Amy’s parents came up to the farm last weekend. We upgraded to a bigger plucker that runs off a 220 instead of a 110 outlet, so Amy’s dad spent Saturday running conduit and pulling wires to get the new plucker ready to go. We got a bigger scalder a couple years back. Now we finally got the bigger plucker to match it…

I read a couple articles this week on the beef cattle situation in the U.S. “This is the smallest beef herd since 1951,” coming from a Market Intel report by economist Bernt Nelson. What does this mean? It means there’s not as much beef to go around as there has been in years past. The decreased supply and increase in demand moves the prices upward…

I created more water trouble this week. A steel T-post I was driving into the ground not only happened to find a waterline buried under the ground, but it busted the line in two. As I was finishing off the post with a couple final hits to make sure it was driven down far enough to stay secure, water started pouring up out of the ground like a spring. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said to myself…

The weekend temperatures touched down below zero. It stopped snowing last Friday, but the white blanket hung around most of this week. The later part of the week temps climbed back up into the 50’s. Wednesday morning the ground was still mostly covered in snow. By Wednesday afternoon, the snow was mostly gone…

Snow and cold. More snow, more cold. I’m ready for spring. Stockpiled grass doesn’t do the cows much good covered in a 6 inch blanket of snow. A couple more inches of snow last night. Not supposed to get above freezing until Monday…

I’ve been feeding a little bit of hay but not much compared years past. Back in the growing season, I’m sure many who passed by saw our excess grass as a waste. It’s certainly not a waste now. Instead of fighting the mud to get hay to the cows, we’re still moving them to stockpiled forage from the summer…

And another year begins. Grateful for the past year and hopeful about the next. Amy and I have been having some planning conversations. Trying to mutually agree on where we’re going next. Since we’ve been married, going on 12 years now, most of our planning has been geared towards the growth of the farm in one way or another…

A slower week on the farm. After the farmer’s market Saturday, Amy rushed home to unloaded coolers, clean one of the cabins, and then load back up and hit the road towards Knoxville to go see Amy’s family. It was a quick trip filled with good food and good time together. We came back home the next afternoon to check on the animals and be home for Christmas. 

It’s Amy here this week. The week before Christmas is always a marathon. I’m quite last minute with my Christmas shopping, but I bought/made the last presents yesterday, so today I plan to wrap. Gift giving is not my love language. It truly is difficult for me to decide what to get people and that makes Christmas stressful for me and turns me into the grinch if I’m not careful…

Monday morning I made another trip taking cows and pigs to the processor. Usually we get cows into the barn the day before. With rain in the forecast all day Sunday and a youth wrestling tournament all day Saturday, we decided to get the cows in the barn and sorted…

Cows drink lots of water. Monday evening our biggest cattle herd didn’t have any. With a long list of things that had to be done this week, getting water to the cows made its way to the top of that long list. Fixing the water problem turned into fixing a series of water problems. Fix one, find another. Ronnie and Brandon to the rescue again…

Lots of fun last weekend with family in the valley. We enjoyed some fresh tenderloin from a deer Amy’s brother harvested. Amy’s dad worked the whole time he was here, switching out light fixtures, building shelves, and fixing stuff around the house. He can do anything…

Tuesday’s steady soaking rain was a blessing we, and I’m sure many more, were thankful for. Rain. A blessing often taken for granted. As with most things, the greater the thirst, the greater the thanksgiving for its quenching. So many things to be thankful for. Things I don’t deserve. Things that are not guaranteed for tomorrow…

Instead of Wendell Berry’s fictional stories about the Port William community, I started into one of his nonfictional writings “THE NEED TO BE WHOLE: Patriotism and the History of Prejudice.” Not very far into it, there’s a lot of good stuff said so far. This first quote I thought was especially profound, tying the big Ag food industry to the demise of patriotism. As more of society shifts away from knowing and working the land, the less patriotic our society becomes…

Some of our laying hens started laying eggs this week. We weren’t expecting any eggs for another couple weeks. Pleasant surprise. The kids helped me put together the nesting boxes. They’re excited about checking for and gathering eggs. I’m wondering how long it will take for the excitement to wear off…

With chicken season behind us, we took advantage of the more flexible season and took off to Lake Norman in NC for a long weekend vacation with the George family. It was just what we needed. I don’t really have a longing to travel. There’s no place I’d rather be than Rich Valley, but it was nice to have a change of scenery. To get away, take a break, and just play and relax…

Another beautiful autumn week. The leaves seem to be peaking a week later than usual this year. It would suit me if the weather stays like this till spring. We mowed the yard, the cabins, and around the barn for what is likely the last time of the year. As the end of one season leads to the beginning of another, so it is in regards to our work on the farm…

“The U.S. government has propagated this mindset with its cheap food policy. It wants to ensure that citizens have an abundant supply of cheap food. Notice I did not say nutrient-dense food. The United States spends more on healthcare than any other country in the world, and yet its citizens are not healthy. Are farmers and ranchers to blame for all of this?…”

After a four month break from burning wood, this week we fired the old outdoor wood stove back up. A warm house and hot showers for the whole family. We probably don’t have enough wood piled up to get us all the way through the winter, but we’re going into winter with the biggest pile we’ve had in a few years. 

One of our New Year’s resolutions was to intentionally and regularly take an afternoon break from farming in order to do fun family things around here. Here it is beginning of October, and so far this year we have failed miserably at this resolution. I don’t guess we had a year’s worth of family fun this week, but we certainly made up for some lost time…