Sugar Hill Farm 2013 Newsletter

Transcription

1 Sugar Hill Farm 2013 Newsletter Hello from Sugar Hill Farm! It has been a fun and productive year again at the farm on Randy Clark Road! We continued to raise certified organic (Pro-Cert), totally grass-fed Black Angus beef mostly for customers freezers and for a few local stores. We birthed calves all through the year, raised them until they were a full two years old, and sent small groups of steers to the abattoir all through the year. In the summer we had our annual Pro-Cert inspection, passing with flying colours and nothing recommended to change in how we raise our beef cattle. Instead of tapping yet more sugar maple trees, with our workforce (i.e. our children) getting busier with their own lives and jobs so not always around to help us, we improved our maple syrup production efficiency this past spring by sending the large main sap pan away to a tinsmith who used stainless steel and fluted the bottom of the pan for us. I sent the pan to him months in advance and it was lucky I had done so as it took a long time to get it back. Just in time to start the boil. The fluting made the boil take less time, so we were more efficient. As well, with Mike s addition last year of firebrick along the sides of the fire box we now save firewood as less energy was being lost through the sides of the box so the boil is much more efficient. An opportunity came along to purchase another farm. This one touches another farm we already own. Only about a 5 minute drive up the road. The place had been converted to an equestrian centre. It came with hay fields, pasture, an old farmhouse, & numerous outbuildings. There are plenty of box stalls, many paddocks, outdoor shelters, heated tack room, composting toilet for the horse riders, a lighted outdoor sand ring, a 2 height level jumping cross-country course, and a huge lighted indoor riding arena. Our sons, Brian & Craig both moved over to that farm, living in the farmhouse, and doing the chores with the horse boarders. If they need us, then we help out, and vice versa. 1/5

2 Our Red Tamworth pigs were a hit this year, with demand exceeding supply. We hope to have enough for everyone this coming fall. The Bronze turkey poults grew exceedingly well this past year. The toms got up to 27 lbs! Again, we did not have enough for the demand come Thanksgiving Our bee hives grew strong. This autumn we actually had enough honey to sell. This was very exciting after years of work and no honey. Remember, year one the hives died their first winter here so no honey. Year two saw a bear attack the hives so no honey. Year three there was a drought so not a lot of honey (as there were not enough flowers?). This summer Mike also split the strongest hive (with help from our local beekeeping guild president) to make a new hive. At the moment the boxes are still in their winter coats, trying to keep warm until spring. New equipment this year included a used square hay baler with a kicker mechanism (we sold our old square baler), plus two wagons with extra high sides to catch the flying bales. This new system saves a whole lot of time and human energy by taking away one step from our old hay days no more stacking the hay 2/5

3 onto the wagon to bring each load up to the barn. Later, we purchased a new hay rake to be able to put two windrows of hay raked together. We are able to spread the windrows so the hay dries quicker and also save time baling by putting two rows into one. In the winter we also bought a snow thrower that attaches to the back of the tractors and can shoot the snow a long distance. We plow for a number of people and needed to improve the way we went at snowplowing. If there was a year to get a snow blower it was the winter of ! Mike worked up a 3 acre field that we cleared last year. He then planted the same field with certified oats and barley under seeded with alfalfa, red clover and grasses. In the summer, as he cut hay in the neighbouring fields, Mike saw deer eating the newly grown crops and they were happily munching without running away from him with the equipment. Our last Saanan goats headed for the abattoir in May. These were last year s kids, and people wanted them for chevron. Remember we had to sell the goat herd away as we could not get a contract from the Ontario Goat Cooperative for their trucks to come here and pickup our goat milk and take it to their processing facility. There was no financial reason to keep the goats anymore. 3/5 In the springtime, we had a lot of Muscovy ducklings hatch, and come fall they were a nice weight and we sold them all for eating. Nothing like a roast duck. Peacock babies hatched out. One egg was hatched under a duck! The ducks will set on any bird s eggs, they just love to set. The other peacock babies hatched under their actual peahen mother and she was some possessive. I got pictures of the babies riding around on her back! We let the peacocks outside of the barn this year and they actually

4 stayed around this time! Remember last time they were let out, they walked/flew crosscountry when they heard another peacock calling, and they stayed at that other farm for 6 months before I could catch them and bring them back home for winter. Boy they are a beautiful bird - fanning for everyone. I collected the feathers they dropped when they moult each year as the feathers are too beautiful to waste; if I leave them on the ground other birds will eat the feathers. appreciated. We gave many farm tours throughout the year. One in particular was to a group of kids with either Autism or Asperger s Syndrome. They were a lot of fun. The kids really loved the kittens, the peacocks, the basketball nets up in the haymow, and sitting on the tractors. We gave them each a taste of our honey and of our maple syrup yum! Later, we got thank-you notes in the mail from the kids, with little pictures of animals that they had drawn on their notes. Cute. We have never had thankyou notes before, and it was very much We bought two Boer (a meat breed) goats to help with weed control at the stable. Someday we hope they will have a little baby. The meat chicks arrived in force. Again, not enough ordered by the fall when some of our customers wanted more than ordered. Hay season. A lot of time and work and sweat. One day alone the round baler broke down 5 times and in 5 different ways! Ahh, working with equipment. Always have to expect breakdowns, Mike says. We rented pasture as usual for some of the cattle to spend their summer on. We let the one pasture go this year the one with the bear that was seen in the fields with the cattle. Those cows last year were so spooked they kept breaking out. We did not want to repeat that experience so did not rent that pasture this year. 4/5

5 Rented an air compressor to drill holes in the granite rock around the barn for fence changes. Brian & Craig worked hard with the machine over a weekend, and were maybe 4 holes away from being finished and the drill broke. Augh. They plan to rent it again come this spring to finish the job and also do some more work up at the stable for new fences up there. Mike keeps busy cutting firewood to sell. Brian & Craig split the wood and haul it out of wherever the trees have been felled, and take the wood back to the home farm, making huge piles of wood. Later, when orders come in for cords of wood, Mike and the boys deliver the wood. We have recently gotten into raising sheep. We chose a breed called black headed Dorper. The flock is now up at the boys farm. Dorpers do not have to be sheared as they do not produce fleece; instead they grow hair which they shed (the birds will enjoy using the hair to help make their bird nests). This is a plus for us so we have one less job to do. The lambs are quick growers and make great meat. We plan to sell the young lambs in time for Easter. We want to thank all those who supported our local, family farm this past year. It is nice to know that we are raising good, healthy food that people want for their families. Hope to see you all again soon. The Voith s (Mike, Janet, Adam, Brian, Craig, & Hilary) 5/5