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
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| Chev (Goat) | Price / Pound | |
| Ground Chev (approx 1 lb) | $12 |
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
