Some updates....and my first "business trip"

My, how quickly the summer flew by! (and autumn doesn't seem to be traveling any more slowly!). It has already been a month since we said 'goodbye' to our interns, and two weeks since our 2011/12 apprentice, Noah, left to pursue a great farming position back in his home state of California.  Our three new apprentices,(chosen from last summer's interns), took some time off and are now back in the saddle here at Polyface. These changes are an adjustment, but I am always excited to embrace the next season of life.

We are winding down and getting everything in place for the winter. Chickens and rabbits are being brought into hoop houses after enjoying pasture, or some other type of open housing, for the summer. Cattle herds are being consolidated and calves are being tagged and weaned.  We have also been buying yearling calves to build up our herd to around one thousand by year's end.  Buying cattle means hauling cattle, and hauling cattle means pulling big trailers.....which brings me to the second half of this post; a trip to Tennessee!

Polyface purchased a new twenty-four foot, triple axle, goose neck cattle trailer, and I got to pick it up.  This adventure was a fun blessing from the Lord via Daniel Salatin. Thanks Daniel!  There were some good friends that I had been wanting to visit for awhile and it just so happened that they were along the route to get the trailer. Or at least I made it work that way. :-)  I had a wonderful time shooting guns, riding horses, playing football and just enjoying good Christian fellowship. On top of all this, the drive was beautiful. The Tennessee hills were covered under a blanket of brilliant colors and every turn was another breathtaking view. What better way to enjoy the autumn show than from the driver's seat of my Ford F250!  Yes, it was fun to take my first big trip in the truck I had purchased in the spring. With over 226,000 miles and counting, she ran like a clock and pulled great.

I apologize for the blurriness of some of the pictures, they were taken with my phone.  I now have a new camera, thanks to a generous gift from the staff and interns!!

OK, enough words .... below are some pictures that I hope you'll enjoy.

year end potato harvest

We hauled logs off the mountain for the new Polyface Hunt Camp.

a hot dog lunch after a full morning of logging

A summer wouldn't be complete without the pedal tractor pull at the county fair.

God keeps His promises.

a night on the bowling lanes

My brothers, Christopher and Ryan, came to visit in August. It was great to be together.

Concrete was poured into the feeding areas of the barn. It makes scooping out the deep bedding a lot easier.

The new Polyface hunt camp! Construction began in August on this building
which will serve as staff housing.  My new apartment will be the left wing!

sunset on fire

We had a memorable evening celebrating Joel's milestone farming anniversary.

Brie compiled a book of 'Thank You!' letters and meaningful notes from family, staff, and customers. Joel was a little choked up when he opened the gift.  His love for farming and passion for sharing it with others are his life.

fence building

The final product is a beautiful sight to the crew.

I brought my landscaping bent indoors with the turn of the season.

Some young friends are playing in the new trailer during the Tennessee pick up.

Ready, Aim, Fire!  No, we're not shooting at the truck.

riding the range

a couple of good friends, Tyler and Tanner

Tyler raises chickens -- Polyface style.

"Smile for the camera"

It's hooked up and ready to roll from the trailer dealer.

I think they were waiting to order.

We rode to Sonic to grab a snack.  It was a blast!!! Thank you Nathan!

First load of cattle in the new trailer.  I picked them up on my way home from TN.

The faithful crew completing our last processing of 2012.  We were doing old layers, thus the egg tray on the table.

Thanks for taking this picture Travis!

 Brie, Heather, and Ben bagging birds.   Enjoy life and have fun!

Team Work!

If "a picture is worth a thousand words", I hope this post will use that expression to its fullest potential.

While looking through my pictures recently I was reminded of just how much we have accomplished and experienced this summer.  So, I decided to post a bunch of photos with captions.   Enjoy!

Ben and I came out one morning wearing matching attire.
Guess that's bound to happen when you buy your t-shirts from the same farmer.  :)

4th of July parade

We built a new corral at our most recently acquired rental property.
This was a cool project!

our first time using the new corral and chutes --  "Round 'em up and move 'em out!"

Hay making this year was a little choppy due to rain.

first flames in the new fire pit .... a nice evening

relaxing with friends after a hard day's work

The gardens were looking nice and sharp for the PIDS
(Polyface Intensive Discovery Seminars) in July.  Yes, we enjoy lots of fresh produce.

 The crew, with our fearless leader Joel, picking blackberries one rainy morning.
Don't let this photo fool you ... it is really serious business.

landscaping improvements at the girl's cottage

 bringing pigs down to the barn

The broiler pen factory is in full swing.  We had to replace about twenty-five pens
due to storm damage in July.

 

lids for the pens

OK,.... me playing around.   Make life fun!!

A Week in My Life

I thought it might be interesting to keep a week-long journal and give you an idea of what summer is like on the farm. The week in June described below was our first full week with the interns.

Monday
Chores started around 5:45am. I helped take care of the broilers with most of the interns while Daniel, Noah, and the others fed the turkeys and laying hens, and then moved cows.  Today we took a group of pigs up the mountain to the pasture.  After breakfast (in preparation for the pig move), we loaded supplies and hooked up the feed buggy to the tractor and made our way up the mountain to get the pig pastures ready for the season.  With all the new help, it didn't take long and we were on our way back down to get the pigs by 10:30. I took a second trailer and tractor on our return trip with the pigs and we loaded it with firewood that Joel cut in January. We came down the mountain for lunch around 1o'clock. In the afternoon I mowed down thistles for two hours in some newer fields to prevent them from going to seed. During evening chores, Daniel sent me to move cows on one of the rental properties. On my way back I swung past another rental farm to check out a corral that Daniel and some of the interns worked on this morning. It looked really good. I did some mowing and landscape work after dinner.

Tuesday
After chores this morning I helped pull frozen product for the buying club load up. A couple of the interns worked with Leanna packing orders as they were called out.  The big project for today was the replacement of a boundary fence that was falling down. Noah and Daniel worked with a crew to pull out the old fence while Peter, one of the interns, helped me sharpen posts to pound in for the new fence.  After lunch, before heading back to the fence work, we sorted pigs to be taken to slaughter later in the day by our hired hauler.  The new fence went up quickly and was a very rewarding project for everyone.  Evening chores consisted of moving cows and setting up the another paddock.

Wednesday

We had a large number of chickens, nearly 550, to process this morning.  But with a full crew the task seemed less daunting and even felt like a fun challenge. Chores were done in good time and the birds were all caught and in crates by 7:00 a.m.  We started processing at 8:00.  Today during processing I moved around to the different stations, coaching the interns and watching to make sure everything flowed smoothly. (When you process that many birds at one time, it is important to keep them from piling up at any one station.)  We finished killing around 12:00 and stopped for lunch while the chickens chilled in ice water for an hour or so.  After lunch I loaded up for a trip to Buxton, one of our rental farms, about an hour's drive from Polyface.  Buxton had a tractor with engine trouble so I brought out another tractor and hauled the broken one back to the farm for repair. I really enjoy this 50 minute trip over the mountain.  Some of the views are simply amazing.  At the farm, Michael, the manager, helped me load their tractor. We used chains and the good tractor to pull it onto the trailer.  Back at Polyface Daniel was able to find the problem, a clogged fuel filter. Thankfully it wasn’t too hard to clean and the tractor was running in no time.  After an awesome dinner I worked on this diary for awhile then ran into town with two of the interns to do some errands.

Thursday

Pig work day! This morning during chores Peter and Leah helped me move pigs to a new paddock in one of the pig pastures. After breakfast, four of the interns and I loaded up a group of young pigs to take to another rental property.  After unloading the pigs at the property we went to the back of the pastures and drove down a group of full-size hogs to take back to Polyface.  It was the first time to use the new corral and boy did it make loading nice!  It took two trips to get all the hogs back to the farm.  Before lunch Daniel sent me to pick up wood shavings from a local cabinet shop for the brooder.  Our fifth batch of chicks arrives this evening and before the new birds can go into the brooder we have to stir the old bedding and add a layer of fresh shavings. The rest of the afternoon I worked on some landscape maintenance projects with a couple of the interns.  During chores I moved “my” cows and then caught some chickens that had escaped the egg mobile. The hens had come out when it was being relocated this morning because one of the doors dislodged “in transit.” After dinner I again drove over to “my” cows to fix a water problem and then had a relaxing visit with Jackie and her husband.  Jackie is one of the neighbors to that property and also the bookkeeper for Polyface.  We all enjoyed the quiet evening on their front porch as the sun set over the mountains.  Arriving back at the farm I did a little more yard work then headed to bed.

Friday

I helped with broiler chores then checked on pigs on the mountain.  About a 100 people are coming for a tour this morning, so I got the hay wagons ready for Joel before heading into town on errands. Got back around 1:00, ate lunch, then took three of the interns to move pigs.  Hay season is now upon us and those wagon tires that sat all year needed attention.  So, after giving work direction to some of the crew I headed back into town for tire repairs.  During chores Jonathan helped me put the new/repaired tires back on the wagons, and then we did evening broiler chores together.  We all enjoyed a delicious dinner made by our summer chef, Brie. Yes, I feel spoiled.  I worked on the landscaping in front of the sales building until dark, and then caught more stray laying hens from the egg mobile until 10:00.  Sleep came quickly once I climbed into bed.

Saturday

After chores and breakfast I did some pig group rearranging in the barn to make space for hay.  I hopped on the lawnmower for the rest of the morning and also trimmed around the pond next to the sales building.  I turned mechanic after lunch and put new brakes and rotors on my Explorer. The project took a little longer than planned but I saved some money in labor. :)  We moved cows at chore time and I had a few minutes before dinner to work on putting the bed liner back in my big truck.  I had taken the liner out to have a goose neck hitch installed so I needed to cut some holes to make it work with the new set up.  Dinner with Joel and Missy was outstanding as always.  I almost completed the bed liner re-installation before dark, but not quite.

Well, there you have it, a week on the farm.

Below are a few pictures from early June.

Putting up the new fence.

Saturday night dessert.

I love seeing the pigs on pasture.

 Ben helping to lay river rock.

Thanks for your help Michael, Leah, and Ben!