Last Saturday was our biggest meat delivery day of the month with herd share drops to both Abingdon and Marion. Thanks again to all who made an extra trip out in the cold to do your local grocery shopping. I miscalculated our transit van’s hauling capacity. We filled coolers on Friday, but when I went to load Amy’s coolers in the transit Saturday morning for Abingdon, they wouldn’t all fit…

A rainy weekend. An inch and a half of steady showers softened up the fields for a few days until freezing temperatures firmed the ground back up again. It didn’t get much above 20 yesterday. The cold is one thing, but the wind is what makes it rough. We’re thankful for our old drafty farmhouse, but when that cold wind gets to whipping…

Amy here today. Will made two long road trips this week, so I told him I’d send out the email today. On Monday, I had an “office day” to do the admin side of the business and close out the 2025 books. It was a long stressful day, but feels good to be done. The next day Will took a full gooseneck trailer load of cows to Northern VA…

Another year in the books. Feels like the quickest one yet. Each trip around the sun seems to go by a little faster. If anything, the New Year brings a reminder to make the most of our time. To be intentional with it. Which means prioritizing how best to spend our time. In 2025 I made about 15 measurable personal or family goals. About half of them I completed in full…

Christmas in the 60s is fine by me. Not much farm news to update on. Last weekend was busy with markets and meat deliveries. No market this Saturday.  On Monday Hallie and Hasten got back in the calf pen to help push calves up the chute to the head gate for my dad and brother. That afternoon we had a cattle drive, bringing a group of our heifers to the barn from a mile out the road…

…They weren’t as excited about the task as I hoped they’d be. Fearful and tearful, they didn’t want to do it. Their fears were legitimate. Baby calves often kick. Would some of those kicks land on the kids? Perhaps. Would it be challenging for them? Absolutely. Could they do it? Absolutely. And though the possibility of acquiring minor bumps and bruises, there was no threat of serious injury. The obstacle to overcome was not the calves, it was their fear…

A snowy week on the farm. The kids loved sledding and building snowmen. I didn’t mind the snow but didn’t love it as much as they did. More hay feeding for me. Lots of cow work this week. On Wednesday…

We had cousins in over the weekend for Thanksgiving who helped block the road to get cows, and then they helped get pigs in the barn to sort and load for Monday’s trip to the processor. I went to check Amy’s broth Tuesday morning while it was raining to find over 100 cows in the barn lot where much of our hay is stored…

Good morning, it’s Amy here today. Not a ton of farm related updates this week. But our cups are overflowing during this season of Thanksgiving. We’ve had family visiting here. And we made a trip to Knoxville to visit family there. We’ve eaten way too much good food with another family dinner to look forward to…

Lots of meat deliveries this week. Amy went to the Abingdon Farmers Market on Saturday while I delivered herd shares and pre-orders to Marion. We got cows in and hogs loaded after church on Sunday. I made the haul to the processor Monday morning…

Nothing exciting to update on this week. While it wasn’t super eventful, it was good. No news is good news. A taste of winter early in the week. Our water was froze when we awoke Tuesday morning. Thankfully it was back running with no busted pipes by lunch time. Back to a windy fall for the remainder of the week…

Two Saturdays in a row of me filling in for Amy at the Abingdon Farmers Market. I’ll likely be there tomorrow as well, so come see me. Amy will be back at the market next Saturday the 15th. Remember the farmers market hours are now 10:00 - noon.  We welcomed almost 30 pigs to the farm this week. With colder temperatures arriving…

A wet and chilly week on the farm. Almost 1.5 inches of rain. I probably worked less this week than any week since back in January. I welcome both the rain and the slower pace.  Amy joined a few of her college friends in Tennessee for their annual girl’s weekend…

Though I sincerely enjoy moving our meat birds across the field everyday during the growing season, I also sincerely enjoy a break from it through the colder season. It was especially nice to not need to move them Sunday morning before church. I did get one final chicken shelter moving in for the year…

Ol' Jack Frost showed up in the valley this morning. It’s about time to fire up the wood stove. And the chainsaw. No more chickens to move. We harvest our last batch of meat birds this Wednesday. Instead of saving the best for last, we saved the biggest for last…

Amy’s brother and his family came up to the valley for a few days while they were on fall break. The timing was also good for Amy and the kids to take a break from school and for us to slowdown from work. While there is always plenty that can be done, this is one of our slower seasons on the farm…

With a trip to the processor on Monday, we got 40 cows in the barn to sort on Sunday after church. Then sorted out the biggest 8 of about 30 hogs to load on the trailer to be ready to roll out Monday morning. Our beef inventory is low, and our pork inventory is next to out. We’ll be restocked soon. Thanks for your patience…

Thankful for about 1/2 inch of scattered showers this week. And the rainbow that followed. A class from Emory & Henry came out to the farm for a field trip on Monday. With Amy finishing filling coolers for her delivery to Chilhowie…

I love this time of year. Fields of spider webs on display in the mornings. This is my favorite time of year to be moving chickens. Partly because it means that chicken season is coming to an end, but even more so because I love seeing the chickens so aggressively go after the crickets and grasshoppers when being moved to fresh grass in the mornings. Another of many foraging options that conventionally raised chickens don’t have access to…

No more chicks in the brooder. We emptied out 10 shelters, totaling over 500 chickens, for harvest on Monday afternoon. We typically put about 60 chicks in our 10x12 Salatin style shelters. Each batch is moved daily across the field for approximately five weeks, totaling a distance of roughly 140 yards. So before restocking the empty shelters one last time…