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…
Farm
Hay Day on the Farm
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.
What Really Happens When You Drop a Cat Off at a Farm
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…
Covering the hoop house with new plastic (Spring 2017)
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…
Oops we did it again…Twins on the Farm
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,…
Secrets to Surviving the Winter With Chickens From The Chicken Coop
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…
The Bull Stops Here: A new pasture mate
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…
Summer at Last: Making Hay while the sun shines
“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…
Corn Harvest on the Farm
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…
Drying Fresh Parsley in a Dehydrator
A couple of days ago I noticed my herb garden was bursting at the seams. My two parsley plants are massive, I had to pinch flower blossoms off my basil and oregano, and my newest addition to my herb garden, tarragon has done better than I expected, and is huge. And of course mint, the…
Deteriorating Barn in Macedon
I often pass this deteriorating barn in Macedon on Route 31 when I am out running errands. Precariously situated on the edge of Wal-mart sprawl, it silently sits empty awaiting it’s fate. I honestly can not recall how long the barn and farm-house has sat empty, but believe it has been a while. Recently a “Land…
Garden Planning: How much will feed my family??
Today as I was digging in my freezer it occurred to me, I have slacked significantly in the “putting food up” department. It is January, six months away from any sort of fresh produce coming off of my farm, and all I have in my freezer is corn. This realization of lack of veggies was…
Chillin with the cows
So, I realize this post may just get lost in a sea of other voices who are just fed up with this winter. But I need to talk about this cold weather, and honestly if someone in Upstate NY complains about the cold, you know it must be bad. The cold makes every thing a 1000…
Late Fall around the Farm
It seems like in Upstate New York Fall could almost be divided into two seasons. The bright pretty fall: And the “if it is going to be cold and miserable could it at least snow Fall?”. It has clearly transitioned out of the first, and in my opinion better version of New York State fall. I…
Farm Friday- After the Rain
It has been raining here, a lot! I would complain about it, but it seems wrong after the massive lack of rain we had last year. I took a walk after the rain ended. It was foggy, smelled like worms and made me realize exactly how much weeding I have ahead of me. Some wives…
Evening Pasture Walk: Calving Season is winding down
I have not posted much about the farm lately. We are just beginning to get our bearings and settle into our new normal of calving/baseball/softball/planting season. And just as things seem to settle into a routine, we will soon have to re-adjust again. I could hardly believe it after a late evening pasture walk…
Around the Farm Friday: Red Fox
Red Fox in the Cow Pasture Red foxes prefer to hunt in the early morning hours before sunrise and late evening, they often hunt small mammals and rodents. We have had our fair share of dealings with foxes around the farm. This guy was spotted one early morning hunting alongside an old stone fence line…
Around the Farm Friday: Poison Ivy
We have this poison ivy growing up our barn. every year we battle it, and every year it comes back. I am very, very, very allergic. The last few times I have actually gotten the poison ivy rash I had to be treated with steroids. Here are some cute little rhymes from Wikipedia to help you identify poison…
Cranky cow? Tips to stay safe
When you think of “when animals attack” what is the first animal that pops into your mind? Shark? Bear? maybe dogs? Yesterday I had an unfortunate run in with a cranky momma cow. I never take being around livestock lightly, but I was seriously unprepared, and ended up sitting in the cow pasture for an…
Cows, Calves and Cameras: My Top 3 picks for entry level dSLRs
If you have been following along with the cows here on the farm, you might know I have a favorite, her name is Big Red and as far as I am concerned she is as close to dairy cow temperament a beef cow will ever get. (And yes, of as yesterday I also have a least…
