The summer is well upon us at Foxhide Farm. It has been remarkably cool during July and I have to say that I am ok with that. We have been extremely busy with running the farm and both working full-time jobs off the farm as well.
Will give you an update on some of the happenings. All of the does have kidded and the resulting kids are all weaned and growing well. There are a few of the doe kids that appear to be pretty nice. It is always a good feeling to make breeding decisions, wait the five months for them to be born, watch them grow and hopefully result in a kid that you pictured when you selected the sire. We are working very hard to cull the herd and reduce numbers. So, right now, there are only 9 doe kids that are still on the farm from the 2009 crop of kids. I know this is the right decision, but it is still difficult at times. We've also been culling through the dry yearlings as well. We have gone from 16 down to 9. Still have 3 or 4 more of them that need to be sold.
We purchased some additional acreage last fall and we baled the hay off of it this summer. We have about 700 bales of hay in the barn now. This will be a huge benefit this winter. We have always had to purchase all of our hay in the past. Looking forward to the savings.
The square foot garden has been a tremendous learning experience this year. We will have a much better understanding of what to grow next year. We have learned that summer squash and tomatoes do VERY well in this environment and maybe sweet corn and bell peppers prefer to thrive elsewhere. We will soon be making the final harvest of warm season vegetables and making a planting of the cold crops. Might try some broccoli and cauliflower this fall in addition to spinach, turnips, lettuces, etc.
The chicks are doing well. They have left the brooder and are now growing well outside. We have 15 pullets and can't wait for the first Foxhide Farm eggs. Will be a monumental day!
The dairy is going well. We have experienced some changes here as well. We are no longer marketing our milk to the cheese manufacturer. Instead, we are working to finalize an agreement with another local farm. More details to follow.
We recently hosted an open house at the farm. We felt it was very successful. Many of our friends had been requesting to come see the farm and so we decided it was time. We had great weather to showcase the farm. The attendees got to see the square foot garden and "pumpkin patch", play with the kids, visit with the chickens, socialize with the Jersey cows, love on the horses, and milk goats. We also had goat's milk ice cream and milk for our guests to enjoy. We received a lot of positive feedback and certainly feel this won't be our last open house.
As you can see, it has been a busy time on the farm and no let up in sight. Gotta Love Farm Life!
