Winter on the Farm

Cold is settling in and it is time to get ready for the next growing season. November and December have been relatively busy for this time of year. We are building a new pole barn in which we can store our equipment and field supplies and create a more sheltered space for processing chickens. On the roof we will have solar panels installed to meet most of the farm's electricity needs.

Above is the beginning framework of the new structure. It was so cold and the wood was green so it wanted to split any time a nail was hammered in so holes had to be predrilled before nails were hammered. Butch Howe has been the lead on this project but here we have Lucas and Tim working in the flurries. Days are short so things didn't seem to move along very quickly.

Winter animal chores are of course a constant. Here is Shona returning from handmilking Sweetheart the cow. Where are your gloves Shona? Tim is more appropriately bundled.

Eleven pigs were butchered mid January. Many of them went to customers wanting half an animal, but we replenished our pork cuts for retail sale as well. Today we loaded up a steer to take to Royal Butcher in Braintree.

With this new supply of meat cuts we are offering meat shares over the winter which will include beef, pork and chicken. The meat shares are picked up once a month and offer an alternative way to get a quantity of meat at a discount from our regular retail prices (and you don't need lots of freezer space) .

Well, this is my first post. I haven't quite gotten the hang of the formatting, but oh well.