Welcome to our first official "blog"! My hope is to use this as a means of keeping in touch with all the friends of the farm and to let everyone know what we're doing. So what are we doing? Well, right now, when I walk into the barn, I get a little confused about what kind of farmers we are. We have two brooders, side by side, that are home to 25 baby turkeys and 100 chicks. These little guys receive more TLC and attention than you can imagine. Jeff is constantly checking on them and is trying to find the absolute best, most revolutionary way of poultry farming. For example, certain that they benefit from the vitamins and nutrients, he's turned the turkeys into tomato lovers. Hopefully he doesn't live to regret this when they're free ranging in the field and trying to get to the heirloom tomato plants. The turkeys will be raised until Thanksgiving, at which point they will become the centerpieces of some very lucky households. The chickens, on the other hand, will become dinner in about 6 weeks. You wouldn't believe how fast they grow. One day they're babies, the next they're monsters. Amazing!
In addition to the birds, we're still in the middle of the summer crops. Actually, we feel like we haven't really been able to capitalize on summer yet because of this bazarre weather. In case you haven't noticed, it's been mild during the day, cool at night, and foggy - weather that is more characteristic of spring and fall and not summer. We've been harvesting tomatoes, which have tasted great, but there are so many more still on the plants waiting for some heat in order to ripen. We're also anticipating our peppers. We planted about 12 different varieties of sweet and spicy peppers, which we should be able to start harvesting within the next few weeks. And in the midst of all this summer stuff, we're also starting to think about fall. That means that I have been seeding up a storm. Chard, kale, lettuce, beets, and all the other cool weather veggies are starting their lives as we speak.
So that's the farm update for now. I'll keep you informed about the birds and the veggies and I hope to see you all at the farmer's market. Right now we're selling at the Santa Rosa market on Saturday morning at the vet's building and at Petaluma's Wednesday Night market. See you there!
