2011 Keenacre Farm
A Year of Change
Farming
In the field we suffered through another year of sparse pumpkins despite planting under plastic with a trickle irrigation system we purchased & installed to counter 2010’s drought conditions. You might remember the 11 ½ inches of rain dumped on us one August day last summer. That rainfall severely impacted our pumpkins, saturating the ground so much that our yield dropped dramatically.
We put a lot into 2011’s pumpkins, purchasing a mulch machine and hand planting 1400 peat pots through plastic, but the result wasn’t what we expected. As a result, we are currently changing over to a deep-rooted orchard grass for the field, and plan to begin grape plantings and Christmas trees in the spring of 2013. We won’t miss the extensive labor required and the uncertainty of yield that pumpkins often gave us. So it goes.
Pork
Our pork raising has also experienced changes. In 2011 we raised registered Berkshire feeders we bought from a Lancaster Ph.D. who hand delivers each & every piglet he sells. Our Berkshires grew a bit slower than the Landrace & Yorkshire breeds we’ve previously raised, but they sure were smarter. I say this because they were the 1st pigs we’ve had in over 26 years of raising pigs that escaped the pen.
Second day we had them I went out to see how they were and they weren’t there. They weren’t far away yet, just a few feet outside the pen, but these juveniles had been strictly barn raised and now they were roaming free, munching on acorns, roots, and lots of other new stuff and were not in the mood to go back in the pen.
After about a half hour of alternately cajoling & cracking the whip I finally relented & called Sue & Summer (who happened to be there that day, lucky for us!) & they came out to help. After about 5 minutes of 3 person ineptitude, Summer, being the problem solver she has always been, snatched up a piggie & carried it over to the pen & dropped it in. Sue & I, being quick learners, preceeded to mimic her approach & in a relatively short time we had everyone rounded up & back home. I did take away their remote for the pig house flatscreen for a few days to let them know I wasn’t happy, sure glad Summer saved the day!
The quality of the pork will be better known after our customers report back after sampling their orders, and we will certainly share their reviews. We plan to expand the free range pasture for our pork in 2012, using a portion of the newly planted orchard grass as a plush grazing source.
In addition to their carefully prescribed diet, the ability to access the nutrients and minerals available in orchard grass grown on organically pure soil should add to their overall health, vitality, and growth. The solar hotel that our feeders grow in provides an off the ground, antiseptic growth environment that enhances their drug, chemical, and supplement free diet.
We will see how it turns out.
Firewood
Firewood exploded in 2011. My old buddy Harold chides me about the “smartwood” we sell and never misses a chance to chuckle when we talk about firewood. Course he lives in Virginia on a mountain so he has a right to be a bit slanted! Anyway, we sold 21 cords & rounds of firewood last year and have begun the new drive thru firewood sales emporium for the 2012 season. Our “smartwood” is stacked in ½ cord bins that are accessible from either side in a pull thru area that makes it easy for trucks or trailers. Current and new customers may take advantage of the following cooperative effort owing to advancing years & my predilection for working & talking;
Come down & help me split & stack wood, you might drive the tractor, split the wood, or stack the wood or all of the above & you get half of whatever we split & stack. I have about 20 cords of 18” rounds drying, so there is no shortage of potential. Please email or call if interested, we can find a day good for you & I.