The long awaited arrival of the vernal equinox

I don't want to shout it out too loudly, but I think spring might be in our part of Vermont. These last few days have been in the 60s and yesterday and today in the 70s! Our ground needs this warm weather to dry out as it has been very soggy. We havent been able to get into the fields to plant our vegetable transplants which should be in the ground by now. We should be able to get some in over the next few days.

We just got the 370 or so laying hens out of the vegetable hoophouse (their winter quarters) and across the road onto new pasture. We hearded them via poultry netting to a livestock trailer. It didnt work very well. As it got dark they all wanted to head back to the hoophouse and were starting to pull down the netting, quite a few got out but we managed to start grabbing birds and getting them into the trailer. A short trip across the road and into their perimeter netting on the new pasture where they huddled together - and the job was done. The boots came off and the homebrew was swilled around 1130pm. We need to figure a better system for next year!

I have been building a makeshift wood and tin laying shack for to house their nest boxes. Eventually this summer we will build a larger structure on a hay wagon frame that we can pull around with the tractor. The birds have settled in and producing great tasting eggs - and lots of them! The peak of egg production is upon us!

The pigs are out on pasture and boy they were happy to get on some new ground! The piglets born in November/December are sizing up well and should be ready for market starting in June/July. We have 3 sows that should farrow in the next few weeks and another 4 gilts that should have their first farrow in May or June. I am working on fencing off a section of pasture along with a tree island for sow farrowing. The plan is to put in some mulch hay, a few A-frames or tarps to keep the rain at bay and let the sows select and build their nest and have their piglets. I am looking forward to seeing how well they farrow outside the hoophouse. Which reminds me - I need to start digging out the hoophouses and composting their contents so we can get plants into the ground! Lots of work to be done around these parts - enjoy the weather!

Upgrading greenhouse benches

Last year we cobbled together some pallets and scrap wood to make greenhouse benches. In the past year we have visited some farmers and their greenhouse growing systems and decided we needed to make some changes.

We made another farm investment by moving from wood to metal pipe and building roll-away greenhouse benches. The frame is made out of tubular greenhouse pipe the legs are adjustable, and their are 2 pipes on the top of the frame that allow you to roll a frame that sits on top (see photo). We built the top frame of 2 x 4 lumber and then bent some roofing metal that holds seedling trays.

The next improvement in the greenhouse system is a recyclable water supply. It is a very simple system that contains a livestock tank and a sump pump. Plastic water pipe (main line) is connected to the sump pump outlet with feeder lines coming from the main line to each greenhouse bench. At the top of the greenhouse bench is a "T" ball valve and 3/4 inch diam pvc pipe with a few holes drilled into it to allow water to flow on the metal pans. The bench is tipped toward a gutter that is attached to the side of the greenhouse frame that takes the water and dumps it into the livestock tank at the end of the greenhouse. You fill up the livestock tack once and recycle the water through the season. This allows for warmer water going to the seeds and bottom watering of the trays.

We are still fine tuning the system, but it should already allows for efficient use of greenhouse space and less time spent watering. Come by the greenhouse and see how it works!

Time to Farm

We were a nation of small farmers not more than 50 years ago. These were small family farms on 100 acres and less. The primary income producer was the dairy cow with a milking herd of 10 to 40. These farms also raised pigs, chickens, eggs, horses and vegetables. These families preserved the foods they grew (canning vegetables, smoking meats, rendering lard) for year round consumption. The younger generation lived with and learned from the older generation who passed down their knowledge.

Our farm is not so different from this earlier model of farming. We raise a diversity of livestock and vegetables for sale to the community and we preserve and store meat and vegetables for our own consumption during the winter months. We are currently 2 generations working together on the farm and a young 3rd generation tagging along.

About 5 years ago we set up a cardboard table with extra garden produce to sell along the road that runs by the farm (see photo above). This spring we have made the decision to make a living from this and other lands that we use in our town. You don’t read much about young families jumping into farming full-time, least not those who don’t own any land (we lease or have handshake agreements). The media seems to report all the doom and gloom of farms going out, land lost to development, dairy farms dwindling, etc. We think they should be reporting the successes of new farms.

We have made a sizeable leap from 5 years ago – and we still do all the farming ourselves. Last years purchase of a used tractor and some old farm implements have helped us be a bit more efficient since we increased the amount of land that we cultivate. We raise a diversity of livestock and poultry focusing on raising them outdoors on pasture. We have embraced the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) model of providing nutritious, organically raised vegetables to many families in our local communities.

We have received great feedback from our customers over the years and our business has grown to the point where we believe it can support 1 and ½ families. Neither of us worked high paying jobs while we started farming, and we don’t have trust funds to bail us out of poor decisions. We saved and have never incurred debts (save a small house mortgage). We live simply and we work hard at what we love to do: grow great food for our local community.

So this spring we are both excited and scared for what the farming future may bring, but life is too short not to go after what you want. Hope to see you on the farm!

Snow Excavation

The Valentines Day blizzard has ramped up our chore hours! We have been hauling day old bread on a tobaggan along a snowshoe path to get back to the pigs. Prior to the storm we had been driving right up to the pig feeding area with the bread. So after a quick cost-benefit analysis we decided to hire our local excavator/snow plowing guy to come to the farm and excavate a driveable path to the chicken hoophouse and the pig feeding area. This will allow us to drive pig and chicken feed right to the animals, and reduce our chore time. Time is money goes the old adage!

The chickens haven't noticed a big change in their environment even though they went through a blizzard that dumped nearly 3 ft of snow! They are happily spending their winter in the hoophouse doing what chickens do: eat, drink, scratch through the wood chips, take dust baths, and lay eggs. They might have been in for a crushing suprise if we didn't clear off the snow from the top and sides (2x) during the storm.
You can see the snow piled up on the sides of the hoophouse in the photo. The hip board just above the snow is 4 ft from the ground. Its been melting a bit in the recent warm weather. It will have to be shoveled away if another snow storm arrives soon.

Vermont Sausage Fest!

Nothing like homemade sausage and bean soup on a snowy winter day!

We had some friends over to make some fresh sausage from our pork and beef. Everyone pitched in putting together spices, mixing the meats, adding and drinking some wine, and stuffing the meat into casings (sheep intestine). We have an old cast iron Enterprise sausage stuffer that I got from my Pa. We even smoked a few links in our poor farmers smoker that my Pa and I put together a few years ago when he came to visit us in Vermont.

Everyone had a good time. Becky read stories to the kids, Asa and Finn played a duet on the piano, the menfolk talked about the best method for cutting handmade dovetails, and Christa made the awesome bean and ham soup. All stomachs were full, warm and satisfied by the afternoon - which made for good napping conditions!

Happy Plowingtime Day!

Christa and Asa are in front of the new (used) farm truck on Valentines Day. Our Toyota Pickup truck is on the way out so we decided to look for a used truck with a larger bed and more power to haul a livestock trailer. We lucked out and saw an ad in the paper for a truck with a plow up in Underhill. We took a look at it, drove it around a bit and decided the farm should purchase it. The timing could not have been better!

The Nor'easter arrived on Valentines Day and by the next day we had 31 inches of new snow! Fortunately the air temperature was cold (single digits) enough to produce light snow. Nevertheless, we were busy over the next two days as the snow fell and we plowed our driveways, shoveled paths to the pigs and chickens, and shoveled snow away from the greenhouse and hoophouses. Fortunately we did not have any structures collapse, though quite a few dairy barns across the state did collapse and some animals were lost.

One of our Tamworth sows chose to farrow the evening of the storm. She farrowed 8 piglets, but only 4 were alive when I fed her the next morning. She eventually lost the remaining 4, probably due to crushing. She is a large sow and the space in the hoophouse we had her in was likely not big enough. That coupled with the cold weather may have been a contributor to the deaths.

The other pigs were having fun in the snow and taking a last lap around their field before the snow really piled up. The next day I had to shovel a path from their water and feeding area up to their hoophouse. They happily took off in single file down their snow trail!

Happy Birthday Pa!

My pa would have been 71 today. He was born in Minnesota in 1936 on the Fasching Family Farm. He was the youngest boy of 12 kids. When asked how big his family was when he was growing up, he was always fond of saying "I am one of 5 brothers and each of us has 7 sisters".

He was a good man and kind father raising 4 kids on his own. He taught me the value of hard work and schooled me in the old ways of working on a farm: making sausage, milking cows by hand, putting up hay with a pitchfork, caring for livestock, growing and making your own food, and shoveling manure. That upbringing surely shaped my life today.

I really miss him.

Visiting the Lambs

Asa is sizing up the lamb herd for the 2007 growing season.

We made a visit to a sheep farm up in Hyde Park, Vermont. A young couple has been raising sheep up there for nearly a decade. We went to see the quality of their lambs for a possible purchase this spring. They have a nice healthy group of animals overwintered in a large coverall barn (think large hoophouse).

We don't have our own breeding flock of sheep, so we purchase lambs in the spring from Vermont sheep farmers to raise on our pastures during the summer. In past years we have bought lambs from a few different farms, this year we will likely purchase all from one farm. Vermont farmers supporting Vermont farmers - makes me feel good!

Asa is drawn like a magnet to tractors, so we put him up on a nice little Kubota tractor at the sheep farm and he had a good time pretending to drive the fields. It won't be long before he can reach the pedals. Then my tractor driving days will be numbered!

Asa's Throne

Asa finally has a place at the table! I finished his handmade Windsor Highchair. It has two coats of milk paint (a great non-toxic finish) sea green over a coat of red. Then two coats of an oil varnish mixture rubbed out and finally a coat of paste wax for protection from spills. This is an heirloom chair that he can pass on to his kids, and his kids to their kids, and so on...

If you are interested in purchasing a handmade Windsor Chair (adult and/or child chairs) see my chairs and other handmade furniture at: www.jerichosettlersfarm.com/windsorchairs.html

What's for Lunch?

Todays Menu: local hay, winter pasture, and day old bread for dessert

Occasional menu items: outdated dairy products, cheese


The 4 Tamworth growers in the foreground are tearing into their meal. The breeding adults in the far background are doing the same. These groups are separated by two strands of electric fence. They sleep/nap in their hoophouse which is bedded down with mulch hay.

I have weaned the grower pigs and adults from feed grain for the following reasons:

1. The cost of feed grain has gone up due in large part to new ethanol plants buying up midwest corn to convert to fuel,
2. I would like to reduce inputs to the farm that travel long distances (and their associated transportation and fuel costs),
3. I continue to look for ways to support other fellow Vermont farmers,
4. I can reduce the waste stream by transferring outdated foodstuffs destined for the landfill to growing great pork (It truly boggles me just how much gets thrown away in our society).

The pigs are still getting grains, but in a different medium as bread. Adding local hay - which they do eat, and outdated dairy products makes for a diverse diet and ultimately a better tasting product. None of this is new, the old-timers used to feed pigs much in the same way and a fellow Vermont pig farmer raises great pigs with these foods and got me excited to do the same.

So if you see what looks like a homeless person digging through a bakery dumpster at night with a flashlight clenched between his teeth - don't be alarmed (and please don't call the cops). It's just your local farmer turning bread into pork!

Winter CSA

This past weekend was our 3rd distribution for our Winter CSA. Though its not much like winter in Vermont this fall with temperatures in the 40s and 50s.

Our shareholders picked up the following at our farmstand: lettuce greens from the fields- mesclun, spinach, arugula; carrots, onions, potatoes, leeks just pulled from the garden, parsley, celery root, 3 varieties of winter squash, garlic, scorzonera, parsnips, beets and turnips! Great local food for fall and winter meals. Our very popular Winter CSA continues into February!

We also have a variety of packaged meat cuts available (pork and grassfed beef), farm fresh eggs, and homemade Lard from our pigs. So stop by the farmstand to purchase some great holiday food, we are open from 10 am to 6 pm.

Pure Vermont Lard

We spent the weekend rendering the Tamworth pork fat we got back from the butcher. Everything went smoothly and we made 8 quarts of 100% pure creamy lard from about 18 lbs of fat. Here is a great link for describing how to make lard.

Lard is a great in baking and makes the best pie crust - very flaky! It is a great source of Vitamin D - the pigs store it in their fat from the summer sunshine! Try finding pure lard in your grocery store - YOU CAN'T! Its only available from small farms like ours who take the time to make it.

Available at our farmstand - the first batch is almost gone. Don't worry we plan on making more!

Happy Holidays!

The cutting of the holiday tree was performed by Christa with oversight from Asa. Christa's brother has a small plot of christmas trees on the farm. He has a U-cut business every year for local folks to get a tree.

Have a happy holidays and eat some good food produced by your local farmer(s) this holiday season and throughout the year. Your health will thank you for it. Our holiday menu will feature ham from one of our pigs, root vegetables, salad greens, pickles and pumpkin pie from the garden. The only items not from the farm will be the beer (though if we are lucky it will be homemade) and dairy products.

Pasture-raised Pork Chops!

Asa holds a blade-steak chop from our heritage breed of pasture-raised pork. Look at the color and marbling of that pork chop! For comparison, go to the supermarket and look at what the pork industry (confined pigs on concrete, 100% grain diet, antibiotics and hormones added) produces and packages. Which meat would you rather eat and which farm would you like to support?

The taste and flavor of our pork is amazing. How do we do it? We give the pigs room to roam, rotating them through pastures. They drink fresh water and eat a diverse diet consisting of pasture, worms, grubs, cheese, garden vegetables, apple drops and Vermont milled grains.

piggly wigglys

The Farm's first piglets! The two Tamworth sows we recently purchased just had piglets about a week apart. The first sow was bred to a purebred Tamworth boar, the second sow (in photo) was bred to a berkshire boar. Her piglets came a week after the first sow. They have some black spotting on them. All are healthy. Each sow farrowed 11 piglets and each lost one when we found the new piglets in the morning- so they ended up with 10 piglets each.

Both sows are in the same section of the hoophouse we built for them this fall. They share a well bedded space that is 10 x 25 ft in size and they also co-nurse. All the piglets sleep together in a pile and when a sow lays down and turns on her side they all run up to nurse. We will wean the piglets from the sows in about a month. The piglets will continue to stay in their section, the mama sows will be turned in with the boar for breeding.

Planting the Stinking Rose

Christa planted nearly 3000 bulbs of garlic this fall! I didn't get a chance to help her as I was building the livestock hoophouse - so she can claim all the credit and glory for next years garlic crop. She is planting some new varieties that we recieved from a friend down the road. He is a botany professor that loves garlic so we swapped varieties. We also swap garlic with non-botanists.

You can always tell when winter is coming - Christa starts to wear her ski beanie. I don't think she has ever planted garlic without a beanie on her head!

Multi-use Hoophouses

I am a hoophouse convert! These are great structures for growing vegetables and flowers. You can extend the growing season on both ends (early spring, late fall) by using a hoophouse. It is an unheated structure with one layer of greenhouse plastic. The only heat generated inside the hoophouse is during a sunny day - unless you add some animals! Which is what we are doing this year. We are overwintering 200 laying hens in our 20 x 96 ft hoophouse that grew tomatoes, peppers, and celery root this summer. The hens get to roam out on the garden beds and use the hoophouse to get out of bad weather, for water and to lay eggs in their nestboxes. The nest boxes are attached to the plywood end wall near the doors (at the far end in the photo to the right. When the snows come -and they will its Vermont after all- the hens won't journey onto the snow, so we will add mulch hay to the inside of the hoophouse for them to pick through for grass seeds and to absorb their manure. In the spring when we let them out into the pastures we will compost the mulch hay that has accumulated. It eventually will make it back onto our fields as finished compost!

We built another section of hoophouse within the fenced pasture this fall. We had enough hoops from our used hoophouse frames we bought last year to build this 40 ft long section. This hoophouse will house our breeding group of sows, and some young pigs that we are growing out for spring processing. This house has an electrical box and a water hydrant in it -for watering pigs and keeping water from icing up by using electric de-icers in the water tubs. Hauling 5 gal pails of water out to pigs in the deep, dark, icy grip of winter is no fun! The pigs always have access to the pasture. They get 9 acres of fenced pasture to roam during the winter if they choose, they can use the hoophouse during bad weather and for sleeping quarters. The sows are free to use it for farrowing. Adding alot of dry mulch hay during the winter and the heat from a sunny winter day will keep everyone warm and dry. Pigs do fine outside in the winter and in snow - they just need a place to get out of the wind. Once spring arrives we will get the pigs onto their pasture paddocks and free up the hoophouse to grow vegetables and/or flowers. All the accumulated mulch hay will be composted and later added to the gardens.

We believe in using our structures year 'round, that is the beauty of being a small diversified farm. If we only grew vegetables these structures would be dormant for about 5 months.

Vermont Prosciutto

Hanging from the beam of our 1800s English style barn is my experiment in creating Prosciutto (aged ham). The leg is from a boar (intact male pig) that we had butchered this spring. I salted the leg for about a month, brushed all the salt off and its been sitting in our summer kitchen all summer (stays cool in there) and i finally got around to hanging it in the barn so it can continue the aging process. I still need to render some lard from the pork fat i have in the freezer. The lard is applied to the leg which helps the aging process. It takes a year or two to create prosciutto and you don't know if you have succeeded until you slice some off and taste it. So next spring or fall I will report back with the results!

Asa's Windsor High Chair

I finally made some time to get back to work on Asa's Windsor high chair that I started last winter. I have a woodshop in the attached woodshed to our old farmhouse. We have a copy of a copy of the work order for the construction of this woodshed that spells out the work to be done by whom and at what cost (part to be paid in cattle, part to be held in a note). It also includes a list of materials for the job and some math scribbled about. The date of the document is 1833.

Anyway - the legs and arm spindles on Asa's chair are from an old maple tree out back that I harvested since it was dying and crowding another nice maple. I split out firewood size sections of the maple, rounded them out with a hatchet, then chucked them in the wood lathe and turned them to shape. The seat - of poplar- is chopped, carved, drawknifed and spokeshaved to shape with old hand tools. I still have to finish the curved arm and back, back spindles and head crest. Once that is done it will be painted and waxed for Asa to put to work.

A visit to camp

We made a visit to "camp" up in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The visit was partly to get off the farm for a bit (24hrs anyway) and to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Christa's folks own a small camp on a lake -as you can see in the photos. We seldom get up there since we started farming, but with no broilers to raise, lambs all shipped to the slaughterhouse, and the gardening winding down, we made some time to get out with Asa and enjoy walking around and canoeing on the lake. The day we drove out was very warm for early October - in the 70s.