Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We hope tha everyone has a great turkey day! As a family we are very fortunate in a time of poor economics to have close family and friends, and great jobs. We are very thanksfull for all that has happened this past year: the birth of Jay(Concord Baby), The purchasing of our farm, the bounty of food that our farm has given us, economically secure employment, and meeting of many new friends and oppertunities. May all be safe and enjoy their travels. Safe hunting and the best of luck to those Ohio Shot gun hunters next week! Below are some of our turkey day pictures, our finished dinner, sweet potatoes, pie making, finished pies, awesome pie! (Yes, Yummmm, homemade Pumpkin pie, made with pumpkins we grew!!!)

Fall Work

Fall work is finally on the home stretch, if thats possible to say on a farm. We have been trying to finish up many tasks: firewood, the barn, the pig pen, fencing and helping neighbors with their fall work. We have finally stock piled enough fire wood, I think. We finished roofs on both the barn and the pig pen. We (Matt, Justin and I) have been digging post holes with the 2 man auger, then I set and tamp the posts and hang barb wire, alot still to go. The wood stove is working out well, we are finally figuring out temperature control, sometimes it gets as hot as 85 'F in the house. Heres some Fall pics.

Congrats Joey and Kristi

On Saturday Nov 1, Joey and Kristi said their vows. What a joyous occasion. Congrats, our best wishes go out to you.

Happy First Birthday Jay!

Saturday the 8th was Concord Babys First Birthday! Wow this last year has gone so fast. Jay has grown leaps and bounds, hes now walking, I mean terrorizing anything and everything. We are so lucky to have such caring and supportive friends and family. The party had a great turn out, what a great time to be had by all. Thanks to everyone! Attached are some other little boy pictures, this is a Concord Baby update.
Other Pictures: Playing outside during fence work, Halloween Costume (horse), Messy Eating

Our Newest Venture

Pork has been on my mind since we got the house, now its a reality. Well actually it was reality in August, it has just taken me a while to write about them. We are raising 2 "test" pigs to set our prices for future raised freezer pork, and give us time to figure out a set up that will work for us. We purchased hampshire crosses, much like the ones pictured below. They are both putting on weight, and will hopefully be ready for butcher by February. Pork updates to come.

Early Fall Hike

On saturday we decided to visit Burr Oak State Park and hike along the lake. The leaves have not all quite changed color, but within a few weeks, Fall colors will be abundant throughout our Southeastern Ohio region. Over the past few years of living within a few miles of the lake has made it perfect for a quick trip and has become one of our favorite family visits. We greatly enjoy the views and being near the water. Concord Baby loves the water, next summer will be so fun! Soon we will have a boat, that has been sitting unused and looking for a caring family, donated by Hoffmans. Below are pictures of our trip. Feel free to check out the great links on our blog.

Firewood

Firewood is name of the game. With propane prices already outrageous, and still climbing, wood heat is the best option for us. Wood heating will be very time/ work intensive, but we can cut all wood from our wood lot, meaning its cost less $$, and trees are a renewable resource. As for cutting trees, we have only cut trees that were already dead, or needed cut for safety reasons(like in previous Blog Post). With help from Concord Family and Friends we cut and hand split of 75% of our wood this year (roughly 3 cords). The rest was split with a log splitter at a communal wood cutting/ splitting party at my neighbors, in which we all got a share of the wood (Wood hauled home on the hay wagon, load x 2). We will soon find out if 4.5-5 cords of split wood will last us the winter, setting our base line for coming years. The Farmers Almanac has predicted a harsh winter, Warm wishes from our family to yours! Below are some pictures of our wood cutting adventures. Yes even Concord Baby helped.