Hello beautiful peeps,
Farm updates include fun animal stories and cheese cave status. The Wytheville Farmer’s market information is farther down the page. You can skip there by clicking here. If you are looking for Herd Share pick up info, jump down the page here.
Quail
The quail chicks are out in their new home and doing well. Unfortunately, they are very quick and jump out onto the ground sometimes. I have to run and catch them. It has happened three or four times and they haven’t been out there for even a week. They have doubled in size again in less than a week. The next batch of eggs — 64 of them — went into the incubator today.
Sheep and Donkeys
The donkeys are doing a very good job of taking care of the lambs. Yesterday I went down there to check on them and the moms were grazing in the field. The lambs were nowhere to be found. I looked down at the bottom of the hill in the trees and the two donkeys were standing there. Suddenly, the lambs came waltzing out from behind Cocoa. The last one stopped and touched noses with her before joining the others for a bit of jumping straight up and down, then dashing off to find mom. We are still waiting on two ewes to give birth. I hope it is soon. We shall see.
Goats
Since Scott fixed the fence once again, the goats are now staying in their assigned paddock. It has been several days and they are still in with the cows. Time will tell if this good luck continues. They are happy and healthy.
Cows
Artificial insemination is starting in a couple of days. We are breeding specifically for A2A2 genetics. As the herd share program grows, we need more A2A2 milk. Eventually the entire herd of cows will have A2A2 genetics. We are also breeding for the best cheesemaking milk. That requires a milk protein labeled BB kappa casein. Both of the AI bulls we are using have both the A2A2 genetic trait and the BB kappa casein protein trait. One other advantage to AI is we can get sexed semen. We are trying to build up our herd and need to ensure that we have heifers (females).
Creamery
The small cheese cave is waiting on a special grout for the tile floor. It has to be resistant to acid and alkaline environments. Scott talked on the phone for several days to get the proper stuff ordered. It should arrive soon and the job can be completed. In the meantime, the roof over the barn and milking parlor is under construction!
That’s it for the farm update. Now on to the farmer’s market update.
Farmer’s Market
Wytheville Farmer’s Market will be open on Saturday and again allowing you inside in addition to continuing with Take Out if you so choose. The same stringent safety measures will be in place. A limited number of patrons will be allowed inside, keeping a safe distance (tape will mark spacing), and no browsing. You will enter on the covered side, follow the pathway that is laid out and exit on the uncovered side. We are in the same place as before. You still won’t be able to browse around. Step up to the vendor table and place your order based on their list of products.
You can pre-order with us or with your favorite vendor. Find vendors on the Wytheville Farmer’s Market Facebook page. You will find our products listed there as well as on this page.
We are running out of lamb, beef, and goat individual cuts. It will be August before we have more. On our list available on the Wytheville Farmer’s Market Facebook Page (see above link) you will find 1/4 and half beef as well as half and whole lamb. The beef delivery is for mid-August. Lamb will be available the first week of August. You can claim yours now by making a deposit for beef quarters or halves and/or whole or half lamb. I have very limited quantities. Make your deposit now.
Herd Shares
Herd Share Peeps, I will be inside near the exit door. I look forward to seeing each of you. Remember to let me know what you want for next week. Fresh milk and yogurt is available. And as always, cheese and butter.
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, “Does Parental Grief Ever End?” is now available.
- FREE Cheese tasting downloads
Products Available to Herd Share Owners
| Choose 1 per week | 1/2 Share | Whole Share |
| Raw Milk | 1/2 gallon | 1 gallon |
| Yogurt | 1 quart | 2 quarts |
| Butter | 1/4 pound | 1/2 pound |
| Ararat Legend | 1/4 pound | 1/2 pound |
| Peaceful Heart Gold | 1/4 pound | 1/2 pound |
| Pinnacle | 1/4 pound | 1/2 pound |
| Clau d’ville Cheddar | 1/4 pound | 1/2 pound |
Products Available to the General Public
| Beef | Price / Pound | |
| 1/4 Beef (approx 100 lbs) | $7.00 | |
| 1/2 Beef (approx 200 lbs) | $6.50 | |
| Whole Beef (approx 400 lbs) | $6.00 | |
| Ground (approx 1 lb) | $7.00 | |
| Lamb | Price / Pound | |
| Lamb Loin Chops | $18 | |
| Lamb Rib Chops | $18 | |
| Lamb Kabobs | $12 | |
| Ground Lamb (approx 1 lb) | $10 | |
| Whole Lamb (approx 40 lbs) | $9.50 | |
| 1/2 Lamb (approx 20 lbs) | $10 | |
| Chev (Goat) | Price / Pound | |
| Ground Chev (approx 1 lb) | $12 |
As always, we’d love to meet 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, but you will be able to come inside the building now.
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.
This week’s podcast, “Does Parental Grief Ever End?“, has a few of my thoughts as I work around the homestead. But first, I go into much greater detail on some of the goings on around the homestead. There are several funny stories and animals updates. I hope you enjoy these snippets of farm life.
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
