a larger number of lambs, the task was going to become a round-the-clock ordeal.

The new creep feeder contains a big bin which holds 600 or more pounds of feed. As the lambs eat out of the feeder tray, the grain automatically refills. While it does require some type of monitoring, it doesn’t need to be re-filled more often than once a week, if that.


Some may wonder why we feed grain at all. I am not going to get into the whole “ruminants don’t need grain” debate. Suffice it to say, we want a superior product. We have found that adding grain along with vitamins and minerals consistently produces the quality we demand.

When we first set up the creep pen, the lambs couldn’t begin to figure it out. That wasn’t surprising; they are sheep …for goodness sake! Once they realized there were goodies inside, they quickly got the hang of it. Unfortunately, the ewes figured out if they stuck their heads in at just the right angle, they could get the goodies, too!


Tom to the rescue! A couple of well-positioned pipes, and it became ewe-proof. The lambs are quite adept in using the feeder now; they are thriving.








Yesterday, we moved the creep feeder to a new location. It wasn’t a big move…maybe 20 feet. But, when the lambs came back to the barn, they stopped, looked around and went to the original spot. One lamb began baa-ing loudly. Several others figured it out, and everyone got to eat. That is just proof that sheep are not known for their intelligence.






One great feature of a creep feeder is that the opening can be adjusted to accommodate any size animals. Since we are trying to give the smaller ones an added advantage, we are not increasing the size of the gate. As the lambs have grown, fewer can go inside the feeder easily. That is the beauty of the design. The younger, smaller lambs are at the bottom of the “pecking order” and cannot compete with their larger counterparts. The creep feeder allows them to eat as they need or desire.

This afternoon, I watched as one of the “big boys” attempted to get in. First he tried walking in. BANG! He hit the gate. Then he tried butting it. BANG! He hit the gate. He then backed up, put his head down and put it through the gate. He was momentarily stuck until he pulled first one ham and then the other through the small opening. He worked so hard to get in there, it was fun to watch. I hope he doesn’t eat too much; we may never get him out!

Last week, we had a “lamb jam” when ten of the lambs got in the feeder and were wedged into place. I had to physically remove a couple before a normal traffic pattern could be re-established. I did grab my camera first in order to provide photographic evidence. You can’t make this stuff up!













They are growing well, due in part to the new creep feeder. We’re about 60 days from the first of the “lamb chop crop”. I can’t wait to see how this experiment plays out.

Quiet Country Nights

In an attempt to FINALLY move the sheep out on grass and wean the lambs, we put them all out in the upper front paddock yesterday after breakfast. The move was uneventful, although they all seemed quite happy with the deep green grass.


A word about the upper front paddock…it is right in front of the house. This makes for picturesque views from the front porch in the summertime. It also makes it easy to check on any troubles that may arise. There are several paddocks out front, and once weaned, the lambs will be rotated between them.

Everything was fine at dusk when I went out to close the chickens in for the night. (They are closed in their house as a protection from predators). The sheep were grazing, snoozing…just being sheep. .

About one o’clock, I heard a lot of noise outside. (I made the mistake of drinking two glasses of sweet tea while we were out to supper and sleep was eluding me. I was finally beginning to doze on the couch.) I recognized the noise, but my brain was just sleepy enough to be quite slow in processing data. …the SHEEP! Then, the dogs began to bark.

Jed has an incredibly bad habit of lying in the front yard and barking at odd noises in the night. His present irritant is the family of foxes that live in the woods down the hill by the creek. They can be heard yipping in the night, and Jed barks at them constantly some nights. Tom finds this horribly annoying. I’ve had words with Jed, but to no avail.

The barking was a different tone than his usual woofing and then Ellie Mae joined in. Their barks sound like the rumble of thunder and then become full-scale barking when they sense a real problem. I got up to see what I could see. As it was a full moon, I could actually see a lot. It appeared that one, or possibly several lambs, had gone back to the barn for a drink from the stocktank. This is normal behavior. Unfortunately, the lamb must have realized it was alone and panicked. When it called out, the mother answered from far away. Then the lamb really flipped out. It began screaming and running. Suddenly, sheep everywhere were baaing, and the dogs were both barking. The ruckus got the neighborhood dogs going. The peace and quiet of the country night was utterly destroyed.

I grabbed the flashlight, put on my boots and went out back. Ellie Mae seems to think it’s wonderful when I come outside in the dark. She was cavorting about, eagerly accompanying me to the barn. The light of the full moon made it easy to see that there was nothing amiss at the barn, so I headed out front.
(those glowing orbs are sheep eyes)

When the light from the flashlight swung around the paddock, I still could find nothing wrong. The older ewes seem to remember that the flashlight means food on early Market mornings. They all came running toward me. They all proceeded to the barn, where they continued to fuss for some time. It looked like they were all present and accounted for. I headed back to the house.


After a few minutes, they realized they weren’t getting grain as a “midnight snack” and they headed back out to the paddock. End of adventure…quiet returned to the farm. Ahh!

Weather Woes

When you make your living by direct marketing produce from the land, you find yourself checking the weather forecast repeatedly. The NOAA site is my homepage. The first thing I check every morning is the weather forecast.

When your make your living by direct marketing produce from the land, you do NOT want to see this…


as the forecast for the one day you have to make your living. Do you see that....? 1.96 INCHES! Yikes!


Rain is NOT our friend on Saturday mornings between 5am and 1pm.

Any other time, we love rain. We pray for rain. But, Saturdays we constantly pray for rain-free selling times. It does not look like this Saturday will be what WE wanted.

As soon as the dismal forecast was posted, the phone calls began. As the manager of the Saturday market, Tom has the responsibility of keeping track (somewhat) of the vendors. Many don’t want to take the chance with the weather; some have products that can’t withstand wind or torrential rain. Others are fearful that the customer flow will not be enough to warrant their trip to town.

While we are not thrilled with the forecast, and have discussed various options, we will be headed out first thing in the morning regardless of the weather. It’s our livelihood, we have no other option.

So, if you’re heading out…we’ll be there! Bring your umbrella and your hip waders, the lettuce will be waiting!

A Shady Deal

As everyone knows, the earth’s elliptical trip around the sun causes the days to become longer and the sun to feel hotter in the Spring and Summer. The inverse is true during the Fall and Winter. While we welcome this annual progression, particularly in the Spring, it can wreak havoc on the greenhouses and hoophouses if we are not careful.


The plastic covering of the hoophouses provides a wonderful break from the wind. It also allows heat to collect. Heat which can be helpful in promoting growth in the cooler seasons. But, with the greater amounts of sunlight, heat can kill. There has to be a way to control the airflow and maintain a somewhat constant temperature.

Enter SHADECLOTH! The black knit fabric offers different percentages of shade when applied over the plastic skin. This can make a difference in temperature of up to twenty degrees on a hot summer day. Coupled with the ability to roll up the plastic sides, the temperature and airflow can be regulated.

One might wonder why this is important. Without the shade, or the lowered temperatures, the hoophouses would be relegated to growing only hot weather crops. If we shade the houses, we can grow lettuce and other tender greens all summer. Last summer we added irrigation to the hoophouses, and the quality of the produce greatly improved. Overhead watering can lead to disease and plant loss, especially when in combination with high temperatures.


The shape of the house also affects the heat retention. The semi-round shape of hoophouse #1 combined with the lower roof height, makes it a warmer environment year-round. So, once the sun reached a certain point, it was time to apply the shadecloth.

As with most everything around here, we go low-tech. We even put to use the old jolly ball that was once a horse toy for A’s pony. The pony may be gone, but that toy is really useful!

Ropes are attached to the cloth; the cloth is pulled over the house, and ta-dah! the house is instantly cooler!






With #1 shaded, the lettuce should flourish without the worry of bitterness caused by high temperatures. Now, we need another "still" day to cover #2 and the two greenhouses.