Hello beautiful peeps,
It has been a couple of weeks since I sent out a newsletter and I missed the markets last week. Some of you know already that Scott had surgery. He is healing well. Having both tonsils out at his age is quite painful but he did the milking today! I have been doing it for over a week with a little help from a neighbor for the heavy lifting. There is going to be an even longer healing period over the next four to six months and we ask for your prayers.
INDEPENDENCE MARKET CHANGES: The Independence Farmer’s Market is having a shelter built for the vendors. While that construction is going on, we will be set up east of the courthouse. Herd share peeps look for me there. I don’t know exactly where my location will be and it may change from week to week. All of that is still being worked out. Please bear with us through this cycle of growth.
Sheep
Mack, our new livestock guardian dog, is learning all about our sheep. We are so grateful for him. The sheep are still a little shy of him, but he is right there for them when they need him. I’m sure the sheep will warm up to him in due time.
Cows
Violet should receive her artificial insemination on Sunday. However, there was a problem yesterday. Scott needed to give her a second hormone shot. She somehow kicked him right in the chest and the needle was bent 90 degrees. After Scott caught his breath, he straightened the needle and tried again but a lot of it dribbled out and did not make it under her skin. The needle mechanism was too damaged. I have no idea what will happen next with that faux pas. I’ll let you know next week.
Quail
We hatched out about 47 quail eggs. There are 44 alive and kicking and growing like weeds. They are one week old in the brooder. In another week they will be up in the penthouses on both sides. The hutch will be completely full with 22 on each side.
This is the last batch of quail I will be hatching this season. I have too many other pressing things to take of to keep up with breeding these cute little guys. We will keep lots of good breeding stock and start up again in spring 2022.
Creamery and Scott’s Other Stuff
This is the last creamery update for quite a few months. The bottom line is there will be no progress until Scott is fully healed. We’ll catch up again sometime in the spring.
Garden
The green beans are done and the crowder peas are taking center stage. I picked two 5-gallon buckets a couple of days ago. I will have crowder peas at the farmers market.
I think I have enough canned green beans for a couple of years. They really produced, and they were beautiful and very tasty.
I have picked a few tomatoes. They still have a way to go. I’m okay with that. I don’t know what I’m going to do with them in any case. These are beautiful slicing tomatoes. I could make sauce, but it would take a long time to cook down and thicken. We shall see. Perhaps I will bring some to the market.
The green bell peppers are really yummy. I picked a little over 1/2 of a 5-gallon bucket of those. We are still enjoying fresh banana peppers every day. It’s a good thing I really love them.
Remember those pepperoncini peppers I was collecting? I pickled them. I’ll bring that to the market this weekend.
That’s it for farm news. Now on to the farmer’s market update.
Independence and Wytheville Farmer’s Markets
I will be at the Independence Farmer’s Market on Friday 9 – 1 and at the Wytheville Farmer’s Market on Saturday 8 – 12.
One pound (plus) bags of crowder peas will be available at both Independence and Wytheville Farmer’s Markets. The pickled pepperoncini will be a new item as well.
I’ll have blueberry and blackberry jam at both markets as well as mild pepper jam. I’m still out of strawberry jam.
I have quail eggs by the dozen and quail meat in 1 lb packages.
We have ground goat again. And we have grass-fed ground beef (approx 1 lb) and ground lamb (approx 1 lb). I also have a very limited amount of lamb cuts. Loin chops, rib chops, stew/kabob meat and two lovely petit legs.
Herd Shares
Herd Share Peeps, the Independence market location has temporarily changed. Due to construction on the new covered facility, we are relocating to the parking lots east of the Court House.
I’ll see you in my usual location at the Wytheville Farmers’ Market.
Add on as you desire. Yogurt, milk and all cheeses and butter are at your service. Looking forward to seeing you on Friday, Saturday and/or Tuesday.
You can pickup at the Independence Market on Fridays between 9 am and 1pm, the Wytheville Market on Saturdays between 8:00 am and 12:00 noon, at the farm Saturdays 3 pm to 5 pm or Tuesdays 10:00 am to noon. Email me to let me know if you want anything extra this time.
I still have new raw milk cheese shares and a couple of milk shares available. Contact me via email (melanie@peacefulheartfarm.com) or phone (276-694-4369).
Please go HERE to learn all about Herd Shares.
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. We are at Independence Farmers’ Market on Fridays from 9:00 am to 1 pm.
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, “A Cancer Diagnosis” is the topic. We have had a whirlwind month and a half. This is a short podcast to bring you up-to-date on what’s happening and what to expect with the podcast in the next few months. I’m not going to bore you with every little detail of our ordeal over the coming months. Instead I’ll be replaying some of my favorite podcasts. I may create some new content as time allows. Please pray for us during this time.
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
