I can’t believe it’s fall already! Where did the time go? I feel like I blinked and this year blew right past me. Between allthethings work, commitments outside of work, and the farm, life just flew by!
I’ve been meaning to be better about updating what’s going on at the farm here on the blog but to be honest, I haven’t found a rythm yet as I don’t really have a set schedule in any of the things I’m doing, which makes it hard for me to think about blogging and updating through ANOTHER space to keep up with. It seems sometimes that social media is just easier, and even then I’m not all that great at keeping up with that either.
But here I am, trying again to get back into this. So bear with me if some of this sounds like a lot of rambling š
Upcoming Projects
Where to start? Well, last year I signed a contract through the NRCS for an EQIP loan, which stands for “Environmental Quality Incentives Program”. The contract was for cost share assistance on having fencing and a watering system put in on the farm, including fencing off the old fill dirt pit and a “pond” on the property that collects runoff water, 2 of the major places I’ve been trying since first starting rotational grazing in 2017 to fence off with temporary fencing. It also includes putting in a lot of in ground water line with frost free hydrants, as well as one automatic waterer, since we already have one automatic waterer but it’s all the way at the barn and the new one will be more centrally located out in the pasture. I’ll attach the original plan below. The project had certain criteria and deadlines, and I was able to receive additional funding through the SWCD (Soil Water Conservation District). Due to the aftermath of the pandemic, finding contractors and getting the project started by the June deadline didn’t happen, but luckily I wasn’t the only one with this problem and they extended it. I finally found my contractor, after meeting/getting bids from about 5-6 different people over the course of about 2-3 months. I then got to work updating my plan…
Because I move the cattle so often, sometimes up to 2x a day, having 5 hydrants spaced throughout the pastures to me didn’t seem quite the right fit for me. I had found out about what’s known as “quick connects” and watched as many videos and read as many articles as I could to figure out how and where to put them. I then used Google Earth to update my farm plan and checked it over with the NRCS to make sure it would be okay to move forward with. Then I started to get information on prices on water line, and digging into details to upgrade the well system that hasn’t been used in about 30 years. I won’t get into that now, but it involved a trip to the courthouse and some farm history that I hope to share in the future!
So right now I have 4,500 ft of waterline on the way from Powerflex that I ordered over a month ago (it’s a real hot commodity right now!) that is finally in and we are picking up tomorrow! When everything is done I’ll have TWENTY FIVE water connection points not to mention 3 frost free hydrants and a new automatic waterer, and will hopefully be able to get rid of the red pickup truck with the water tote on the back, or at least for it’s current job of watering cattle. I’m excited to get this project started and bring this to life!
Once this project is complete, I have other farm projects on my list I hope to tackle, but the biggest one is the FARM STORE!
You may have seen me post about this on social media, and I had really hoped to have this project completed by now. But between getting bids for the NRCS contract and working with the contractor I chose, life has just been hectic. I still have to finish painting inside and fix some paint on the outside, as well as do some sealing of the floor. Once all that’s done I should be able to get the electrician out to install the lights and go from there! My goal is now to start the fencing and watering project and maybe as it’s getting going I may have time to get back to working on painting but as it gets colder I will probably have to pick it back up in the spring more then likely.
Fall farm life
Also new this year was our farms participation in a farmers market! I attended the Broadway Farmers Market during the fall season, which ended a few weeks ago. It was great to meet some new customers and am excited to see how it, along with some festivals I attended this fall have helped to get the farm’s presence known in the local community! We also added a fridge at the farm for convenience and to expand the capacity of storage for the pastured egg operation. It’s available to access 24/7 and we have a drop-box there for cash/check and we also accept Venmo & Paypal!
Since the farmers market season has ended I decided to try something new (if there’s interest), which is to do some home deliveries on a weekly basis of our pastured eggs & grassfed beef! Customers can find our current shopping website which is through our payment processing system, Square, and shop our narrow selection of products. We also have beef by the cut and not just ground, so if interested just reach out! Currently I’ve set the system up for deliveries on Tuesday mornings and Saturdays, with cutoff being the day before. Again I’m not sure how much interest there will be in this, but it is also available for pickup as well through the same site. Delivery is $5, or free if order is over $25. Pickup at the farm is free!
Broody hens
In other news, if you follow on social media you will see the Broody Hen Saga, and the most recent update is on there but basically…. around 7 hens from the pastured flock went “broody” which is where they decide to start sitting on eggs for 21 days to hatch chicks. This is very inconvenient when you have the majority of your flock for eggs you are trying to collect, but at one point when I realized trying to move them off the nests wasn’t working I decided just to roll with it and let them sit on some eggs! I marked the eggs so I would be able to tell when I started them and when I could expect chicks, as well as to differentiate incase they got off the nest which ones had been there and which were fresh. It’s been a whole thing, as you can check out over on Instagram, but long story short we now have 6 baby chicks!
Right now all of the babies are down at the barn with “momma” hen (which really isn’t each of the chicks’ momma, just the hen that ended up sitting on the eggs at the end and hatched the majority of the chicks). I’ve successfully gotten another hen separated out from the pastured flock and is sitting on new eggs to hatch, but my other attempts so far have been unsuccessful with 3 other hens because once they see the chicks on the other side of the enclosure at the barn, they have found a way up and over the tall pen dividing chicken wire!
It’s been fun but also a bit chaotic having all these hens both deciding to sit on a nest to hatch eggs, then deciding to play “musical nests” and move around. From what I’ve found though, the majority of the eggs have been fertile and I’m only limited to getting the hens separated from the flock and having a place where they can sit on a nest consistently for 21 days.
Blog recipe
Finally, if you haven’t seen it yet, I did post a recipe recently on the blog. I titled it “Taco Egg Casserole” and you can find it here. It’s delicious, and we ate our first one up in about 4 days so I’m really glad we have another one waiting in the basement freezer!
That’s all I have! I’m sure I’m forgetting a few things but for now just sending this out is better than perfect, and I don’t want this to be 10 pages that no one reads. When I finally write something I tell ya it’s LONG. Sorry! Have a great weekend š
-Kelly from Good Plains Farm