Hey y’all! Shannon here! 👋 For the first time this year we’ve tapped our silver maple trees to make syrup! Typically, you would use sugar maple trees. However, these trees also produce lots of yummy sap that is boiled down, filtered filtered filtered, and slowly made into that thick, mahogany colored syrup we love!
That’s what I love about farming — it’s an experiment! I was science major and always loving to learn how things work so this a form of continuing education! We should never stop learning and growing! By the way, we will have our syrup for sale in our CSA PROGRAM and on our farm stand for 2023!
We can’t wait to see you out at the farm this year! 🍁
Forgot to mention the last beneficial part of pulling scapes. It's easier and quicker, especially when you have over a hundred pounds of garlic planted.
It's garlic scapes picking time. I wanted to share some insights I have learned after a decade of growing organic garlic. First you want to remove the scape as soon as the pointed blossom appears. Many people wait till it curls twice on itself, but all that does is take away nutrients from bulb formation. Secondly try to do it early morning, it tends to come out easier and it will have time to heal itself to avoid diseases. Lastly, pull the scapes don't cut them. The most tender parts are inside the plant. Most times they pull out easy like in my video, but if they break, you can come back later and harvest the remaining scape as it tends to push out of the stalk. I will post some ideas for storage and use later this weekend.
Our first crop, garlic, is popping up! We are so thankful for the abundance of all natural wood shavings that our neighbor drops off to us to use in the garden for frost protection of these little guys! We are so excited to see how our gardens grow this year! 🧄 🌱
This is just a forty foot row of buckwheat and look at all the pollinators I am feeding in the morning. I have over a thousand feet planted and I have to say these weekend mornings I just love to watch the variety of pollinators that come to feed.
Sometimes we just need to relax and lay back and roll a little bit on the farm.
So much lettuce for fresh salads, so little time to eat ALL OF IT!
I seriously think we will have enough for 1,000 healthy, nutrient dense salads from April - December 2021 and beyond into 2022 as we continue to grow inside our greenhouse! 🌱
What’s your fave type of lettuce? Mines butter lettuce and curly kale! Yum!!
We have a day of cutting and stacking wood, burning the scraps, and enjoying the lovely weather before the rain and the Buffalo Bills game comes on! #gobills #homesteadinglife #stayready
Something incredible happened this week on the farm! One of our female turkeys sat on chicken eggs and hatched TWO baby chicks! She’s been taking care of them like a good mama, and this will be the second time in the past five years she’s hatched chicken eggs! I feel so #blessed to see the full circle of life and know that we were a part of making it happen!
I’m trying to get photos of her but it’s not easy! She’s very protective and stays inside the coop most the time with her little ones.
Also, it is comforting (and very amusing) knowing our male turkey .... this guy .... strut his stuff around the coop protecting her and the rest of our chickens, ducks, and turkeys. We’ve had him for YEARS and he really loves being a spoiled backyard bird.
Cheers to a beautiful day on the farm! 🍻 🦃 🥚
Bob the turkey is always the referee for every fight.
Guess what...
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Today we extended our little farm from 180 chickens to a flock of 200! I feel that this is the perfect time to become more self sustainable! And dang does it feel good to raise and take care of something so tiny that will grow into a valuable member of our farm! Not only will these new Pullets lay eggs, they will also provide quality manure for use in our garden. Plus, they are super cute to look at! Do your pets make you breakfast? 🍳
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Every other year James and I will take our own chicken eggs to incubate and hatch our own. This is the most sustainable way to get chickens. We’re all about sustainability here @carlitosfarms. However, you cannot predict whether you’ll end up with 20 roosters or 2. Of course, we need roosters to protect our hens while free ranging or a predator attack in the coops; however our goal is to increase egg production and egg sales! 🐣
.
Right now we’re getting anywhere from 2-4.5 dozen each day and because we sell out EVERY day, we decided to go ahead and purchase Pullets from @tractorsupply ! Pullets basically means a female chicken that lays eggs (hen).
.
Honestly, I cannot take credit for all of this, this is my husband’s PASSION! James started this farm while I was away at college back in 2011/2012. I’m just the lucky one to find such an incredible teammate that loves animals as MUCH as I do!! Let’s do this farming thang! ❤️
Guess what...
.
Today we extended our little farm from 180 chickens to a flock of 200! I feel that this is the perfect time to become more self sustainable! And dang does it feel good to raise and take care of something so tiny that will grow into a valuable member of our farm! Not only will these new Pullets lay eggs, they will also provide quality manure for use in our garden. Plus, they are super cute to look at! Do your pets make you breakfast? 🍳
.
Every other year James and I will take our own chicken eggs to incubate and hatch our own. This is the most sustainable way to get chickens. We’re all about sustainability here @carlitosfarms. However, you cannot predict whether you’ll end up with 20 roosters or 2. Of course, we need roosters to protect our hens while free ranging or a predator attack in the coops; however our goal is to increase egg production and egg sales! 🐣
.
Right now we’re getting anywhere from 2-4.5 dozen each day and because we sell out EVERY day, we decided to go ahead and purchase Pullets from @tractorsupply ! Pullets basically means a female chicken that lays eggs (hen).
.
Honestly, I cannot take credit for all of this, this is my husband’s PASSION! James started this farm while I was away at college back in 2011/2012. I’m just the lucky one to find such an incredible teammate that loves animals as MUCH as I do!! Let’s do this farming thang! ❤️
First generation family farm with the mission to provide naturally grown plants, vegetables, fruits, raw honey and flowers to our local community!
