Fall 2011

Fall 2011 in in full swing. A busy summer season. We welcome a new member to the family: Isaac, born in July. We baled alot of hay this summer both round and square.

The garden did well. We were able to preserve the bounty by canning. It was a constasnt struggle against weeds this year, though.

Winter rapidly approaching; we need to get more fire wood stored up. Barn is full of hay. Basement shelves stacked with canned goods. Freezer with meat-- and hopefully deer soon.

Jay started school this fall, he is growing so fast. Isaac is growing fast. More updates to come. Above are a couple of pics from this season.

And dont forget, check us out on Facebook; it gets updated more frequently.

Spring 2011

Spring 2011 is in full swing! Even more so, when the rain slows... Well its been quite a while; I seem to update our facebook page more often, since its so easy. So please check us out there, I eill attempt to update more. Jay is growing fast, 3 /12 now. Another one on the way, a boy. Barn is up, roof in place, yet to be sided. Building more permanent fence. Built portable "chicken tractor" for our flock. Have a broody hen with 10 chicks in a small broody coop we built. Corn fields 1/2 ready to plant. Still need to fix: hay maul floor, hay wagon top, haybine for hay season.

Summer

All is well. Very busy. Please check out our Facebook page for weekly updates. All of first cut hay is done. Sold one cow; soon to sell one heifer (8-28); 2 beef steers for sale. Firewood is in progess; winter will be here soon. Barn completed soon I hope. Barn pics to come soon.

June Update

Happy Birthday Concord Mom. June update is short. Life is busy, and were slowing down the farm. Looking forward to camping this week. Then hope to start making hay the following week. Barn progress is slow, due to weather and work. Below is a red Dexter heifer, growing well. Try to update later with more pics.

April Update

Above was this mornings calf. Spring actually here. Green grass and all. Barn building is in progress and hay season will be upon us soon.

Spring is here!

Spring is here and the weather is warming. Hogs were processed and sold, thank you. We have 2 new calves on the farm with one cow yet to calve. Plans are brewing fast for the new barn, I hope to order lumber this week. We recently bought a hay rake. And were planning the spring garden. We dont get to blog as much as we wish, with work changes (Stations and shift). But we'll try to keep this updated as much as possible.

Feeding Winter Hay

Pig Process Dates

The dates are set! Pigs are to go: 5 on February 25 and 4 on March 3. I will be contacting buyers soon. We will need to get paperwork completed. Thanks to all, there is a waiting list for pork and pigs in next batch, get your name on it today.

Also check us out on Facebook, search for: Concord Meadows Farm.

2010 Farm Goals

1. Have fun, enjoy family and seasons. Spend as much time possible with Jay and Cayla. We bought a camper last year and intend to use it more this year. Maybe get down to one job?

2. Firewood. Without this we would have no heat. A major priority; spread out makes it easy. The shed was completed last year, which makes storing it easy. Now just for cutting and splitting, we went 1/3's on a log splitter with both neighbors. This works great.

3. Build Barn. The current plan is for a 30 ft x 48 ft x 12 ft high. Starting when weather breaks.

4. Finish Spare Bedroom. This was actually at one point a bedroom, turned bathroom in the '70s. Its is completely gutted with some wiring issues that need attention. Then dry wall and put down new sub floor, padding and carpet.

5. Garden and Canning. We want to be more efficient with the garden. Grow a few more things. We have decided against sweet corn. This is because it takes up so much room, we will continue to buy as in previous years; plus this helps support another local farm. Last year we got a pressure canner. This expediates the process and allows for more products to be canned.

6. Kitchen Floor- Fix and Finish. Some repairs are needed to be done on kitchen floor. It is sinking in one section. (Our house is very, very old!) We also want to pull up ugly kitchen carpet and refinish the original hardwood floor.

7. Garage Door. We need a new one, it has been in disrepair since we bought the house. Opening only by hand, and difficult at that.

8. Expand Cow herd. We want some registered Dexters in the mix. Also want to buy some small frame Angus cows to breed to our Dexter bull.

9. Fence. More fence row clearing to finish up. And fence to build.

10. 220 Volt Electricity in Garage. Wiring is in place, jus needs connected. When we had the backhoe last year for pasture water lines we also put in the underground electric wire to the garage. We currently have 110 volt overhead line out to garage.

Compare to 2009 Goals:
http://concordmeadowsfarm.blogspot.com/2009/09/farm-goals-2009-update.html

Snow!

Jay is loving the snow! We went sledding yesterday for about 30 minutes. We currenlty have about 5" of snow on pic nic table this morning. 1-3 " more snow coming tomorrow.

Firewood supply used approx 1/2 (actually a little less) but doing well. Maybe this year we'll get ahead?

Snow doesnt seem to phase the pigs much. They are growing, ready in Beginning of February.

Anyone interested my neighbor has for sale: 1984 Ford f250, 4x4, Cab/ chasis. 302. 4spd. Runs good, 4x4 works. Will need gas tank (current one works, rusted on top). Using for farm/ firewood truck- began to build flatbed. Willing to part out. $450 obo. Email me.

Note: Prayers please, for Grandma P she was diagnosed with stomach cancer yesterday. Thanks.

December 2009

We hope everyone had a joyful and safe holiday! Here are some December highlights:

The Deer hunting crew: Chris, Me, Kyle, Kevin.Cooking Chili on the wood stove... Our first power outage of the winter, at least we have heat!

Mamma, Jay, Santa (Papa)Jay's new bike (witha horn)- What a Happy Christmas Jay playing with gifts at grandmas.

A Day in the Life

A day in my life. For all farmers their regimen differs... each to their own.
My Typical Winter day:

08:00am Get off work
09:00am Get home
09:30am Chores (Feed- Water Animals)
10:00am Breakfast
11:00am- Various work (move firewood to porch, haul hay, fence, fix broken things, etc....)
12:30pm Lunch
Afternoon-More various work- Jay is usually with me, my little shadow.
6:00pm Dinner (My wife cooks great homemade food; usually all food raised by us!)
7:00pm Enjoy evening home
10:00pm Bed
1:30am-ish Stoke up wood Stove (usually once per night)
5:00am-ish Stoke up wood stove (*Really cold nights, twice*)
6:00am Wake up- check Wood Stove, watch Weather Channel...Coffee!
6:30am Chores (Feed- Water Animals)
7:00am Leave for work

As many know, my weekly schedule follows a constant rotation, here it is :

Day 1- 08 am- 08 am- 24 Hrs @ Station 2
Day 2- Off 08 am -03 pm; 3 pm Drive to GC; Firehouse 6pm- 8am
Day 3- OFF (Day above)
Day 4- 08 am- 08 am- 24 Hrs @ Station 2
Day 5- OFF- At home (Similar farm day schedule)
Day 6- OFF- At Home (Similar farm day schedule)
Day 7- Schedule Above starts over, with Day 1.... Predictable year round.

*Note: Chores and work change with seasons. IE: rotating grazing cows to new pasture; fixing/ preparing hay equipment; Haying (mowing, raking, baling, hauling, selling); Garden; etc...)*
*Picture is from last winter*

November Photo Update

This is a photo update.Pre- Trick or Treat @ EMS Station(above). Carved pumpkin. (below) Below Jay helping me work on my truck in the shop.Kyle and Chris came to the farm for youth gun season. Kyle shot a doe. Chris and I saw many deer, maybe we'll get 'em next time.

Below is pictures of processing the deer ( Yes we do it ourselves (year #5 for self butchering)). Kenny and Jay working hard grinding meat. We can usually process in about 2-3 hours total, with help. This saves us $50-$100 dollars; per deer. Note: Cayla and I have to buy no license per OH law because we are land owners; so no $ invested in license either. Cheap, Tasty, healthy, lean meat. Oh, how I look forward to Sloppy Does. (Does...Joes, LOL!)

Happy Thanksgiving & safe travels to all!

2010 Homesteading Today Calender Update

First of all Concord Boy turned the big #2 last week, wow he's growing fast! On another note- The Homesteading Today (HT) 2010 Calenders are in print. As you may know the photos in the calender are voted on by HT members. See this link for more info on HT: http://concordmeadowsfarm.blogspot.com/2009/10/2010-homesteading-today-calender.html . Photos of our farm were chosen for two months: July and December. The calenders are for sale here (Paypal accepted) : http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=330759 .

Above is a random summer pictures (keeps me thinking green, as its getting cold).

100 Mile Locavore Challange on TV

There is a new show on Discovery Channels Planet Green called "100 Mile Challange". This show is about local eating. The participants can only eat food grown within 100 miles of their home. Here is a link to the show. It is on on Monday nights. This is reality "Animal, Vegetable Miracle."- Kingsolvers book and memoir of being a "locavore" for one full year. Link:

planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/100-mile-challenge

October Update

October is going well, after a week of cold/ flu sickness everyone is up and back to normal. We have been cutting and splitting more firewood, we are actively using the wood stove nearly 24/7. Below is a view of cows in pasture during fall color.
The hogs are doing very well, growing well. Below is a photo me building their new hog house which is on skids so it can be pulled by a tractor to rotation graze.

Here is a photo of the new house in the pig pen (1/2 of our garden) where the pigs are harvesting the garden leftovers. And turning the soil. Below Jay watching his pigs (they're names are "Bacon"- that what he calls them).

Here is one of the calves which are being weaned in the barn and is currently for sale.

Congrats!!! 60TH Anniversary in Family

This past week we travelled to S.C. to watch my grandparents renew thier 60th Wedding vows. What a great time had by all. Here are some photos. Congrats Grandma and Grandpa on 60 years of marriage!!

2010 Homesteading Today Calender!!!

We entered a few pictures for review and voting by members of the Homesteading Today Online community. This is a "Forum" or group of folks with similar ideals, a common place to congregate online and ask questions and get answers and advice. There are according to the site 21,000 Members; only 3,500 active Members. Link: http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/

Of the pictures that we entered, 2 were chosen for next years (2010) Calender. There was approx 90 pictures to vote from. Below the chosen pictures. Info will be updated as to what month these will be, and where they maybe for sale.

Slate Run Historical Farm Visit

On Sunday we visited Slate Run Historical Farm- run by Metro Parks. It is a fully functioning 1880's farm in Canal Winchester, OH. The farm is very activity filled with much to see. Please check out this link: http://friendsofslaterunfarm.org/home . What an outlook of the primitive ways of farming a century ago. As you can see Jay loved every minute!

Wedding in the Family

Congrats to George and Natalie! They were wed this past Saturday. What a great time had by all. Best wishes to them.