So long July, & welcome August! Can we believe it’s August already?! Summer is always busy on the farm, so the time flies by.
In July, after a cool, wet spring and summer, we finally started to get some warmth and the garden has finally taken off (hurray!). Our sunflowers are reaching high to the sky, along with our corn and the bush beans, which are now producing yellow, green and purple pods of yummy, crunchy beans. We purchased this seed mixture from Johnny’s Seeds in Winslow and they have been doing very well! Our pumpkins are still a bit slow due to the initially cool weather, but July’s sun has really helped them flower, and we are hoping to harvest some in time for our Open House in early October, when we will be celebrating the harvest with several for our pumpkin-picking guests and friends. We usually hold our Open House in September, but this year we are moving it to the beginning of October because of the wet spring weather and slow growing season! When the date becomes finalized, we will advertise it on Facebook and Instagram and of course all pumpkin lovers are invited!
In the last days of July, finally we began to hay. Our hay farmer, Mr. Newendyke, was finally able get onto his wet fields and cut and bale, and on a very hot day in July we put away 100 bales. Next week, in the hopefully cooler first week of August we hope to put away another 200 bales. We are also planning to store away another 100 bales of second cut hay (which is a richer hay that the horses love and that helps them deal with the severe cold and lack of pasture come winter). However, Mr. Newendyke is not certain how much second cut he will get from his fields this year, as he had to postpone his first cut for so long. Hopefully we will get some bales, as it really helps the horses cope with the winter weather!
Our chickens and our noisy guinea hens (all 7 of them) are doing well, they spend their days roaming the fields eating bugs and laying delicious eggs which we distribute to our friends and neighbors. Donations we receive for them are put in a ‘chicken fund’ to buy feed and grit for our feathered friends.
Our goats, Shadow and Gus, are loving the summer extravaganza of brush and grasses and they are even eyeing the little apples coming on our apple trees, which we protect with fencing from their insatiable appetites!
This month we also made a new friend who will be coming to the farm on a regular basis. Will is a high school student with ASD who loves being outside and who has offered to help us with chores. Eventually we hope he will ride here and that the physical stimuli from the horse’s movement will provide sensory input and hopefully improve coordination. We are very excited to begin our journey together and witness the positive outcomes of therapeutic riding with our especially trained equine partners: Bodie and Diamond. We will keep everyone informed of our progress.
In July we also ordered baby brown broad breasted turkeys. They are a week old today and they are tender and sensitive but doing well. So far so good! We feed them clover and they love it! They also love running around in the grass and they forage naturally. At night we bring them in and put them under a heated lamp so they can be cozy. They are energetic little guys!
So August is here, and we begin thinking of fall and all we have to do to get ready for winter. But alas, let us for now enjoy these precious sun-filled days and appreciate the luscious beauty that surrounds us. The big oaks, maples and ash that sway with their limbs filled with deep green leaves. The grasses of the field, the fireflies twinkling, loons calling…Ah, summer life. Energy abounds and we are blessed to witness it. The earth is speaking, are you listening??
“Be Still, and the Earth will speak to you” – Navajo Proverb
Happy August!
Baby turkeys Baby turkeys Horses enjoying a shower Having a cool shower. Rolling in the dirt after showering!
