FARM HAPPENINGS
We have really been enjoying the cooler weather this past week, such a welcome relief from the hot, humid and often oppressive conditions that have prevailed for much of the summer. And the ten day forecast looks terrific with highs in 60's and mid-70's most days. We were able to get a nice cutting of good quality dairy hay put up this week just before the Thursday morning rain so we are very happy about that.
It was a busy week - in addition to the hay cutting we did process two batches of chickens as well so we will have fresh chickens available in the farm store through Monday at 6 PM…just in case anyone needs one for their Labor Day BBQ. And we took in the last batch of summer turkeys which will mostly be going into parts. The farm store is fully stocked with turkey breasts, turkey tenders, ground turkey, wings, turkey bone broth, and the smoked turkey legs - everything a turkey lover could hope for!
Next week on Wednesday we will process our second batch of No Soy/No Corn broiler chickens for the season, they will be in the store on Thursday 4th before noon. We were scheduled to process that batch this week but they were not quite ready so we held them over for another week.
WHERE'S THE MILK?
Those of you that have been trying to purchase raw milk have noticed that our supply is much lower recently than what we had available back in May and June. While the hot and humid weather has taken a toll on milk production, the much bigger issue is that we have “dried off” about one third of our milking cows in the last month, so we are only milking 16 or 17 cows most days now, instead of the 24 we were milking back in late May after several new heifers came into production.
Our goal is to “dry off” a lactating cow about 60 days before she is due to have her next calf. This gives her body a chance to recover and rebuild nutrient and fat levels in preparation for nourishing the next calf. During this drying off period we initially only milk her every other day, then every third day until her body stops producing milk. We also have four heifer calves still nursing on their moms, so we are sharing milk with those calves and in many cases we don't get much out of their mom's by the time we get them into the barn at milking time. As those calves get bigger they might each be drinking 2-3 gallons per day.
The good news is that most of the cows we have dried off over the last two months are due to calve in the next few weeks, plus a couple of new heifers are expecting their first calf soon as well. So we should be back to milking 24 or maybe 25 cows by the end of September and with cooler weather and improved fall pastures we will likely get our raw milk production back up to where it was a few months ago.
FARM STORE UPDATE
We are still in the middle of peak season for fresh local produce. From our on site chemical-free gardens we have Cherry Tomatoes, Eggplant, Green Beans, Purple Beans, Pickling Cucumbers, Slicing Tomatoes, and Zucchini. Plus local mushrooms from Crystal Lake Mushrooms.
From Broadview Farms and Garden in Marengo we have Red Slicing Tomatoes, Yellow and Red Onions, Green Bell Peppers, Red Bell Peppers, and Jalapenos. And from Garlic eScape in Woodstock we have Escamillo Peppers and Sylvia's Fire Cider.
Additional Organic Produce in the store includes Apples, Avocadoes, Carrots, Garlic, Lemons, Nectarines, Peaches, Pears, Sweet Potatoes, Red, Yellow, and Russet Potatoes, Yellow Bell Peppers, White Onions, Celery, Ginger, and Tumeric.
And we have a well-stocked freezer full of our pasture-raised pork products in the farm store now - including nitrate-free bacon, breakfast sausages, pork chops, jalapeno brats, fresh and smoked Kielbasa, Italian sausage, and shoulder roasts. Grab the good stuff while it lasts as we won't be processing any more pigs until November.
NEW LOCAL GRASS-FED ORGANIC CHEESE + SAMPLING NEXT SATURDAY
We are excited to offer a new local + grassfed + organic + delicious cheese in the farm store - Tallgrass cheese from North Sky Farms out of Harvard, Illinois. Tallgrass is a mild cave-aged camembert style soft-ripped cheese with a bloomy rind made on a family-owned farmstead creamery. Farmer and cheesemaker Travis Hurt will be at our farm store next Saturday morning (September 6th) from 10 AM -12 Noon offering samples of this delightful cheese. Please stop by to meet Travis and try his delicious new cheese.
That's it for this week, the farm store will be open regular hours from 10 AM - 6 PM on Labor Day. The weather looks perfect for our Saturday Farm Tour at 1:00 PM today. Reserve space online or purchase tickets in the farm store.
Stay Healthy out there!
- Cliff, Anna, and the Farm Team