Hurricane Farm

Here are a few shots of some veggies fresh from the garden.  The frost is still only threatening, so we're sure to have a few more meals on the table right from the garden.

A little veg.  A little dip.  Yummy.

Once the frost comes, there will still be plenty of colder crops left, like the kale below.  We have three kale patches, though we recently turned out the new piglets into one of them.  They like fresh veggies just as much as we do!

There are still plenty of squash to bring in.  We have some heirloom varieties of winter squash that are weighing in at over 30 pounds!  They are much too large for the basket below...My favorite, though, is butternut.

And of course, let's not forget the homemade stuffed pizza!

Who loves the rain?

The sunflowers are still hanging in there, but we're sure to have a frost soon.  It's amazing what you can notice when you take a moment to look closely at the swirling, buzzing, busy workers that surround you on an early Autumn day. 

The bumblebees are busy, grabbing that last bit of pollen to store away as part of their winter rations.  Will they survive the winter--if it comes without mercy--to see another Spring?  Or will their stores give out in early March, just as the winter season begins to yield to the earliest of Spring flowers?

First he lands on the flower and feels his way around, slowly becoming accustomed to and aware of every inch of his landing zone.

Check out the pollen covering this little guy in the photo above!  He works until his entire body is laden with the riches of the flower and then makes his triumphant return from whence he came.

Watch closely as they take off...stumbling at first as they become acclimated to their new, heavier selves.  Slowly, though, their courage builds and their balance is restored.  Off they zip to their hidden hive.

Watch next time you manage to notice one...they work at once slowly and quickly.  Amazing!

Look at the photo below, just above the flowers on the right-hand side.  There, quick!  Off he flies to his sanctuary--perhaps in the hollow of a tree, perhaps into a hole and under the dry earth, perhaps nestled within the walls of an old barn.

This past Tuesday an small film crew arrived to shoot footage for an independent documentary at our farm.  They are working on a film about the state of farming here in Connecticut.  This film will be a companion piece to their earlier documentary, "The Farmer's Voice."  We'll try to post any footage that makes it way back to us before the film is complete. 

During the filming, several folks came by to be interviewed.  This included one of our CSA customers, a woman from across town who allows the use of her sugarbush during the maple sap run, and another farmer from the other side of town who lives on one of the original farms in the town of Scotland.

We had a great time showing the crew around, answering questions, and eating freshly picked watermelon!  All the kids on the road came over to sample the sweet melon after Violet and Liev picked it on camera.

Plans are in the works for additional visits to shoot footage during maple sugaring season as well as in the late Spring when all the new livestock "arrives" at the farm.

A local Connecticut restaurant, Zest, has some wonderful dishes on the way prepared with local ingredients including ribs grass-fed, dry aged beef.  If you are in Northeastern CT, stop by their 1750's farmhouse restaurant and try the taste and flavor of local foods!

http://www.zestofct.com/

One of our customers recently tried some of our Heritage pork and offers this recipe:  "Slap Ya Mama Heritage Pork Chops."

Please follow the link to their Food Blog and, perhaps, try it out yourself!

http://acoupleinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2009/08/slap-yo-mama-heritage-pork-chops.html

Just a quick reminder to those out there who are planning to get their Thanksgiving turkey from us here at the farm...It is time to put in your order.  We still have some conventional white turkeys this year, and we have a variety of heritage breed turkeys as well.  Our heritage breeds include Narragansett, Black Spanish, Blue Slate, and Bourbon Red.

Our turkeys are raised on grass and are fed all natural vegetarian feed.  The heritage turkeys spend most of their time in the fields or the woods, foraging for bugs, grubs, and seeds.

Please call us or see us at the Coventry Farmers' Market on Sundays to reserve yours today!

Lots of folks have been asking about our (their) turkeys.  It must be coming to that time of year when summer starts to end, fall is almost here, and thoughts of Thanksgiving start emerging from deep within.

This year we decided to raise more heritage breeds and scale back on the conventional giant whites.  This decision was in part due to customer demand, but also due to the ability of the heritage turkeys to free-range.  The giant whites are allowed pasture space, yet they seldom wander far.  The heritage turkeys, on the other hand, roam far and wide throughout the farmyard.  They even find their way atop the farmhouse, from time to time.

Here are some Narragansett and a Bronze "picking" raspberries.

In the distance are some pastured turkeys.  The whites never leave the fenced in area, while the heritage turkeys rarely stay within.

And there you have it...Your turkeys!

Sarah, our Toggenburg milk goat, is hopefully an expectant mother.

That being the case, it was time to build her a place of her own.  She was living with the sheep, able to come and go in and out of the pasture on the schedule of the cattle, but we thought that she might be better off in her own space.

I cleared out some nasty, prickly multiflora rose (invasive!), waded through a sea of poison ivy, set some posts, and stretched some fence.  We ended up with two new areas for Sarah, or any other livestock that may need to be isolated at any given time.  The areas offer some sun and grass as well as the shade of the wetland that cuts through our farm. 

Sarah has been busy clearing poison ivy, debarking Russian Olive trees (invasive!), and clearing the brush from an old stone wall that is starting to re-emerge inside her new pen.  What a great worker she is!

This is the largest ear of corn that I have ever seen!

There is indeed something to be said for heirloom seeds...

And oh the taste!

Yummy.

There are lots of new things here at the farm.  We're always keeping busy...

Work has begun on the Sugar Shack.  We decided that since we really enjoy the outside aspect of sugaring--especially on those sunny late-winter noons--that we'd build an open building.  The idea is to make a pavillion style building that is attached to the barn.  We'll have a roof to allow us to suger through the rain and snow, but we'll also be open to the air around us. 

I started this project by setting four posts into the ground just off the rear of the barn.  This is a pole building, meaning it will not have a foundation; rather, it will be secured to the ground by the corner posts.  I used some of the larger cedar logs that I had remaining from my fencing projects.

Yes, I'll have to move that pallet of bricks YET AGAIN...This will be the third time that I'll have picked those up, one by one...It is handy to have bricks around, though, so I can't complain too much.  They should be added to our official list of necessary farm items.

Next, I used some large threaded rod to secure the back posts to the barn for extra stability.  The roof of the shack will peak perpendicular to the barn and I'll also attach the ridge pole to the roof of the barn.

I had to buy an extra-long drill bit to make it all the way through the post and the barn.  I also used it to drill through the posts at the top where I mounted the beams with 12" carriage bolts.  Using bolts results in a much tighter and more secure connection.

Here is a picture of one of the beams that I constructed out of 2 x 6 dimensional lumber.  I made four beams in total.  Two 10 footers and two 12 footers.  The size of the building will be 12 x 9 when finished.  We'll have plenty of room to upgrade to a larger evaporator in a year or two. 

I have mounted the beams and am ready for the next step:  to install the ridge board and rafters.  I still need to figure out the best way to vent the chimney pipe and have to also construct a cupola which can open to allow the steam from the evaporator to escape.  Luckily, I have some great books on contruction and sugaring.

Stay tuned for more updates as the warm weather ends.  This project needs to be done before it snows!