Down on the Famstead
We have been on our little family homestead for almost 4 years now. We have worked hard and long (and sometimes even at night) trying to carve out a life as healthy and self-sufficient as we can. We have learned many lessons that only time and failure can teach, but through this, we have also learned to be more resilient, more innovative, more thoughtful, and more patient as we attempt to make our dreams a reality. Every day, we tackle new projects in an effort to provide better housing or feeding systems to our animals, better irrigation and weed-control to our plants and trees, healthier soil, and a better means of growing and preserving our own food. Projects often take longer than we expect them to, and we often have to go back to the drawing board (sometimes several times) because our Houdini chickens will escape, the wind will pick it up and blow it away, or the cow will use it as a scratching post and ruin it. Yes, all these have happened, but we don’t mind too much because in the end we become more efficient farmers and better caretakers of our animals and crops. Farm life is hard … and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
What Has Been Going on?
Our gourmet garlic business has been getting better and better every year. We have finally reached the place where we know when and how to plant, fertilize, mulch, and harvest for the best results. Although I’m sure we will continue to hone our skills, this year’s harvest is bigger, healthier, and more viable than the previous 2 years. This year we purchased an attachment for our tractor called an Undercutter from Tilmor which helps cut down the harvest time tremendously. We will have plenty of premium culinary and seed garlic for sale at the local farmer’s markets and online.
We have been growing heirloom tomatoes every year with varying success. One year was too wet, and one summer was too cold. Heirloom tomatoes are tricky to begin with, so we have had a steep learning curve! Although our tomatoes will be ready later than other tomato farmers, we are hopeful for a better crop this year.
We are fighting the battle of the Japanese Beetle in our orchards. They have completely killed our cherry trees and pear tree and are now attacking our apple trees. This fall, I plan to use milky spore, an organic and food-safe fungus, to help kill the grubs before they become adults. Despite this, I finally saw my first peaches coming on.
We have started a breeding program where we breed high quality reining horses, called Sugarhill Performance Quarter Horses. Our first foal, Peppy Voodoo Rey (barn name “Taco”) is a beautiful and athletic palamino and has started his reining training with Case Performance Horses in Tennessee. Our second foal, Whizbang Sugar Rey, is still a yearling but will be starting his training in December of this year.
We had to say tearful good-byes to a few of our beloved animals. Lego, our first dog, passed away last August of cancer. Both of our draft horses passed within a few months of each other of medical conditions, one at Christmas and one at the end of January. We are very attached to our animals, so this was a difficult time for us, but we will cherish the time we had with them.
What’s New?
We have welcomed a new addition to our breeding program. Welcome, Jujuzz Lil Starlight (barn name “June”). Born in Canada, June had been living in Oregon and made the trek to our Famstead last April. She got injured as a foal, so she is unable to show, but with her impeccable lineage, we have high hopes for her foals. She is expecting a foal next spring sired by our very own Taco. Our original mare, Tachita Rey, is expecting a foal next spring by Ifwhizswereguns.
Our mini jersey cow, AF Redemption (barn name “Remy”) finally calved a beautiful little heifer we named Esperanza (“Espy” for short). She is the tiniest, most darling thing you’ve every seen! We are now hand-milking Remy and enjoying all the fresh milk and cream. So far, I’ve made yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, ricotta, queso Chihuahua, and butter.
We are expanding our market crops to corn and potatoes. We broke new ground for both of these, so we have a lot of work ahead of us to build soil quality and increase production, but despite this, we have just harvested Huckleberry Gold potatoes, a new low-glycemic variety for those watching carbs or those who have diabetes as they won’t spike your blood sugar. We will be taking them to market for the first time this Saturday. We have three succession plantings of corn, and the first section is as tall as I am! We’ve undersown the corn with alfalfa, with the plan to rotate our animals on it after the corn has been harvested — first horses, then cows, then chickens.
What’s Coming?
We are in the planning/planting stage of adding new products. Keep your eye open for these new additions:
Ginger
Tumeric
Fresh and dried culinary herbs
Fresh and dried medicinal herbs
Jersey Milk soap
Heirloom seeds
Heritage Orchard Turkeys
Elderberries
Rhubarb