Garden progress - greens and squash

We made some good progress today, 2 more sections planted. Only 2 left to go!



These 2 sections each have rows, 120 yards long.

Section 1 = grey zuchini
Section 2 = kale, parsley, dandelion, swiss chard

The first 2 sections are about to sprout, those are the 16 rows per section of 65 yards each

Section 3 = watermelon
Section 4 = pumpkin

Hopefully we will finish the last 2 section with lettuce tomorrow, if my feet hold up! Doing the math brings a realization that today alone required walking about 3 miles ... in loose dirt much like beach sand. Wow is that tiring!!!

But now its on autopilot, just keep the lines over the rows (they tend to stretch in this heat and move around a bit) and adjust the water as they sprout.

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"Linney" the line walker

Meet "linney" .... the line walker.



Linney (yes, we name our favorite tools) is going to save our backs today!

Our method of seeding and sprouting in the ground using only drip lines, in very long rows (100+ yards long) REQUIRES VERY STRAIGHT SEED ROWS AND DRIP LINES. The drip line must lie right over the seeds.. within a couple inches. For long rows that is a challenge. We have done this by "walking the lines". This is a back breaking process of bending half over like a save man, and letting the lines drape over a hand while walking at a steady pace down the entire row without stopping. Not pleasant!

Linney arrived today to allow someone to walk straight up holding his upper handle while the drip line rolls across the spool just inches over the seed row and dropping nicely in place.

We LOVE linney!


Just some old pipe, an old wire spool, and some fittings. Basically "junk" that today, planting 3200 yards of seeds, will be the star of the show!

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Garden progress

Finally... Some garden progress to report. With all the goings on around here with finances we shifted from "wow this us early for a summer garden" to "oh my... Almost too late!". But there seems just enough time left for one good harvest before a freeze. So we knuckled down and got some seeds in the ground.

As of tonight, there are:
7 rows of heirloom watermelon,
9 rows of crenshaw melons,
16 rows of heirloom pumkins

This year the rows are 65 yards only, but that should be enough.

This week we will concentrate in the greens and squash in the long 110 yard rows.

The seeder had trouble again with the extra large Connecticut field pumpkin seeds. They are just too big for the hoss tools seeder. Frustrating! But we got the job done.

As usual, if there is extra harvest , more than we need for the pigs, we will offer the extra for sale to customers.

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Samples at medford food coop

We are celebrating "meat week" at the medford food coop today with free samples of our most popular sausages! If you are in the area, come by and try some.

Our meats will be stocked on the shelves for sale also, can't miss the bright yellow labels!

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Scratch back in stock

We have both three grain scratch and scratch and corn back in stock and available for order and delivery!

Great for chicken treats!

Hog harvest update

It has been a very busy week! After 3 full days of harvesting, the hog herd is down to just 11 breeders and 1 small boar. It seems surreal to reduce the herd so much so fast, but it did serve the purpose. Without any off farm income (see recent blog post) this provides us the income to keep going for a couple months. After that... I don't know yet but we shall see where things go.

The 11 breeders were kept so far because they were in various states of pregnancy. As time goes by, we want to weed out about half of these also.

Today we got quite a surprise! A good size litter arrived! Unfortunately with all the recent commotion, the sow didn't know what to do, and did not make it to "the birthing area". Some of the piglets got lost trying to escape the mid day heat. We did the best we could as soon as we discovered them, but a few didn't make it. Very sad.

Farms thrive on routine. These two weeks have been anything but routine, and that causes some difficulties and consequences. But this coming week things should get back to normal and settle in.

Stay tuned!

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Mistake found - Meat prices now set properly

I discovered a huge problem in our online store, a mistake that ended up showing certain meat prices at almost double the actual price! (no wonder those were not selling!). It was purely a computer error...

The good news is.. it is fixed! so please take a moment to browse the pricing in the online store before your next order.. you may be pleasantly surprised!

Back in the Saddle - S&P Feed back in Stock!

WooHoo!  After a several week pause in  stocking, for cash flow reasons, we finally are Back in business with The Nation's best  and first Non-GMO, Organic, Soy Free poultry - goat - pig feed!

The basic feeds back in stock and waiting for delivery / pickup

New Products! Grubs and Herbs!

There was a glitch in shipping, the first glitch we have had with this shipping company in over 2 years, but yes, it happened on this all important first restocking. Fortunately, by Gods Grace, the shipment arrived in Medford Sat AM, just in time for us to go pickup, and load for today's deliveries.

Please be aware, there is NEW PRICING, posted on the fridge in the store. Prices increased $2 to $3 per bag to cover the increased shipping costs.  And keep in mind, all feed sales are cash or check on delivery at this point. No charges to account. For cash flow reasons we have need to run the sales from feed separately. Thanks for your understanding!

The good news is, with this new system in place (cash on delivery, no pay ahead, no account charges) and the increased prices, we should be able to meet current demand without going out of stock, and bring in some new products!

Check out the Cluckin Good Grubs, and Clucking Good Herbs! Both organic, non-gmo and produced in North America (not china!)

Half price sale on farm direct hogs!

Given our recent sudden changes (previous job post) and loss of cash flow, we have decided the best path forward is to immediately liquidate the hog herd. What I mean by that is... Tremendous savings to you! We are offering our hogs for sale, farm processed, as whole or half , at half price!

There are three ranges of size available:

Smaller
Regular market size
Breeder

This is an unprecedented price! $2.50 per pound hanging weight.

Processing began this week and will continue into next week until the herd is down to a manageable size.

This will not only provide immediate cash flow, but also lower the feed bill and allow for our land to rest. We can plant the pig pasture in a nice covercrop while the herd is small.

Now is a great time to take advantage of the deep savings. Half price doesn't happen often!

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