The week before Thanksgiving

We had a very busy day today cleaning up the yard, moving the turkey pen, tucking in the garden for a long winters nap....  Cleaning up the turkey pen and moving the flight cage was the hardest.  I really enjoyed raising those boys, they were a pleasure.  I've had more than a few people comment about what we do here, raising and slaughtering our own meats.  Many people don't understand that we do this to ensure that we are raising the animals kindly, with care and respect.  We slaughter them quickly and as efficiently as we can.  Tad even played soothing classical music during the day.  We care about these animals and we thank them for feeding us, for fertilizing our lawns, for composting our left-overs.  I cried the morning of the slaughter because even though I know we are doing the best thing we can, it is hard and it will always be a sad day.  We make the decision to raise our own meats or buy from small farms to ensure we are supporting what we feel is right.  That was me on a soap box.  Be well.

November 2011 on the farm

Time is flying by over here in our little quiet corner of Connecticut.  Our farm is growing, our store is growing, our lives are growing.  It amazes me as I write this how much our lives have changed the past few years.  Noone who has known me over the years would expect that I'd spend this morning feeding farm animals, mucking stalls, collecting eggs, and opening the doors of our own store - especially me.  And it is all done with a smile on my face because those are the moments, the times when I am so comfortable with where I am and what I am doing.  I am so blessed to have a partner that wants to share this crazy adventure with me.  A partner willing to work hard, embrace the conservative living, skip the Dunkin Donuts (most days), and live a life the is so full we could never be considered 'poor'.  This is the life.  Be well.

May 15, 2011

Its been a long time since I posted here and I'm sorry about that!  We've been very busy with the store and the hobby farm and, well, keeping up with life.  Our latest additions to the farm are the 'dirty dozen' - 12 new Turkeys hatched this week.  With all of our animals - the goats, the bunnies, the bees, the dogs and cat I still didn't feel like we were running a 'farm' and then came the boys - 12 large white breasted turkeys!  Now when I kick off my boots are 9pm just finishing my chores for the evening, I truly feel like a hobby farmer :)  Check out our new turkeys by clicking here!

The stores been really busy with everyone cleaning up their yards, starting new gardens, hanging out their flowers :)  We have another greenhouse we are working with and several new artists on board.  We are talking about adding space to hold more wonderful locally produced items and expanding our year further into the winter.  There is so much we can do, not enough hours in the day!

Yesterday I asked my parents to bring me binoculars so I could watch the cows grazing in the neighbor's field in the morning with my coffee.  They thought it was very funny that I was going to watch cows while others might watch the news or read the paper.  That is DEFINITELY not for me, I prefer to watch the cows saunter around the field, snacking on the grass, visiting each other.  My parents came to the house and we all went to the deck to watch.  I think they can see why I'd rather watch the cows now.

Be well!