Someone asked me recently, “What are the chores that you’re always talking about?” So, I guess if you’re not familiar with farm life, you might not know what those entail. So I thought I’d just talk about what makes up chores here.  When I was growing up, my brother and I shared in the chores. I remember that we fed the dogs and cats, when we had horses, we fed teh horses and cleaned their stall, we fed the rabbits, we may have fed the cows occasionally, but mom was usually milking and she would feed them at the same time. I think as I got older I would strain the milk and put it in bottles. Our chickens and ducks were in an aviary, so I don’t think we had to put them in, and I don’t really remember feeding them – but we would sometimes collect eggs. Mom kept track of what to do and when… if we had baby cows, mixing up the formula and giving them their bottles where often on the list. We didn’t do chores in the morning, unless it was the weekend, only in the afternoon/evening. For me it went: piano, homework, chores – then more homework if necessary.  It’s different for us here though. Continue reading →

It was so hot, the chickens were laying hard boiled eggs! Ok, that’s not exactly true; however, the temperatures today were so much higher here than anticipated. We were looking at highs around 100 at last night’s forecast, but it is, right now, 108! So our plans have had to change a bit. It was in the mid 70’s when I left for work around 6:30 this morning, so I know it climbed really quickly. Keep reading for the updated plan. Continue reading →

It seems like I’m saying this a lot lately, but I’m continuing to have difficulty coming up with stuff to write about. Guess that’s why there’s been more information than usual about other companies and people. Oh well. It’s late and I can’t think of anything interesting and I cannot concentrate enough to write so you’re getting a quick  list. Again. Continue reading →

Last Saturday, at the Bisbee Farmer’s Market, in the pouring down rain – I was approached by one of the market regulars, Thaddeus. He asked me if we had our eggs at Ecoasis. Well – no we didn’t. I had noticed the sign on the way into Warren, and I know a few of my other market friends (Ginny’s Eclectic Kitchen, Bisbee Good Cakes, Golden Rule Dairy) have their stuff there – but I hadn’t been in yet to check it out and I really wasn’t sure what the deal was. He told me that they consign local produce, eggs, dairy, and baked goods. We decide the price of our goods and then Ecoasis will keep 20%.  I asked him who I needed to contact about it, he said: “Me.” Continue reading →

The folks are here, so its been a fun weekend. Saturday was a busy day as usual. Mom and I went to the Bisbee Farmers’ Market, to see what we could sell. It’s a bit difficult to unload “inventory” when almost every booth is selling eggs. But I think we have the corner on the market for “interesting” eggs. We’ve had a repeat customer looking for the Bantum eggs, which I only started taking on a whim, but she’s been seeking them out now a couple of times. So, I’m hoping that she is a customer for life now 🙂 . And we garner a great deal of interest with the Goose’s eggs. Not too many people are brave enough to try them, but sometimes the kids can talk their folks into getting them. I’ve started taking little cartons to box up the goose eggs, one at a time, if they sell. Came in handy at the Neighborhood market, one young man was quite excited to try the egg. (A quick side note about the Neighborhood Market: Friday I stated that I wasn’t sure if we made enough to cover our booth fee, but what I found out is that the first time was free – so everything we made there was profit. Nice!) We also have the only Welsh Harlequin Duck eggs around and people have been seeking them out lately as well. People who have baked with the duck eggs know how good they are. Maybe I should print up some recipes to hand out with the duck eggs so people who are curious will have something to try. Continue reading →

This is going to be a short post because I am way tired and it has been a very long day. Today was our first sojourn to the Neighborhood Market here in Hereford. Mom and I went tonight. I didn’t realize that they had switched to Summer Hours, so it was actually 4pm – 7pm. I was hoping to sell the majority of the eggs, but we only sold 5 dozen. I don’t think that covers our stall fee. It is a relatively small market and I think today there were only slightly more customers than vendors. But, it was a nice community Market with lots of great families and kiddos playing. I’m hoping that it’ll pick up in the near future. Jessica, the lady who runs the Market is doing lots of social media postings, different places, photos, doing interviews with customers and vendors… she is getting it out in the paper and on the community calendars – all over town.  Sometimes these things just take a while to catch on. It’s a great meeting place for the community though. So we’ll just see how the market grows.  Continue reading →