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
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.
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
snow The Snow Storm Cometh We spend a lot of time on the farm looking at weather. Depending on what the prognosis is, you may change your schedule, or catch up on things that you can do inside while it's raining (or worse). It affects what you do for the livestock. Bad storms make us
livestock The Baby Goat Two nights ago, I walked out to the barn to do the evening feeding of the animals when I realized that we had an additional baby goat in the stall. Fade had given birth at some point very recently to a doe and she had yet to pass the placenta.
ham Building a 2m HAM Radio Antenna One of the things I play around with in my (limited) free time is HAM Radio. I took my license exam a few years ago and haven't done much but monitor traffic since then. While monitoring is fun, it's more fun to talk to people. Enter the barn: The barn
farm life Super Soaked and Saturated We've been getting rain. Lots and lots of rain. We had a 4" event earlier this week and we're on task for anywhere up to 6" yesterday and today. It looks like we'll only hit about half of that mark, but it's still quite nasty out. While hurricane Joaquin looks
photo roundup September Photo Roundup Dad came up for a half day and we cleared out the tree that was down on the paddock fence. We had some great community with our small group around the fire pit We finished oiling and installing the cedar benches in the memorial garden: I built an extension to
ducks Say Hello to the Mallards! A warm, hearty welcome to the newest addition to the menagerie. We acquired some Mallard ducks from a local friend who wanted to grab the old jumps out of the field. Not being horse people, we gladly let them remove them for us. And now, we have ducks. We now
preparedness Fixing the Fuel Storage Keeping fuel stored is an important part of ensuring we can run our generator for a decent amount of time in the occasional extended power outages that occur in this part of the country. Summer thunderstorms or Winter snow/ice combos can take tree limbs into power lines very easily.
