Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Organically raised lamb now available
Our lamb is now available for orders, large and small.
whole (approx 45 lb) or half lamb(approx 20-25 lb) , cut and wrapped $8.50
per lb. You choose the cuts or we can have the butcher do the standard cut.s for you which includes leg of lamb, stew, rack of lamb, chops and minced lamb
Lamb by the cut starting at 8.50 lb.
Order now for delivery from mid-August to mid September. We can arrange to deliver. We also attend the Pembroke Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.
whole (approx 45 lb) or half lamb(approx 20-25 lb) , cut and wrapped $8.50
per lb. You choose the cuts or we can have the butcher do the standard cut.s for you which includes leg of lamb, stew, rack of lamb, chops and minced lamb
Lamb by the cut starting at 8.50 lb.
Order now for delivery from mid-August to mid September. We can arrange to deliver. We also attend the Pembroke Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Moving our farm
Long time with no postings as life on the farm has been, well, farmish. Up till now, we've been playing at farming, pretty much free of the real "keep you awake at night" stresses that plague real farmers. Such as suddenly having to find a new farm.
Long story, but crux of the matter is that as tenant farmers, we have no real control over what the landowners plans are...and if those plans change, as they did in this case, we are in the hayfield without a wagon or whatever is the agricultural euphemism for "up shit creek without a paddle".
We have been looking for another suitable property to rent and just now have found a place that meets most, but not all, of our essential criterion. Location is excellent but price is twice as much as we pay here. Barn is gorgeous but we will have to build all our pens and corrals and infra structure from scratch. Mega amounts of work...work we just finished doing (including all the work Henning put into this place) and now have to do again. Not a great set up for our cheese making and aging room. House is large and stately but shabby around the edges and will be hellish to heat. Kitchen is old and unrenovated and devoid of the charm of my dearly loved kitchen here. Yard, large and shady and private. Driveway, flat and picturesquely lined with tall trees and about a third the length of this funnel for wind and drifting snow. Sisters live just down the road. Will be able to have a farm stand at the gate. Many pluses except that it just ISN'T MY REAL HOME.
So it is with truly mixed feelings that we begin to pack up this farm and begin the long series of "what if" discussions. What if we sell our Navajo-churro sheep so we need less space. What if we raise meat birds only in summer. What if the pigs could go on that side of the barn. What if we turned the summer kitchen into the cheese room. What if we closed off the cold front bedrooms and only use the back part of the house. What if we sell all the livestock and take a cheap one way flight to Spain!!!
We did the same thing for years at the cafe as we figured out how to run that business effectively and efficiently given our initial insanity in opening a restaurant-gallery in a village of 200 souls plus a three month influx of tourists. The difference then was that we were 13 years younger when we plunged in and our boundless energy for renovating and creating and orchestrating has worn thinner now.
But the biggest difference is that now er have our livestock. We were really just getting to the point here where everything was efficiently in place and so we could spend time concentrating on the small details that make all the difference in animal health and well being. We had time to go around picking up all the loose wire and half buried binder twine in the pasture. Time to cut down burdocks and thistles. Time to commune with lambs!!
So now we go back to wrestling with fence posts and feeders and pig pens!
Okay, so that is my allotment of whining about the situation and from here on in, I will be the optimistic cheerful person I normally am. Hard work will keep us healthy and youthful and in the grand scheme of things we are still among the most fortunate people on earth.
Long story, but crux of the matter is that as tenant farmers, we have no real control over what the landowners plans are...and if those plans change, as they did in this case, we are in the hayfield without a wagon or whatever is the agricultural euphemism for "up shit creek without a paddle".
We have been looking for another suitable property to rent and just now have found a place that meets most, but not all, of our essential criterion. Location is excellent but price is twice as much as we pay here. Barn is gorgeous but we will have to build all our pens and corrals and infra structure from scratch. Mega amounts of work...work we just finished doing (including all the work Henning put into this place) and now have to do again. Not a great set up for our cheese making and aging room. House is large and stately but shabby around the edges and will be hellish to heat. Kitchen is old and unrenovated and devoid of the charm of my dearly loved kitchen here. Yard, large and shady and private. Driveway, flat and picturesquely lined with tall trees and about a third the length of this funnel for wind and drifting snow. Sisters live just down the road. Will be able to have a farm stand at the gate. Many pluses except that it just ISN'T MY REAL HOME.
So it is with truly mixed feelings that we begin to pack up this farm and begin the long series of "what if" discussions. What if we sell our Navajo-churro sheep so we need less space. What if we raise meat birds only in summer. What if the pigs could go on that side of the barn. What if we turned the summer kitchen into the cheese room. What if we closed off the cold front bedrooms and only use the back part of the house. What if we sell all the livestock and take a cheap one way flight to Spain!!!
We did the same thing for years at the cafe as we figured out how to run that business effectively and efficiently given our initial insanity in opening a restaurant-gallery in a village of 200 souls plus a three month influx of tourists. The difference then was that we were 13 years younger when we plunged in and our boundless energy for renovating and creating and orchestrating has worn thinner now.
But the biggest difference is that now er have our livestock. We were really just getting to the point here where everything was efficiently in place and so we could spend time concentrating on the small details that make all the difference in animal health and well being. We had time to go around picking up all the loose wire and half buried binder twine in the pasture. Time to cut down burdocks and thistles. Time to commune with lambs!!
So now we go back to wrestling with fence posts and feeders and pig pens!
Okay, so that is my allotment of whining about the situation and from here on in, I will be the optimistic cheerful person I normally am. Hard work will keep us healthy and youthful and in the grand scheme of things we are still among the most fortunate people on earth.
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