Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May...

Bela

Yes they do, Bill, they certainly do.
Since my last post three new calves have been born: Benjamin, Beth and Bela. The horses and cows are out on pasture.
I am gradually getting around to cleaning up some of the flower beds, and the tractor has been taken through a few patches in the garden.
We have planted peas, beans, lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, broccoli, onions, cilantro, fennel, spinach, napa cabbage, bok choy, cabbage, brussels sprouts, carrots, beets, mesclun mix, strawberries, and parsley in the gardens. The tomatoes are almost ready for planting! Some peppers have been potted up in the greenhouse.
The CSA starts in a few weeks; so does the Market!

Cherry Blossoms

We are getting a few showers here and there, so the gardens aren't completely parched. I finally bundled up in a jacket, hat, and gloves and tackled some of the very long lawns!
We have said goodbye to Chief and Buddy, they have moved on to other homes. So now we only have four horses.
We had a little warm spell a couple of weeks ago, now it's just kind of cold, damp and windy.
It is wonderful to see the leaves on the trees, and the blossoms on the apple, pear, and cherry trees.

The new strawberry plants

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now.
Is hung with bloom along the bough.

-A.E. Housman

Beth

And the spring comes slowly up this way...

Baking Easter Bread today!

Atticus

Rachel

It is that time of year again... Starting seedlings, calves being born, preparation for the upcoming market/CSA season.

A little male calf by the name of Atticus was born on, very fitting, the first day of spring! And two days later, another little male calf was born; we named him Atlas. A big female was born on the 25th, we named her Bellatrix. Twins were born on the 27th; the little male survived and his name is Benedict.

Rachel is in the process of adopting a little male calf from a nearby farm that was born on March 17th, and therefore bestowed the unoriginal name of 'Patrick'. (He is actually a twin, and his brother was named 'Pat'.) We have since decided to call him another --equally Irish-- name; Finn.


I'm going out to clean the pasture spring ;
I'll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I shan't be gone long. --You come too.

I'm going out to fetch the little calf
That's standing by the mother. It's so young
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I shan't be gone long. --You come too.

-Robert L. Frost

Bellatrix

Benedict

Finn

Atlas

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

Happy Holidays to all! And my most sincere apology for not having blogged in so long!
Unfortunately, it does not look like much of a winter wonderland outside: yesterday it started out snowing, then that changed to ice pellets, and now we're left with a sloppy wet mess. (Oh, and it's supposed to get quite cold tomorrow, so there should be plenty of ice to slip on soon!)
The final market of the season was last Saturday. It will be very nice to have a few Saturdays where we don't have to get up at 5:30am!
We have said a sad farewell to Tony the Blind Calf.

Canned Pears

We have kind of adopted a stray, orange cat...he still won't let us too near, but he loves the cat food we give him! I have been calling him Donald.

CSA, Week 16

We are in the final few weeks of the CSA! Registration for the Fall/Winter CSA begins soon.

It has rained often and heavily for the past month; the plants are falling limp due to too much moisture; some areas of the garden are nearly impassable. Unfortunately, there is more rain in the forecast.  
We are trying to get a majority of the carrots out of the ground, because, due to all of the rain, they have begun to rot in the ground. Most of the winter squash has been harvested, and is curing in the greenhouse. This will be the last week for fresh tomatoes this year. A lot of the peppers in the greenhouse have started turning red, and we have an abundance of hot peppers!

Vegetable list (subject to change):
Kale
Swiss chard
Pole beans
Green beans
Garlic
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Rosemary
Eggplant
Peppers, sweet
Peppers, hot
Carrots
Beets
Beet greens
Lettuce
Broccoli
Cabbage
Onions
Peppermint
Oregano
Thyme
Sage
Basil
Squash, winter

CSA, Week 15

The windy and chili days of autumn have commenced. We have gotten quite a bit of rain in the past week, or so. If only we would have gotten some of it a month-and-a-half ago!
The 10-Week CSA ended last week, and there are only 5 more weeks left in the 20-week CSA!

The chicks and ducklings have grown exponentially in the last few weeks. Some of pastures for the cows and horses have been able to begin growing back after some of the rain.

Vegetable List (subject to change):
Kale, red Russian
Swiss Chard
Beans, green
Beans, French fillet
Beans, pole
Broccoli
Garlic
Onions, red
Onions, yellow
Winter squash
Peppers, sweet
Peppers, hot
Carrots
Beets
Lettuce heads
Mesclun mix
Kale, winter boar
Basil
Thyme
Peppermint
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Parsley

CSA, Week 13

We are getting a whole bunch of rain today -- hopefully it won't rain so much that we won't be able to get into the gardens tomorrow!
We have a bumper crop of tomatoes this year, so we have been making a lot of tomato sauce and salsa. The cabbage is quite pitiful looking, due to the lack of rain in the spring and summer.

We are now cutting the garlic bulbs from the stalks. And we have started harvesting the winter squash! The storage onions will be ready to harvest soon.
The ducklings and chicks have grown so much in the past couple of weeks.
Next week is the final week for the 10 Week CSA share.

Vegetable List (subject to change):
Kale
Swiss chard
Beans, french fillet
Pole beans, garden of eden
Pole beans, scarlet runner
Pole beans, fortex

Lettuce heads
Carrots
Beets
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Peppers, sweet
Peppers, hot
Zucchini
Basil
Thyme
Peppermint
Green onions
Onions, yellow
Onions, red

CSA, Week 12

Another busy week at the farm; filled with haying, harvesting, weeding, and a thunder storm!
Another 101 square bales in the barn, and another section of hay field mowed down and to be baled in a few days.
Everything is growing well. Tons of tomatoes; I get to make a beautiful sauce every week --Yum!-- with only ingredients that we have grown (peppers, parsley, tomatoes, basil, swiss chard, and onions).
Oakmanor Farm is now on Facebook, 'like' us!

Vegetable list (subject to change):
Kale
Swiss chard
Beans, French fillet
Beans, Scarlet Runner
Beans, Fortex
Beans, Garden of Eden
Early cabbage
Lettuce heads
Carrots
Beets
Zucchini
Basil
Tomatoes
Green onions
Onions, yellow
Onions, red
Onions, white
Parsley
Peppers, sweet
Peppers, hot
Broccoli
Garlic
Potatoes
Thyme
Peppermint
Sage
Cilantro