It’s Rich Valley Fair week. I remember as a kid circling fair week on the calendar and looking forward to it all year. The kids have been as excited about the fair as I was growing up. It’s been a good change to our summer rhythm…
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Thankful for more rain. Twice this week we moved the chicken shelters during a rain shower. It felt good. Even the kids enjoyed it. It was nice to get the mower back out and see the grass coming back to life…
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Let it rain, let it rain. Grateful for a couple more showers this week. Hopefully more to come in the days ahead. It was a busy week but nothing out of the ordinary. We put another couple hundred chickens in the freezers. Can’t say enough good things about the friends and family that come out to help on chicken processing days. They are a pleasure to work with…
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Not much resting on Sunday. Amy helped move chickens before church. Afterwards we rounded up a herd of over 50 cows into the barn to sort out the biggest ones for this week’s trips to the processor. Getting cows into the barn requires moving them across the road which is always a little nerve racking…
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Lots of chicken work this week. A couple weeks ago our crew processed chickens at a pace that I didn’t think we could top. Low and behold, this week they went even faster, putting chickens on ice at a pace of over 150 birds/hour. Thankful for our faithful crew and proud of the 8-10 school age kids that continually keep improving in their work…
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We could use some rain. We could’ve used some rain on Monday afternoon as Hallie, Wren, and I helplessly watched our Jeep go up in flames. I’m not real sure what caused it. We could smell something burning, so I pulled into a field and turned the motor off. Smoke started coming up…
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Another long week. We got a lot done. A lot more we didn’t get done. We’ve been lucky to get through this much of the chicken season with minimal predator attacks. I’m afraid our luck is running out. A bear made a visit to one of our chicken shelters one night this past week, crushing through the two brand new lids I built a couple weeks ago…
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Saturday was on-farm pick up day. Though our farm is not conveniently located for many people in our area, quite a few faithful locals come out to the farm every 2nd Saturday of each month to pick up their beef, chicken, and pork herd shares. The kids were helping with morning chicken chores while Amy was at the Abingdon Farmers Market when the first folks arrived to pick up their meat…
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We turned last week’s cookout space back into a chicken processing area and harvested our first batch of ORVF chickens for the season. We’ve been sold out of all chicken (except bone-broth) for a while, so it’s good to get some ORVF chicken back in freezers. Hopefully it won’t stay in the freezers long…
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What a week. Saturday’s cookout was not only the highlight of the week, it was likely the highlight of the year. It was good. I know that “good” is an elementary exclamation, but good is the best way I can describe it. This was living at its best…
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It’s been a busy week. I like working with pigs. Except when it comes to hauling them to and from the woods. This week we did both. It was time to take growing piglets out to the woods and bring a group of full grown hogs back to the barn. Before Amy and the kids took off for a Knoxville meat delivery on Monday, we took down and relocated our pig pen setup used to corral and load up pigs from the woods. While they were gone…
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School’s out for summer. The homeschool school year comes to an end. I don’t know who’s more excited, Amy or the kids. Now they have more time to help with chickens. As hectic as it was for Amy to teach Hallie and Hasten while also trying to juggle farm admin and house work, along with Wren and Carter running around on the loose, Amy’s reflection on the school year, “It was worth it.”
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Not all are farmers, but everyone eats food. Everyday. We choose what we eat. Not all farming practice are the same. Not all chicken is just chicken. Not all apples are just apples. What we continuously choose to eat not only has direct implications on our health, the way our food is produced has direct implications on the health of our surroundings. The food we choose to eat impacts not just our own lives but all life, life as a whole. I need to eat better. Not just for my own sake, “for heaven’s sake.”
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After almost seven months of wood burning, this week we let the fire go out of the outdoor wood stove. Although I’m not filling up the wood stove everyday anymore, still no break from firewood yet. Cutting, hauling, and splitting more wood for the fall.
On Monday we processed over 200 chickens…
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Things are picking up on the farm. Keeping the cows moving to fresh grass and moving pigs to a fresh paddock in the woods. Amy made lots of real farm bone broth and also spent a half day rendering pork fat into lard. She delivered meat…
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And the chicken season begins. We have our first group of baby chicks in the brooder. Another 300 chicks on their way to the farm today. We’ll keep them in the brooder for about 3 weeks with heat lamps before putting them out on pasture in the chicken shelters. We’ll start harvesting these chickens on the farm in June which means no ORVF chicken to sell between now and then…
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We went on a short hike in the mountain after church on Sunday. This is my favorite time of year to go hiking. Warmer temperatures but before all the trees are filled with leaves. After hiking, we rounded up a group of 20 mature steers and heifers into the barn to sort out 12 for Monday’s trip to the processor…
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Saturday was Amy’s last free Saturday of the year as the Abingdon Farmers Market starts back this week every Saturday from 8:00-12:00. We took advantage of the beautiful day and went hiking with cousins. Parking at the top of the Walker Mountain overlook on Route 16, we hiked a few miles along the top of the mountain and came out at the farm. We took this hike a year ago (it’s not an actual hiking trail), but it was steeper and more laborious than Amy recalled it being…
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It feels good to feel good again. Getting back on my feet after being under the weather has given me a rejuvenated outlook on the spring season at hand and an extra pep in my step that will be much needed as our busy season approaches. Being sick was no fun, but sometimes a day or two of being sick results in a greater appreciation for health. As always…
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It’s farmer Amy here today. Will is down for the count. The flu or something has gone through the family and now it’s Will turn for the fever and chills. The NCAA wrestling tournament is on TV this weekend, so if I could pick a good time for Will to be glued to the couch, this would be it. If only he could actually enjoy watching it…
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