Three Dog Farmstead

Summer is just around the corner, even if the weather makes you think otherwise. I'm excited to see just how many pints of blackberries and blueberries we'll harvest this year. The wet winter and easy Spring seem to have been good to them, and, along with some poultry powered cultivation and fertilization, we look to have a very nice harvest in a few more weeks. . And as always, we continue to have fresh true range eggs for sale.

The blueberry bushes are FULL and drooping with berries!

Blackberries!

Baby Blacktail Mountain Heirloom Watermelons

Spring and Summer also herald the arrival of baby animals. This month, Tater- a dark Brahma hen, hatched a clutch of 7 babies. There's nothing sweeter than a baby chick! Hens are in their glory when they have little ones to mother. 

Just wanted to link you to an article I read this morning. There are more and more stories these days of how chickens, and other poultry, are assisting individuals with autism and other mental and learning handicaps. It's quite a joy to read how folks are able to become more 'tuned in' to the world around them because of time spent with a chicken.
The young lady who is the subject of this particular article has even written a book about her experiences.
If you have a moment, check the article out. I'm sure it will put a smile on your face. And who knows, maybe there's someone in your life who needs this information sent their way! 

 Chickens and Autism: How 'Goldie' Helps a Michigan Teen

Well, we're off to a cloudy start to these last few days of April, but I for one am thankful that so much of the pollen has been 'washed' out of the air....and off of my truck!

We are still trying to work out our honor stand system for egg purchasing. For the time being I have decided to take a step back and offer eggs for sale here on local harvest and via word of mouth. Basically, you just contact us and let us know how many dozen you'd like to purchase, and we'll arrange a pick up time for you. You can order through our local harvest store (when the listings become available) or via email or phone. All of our contact information is in our listing here. 

Now, if the sun will just come out for a bit and dry up some of the ground, I'll get the watermelons and muskmelons planted! Looking forward to that. I've got some nice microbe rich compost to work into the dirt that the plants will love. And of course it's always fun to get out on the tractor!

 Enjoy the day!

 Spring seems to finally be in full swing. I see wonderfully green leaves everywhere and the fruit trees have been flowering for at least a week or two now.
    We should have some limited blueberries and strawberries available by the end of May/early June. The bees have been very busy and the blueberries are looking great so far, but we'll have to see how the harvest goes.

'Wood Boring' bees are very prolific pollinators.

 Strawberries are a little more questionable as I've started off a little later in the season than the big producers in the area. At the worst, I hope we'll just have a later yield. We're expecting an excellent season for fresh picked blackberries though! And I don't mean your run of the mill tiny and dry berry. They are picked fresh in the early mornings and only the nicest berries make it into my buckets! (I would highly suggest getting some to make blackberry jam. YUM!)
    We may not have the highest production yields, but my philosophy is quality over quantity. If I wouldn't eat it or feed it to my family, I'm not going to sell it to yours. And I'm as picky as my pocketbook will allow without biting back!
    Looking ahead to the summer crop season, I've been planning my melon beds (and pumpkins too). We'll be harvesting these for the family and market so I hope yields are good and the weather holds for some nice, juicy and sweet fleshed melons.
    On the roster this year are 5 different types of heirloom watermelons and two heirloom muskmelons, or cantaloupes as they are more commonly know.
    Jubilee and OrangeGlo will be our large melon producers this year. Jubilee is a old time, oblong, deep red fleshed melon that is said to be crisp and sweet. OrangeGlo is exactly what it sounds like: an orange fleshed melon with a sweet, almost tropical flavor.

    We will also be offering some smaller sized 'icebox' melons. These are great for small families or folks who just don't want to haul around and store a 20-30lb melon. Coming in at 3-12lbs makes them easy to store in the fridge. Varieties will include: Blacktail Mountain (red flesh), Moonbeam (yellow flesh), and White Wonder- a white fleshed heirloom that was actually very common in the 1800s before commercial growing influenced the red flesh standard for most watermelon varieties.

    All of the produce/flowers we offer are grown without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. If all goes according to plan, I will have cold melons out for you to taste before you buy. :)

    More on the muskmelons later....gotta get some work done around here! Don't forget, the egg cart will be open tomorrow afternoon, the 26th of April, from 3pm to 7pm. Stop by and pick up some fresh eggs for your weekend brunch!