At large

Madeline’s pigs are still at large. They do go sleep in their port-a-hut, for naps during the day and also at night. Generally they can be found hanging out with the cattle, but once in a while they venture up into our yard. Ava does her best to keep them under control. She’s learning to be helpful with her herding, despite us not really knowing how to teach her. Matt & Olivia worked on re-doing all of our pig shelters this weekend, but the weather didn’t cooperate for them to finish up. Hopefully they’ll get Madeline’s pigs contained yet this week.

On a sad note, yesterday afternoon Matt found another one of Madeline’s gilts dead. Just laying in their port-a-hut where they sleep. We have no idea what happened to her. She hadn’t shown signs of illness. She doesn’t have any obvious marks or injuries. It should be warm enough, and they should be big enough, that they wouldn’t pile.

I do know that I’m getting mighty tired of things dying around here. Matt attributes it to our abysmal lack of facilities. I still think this farm is cursed. Okay, not really. But maybe.

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Over my dead body

That seems to be what Star is saying here. The mama cow had gone off to have some lunch at the bale feeder, and Star stepped in as babysitter/bodyguard. She really loves that calf.

Twinville’s kids thought this little guy looked like a “Zorro”. We thought that was pretty fitting, so Zorro it is! Thanks, Twinville 🙂

3 years ago:

Peeps galore

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A musical kind of day

Today was high school state music contest, for both band & vocal soloists and ensembles. I accompanied 8 students on the piano for their instrument solos. I’ve played for the yearly middle school contest the past 3 years but this is the first time I’ve played at the high school level. It was fun to get to know some of the high school students, and to have an excuse to sit down at the piano and play every night.

Tonight Matt & I went to the “legendary Surf Ballroom” to hear some friends’ bands plus the one that I played keyboards in for 3 years.

3 years ago:

Practicality

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Weekend chicken blogging

Temperatures finally climbed into the 50’s today! The chickens were out sunning themselves, but smartly found shelter from the still-cold spring winds.

3 years ago:

Rock-n-roll Baby

Peeps

2 years ago:

New litter

1 year ago:

I make cows nervous

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Direct marketing & the economy


Looks like we’ll soon have another kind of baby around here! Those pigs sure like their mud. They do manage to keep their port-a-hut relatively clean, at least. This weekend’s projects include moving the mama’s to drier ground, if any can be found.

We’re all hearing about the state of the economy these days. Around here that leads to discussions on what this will mean for our business, direct-marketing our beef, pork & chicken. Will the rising gas, energy and food prices mean that our customers will have to cut back on how much they buy from us? Or are people becoming more aware of the issues surrounding industrially-produced food and making local sustainably-raised food a priority in their budgets?

The jury’s still out here. On the one hand we’ve had more sales here at the farm this winter than last winter, and the local store that carries our meat has bought more than last year. Despite the fact that we had to raise prices significantly because of rising feed costs, we’ve had more chicken and on-the-hoof beef & pork pre-orders than last year and received them earlier in the year. Farmers market starts in just over a month and I’m hopeful that it’s going to go even better for us this year. We got our name and reputation out there last year and can build on that, plus we’ll be at two markets this year instead of one.

On the other hand we’ve had more cancellations of pre-orders than we’ve experienced before (though the vast majority of them were about timing and not for financial reasons.) At the moment we’re fretting about the hogs a bit. Out of the litter of 8 pigs we butchered last month we had 3-1/2 unsold. We butchered those into cuts to sell at farmers market this summer. Out of this month’s litter of 7, we only have 3 sold. We’re not really sure if we can move those other 4 at Farmers Market, in addition to the 3-1/2.

[Edited to add…that was wild! At the very moment I typed that, someone called and ordered a whole hog! So make that 3 left to sell…]

But I was encouraged by an article in this past Sunday’s Des Moines Register, High cost for food lets czars envision a new era. The presidents of Whole Foods and Stonyfield Farms spoke to students at Drake and Iowa State last week “about the success of green businesses and where the movement is headed.”

“The higher food prices climb, the more recalls there are, the more people learn about problems associated with coventional food from industrialized farms, the better it is for natural and organic food producers, they said.”

So what do you think? If you’re a farmer, have you experienced any changes in your sales lately? If so, how have they changed, and to what do you attribute the change? If you’re a consumer, are your food budget and the type of items you buy changing? If so, why?

3 years ago:

Function = Beauty

2 years ago:

Go read it

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It just never gets old


This calf is fresh!

These are the days when I’m especially glad I work at home. When I went to the kitchen to get some breakfast this morning I glanced out the window and saw one of the younger Hereford cows in labor. A half hour later this little guy was on the ground. I grabbed the camera and ran out.


Thank goodness humans aren’t expected to get up and walk before they’re an hour old!

Cows hate me, so I stood on the other side of the fence with the row of cornstalk bales between us.


It’s gotta be here somewhere.

New calves, new piglets, new chicks – no matter the species, new babies just never get old. It’s a miracle each and every time.


Uff!


It’s okay honey, try again.

Kind of like us human moms – lick ’em off and send ’em back out there!

At this point I went back in the house. Like I said, cows hate me. I figured the bonding would progress better without me sticking my camera in their business.

And when I came back out at lunch the little guy was all dried off and fluffy, nursing like a champ. Isn’t he a handsome fella? Such a nice blocky, masucline look to him.

Star took an immediate liking to him. She had to sack out for her nap right by the new baby.

2 years ago:

62

1 year ago:

Piggies

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You have GOT to be kidding me…

Those were the exact words out of my mouth first thing this morning, when I woke up and saw the white stuff blowing past the bedroom window.

The kids had just last Friday got the all-clear to leave the snowpants at home, and out they had to come again this morning.

And then, about 9:30, the sun came out and said, “April Fool!”

3 years ago:

Preparation

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Nine, ten, a big fat hen


I wish Spring would hurry up and get here.


Just look at that reflection! I’m all muddy and bedraggled looking.


And now I’ve stooped to drinking from a pig water dish. Hurry up, Spring!

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Weekend Linkity-Link: State Volleyball Edition

Yesterday was a long but fun day watching Olivia’s 4th & 5th grade team at the state AAU volleyball tournament. They didn’t fare too well, but it was a great experience for them. There are 8 Osage teams altogether in 4th thru 8th grade, and only 1 other of those teams qualified for state. So the girls were happy just to be there. (And Olivia takes every opportunity to remind her big sister that her team did not qualify for state, hee hee.) It’s interesting playing the larger schools, where it seems the girls pick one or maybe two sports, and play those all year round. In our little school that’s not the case. If you’re an athlete, you generally play 4 sports, one for each season. I think it makes for some well-rounded kids, even though it does get tricky for a few weeks where one sport overlaps into another.

So…onto some interesting links from around the blogosphere this week!

Twinville had several neat “chicken hacks”: a nest box modifcation, a chicken coop addition, and a chicken playground. Very creative!

Karen at Rurality had a non-traditional Easter visitor. So funny!

The Beginning Farmer’s Wife is starting her own sweet potato slips from a store-bought potato. It’s been fun to keep track of her progress!

And finally Suzanne, aka The Farmers Wife shared a stunning photograph called Red Stepstool. While you’re there be sure to stay and browse a while. Her photographic record of forgotten and decaying farm structures is fascinating!

3 years ago:

g()dn3w$
I’ll note that the insurance I talked about in this post has changed somewhat since I wrote this. It’s gone up in price quite a bit.

2 years ago:

Hollywood Week Wrap Up

1 year ago:

What we’re afraid of

Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday to my dear friends, Mindy and Lisa!

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Another new bird sighting

I love it when we see new-to-us birdlife on the creek! I believe this is a male & female pair of Hooded Mergansers. Aren’t they the cutest little things?

3 years ago:

Welcome, Rudy!

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