The Three P’s of Fall – Planting, Planning, and Playing
Planting. Fall is such a wonderful time to work outside with cooler days and amazing autumn colors. It’s time to take out plants that need to be moved or replaced and bring in those new plants, trees, bushes, etc that will make wonderful additions to the farm. With the help of Tiger Cub Scouts we just planted 2 pear, 2 peach and 2 apple trees. For the record, Penny, our black lab did not pull her weight in planting the trees but she did a great job of supervising. We are also adding some Elderberry bushes to our landscape. We can’t wait to try some Elderberry wine in a couple years. Now I need to make some time to add some much needed mulch and clean up areas that were neglected during the busy vineyard season.
Planning. It is no secret that I love making lists. Sometimes I need a list to manage my many lists which makes me even more excited. We plan out our fall and winter projects for the animals, fencing, tree trimming, tractor work, building, and the nastier and more time consuming things we’ve just simply put off for later. This is also the time of year I can sit for hours and plan my garden beds. I love the Mother Earth News Garden Planner. I can arrange and rearrange my plantings and then print out seed order lists from the garden planner. It also helps me keep track of where each variety was previously planted, what should rotate with what and even helps guide me on the approximate time each plant will be ready for harvest. That is my free public service announcement for a great online tool.
Playing. Terry and I use the fall to spend time traveling and relaxing a tad bit more than we do throughout the rest of the year. Vineyard season is over, tax season is finally over and we are ready to play. Time to visit the mountains, spend some evenings having dinner with friends and maybe even sneaking in a date night or two. It’s the perfect time of year to make an outdoor fire in the fire pit and sit back with a glass of wine and watch the sunset.
Farm life is our perfect life. Maybe there is a fourth P for fall.
It’s Time to Talk Turkey
Happy Fall Everyone.
Fall is a happening time on the Farm. Turkeys, Eggs, Beef, and Wine.
Now is the time to reserve your pasture raised Thanksgiving Turkey. Nothing says I love you to your family and friends more than serving an amazing local, farm fresh turkey during the holidays. Price is $4.95 pound. They will go quickly so either return the attached form or send a text, a Facebook message, or an email with the size range you want. Delivery/pickup will be from mid October until the weekend before Thanksgiving. We will let you know when your bird is ready.
Our girls have been very busy and productive so we have lots of Fresh Eggs. Get them while you can because you never know when those stubborn hens will decide they are going on break.
We have 2 Beef steers headed to processing in early December. We have 1/4, 1/2 and whole sides of beef available for $4.50 pound. Contact us for more information.
This is the time of year when we are putting the vines to bed for the winter, planting fall gardens, and catching up on tons of farm projects. Normally we have a long “to do” list but lately it seems like we have a to do notebook. However, we are never too busy to sit down and share a glass of homemade Wine so stop by to sip and sit for a bit……..
Thank you for buying local and supporting our family farm.
Harvest 2016 is Complete
A heartfelt thank you to all our friends, families, neighbors, and community members that helped pick grapes this year. Each year is a journey of emotion and hard work. From the pruning that starts January 1st and ends by the middle of May, to the mowing, weeding, spraying, tying up, suckering, praying for no late freezes, hoping for some rain but not too much or rain at the wrong time, please please no green June bugs, and for the love of wine keep the birds away, we had an amazing harvest resulting in several thousand pounds of grapes that are going to make delicious bottles of wine and we can’t wait to share that wine with each of you.
Where’s the Beef
The date is set for freezer camp. We have 2 steer available for purchase in 1/4, 1/2 or whole sides of beef. This is your chance to buy local raised beef from a family farm. They are grass fed Angus with 3 months of finishing to make sure they will be super tender and have some marbling. The approximate date for pickup/delivery is the second week of December 2016. Contact me for details. Redbudfarm@gmail.com or 405-426-7070.
Reserve Your Thanksgiving Turkey
We are taking deposits for our pasture raised Thanksgiving Turkeys. Our birds receive no hormones or antibiotics and are processed chemical free and have no added water. Once you cook and serve pasture raised turkey and chicken you will never want any other type of poultry. Quantities are limited so reserve early. Call or email with any questions.
Potatoes, St. Patrick’s Day & Uncle Dale
I’ve always been told to plant my potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day. I’m experimenting with my red, white, and blue potatoes. Each variety is going to be grown in a traditional garden bed and in a 2 sided potato box. Each side of the box will also be an experiment. One side will have dirt added as the plant grows and additional boards are added and the other side will have straw/hay added. I’ll let you know what works best at the end of the season. St. Patrick’s Day has another special meaning for me and it has nothing to do with green beer or potatoes. I was lucky enough to have a very special uncle in my life while growing up. He walked me down the aisle 30 years ago and will always hold a special place in my heart. After 5 years I still miss him. March 17th is his birthday and tomorrow I’ll be celebrating it with a family tradition of planting potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day.
A Cold Day on the Farm
The day started with repairing a busted water line in the vineyard, trudging through woods, briar patches, and snow for over an hour with a windchill of 3 degrees finding missing cows and repairing fence lines. It ended by finishing chores with a wind chill temperature of 1 degree. Survival kit: glass of wine, fire place, hot bath, wonderful and loving family and friends. The insanity of it is we are prepared to repeat the whole process again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day……….Love farm life.
Growing Fodder for our Chickens
Redbud Farm is now growing fodder for our chickens. Our goal is to raise the healthiest meat possible for our family and yours. You definitely want to verify what is in a dish before grabbing up a handful of snacks since we are cooking for worms and raising produce for the chickens.
Yes, I cooked for Worms
Last night Terry can home, looked around the kitchen and asked “what are you making for dinner”? You can only imagine the look on his face when I told him I was cooking for our new mealworms. Yes, I Cooked for Worms. That is a first even for me. In an effort to raise healthier chicken to eat and sell I started raising mealworms and am also sprouting and raising my own fodder. I will post pictures of the new fodder system this weekend.
Redbud Farm and Vineyard 