Hurricane Farm

So here are some photos of our farm just before we moved in.  These were taken by my wife and our friend Jeff, who checked out the farm when it was for sale.  These photos (actually, mention of the barn!) was all it took to convince me to buy the place.  We put in a bid before I even stepped foot inside.  It's all been working out quite nicely...

Here is the meadow that we turned into our pasture.

  And here is a shot from the other end looking toward the barn.

The next two are some shots of the interior before we put up stalls and made a workshop.

        

We spent many days working into the wee hours of the morning cleaning out and building up the barn.  We now have stalls for our sheep and milk goat, cattle, hogs, as well as seperate areas for brooding poultry, housing laying and meat hens, housing turkeys, and for milking the goat.  Several other smaller areas can be converted into whatever needs may arise.  We hope to have a few lambs nursing in one or two of these areas in a few weeks' time.

Here are some shots of the work in progress from last summer.  The first one is just beautiful.  It is so cool watching the dew burn off on an early Summer morning.  Don't be fooled--those rolls of fencing are easily a couple hundred pounds each!

Here is the fence after a morning's work.  Let me explain about those posts...We dug those holes by hand.  That was by far the hardest and most time-consuming job we have had here yet.  It was also quite a mental challenge at first as the spot we started in was all rocks and hard soil!  We thought that it would take all Summer.  Eventually, though, the digging went much quicker when we got down the incline into more forgiving soil.

Have you heard the saying, "Too many cooks spoil the soup?"  Well, let me tell you that this absolutely does not apply here.  Notice how my mom is right there supervising?  It was the first real job that we used the tractor for.  I built a fence-stretcher out of two pieces of 2 x 4.  We bolted them together with the fence between and we were easily able to put enough tension on the field fencing to snug it right up to the posts.  I'm sporting my "Summer beard" there.

Here is a shot of the barn area after some work.  This area that my son is so diligently sweeping is now "Turkey World."

Finally, here is shot of the completed pasture fence as our young poults begin their explorations.  We are lucky to have such a great mixture of grasses in this field.  This year, we will be dividing up the pasture into two areas in order to rotate the animals back and forth and sustain high quality grass all season.

 

It's been a rather snowy winter thus far, and we are loving it!  I finally figured out the most efficient way to plow snow.  What I mean by that is I have finally figured out how to do it and move the snow only once.  The first few times I moved it here, then moved the pile there, then realized it was in the way and moved it yet again...

Who needs a heated cab?  Or a cab, for that matter?  The little tractor is one of the greatest things we've bought for the farm.

My son also plows, though he does it with his shovel (his "blue plow" as he calls it).  Here he is after a successful summit attempt atop one of our snow mounds.

Our cat is a cat of many names.  The kids sometimes call him "Milk."  They more often call him "Paco."  I call him "Pibbs," "Mr. Pibbs," or "Paco the Pibbs."  Sometimes I call him "Paco Ike."  He answers to them all affectionately.  Here he is running along the pasture fence in the snow.

 

So as the farm grows, we get to purchase cool things that we would never even window-shop for if we lived in, say, a condo.

Case in point:  a grain silo.  We've located two different places that will custom mill grain for us and deliver as well.  The only issue is that we need to buy it by the three ton load.  Five gallon buckets won't work in this case.  Perhaps one of the only problems unable to be solved by the five gallon pail solution. 

Enter the silo.  We called a few places and Erica was able to find a woman selling a used one.  It also turns out that the place that gave us her number can also take it down and deliver it to our farm.  We will soon be able to take delivery of our first load of bulk grain.  It will be nice to save on the 50 pound sacks, and this will be a great financial deal for us as bulk grain is significantly cheaper than the sacked grain.  Additionally, the mill can deliver us grain to our exact specifications.  Way too cool.

Back to the deal about buying cool stuff...We're also getting a new dump truck.  That's right a "new" 1977 dump truck.  This will help in delivering hogs and cattle, as well as hauling firewood.  Pictures of this to follow.

Below, though, you can see a photo of part of our hungry crew from last Spring.  Notice that sack I'm awkwardly dumping into the feeder?  Well, without sacks and with bulk grain, I'll be using...that's right...FIVE GALLON BUCKETS!  Another functional use of one of the greatest farm implements in the world.

Hungry little devils, eh?  You'll notice only a couple heritage birds in there.  The rest of them prefer the food they can find on their own out in the field and in the woods.  Hey, it makes my job easier!  Stay tuned for photos of the silo.  We will try to do a photo spread of the whole installation process.

 

There is absolutely nothing more soul-affirming than eating the fruits of one's (or in this case, many people's) labor. 

Though the photo is from a warmer time, this meal can always warm up a chilly body on a frosty Winter's afternoon.

Ingredient	Source
Potatoes	Father-in-law grows them in Canada
Eggs	Free-Range chickens from our farm
Breakfast Sausage	from our own pigs
Salsa	everything but the cilantro from our gardens
Hot Sauce	my wife made over 10 different sauces one year!
Salt and Pepper to taste

                                      

Cook the sausage.  Drain.  Add the potatoes.  Add salsa.  Move to edges of pan and drop in some eggs.  Season to taste (hot hot hot!) with hot sauces.

You might even try wrapping this all up to make a tasty burrito...Mmmm...

Note:  You really do need to use cast iron and wood heat.  It just tastes better that way.

After last week's cold snap, everyone was talking about frozen pipes and frozen noses.  But that sort of cold weather reminds us that sugaring season is not too far away from us here in Eastern CT. 

It's just about time to start setting up the evaporator, cleaning out the sap buckets, and locating all those gallon milk jugs that we've been saving all winter.  Below is a photo of my two helpers hard at work during last year's sap run.

The one in the red hat is also known as my "official syrup taster."  In fact, she came out with spoon in hand about 30 minutes after I fired up the evaporator...And to her credit she was able to hang out all day and wait for her chance to "test" the syrup.

So one of the coolest things about having a farm is having a tractor!  We've managed to all share in its use.  When it is not being used to stretch fencing, haul manure or wood, plow snow, or pull logs, it spends its time doubling as a jungle-gym for our kids and their friends.  Many a visitor fired it up for a trip around the pasture this past summer...

Here is one of our son striking some sort of pose.

Here is Erica, my wife, pulling a log down the road.  It sure is great living on a road without any traffic!  Look at that form...

Our good friend Mose came for visit.  Not only did we put him to work tilling the garden, but we had him help capture and hold the sheep whilst we trimmed their hooves... Luckily, he came prepared with that fine hat.

The next one is my dad, also known as "Bumpa."  We were stretching fence that day.  He also came prepared with a fine hat, as you can see.

Finally, for now, here are my wife's grandparents.  They were on one of their "red-eye" road trips from VT and happily mounted the tractor for this shot.

So I was looking through our photo archives to see what I might use here on the blog.

I came across several photos that my 3 year old son took of his feet.  Pretty cool.  You've got to love the "hop-hop" boots. 

Notice his subtle progression in the three shot spread...

And then, when we were putting up our sign-post (we still have to make a sign for the farm, but the post is there!), we asked him to shoot some photos of us working.  He managed to capture this one in the midst of our labors...

Yes, he is wearing two different boots.  And the truly observant of you will notice they are on the wrong feet.  Both of them!

While we're inside waiting for the snow to let up enough to go work outside, here are some photos of my family hard at work this past summer setting up the farm.

Our kids love taking part in just about any farm task, and they really are great helpers.  In fact, we had to get a second shovel so that they could BOTH help muck out the turkeys, cattle, pigs...

I think that I have them almost trained to the point where I can sit in a rocking chair and "direct" the farm chores...Ahhh...A true "Gentleman Farmer."

  

You can really see Liev putting his muscles into that fence stretching!

  

Truly, Tom Silva would be proud! 

And Violet is not even slightly bothered by the large turkeys curiously eyeing her...

-15º F at our farm this morning.  Pretty cold out.  Just about too cold for our car, much too cold for our on-demand hot water heater in the basement.  But just about right for the animals, so it seems.  Last night the pigs were chasing each other about in their outer pen, seeming to ignore the cold.  Meanwhile, I was trying to scurry about to keep my hands and feet from freezing. 

VERY glad to have a woodstove in the workshop on a day like this.  I will be making multiple, short runs from there to the stalls and back to feed and clean the animals this cold evening.

This stuff is worth its weight in gold, as it were, on days like this.

So we started out our farm life several years ago with a rabbit.  Then we had two rabbits.  Then, well, you know how that works. 

We progressed to a small chicken coop with funky little diamond-shaped windows.  We had two chickens.  Then four chickens.  Then...

So, this past summer here at the new farm a customer asked if we could build a chicken coop for her backyard.  Recalling our first coop, we put together some plans and I built the coop.  Another customer stopped by, saw the finished product, and put down a deposit on the next one that I could build.  Pretty soon, I was building two at a time to meet the demand.  Who knew backyard chickens were so hip?

Well, that was in the summer and fall, and now it is -1º F here in CT.  A little cold to work on coops outside, but I will be beginning to fabricate the framing pieces, sides, and nesting boxes in the workshop (right next to the woodstove).  I've set my limit for Easter at 6 coops and 6 rabbit hutches, but depending on the demand and the incoming deposits, I may have to build more.

 

 No, she does not come with the coop.  But could I interest you in a "nice" and "friendly" rooster?

Since we were moving in and setting up the farm this past summer, I did not have as much time to ready my woodpile as I have in past years.  Installing fencing, building stalls, and the numerous other tasks involved in setting up a new farm consumed my "wood splitting and stacking time."  And normally, as my wife and kids can tell you, I am pretty particular about my stacking.  Parallel rows, uniform heights, etc.

So, to that end, I have piles of split wood, haphazardly covered with tarps, out in the side yard far away from where we actually need it -- in the living room near the stove.  I generally carry it in by hand each night, a few pieces at a time.  But man!  I wish I could do this:

  Maybe I'll practice after the next batch of homebrew is ready to sample.

Here is one of our hogs.  She is especially fond of dumping over her freshly poured water.  It's a game with her, I suspect.  I don't like playing THAT game, so I gave her and her sisters a couple of soccer balls to toss around.  Apparently, the fun part of the water game is watching me clamor about trying to retrieve and refill the water so they can dump it over again.

Any American pastoral (sorry Mr. Roth) wouldn't be complete without a reflection on the ability of large ruminants to turn grass into one of the best all-natural fertilizers available.  Having spent the last hour moving just under 1/2 ton of the aforementioned fecunderous material from the "cow stall" into the garden via my trusty orange wheelbarrow, I feel replete with visions of the gargantuan tomatoes, beans, and squash which will hopefully reward my labors.

There is also something to be said about a 1000 pound animal flouncing about a snow-encrusted pasture awaiting the return to his freshly cleaned stable.

Moo.

People have been after us to start writing about our farm, so here goes....

As the cold season makes its presence known across Southern New England, here at our farm we embrace all the weather has to offer.  Our kids, Violet and Liev, have found a great sledding run in our pasture and have outlasted me out there several times already.  We've had several measurable snow events, and I for one am delighted to be plowing it all away in my "new" 1963 Farmall Cub.  What a great father's day gift.  And to top it off, my wife travelled up to VT to get the snow plow for me!  I have to put a new carburetor on the tractor, and I'll update this blog when that time comes.  (It will have to warm enough for me to feel my bare hands for that job.)

We've been fighting the dreaded "icing of the waterers" battle for some time, and found out that we have some faulty wiring in the barn.  We'll have to rent a small digging implement (sweet!) and run some new power lines out there this summer.  For now, we've been using the woodstove in the workshop, some well-placed heat bulbs, and a rotation of waterers to fight the ice battle.  Who knew how much water cattle take in each day!

Our progress on firewood this year is not as productive as last year as we're finding the new farm offers endless other chores, but we've still made a dent in the large pile of logs out in the front. 

On the other hand, our CSA membership is almost full and there is lots of book-keeping and calendar "figuring" to do to ensure all the meats are ready for each pickup date. 

We are currently debating between getting a silo to store delvered grain and picking it up ourselves.  The latter option requires that we construct some sort of smaller grain storage system...More on that as we decide what we will do.  There are several used silos available somewhat locally, but they still must be moved with semi-heavy machines.

 

 

We are now accepting new customers for our 2009 CSA.  We currently have only a few openings, so please contact us ASAP to reserve your space.  Pick up's will be monthy from June to November, and there are two price levels.  Hurricane Farm's CSA is meat-based, and includes:  cage-free chicken; grass-fed beef; heritage breed pork; heritage and conventional breed free-range turkeys.  Other farm items such as eggs, maple syrup, and breads will be offered as well.  Please call the farm today at 860-465-9934 to find out more about our program.  Farm tours are also welcomed and encouraged.  See you at the farm!