Long Time No Update!

Life often pulls me away from online things, especially when it’s busy. If I don’t update, it probably just means I’m so distracted by everything else that I forgot 🙂

Our sales shack is complete – complete enough for the winter, anyway. The entire structure is done and painted/sealed up. Only some minor framing-in of doors/windows is left and can wait until spring. The sides are a nice barn red, with a clear Thompsons coat on the front near the ‘sales window’. I decorated up with some milk bottles, horseshoes found when plowing, and so forth. We sold out of it over the course of a couple months this summer, ending in mid-September after the corn harvest stopped. Sales were best on weekends and holidays, as expected, and we will continue to focus our efforts on the weekends in the future, especially since those are some of the only days we have free from our ‘real’ jobs. We actually ran out of corn around Labor Day, as one of our big picks was poorly timed and we ended up having too much earlier on and weren’t prepared. A lot overmatured on the plants, but we remedied this problem by picking it later and hanging it to dry for cornmeal… still waiting to make the first test batch of that, whenever we get the chance.

I had a bout with food poisoning near the end of our market season, too, making it necessary for others to sell my stuff for me more often at that time. I also had to make a hospital visit, which I never really love to do. I’m better now though! Be warned of my presence, cucumber-haggling lady. I know my cucumbers were already less than anywhere else and it causes me great frustration when you come when I’m not here in order to con my poor mother into giving you such things for even cheaper. (Said jokingly, but in all seriousness, I don’t consider haggling acceptable on my fresh items. If it’s in my free pile, just take it, or donate if you really want to. If it’s in my bargain bin or bargain bags, then maybe you can try to haggle, as that’s stuff I’m just trying to move out so someone can use it before it goes bad. But haggling on the stuff I just picked… :\ What do you guys think?)

RE: Corn, things seem to sell a lot better when I also have corn to sell. When I don’t have corn, almost nobody stops to the point that it’s almost useless to sit out there. I’m not sure why this is; I guess everyone is really just that in love with my corn. Guys, I promise that the other vegetables are amazing too…! Also, I noticed more roadside stands than ever this year, so that could have a lot to do with it. I’m not upset by that; I’d rather sell nothing and see every single house have a roadside stand if it meant that more people were eating locally and getting a healthier diet.

RE: my eggs, I kept selling out all the time this summer, not even having enough to meet daily demand. It was to the point I had to take them off Wholeshare, too. Now that winter has come, my stand is closed, allowing supply to build up more as only the ‘regulars’ come to get them… but the hens are laying far less, too, and Wholeshare is getting them again, so we’ll see if it all balances out. I could always get more chickens… 😀 Except no, because then I’d need more coop(s). I’m hoping to move toward getting a small barn again, so I can have some other stock instead.

Our dog has reached roughly her adult size at around 40-45 pounds. She loves the snow, mud, and outdoors in general. Definitely the right choice for us, even if she tries to herd the wheelbarrow and shovels when we clean out the coop.

I took an adult doe this deer season (11/20) and got about 55 pounds of meat out of her. Froze a lot as roasts, around 15 pounds as ground, and mixed 6 pounds in with other ingredients to make korv. Korv is one of our yearly traditions anymore, as long as we get a deer. We’re getting a whole processing setup made here, with a new cable hoist added to the list with our commercial meat grinder, vacuum sealer, and Excalibur dehydrator.

The more self-sufficient I can be, the better it is to me.

Quick Update

Just decided to post a quick update to show that I’m still thinking about this place. 🙂

Over the summer and fall, I was getting 10-13 eggs per day from my 14 hens! Now, though, the winter’s low light has dropped them back down to 2-6 per day. Still, I’ll take it. They’re a joy to have and provide endless entertainment value. The roosters have become a bit more crotchety and protective, but they’re still not bad boys on the whole. You just have to keep an eye on them if you’re really close to them and wearing big, scary boots.

Our little kitten is no longer so little, although she’s small for an adult cat. She still enjoys rampaging throughout the house, mixed with periods of extreme cuteness.

This year’s deer hunt resulted in a nice doe. Prior to that, I bought a trail camera for getting wildlife photos on my property. We got a lot of nice ones, but it was also pretty promptly stolen by someone trespassing in our fields. People seem to continually disappoint me in such matters. A police report yielded nothing so far.

Somewhat happily, though, the winter has been mild thus far, which makes it easier on the animals and me. Lower bills, less worrying about the chickens, more greenery to lighten my mood… I’m sure ski resorts and snowmobilers hate it, though. It remains to be seen whether we’ll have the same (nonexistent) winter of last year, or if it will get more gnarly as the season progresses.

The growing season mostly ended a bit early this year. Many crops were done in mid-September, either succumbing to disease or falling victim to a light, early frost that came on Sept. 16th. Most of the rest finished in early October, when a killing freeze claimed them. For now, I still have plenty of eggs and maple syrup for sale. I’ll be making new syrup in another month or two, though last year’s has been stored cool, sealed, and dark, and is just as good as it was when I made it. I also have red and white potatoes still, as well as some onions.

The kale is still going strong out in the garden, shrugging off temps in the high teens and low 20s as it always does. I highly encourage growing this plant. It’s so tough, and so nutritious besides!

I no longer have beets, because rodents got into them and apparently ate around 2 bushels worth of them.

There are always little troubles, but oh well – we keep on. Such is life.