Open on New Year’s Day
Monday, December 28, 2020
Hello friends,
I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas!….
This week is another holiday, but we will be home, so I guess there is no need to close the farm store. If you need milk or cheese, we will have our regular hours. Also, Saturday, Jan. 2, I will be making another trip to the city to take in pre-orders. Remember, pre-orders only and let me know by Friday at noon so we can get things together. I will be in the Community Center parking lot this week instead of under the pavilion, per market manager’s instructions. You may meet me between 10:30 and 11:30. Anything on the list below is available, except milk. ……
Closed on Christmas Day
Monday, December 21, 2020
Hello friends,
‘Twas the Monday before Christmas and all through the house, it’s a mess, and a rush, and we hurry about. Our family is getting together tomorrow so I have to be ready early. That also means the farm store will close early Tuesday (4:00) and Thursday (4:00) and closed altogether on Christmas, as you would expect. So, if you need milk or cheese, now is the time to speak up. One of our Christmas Eve traditions is oyster stew, so we’ll need milk for that. Just saying, plan ahead……
Cheese for the Holidays
Monday, December 14, 2020
Hello friends,
It’s beginning to look and feel a little bit like Christmas. We saw some snow flurries briefly today, there is a nice warm fire in the wood stove, and the house has decorations in place. Shopping has begun, plans are in the works for family get-togethers, and Christmas music is playing on the stereo. No eggnog yet, no presents wrapped, and no cookies baked, but those will be coming up.
This Saturday I will be coming up to the city for pre-order pick-up under the downtown OP market pavilion from 10:30 to 11:30. If you would like for me to bring something for you, I will meet you there. Anything on the list below, except milk, I am able to bring for you. We are having two sale offers. The first one is the Party Pack: 3 wedges of aged cheese and a tub of Fromage Blanc, $20. Or buy any 4 wedges (or more, actually) and get 20% off. Can’t figure out what to get your in-laws, boss, or special friend? How about CHEESE! Or having a cozy Christmas Eve celebration with special appetizers? Add some local cheese! I need your pre-order by noon on Friday!
The chickens are almost all trained to go in their egg mobile at night. Just two stubborn hold-outs insist on huddling next to Benard, our scare-varmit. (We don’t usually have a problem with crows, so it’s not a scarecrow, but I noticed a wary coyote the other day, and hawks are our main problematic daytime predator.) They don’t understand the danger of sleeping on the ground outside! Every evening we pick them up, put them on the step, the tire in front of the little door, and then try to walk their feet in the door. Then we shut the little door, go in the big door, and make sure they get up on the roosts. Only then are they safe from predators! They are 13 weeks old and have come a long way, but still have at least a month before I expect to find little pullet eggs…..
Good Day at the Holiday Market
Monday, December 7, 2020
Hello friends,
What a foggy morning! It took until about 9:30 for the sun to finally pierce through the fog. The trees were dripping. I guess that was frozen fog on them. At about 8:00, we went out to get the cows and all we could see was fog and a few dark forms. As we called, they began moving toward our voices and we made a count before we closed the gate behind them. Yep, 14, all there.
Saturday ended up being a good day for the holiday market. I was very busy, so that’s a good thing. When I can load up the car, set up my tables, arrange full coolers around me, and spend all day talking cheese, that’s a good day. Coming home with almost empty coolers makes it a great day. Thank you to all the visitors to the market this year. It has been a challenge to come to some normalcy, but I think we did it. After a late start, then the drive through market at the convention center, to the community center parking lot, we finally got into a groove and people began to know what to expect from week to week. I’m not sure what next year will bring, but we made it through this season, and I’m thankful!….
The Chickens are out on Pasture
Monday, November 30, 2020
Hello friends,
I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful. We had a great time with the family and the weather held out for outdoor activities as well. Of course, my grandsons are just the best! Xavier is such a smiley baby, and Carl is talking more and more, which can be a hoot. They even went out to the pond on Friday and caught some fish. I was amazed that they would be biting but they were. Tonight is the turkey frame soup, and the aroma is filling the house once again!
The chickens are out on the pasture! We put them in the egg mobile on Saturday night, then moved them out into lane 5, and today we opened their little door. I wasn’t sure if any of them would be brave enough to venture out today, so we left their food and water inside. Sure enough, as dusk approached, we counted about a dozen of them were outside the house, not sure how to get back in. Because of the huge full moon, we could easily find them under the grain bin and on the axles, and we tucked them back inside. It usually takes a few days before they get the hang of going in and out of that little door, but it is a safe way of keeping chickens….
Closed on Thanksgiving Day
Monday, November 23, 2020
Hello friends,
Happy birthday to my mom! 😊 Sometimes birthdays this time of year get swallowed up or combined with the other holidays. This year we took her out to dinner, picked up some ice cream and enjoyed a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Love you, Mom!
Thanksgiving is Thursday, and as you may expect, we will be closed. We will be open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, normal hours. I was hoping to have some extra cream available, for whipping etc., but it doesn’t look like it’s going to work out this week. However, every gallon of milk has about a pint of cream rising to the top. If you want cream, just take out your gravy ladle and skim off what you need, then shake in what’s left. I figure about an inch of cream left on top is somewhere between 2% and whole milk…..
Looking Forward to Thanksgiving
Monday, November 16, 2020
Hello friends,
It’s getting ever closer to Thanksgiving and we are making plans for the family dinner. Of course, turkey is on the menu with my great grandfather’s dressing recipe stuffed inside. It is a tradition that we all gather around the kitchen table armed with cutting boards and our favorite knives to chop, dice, and slice the ingredients. Meanwhile, we snack on cheese and crackers! Then we stuff the bird, put it in the oven, and then if weather permits, we take a walk around the farm. Some years we have beautiful weather, other years we gather around the cozy wood stove. As the turkey begins to fill the house with its rich aroma, we all get back into gear to finish up the meal. Then, as the sun sets, Bill and I go out to milk the cows, while the dishwasher puts a dent in the pile of dishes. Finally, the pumpkin and pecan pies with our own whipped cream. I am looking forward to it!….
Delicious Cave Aged Cheese Party Packs Available
Monday, November 9, 2020
Hello friends,
Here it is Monday again. So much beautiful weather. So much outside work accomplished. I’m actually looking forward to a rainy day so I can slow down a bit. The dead plants are removed from the garden, and the garlic has been planted. Bill put the bucket on the tractor and scooped up some compost from where the cows were eating hay last winter. I know it was ready because monster weeds were growing in it. Well fertilized weeds. The flower beds, and asparagus bed, and all the fruit trees got a healthy layer of compost! Now it can rain……..
Thinking about the upcoming holidays? We are too. Here is an idea: A “Party Pack” which contains a Basil Fromage Blanc, Smoked Gouda, Skyview Prairie, and Fairmount. At least a $25 value for $20. Or, a cheese flight with three small wedges of Skyview Prairie, Himmelsburg, and Fairmount which is about $9 depending on weight. Or make up your own combinations! Lots of options!
Cows are Enjoying This Beautiful Fall Weather
Monday, November 2, 2020
Hello friends,
……. The cows are enjoying this beautiful fall weather. The moon is just spectacular. I don’t know if it is a trigger, but between Sunday and today we have had 4 cows in heat! That’s a lot of hormones! Some of them just had their calves, so we record the cycle and wait until at least two months have gone by. Their reproductive systems should have returned to normal by then and they will be ready to breed back. I am ready with a full AI tank, and the weather is perfect for conceptions. We’ll see what happens!
The little pullets are marching down the back yard, one pen length at a time. Every morning we use two dollies (two wheelers), to move their pen to fresh grass. They just walk along, anxious to discover what is ahead. Sometimes they find bugs, certainly they find grass, and it keeps them busy while we fill their feeder and waterer. The other day I was surprised by one ambitious chicken who flew up and out while I was putting the feeder in. I think she was as surprised as I was, and we were able to capture her rather quickly. It won’t be too much longer, and they will have total free range when they move to the egg mobile. Right now they need to be protected until they are a bit bigger, and then they need to be trained to go back in the egg mobile at night….,
Trixie Finally Had Her Calf
Monday, October 26, 2020
Hello friends,
The calendar clearly says fall, but outside it is definitely winter! We have sleet, snow, rain, freezing rain, and what else is there??? No hail. I brought out all the warm clothes for chores: insulated boots, long johns, wool socks, heavy gloves, coat with hood, umm, basically everything except the coveralls. Bill put out hay for the cows, and they dug into it! We covered the chicken tractor with a shade cloth to give them more shelter, and put some boards inside for them to climb on. Snow/sleet is covering the cloth, making more insulation. The compressor fan for the bulk tank froze up so Bill had to climb up on the cheese cave berm and pour hot water on it to free it from the frozen rain. Then he put the cover on it. Yeah, we forgot that yesterday. Now the cows have fresh straw in the loafing shed so they have a dry place to hang out, and hay to warm their bellies. Leftover soup for us!
Trixie FINALLY had that calf! Yesterday morning marked 9 days overdue, but she acted like it was right on time! Thankfully, we didn’t have to worry about her calving out in this nasty weather. She had no problem with her medium sized male calf. I was worried that the calf was going to keep getting bigger and bigger, the longer past her due date she went. Now all the calves have been born for this year. Next up is February…..
Chilly & Windy
Monday, October 19, 2020
Hello friends,
Brrr! It’s not just chilly, it’s also windy which makes it worse! In the middle of winter when we have all acclimated to below freezing temperatures today would be nice day. But after all the warm weather, this is hard to get used to. Bill has started a fire in the wood stove, the first fire of the year. We were layering up all day, mainly working on making a cheese in the creamery and doing chores, but it’s really nice to relax by the warm fire tonight. Maybe a cup of warm cider?
The farm tour went well. Yes, it was windy, but not as cold so the outside tour was pleasant. We learned a few things this time, like I made a video of us milking so people could see what it looked like when the cows were actually in the milking parlor and the steps we take when milking. Maybe next time I’ll put something together for the cheese making too……
Creamery & Farm Tour on Saturday, October 17th - 10am to 5pm
Monday, October 12, 2020
Hello friends,
The leaves are really falling now. We have maples in our yard, but not the beautiful sugar maples that turn a vibrant red. Just yellow. The porch is becoming a collection spot for the leaves, but the next windy day should take care of that. Honestly, we never bother raking leaves unless Carl wants to play in them. The lawn mower mulches most of them, and the rest usually blow into the pasture where they decompose and fertilize the soil.
This Saturday is the Creamery and Farm Tour! Yeah! We’ll be finished with chores and ready by our usual opening time of 10:00. Please don’t come before that or you’ll have to wait for us to be done. I know it would be cool to watch us milk, but we can’t get our work done and give tours at the same time. There is no set time to come, but hopefully there will be a steady stream of tour takers. We’ll gather a group and start in the creamery, then progress outside to look at the animals, ending back in the store front if you want to try some samples and take some delicious home. Bring a cooler if you want to take home some milk. The last tour needs to be done by 5:00 p.m. so we can catch our breath and get ready for evening chores. Directions are pretty straightforward: Take 69 Hwy. south to the Mound City exit (just past the Pleasanton Casey’s exit), turn left over the overpass, follow the blacktop as it makes a sweeping turn to the right and over Mine Creek, then left on 800 Rd. for ¾ mile and we are on the left. Or you can just Google directions! LOL!…
Janie Had a Bull Calf
Monday, October 5, 2020
Hello friends,
Just as we suspected, Janie had her calf early. In fact, it was the very next morning after I wrote the newsletter that Tarzan was born. He is a sturdy half Angus, half Jersey chocolate colored calf with big, beautiful dark eyes and eyelashes to melt your heart. A force to be reckoned with, he is a vigorous eater, and a strong demander of his bottle! Meanwhile, Janie is producing lots of milk and is already online, her colostrum cleared. Now we look for Trixie to be next on October 14, but she doesn’t look like she will be early.
My daughters came down this weekend for a visit and we had a fun project to work on. Cider making. If you get my Instagram, you saw the story of apple picking, cleaning and sorting, crushing, and pressing the apples. It’s a great way to use all those imperfect apples without peeling and processing. Two full dish tubs of apples go into making about a gallon of cider, so you can guess how precious it is when we get it. We take care of every drop. Now the press has been cleaned up, and put away, the stickiness mopped up from the floor, and I can hear Bill warming a cup of cider right now! The fruit of our labor!…..
Fall is in the Air
Monday, September 28, 2020
Hello friends,
Not much rain fell here yesterday. I think Bill said there was less than a tenth of an inch in the rain gauge. Well, what are we going to do about it? Nothing. Wait for the next rain and keep watering those lovely flowers down by the sign. Fall is certainly in the air now. We are beginning to see maple trees starting to show some color, and for me, that is the first indication of the season changing.
The pullet chicks are starting to get a little rambunctious in their stock tank. In the evening we give them fresh food and water and clean up a bit where they scatter wood chip in their feeder, and other stuff. (ahem) Today I introduced them to greens. I went outside the barn and picked a small handful of clover and shredded it a bit. Then I carefully dropped the pieces in their plain sight. First, they just looked at it and made that trilling sound like when they discover a bug just a little too big to eat. Then one brave chick picked it up, dropped it, then picked it up again and began to run around with it. Of course, another chick stole it from her, dropped it because she didn’t know what it was either, then watched as the next one picked it up. And so it went. I didn’t stay to watch until it was all consumed, but it will be……
Apple Harvest & Our Creamery Tour Date Set
Monday, September 21, 2020
Hello friends,
Wow! What a beautiful stretch of nice weather! This is the time to go outside and enjoy! Sure, there are still bugs, but the sunshine is waning and you should go out and catch some rays before it turns to winter. You KNOW how it goes. Bill and I went down to Ft. Scott on Sunday to walk around the park. Yes, we can walk around the driveway, but it’s nice to get away for the day. When we got home, we took that famous Sunday afternoon nap, then went out and picked about 5 boxes full of apples before chores. I suppose we need to learn how relax, but it was an enjoyable day.
The baby chicks are over a week old now and starting to get feathers on their wings. They are not too sure about us, and they all crowd to the end of the stock tank where we can’t reach them. Well, we can reach them, but I need a little scoop to nudge them out. I can’t help but grab one and pick it up and pet it. Not sure they are responding to my affection or just a reflex to close their eyes. Doesn’t matter. Soon I will begin picking a little clover for them to peck at.
We are thinking ahead for the Creamery my Tour day on October 17th. It just so happens that it’s the same weekend as the Miami County farm tours. That’s not necessarily a conflict. I recommend starting down here, and work your way back north. We will have samples of cheeses and milk, and plenty on hand to take with you so bring your cooler. If you want to see the cheese cave, you’ll need to take your shoes off and wear protective covers, but it is interesting. The cows will be nearby, and so will whatever calves have been born by then. We have three cows due in October, so we’ll see how it works out. Gather your questions and come on down!….
The Baby Chicks Have Arrived
Skyview Farm News
Monday, September 14, 2020
Hello friends,
The baby chicks have arrived! Yeah! I got an email notifying me that they were shipped on Wednesday, so I was hoping for a Thursday arrival. When they didn’t come, I began to worry. The post office has been known to take a while sometimes, and I didn’t want my precious packages stuck in some back room for very long. The hatchery said Thursday through Saturday and they guaranteed 100% live arrival, but they are sold out of a lot of varieties this time of year and I think a refund would be more likely than a replacement. Not to worry for long, they came on Friday. I got a call from the post office that the boxes just walked in the door. Bill hurried over to pick them up and we carefully unloaded them into the waiting brooder (converted stock tank). I go out to see them a couple of times a day and even pick some of them up. If you pet them, sometimes they go to sleep! There is one rooster so he is woefully outnumbered, but he will learn to love that!……
Billie Jean Had a Bull Calf
Monday, September 7, 2020
Hello friends,
I am so ready for some cooler weather. That hot dry wind really stressed the flowers. If we can get some rain this week, it will really help. The heat tends to unmotivated us. We see projects we want to work on, but there are only so many hours of evening before it goes right to dark. For example, this evening after chores, we needed to pick beans, lima beans, tomatoes, and peppers, water the garden, the blueberries, and the flowers down by the sign. Then we had quite a few windfalls under the apple tree which we had to pick up, sorting into compost or salvage. By that time, it was getting pretty dark. It was just too warm to do those things during the day today.
Billie Jean had her calf on Friday evening. She made me go looking for him. When she wasn’t with the rest of the cows waiting at the gate to be milked, we knew what was up. I took the hike to the tree line at the back of lane 2 where the cows were lounging during that day. There Billie Jean was munching grass, acting all innocent. When I started looking for her calf, she made that distinctive lowing sound. She knew where he was and was not concerned, but she wasn’t going to let on. The fence line is at almost the bottom of a pretty step hill, so I went to the bottom and worked my way up. I found him curled up beside a tree, and he didn’t want to get up. He was acting like he couldn’t walk yet, but I knew better since he was all dried off. I wanted to make sure he had his first meal of colostrum since his tummy didn’t feel full, so I brought him over to Billie Jean and stood him up. He was interested, but mom just wouldn’t hold still. Then he would fall over and give up. Not to worry, we brought her back to the milking parlor and milked out some of that precious rich first milk, put it in a bottle, and he went right for it!….
Rainy Last Day of August
Monday, August 31, 2020
Hello friends,
The last day of August. A rainy day for sure. Saturday farmer’s market was pretty wet as well, but all the farmers were thankful for rain on their farms. Those pastures that Bill just finished mowing were starting to go dormant, but now they are quickly greening back up. One less thing to do when you don’t have to water the garden. The flowers down by the sign are looking good. It looks like it’s not done yet either.
I got a new apple picker in the mail today. It has a telescopic pole that allows me to reach 13 feet! Then if I get on a ladder… I should be able to reach a lot more than just Bill on a ladder. Remember when he got the tractor and I sat in the bucket? That was not what I call ideal. And I didn’t like driving the tractor in the orchard either. Not as many apples as I was hoping for this year. Too many of them are disappearing. Yes, we have gone out after dark looking for coons and possums, but we suspect something larger, that doesn’t leave a mess behind. And trims the ends of the branches. Yep, we suspect deer. Plans are in the works for an electric fence next year. We bought a nice cider press two years ago and only used it that one season. I have apples to share with the wildlife if they would take the windfalls and less than perfect ones, but they go for the nice ones!…
Makenzie Had Her Calf
Monday, August 24, 2020
Hello friends,
The days are getting shorter. Yes, it’s still summer as evidenced by the warm weather, but there are cooler nights. We finish evening chores about 7:30 and there is not as much daylight now to play in the yard before dark. When we get up in the morning, it’s not light yet like it was just a month ago. The kids are going back to school in some fashion and everyone is getting ready for fall.
Makenzie had her calf on Saturday morning! A cute little heifer we have been calling Kelce. We were already on calf watch since her due date was Sunday, so when we went to get the cows out of lane 7, Madison and I were looking for any cow not with the group. There was Makenzie laying down resting, or passing her placenta, not sure which, and Billie Jean is standing by a wet clump of calf with perky little ears. Billie Jean is due in about a month and her maternal instincts kicked into high gear. We could not convince her that it was not her calf and she should follow the herd back to the creamery. It took three of us chasing back and forth as she kept doubling back and trying the end-around to get past us. Then she mooed and mooed most of the day. She had it bad. Things have settled down now, but even the real mother was not that attached to that baby. Makenzie is still giving transitional colostrum and I have some of that first rich stuff in the fridge if you want some. If things go as planned, she should be milking on-line by Thursday!…….
Drier Air and Cooler Temperatures
Monday, August 17, 2020
Hello friends,
We sure are enjoying this drier air and cooler temperatures. I know we had to water the garden and the flower beds this evening, but it sure is pleasant. Time to mow the lawn again. Didn’t he just do that? The late summer bugs are starting their noisy songs. Cicadas, crickets, and katydids can be so obnoxious, but comforting that the season is changing.
Madison has started college, so our part time help is a little more part time. Bill and I are taking up the slack for now, but with 5 cows on pregnancy vacation, milking is a little faster than usual. It sure is nice that she can milk the cows all by herself every once in a while, and it gives us a break. We spent the day up in Atchison yesterday, visiting our family and celebrating Christin’s birthday. Meanwhile, Madison milked the cows and we just came home when we were ready. Freedom to travel is the number one complaint of most dairy farmers and it sure is nice to take the evening off. Thanks, Madison!…..