Lessons from the Farm #1: Take a large task and break it down into smaller tasks

It has been a long time since I have written for the blog.  The excuse: children.  Not in the traditional sense as in, my children take up a lot of my free time, but as in, my children got older and got phones and devices and games and killed our limited bandwidth every morning before 9:30am.

We finally found an affordable solution to our bandwidth issue through a wonderful local company.

Today I went out to tackle the weeds that had grown among my garlic.

Where is the garlic in this picture, you might ask?  I asked myself the same question.  Looks like a big bunch of thistle.

I took a deep breath and said to myself.  First, create the boundary of the weeding area.  Second, start out by clearing 4 rows of weeds.  That's it- 4 rows.

After 20 minutes of weeding, this was the result.

As I was weeding, I was thinking.  I was thinking that weeding a garlic plot is no different than tackling any other problem or opportunity in life.   At first something looks too big, too impossible, too hard or too risky.  If that happens break the big task into pieces and take it 4 rows at a time.

Welcome 2012

We haven't had snow on the farm since this day back in October. Not that often that you see the trees such vibrant colors with snow on the ground.

At this point we are sold out and full for our trial round of 'pick your own CSA' for 2012. We still have more meat CSA shares available. See website for details but basically it's $300 for 3 months of meat- 10-15 lbs per month with a mix of cuts.

We are almost at lambing season- we start early this year in February because the ram again got in with the sheep a month before were ready. Julica the jersey cow is also set to give birth sometime end of February so we'll be digging out the mild supplies again as we'll be milking again!

The things that interrupt the farmer

Not a lot of posting during the summer and fall.

20 member CSA is a lot and not something that will happen again unless someone wants to take on the job for us. The focus next year is a pick your own CSA for a select group (3 families) of people to learn this model and try it out. And the focus will turn to goats and cheese..... learn, learn, learn.

In between the farm--- kids and life happen and blogging is not a priority.

Our kids' love of music and theater shouldn't be a big surprise to Mike and I as we both were in theater and have a creative side. I sing horribly but Mike has a pretty good voice.

So to see the kids enjoy this part of life is magical. A singing solo in the middle school play, to the one above who loves to play her flute and now wants a piccolo, to the youngest who plays his sax like he was born with it..... are these my kids?

I wonder if sheep and goats will follow music or come towards it like the pied piper? Might need to perform an experiment....

Our Farm Meat

I was reminded again today that the quality of our pasture raised meat is superb. I also am debating the ramifications of pursuing a lofty goal. Can I do with lamb what the wine industry has done with grapes? Will customers be willing to learn the breeds of lambs to value the superior genetics and quality of meat?

Tonight I was at a nice restaurant that was serving rack of lamb. Now first off, the waiter said "would you like a petite lamb chop? Now I know the difference between a lamb chop and a piece of rack of lamb but I ignored this error as the waiter likely said this as it is easier to say lamb chop than rack of lamb. It was very good lamb so I was very curious of the breed as it was very mild like our Kathadin lambs.

So then came my dilemna. Do I or do I not ask my infamous question? My colleagues I was with cringed because they knew what was coming. After 2 glasses of a great Cab- Beringer- I had to ask. So I asked the waiter.... would you happen to know the breed of lamb just like grape of this wine I am drinking? He said, "Yes! This is Colorado Lamb!".

Oh boy-- that's like saying this is California wine when a merlot is absolutely different from a Chardonnay.

So then the poor waiter had to listen to me for a few minutes while I said I raised lamb and that the breed of lamb is like the type of grape for wine. Poor, poor waiters who fall into this trap at every restaurant I visit. But if you want to make an impact on society and the world in general then teaching people about lamb is a practical and achievable goal.

Just like people think that Angus steers are superior meat due to the marketing efforts, Kathahin lambs could be the breed of choice for lamb!!!

2-3 more people got the lamb lecture from me tonight---- billions left to train...... maybe....

Taking orders for fall/winter lambs

Tonight I am in Marketing mode...... lamb for sale. And not just lamb-- the most amazing lamb you've ever had for sale. When Mike told me he wanted a farm and he wanted to raise sheep I kind of whined and said "sheep? but I hate lamb". Then I got the speech about eating the WRONG kind of lamb. So lamb is like wine. All kinds of wine out there. You can drink wine from a box. My dad will drink wine from a box and doesn't really care about vintage wines- me, I'm kinda hooked on a nice Cab but I don't like a Merlot that much. Our lambs are Katahdin lambs and they are grass fed. The grass feeding makes a difference. I've had Katahdin lamb that was 1/2 grass, 1/2 grain fed and it was not the same as 100% grass fed. It was good - but not as sweet. So our Katahdin lambs are like a vintage wine and you have to try it and see if you like the 'vintage'. We sold one early lamb 4 weeks ago and just got the report back. Outstanding was the verdict. Ask my kids what they want for dinner-- they will say "RACK OF LAMB!!!" - totally spoiled children and I remind them there are only 2 racks per lamb so sometimes we also have to eat lamb burgers and lamb stew and leg of lamb. My oldest is a picky eater and even she loves lamb. Kids come to our house for dinner and we don't tell them till afterwards that they ate lamb (they always think it's flavorful meat-- but no idea what it is).

So that's my pitch. We raise a wonderful high quality product and we want to sell to you if you are interested.

Below are the details:

We are currently taking orders for fall/winter lamb.
Our lambs are 100% grass fed, no hormones and are the Katahdin breed.
This breed of lamb when grass fed produces lamb meat that is tender and sweet.

Whole lambs dress out at 40-55 lbs and will be sold for $7.5 per lb.
Total price for a whole lamb will then be $300-$412.50.

If you are in a co-op and buying for many families then if you purchase 2+ lambs the price will be $7/lb.

You will pick up your lamb at our partner butcher in Littlestown, PA at Stoneypoint Market.
Lamb will be available in Oct/Nov/Dec.

Normally once you tell us you want a lamb, we will then send to the butcher the next available Monday as this is the day they process USDA for small farmers like ourselves. The lamb then needs to age a week or two so you will get your lamb about 4 weeks after you order it from us.

This price includes butchering costs and all cuts are vacuum packed in a heavy duty plastic so cuts will stay fresh for up to 6 months. We like this method of storing meat in freezers rather than butcher paper.

Over the past few years, we have found that the following cuts of lamb are usually the most popular so if you are unsure of how you want your lamb butchered, we will take care of that for you and cut it so that you receive the meat per below (the lbs/cut will vary based on the weight of the lamb):

2 rack of lamb - normally 1-1.5 lbs each
2 lamb spareribs - .5 lb each
2 bone in whole leg of lamb - 5-7 lbs each
2 packages of lamb shanks -1 lb each
5-8 lbs of ground lamb wrapped in 1 lb portions
6 lbs of lamb chops
2 lbs of lamb stew meat (can also be used as kabobs)
lamb neck bones - .25 lbs - for seasoning sauces/soups/stews
4 shoulder roasts boned and rolled (2-3 lbs each)- if you decide you don't want to use these pieces as roasts you can also cut them up for kabobs later so this gives you some flexibility.

Email mikeakey@yahoo.com or call 443-340-9986 to reserve your lamb today.

Long time-- no post

Running a 20 member CSA along with milking a cow daily is a lot of work when you also have a very busy full time day job. Add in that a certain child now needs to be at school early for play practice and the cow milking must stop.

I've learned a lot over the last 5 months about milking a cow and milk in general and I'll be ready when she has a baby in the spring and I'll know what to do with all that milk each week.

Today I had a lot of great help from CSA members on the farm and it was a great day even though it rained on and off. I still think that this has been the best part of the farm and the CSA- meeting our customers and gaining new friends. I would have no reason to meet some of these wonderful people thru my life but for the CSA and our farm.

As the days are getting shorter-- my blogs will get longer. Our house is under some major-minor construction (we have some closets now!!!!!) and so after October I don't know what I'm going to do with my time as the inside of my house will be all organized!!!! :)

Special Farm Visitor - June Brown

In the background of this picture you see in White paint 1942 and the initials NJB.

I met NJB, June Brown last weekend. I have no idea her first name as I am realizing right now but I do know that she didn't remember putting her initials on the barn. 1942 is when the barn was last painted. June is 84 years old and she was born in my room. Her room was where our bathroom is now and her grandfather who was blind died in the room that is now our kitchen.

She basically lived in the basement as that is where the kitchen was and our backdoor was her front door. June raised Pekin ducks and her father milked 6 cows by hand each day. They milked and then put the milk in the spring house which is still across from the house.

The cherry and apple trees she remembers are gone but when she told me there were daffodils in the corner of the property I nearly fell over. Those daffodils still come up in the same place after 80 years. Next spring I'm going to invite her back to pick those daffodils.

The fascinating thing for me was to imagine life 80 years ago. No car, no car insurance. No electric bill, no cell phone bill, no water bill or gas bill, no tv bill, no internet bill. June told us how her parents used the horses to till the fields and to help pull the hay up to the top part of the barn. She said one of her favorite things was to take a pie her mother had made and sit in the grass next to the house and eat that entire pie with her father. What a beautiful image. I think we're going to have to make a pie this weekend and have a family pie picnic.

BUSY!!!

No time for posts-- maybe I'll start posting again in October or when I go on a business trip and have time in my hotel room and am bored.

I am BUSY!!!

I can make buttermilk (with a starter and the real buttermilk left after making butter)

I can make butter.

I can make a whipped cream that will make you cry. My favorite quote from one whipped cream taster was "can I get a direct IV of that stuff?"

I have made a hard cheese (without cheese wax-- cheddar- just to see how it's done)

I'm learning sour cream-- haven't gotten it right yet.

Made yogurt but didn't like the culture- need a yogotherm bucket I think.

I can milk a cow by hand or with a vacuum pump, pasturize milk and separate it with cream separator in my sleep.

I can also throw stuff away and rearrange my house every week so that we can build closets. After 200 years or however old this house is-- we are building closets!!!!

We met a woman who grew up in this house in the 20's, 30's and 40's--- our back door was her front door. I'll write about that later but it was fascinating to view our house from her perspective.

I have so many potatoes and thank god for potato digger attachments.

I hate squash bugs-- but I love that the tomatoes are starting!!! Fresh salsa!!!

Enjoy your summer! I'm enjoying mine.

Gotta go....Making twice baked potatoes to freeze for kids-- great way to use extra potatoes!

The Case of the Missing Calf

Every day is an adventure on the farm. Tonight we were going to just feed the baby goat and feed the dogs and then have family game night.

One of our cows appeared to either be delivering a baby or already delivered a baby calf.

How would you know that a cow has or is about to deliver you may ask? Placenta hanging out. The hard part is knowing whether it's the water bag or the placenta until you get closer.

Now here is the crazy part. We have 1 bull calf that was born a week ago that is pictured below. He was running through the pasture while his mother and the other new mamma cow with placenta hanging out are running after the calf. So 2 mothers running after the same calf. Our milking Jersey cow, Julica was also running after the 2 mothers and the baby calf. Then the rest of the herd was running and following the 4 of them.

HUH?

We stared at the sight and Mike and I looked at each other totally puzzled. So what's up with all this running around?

Mike's version: She didn't have her baby yet and she thinks the other calf is her baby. So both mothers are running after the baby. Now most people don't know that cows run. It's pretty scary as that's 1,500lbs running.

Annette's version: No way she's running around if she hasn't given birth (I've had 3 kids-- there would be no running prior to birth.) So where is the new baby calf? So the search ensued.

We searched around and found the baby on the other side of the pasture near the fence. He must have been about 2-3 hours old as he was licked clean and his umbilical cord was chewed down but he still wasn't standing well. So what do I say? Hey hon, now's the time, let's 'steer' or 'band' him and tag him now. So we run back for supplies and Mike tags him and turns him into a steer. I won't go into details about this process but it's what you do if you don't want a bull. So then we picked up the baby and drove him over to the correct mother. It took about 5 minutes before momma realized which baby was hers. Picture Mike holding a calf between his legs and calling out "hey momma-- this is your baby-- hey MOMMA!".

By the time I said- I should get the camera, the baby had nursed and collapsed to take a nap. See below picture.

Then momma laid down next to baby and all was calm again. You can barely see the baby in the picture but he's there.

An hour and a half later we were ready for family game night. Monopoly Deal - YES! I finally won. Life on a farm is definitely not boring...

The things that bring us together.....squash

Food brings people together. Amen. End of Story. Now I know lots of things bring people together but having this farm has allowed me to make new friends anywhere. ANYWHERE.

Tonight I was talking to a bunch of folks in my profession at a conference and while we had polite chit-chat, people really asked me more questions about was my farm. Why is that? Are we all programmed to want to live off the land? (I know I am)

Then even on the bus ride back from the networking event to my hotel, I had a fantastic conversation with the bus driver John who told me about the Urban garden a few blocks from the hotel and we chatted about squash and tomatoes. He laughed when I told him I planted about 300 varieties of tomatoes.

Sometimes when you do something for a good reason - have a farm to repair the earth, be self sufficient and try to break even-- what happens is that you have unintended things happen as well. For me the biggest surprise was my ability to have a conversation with anyone about food and the wonderful new people I have met along the way and in the most unlikely places.

So John, I hope all your squash plants work out and the bugs stay away!

Week 4 of Green Akeys Veggie CSA

This year we made a few improvements to the farm. One improvement was to paint the walk-in fridge green (for Green Akeys). We then used chalk board paint on the side and that is where we write the notes for what CSA members take from the fridge or outside tables.

Onions are growing nicely!
Raspberries and blackberries. Enough said- look at all those little red spots.

Kohlrabi

Rows of potatoes-- all we need is rain. We are in a crazy area that sometimes does not get rain, so help out and do a rain dance-- potatoes need rain!

Happiness is......

Having your own milking jersey cow. Her name is Julica but we call her Honey.

If you get a cow, make sure you order your milking equipment BEFORE the cow comes. Although the pleasure and peace of hand milking at 6am and 6:30pm is also fine for a while.

Also-- make sure you have a way for her to get in and out of the pasture on her own. (that part won't be done till end of June-- so I'm getting good at leading her around with her halter).

Cream separator and butter churn coming in a week as well. In the meantime--- I'm back to making cheese, kefir and right now cooking up some fromagina. Will need a cheese press by end of the summer and a big ice cream maker. Cereal with fresh milk and cream is really fabulous and my coffee was never better.

Cows are fun.....

My Favorite

Garlic and shallots--- they love the rain. YEAH!!!

Rosa and Rocky will meet their new dog buddies tomorrow. We now have 2 more Great pry's. Sheila and Susie.

Julica arrives tomorrow.

I Can't Keep Up

With postings that is....

Every time I take a picture, whatever I took a picture of doubles in size. Take this Tarragon bush for example. It is now twice as tall. For those in the CSA-- the herb garden looks fabulous and you should cut herbs all summer and dry them. Dry them and crumble them up and put them into containers or even little baggies. Then use them all winter and save yourself the cost of buying herbs.

The peppers were planted last weekend in the wonderful cloudy days. I told myself I'd go easy on peppers this year and I again failed. 3 full rows of peppers.... one CSA member told me recently that he still has peppers in the freezer from last fall. Me too-- I still have one and a half gallon sized bags left. This is good! Peppers are easy to freeze and are wonderful to use all winter long.

The garden is going to go quickly as the weather warms up. Beans will go in along with melons memorial day weekend.

And if the garden isn't keeping us busy enough, we did fill in with new blueberry bushes, plant 4 cherry trees, 3 peach trees, more cut flowers, sunflowers and cucumbers last weekend.

We also have 4 new goats (nubian goats), 2 new great pyr guard dogs that come in the next week along with our new Dairy cow Julica who comes on Friday (she comes with a name and we don't feel right changing her name on her as she is 4 years old).

Yes, dairy cow comes on Friday. I have had dreams about making butter and homemade whipped cream for 2 years now........ the dream is going to come true very soon....

Glorious Rainbows at the Farm

We've had short rainfalls the last few weeks. On Friday night we had a special treat, a quick shower followed by a double rainbow. As we saw it out the window we all squealed- the girls ran to get their phones and I got my camera.

On the other side of the rainbow it lead straight down on top of the new eggmobile for the hens. So I guess the pot of gold are eggs from hens raised on pasture (now being fed organic feed). I couldn't agree more...

Green Akeys Family Farm and The Dukan Diet

I had no idea what the Dukan Diet was until I heard that Kate's mother is on this diet. And yes, I did watch the wedding last week-- loved it!

So I had to read about this diet, what is it all about? (disclaimer- I work for the company that publishes this book)

Ah-- all about proteins again. Serious protein phase then slowly add back veggies and other good items in the last phases.

So what does this all have to do with Green Akeys Family Farm?

Well, as part of the diet you need to eat lean meats. Where can you get lean meats? At Green Akeys Family Farm of course! Dr Dukan says that lamb is prohibited in phase 1 of the diet but he hasn't seen or eaten our grass fed lamb- he'd change his mind if he saw it and tested it out. But our grass fed beef fits right into this program as well as chickens and turkey.

And what else should you eat on this diet? Eggs-- eggs from hens raised on pasture would be the best. So yet again our farm is down with all the latest buzz out there in the real world. :)

I'm thinking of trying out the diet and seeing what it does for me. We had a little too much fun making and eating goat cheese this winter and consequently I did gain weight over the winter. So back to lean proteins and veggies.... I know where to get them!

Spring Green Akeys Farm Update Part 2

Lilacs are in bloom! Nothing says spring like the smell of lilacs in the air.

I planted 1 row of zucchini in hopes for an early crop. The other 2 rows will get planted in a few weeks as the weather warms up. I am testing a few of these 'hotcaps' to see how they do.

The potatoes are all planted. This year we were smart and planted them in order from Early harvest to very late harvest. Didn't really think about that this last year and I learned my lesson. It's a lot of potatoes out there. I really hope they all do well. Though if they do well I have no idea if the CSA can eat that many potatoes? We'll sure try.

I am in love with my garlic yet again this year. The cool weather and the wonderful rain is helping them out. They are looking so good. Each year the garlic plot has doubled in size, if that keeps up it won't take long till the entire farm is garlic. I do think I will try to double the garlic for 2012 as I still see varieties out there that I want to try.

I love when all animals share the shaded areas in the pasture.

And speaking of pasture. It is growing! This year, as much as we want to put the animals on this pasture, we must wait for fall/winter as the grasses need to get established. If we put the animals out there now they would pull the grass up root and all. That would not be good. So these grasses will grow tall and we'll cut them once for some hay for winter. Then in the fall/winter we'll be able to let them graze.

This year we have 2 bee boxes. Unfortunately that means no honey again as we need a year of comb building and the honey that the bees do make needs to be for them to survive the winter.

Special Short Peak Season CSA Share

This email went out to those on our mailing list last night and we are already down to only 6 more shares available.

New Offering with 10 Shares available

While we are closed out for the full CSA season, due to demand we are offering a Peak Season CSA Share as we are able to adjust our growing and increase our planting now for those weeks.

This Share will start July 25th and go 6 weeks and end the last week of August.

The price for this share will be $300. These are the weeks of the year where many items are available for members and therefore the highest amount of produce is given out during these weeks. If you love tomatoes- this is the short CSA offering for you as you will have lots of tomatoes to eat and process to freeze for the winter.

Items that you could expect to receive in those weeks:
garlic
potatoes
tomatoes
peppers - hot and bell peppers
cucumbers
zucchini and summer squash
melons
beets
eggplant
herbs
flowers- cut your own
greens - asian greens and other greens
beans
pick your own raspberries

Please email us if you are interested and we will take requests in the order we receive them.
Pickup will be at our farm for those 6 weeks.

Annette@greenakeys.com

Spring Green Akeys Farm Update

Lots happening on the farm. CSA is officially closed for the season. Sorry to those that keep emailing me, but check back next year and get on our mailing list.

We have also gotten lots of requests for a meat CSA so we hope to put together an offer that would start in July. Stay tuned....

Baby lambs being born daily. We've officially lost track. I think we are about 34? but could be 37. Won't know till the ear tagging is done on all new babies. In the daytime you hear mommas and babies calling out to each other. It's a lamb nursery. Baby calves are next--- should get 4-6 new calves.

Garlic is thriving!!! Yeah!! CSA members will get to try 13 varieties of garlic this year. Every year I save some garlic for next year and buy 2-3 new varieties as garlic is very expensive to buy. It can cost 3 dollars and up to 10 dollars per bulb depending on the variety.

One new addition to the CSA this year are garden boxes for veggies that take longer than 10 days to germinate and can get crowded by weeds. Beets, kohlrabi and carrots are amount those that are in the garden boxes this year.

New this year...... chocolate colored eggs!!! This year we have far fewer hens but beautiful eggs. That was my plan, less hens but a wonderful color combination.

The above egg is a speckled as well! We get our hens from Whitmore Farm. Will does a great job raising heritage breeds of hens and so we buy our hens from him. His eggs are used by chefs that have been on Top Chef as they are not only fabulous to eat but gorgeous. So I had to have those hens and the eggs!!! Those hens have been slower to lay eggs but now that they are starting, I am in love with the color!

Lambing - The Happy and Sad moments

This is a happy picture. 8 lambs born in the last 24 hours. I love to hear them call out to their mommas. I was FINALLY able to witness a birth of twins last night. I sat down in the hay and I just waited it out. 90 minutes later I had witnessed the birth of a boy and then a girl lamb. I now understand what a normal twin birth process looks like!!! YEAH!

That was the happy story. When you raise sheep you know you will have some sad stories and that's the next story.

When I started this blog, I mainly did it so that friends and family could keep up with the farming life and it was a matter of efficiency for me. If someone were to say to me "hey, what's new on the farm?", I could say "um- have you been keeping up with my blog postings? I can't handle telling the same story 20 times".

Along the way I somehow made friends with other people around country and the world and so I realized that I can't just tell all the fun and rosy parts of farming. At times I need to tell the brutal truth and talk about the parts of farming that suck. This posting is about what happened last Tuesday night-- one of those nights that sucked.

It is lambing season for us. Now when a mother gets ready to lamb, they go off to a corner by themselves, they make a little nest of hay, etc. You can tell. Well, the other day this ewe either didn't do the normal behaviors or we missed it or she was trying to give birth while Mike was running errands.

By the time we had dinner and went to feed the sheep, Mike saw her. Thank goodness he did because this mother was not off by herself but with the pack. What Mike noticed- brace yourself- was that she was running around with a baby lamb's head poking out of her.

So we had to catch her and turn into vets. I talked to the mother and petted her head. I then assisted Mike as we figured out how to deliver the lamb. Thank god Mike can handle these things. I pass out when I give blood but I was proud of myself and I hung in there and made it through to help him. Mike was just amazing. I don't know where he gets these nerves of steel. He was in the Marines but I don't know if it's from that training or he just was born that way.

He managed to figure out how to move the lamb so that he'd slide out and somehow we managed to get the big boy out and keep the mother alive. She was definitely in a state of shock. But after 10 minutes she was back up and eating- thank goodness. We have no idea if the lamb was delivered stillborn or if the lamb just couldn't make it out. Ugh. Our farmer friends told us that some years you are lucky and sometimes you have birthing issues. The mom is doing fine in case you were wondering.

After this sad birth we did have 11 more good births in the week that followed and led to the picture of the cute lamb in the picture.

Total of 14 lambs so far since January and about 34 more ewes to deliver.