Ironman

Giroux Body Shop - a farmer's friend!  These guys are great, if i have a thorny issue with some farm machinery or equipment I take it to them.  Countless times I have taken a photo of another farmers piece of equipment and had them build it for me.  Or I come up with an idea on a piece of scrap paper and Steve fine tunes the drawing and specs before building.

Here they are at some of the machines they use to fabricate metal parts and pieces.  I bought a 6 ft section of square steel tubing as a tool bar for one of the farm implements.  A tool bar is just that, a bar that you add various farming tools to such as:  cultivator shovels, disc hillers, etc.

My imagination and pocketbook are the only limiting factors with these great folks in the next town over (Hinesburg, Vermont).

Other Farmers Iron

I have a fondness for Farmers Iron.  There I've said it and I am not ashamed!

My favorite iron pile is at my neighbor Ed's dairy farm down the road.  I have bought my share of iron from him over the years, and have never been disappointed.  

The coolest piece of iron he has is a rock picker, made in Montana!  I could use it on the home farm which consists of Peru Stony Loam (emphasis on stony).  The other land we lease has few if any rocks on it and most of the veggies are grown there.

I took a friend up today to see Ed's rock picker in the pouring rain. It was decided that it was too much iron for his small rocky plot.

Later in the day after making deliveries to Burlington stores, I stopped off at the Intervale to chat with Thomas of Arethusa Collective Farm about tractors (of course).  He showed me the beautiful Allis Chalmers Gleaner Combine he purchased last year from a farmer down in Addison County.  Thomas uses it for beans and harvesting seed from cover crops grown on their organic farm.

Spring has Sprung!

Some photos of Spring!

Annual sheep shearing with Sally's sheepdog keeping the crew in check!







Asa enjoying some Sugar on Snow (with a pickle) at a sugarhouse in Huntington, Vermont.








Seeded Transplants are up in the greenhouse and ready for the field hoophouse.

How to get a "G" home

Picked up an Allis Chalmers "G" cultivating tractor today in Brookfield, Vermont.  I bought it in the fall from an old dairy farmer who runs a sizeable dairy operation (look at his JD corn harvester).  He saw it on a trip in the southern states and had to have it.  That was about 4 years ago and he found that he doesn't use it much anymore.

So after dropping off 15 lambs this morning for slaughter, I headed with the livestock trailer to pick up the "G".  I was taking a chance on whether it would fit in the livestock trailer, but I remember it having the wheels on the narrowest setting.  It was a squeeze, but it fit in just fine and was easier to fasten down than on a flat bed trailer.

This "G" might be going to a vegetable farmer in Burlington who has been on the lookout for one.  Its gone already!

Early Spring!

We have had some beautiful weather this last week...40s, 50s and 60s for the weekend.  Lots going on around the farm.  The laying hens are roaming on the vegetable fields adjacent to the hoophouse, they are going crazy for the worms and greens.  Lots of planting going on in the hoophouses, put in some early potatoes today.  Spinach is taking off in the hoophouses, as is the fall garlic planting.  Many seeds being planted in the greenhouse for future transplants.  

The pigs are enjoying the sunshine lolling around their round bales of hay and digging deep for worms.  Mostly they just sleep in the warm sunshine.

Don't know how long this will last....but its nice while its here!

Beer or Eggs

When I gave a workshop at the Vermont NOFA Winter Conference on our winter production of eggs and mentioned what we sell a dozen eggs for, quite a few folks gasped at the price ($5.00 a doz at the Farmers Markets). They said they could never sell eggs from their farms for that price. I suggested they ask their customers what they pay for a 6 or 12 pack of beer (it will likely be more than a dozen local eggs). Then point out to the customer all of the things they can use those eggs for: baking, scramble, sunnyside up, poached, hard boil, egg salad sandwich, pound cake, omelet, pancakes, waffles, deviled eggs....

Those local eggs are better for you than beer, and you don't need to show ID to purchase them!

For more egg related info from our farm, check out a recent Burlington Free Press article about our winter egg production.

Cheers!

christa and asa drawing lambs

christa and asa drawing lambs
Originally uploaded by Jericho Settlers Farm

Here is a great photo of Christa and Asa on the pasture at The Barber Farm land we lease in June of 2009. Christa is drawing some pictures of the mother ewes and their lambs. Spring 2010 will be here before you know it!

January Thaw!

Let me tell you about the wind! It howls around these parts when the weather warms up. We had our "January Thaw" and 3 ft of snow disappeared in a few days. Of course the warm southerly winds made a mess of things to.

When I drove up to our leased farm to feed the cattle, I noticed something didn't look quite right down the pasture road. So I drove down aways and there was our egg mobile turned upside down! Luckily the laying hens are on the home farm in the hoophouse for the winter.

I get to add another item to the list of things to do on the farm this spring!

Winter feeding of our beef herd

Winter feeding
Originally uploaded by Jericho Settlers Farm

Guess what our cattle eat in the winter time?

Hay, minerals and water.

Here is a photo of some of the calves from this summer bellying up to the bale. This was during early January with nearly 3 feet of snow on the ground!

Hoophouses in Winter

Hoophouses in Winter
Originally uploaded by Jericho Settlers Farm

We received around 2 1/2 feet of snow in early January, on top of another earlier foot of snow. As you can see the two field hoophouses are fairly well covered. We shovel snow from the sides and knock off snow from the roof so we can get some light for the greens growing inside. Our Winter CSA members got some great sweet spinach in the mid January Share!

New Hoophouse

We finally finished putting up a large 30ft wide by 140ft long hoophouse for the winter laying flock of 800 layers. They have been out on pasture until now. The will spend the winter roaming around in the hoophouse adding fertility for next springs vegetable crops.

Thanks to Charlie, Matt and Steve for putting in the groundposts.

Thanks to Adam and Matt our trusty farm hands for building the house and for braving the winds while putting the plastic on!

Thanks to Ed Persons of Ledgewood Farm for making incredible hoophouse frames and providing excellent service!

Happy Birthday Hazel & Christa

How Vermont Farmers prepare for having a baby:

1: Wash carrots for CSA, 12 hours before birth.

















2: Make Poppy Streudel 10 hours before birth.

















3: Have a healthy baby girl at 4am on your Birthday!
















Happy Birthday Hazel and Christa!!

Everyone is healthy and happy. Come by and see the new addition to the farm at the December Winter CSA pickup.

Shearing Sheep

A few weeks ago, Jim and Liz came by to shear our small flock of Montadale Sheep. As luck would have it, it was cold and spitting snow. We moved the operation into the tent were the gilts had farrowed their piglets. The piglets have been weaned and you can see them in the background checking out the operation.

Liz and Jim put on leather soled slippers and work on a piece of plywood, that allows them to keep their footing as the move the sheep around to shear and hoof trim. They worked fast and efficiently.

They look a bit scrawny after getting sheared. Jim says they look great for grassfed ewes getting ready to lamb by mid May!

Check out the video at the bottom!

Vermont Raw Milk

Our friend Adam runs Essex Creamery in Essex, Vermont. He lives on an apple orchard, bakes incredible bread that he sells at the Farmers Markets, and milks 4 Jerseys for Raw Milk that he sells from the farm. He feeds them high quality hay in the winter and pastures them during the summer.

This is the milk I remember growing up on. I milked (by hand) a Guernsey-Jersey cross that we called "Cookie". The milk was rich, golden, creamy and sweet! Exactly what Adam's cows produce.

If you have not tried raw milk you owe it to yourself. It is unbelievable and unadulterated! You can skim the cream off to make butter or yogurt, or you can just drink it right off the top like I do. I always fight for first pour at our house!

If you are in the Burlington, VT area give Adam a call (802) 922-2808, and see if he has any milk left to sell! For more information on raw milk go here.

Winter Farmers Market

Christa helping a customer at the Williston Farmers Market yesterday. We had plenty of potatoes (Green Mountain, Keuka Gold, German Butterball) and crisp, juicy carrots.

Our Pasture Raised Pork and 100% Grassfed Beef sold well as did our eggs from Free Range Hens.

We even managed to sign up a few families to our Summer CSA!

Its always good to see folks come out and support local farmers and crafters. We will be back for the last winter market in Williston on April 11th. The next Burlington Winter Farmers Market is March 21 at the Memorial Auditorium. If you have not made it - go it is a great event!

Soap Making

Our good friends Mari and Laura came over and helped us make some soap!

We have a lot of pork and beef fat in our freezers and thought we might have a go of turning fat into soap!

If the soap comes out well we may even sell some in the future.

Thanks Mari and Laura for teaching and guiding us in the fine art of soap making! Visit the BLOG about their beautiful Vermont farm.

Meals from the Farm

Here is a local meal that is cheaper than going out to a restuarant!

100% grassfed lamb chops
roasted fingerling potatoes
winter carrots
goat cheese from a neighboring farm
glass of raw milk

All raised on our farm, except the dairy products which are from neighboring farms.

What a delicious, nutritious, local meal. Folks you can eat like this every day year round, cheaper than you can shop at the store or go out to restuarants!

Find your local farmers and support them - they are growing great food for you and your family!

Columbia River Sturgeon

Here is a video of a Columbia River Sturgeon (White Sturgeon) at the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River of Oregon/Washington.

This species of sturgeon can reach up to 12 ft and weight 1000+ pounds!

A week away

We got off the farm for a week to visit friends and family in Washington State. Here are some photos to prove we actually were not on the farm!

Asa's Tractor Build

Asa is making some pretty cool things with his LEGO parts. He made this the other day - a nice 2WD tractor!