Greetings from Dancing Hen Farm! Welcome to Week 6 of our CSA. Week 6 is NOT an egg week.
What would a newsletter be if I didn’t talk about the
weather? And wow, the heat has been on
lately! But it is summer and we do live
in Pennsylvania, so heat and humidity are to be expected in July. This kind of heat for us on the farm brings
on its own set of challenges. Animals
are very vulnerable during these heat waves.
We need to check chickens and pigs multiple times a day to be certain
they have water. We try to encourage our
dogs to remain in the house during the real heat of the afternoon. Rosie,
this year, has discovered how cooling a dip in the pond can be. Often during the hottest days you will see
her heading off across the yard, only to return dripping wet. She has yet to really swim, but loves to wade
in up to her neck. Shady, our other dog,
hunts frogs in the pond. Frog hunting,
Shady style, involves standing perfectly still in ankle deep water staring down
a frog. She will literally inch her nose
closer and closer to the frog, until she is almost touching it. Of course, when the frog jumps the game is
over. I have never seen her try and
catch one of the frogs, once one jumps away, she just moves on until she finds
another to stare down.
Speaking of the pond, like Rosie, Farmer Don also likes to
cool off in the pond. We often spend a
bit of time in the evenings by the pond with the dogs. Farmer Don jumps off the dock a few times to
cool down, Shady hunts frogs, and Rosie searches for the perfect fetching
stick. Our pond does not have fish, but
does have a lively frog population, as well as turtles and water snakes. Not being a fan of water snakes or snapping
turtles, I generally spend our pond time safely seated in a chair on the
bank!
We had a few storms move through this afternoon and evening
and I am waiting for the predicted cool down.
Tomorrow is to be absolutely beautiful!
I am planning on doing laundry and Farmer Don is planning on planting,
planting and planting. The push is
always on to get things planted. The
fields are due for another round of salad and cooking greens and some more
beans. We will continue to harvest
greens and beans through the season. In
the fields both summer and winter squash plantings are looking good. We should have a nice supply of summer squash
through the summer and our winter squash is already fruiting. We will most likely have spaghetti squash
going out first. We are starting to
harvest our greenhouse grown sungold tomatoes, just as our greenhouse grown
cucumbers come to an end. Field grown
tomatoes and cucumbers are growing nicely and should be ready for harvest in
several weeks. Our peppers are starting
to grow and with any luck, they also will be ready for harvest in the coming
weeks.
This weekend we will be attending two farmers markets. On Saturday, from 9 to 2, Farmers Don and
Phil will be at the Back Mountain Library Market. This market is now at the Dallas Elementary
School. On Sunday, Farmer Don (and maybe
Farmer Phil) will be at the Mountain Top Farmers Market. This market is from 9 to 2 and is in the
parking lot of the Crestwood High School. If you visit either of these markets, please
stop by our table and say hello. Farmer
Don really enjoys meeting our CSA members! At both markets we will be selling free range
eggs, pastured chicken, apple orchard pork and organically grown
vegetables. Our eggs sell out fast, so
if you are looking for eggs, be sure to get to market early. Our laying hens have free range of our
organically managed farm and are also fed certified organic grains. This year’s meat chickens are some of the
best we have ever produced. Our first
two batches have been 4 to 6 pound birds.
We offer both whole and half broiler chickens. Our chickens are raised on pasture, with
their grass diet supplemented with certified organic grains.
Well, time for me to print this newsletter for Farmer Don to
proof read and then move on to making supper.
Tonight we are having sausage sliders and cherry tomato and cucumber
salad. I will most likely also cook some
kale or green beans, which ever are harvested and in the cooler.
Have a great week!
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