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Hi Everyone,
What a whirlwind of a week! We ate, we slept, we worked, and we played . . . and yes, I am totally exhausted. When we were done milking the cows Monday morning Papa and I played musical pens with some heifers. We had two young heifers (Next and Lacy) that are 6 months and 7 months old and they needed to be weaned—but there were three heifers (Aria, Fiesta, and Ellie) that are close to being two years old—and they are hogging all the feed in the heifer zone. So we couldn’t wean the two calves until we took away the three older heifers and put them in with the bull. Setting up to put the heifers in with the bull and all the other milk cows went real smooth. Separating the calves makes for great journaling. Papa strung hotwire from the heifer field to the cattle pens, and then he let the two calves out (we had separated them the night before, so that part was easy). Papa walked behind the calves and herded them toward me and the gate into the heifer field. The calves got within 10 feet of the gate and one decided to duck under the hotwire and run all over pasture. Papa and I tried to chase her back toward the heifer field—but she was a hungry calf and she beelined it for the field where her mama was and jumped the wire to get in and nurse. Papa decided to go ahead and let the other one back in also and let them nurse, for he said that we would never get them away from their mama’s until their bellies were full. So while the calves nursed, Papa put out some hay and I piddled in the garden. Once the calves’ bellies were full we managed to separate them pretty easily and walked them back down the lane to the heifer field. It was almost 1:00 when we finished and I was thankful that Mama had lunch almost done because I had garden help arriving at 1:00.
I spent the afternoon in the garden with Hannah and her two daughters. They helped broadfork some beds so that we could plant lemon squash, zucchini, and green beans. We also weeded some beds and transplanted some lettuce. The collards are starting to bolt, and some lettuces had grown bitter so we pulled up a lot of plants and they were more than excited to take the bountiful “harvest” to the chickens. I wish I had gotten a video of one of the girls holding a collard plant by the roots and the chicken eating the leaves off the other end.
I spent Tuesday morning potting up roselle hibiscus, two kinds of tomatoes, and some Greek peppers. Then I started a new tray of lettuce seeds. I am once again on my quest to see just how long I can grow lettuce. Knowing which kinds like heat better than others helps a little. I am leaning more toward the romaine right now, but one of my favorites that I have been growing this year is called “Concept”. It is a cross between a Batavian and a Romaine—and one of the customer comments said that it was the only lettuce that she could depend upon in Florida summers. I just might have found me a summer lettuce. I sure hope so.
Around 1:00 Mama called me inside for lunch and to finish making the yogurt before our egg party at 2:00. Egg party—yes that is what we call it because we have a family of about seven people come and help us every Tuesday to package the weeks’ worth of eggs. We used to do it by ourselves and it would take us all day, then we met another large family and they helped us for about two years before they moved away. Then the Tavernari family came to help us and have been with us for about the last five years. The have also helped us every other Friday most of the year to process our chickens. Good things do not last forever, and last week we were informed that this would be their last month to help us. Most of the time, we swapped eggs for “egg packaging help;” and chickens for “chicken processing help”. It looks like we are going to need to find more help real soon—and not just to help package eggs and process chickens. Our full time farm help, Steve, has also informed us that he will soon be swapping from full time to part time—he plans on “retiring” in a few months when he turns 64. It all sends our minds into a whirlwind for we know full too well that this farm cannot be run 100% by just the three of us. How to find help— we know not and what kind of help to find— we know not. Whether we find another family to help us, another full time worker, or some interns we are not sure which direction to go—but Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” So we shall see where the Lord leads, and how He provides.
Tuesday Papa and Steve spent time cleaning out all the “loose” items from the Brooder shed and the Feed Room shed. On Wednesday Mama and I (with some help from others) moved out everything from the Milk House. Demo was ready to begin on the Milk House and we had to get everything moved over to the Poultry Kitchen. Thankfully we are not processing chickens right now, for the building is quite cluttered with everything that belongs in the Milk House, Brooder, and some of the Feed Room. By Wednesday night the inside of the Milk House was completely gutted with the door and windows removed. By the time I finished milking the cows Thursday morning all that was left of the Milk house was the back section where the loft was. Mama got a video of that demo. I would have loved to have videoed that whole demo—but we (Papa and I) had decided against getting up at 5:00 in the morning so that we could milk the cows first thing before any demo started. I had my regrets when I didn’t get to video, and when the cows got stressed with all the noise and pooped all over me and my last two refused to come in until the skid-steer went into hiding for a little bit. By Thursday night there was nothing left of the Milk House except for the concrete floor, some wooden skids buried in the concrete, the electrical box, and the cooler/freezer that was attached to the back of the Milk House.
A lot of the things are rotten—so a giant dumpster with a very empty stomach was parked on the side of the barn so that we could feed it all the trash. May I say that it is now stuffed to the gills! Not everything was rotten though, and the two items that were not rotten we salvaged to finish another project. A few years ago when we moved our woodshed from the woods to up near our house, the goal was to add a front porch and a lean-to roof. Knowhow and money prevented this from happening until now, and Papa’s brilliant brain came up with the idea to make it happen. The “porch” roof on the front of the Milk House was just attached to the wall, and it was in good condition—so Papa said that we would put it on the front of the woodshed. Then between the Brooder House and the Feed Room was a boardwalk that was only a few years old—so Papa said that it would become the porch to the woodshed. While I spent my afternoon harvesting and gathering all the ingredients for the chef to pick up for Saturdays Farm to Table dinner, Mama and Papa spent their afternoon downsizing the deck and roof and getting them put into their new location. The deck was a lot easier than the roof—and it took Steve’s help too. When our day was over we all collapsed on the new porch and took an afternoon (or should I say early evening for it was 5:00) siesta.
They say that February is Lover’s month, but if you ask me it should be April. I sat at the breakfast table Friday watching two cowbirds, two mockingbirds, and two bluebirds make their nests. The cow birds are making their nest in the end of our house, and they were very quickly flying back and forth to the cow field to get a mouth full of hay. The bluebirds are making their nest in our birdhouse in the back yard and the mockingbirds were making a nest in the blackberry briars behind the bluebird’s birdhouse. Every once in a while the mocking bird would be a little bit bullish and drive the bluebirds off of their house and stand “King of the Mountain” on top of their birdhouse, and the bluebirds would patiently wait on the clothesline with their beaks full of blades of dried grass. The other reason why I think that April should be Lover’s month is because all the roses are in full bloom in April—only hot house roses are blooming in February. I spent Sunday evening getting a “Spring has Sprung” video short and I captured quite a few rose shots—along with edible yummies in the garden, baby chicks and baby lambs.
Friday was spent picking up our Azure order and getting ready for the Farm to Table dinner. Mama spent most of her day mowing. This time of the year you are not mowing grass—but weeds. I spent time running the dishwasher a million times (three to be exact) to wash all the dishes needed for the dinner. Then I had to wash all the tables and tablecloths down. When we had our Farm Tour day two weeks ago we had put the red check vinyl tablecloths on the picnic tables—but had never gotten around to washing them off and putting them away. Now we had to—no ifs, ands or buts about it. Papa helped me by washing down the seats and giving the top of the tablecloth the first wash down. Then I washed them up real good, let them dry, and then folded them up and put them away. I was ready to drop when I was done with that—but I still had to harvest the kale, Swiss chard, Garlic chives, and Spinach for the dinner. When that was done I had to cook dinner.
If there is one thing that I have finally learned after six Farm to Table dinners it is to make time early to get the floral arrangements done. The first four dinners found me scrambling to gather the flowers as the guests were arriving. The last dinner I picked the bouquet just as soon as I was done milking, but they were real simple because I really had no flowers but the narcissus which are beautiful, but quite smelly—so I picked bouquets of parsley. This time the snapdragons and the ranunculus were in full bloom and as soon as I got Papa on his way to Gainesville I headed to the garden. I was grateful for the “fridge” trick for the snapdragons and the feathery flowering cilantro got a little droopy in the heat. They perked up real nice after spending a few hours in the walk-in cooler. Then there were napkins to iron—for spring we use my Great-grandmothers and Great-Aunts vintage white decorative napkins. I got some napkins ironed while Mama was setting the tables, but when Steve finished washing all the milking equipment then I had to go over and start washing all the kale, spinach, Swiss chard and lettuce for the dinner. Mama finished the ironing. The two ladies who help the chefs arrived just as I was starting to wash so they could help by spinning out the greens—I was thankful for I would never had been done on time without them.
At 4:00 the people began arriving and we had the chance to nibble on some stuffed eggs, and some semolina sourdough crostini’s topped with homemade ricotta cheese made from our milk. Then we took a hay ride around the farm and the highlight of the hayride was when Papa caught up a week old lamb and put it up in the wagon for everyone to hold and pass around. Of course the ladies and girls were excited to hold the lamb, but the cutest part to me was to see grown men ask to take a turn holding the lamb and take a selfie of themselves and the lamb. The hayride ended at the Market Gardens where we were met with Lamb meatballs topped with a yogurt sauce—and I do not think that the word delicious is good enough for that dish, they were so scrumptious! Then we headed to the elaborately decorated tables with their green tablecloths, spring flowers and butterflies table runners, stainless steel utensils, white plates, elegant white napkins, and the most beautiful floral bouquets that I have ever grown. Nothing compares to the ranunculus with their pastel pinks and lavenders and all their petals that make them resemble roses. At the tables there was fresh Country sourdough bread with salted butter. Then they brought us a Cream of potato soup topped with cheddar and garlic chives. A garden salad with Italian Parsley dressing and topped with Parmigiano Reggiano followed the soup. Once those dishes were removed from the tables they were replaced with a large plate that houses Wood fired chicken thighs, sautéed garlic kale and orzo stuffed grilled peppers. Yes, we were stuffed, but dessert was so light and fluffy that the Kefir panna cotta with mulberry compote just melted in your mouth and went to who knows where. It was a beautiful evening of food and fellowship. Then it was time to clean up and visit with our helpers and chefs. We are already discussing dates for next Fall and Winter—so stayed tuned.
Yes, it was a long and busy week. Papa had a meeting at church last night, and therefore I had to do all his chores. By the time 9:45 arrived I had only made it to the first half of Tuesday. I was way too tired, so I went to bed with the goal to finish this journal tonight—of which I just did.
Serving you with Gladness,
Tiare