Farm Blog

Hello gang!

Allyson and I hope you're all enjoying a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend with friends and family.

So, it's been a while since we posted a blog - and that's because we've been insanely busy getting the farm and house up and running. Like the Pig Pile photos above, everything always tends to pile up.

Here's a partial list of what we've been doing (with a ton of help from family and friends) so far since taking over the property on April 30th:

• Set up movable electric fencing for our 4 pigs
• Rebuild an equipment shed into a nesting coop and set up movable electric fencing for our original 10 laying hens and forthcoming 50 more
• Re-roof the barn
• Fix the old mower we bought from the original owners and keep the 6 acres mowed
• Plow and shape our 1/4 acre vegetable garden
• Plant and tend to all the veggies in the garden
• Clean out the old horse barn from decades of old horse dung, go to Rhode Island (multiple times) for truck loads of sawdust, and make the barn a 3 stall - meat chicken brooding space
• Have electricians re-wire the house and barn
• Transfer from oil heat to propane and have the furnace and oil tank removed and all the new electric furnace equipment installed
• Have a radon distribution system installed
• Paint the entire interior of the house
• Tear down and replace a whole lot of old sheetrock
• New hardwood floors
• Transfer many plants from gardens in the middle of the lawn to be edge gardens around the barn
• MANY trips to the dump
• Start transferring the old (small) nestng coop into an equipment shed
• Set up our MemberShare (CSA) Program
• Market the program and get listed in the local media
• Re-side part of the house that was rotting
• Re-do the plumbing in the kitchen, replace the sink and counter tops
• Clear many trees and overgrown brush from all around the property
• Deal with all the necessary forms and paperwork we need to get on board with all the agriculture groups and local town organizations
• OH, and buy a new grill for Memorial Day of course!

As you can see, we're keeping ourselves very busy here. We hope you'll continue to stick with us as we grow. Come visit us at the Ledyard Farmers' Market on Wednesdays when it starts up and we do still have shares available if you're interested in our MemberShare program which starts sometime next month.

See you soon!
Farmer Keith

Our new piglets have arrived and have already been hard at work tilling and fertilizing the farm!  They are 2 months old and a Yorkshire/Berkshire cross.  They only weigh about 20 pounds now, but in 4 or 5 months they'll weigh close to 200 pounds!  

We love having pigs on the farm because they seem to have the best personalities (well, that and the BACON!).  Already  I'm getting to know each of them.  Tubs (far left, #16 on her ear tag)) is the biggest and the bossiest.  Catch (#22 on her ear tag) is the tiniest, but the bravest.  And she certainly holds her own!  Hip Hip (#20 on her ear tag) likes to be squished in between her siblings and is never by herself.  Finally, Iron Man (the only boy, pictured far right) seems to be the most adventurous eater.  Today he tried banana peel, carrot, cabbage and apple core!  

While the weather is nice and cool the pigs will rotate around the pastured portions of the farm that need work.  Some need to be totally turned and reseeded, and others just need additional fertility.  During the hot summer months they'll move into the woods and begin clearing some of the underbrush.  All along they'll be feeding themselves on the greenery and bugs they forage, as well as eating scraps from the farm and a small amount of grain.  I anticipate LOTS of belly rubs in the near future - pigs are very affectionate and love to be scratched!

Spring Onions

Spring Cabbage

The earliest spring crops have sprouted!  Come on now, have baby onions ever looked so cute?

The sprouts will stay in our living room basking in the luxury of heat and sunshine (one day we'll have a greenhouse!) until we are able to plow the vegetable fields and transplant them outside.  But for now we're just dreaming of crunchy coleslaw, grilled chicken, and all of the other delicious meals this summer will bring!

Hi Folks!  You wouldn't believe just how EXCITED we are that you stopped by!  We're still tweaking the website (though, we probably always will be!), but please take time to check out our Full Plate MemberShare Program and to join our mailing list for the latest updates.  And feel free to contact us if you have any questions!

Eat well,

Farmer Allyson