Spring Happenings 2015 and a BIG Announcement...

So much to do and so little time is our motto this spring... maybe that is every farmers motto in the spring but it seems especially so this year! 

First our BIG announcement!

We are the proud new owners of the Whitakers Farm Stand on Rt.16 next to Leavitts Bakery!

This has been a local family run farm stand for over 30 years and has a very large customer base. The Whitaker family was ready to retire from the "farm stand" life and offered the stand to us. This is a huge opportunity for us to grow our little farm and we are very excited to do so!

We are renovating the farm stand building and are hoping to open mid June. Besides our own veggies, honey, maple syrup, eggs, and broiler chickens we are hoping to have berries, meat, cheese and other local products. Stay tuned for updates on our grand opening date and hours of operation. 

Second, we are putting up a new High Tunnel! 

This one is twice as big as our other 2 tunnels and will help us to provide plenty of ripe and juicy tomatoes to the new stand. 

The day the tunnel was delivered the pieces lying on the ground are like a giant puzzle!

The guys putting the bows into place:

Once all the bows were in place we started on the perlings (the horizontal bars at the top).

The end walls are now up and we will be ready for plastic soon! Look for more pics coming this week.

And last but most definitely not least is the veggies! 

We have been non stop seeding and planting in order to get ready for the new stand. This is our earliest year yet for almost all of our crops and we have never had this much in the ground by Memorial Day! 

Besides planting we have been tilling up ground all over the farm to make room for all the little seedlings. Here is a freshly tilled area for all our carrots and onions:

The first little tomatoes are just starting to form up!

Check back for more updates coming soon...

Memorial Day Work Weekend 2013

We had an "all hands on deck" work weekend that ended with just the right amount of fun! Check it out... 

It was a wet and soggy start to the weekend but the ducks were loving it! They even found their Canada Geese friends had come back for a visit.

Our tomatoes have grown A LOT since this post and were needing to get into the ground in the worst way! We finally had all the plastic mulch and drip tube that we needed to get them in.

The beds were made and the drip tube was laid.

 Then came the plastic mulch. We decided to give the red mulch a try since it is supposed to help tomatoes grow stronger stems and larger fruit.

Next came the tomatoes! They were so big they already needed to be supported with the strings and clips!! On the outside edges we will be adding in some herbs and maybe hot peppers.

The farm stand got a fresh coat of paint, inside and out!

We are still working on the trim but it's looking pretty good.

Here is a view of the inside, honey, maple syrup and pastured eggs for sale each and every day until we start adding some produce as the season progresses. Check out our For Sale tab above for more info.

We also spent some time moving this low tunnel greenhouse which we constructed last fall as an extension to the winter chicken coop. We decided to use it to plant the peppers in. That would allow us to have more space in the high tunnels for tomatoes and cukes.

The broiler chickens also got moved to pasture this weekend. Here they are all snuggled together in one corner... not sure how any one bird will get to the water except by walking on the others??? Crazy birds!

 And finally came the fun! After a family barbecue and dessert we waited for dark and then the fireworks!! Jason our resident fireworks expert brought a Chinese lantern. It was a blast to watch it float really high and then slowly back down.

Our family firework experts are becoming quite good at putting on a great show! Had some amazing fireworks right in our back yard! 

 Can't wait until the 4th of July for the best firework show yet!

Early Spring Update 2013

Things are really picking up now on the farm! Here is a few of the things we've been up to...

Our newest laying hens are really getting too big for our small brooding coop and their new home is just about done! Here are a couple of photo's...

We still need to add roosts and egg boxes but it's looking really good!

It has been very dry so far this spring but because the ducks love the water soooooo much we usually fill the turtle pool once a day for them to splash and play in. They are so fun to watch!

Our rhubarb is just getting going, we hope to have a bumper crop this year!

Our tomato seedlings have just been transplanted into large soil blocks. We are keeping the in the green house with an extra layer or two of row covering over them at night just in case. 

Outside we have lettuce, broccoli, and cabbage in. We are using row covers on these also, mostly to keep away those pesky cabbage loopers.

Our first batch of broiler chickens have arrived. Also ordered three guinea hens to help keep the tick population down.

Update: October 2012

Things are winding down on the farm. James the oldest grandson in the family got his first lesson in tilling the fields today! He did a great job!!! It was such a beautiful fall day too, sunny, blue sky, fall colors, and a view of the mountains! Under the row cover we have some broccoli and cauliflower still growing.

We even got a smile out of him in this one! Who doesn't love riding on the tractor right???

In house one we pulled all the cucumbers except a few experimental ones that we started way too late but decided to leave them in and see what happens. The peppers are still hanging in there and actually have blossoms forming and peppers still growing! 

These may be the only cucumbers we get from these plants, the growth has slowed way down and although they have new blossoms they are growing VERY slow!

We also have some greens growing in this house. They are loving the cool temps!!! It seems like every time you walk in here they have gotten bigger! 

House two is another story... these tomatoes have finally succcumbed to the late blight that is so rampant this year. The greenhouse protected them for quite a while but in this photo you will notice towards the top the browning and dead leaves. On closer inspection it's a mess in here!!!

We still have some good reds here and there and lots of greens too. Maybe some green tomato mincemeat is in order???

Our New {Old} Farm Stand

The skies were darkening and the wind was blowing hard so we made the decision to take down our tent/farm stand. We collapsed the tent and put away all the veggies and other goods preparing for the storm. What seems like only minutes later... the skies were clear??? That's fall in NH for you! 

Setting the tent up again seemed futile since the forecast was very iffy. Sooooooo...... even though the milk house (see this post) was not quite ready yet... we moved in anyway!

It was a great move! It is now much easier to open up and close down and we do not have to worry about crazy fall weather blowing our tent down. 

Here are some shots of the inside. It needs a fresh coat of paint in there but at the same time feels like a rustic farm building. Very quaint!

Still a great assortment of veggies left! Although this is the last of the tomatoes and eggplant, get them while they last!

Our new honey shelf! Check out the ribbons from the Sandwich Fair, Best in Show for the frame of honey comb and  a blue ribbon on the jar!!!

 Also had room in the corner for some Lizzie-Tish Designs bags and other items! We have some great re-usuable snack bags and mesh produce bags for sale!

 Come check out our new {old} set up! :-)

Jackson Farmers Market Photo's

 This was our second week at the Jackson Farmers Market. We were blessed with a beautiful day! Great for taking pictures too! Here are a few of our set up.

Our sign. Small but to the point.

Besides the veggies, honey and maple syrup, we also have bags made by Liz and muffins made by Sarah! Yum!!

Some of our yummy veggies.

A close-up of Lizzie-Tish Designs Bags.

Lot's of HUGE zucchini this week!

Thanks to Pat for fixing our shelf so that we had a nice display for our honey and maple syrup! 

 Please come and visit us on Saturdays from 9 to 1 at the Jackson Farmers Market! It is located next to the Snowflake Inn. We are also planning on trying out the new Ctr. Conway Farmers Market on Fridays from 12 to 5pm at the Country Hearth and Home Store located between the Post Office and the Rec.Center. 

Our stand is also open each day on Tasker Hill if you miss us at the Markets. 

Growing Update

The growing has begun in the high tunnels! We have cukes and tomatoes already planted and will be adding peppers and eggplant soon. You can see our soon to be farm stand off in the background, it needs quite a makeover but will be so cute when finished!

 We had some very frosty nights as you can see from this photo of Mt. Washington bright white and covered with snow. It was such a contrast from the greenery and blooming flowers down here in the valley.