Farm News October 6th, 2010

Introduction

This has been absolutely the busiest season with the highest sales at the farm ever! We believe this is from the support of many repeat customers who have stayed with us over the years, combined with more offerings from the farm. We can't put in words how gratifying it has been to really feel that all the work and investment in the farm over the years has been recognized and appreciated!

Garden and Produce Challenges

With the CSA Orders more of the garden was planted then usual and we had the strangest weather ever. Things got off to about a month late start because of the alternating cold and hot Spring. The news said several records were broken! We spent many nights worrying about being able to meet the CSA deliveries promised. In spite of three hard frosts in late August most crops finally ripened although many weren't as productive. Mostly the long growing season veggies like corn, winter squash, string beans, corn, and tomatoes but much to our surprise they all did finally produce some yields.

We finally have a 12 x 48 foot hoop house full of tomatoes just as the season is ending. Much to my delight we finally got a lot of strawberries and "So" has been making sure I share with our CSA members. We harvested some corn and we may yet get more. We got little production from the beans, gave up on them, and didn't do the weeding but then to our surprise the weeds shielded them from the early frosts.

In addition to frequenting three farmer's markets the garden produced enough for about 35 more coolers full every week. My poor wife who is the Green Thumb was almost overwhelmed by it all but somehow managed to figure things out with out any fancy charts and graphs. Good thing days are long in the Summer. It makes the 12-14 hour days easier.

When the real hot weather set in the work became exhausting but thankfully from time to time we were able to round up some part time garden help. My 88 year old Mother In Law even helped! My youngest Grandson helped for the month of August and was a big relief to us. He really seems to enjoy marketing and even took over sales at the farmer's markets for a time. We also hired a few part time garden workers but none of them stayed with us very long. Somehow during the course of the Season things have become more efficient but we think we have reached the limit.

Poultry

It seems that no matter how many hens we have laying we never have enough eggs! We gather and process about 15-20 dozen eggs everyday using up a lot of time from every one of our evenings. We have a variety of egg colors, sizes, and shapes because we have a variety of types of chickens. I like the colorful diversity of the different breeds! Unfortunately so do the coyotes, Bald Eagles, Crows, Barn Owls, and Hawks which have become more plentiful since a nearby Bird Refuge for Eagles was established. Thankfully we have no Raccoons who have put many small poultry farms out of business.

We recently inherited a hen from a family flock of pet chickens. It was the last survivor of raccoon attacks. The children seemed very sad to give up the hen but the mom seemed overjoyed although she was careful to not let the kids know that. We now have a chicken fence that looks like it belongs around a prison, but it is only to keep critters out - not inside. No factory computer sorted and sized eggs here and so far no egg recalls from this half of the country!

We've also been raising 25 Geese, 50 Ducks (half are layers, half for meat), 1500 Cornish Broilers, and 125 Turkeys. One group was of 300 so called "slow growing natural" Cornish Broilers. "Slow" was right word; it took 16 weeks, twice as long as usual and caused us a shortage in the middle of the season. So for a time our regular customers like the CSA got small birds from us but later we made up for it with Broilers the size of some turkeys.

Feed, Hay and Critters

This is been one of the best years for hay and pasture in over 10 years thanks to the cool Spring and heavy early rains. A lot of people don't realize we have been in drought for over a decade. Until this year our local precipitation has been way down from what it was when we bought this farm. We used to have a 5 acre pond that is gone. The hay field once produced 180 tons per year. For several years it has been only about 30 tons and last year it was only 10 tons. This year with just the change in moisture it was up to 140 tons and that's after years of being organic and not using any synthetic fertilizer.

It was so muddy most of the Spring we couldn't even get all the Spring field work done. We left 40 acres unworked but the cows didn't mind gleaning it anyway. So, for similar reasons hay prices have fallen from over $200/ton to as low as $80/ton and grain fell from all time high down to the lowest in five years which made for an easier time feeding hogs and poultry. Unfortunately that's over now! Grain prices have risen about 45% in the last few months and I'm worried about the impact that will have on feed.

The hogs have been enjoying the freedom of the pasture all Summer. My wife kind of took over the pig nursery to incubate chicks so most of our baby pigs were born on range. I call them bush babies. Some of the sows were great range sows raising good sized litters out in the open. The same sows that didn't do so well farrowing in the barn during the Winter did poorly outside as well. Right now we have about 60 feeder pigs roaming around. Almost every evening they gather at a gate near the garden to see what goodies were tossed over the gate from the days gardening.

I found an abandoned baby pig about 2 weeks old almost dead on the range pasture so I took it to the house to see if my wife could revive it. Her Mother took over the job and for several days we didn't think the baby pig would make it. She kept the piglet at her side when sleeping and fed it milk with an eye dropper. After about a week the piglet started perking up. Soon it was a little terror chasing the dogs away till they hid in a closet and followed us around in the kitchen grunting for goodies. So now we have a pet pig. Had to explain that it must be moved outside as 600 pound pigs don't make good house pets but its still hanging out in our front yard and follows my wife around in the garden like a puppy.

I went to visit a nearby farm up north and noticed a friendly young horse wanting our attention while we were there so I asked about the horses status. The other farmer told me he wasn't worth much cause no one ever trained him. I asked if I could take him home. After some hesitation the other farmer said, "I'll make you a deal! See those two Llamas over there? If you take them too, you can take the horse." So I got the Llamas for nothing and now have them guarding the calves. The new horse, a fine young Arab gelding is now keeping our other lone remaining horse company. Now I'm thinking about how to find time to do some horse wrangling again. I'll let my Grandson be the Buckaroo!

What's Next? A Winter-Extended Season CSA Program

Winter Indoor Farmer's Markets are starting soon and we are rolling out a new Winter CSA!!! Never heard of such a thing? Well we haven't heard of one around here either. But we have heard of them in other places just as cold as our winter climate. Because of the great support from so many with the Summer Variety Meats and Produce/Eggs CSA Programs we decided to try to continue a CSA Program through the rest of the year. It will be a combination of Variety Meats, Veggies, and Eggs similar to what was offered separately during the Summer. Meat will be used to keep fair value when produce is more limited so the weather won't cause a loss of food quantity to the members. Hoop houses and a Modified Solar Greenhouse will be used to extend the season's produce and will be most plentiful at the beginning in early Fall and in late early Spring. To find out more and become a member please visit the web site and check out the CSA Programs.

Winter Indoor Markets??? Yes they exist and have been going on quietly for several years at the Main-street Community Building and at the Millwood Presbyterian Church Youth Center Building. This year the Thursday Market at Perry Street will start a new Winter Market at the Community Center. During the Winter we will deliver CSA Shares and market extra produce, eggs, and retail meat at Indoor Farmer's Markets. We'll also be delivering Turkeys to these locations for the Holidays.

Farm News June 1st

Sorry so long since the last news.

This is the busiest time of the year around the farm. The record breaking weather this Spring has kept us on our toes and caused some disruptions and delays. This is the first time since I started farming here in the dry land farming area that I've had to deal with delays due to mud and hurricane winds. Its been a mixed blessing.

Wanna Be Cowboy Stuff
We had 13 calves born this Spring including Curly's, and 5 others earlier in the year. So the calf crop has been great except for the one we lost to coyotes earlier. The heavy rains have been great for the cattle and they're already getting fat. In spite of this it didn't stop them from being impatient and thinking the grass was greener somewhere else.

While my wife and I had to visit the west coast on some family business they all decided to visit the neighbors. Its uncanny how this always seems to happen when we are away on a trip. Lucky for us my Grandson came out to check on things and discovered they were missing. Soon all the phone calls clued him in. A good neighbor tried to help and had tried to chase them back home. Unfortunately they went the wrong way and trampled the new lawn he had just seeded. My Grandson arrived and they all got exercise trying to chase the cows back home without success. I'm told they enjoyed returning to the new lawn and didn't mind that it had fresh young grass before they turned it into mud. Then my Grandson decided to deal with it like I do when leading the cows to new pasture.

He cut a hole in a perimeter fence like a gate and called them, "C'Mon Cows, C'Mon Cows!!!!" Soon the lead cow bellowed and came in his direction and the rest followed as he kept walking and they all followed him home. That's the best way to round up cows I know. It works on pigs as well.

Spring Hog Happenings:
All is going pretty well with the hogs and we have had several new litters of baby piglets. We have had a lot of Spring visitors this year and they always love to see baby pigs. One young boy was even brave enough to sit on my boar Rex like my Granddaughter did last time she was here for a visit. I've always noticed that horses, and now hogs are more tolerant of kids than us adults. I've seen a kid climb on a horses back and ride around without any tack or saddle and all was just fine. The next day a wrangler would try it and the same horse was a real handful to manage and staged a mini rodeo event. Thankfully the Berkshire breed is pretty tolerant to visitors. They've all been enjoying the spring pastures as well but they still keep putting away the feed grain. It kind of like teenagers eating you out of house and home.

The Garden and Produce/Eggs CSA Update:
Everyone has responded greatly and all shares are now spoken for. We're working hard to start the deliveries this coming week and we're in a panic making sure everything is ready. The weather has caused a lot of problems and several plantings have been frozen out requiring re-planting. In all we probably lost about a third of the potted plants ."SO" started back in late February when we had that predicted early warm and dry Spring weather. Then the volcanoes started blowing there tops in Iceland and all has been changing. At least that's my theory.

The extra homemade Hoop Houses we built have kept enough growing to meet minimum member deliveries. We want everyone to know we grow our garden organically the natural way. We actually grow plants in the dirt with compost fertilizers and allow unfiltered - untreated rain and well water irrigate plants that grow with real sunshine as has been done for thousands of years.

Something Unsettling:
A disturbing trend we have noticed lately is what seems to be a rise in the preferences for synthetically grown vegetables. These vegetables that look like they are cloned are grown in special chemical soups inside buildings similar to greenhouses but that are augmented with sophisticated computer climate-control cooling and heating systems along with massive special light fixtures substituting for good old fashioned sunlight. They call this "Hydroponic Farming"!

One of these factory style farms covering two acres costs about $250,000 as compared to two acres at our farm which cost roughly $800. Massive corporate advertising efforts would have us believe that this method of production is healthier, more nutritious, as well as a more environmentally friendly farming method. We are amazed that some health conscious consumers actually prefer this kind of produce to organic and naturally grown produce. The Hydroponic Industry considers this sterile test-tube-grown produce to be our best answer to producing food for the future. It's kind of like the promises of GMO and Livestock Factory farms.

Variety Meats CSA:
All is ready with fresh freezer wrapped meats I just picked up from the butcher last week. I am happy with the support for this program as well. The support we have received from our pre-order and CSA customers has kept this small farm business alive! Our customers have treated us way better than banks of the past that no longer exist to loan operating funds to independent small business or farmers. We would like everyone to consider this farm part theirs! We are very grateful!!!

KREM 2 Visit:
We had some special visitors from KREM 2 News. They did a story about processing and marketing local meat. Please go to our FaceBook for a link to the video. While the Camera Man was doing close ups of the pigs one came up so close it stuck it's nose into the camera lens and slimed it. Later while Jane McCarthy was doing the interview by the cattle my wife's pet Cow "Curly" decided the mic was a treat and kept sticking it's head between us and she had to keep pushing the head away. They didn't show these events. It was a good interview and should give folks some new insights.

Farmer's Markets:

• Millwood ( Wed, 3-7 PM)
• So. Perry Farmer's Markets (Thursday 3-7 PM).
  

We're also going to give another local Evening Market a try called "The Red Barn" Farmer's Market. It is just 2 mi's East of Davenport. We like evening markets because they give us a chance to harvest fresh that morning as well as time to our daily farm chores before we leave for market.

We look forward to seeing you all soon!

Gary

News Flash

Curly, my wife's pet heifer, had a baby boy born at 9:05 this evening, on Earthday. The calf is a boy about 86 Lb.'s. Really big for a first calf. She delivered it all by herself and is displaying all the traits of a good Mother.

As bonded as she is to my wife, and after quite a bit of my wife's investigating the calf, she finally had enough and put her head down and gently pushed my wife away; mooing at her in an irritated tone.

This will be our first American Kobe Beef calf. Gary

Farm News April 7th, 2010

Boy this has been a busy month! And what happened to our Globally Warmed early Spring? I guess we're getting payback now because of all the great weather we had while the rest of the nation was still in a deep freeze. We had to stop cultivating for a few days because the soil actually froze at night. Well, down to business with the news:

CSA Update:

Boy did we get a surprise! Soon as we went public with the two programs the response was just great! We now have 37 applicants for the Produce/Eggs CSA. As soon as a few remaining Members from last year, who indicated they'll be renewing, send in their renewals we'll be full up this season.

The new Meat - CSA offering I was worried about is also full up. It looks like this year we'll be busier than ever. Thank You All so much for your support!!! Knowing someone really wants your production and appreciates it makes such a tremendous difference to us and our outlook towards the farming work!

Wanna Be Cowboy Stuff:

I have been loving the evening and morning walks in the pasture to check on the potential new mother cows and was surprised last week by four calves born the same day. As I went out that morning I found two, then later that evening had to do a double take before I realized there we're two more of them, albeit completely different. All of them did great so I guess the coyotes were busy stalking the chickens.

Curly, the pet orphan calf from last year is still penned up as "SO" is wanting to supervise her delivery personally. It would be the end of the world around here if anything bad happened to this heifer who is practically a family member. She still thinks she's supposed to eat organic veggies from the garden with her hay and she has been getting our cull storage veggies all Winter from "SO's" daily visits. This critter actually comes running from far away when her name is called by my wife.

Good News and Tribulations with the Pig Operation:

Another Sow we call "Scrappy" had her second litter two days ago. This is the
second litter this month, and one of her sisters is sure to follow soon. The only big disaster happened the other day while I was cleaning and re-bedding a farrowing pen in the barn, which can be quite a chore in itself, and I made a big mistake. My wife came running into the house the next morning in a panic telling me there had been a flood and all the little pigs were drowning. Oh No!

My heart sank as I knew I must have left the water on all night. I rushed to the barn and found the indignant Sow standing in water over a foot deep and letting me know in some pretty distinctive grunts and desperate squeals that I was in big trouble! I couldn't see her little piglets anywhere so I sloshed thru the water looking and feeling everywhere for them with the Sow's continued scolding. The pen has a little raised platform in a warming box for when the piglets are first born during cold weather.. These piglets were much older but they had all crammed into the creep box for safety from the rising water. Happily they were all alive though a little wet.

I think they all learned to swim that night. They wouldn't leave the box and the Sow wouldn't leave them. I finally had to pick up each one individually and take them to safety with the mother scolding and threatening me each time till all eight were rescued. By that time I was more soaking wet than the pigs. The water had turned into some kind of pig soup slurry similar to sewage scum. I was cold and "So" wouldn't let me in the house until I took off all the scummy wet clothes leaving them outside . I was pretty cold by then but I guess I deserved it. That Sow is still scorning me and protesting every time she sees me.

Other Farm News and more Tribulations:

As you all know the weather has been a real challenge with a lot of extremes lately. Last week following a blast of heavy rain we had high winds also blast us. As I was walking back past the garden from feeding chickens a mini tornado came whipping-swirling buy and it hit two mini hoop houses (16 ft long by 4 ft high) and picked them up right beside me like kites and they flew about 50 feet before they dropped to the ground crashing to pieces. One of them just barely missed the new hoop house we built last year to help with the CSA. Amazing, but we lucked out except for two mini hoop house structures shattered into pieces. Freaky!

As I mentioned last time, my wife has potted plants growing everywhere around here by all the windows. When my Grandson and I finished building her a heated potting shed she just added more. In the bunkhouse, that we now use for a multipurpose building, she set up a couple tables for plants next to a large window facing the yard and morning sun. Well, following one of those rain storms my Grandson went inside to dry off with his border collie pup companion. Later when I called him out he left the dog inside to dry off and the next thing we knew the pup had jumped up onto the tables barking at us through the window as to not leave him. He jumped up and down on all the started plants and crushed all the jiffy peat pots scattering the potting soil all over the place. A real potted plants disaster!

When "SO" saw the mess she almost cried and I thought we were going to be enduring her wrath any minute. Well lucky for us my wife loves border collie dogs and they can do no harm! However we were scolded severely for not taking better care of the poor lonely puppy!

With that I better move on till next time. All this didn't happen on April Fool's Day but it should have! Pray for me!

CSA News March 3rd, 2010

Its been about a month since I let you all know what's coming in the new season for the CSA Program and here is the latest:

"SO" has completed cleaning up and preparing the garden and I have the roto tiller ready to go. Just about every window sill is loaded with potted plants. She trying to talk me into building a new greenhouse just for starting plants. I hope I can find time and funds to do it for her as I am already having trouble keeping her away from seed displays at the stores. Also, we made an application for a special program of the USDA for organic farmers to get a large 30 x 70 ft Hoop House.

Announcement:

On the afternoon of March 20th, from 12:30 - 4:30, there will be a CSA - Open House again at the Community Building lobby, 35 W. Main. That's right across from the new Main Market Coop Store. If you know anyone who wants to check out the 'ins' and 'outs' of CSA programs please let them know. If you have any questions or comments for the coming season please come by to visit us. We plan to open up for more new members at this event and the details of the 'Meat CSA' will also be in print and on the web site by this time. We will also have a display of an actual sample Meat CSA delivery.

So far we have been holding spaces open for last year's members and 17 have asked to join up with us again this year. Twelve have already sent in the Membership Form and sign up fee. We hope to get confirmation from the rest by March 20th! We're really grateful and thrilled with this support.

If you wish to sign up please visit our site at http://www.rockyridgeranchspokane.com/contact_order.php and download the CSA order form. Also please mark on the form that you were referred by the blog.

We look forward to seeing you all!!!!

Gary

Farm News 24 Feb

INTRODUCTION:

Spring is here for sure and we love it. It has been nice hearing from many of our customers from last year asking about CSA and spring farm visits. You can visit our farm anytime we are here. Unlike some factory farms we have nothing to hide.

LOCAL FARMER'S MARKETS:

In past years we sold farm products at five different farmer's markets. We've had a lot of good experiences and made good friends, as well as profitable sales. However, for the last two years table sales at the Farmer's Markets have been falling off drastically. In my view the continued financial viability of the markets is in doubt. We are very thankful to the CSA program and our other loyal repeat customers from past years. Otherwise we would not have been able to continue being a vendor at local markets!

In my view there are numerous reasons for the downturn:

• The economy has forced many consumers to be thriftier and preferences to buy healthier, fresher, and local food products have been compromised by many to save funds.

• The National Organic Program has made it possible for the giant corporate factory farms to produce so called ‘organic certified’ products in mass production, often at overseas locations, and ship them in vast quantities all over the country.

• More folks are opting to grow their own gardens; as was done in the past, and if they have the knowledge, time, and space, I feel it is a good thing. The same for Community Gardens which are also on the upswing. Soon, all but the most avid gardeners will appreciate the local small farmers a lot more for what they do.

• The physical sites for the markets have been threatened. For the past two years the Washington Department of Revenue has decided to put a special real estate tax on community farmer's markets located on church properties. Others have been displaced by construction and traffic problems. For some reason local government support of farmer’s markets is minimal in this area. In many other communities around the world market facilities are sponsored as a public service by local governments.

• A vast array of special permit and insurance fees has also added to the burdens of the market vendors.

• Sponsorship of the Farmer's Market WIC and Senior Nutrition Program funding has substantially declined from their levels a few years ago.

Much more could be said about all these issues but my point is if small farms are to survive in the present economy your support of Farmer's Markets is needed now more than ever! We plan to continue being a vendor at Farmer's Markets again this year for social reasons more than financial.

CSA NEWS:

So far we are thankful that nearly half the Membership spaces have been filled. One very nice person heard about us and signed up from Hamburg, Germany! He paid in advance for a whole season for both the Produce and the Meat CSA programs and his family will be moving to Spokane this Spring. "SO" has already planted three of the hoop houses, cleared all the old vegetation from half the garden, and started planting potted plants. We have been encouraged to apply for a new 30 x 70 ft High Tunnel Hoophouse under a grant program sponsored by USDA. It is our belief that this program was influenced by the First Lady's White House Garden's example of Hoop House Uses. If this happens, we plan to add more CSA Members in the future. Next month we will be opening up CSA Membership to new customers.

LIVESTOCK:

One more sweet little baby calf was born a few days ago, but unfortunately we also lost another to a coyote attack during the night. Coyotes seem to have really been on the increase this spring. We think it’s because of all the field mice left over from the last two years that were protected by the snow cover and the mild weather this year giving the coyotes an advantage. We will be moving the cows with the spring calves onto new fresh spring native green pastures this week. I'm in the market for a guard Lama as they’re great at protecting little calves from predators.

The Gilt that "SO" saved from the butcher last Fall now has a nice litter of 8 great little Berkshire piglets. Now she's officially a Sow! Chalk it up to a woman's intuition! I’ll be taking some fully grown feeder pigs for processing this week and that leaves all the pigs sold through June. We will then have many more available. All of this goes back to when the Boar broke down the gate between him and the Sows I was holding for later. Now we'll have a little overproduction for June and July, and I just fixed that gate a few days ago. The Pigs are all enjoying fresh spring grass.

Our early season grass is considered a noxious weed by our neighboring wheat farmers. It's commonly called cheat grass and grows in first and then last during years of cold conditions. If it is not grazed later the seed has little stickers that cause problems. If you've lived around here for awhile I’m sure you have had the joy of picking it out of your socks after a summer hike. Soon another native weed grass called bulbes blue grass joins the cheat grass. By the way, they are both very nutritious.

Starting another batch of pullets, ‘baby hens’ my wife calls them. She's almost as bad as a mother hen while taking care of them. Our egg production and shell quality have improved since the laying hens have been able to enjoy this great weather. They’re gleefully running around fighting over every worm they can find but, sorry, there are still not enough eggs to supply everyone who wants them. However, we have another 100 or so pullets that should start laying next month. More pee wee and small eggs for awhile soon.

During a trip to CostCo today I saw a seasoned and rotisserie cooked chicken for a price less than we charge for a pound for our meat chickens. Also the cost was for less than the feed costs me to grow a chicken. I can only imagine what they feed them! No wonder a guy called me the other day and insulted me with negative words about my integrity when I told him our price. They call them "Kirkland" chickens but used to call them "Tyson" chickens. We call ours "Lobster Chickens" because of how good we think they taste. But I'm sorry to say that because of slow sales we will only grow meat birds for those who pre-order from now on. May have a few left over now and then but market sales are to slow to grow them without pre-orders.

FIELD WORK:

I started servicing cultivation and seeding equipment this week. Ever wonder how machinery can quit working or break when just sitting for a year? Every Spring I plant what I call a ‘Salad Bar’ forage mix. Typically it is comprised of Oats, Peas, Sunflowers, Flax, Turnips, Canola, and a few other annuals. It’s great for maintaining cattle condition through the summer after the range grasses get dry and brittle. The first time I did this other farmers said your cattle will bloat up and die if they eat something like that. It has never happened, but it produces some awfully good beef! Pigs get to eat some too.

Well as usual things a little busy around here so I better get ready for another day.

Gary

Spring 2010 - Farm News

Introduction:

If you have been wondering why there hasn't been an update since last Christmas its because we've sort of been hibernating. But we can't stand it any longer. The beautiful early Spring has ended our Cabin Fever and pulled us outside to do some early Spring chores to start getting ready for the new season.

I figure this year we're going to have to do spring work at least a month early to take advantage of the moisture while its here. I expect a hot dry Summer but one thing I've learned farming here for the past three decades is that the weather is always unpredictable.

Garden News:

"SO" plans to plant the first hoop house with cool weather veggies next week and after that she'll start on the indoor potted plant starts. The seed catalogs have started to arrive along with the poultry catalogs for baby chicks. Somebody else must be thinking the same as me. "SO" has been enjoying watching her Korean TV programs all Winter.

They have a small farms documentary everyday that is one of her favorites. She's been getting all kinds of ideas to keep me busy helping her in the garden setting up new things. I've watched some of the programs and hoop houses are real hi-tech over there.

The project I like best is a set up to grow strawberries out of holes in vertical tubes set up in the hoop house. Promises to deliver more berries for a longer season. If it works for us I won't have to feel so guilty when I eat the Lion's share of our berries every week.

CSA Information:

We sent out a CSA Newsletter earlier this week to alert folks to sign up early to make sure they have a subscription share available again this season. We already have ten Members signed up. This year we also plan to offer a CSA for a variety of beef, pork, poultry, and misc meat portions. It will offer the advantage of fresh local healthy meat for a price more economical than retail. It'll be delivered in portions weekly so storage space in most refrigerators should be able to handle it. Both programs will offer a half-share for those with small families. If you haven't been a member before just send me an e-mail requesting to go on the Standby List.

Poultry News:

Demand for our eggs has exceeded our supply all Winter. Good thing we started new Layer Pullets last Fall that will be laying soon. Plan to start more chicks for pullets next month and we have actually had some folks drive out here in the muddy conditions to make sure they get some of our eggs.

Because of demand last Fall we plan to raise twice as many Turkey's, more Geese, and some Meat Ducks for the Holidays. Some of the turkeys will be ordered early for those who want really big ones. We still have a small flock of egg laying ducks and we will still grow some Broiler/Fryers for those who pre-order but plan to minimize those we sell at market. Unfortunately we've had to raise the prices to keep up with feed costs.

Beef Happenings:

Had the first Spring calf born three days ago. One of the young heifers we saved last year was the mother and she did a very good job of mothering with no help. The new calf is a nice big girl, got on her feet in minutes and down to business to get that milk. Hope the rest goes as well.

Because of the drought and high hay prices last Fall I had to retire most of my older cows so we kept all the young heifers for Spring calves. We also kept all the steers for Fall sales but have less to sell this year. I noticed in the classifieds that a lot of local growers are trying to sell direct now and also and for rock bottom prices. I can only say, "Buyer Beware!"

I will not be lowering my prices because I want to try to weather this economy and stay in business growing quality and healthy beef for my loyal customers. Besides, the day I have to stop growing cows is when my wanta-be dreams of being a Cowboy will be dashed. If that happens, I'll be kicking off my boots and retiring.

Berkshire Pigs:

They have been eating me out of house and home. Hope sales go well because our budget has been maxed out feeding all the new piglets. Just finished selling and processing 12 hogs last month. Some of the orders we're from the West Coast so my wife got to go visit the Korean Mall at Federal Way where I made the pork deliveries over there.

Also visited two of our boys and grand daughters. Then "SO" made a pig out of herself buying a truck load of Korean ethnic food stuffs. She said I could consider it her Anniversary gift . We just had our 32nd anniversary!

Most of the feeder pigs are sold until June so things seem to be going well. Did two hogs for retail at the market and over half the cuts are already gone. The pork quality has just been fantastic and we have received a lot of great comments. Have enough other feeder pigs to fill orders till Fall. I'm doing my best to keep "Rex" and his buddy away from the sows till I get more orders for the rest of the Summer.

At two years old his back is 44 inches high. Could weigh over 800 Lbs. He still chases after me when he sees me in the pasture. Its a little intimidating! But he just still wants his ears scratched.

Went to the WA State Annual Pig Growers Conference Yesterday. It is sponsored by WSU. I must say it is strongly biased in favor of industrial growing methods . There was a local group of 4-h and FFA kids brought in for a class on raising Project Pigs. The Instructor spent half the class telling the kids how to use a hormone on the pigs to speed up growth. This same hormone has been banned in Europe and many other states. I just go to see what the other side is up to and shake my head in disappointment.

We've had our calamities this Winter dealing with the snow and mud but we've been thankful because of memories of how miserable it was last year. Besides the bright Sun outside the last few days has us looking forward to another season of farming. We thank our customers that make it possible to keep doing it!