The following is one of our newsletter emails. Want our farm updates sent to your inbox? Sign up here!
Spring is BY FAR our favorite season.
Many years ago, my grandparents planted an apple tree in front of their house, and enjoyed the harvested fruit for years. It has since become a bit too large and needs pruned (it is nearly as tall as our house!). White flowers laced with pink specs now cover this tree, with petals blowing in the wind after each of these recent spring storms. We used several bushels of apples from this tree to make our homemade apple butter last year. God-willing, if the frost holds off, we’ll get an incredible harvest for this year’s batch as well.
Tending to 200 chickens has also been an adventure this year. I made reference previously that I switched breeds this year, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. This slower-growing breed of chicken has been much more active, better at foraging (key to pasture-raised chicken), easier to move daily, and so much healthier. To put into perspective, last year, I had nearly a 20% mortality rate with Cornish-Cross chickens. I chalk this up to inexperience, hot weather, and a much more fragile breed. However, this isn’t unheard of in a pasture-raised environment with Cornish-Cross. Even experienced growers report 10+% mortality rate. This year with Freedom Rangers, mortality has been under 4%, which is better than the large CAFO’s. This adds to lower overall cost of production per bird, and I’m thrilled about it. Not to mention, it gives me a bit more confidence in my chicken-farming ability. Granted, on May 30th, the chickens will have a 100% mortality rate, but at least it will be intentional. Admittedly, I’ll miss them, but won’t miss the mornings of carrying feed and water to them in the dark, then showering and being on the road to work by 6am.
Last year, we planted 15 rhubarb plants in the ground, and another 30+ in small pots to keep them alive. None of them will be big enough to harvest anything substantial this year for jam, but we can’t wait to source all of our rhubarb on our farm.
In 2024, we’re going all out. On top of chickens, jam, and soap, we’re adding produce. Tomatoes, Peppers, Cucumbers, Melons, Green Onions, Carrots, Green Beans, and much more are on our docket. It may end up being too much to handle, but we’re giving it the ‘ole college try.
The 2024 Celina Farmers’ Market begins on May 4! We finally got our application in, and are on the vendor list. We’ll see you soon!
Adam