Early and unexpected Frost

Farming is a dance with nature, a dance where we are but performers, not choreographers. We might at time think that we write the dance, but no... We don't. This week reminded us of this truth. It is the unpredictable laws of nature and batteries God who is in charge. Our part is to dance within the musical score as it plays out, in harmony with nature, not controlling it but honoring it.

This week reminded us of this truth. A few days ago, first week of October, brought an early deep Frost. Without warning, or summer plants writer and died overnight. Zucchini, Melons, Pumpkins, tomatoes, all reduced to leaves of frozen must on softened stalks. The leftover fruit that survived oddly on display, proudly glistening among the dark plants.



So... First emergency is to gather what is good and store it. Left out unprotected on dead vines, the fruit will disappear to the elements. So we spent a few days collecting it all up, clearing a spot in the garage and safely storing it.

This is important because, the second coming emergency is, we will now run shot in animal feed for the winter. The seasons here is Southern Oregon mean no real growth in the winter. The last month of October is important to allow the summer fruity to gain size and ripen the sugars inside. But that month is gone now for this year. The harvest is likely half what it should be. Definitely not enough to provide free through the winter. That's is the coming emergency... Feed.

This year's dance with nature is a difficult one. Timing issues sand equipment problem prevented is from getting the winter tires crop in the ground as weirdly as we should, and now the loss of much summer fruit means... A tough winter.

Our process of growing feed from produce raised on farm has served us well, providing most of the feed we need for almost free year round. But farming is still a dance to an unpredictable song of nature and sons have highs and lows, passion and sorrow, smiles and tears. This year ends with more of the later than the former.

Bottom line is, we will need to switch to a backup feed, likely the organic barley sprouts. Difficulty there is that we lost the greenhouse in the last storm! Sprouting barley in winter without a greenhouse is possible, but labor intensive!

Oh well.... God is in control and if he calls for extra labor in the winter.. so be it! Here we go!

posted from Bloggeroid

Sheep coming home

The first of the sheep are home. They spent the summer out at another property with lots of lush green grass. But with summer over, it is time to come home for lambing.



They seemed to remember this pasture. As soon as they exited the trailer, they happily ran to the trees and started grazing on the dried heads of the wild grasses.

We have 2 more loads to bring home as time permits. Then they will all be together again.

It's so good to see the sheep here again. We deeply miss them when they go off on vacation. Sheep are the life of the farm, the steady calm that keeps the storm of life at bay. Their personalities are each unique but similar, they are sheep. They are so like us as humans, their behaviors and natural tendencies so similar to humans, it's amazing. I can spend hours just watching these guys be.

Hopefully the rest of the herd can come home before the weekend.

posted from Bloggeroid

Tomatoes!

They are finally ripe!

Remember those 1000 tomato plants that were donated to the farm? Well... They did good. Very good. They have been growing quietly in the back all this time. We got a few ripe. Tomatoes here and there, but finally... The harvest arrived!

What initiated this was sort of.. well... Embarrassing. The pigs discovered that there is no live electric wire around them... And they simply walked out. Pigs in the yard. We put them away and 10 minutes later... Pigs in the yard. Then... I saw a pig in the tomato patch! Yep.. she was enjoying a tomato picnic. Didn't really want to leave either. Her and I went in a few circles through the plants.

After the pig / tomato dance... There were quite a few tomatoes knocked to the ground. We decided it was time to do a major harvest, even the slightly green ones, because the pig had knocked a lot of tomatoes to the ground. Normally we would not have harvested on a Sunday, but it seemed prudent to save the fruit. God blesses us with this huge harvest... Can't let it go to waste!

And wow... What a harvest!





There are plenty more green ones. Not sure if there is enough heat to ripen them, but if they do... We will get this much again. This harvest will produce probably 15 to 20 gallons of sauce/ salsa/ etc.

Nice to end the day with a successful harvest, a bumper crop. Now.... What to do with it all!?

posted from Bloggeroid

Tough Week

Wow, sometimes life is challenging.  I could use this blog to only share the "good stuff" of happy memories, dreams and successes. But, as you know, that is not real life. Real life is made of challenges, failures, heartache, all the stuff that makes the good times even better.

This last week has been such a week of disappointments and challenges.

In the background of severe supplier issues on some items, the hectic fall "harvest" as the weather changes, the usual "dad, this isn't working", the lack of cash flow when you need it,  behind all of that is the closing windows of opportunity. In farming, the weather is king. Farmers can not change weather, much as we want. It is what it is. We cant control it, we can only accommodate it. And sometimes, like this week, that doesn't work out.

I am referring to the windows here in Oregon of September planting for a fall/winter garden. Basically, if we do not have seed in the ground, sprouted by the first cold rain, it is pointless. There will not be enough heat left to grow anything before winter. So mid-September is the crunch time.  And this year, we missed it.

First there was just so much going on, that could not be put off. That pushed us into the very last minute for planting.  But then, when we were racing to get the ground prepared and seeds in... problems arose. I did manage to get the old goat pen tilled, but on the last pass of that area, the tiller "hung". The tines literally stopped and the tiller jumped behind the tractor. Not a good sign. After that, it would work, but only so long as the tines were no more than half an inch deep into the soil.

Racing the sundown of the last day, I thought, "ok, I an use the hand tiller to finish the rest of the areas".  More work... but doable!

Well... so I thought.  It refused to run. Apparently the gas gummed the carb as it sat and it would start up, but then die from lack of gas flow. I began working on it... to see it it would easily fix. But as you may know.. a carb cleaning job without dismantling can require lots of starting, and starting requires lots of pulling on the rope. Pulling on the rope... works well until the rope BREAKS!

Ok, so plan B (with a very tired arm)

Back to the big tiller. I assumed there was a problem in the gear box, so I removed the gearbox cover and drained all the oil. Peeking around, couldn't find anything wrong! Everything seemed perfect! So.. ok.. put that all together and refill with fresh oil. Head out to the garden again.

Same problem, put the tines in the soil and they just stop.

Closer inspection from underneath found something interesting! a half inch pip had somehow become wrapped around the tiller tine shaft. Ok, conceivable that could stop the tines under certain conditions and make the clutch slip. SO half an hour later it was removed.

Head back to the garden....  no difference.

Frustrated, I pulled up the parts diagram for this particular tiller model and found that the gear drive has a key between the gear and the shaft. That key being bad would be the explanation for the failure. The pipe must have taken out the key.

So  no tiller, no garden, no winter feed.

Frustrating week.

Lamb is Back In Stock! --- Order now for immediate delivery!

Yes! After a long wait... we finally have lamb products back in stock! And some exciting ones at that!

This year we have:

Ground lamb in 1 lb packages
Mildly spicy breakfast links
Mint Cranberry Dinner Links! WOOHOO!

The mint cranberry is our favorite! After much testing and adjusting, we developed this recipe our-self, in our kitchen. It is quite honestly an exquisite blend of tart, sweet, and minty.  You have GOT to try this one!

And the best news?  All of this lamb is, as always, super nutritious.

Pasture Raised year round on organically grown grass
Heritage Breed
Free of antibiotics, hormones, chemical parasite control, and vaccinations
Humanely treated with love
Naturally bred in communities as in nature


The jacob sheep that we raise is (in our humble yet passionate opinion) the best lamb anywhere. It is milder, yet more flavorful than any other breed we have tried. Often people do not even know that this is lamb! It taste quite similar to grass fed beef.

If you are looking for an alternative to beef that is just as tasty, yet perhaps more nutrient dense, this is it! But hurry, we often sell out quickly and it only becomes available once a year!