Four days into 2019 things on the farm are much the same as they were at this time last year. There's ample snow, a myriad of daily highs and lows thus far (today set a record high for Jan. 4 in Minnesota, reaching the mid-40s in the metro area while last Saturday hit -18 below) … Continue reading The Skeleton Crew
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Perhaps a lost art form in many kitchens, brining is the most basic of all marinades. A brine is salt, sugar and water, at its simplest. It is the art of infusing meat for a juicer, more flavorful result. Not familiar with brining meat? You've probably eaten plenty of it. Most all conventional Thanksgiving turkeys … Continue reading Zen and the Art of Brining
As April takes its time to arrive on the farm, outdoor projects become delayed. As a reference point, our vast Mille Lacs Lake was declared "ice free" last year on April 10. Today - April 5 - the lake is still 100% covered in ice, and in many locations, very thick. While sitting in … Continue reading Planning
In the fall of 2016, a steer was born. His face was tye-dyed with white and brownish-red and his stature was fair to (even possibly) good. He was born at our neighbors farm, and in the spirit of neighborly fun, they named him Andre - my namesake. Chuckles were in order and lots of fun … Continue reading A steer named Andre
For the past 36 hours, we're happy to be back on the upswing of daylight. Yesterday we gained about 5 seconds of daylight and that number will only increase daily from here. We are big believers in following nature's patterns. In the summer, the farm is bustling, spreading it's wings and encompassing large areas of … Continue reading Hibernation- winter on a pasture-based farm
In laying out our pasture sub-divisions, we decided that a central alley down the length of the property would provide the best access and animal movement ease. Doing this requires a large amount of gate openings, and pre-fabricated gates are expensive. I have seen random drawings or pictures of homemade electric gates, most specifically a … Continue reading DIY Electrified Gate
This last week of heavy rain and cool temperatures has thoroughly saturated the ground and let in its wake a lot of mud and.... waiting. We were in the process of plowing, discing and (eventually) drilling pasture seed in to our south 10 acre crop field. It has been in soy/corn rotation for probably 50-60 … Continue reading Flexibility: the most important tool in the toolkit
The ground is thawing and where lush sod once existed is now scorched with muddy tire grooves from a necessary but ill-advised drive with the truck. Spring is taking hold and the nights are commonly above 30 degrees. Grass growth is a few weeks away and that means the first batch of chicks is in … Continue reading Emerging from the Cocoon
Snow Birds If the posse of young layers and roosters had planned to overwinter somewhere warm like Phoenix or Naples, the travel agent must have missed their message. Bitter and jilted by their snowbound bondage, they clustered together around their mobile chicken coop like tourists around a broken down bus inside of the lion exhibit. … Continue reading Come hither, storm Argos
We are now in the "finishing" stage of raising our first batch of hogs. Last spring when the pigs were much smaller we would run them in small paddocks in the woods during the day and then keep them in the barn overnight as shelter from predators. Once they reached the 100lb mark, in mid … Continue reading Managing Hogs in Pasture and Wooded Settings