Natural Harvest Farm

The snow is threatening to delay our trip to get some American bunnies on Saturday, but an old doe goat that was given to us because she was crippled has had a nice set of twins tonight. We brought her into the basement as the outside temperature will be near the single digits tonight. They have dried off, eaten and are sleeping well. She is picking a bit of hay after drinking a good bit of water. They are nubian x kids one of each billy and doe. The weather man is calling for  6-12 inches of snow tonight. We will just have to wait and see about the rabbit trip in the morning.

I am building the farrowing house with water and movable dividers so as to use it in the future as a goat maternity ward as well. I can see by this weather it will be needed, but we are going to target earlier breeding in our herd in the future.

Our old hens are well, but the geese will not go in tonight, prefer to swim the creek. If I cannot travel to the eastern panhandle for rabbits in the morn, it will be time to finish that tile job in the upstairs bathroom. About the only thing not finished inside our home. Trying not to waste a day on the farm just because of inclimate weather. The warm weather will be for outside construction of fences, building and water systems as well as the management of our little groups of livestock. Stay warm and have a nice weekend.

Rodney

As the new year arrives, we are preparing for the arrival of our new American rabbit breeding stock. We will be pasture finishing them as soon as grass arrives in the spring. It has been cold so building our new winter farrowing house in the pasture is our main project. It will allow for better seasonal litters all year.

We are also seeding some fields in anticipation of the arrival of our new sheep flocks spring arrival. We believe they will work well with our layer pasture program. They will keep the grass down and short for the chickens to enjoy and hunt breakfast in. Our hens have gotten old and badly fox pilfered. The new girls will arrive as chicks in February and be ready for that first good grass in May. Mr. fox will find a very protective guard dog in the field with the chickens and sheep as well. We do not allow crows to be bothered on our farm at all. Any crop loss is well worth it in exchange for hawk chasing and an early warning system that mr. Fox is on the prowl.

Our old spot hogs will start farrowing in February. We have a late litter finishing now, but the next major availability of finished pork will be about November- December1. It takes us longer to produce  for us to finish a hog than those factory farms, but the result is worth any wait. A truly marbled pork chop cut about one inch thick and baked is the fare of five star establishments or your home if you chose to try our pork.

The meat chickens will arrive in March and hit grass April 1. They will be ready for harvest @ about 4lbs by early May. We will be at the farmers market openings near DC then. We will post by March which one we will attend this year. We will be doing both the cornish white and the freedom ranger red again this year. The red is a wide ranging forager, but has a beautiful dressed appearance. The texture is more that of a heritage breed. It will make a fine change for a special dinner.

Finally our turkeys will be arriving to our new brooder house in March. We will be taking orders after September 1, for the holidays.

We thank you for your patience as I have recovered from my injury. After a year of no walking and the bigger part of a year learning to walk again, each day in the field working with the stock or just cutting brush is a blessing. We look forward to new adventures and meeting new friends with which to share our love of the earth and the things it produces.

Rodney