More snow pictures

We had our 'blizzard' on Friday, and it was totally gone by Monday. That is the kind of snowfall I can live with, even if it did create a lot of havoc around this southern city. Here are a few more photos from around the farm, just because.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Today was one for the history books, folks. Atlanta got hit with another round of snow, over an inch at this point and more still coming down. The weird thing about it was that at 1:15 we were on our way to the bank and no snow. Within an hour I had to sweep off the steps three times! It would be one thing if we were used to it, but the south just can't deal with snow like this (I say this as a born and raised Iowan). Our animals aren't used to it, either, and the white layer just confuses them and makes it hard to locate home base. Tonight we had to locate several lost chickens and a lost turkey and get them in the right bed for the night. The geese and ducks seemed okay, but they seem a tad bit smarter than the chickens.

The First Turkey Poults Emerge

One month ago one of the turkey hens wandered off into the woods for an hour by herself. The other two hens just hooted and hooted until she finally came running back to join them. Curious, Barry followed her and found a 'nest' she had made (which means a bare spot on the ground under some brush) and in it was our first turkey egg.

I put the egg in the brooder after marking the date on it with a grease pencil. We have been adding one egg almost every day. We have to hunt for it, watching the one laying hen to see what direction she comes back from and having a search in the underbrush. Today, Barry found four eggs, so it looks like all three hens are laying now, and we have to keep up with them!

The other great thing for today is our first blue slate turkey poult hatched out. This one was laid on January 15th, so it might be that the earlier eggs aren't going to hatch, but the one laid first does have a crack in it, so the little one is trying to pip out. The incubator is in our bathroom (warmest room) and this morning Barry said, "Wow, the birds sure are chirping outside", but I was suspicious of said birds, so checked the incubator and sure enough: baby turkey! The photos of him aren't the best, but I didn't want to keep him out of the warmth too long.

This also means that if we hatch even half the eggs we have now we'll have plenty of turkeys for this year. Then we have to count the eggs the three hens will lay from now until about May. I think we'll be overrun with turkeys! Time to find others who want to raise them, I think.

See you on the farm (if we can find you amongst all the poultry)!

The Geese Have Landed

Sunday was an interesting day for us on the farm. It was a rare morning off for me, so after a leisurely breakfast and several cups of coffee, Barry and I set out for Ellenwood to meet Ray and Ann Hill and their geese. They have African Grey geese and a few White Embdens which they raise to keep as pets. We bought five geese from them (we had originally planned to get a pair), 2 Africans and 3 Embdens. We were totally charmed by the birds and since we have been wanting geese for a while it seemed a great opportunity. The price of goslings from a hatchery with shipping included quite expensive, plus you have to have a minimum order size, and go to the post office to get them, and then you have to raise them up. We paid a little bit extra to Ray and Ann for year-old birds and one of the Embden females is already laying eggs. That’s what I call ‘buying local’!

Since this puts us a year ahead of our plan, we are going to put all the eggs from our geese into the incubator to see if we can increase our flock. We’ll keep these first five geese as our starting flock, and may have extra by the end of the year.

The first goose egg was laid only the second night they arrived at the farm. About 1:00 am I heard a lot of honking out in the barn, so I took my trusty flashlight out to see what was happening. Everyone was fine, but when I went into the goose pen I noticed a big white thing on the ground next to their water bowl. I picked it up, and it was an egg of immense size! It was so big it fit in my hand and covered it from palm to fingertip. I’d say it is more than triple the size of a chicken egg. Geese don’t lay as often as chickens, but I hope we can get 10-12 goslings to hatch.

We tallied up where we stand poultry-wise on the farm: 117 chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese, including the new wee babies just hatched from the laying hens. That’s a lotta birds! At least 50 of the broiler hens and ducks will be going away in a month or so, but then I’ll be getting more laying hens next summer to keep up the egg production. Our eggs are amazingly delicious and in high demand by the discerning palates. ;0)

That’s about it for now. I’ll try to post more pictures of the geese, especially as they follow Barry around the field on his chores. See you on the farm!

Sweet Potatoes

I just wanted to share a couple of photos of our late autumn surprise sweet potato crop. We thought we'd lost the whole bunch since the ducks had taken to sleeping in the garden area where we planted the slips. Plus, they ate all the flowers. Then one day in December during all the rains I noticed some strange orange rocks in the garden. But no! Not rocks, sweet potatoes! I dug up two 5-gallon bucket loads. They have been mighty tasty, especially mashed with some Yukon golds, a hung of butter and cream. Mmmm....

Duck, duck, goose!

So, what's next for Treffynnon Farm? We have been discussing the future of the farm lately and trying to decide what to do. Of course, we want to make money at farming, but I'm not going to hold my breath on that one. The way our economy and food-belief system works, farmers almost never make money at what they do. They do it for the love of the land and animals, and because they MUST farm. I feel that way about theatre. Heaven knows there's no money in that, either. I'm hoping we can make enough to cover our expenses and our own food costs. Even at the rates we charge we are NOT going to get rich, no matter what people might think.

We had a great success with raising a few broilers this past summer. We took the standard 'supermarket' chicken, the Cornish Rock and raised it on pasture with organic, soy-free feed. We grew them for 12 weeks, which is double the time the 'big barn farmers' do, plus ours are outside the whole time. The chickens were super easy to clean and pluck (a major consideration, honestly), and they have big, juicy breasts and good-sized legs. But the big difference is the taste: ours are delicious! They have that 'what chicken is supposed to taste like' flavor. The meat is not dry and tasteless like most of the chicken I've had in restaurants. I stopped buying supermarket chicken years ago. I didn't see the point in paying that much for cardboard. We are looking at the less overbred broilers out there, but they just don't meet the requirements of a good-sized breast and tasty meat. But whatever we choose, we are going to raise more chickens this year, and believe it or not, almost half are already claimed! We have a few dedicated customers (many thanks!!). The other half will probably sell before we butcher them, or we'll eat them ourselves. Nothing like a good, home cooked chicken we raised ourselves. Did I mention I made chicken fricassee with one? Julia Child would have been so proud!

We have also come to adore our ducks and are going to raise a few more, mostly for the eggs, but also for meat. Our original gang of five (1 Indian runner, 2 Khaki Cambells, 1 Pekin) will have the run of the place forever, but the new lot will either lay eggs or be eaten. I can only let the warm heart go so far. The turkeys will, hopefully, breed over winter and we'll have some babies for next year. We feel like they were a success this year, so want to continue with them again. We want to also add Geese to our menagerie. Geese are very popular in Great Britain as a Christmas bird, and from all accounts are much more tasty than our national thanks-bird. I have never had goose, but look forward to trying it. To help our costs and make what we grow our very own, we are looking into buying an incubator for eggs. While I would love it if our birds could raise their own young, that is not the best solution for a farm trying to pay bills.

We still have thoughts of adding milk goats or cows to the farm but recognize that that will add a lot of time and effort that we aren't ready to commit to yet. I want to make artisanal cheeses and have our own raw milk, but goats are a big step up from chickens. We are also looking into Alpaca or maybe Llamas for fiber and (in the case of Llamas) guarding. The Alpaca are a huge investment, but perhaps it could be our way into making money at farming. I'm leaning toward Llama, myself, because I want animals for guarding as well as companionship and income. Llama aren't even a shadow of the cost of Alpaca, but I think the output matches the input. I wish we could win the lottery.

I am reading more and more about 'back to the landers' and 'urbanfarmers' lately. I'm so happy more people are recognizing the need to grow their own and re-connect to the land. Much of it is hard work, so many of those might fall by the way, but many will continue and pass along this new ideology to their kids. Good for them and for all of us. For those reading this who can't or don't want to farm or even have a garden, good for you, too, but remember that you get what you pay for and pay your farmers as much as you can truly afford. Skimp on the cable and the cell phone--it doesn't feed you or your family, but don't skimp on your food.

What food really costs

So last Friday was "turkey d-day" here at the farm. Yes, THAT day. I never quite know what to call it. Most people say they are "processing" birds, but really we are butchering them. Another semantic adjustment to help our little psyches from wholesale collapse, I guess. I do end up saying "processing" to our customers. I don't want to shock them or fill them with horror, but we are killing the birds for the human's dinner. Slaughter, prepare, carve, cut up, dress, cut, clean, joint are all synonyms for 'butcher'. I suppose it doesn't help that the word means both "to kill for food" and "to kill cruelly". Perhaps 'dress' is the best word? We dressed the turkeys. Well, we did that after we slaughtered them. But 'dress' sounds very classy.

So last Friday my friend Mary and I dressed several of the turkeys that Barry has been raising since April. Luck was on my side in that Barry got a last minute emergency landscaping job and had to be gone for the day. I think that really was the best thing. He has gotten very attached to the turkeys. He knows each by their personality and says they all look different. Hmmm.

The day was long and difficult. Mary and I are both animal lovers, and we recognize clearly what it means to raise and kill an animal. We don't like to do it, but we must do it. And we do it with as much grace and respect as we can muster. Quick, clean and humane are right up there as well.

Turkeys are big birds. Even though ours are Heritage Blue Slate turkeys, and don't get as big as the supermarket birds, a couple of the toms were pushing 20 pounds. It took us the best part of a day to dress just half our turkeys (we saved back six for a breeding trio and Christmas dinners). I have a new respect for my grandmother and the other women who kept their families fed. They did what we did, often alone, and without electricity or refrigeration.

We sold all our turkeys, but had one whose owner 'forgot' to pick up theirs. It was a 15# tom, great for a large family. I suspect from our conversation that the customer did not expect the turkey to cost as much as it did. We charge $7.00/lb for our turkey. Yes, that is a lot of money! But guess what? The turkey you buy at the store for $.69/lb is NOT the turkey we raised, nor do we want it so. We aren't trying to market to everyone, but to people who really want to know exactly where their food is raised, how it has lived, how it was killed and that it is a sustainable piece of agriculture, not the current industrial monstrosity in which we are trapped. Our turkeys really DID lead happy, free lives on our pasture. They got to mix with chickens and ducks and humans; they ate organic grain and bugs and grass; they were talked to every day by a Welshman; they were slaughtered quickly and humanely and the only traveling they did was from the pasture to our refrigerator. For all you who "just want food, not philosophy", go to Publix or Kroger or where ever. I love knowing where my food comes from and how it was treated. That $7/lb will pay for their upkeep and some of my labor. What kind of pay out do you think that $.69/lb turkey gives to the farmer/processor/packager/store? You have to raise a LOT of turkeys at that price to get any return. Millions of turkeys, I think. I'll stick with what we are doing, even if it ends up that we are the only ones who eat them. I like the cost factor for me better.

Oh, and in case that isn't enough--this was THE BEST tasting turkey I have ever cooked. I have heard the same from a couple of our customers, too. There is not comparison between what we have raised and what you can get for super cheap in the store, both in style and taste. That makes it all worth it for us.