Hello beautiful peeps,

The first thing is a reminder that Scott is covering the market this week. He will not be able to get there before 10 AM. It has been a while since he has been at the market. He is always milking the cows and doing all the cleanup, taking care of the quail and so on.

At the Wytheville Farmer’s Market on Saturday we will have ground beef $7 per package (approx 1 lb). We also have ground goat $12 per package (approx 1 lb) and ground lamb $10 per package (approx 1 lb). There is still a little bit of Lamb Kabob/Stew $12 per package (approx 1 lb). Quail packages are available 1 lb – $20.00, and pickled peppers $5.00. 

If you are a Herd Share member, let me know if you want to add anything to your regular product pickup. To get to that section, you can jump down the page here. 

Quail

The quail babies can no longer be thought of as “babies”. They are so big already. They have been getting a higher protein diet. The usual brand of game bird feed is no longer carried by Tractor Supply. They now have a wonderful 30% protein feed. It’s great for these little birds. They are thriving. Lots of roosters crowing now.   

Cows 

Our cows are so beautiful. It is such a pleasure to see them grazing in the fields. Cows are the most peaceful animals in the world IMO. And these Normande cows are gentler than any other breed I have worked with. That includes Jersey, Guernsey, and Holstein. I’m so glad we discovered them.

The calves will be weaned soon. They are so fat. Each gets 1 1/2-gallons of milk per day. Virginia is a little over 4 months old now and Wendell is 6 months old! 

Creamery

Scott is filling in those open spaces in the walls. He estimates about four days of working on that. He is also looking for the next rainy day so he can sit down and figure out how much roofing metal he needs to finish the roof. There are changes in his previous estimates due to the change he made with the new covered area on the north side of the building. This afternoon we met up in the kitchen. Scott was refilling the humidifier that runs in the cheese room. The aging cheese needs nearly daily attention and Scott takes care of all of it! 

Garden 

The garden is winding down. Even though the tomatoes are growing strongly again, I’m going to go out there and cut them all down and compost them. We are not far away from the first frost and I’ve collected all the tomatoes I want for this season.

I finally brought in the rest of the dried beans. The small red beans and white canellini beans are now completed done. I pulled up the plants, picked the beans off of each plant and tossed them in a pile for composting. Five beds of 20 are now empty. Next will be the baby limas. I’m holding off on those right up until the first frost which will take those plants out. Just ahead of that, I will pick all the beans and bring them inside for shelling.

The last really big task will be cleaning up all the old plants and the weeds growing in the paths. Only a few weeds in the beds, but the pathways are growing lots of them.

That’s it for farm news. Now on to the farmer’s market update. 

Farmer’s Market

Scott will be at the Wytheville Farmer’s Market on Saturday 10 am to noon. 

We have all of our meats back in stock for you!! 

We have ground lamb and kabob/stew lamb as well as rib chops and loin chops.

We have ground beef and ground goat. 

Herd Shares

Herd Share Peeps, I’ll see you in my usual location. Let me know if you want something added on to your regular choice. Fresh milk and yogurt is available through the end of this month. Yogurt will still be available through the end of November. And as always, cheese and butter. Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday and/or Tuesday. 

I still have new herd shares available. Contact me via email (melanie@peacefulheartfarm.com) or phone (276-694-4369).

Please go HERE to learn all about Herd Shares and get on our waiting list. 

 News This Week 

• Products Available
• Let’s Get Together
• This week’s FarmCast, “What You Can Do With Milk” is now available.
• FREE Cheese tasting downloads

 Products Available to Herd Share Owners  

Products Available to the General Public  

Let’s Get Together

As always, we love meeting you in person.  You can find us at the Wytheville Farmers Market on Saturday from 10:00 am to Noon. Special procedures are in place for your health and safety. Masks are recommended but not required as far as I know. 

As always, you may visit us at our dairy farm in Claudville, Virginia Tuesdays from 10 am to 12 noon and Saturday afternoons from 3 pm to 5 pm. Find out how we raise our animals and why you will love the taste of tradition that is inherent in all of our products. Herd share holders will be able to see up close how their cows are cared for and the cheese operation and where it is stored. 

Peaceful Heart FarmCast

In this week’s podcast, “What You Can Do With Milk,” is a follow on to the previous podcast on types of cheese. We all know we can make cheese, but what other delicious, delectable treats can be created with milk and milk products? Listen and find out.  

Free Downloads

I want to follow up on my previous FarmCast, The Taste of Cheese where I talked about developing your expertise with using descriptive words. The FREE downloads of Classifying Cheese by Type and Category and Expand Your Cheese Vocabulary are still available at our website. Please stop by and get your FREE resources. 

You can LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE. Or, if you have an Alexa device, just say: “Alexa, play podcast Peaceful Heart FarmCast.”

And don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to the Peaceful Heart Farm podcast on Apple Podcasts, Android, TuneIn, Stitcher or Spotify

Hello beautiful peeps,

The celery is coming. The garden is winding down and the celery is ready.

At the Wytheville Farmer’s Market on Saturday we will have ground beef $7 per package (approx 1 lb). We also have ground goat $12 per package (approx 1 lb) and ground lamb $10 per package (approx 1 lb). There is still a little bit of Lamb Kabob/Stew $12 per package (approx 1 lb). Quail packages are available 1 lb – $20.00, pickled peppers $5.00 and celery $5.00 per bunch. 

If you are a Herd Share member, let me know if you want to add anything to your regular product pickup. To get to that section, you can jump down the page here. 

Quail

We have 58 quail in the penthouse. They are doing so well. This batch looks like they are really growing bigger than the previous birds. It could be the higher protein feed they are getting right now. The eggs are diminished some but still coming. Hopefully, we will have some lights on timers in a week or so. It depends on Scott’s schedule but it is definitely in the plan.    

Cows 

The cows are doing really well. They still make a lovely parade walk up to the milking shed twice a day. Yesterday they got their first taste of the new “loafing area” that Scott built. It’s a complex organization of gates and fences that will give us the freedom to move them, separate them, work with them and so on as needed.

The vet doing the preg checks was delayed until later this month. We want to make sure they are all far enough along for the pregnancy to be detected. Still have fingers crossed! 

Creamery

Check out our Facebook page to see the latest changes to the creamery. There are two new sections that Scott created that I did not know were in the plan. They both look great. I mentioned one just now with the cows. There is also another area along most of the North wall that is now completely under cover. It’s like a long pole barn attached to the north side of the creamery. Lots and lots of equipment and supplies are now stored under there and safe from the elements. 

Garden 

The sunflowers have been deseeded. I now have the seeds inside on shelves completing the drying process. The birds in our area are going to be so happy this winter with these treats. I got the seeds out of the heads and they are now on the compost pile. In the garden the big stalks left behind still need to be taken down and added to the compost pile. There is a lot of greenery out there that needs to be cut back and added to the compost. The only thing still growing out there are the peppers, culinary herbs and a few potatoes.

The dried beans are ready to be brought in and shelled out. Lima beans, red beans and white beans are ready for harvest. After getting all that out, the beds will be prepared for winter. 

That’s it for farm news. Now on to the farmer’s market update. 

Farmer’s Market

We will be at the Wytheville Farmer’s Market on Saturday 8 am to noon. 

We have all of our meats back in stock for you!! And come take a look at that CELERY! 

We have ground lamb and kabob/stew lamb as well as rib chops and loin chops. We have ground beef and ground goat. 

Herd Shares

Herd Share Peeps, I’ll see you in my usual location. Let me know if you want something added on to your regular choice. Fresh milk and yogurt is available through the end of this month. Yogurt will still be available through the end of November. And as always, cheese and butter. Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday and/or Tuesday. 

I still have new herd shares available. Contact me via email (melanie@peacefulheartfarm.com) or phone (276-694-4369).

Please go HERE to learn all about Herd Shares and get on our waiting list. 

 News This Week 

• Products Available
• Let’s Get Together
• This week’s FarmCast, “Types of Cheese” is now available.
• FREE Cheese tasting downloads

 Products Available to Herd Share Owners  

Products Available to the General Public  

Let’s Get Together

As always, we love meeting you in person.  You can find us at the Wytheville Farmers Market on Saturday from 8:00 am to Noon. Special procedures are in place for your health and safety. Masks are recommended but not required as far as I know. 

As always, you may visit us at our dairy farm in Claudville, Virginia Tuesdays from 10 am to 12 noon and Saturday afternoons from 3 pm to 5 pm. Find out how we raise our animals and why you will love the taste of tradition that is inherent in all of our products. Herd share holders will be able to see up close how their cows are cared for and the cheese operation and where it is stored. 

Peaceful Heart FarmCast

In this week’s podcast, “Types of Cheese,” is a very brief overview of some of the many types of cheese. Fresh, aged, hard, semi-soft and so on. There are many more types than I talk about in this brief podcast, but this will give you a general idea of some of the most common.  

Free Downloads

I want to follow up on my previous FarmCast, The Taste of Cheese where I talked about developing your expertise with using descriptive words. The FREE downloads of Classifying Cheese by Type and Category and Expand Your Cheese Vocabulary are still available at our website. Please stop by and get your FREE resources. 

You can LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE. Or, if you have an Alexa device, just say: “Alexa, play podcast Peaceful Heart FarmCast.”

And don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to the Peaceful Heart Farm podcast on Apple Podcasts, Android, TuneIn, Stitcher or Spotify

Hello beautiful peeps,

The remnants of hurricane Sally came through today. Lots and lots of rain. Well we did need some rain. The garden is almost done but there are still a few things out there that need to get regular water.

At the Wytheville Farmer’s Market on Saturday we will have ground beef $7 per package (approx 1 lb). We also have ground goat $12 per package (approx 1 lb) and ground lamb $10 per package (approx 1 lb). There is still a little bit of Lamb Kabob/Stew $12 per package (approx 1 lb). Quail packages are available 1 lb – $20.00, 2 cups fresh basil (with pesto recipe) $4.00, fresh oregano $3.00, fresh thyme $3.00, fresh parsley $3.00 and pickled peppers $5.00. 

If you are a Herd Share member, let me know if you want to add anything to your regular product pickup. To get to that section, you can jump down the page here. 

Quail

I have moved the 59 quail chicks out of the brooder into the penthouse. They will live there for the next six weeks. The eggs are starting to diminish. Poultry need a certain amount of light to produce eggs. Quail are no different. In fact, we did not get one single egg through the winter last year. Hopefully, we will have better luck this year. We plan on giving them some extra light to see how that goes.    

Cows 

The cows are doing really well. They still make a lovely parade walk up to the milking shed twice a day. The milk is starting to drop off. As the season progresses they produce less and less. We still have a month and a half of milking ahead of us before we purposefully dry them all up — basically stop milking them. The girls need to use all of their energy to make a beautiful calf in the latter months of their pregnancy. The vet is coming tomorrow to do preg checks on all of our girls. Fingers crossed! 

Creamery

There is still a lot to do. One task that needs to be completed before it gets cold is filling in the spaces in the block walls. There are a lot of them. Scott had this on his to-do list but it got pushed back and pushed back — and then it rained. When he was laying the blocks he left lots of the spaces where you can see through the wall. He estimates it will take him a couple of days of steady work to complete that piece. 

Garden 

A big shout out to Vanessa who came over and picked all of the tomatoes and took them away with her. I’m so done with them. I don’t know if I’m even going to plant tomatoes next year. The shelves are full of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Enough for a couple of years I’m thinking.

I haven’t checked on the progress of the sunflowers. Just hoping that all is going well up there in the attic. I expect collecting those sunflower seeds to be a fun project. There are so many of them and they are so beautiful. 

That’s it for farm news. Now on to the farmer’s market update. 

Farmer’s Market

We will be at the Wytheville Farmer’s Market on Saturday 8 am to noon. 

We have all of our meats back in stock for you!! 

We have ground lamb and kabob/stew lamb as well as rib chops and loin chops. We have ground beef and ground goat. 

Herd Shares

Herd Share Peeps, I’ll see you in my usual location. Let me know if you want something added on to your regular choice. Fresh milk and yogurt is still available. And as always, cheese and butter. Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday and/or Tuesday. 

I still have new herd shares available. Contact me via email (melanie@peacefulheartfarm.com) or phone (276-694-4369).

Please go HERE to learn all about Herd Shares and get on our waiting list. 

 News This Week 

• Products Available
• Let’s Get Together
• This week’s FarmCast, “Quail Chicks Hatched – WOW!!” is now available.
• FREE Cheese tasting downloads

 Products Available to Herd Share Owners  

Products Available to the General Public  

Let’s Get Together

As always, we love meeting you in person.  You can find us at the Wytheville Farmers Market on Saturday from 8:00 am to Noon. Special procedures are in place for your health and safety. Masks are recommended but not required as far as I know. 

As always, you may visit us at our dairy farm in Claudville, Virginia Tuesdays from 10 am to 12 noon and Saturday afternoons from 3 pm to 5 pm. Find out how we raise our animals and why you will love the taste of tradition that is inherent in all of our products. Herd share holders will be able to see up close how their cows are cared for and the cheese operation and where it is stored. 

Peaceful Heart FarmCast

In this week’s podcast, “Quail Chicks Hatched – WOW!!,” is an exciting report on the most successful quail egg incubator adventure to date. I share the procedures I use to ensure a successful hatch rate percentage. I picked them up from others on YouTube, gave them a try and have found them quite useful.  

Free Downloads

I want to follow up on my previous FarmCast, The Taste of Cheese where I talked about developing your expertise with using descriptive words. The FREE downloads of Classifying Cheese by Type and Category and Expand Your Cheese Vocabulary are still available at our website. Please stop by and get your FREE resources. 

You can LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE. Or, if you have an Alexa device, just say: “Alexa, play podcast Peaceful Heart FarmCast.”

And don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to the Peaceful Heart Farm podcast on Apple Podcasts, Android, TuneIn, Stitcher or Spotify

Hello beautiful peeps,

How is your day going? We are getting lots of stuff done and the day is going well. Knock on wood. Today is another tomato processing day. I think I might be catching up. Maybe. I canned 12 quarts of tomato sauce yesterday. Today I’m working on another dozen jars of diced tomatoes. Late week I squeezed in 17 jars of peach pie filling. 

At the Wytheville Farmer’s Market on Saturday we will have ground beef. We also have ground goat and ground lamb. There is still a little bit of Lamb Kabob/Stew. Quail packages are available 1 lb – $20.00, 2 cups fresh basil (with pesto recipe) $4.00, fresh oregano $3.00, fresh thyme $3.00, and pickled peppers $5.00. 

If you are a Herd Share member, let me know if you want to add anything to your regular product pickup. To get to that section, you can jump down the page here. 

Quail

I have had the biggest success to date in hatching quail eggs. Out of 80 eggs, we hatched 64. That is a full 80% hatch rate. Unprecedented for quail. Now we have lost a few. To date there are 60 still alive and kicking. I’m pretty sure we are going to lose one more. There seems to be something wrong with his legs. I’m going to give him another day to get on his feet. This is the last batch of the year. It’s great to have little quail chicks yet again. They are so cute.    

Cows 

The cows are doing really well. They still make a lovely parade walk up to the milking shed twice a day. The milk is starting to drop off. As the season progresses they produce less and less. We still have a couple of months of milking ahead of us before we purposefully dry them all up — basically stop milking them. The girls need to use all of their energy to make a beautiful calf in the latter months of their pregnancy. 

Creamery

Scott has now gotten all the plywood on the gable ends of the barn section and roofing paper on one end. The other end will likely be completed today. We have the last of the sunflowers ready to hang in the attic part over the kitchen and cheese making rooms.

Again, there is still a lot to do. One task that needs to be completed before it gets cold is filling in the spaces in the block walls. There are a lot of them. When Scott was laying the blocks he left lots of the spaces where you can see through the wall. He estimates it will take him a couple of days of steady work to complete that piece. 

Garden 

As I said, I think I’m catching up on the tomatoes. I picked five 5-gallon buckets a few days ago. Those tomatoes are cleaned and resting on the shelves I have set up for plants starts in the spring. Of course, all that’s done and those shelves were available for other purposes. I’m watching the remaining tomatoes ripening on the vines. In a few days I’ll pick them again. Maybe only four buckets this time.

The peppers are still going strong. The purple hulled crowder peas are really doing well. Those going to keep going until frost. I picked a 5-gallon bucket of those a couple of days ago. Still need to shell those beautiful babies out. I love crowder peas. They are extremely easy to grow. Pests and disease are almost nonexistent. I don’t even have to fertilize them as much as other plants. And best of all, they taste awesome.

I mentioned the sunflowers are all in now. I have lots of green sticks out there that will need to be taken care of at some point in the future. We planted fall potatoes. The basil, oregano, thyme and parsley are doing very well. Likely I’ll have those at the farmer’s market until frost. I picked the last of the green beans yesterday. Lots of things are winding down. The baby lima beans are still going but the Mexican bean beetles may get them. They don’t really like them that much until they run out of green beans. We are just about there. 

That’s it for farm news. Now on to the farmer’s market update. 

Farmer’s Market

We will be at the Wytheville Farmer’s Market on Saturday 8 am to noon. 

We have all of our meats back in stock for you!! 

We have ground lamb and kabob/stew lamb as well as rib chops and loin chops. We have ground beef and ground goat. 

Herd Shares

Herd Share Peeps, I’ll see you in my usual location. Let me know if you want something added on to your regular choice. Fresh milk and yogurt is still available. And as always, cheese and butter. Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday and/or Tuesday. 

I still have new herd shares available. Contact me via email (melanie@peacefulheartfarm.com) or phone (276-694-4369). 

Please go HERE to learn all about Herd Shares and get on our waiting list.

News This Week 

• Products Available
• Let’s Get Together
• This week’s FarmCast, “Quail Chicks Hatched – WOW!!” is now available.
• FREE Cheese tasting downloads

Products Available to Herd Share Owners  

Products Available to the General Public  

Let’s Get Together

As always, we love meeting you in person.  You can find us at the Wytheville Farmers Market on Saturday from 8:00 am to Noon. Special procedures are in place for your health and safety. Masks are recommended but not required as far as I know. 

As always, you may visit us at our dairy farm in Claudville, Virginia Tuesdays from 10 am to 12 noon and Saturday afternoons from 3 pm to 5 pm. Find out how we raise our animals and why you will love the taste of tradition that is inherent in all of our products. Herd share holders will be able to see up close how their cows are cared for and the cheese operation and where it is stored. 

Peaceful Heart FarmCast

In this week’s podcast, “Quail Chicks Hatched – WOW!!,” is an exciting report on the most successful quail egg incubator adventure to date. I share the procedures I use to ensure a successful hatch rate percentage. I picked them up from others on YouTube, gave them a try and have found them quite useful.  

Free Downloads

I want to follow up on my previous FarmCast, The Taste of Cheese where I talked about developing your expertise with using descriptive words. The FREE downloads of Classifying Cheese by Type and Category and Expand Your Cheese Vocabulary are still available at our website. Please stop by and get your FREE resources. 

You can LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE. Or, if you have an Alexa device, just say: “Alexa, play podcast Peaceful Heart FarmCast.”

And don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to the Peaceful Heart Farm podcast on Apple Podcasts, Android, TuneIn, Stitcher or Spotify

Hello beautiful peeps,

Hope everyone is doing well. We are well. The tomatoes are coming in very fast. We’ve been so caught up in getting other things done, the tomatoes are now getting ahead of me. I canned 13 quarts of tomato juice yesterday. Today I canned 8 quarts of green beans. Also today I’m started the process for another dozen jars of tomato juice or perhaps tomato sauce. We shall see. 

At the Wytheville Farmer’s Market on Saturday we will have finally have ground beef again. We also have ground goat and ground lamb once again. There is a little bit of Lamb Kabob/Stew also. Additionally, we will have quail 1-lb package $20.00, various peppers (cayenne, jalapeno, sweet banana, Hot cherry, serrano) for $0.25 each, new potatoes 1-lb bag $3.00, 2 cups fresh basil (with pesto recipe) $4.00, fresh oregano $3.00, fresh thyme $3.00, and pickled peppers $5.00. 

If you are a Herd Share member, let me know if you want to add anything to your regular product pickup. To get to that section, you can jump down the page here. 

Quail

I have one hen that escapes nearly every day. The other evening, it was pouring down rain and she escaped. I had to hop over to the milking shed and borrow the rain poncho from Scott. When I got back to the quail cage, I couldn’t see the hen. They are colored to be hard to see. I walked around a bit and finally flushed her out. She jumped up and flew a few feet. She got out again this evening. Do they never learn?

New chicks are scheduled to be hatching out on Saturday. How many will it be this time? It’s always fun when we have baby chicks.   

Cows 

We are drying off Cloud. She is no longer part of the milking routine. She gave birth back in November. Luna is nine months old now. Perhaps Cloud could have gone another couple of months, but she was having more and more issues and getting more and more anxious — and kicking Scott when he tried to hook her up to the portable milker. She does not produce a lot of milk anyway. Cloud is only 3/4 Normande and 1/4 Angus — not really a milk cow. Anyway she is done until next year. Then we shall see if we try to milk her again. 

Creamery

Scott has completed the end wall frames of the attic space over the barn.  He also moved a bunch of stuff to the attic storage area over the creamery part of the building. AND he hung up the sunflowers to dry in that space.

There is still so much to do. The metal roof, ceilings, walls, floors, not to mention electric, gas and plumbing. He keeps plugging away at it. We are going to have an open house to beat all open houses when we finally get it done. Hope to see you then. 

Garden 

The tomatoes are overwhelming me. I only have so many pots to be able to handle then all. Lots are ripening every day. Scott’s work on the trellis was only temporary. Plants are falling over again. And not just a little bit. The cages are laying flat on the ground. I said last time that I need to go out there and just pick and pick and pick tomatoes to reduce the weight. It’s now this week and that still hasn’t happened. Tomorrow is the day. I’m planning on filling about five 5-gallon buckets with tomatoes. Oh, and we have to work in picking the green beans and crowder peas. AAAAAnd more of the sunflowers are ready to come down before the birds start eating the seeds or the seeds start falling on the ground.

I am also canning tomato juice again tomorrow or Friday. That will take care of the tomatoes I already had inside. The shelves are ready for the next round. This round will be quick because they are mostly ripe. 

Scott is helping with the peppers. He chopped up a mess of bell peppers and put them in the dehydrator. That part is done. There are a lot more to be dried. He will get to them in the next couple of days. 

That’s it for farm news. Now on to the farmer’s market update. 

Farmer’s Market

We will be at the Wytheville Farmer’s Market on Saturday 8 am to noon. 

See above for the new additions we will have ready for you!! 

We have ground lamb and kabob/stew lamb as well as rib chops and loin chops. We have ground beef and ground goat back in stock. 

Herd Shares

Herd Share Peeps, I’ll see you in my usual location. Let me know if you want something added on to your regular choice. Fresh milk and yogurt is still available. And as always, cheese and butter. Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday and/or Tuesday. 

New herd share opportunities are available. Contact me via email (melanie@peacefulheartfarm.com) or phone (276-694-4369). 

Please go HERE to learn all about Herd Shares and get on our waiting list.

News This Week 

• Products Available
• Let’s Get Together
• This week’s FarmCast, “Harvest Season” is now available.
• FREE Cheese tasting downloads

Products Available to Herd Share Owners  

Products Available to the General Public  

Let’s Get Together

As always, we love meeting you in person.  You can find us at the Wytheville Farmers Market on Saturday from 8:00 am to Noon. Special procedures are in place for your health and safety. Masks are recommended but not required as far as I know. 

As always, you may visit us at our dairy farm in Claudville, Virginia Tuesdays from 10 am to 12 noon and Saturday afternoons from 3 pm to 5 pm. Find out how we raise our animals and why you will love the taste of tradition that is inherent in all of our products. Herd share holders will be able to see up close how their cows are cared for and the cheese operation and where it is stored. 

Peaceful Heart FarmCast

In this week’s podcast, “Harvest Season,” I’ll give you more of the details on what’s happening with the garden. There is a lot. And lots more info on the situation with Cloud, the quail and the sheep. Tune in and share with others to help out the podcast. I really appreciate your help with that.  

Free Downloads

I want to follow up on my previous FarmCast, The Taste of Cheese where I talked about developing your expertise with using descriptive words. The FREE downloads of Classifying Cheese by Type and Category and Expand Your Cheese Vocabulary are still available at our website. Please stop by and get your FREE resources. 

You can LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE. Or, if you have an Alexa device, just say: “Alexa, play podcast Peaceful Heart FarmCast.”

And don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to the Peaceful Heart Farm podcast on Apple Podcasts, Android, TuneIn, Stitcher or Spotify

Hello beautiful peeps,

Cooler weather this week has been a blessing. Harvest time in the garden is very sweaty work. Cooler temperatures is always welcome. 

At the Wytheville Farmer’s Market on Saturday we will have ground goat and ground lamb once again. There is a little bit of Lamb Kabob/Stew also. Additionally, we will have Blackberry Jam $8.00, quail 1-lb package $20.00, various peppers (cayenne, jalapeno, sweet banana, Hot cherry, serrano) for $0.25 and $0.50 each, new potatoes 1-lb bag $3.00, 2 cups fresh basil (with pesto recipe) $4.00 and pickled peppers $5.00. 

If you are a Herd Share member, let me know if you want to add anything to your regular product pickup. To get to that section, you can jump down the page here. 

Quail

The quail have become my favorite animal here on the farm. Well, except for the donkeys — and the cows — and the goats — and the sheep. Okay, I love them all. But the quail operation is successful at this time. I have 15 hens in the breeder cages. And I have been getting 15 eggs per day. That success has taken a year and a half. Likely they will start dropping off the number of eggs in the next 4 to 5 weeks. As fall approaches and daylight hours are reduced, they will slow and then stop laying eggs for the winter. They will pick up again in late March.   

Cows 

Violet got another visit from the ag tech. She came into heat yet again. Will we every get all of these cows bred? I’m hoping this is the last time. With all of the rain we have gotten, they have so much grass to eat, they are getting fat. That’s a good thing. A few years back we had quite the drought and the grass suffered a lot. We thinned out many of our animals because we simply could not support as many as we had with the grass drying up in the drought. Thankfully, we have not had that issue in many years. Also we’ve gotten better at pasture management. 

Creamery

Scott is taking a break from creamery work and catching up on clean up tasks around the farm. Lots of bush hogging, gathering up scrap wood, rearranging tools and equipment. It’s looking a little better around here. The creamery always looks better when the grass is cut and the scrap lumber is cleared away. 

Garden 

Tomatoes are still coming in. Lots are ripening every day. Scott worked on the trellis and it still fell over in places. I need to go out there and just pick and pick and pick tomatoes to reduce the weight. The problem is that I have no place to store them if I pick them before they are completely ripe. Currently I have four shelves full of partially ripe tomatoes. I do regularly pick them before they are completely ripe. Otherwise the raccoon gets the benefit of our hard work. Although I’m thinking he will never be able to eat all of them this year. There are just too many.

Anyway, I am canning tomato sauce tomorrow. That will take care of two and a half 5-gallon buckets of ripe tomatoes. There are three more 5-gallon buckets worth ripening on the shelves. We are blessed with an abundance of tomatoes.

I’m dried two trays of green bell peppers and one of red bell peppers. Then I strung a bunch of cayenne peppers and hung them to dry. Those will be turned into home made cayenne pepper seasoning and red pepper flakes.

That’s it for farm news. Now on to the farmer’s market update. 

Farmer’s Market

We will be at the Wytheville Farmer’s Market on Saturday 8 am to noon. 

See above for the new additions we will have ready for you!! It will be next week before we have ground beef again. The meat processor had an issue with their coolers and were shut down for a couple of days while repairs were accomplished.

We have ground lamb and kabob/stew lamb as well as rib chops and loin chops. We have ground goat back in stock.     

Herd Shares

Herd Share Peeps, I’ll see you in my usual location. Let me know if you want something added on to your regular choice. Fresh milk and yogurt is still available. And as always, cheese and butter. Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday and/or Tuesday. 

New herd share opportunities are available. Contact me via email (melanie@peacefulheartfarm.com) or phone (276-694-4369). 

Please go HERE to learn all about Herd Shares and get on our waiting list.

News This Week

• Products Available
• Let’s Get Together
• This week’s FarmCast, “Canning Tomato Sauce” is now available.
• FREE Cheese tasting downloads

Products Available to Herd Share Owners

Products Available to the General Public

Let’s Get Together

As always, we love meeting you in person.  You can find us at the Wytheville Farmers Market on Saturday from 8:00 am to Noon. Special procedures are in place for your health and safety. Masks are recommended but not required as far as I know.   

As always, you may visit us at our dairy farm in Claudville, Virginia Tuesdays from 10 am to 12 noon and Saturday afternoons from 3 pm to 5 pm. Find out how we raise our animals and why you will love the taste of tradition that is inherent in all of our products. Herd share holders will be able to see up close how their cows are cared for and the cheese operation and where it is stored. 

Peaceful Heart FarmCast

In this week’s podcast, “Canning Tomato Sauce,” I share the basics of how I make tomato sauce. I’ve done it many times and now it is easy. Also included in that podcast is a bit of trivia about the donkeys and the cross they all have on their backs.  

Free Downloads

I want to follow up on my previous FarmCast, The Taste of Cheese where I talked about developing your expertise with using descriptive words. The FREE downloads of Classifying Cheese by Type and Category and Expand Your Cheese Vocabulary are still available at our website. Please stop by and get your FREE resources. 

You can LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE. Or, if you have an Alexa device, just say: “Alexa, play podcast Peaceful Heart FarmCast.”

And don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to the Peaceful Heart Farm podcast on Apple Podcasts, Android, TuneIn, Stitcher or Spotify