Food production and preservation projects that are actually valuable skills.

Corn Chopping Season! I am proud and a little relieved to say we have just finished corn chopping, and in record time to boot! Corn chopping is pretty much the official end to the growing season on our farm, and usually, by the point it rolls around we  (well, maybe it’s just me) are just …

Hay is tricky, a large part of your success is dependant on the weather.  Hay needs hot low moisture days to dry, and if you remember there wasn’t a lot of those days this summer. But we were still able to get through both 1st and 2nd cutting, and put up some good looking hay in the process.

Yesterday afternoon, I took the short walk across my yard to the other side of our barn to take some pictures of my Concord Grape Vine for an upcoming post and was met with the sad eyes of a scrawny cat. I wish I could say I was surprised by the sudden appearance of a juvenile cat …

I thought it might be fun to share some of our farming activities today. Believe it or not, my husband has already been out planting sweet corn, but today we are talking tomatoes! A few years ago the farm added a hoop house (or unheated greenhouse, or high tunnel) to extend the growing season. You know …

  It is a good thing they are cute, because they sure are a lot of work! Yup, we had another set of twins on the farm! And they have been keeping me busy! If you have been following for a while, you might remember we had our last set of twins about 3 years ago, …

If you’ve kept chickens during the cold winter months before you know just how challenging this can be. Here in the Finger Lakes it can get down to a chilly -12°F, which can make chickens very unhappy! In these conditions, if you’ve managed to stop their water freezing and can keep their coop warm, you’re …

While sitting on my new deck enjoying a hot cup of coffee, the quiet stillness of the morning, and the gorgeous filmy haze that hung in the air. I decided to take a little stroll down the lane way to check out the cows and calves that were milling about in the back pasture. By …

“Making hay while the sun shines,” is an old traditional phrase, basically it is a reminder to make good use of your time or make the most of an opportunity while you have the chance. There is no set harvest date for hay,  in an ideal world hay would be cut before the grasses reach …

Summer has winded down, and I have to tell you I am looking forward to a slower pace. But before  we can button up the field work and call it done the field corn needs to be harvested and stored for winter. I almost choked on my coffee when I reread “the field corn needs …