Another chilly week. Temps dropped down to zero Tuesday night. Looks like warmer days are ahead. I continued to keep the cows, pigs, and chickens, fed and watered. Took advantage of these cold days to run a few errands I had been putting off…

No major updates this week. Sometimes no news is good news. Still coping with winter weather and keeping the cows, pigs, and chickens fed and watered. Looks like some harsh temperatures ahead next week…

Winter is here. And apparently insistent on staying. The ground is covered with a layer of snow. Another layer to be added tonight. I’m taking cows and pigs to the processor on Monday. A touch of nervousness and uncertainty are always present when it comes to rounding up and loading animals. Even more so this time…

A slower pace to end 2024. Amy and the kids have enjoyed a pause on homeschooling through the holidays. While pushing pause with farming through the holidays is not an option…

After a big day of meat deliveries on Saturday to Marion and the Abingdon Farmers Market, we took off to Knoxville to spend Sunday with Amy’s family. I set extra hay out for the cows and extra feed for the hogs before we left. My aunt and uncle collected eggs and kept an eye on the chickens. We came back to the valley Monday morning to catch up on chores…

Monday was the highlight of the week for Hallie and Hasten as we helped my dad and brother tag and work about 80 cow/calf pairs. It was Carter and Wren’s job to restock the ear tagger as they were being used. Hallie and Hasten worked together to push the calves down the shoot to the head gate, bringing back memories of my brother and myself wrestling calves…

After multiple unsuccessful attempts over the weekend to haul the remaining pigs from the woods back to the barn, on Monday we finally accomplished our task. It took three trips and a lot of walking up and down the hillside in the woods, but we got them. I doubt we could’ve without Hallie and Hasten. Our third trip was for a sole stubborn hog…

Temperatures fell below freezing Sunday afternoon. Barely a few hours of above freezing temperatures since then. Hard to get motivated to do more than what is necessary. Keeping cows, pigs, and chickens watered has obviously been a more intentional chore than it usually is. Keeping water to the pigs in the woods proving to be the most challenging…

A slower week. Which is fine by me. Amy’s brother brought his family up for the weekend so he could do some deer hunting. After getting Amy loaded up for the Abingdon Farmers Market Saturday morning, the rest of my Saturday was spent…

Old man winter is knocking at the door. Though I do not welcome him in, he imposes his presence anyhow with 2-3 inches of snow covering the ground this morning. Keeping the outdoor boiler chucked full of wood to heat the house. We hauled in a load of wood…

I filled in for Amy Saturday at the Abingdon Farmers Market. There was a line waiting when the market opened which only seemed to grow throughout the two hour span of the market. My apologies to those who patiently waited. Amy runs a tighter ship and is far more efficient at managing the market than I am. She’ll be back this Saturday. As overwhelming as the market was, I was far more overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude. Flashing back to several years ago…

Our egg laying hens are now producing more regularly. We’ve been collecting about 3 dozen a day. Two new baby calves arrived this week. Keeping the pigs fed and content. The pigs in the woods continue to prefer foraging from mother nature’s table…

Another beautiful week. I filled in for Amy at the Abingdon Farmers Market on Saturday while she was away taking a much needed and much deserved girls’ weekend away with some of her friends from college. Though out of my element, I really enjoyed the market. Meeting new folks and seeing faces I hadn’t seen in a while.

Quite possibly the most beautiful week of the year. Peak color in the mountain leaves. Crisp cool mornings warming into the 70’s throughout the day. Good living…

Multiple mornings of scrapping ice of the windshields. I guess it’s that time of year. Cool enough to get the outdoor wood stove fired up. We’ll be burning wood for the next 6-7 months. A little cutting and hauling firewood this week but…

No more meat birds. We emptied out the remaining chicken shelters for harvest early in the week. It feels good to complete the season. Only one shelter with growing egg layers left in the field to be moved daily. My chicken load is now much lighter. I tell myself that I’ll now have more time to focus on other parts of the farm, but daylight hours are disappearing

Helene was worse than we thought. Friday was a rough day. Not as rough for us as for many others. After making the rounds and nearly getting blown away Friday morning, I came back to the house content to hunker down and wait out the storm until the afternoon. My sweet wife, noticing trees falling down across the road both above and below the house, encouraged me to go out with the chainsaw...

First off, thanks again for you all’s continued trust and support of our farm. Amy stays on the go all the time. She’s a full-time mom, teacher, farmer, and everything else. She made multiple meat deliveries this week in addition to the Abingdon Farmers Market every Saturday. She always comes home exhausted, but she always comes home telling me the same thing. “We have the best customers,” ...

Chickens are not the most intelligent or durable birds in the world. I suppose that’s why we don’t see chickens running loose in the wild. They wouldn’t last long. Chickens raised right are good eating, but unfortunately we’re not the only ones that have acquired an appetite for our pasture raised birds...

We could use some rain. The water source for our whole farm is a developed spring back in the mountain. It’s slowing down. Other springs in the area have dried up. Makes me nervous...