vegetable growth

finally, the frost free date is behind us..everything goes in over the next few days..melons go in another couple weeks, when it is hot at night too..and today we saw a few flowers in the pea patch, peas to follow soon!

gosling!

Our broody hen, sitting on 6 goose eggs for the last month (and yes, she was "spread thin") has hatched her first gosling! Homer went to feed her and turn the eggs, and when he picked her up another head appeared..poking out of one of the eggs! Here is a photo of the still soaking wet gosling, in a few hours will be dry, fluffy and wobbling around!

organic?!

not what I think of as organic..and why our poultry live on grass, move daily, get a custom blend ration that is free of these kinds of "organic" materials..I mean, what is an "allowed synthetic"?! nothing any of my birds want to eat!

the USDA National Organic
Program is only loosely enforcing animal welfare rules that require organic
poultry farms to allow their birds to have access to the outdoors and
"exhibit their natural behaviors." This has resulted in a wide range of
farms being certified organic; everything from lush green pastures
where hens roam free, scratching in the compost and nibbling greens, to
giant sheds with tens of thousands of grain-fed birds that never see the
light of day.

At its April 2010 meeting, the National Organic Standards Board had an
opportunity to reform organic chicken and egg production by outlawing a
synthetic feed supplement called methionine that confinement poultry
producers have used as a crutch to help them scale up and keep costs down.

Unfortunately, despite thousands of letters from organic consumers who
understand the nutritional and environmental benefits of pasture-based
organic systems and are concerned about animal welfare and synthetics in
organic, the NOSB voted to keep methionine on the list of allowed
synthetics.

the Mitchell family visits

after moving chicken pens, chasing the laying hens, moving cows to a new paddock and zipping on the zip line..the Mitchell kids take a little time with Homer..

Summer Markets

Our availability is the following:

Tuesday 4-8 Lauraville Farmers Market
Wednesday 3-7 Carlisle Farmers market
Friday 9-2 Harrisburg Farmers Market
Saturday 8:30-10 Chevy Chase Buyers Group drop off
Sunday 2-3 Towson Buyers Group drop off

most other times we will be at the farm if you want to stop for pasture raised chicken & eggs, to order a pasture raised heritage breed turkey, or to pick up fresh picked vegetables!

Homer's Birthday

May 5, Homer's birthday..and the peach trees have fruit all over them..the chickens help by scratching up all the bug eggs in the ground under the tree..and leaving their waste, which turns out to have almost identical chemical composition to the "fertilizer" sold in bags in stores!

beef 2010..sold out!!

all our beef shares are sold out! our 4 legged mowers are shown here, cleaning up the back yard.