With the Summer Solstice coming up next week on June 21st the farm is quickly transitioning from Spring to Summer. Out on pasture, our cows are completing their second rotation of grazing through our 50 acres of grasslands, meadows, and woods. Our new calves born in April are growing fast and have settled in nicely with their families, have learned to herd well with the group, and are enjoying a diet of both rich milk from mom and our diverse grasses, trees, and legumes. Next week we will begin preparing for breeding for our 2024 season. After a few years of incorporating four different breeds of cow into our herd and monitoring which breeds and genetic lines thrive best in our ecosystem, we have decided to continue breeding Murray Greys and British Whites. We have found these breeds to be superior in meat quality, their ability to develop gorgeous fat marbling on a 100% grass-fed diet, their docile temperaments, exceptional maternal instincts, and resiliency during more extreme climate changes.
Our other babies are also growing up fast! The piglets we received in April are fully-fledged teenagers and graduated from their training pen to live full-time in our beautiful forest paddocks. They spend their days foraging for roots, nuts, acorns, grass, shrubs, worms, insects, larvae, and plenty of vegetable scraps from our market garden.
We also recently incorporated some new teenage chickens (called Pullets) into our existing flock. Correctly facilitating introductions between new hens and an existing flock is important for helping them reestablish the pecking order, minimize conflict, and prevent our egg layers from stopping egg production due to stress. After spending two weeks getting to know each other from a distance, the new hens were integrated into the flock and trained on their new coop. They were welcomed very smoothly and took to their new home so well! These young hens have just started laying the cutest little eggs but they will quickly grow in size as they get the hang of it. Grab a dozen of these nutrient-dense, petite Pullet eggs while you can from our Farmstore or at the Hastings Farmer’s Market.
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