Autumn Inspirations

The beautiful weather and unusual warm days have been calling me outside to wander the farm. I've walked around the 20 acre perimeter several times checking out the land, fence, trees, paths, and so on. As any farmer will tell you, the work is never done. But I'm also encouraged to see how much we have accomplished in just two growing seasons.

When Bob is back to normal hours after the harvest craze, I've got lots of questions for him. Lots of possible pictures to paint for him to weigh in on. Should we plow up the few acres up north that run full-width east/west to level out the land and reseed grass/legumes? Why or Why not? Are there other smaller areas we should consider fencing in for more paddocks to use with intensive grazing? Any areas to burn? Do we clean up any of the fallen trees in the 'forest' or just let them all decay away?

I'm like a toddler asking my basic questions to the oh-so-wise parent. I'm sure Bob will patiently answer and guide me in my grass farming adventure. In the meantime, I'll continue to walk and dream as long as the mild weather hangs around. Its good to dream.

Sample the Farm tour

We had a wonderful group of friends and neighbors at GrassStain Farm yesterday to "Sample the Farm" which included a tour followed by scrumptious appetizers made by our skilled chef, Jason Thompson.

The ingredients for most of the menu came from our farm: ground lamb and ground pork in the meatballs, pork spareribs, leg of lamb with a delicious squash whip, ham/pickle skewers, eggs, milk, cream, butter, apples, and garden produce all mixed in somewhere. Other ingredients were gathered from nearby producers such as the NY Strip Steak and blue corn from Lynn Brakke Organic Farm, pickles and butternut squash from Darin. Desserts of pumpkin cheesecake and fudge were made by Amy K. (chocolate was not locally-grown!)

The Buffet Table was quite a feast to behold but quickly emptied as guests went back for seconds and thirds. I forgot to get a picture of it full; we had very few leftovers.

For most of our guests, it was the first time tasting lamb. We heard many good comments and have new customers to buy lamb meat.

I was most impressed with the creativity of our chef Jason as he took the local food I gave him and turned it into fun new dishes to eat. He inspired me to try new recipes in our home with the seasonal produce that's so abundantly available right now. (I also have plenty to preserve for the winter months...like apples.)


I had thought my apple variety is so small its a nuisance. Jason used the apples to make bite-size baked apples topped with streusal. It frankly was a favorite of some; guests would walk by the table and pop one in their mouth.

Blue corn polenta topped with a veggie roux.

I'm afraid I didn't write down all that Jason did so I'm recording this by memory. I hope its fairly accurate. It was very freeing to turn the cooking for the day over to the capable hands of a local chef so I could focus on the farm tour and guests.

I highly recommend Jason!

We're in business!

The lamb meat has arrived in our freezer, and I'm ready to deliver it to yours. This is so exciting for me. The harvest is in, and its market time. Emails went out to this morning; phone calls are flying and already two orders are bundled ready to go.

It hadn't fully dawned on me until today that I'm doing the same job my husband does, only much smaller. At the organic farm that employs him, Bob also grows animals. However, his are bigger and more of them. But just like me, when they are ready for market his animals go to the same processor, later he picks up boxes of shrink-wrapped frozen meat, inventories it, takes orders, and then bundles it up and delivers the meat to the customer....with a smile. Just like me!

I'm quite amused at this. I guess Bob's my hero and I want to be just like him. :) Well, maybe not just like him. I'll leave Bob to his cows, and I'll stick to my wonderful little flock of sheep while relying on his wisdom and experience. Of course, he'll always be my hero.

Feast or Fleeced?

I did my research. Read many websites. Collected information. Yep, Icelandic Lambs grow well on grass. In fact, they are best at gaining weight on grass and will be 90-110# in 4 to 5 months. We kept our lambs on mother's milk and grass all summer, and at the appointed time of 5 monthes, we delivered them to the processor knowing we have customers waiting for packages of healthy, tender lamb meat.

Here's where the research hits the pasture. After 5 months, our lambs didn't quite make the 110# target. In fact, they were about half that! Wow! A bit disappointing.

Well, what's a grassfarmer to do? We'll still have good meat to sell this year, albeit much less than hoped for. And next year we have a plan. My husband, the intensive grazer expert, says we'll try putting them on a fresh paddock at least every week. This year we've been able to improve several more paddocks and get them fenced in and ready to be used for intensive grazing purposes next year.

Isn't that what any good farmer says, "There's always next year." In the meantime, I'll still be selling lamb meat in a week or so. You just might want to call sooner since the supply is a little limited.

Tender, mild Lamb Meat

Coming soon to a table near you. . . . delicious, healthy grass-fed lamb!

Our Icelandic lamb meat will be available at the end of September.
First year introductory prices are as follows:
Whole Lamb - $5.00/lb
Leg of Lamb - $6.50/lb
Lamb Chops - $6.50/lb
Lamb Shank - $3.50/lb
Ground Lamb - $3.50/lb

Please email if you wish to order ahead: grass@wtc-mail.net
You'll enjoy this tender, mild lamb on your table this fall.

Flutterings in the pasture

Beauty in the beast! This lovely delicate yellow butterfly is sitting on a very prickly Canandian Thistle, a weed we try to eradicate. We have a large area of this weed north of the paddocks which received a flutter of butterflies earlier this week. We estimate more than a hundred flitting and fluttering from flower to flower.

Aren't they gorgeous?

Cute Cocoa the Calf

She's looking good!

We try to spend time with Cocoa several times a day so she knows us well and gets used to being handled. Much easier to milk a "pet" cow.

intensive grazing

I do my best at this thing called grass farming, but frankly, I'm quite the novice. My husband, Bob, is a wealth of knowledge and my main advisor. He has an animal science degree from NDSU, been a dairyman for many years, and now uses intensive grazing methods on the organic farm where he works raising grass-fed beef. I have books and magazines, but I like just asking Bob the most. :)

Today I made some shepherding decisions. The sheep have been in paddock #1 for about a month, and its looking pretty chewed down. On the other hand, paddocks 2 and 3 are looking lush with grass and some weeds. This morning saw Elizabeth, Karl and I out with various tools working on the fence line east of the barn. Sheep are quite good at escaping through a less-than-secure fence, and we have several places not very secure.

Karl cut a hog panel, drove two steel posts in and attached the panel to finish off the far east end gap between a gate and the outer fence. (we have a great 6-string barbed fence around the perimeter of the pasture/paddocks.)

Meanwhile, Elizabeth was adding a wire fence (specific kind unknown to me and Bob's not here) to another area, and I drilled some boards to support fence around the waterer that the hogs had torn down last spring.

It was hot but the mosquitos are horrible so we are in long-sleeved shirts and jeans. . .and hoods, too, in Karl's case.

This is a roll of wire fence we found out in the trees. It has come in very handy. The farm had old, wooden fence for horses when we bought the place. It had served well but has now fallen apart and time to replace with something stronger and good for sheep. One day paddocks 2 and 3 will get seperated with a functional fence, too.

The first picture at the top of the blog is the sheep in paddock 1 as I'm circling around them to switch pastures. They got all excited and ran through the gate. About 20 to 30 feet into the new paddock they abruptly stopped and dropped their heads. Aaah. New pasture; life is good.

Cocoa, the heifer calf

Cocoa, the heifer calf, arrived this morning around 5 or 6:00am. When Bob went out to check, he found a wet calf standing by her mama. Hershey does a continuous soft mooing sound so Cocoa will know her call. As of yet, we have not seen the calf sucking so we're keeping an eye on that. They figure it out eventually, but you just want to make sure.

When Karl went out around 8:00 am, Cocoa was already kicking/hopping. They are quick to get moving. We'll be out there a lot with her; the more she knows us the easier she is to handle.

I love watching Bob at these events. He marvels at the new calf, at how the cow knows what to do, moves to protect her calf, moos so the calf knows her. I enjoy that whole scene, too, but Bob just soaks it in at a whole different level, filled with joy and awe.

hollyhocks

Hollyhocks galore on the south side of our home. I read once that in Victorian days, ladies planted hollyhocks around the outhouse to mask it. Then when needing the outhouse, it was more genteel to say, "I'm going to look at the hollyhocks."

Come look at my hollyhocks anytime. Bathroom inside. :)