production report September 2023 Production Report Fall is upon us, and with it, a little rain and cooler temps. Let's see how we did: TypeProductionMilk31.875 GallonsEggs345 Eggs are back up to July levels, but nowhere near the May craziness (900+). We have had about 10 birds sneak out of the coop and become a fox
John to Present on Scything at Self Reliance Festival John will be giving a class and ongoing demonstrations at the Self Reliance Festival in Camden, TN on October 14-15. Joel Salatin, Jack Spirko, John Willis, and many other excellent people will be presenting there as well. Come out and say hello and find your tribe!
production report August 2023 Production Report Heat. Heat. Heat. It's been super dry as well. TypeProductionMilk38 GallonsEggs85 Milk stayed pretty solid in volume, but eggs have bottomed out. There's just not been enough rain, very few grasshoppers, and the birds are just not laying much at all. They're also getting close to molting (they were October
production report July 2023 Production Report Moving into July, we were absent from the farm intermittently for an Irish wedding, Scout camp, and a few other things. TypeProductionMilk36 GallonsEggs357 Super hot temperatures reduced egg laying, and some of the eggs after a few days in the coop had gone bad. We will likely get the paddock
production report June 2023 Production Report June was an unexpected suprise month, as Fiona calved on the 14th, so we ended up with more milk than we expected (expectation was zero). Show me the numbers! Type Production Milk 4.125 Gallons Eggs 644 We water glassed an additional 81 eggs, and froze 6 dozen scambled in
production report May 2023 Production Report May is done and we've dried off Fiona as she gets ready to calve in July. We also sold off seven of our hens to our neighbor, Brad, as he had a hawk issue and we were dealing with a few too many eggs. Let's get right to the numbers:
Baby Calf! [A few weeks late, catching up!] In a very unexpected surprise, we have a baby calf a few weeks early. We were planning for July 7 or 21st, but instead we got June 14th. We had gone to a swim meet and came back to seeing a calf standing next
production report April 2023 Production Report Spring is sprung, and with it the farm is starting to come alive. Let's get right to the numbers: Type Production Milk 58 Gallons Eggs 485 (up from 98) We converted some of that into storage or other uses: 17 Sticks of Butter (from skimmed cream) 4.75g of Buttermilk
production report March Farm Production Report Well, a big change this month was the addition of Fiona, our Jersey dairy cow. So I felt it was appropriate to report on what we're able to produce every month in 2023. January and February were effectively squat, with only a handful of eggs the entire month. I'm working
On Importing Firewood For those who heat partially or entirely with firewood, sometimes it isn't easy to procure enough from your property to meet the need for the winter season. In these cases, we are often left with the option of purchasing firewood. Sometimes this results in the firewood coming from a few
house addition Restoring a 1930s Farm Sink This was a fun project over the summer. Took a while to get it done, but the end result is great and hopefully it'll last another 90 years at least!
2020 Garden Review Gardens are often aspirational. We have grand plans in December and January when we order seed and we may even get seeds started on time, only to fall behind quickly come midsummer. That was the story we encountered this year. Not only a pandemic, but also finishing our house addition
scything Scything Demonstration My cousin, David, and my Dad both asked to see a video of me scything, so I turned it into a bit of an instructional demonstration. Enjoy! Using a scythe kit from Scythe Supply [https://www.scythesupply.com] and a 85cm Fux Haying Blade from One Scythe Revolution [https://onescytherevolution.
house addition Footings and Floods It's been an abnormally dry summer here. Last year was abnormally wet, so maybe it's just balancing it out. But while it hasn't rained much for months, nature decided to drop 5"+ of rain in the last week. The Commonwealth was in a moderate drought state, so it's welcome. I
house addition Groundbreak When we moved to Sfumato in 2013, Whitney had but one strong caveat: We'd either expand the house or move by the five year mark.
goats The Baby Goat Countdown Sing that article title (badly) to the 80s Europe hit "The Final Countdown" and that's where we are. The first goat born on our farm years ago, Faye, is pregnant here for the third time. She's been seperated with her first daughter (Minerva) from the rest of the herd (Freckles
Seed Starting for 2019 We're a bit late this year getting seeds started. It's been a very wet 2018 and everything around the farm has been getting behind, as it's effectively been a mudslide anywhere you turn. I purchased a large number of plastic cell starters 3 years ago before I really started thinking
construction A Foyer Landing Zone When we bought Sfumato, the foyer was pretty simple. It worked well enough for two, and with Quincy it was still manageable. Once Gabe arrived and then Teddy as well, the area became difficult to use. It was almost impossible to pass to the closet to gain access to coats.
preparedness Intro to Preparedness Recently, some friends who are new homeowners asked us about the basics of being prepared. Here's their primary question: > Now that we're semi-normal people who actually live in a house, I'm trying to figure out how to be somewhat prepared (hurricanes make you think...). So...here's where we are. I'd
Strawberry Picking at Chiles' Orchard We went picking strawberries a few weekends back at Chiles' Peach Orchard [http://chilesfamilyorchards.com/orchards/chiles-peach-orchard/] in western Albemarle and I made a fun video of our excursion: 15 pounds or so, half of which became jam, a quarter of which was eaten, and the remainder was frozen. Keep
Greenhouse Trusses arrive! We've been working on this greenhouse for a long while now, and one of hte decisions we made was to not frame the roof out by hand. We figured it would be easier to have a local company, Better Living Components, do our truss work (and certification). They delivered them
beekeeping A Bee Hive, Fallen. Whitney was driving out to Church while I was wrangling two sinus-y boys on last Sunday morning and she called me exclaiming, "I think the beehive got knocked over!" We'd setup straw bales to help as a wind break on the northwest side of the hive, but apparently the extreme
We grew Turmeric in Zone 7A! One of the things I enjoy doing here is trying to see what exotic stuff we can grow on our own. Being in Zone 7 limits a lot of the tropical items to hot houses or changes them into annuals instead of perennials. Last year I picked up some turmeric
greenhouse Greenhouse Progress So the progress on the greenhouse has been slower than we’d hoped, but a baby will do that to your plans. We have finished all the verticals and the header 2”x12”s. Here’s our handyman who is teaching me how to do this stuff properly (reducing the
preparedness A Tale of Snow and Ice (or How To Prepare for a Winter Storm) > "Potential for Ice." These are the three words that you never want to see as a Virginia resident attached to the upcoming weather alert. Things have improved since I was a kid in Yorktown, but ice storms are just a nasty business. No matter how much the power companies clear
