Hurricane Farm

It is come upon the end of the season for our borrowed field down the road.  The cattle did a wonderful job clearing out the overgrown field and we have high hopes for superior hay next season.  I'll be brush-hogging the remaining saplings and whatever else may be left.

To that end, we spent an afternoon moving Fuzzy back up to the field behind our barn.

Liev decided that he would be responsible for the rope.  The trailer is a bit high off the ground, so we end up roping the cattle to help coax them aboard.  We use the rope as a sort of leash and aboard they climb.

Erica decided that she, too, would be a "wrangler."  We're lucky to have neighbors that allow us use of this 5+ acre field.  We plan to fence in a second pasture next Spring as well as put in a large pumpkin patch (right where the truck is parked just behind the cowgirl in the photo).

And here we are backing the trailer up in order to unload our passenger, Fuzzy.  It was hard to tell whether he was pleased to be back at the farm or if he missed his summer home. 

After the weekend, we loaded him back up again and Erica took the long trip to deliver him to be harvested.  I think it is great that our children, and the children who visit the farm, are aware of the sources of their foods.  What could be more natural than a connection to the very essence of life that sustains us all?

 

Hurricane Farm in Scotland, CT is currently offering a Holiday Meat CSA. 

Many people inquired about and have been on a waitlist for our Summer Meat-Based CSA.  We are now pleased to be able to expand our CSA to a second season and we welcome new members.

Members have the opportunity to get fresh meats straight from the farm.

 

Each member's share will include the following: 

End of October: 
Pork Chops ($9/lb)
Sausage ($9/lb) 

Early November:
Nitrate Free
Bacon ($11/lb)
Ham ($11/lb)

Thanksgiving:
Turkey 20-30lbs ($100)

Early December:
Grass-Fed, Dry Aged Beef ($7-20/lb)

Plus:  Eggs, Swiss chard, Spinach, Lettuce, Peas & Kale

CSA with Turkey: $300
CSA without Turkey: $200 We are now accepting a $50 deposit with 2-3 weeks to pay the remaining balance. 

Get involved with your food and get it straight from the source!

Contact us at: hurricanefarmmama@gmail.com or 860.465.9934

 

 

Here are many of the long-awaited photos of our multi-day adventure in cattle moving.

My Dad helped lend a hand to add higher sides to the trailer.  We used 2 x 6 dimensional lumber and affixed it all with lag screws and carriage (how appropriate) bolts.

A close-up of my Dad working hard.  He most notably suggested that we add the upside down milk crate to the list of indispensible farm tools. 

But, of course, hard work calls for some well-deserved food!

After just a short rest, Dad volunteered to cook us some dinner.  What a nice house guest!  Wood-fired is the only way to go.  Those burgers are made of ground turkey (our own), eggs (our own), carrots, peas (our own), and some other various veggies.

After a night of wonderful food, we were back at it in the morning.  We had the trailer all backed up and ready to be loaded.  We used a couple of pallets as a step for the cattle to get into the trailer.

Here's Fuzzy thinking about it.

And here's Fuzzy inside.  Notice the short gate on the trailer. 

A little grain goes a long way with these guys.

A job well done!  Erica has a certain knack for luring animals into trailers, pick-up beds, down long corridors in the barn, etc.  I think it has to do with unwavering patience.

Ahhh.  But notice now that Fuzzy is no longer in the trailer.  He determined that the lush, green grass outside the trailer was more desirable than the remnants of grain on the trailer floor.  He hopped right out the back while we were starting to tow him away.  So now you can see that we had to build a gate--a much more secure gate--for the trailer.

A few more carriage bolts, some hinges, and two latches later...

This was our third and luckily final attempt at moving Fuzzy.  The trailer was all set and ready to haul.  If we were trying to catch turkeys, we'd have been champs!

Here he goes!

Success, take two!  Nothing is getting out of that gate.  A perfect system, so it seems.

Violet was equally impressed that Fuzzy was so eager to get back into the trailer from which he had fled just hours before.

And there we go, off the farm, down the road, and to the pasture.  It sure is fun driving on the road with a tractor!  On the way back I had Erica follow me in the car and check my speed.  At top speed I was cruising along at 9 miles per hour!  It seemed like 75, though, in the open tractor pulling that trailer.

There we go off road and down into our new pasture.  Violet brought some grain ("Just in case," she said).  Liev lost his shirt somewhere along the line.

One final alteration is still to be made on the trailer...It appears that the cattle can get their pesky little big heads through the sides.  They can barely get them back out, you know, with the horns and all.  I will have to fill in those spaces with some strapping or siding.

One thing that we hadn't counted on was Fuzzy's temperment.  He is normally so nice and calm and friendly.  He was pretty mad at us for the trailer ride, though.  Once he got off he just stormed away into the pasture grasses.  Not even a farewell "moo."

We have a 100 gallon watering trough in the field and we fill it from time to time with water from this little brook that runs adjacent to the pasture.  5 gallon pails at work.

After we brought Alyosius down to join him, all was forgiven in Fuzzy's eyes.  His tail was happily swishing back and forth as he chowed down on the tasty greens.

A job well done by all.  "Great teamwork!"

Here are some more shots of the trailer in progress.

There it is "up on blocks" as they say here in the sticks.

We removed the hitch as it was pretty rusty and hard to use.

Here are our new tires mounted and ready to go back onto the trailer. 

Some of the parts all ready to be put on....

Liev was a great help!

The whole family pitched in to get the hitch as tight as we could.  Liev was playing around with a C clamp.  One of his new favorite tools.  He has amazing dexterity!

There is it.  All shiny and new looking.  New bolts, new safety chains, new wiring, and Liev's C clamp.

 

 

We're still working on the new trailer.  My parents came down yesterday and my Dad worked hard on constructing some new sides for it.

Here is Liev working hard at his job...

He single-handedly removed all the old lights and helped to tear out the wires.  There were enough wires on there to light two trailers, so we took them off and started from scratch with one set.

To those checking back...

9:38 pm.  All cattle still in original location.  Some modifications have begun on the trailer and the onset of darkness has stopped me from finishing said modifications. 

We will in good faith attempt to move them again tomorrow.  Perhaps the help of my Dad will push us to success!

(We do have some good pics of our "attempts" to lure them into the trailer, but...alas...the camera is no where to be found.)

We acquired a "new to us" trailer that will work out perfectly for hauling hogs and our cattle, as well as myriad other things (kids, pumpkins, hay, wood).

Our plan is to move two of the cattle to the new pasture this afternoon.  If all goes according to plan, there may be some interesting photos up here this evening.  I still have some work to do on the trailer--right now both wheels are off, as is the hitch, and I'm in the midst of re-wiring the whole thing.  It should be ready this afternoon, though.  Yesterday the kids and I went out to the farm store twice.  The first time we purchased some nice, shiny new wheels (tires and rims) for the trailer.  They measured (in theory, apparantly) to be the right size.  The bolts holes were 4 1/2 on center, etc, etc.  We got them home.  No luck.  One bolt hole was off by less than 1/16" of an inch on each wheel.  Either we have some funky sized hubs on the trailer, or they are selling seriously flawed rims at the farm store.  So, back we went.  Which was good because I needed to buy about 12 more things for the trailer anyways.

We ended up going to a local tire store and they popped on two "seasoned" tires onto the original rims, which still have plenty of life left in them, for $80 including the labor and balancing.  Not a bad deal.  I'm planning to take the red truck up there soon now that I know they do that sort of thing.

Here are some photos of the new pasture being prepped for the cattle.  I'll be putting up a gate this morning, finishing the trailer, and then working on loading the trailer with one of the cattle.  We'll see how that goes...

The grasses (and weeds) are really tall!  The cattle will start working on that this afternoon, hopefully.

Violet will have one last chance to pick wild flowers before the cattle get to them.

The tools needed to string up field fence.  (Anyone look up "rod" yet?)  There is my trusty homemade fence-puller (the F.T. 2000) leaning up against the tailgate.  Yes, it does resemble some 2 x 4's and some bolts.  I also figured out an easier way to move around those heavy rolls of fencing using the tractor and some bungees.

The grass is almost up to the kids' heads!  We could use this as a hay field if we had the equipment, but for now we'll put the animals to work on it.  I'd love to bring down 50 turkeys, but I would worry that predators would get to them at night.

It's been raining on and off for almost three weeks now here in Southern New England.  The forcast calls for rain and thunder storms for the next 7 days.  This is good for some of our garden but detrimental to tomatoes, peppers, and people who don't like mud.  In fact, the hay fields all around us in towns throughout Eastern Connecticut have been left to their own devices--almost looking abandoned--due to the constant wet.  No one has been able to cut their hay for weeks.  The first cutting traditionally takes place on Memorial Day Weekend here in CT, but it was raining back then, too!  Hopefully the rain will let up for a few days at least soon!

The rain does not seem to bother the large livestock, however.  Here you can see the two Jerseys and Aloysius involved in some sort of race with one of our Black Spanish turkeys.  The turkey seems to be winning this one.

The rain has also slowed down my building of our meat chicken coop/shed.  Here is a photo from a couple of weeks ago.  Liev helped me erect a wall.  Now, during breaks in the rain, and with a little help from my Dad yesterday, we have all four walls up, framed, and covered with siding.  I hope to put up some rafters today if it stays only overcast and does not begin to rain.

Despite all the rain, mud, humidity, and dirty floors that come with living in what seems to have turned into a tropical rainforest environment, good things do come in the end:

Here are some updated photos of our new calf, Aloysius, running in the field.  These were from about two weeks ago.  By now, the grass is really starting to take off in the field.  We over-seeded the pasture with a nice mix of grasses just before we had about a week of rain, so hopefully we will be able to improve on the quality of our grass. 

The lower portion of the field was all overgrown with golden rod and brambles, which were of little interest to the cattle and sheep.  I ended up cutting it all down with a field mower last fall.  I was sort of shocked at how bare it looked afterwards, and nervous that I ruined the field, but it looks like the grasses below the golden rod are now able to have a fighting chance. 

With a few years of work, we should be able to have this old pasture brought back...

It never ceases to amaze me that all of our animals instinctively know when to throw on the brakes when approaching a fence.  They will come at you at top speed and stop just before pummeling you or the fence.

Though he is still only about a month and a half old, he is starting--emphasis on starting--to learn to follow me around and to respond to our voices.  He knows his name when called and perks up when he hears it.  Always a good thing just in case they happen to "escape."

Above Aloysius (or Monster Truck, as my son Liev just reminded me over my shoulder as I type) romps about.

There he goes, trotting back to his stall after a hard afternoon's play.  We feed our cattle only grass/hay, but we do have them trained to grain as a treat.  When returning from the field, they (the big ones, too) have to cross through an unfenced area to gain access to the barn.  All I have to do is hollar for them to come and they come running.  They receive a small handful of sweet grain as a reward. 

We have just completed Phase 2 of our SILO ACQUISITION.

Phase 1, the most tedious of all phases, included posting several ads on Craigslist throughout the greater New England and Pennsylvania area in the hopes of locating an unwated silo (a.k.a. Grain Bin).  After culling through dozens of responses offering us "less-than-ideal" (read rusted, warped, three-legged, bottom-less!) silos, we decided to call around to find out about new silos. 

New silos, however, are not very cost-effective--especially from the perspective of those who always purchase things second, third, and fourth-hand.

We did, though, find a slightly used silo through one of owners of what I guess should be called the "Silo Store."  He informed us that one of his clients was interested in selling her silo, and that he would be willing to remove it from her farm and erect it on our property.  Around the same time, I stumbled upon another used silo at a farm in a neighboring town.  This one was slightly more "used," but worth while checking out.

Phase 2, then, involved looking at and inspecting both silos.  We decided, ultimately, on the newer of the two in the hopes that it will be a longer-lasting investment.  Below, find some photos taken at the conclusion of Phase 2.

(BBQ grill not included)

 

Phase 3, which involves the delivery and installation of said silo, will hopefully commence (and resume) sometime this week or next.  Phase 4, involving filling it will feed from the mill will, logically, follow Phase 3 forthwith.

 

I came home yesterday to find a bale of wood shavings ripped open and spilled across the barn floor.  Hmm, I thought, I wonder how that happened? 

Then I saw some ripped paper in the stall with the cattle...Apparantly, they enjoy brown paper almost as much as they enjoy grass and hay.

I'll have to make a point of not stacking the bales of shavings so close to them in the future.

Moo!

How can one not love such a face?  The newest hog trio has a new game:  destroy the feed sack.  See, here are the easy rules...

1.  Pretend to eat your feed.
2.  Quickly sneak out of the gate as your water is being changed.
3.  Seek out nearby sack (either feed or wood-shaving, it does not matter).
4.  Proceed to rip it to bits while running up and down the barn.
5.  Smile as in above photo.

I can't tell if the pig is gloating or apologizing.  Your thoughts?

These sheep are about to give birth to winter lambs any day now.  We are hoping that all four of our ewes are expecting.  We'll be cleaning out and setting up seperate stalls this weekend to house the moms and their newborns.  We'll post pictures as this progresses.

This last one is one of the cattle.  Perhaps Mr. Greenshoes.  I am not sure which one this is.  We have eclectic names for our livestock, it's true.  But that is some of the fun.  We have had many rabbits named after characters from the Simpsons.  We had one trio affectionately named Patty, Selma, and MacGuyver. 

 

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!