Building a legacy rooted in respect for the earth, family traditions, and shared knowledge
This morning, we drove an hour away to pick up four sheep to start our flock. They are Dorper / Khatadin mixes. We have three rams and one ewe. We’ll process the rams for meat and will eventually purchase more ewes for breeding.
We’re working on training them to the electric fence now and getting them acclimated to our farm.
The aquaponics system continues to grow produce for us. Right now, we’ve got squash, zucchini, and tomatoes in full bloom.
We processed another one of the pigs this week. With each one that I do, it gets a bit easier and more familiar. The cuts are a bit smoother, and the process goes a bit faster.
The walk-in cooler is working out fantastically for hanging the meat and for cutting the pork into traditional cuts. Since the last update, I managed to find a 3 horsepower Biro meat-cutting bandsaw. It made the job of butchery significantly easier than using hand tools alone.
The freezers were getting a little sparse so we decided to get one last batch of meat chickens in for the year before it gets too cold. Since we’re in Florida, we were able to do this well into November.
A while back, Dad bought two Holstein bulls from a local 4H kid selling them in front of Tractor Supply. He kept them in his yard, but it eventually turned into a muddy mess since it was just too small for them. Fast forward a few months and we decided to bring them nextdoor to our pasture so they’d have more grass to graze on.
The girls are super excited for the new additions. We’re training the cows to electric poly-wire so that we can move their paddocks as needed without investing in permanent fencing.
We planted some turmeric and some ginger into the aquaponics system and both are thriving. I wasn’t sure how it would do in the constant flood and drain cycle, but its taken off and producing like crazy.
This year’s batch of turkeys arrived on the farm in late July. It’s amazing how fast they grow compared to the chickens. In a month’s time, they’ve doubled in size and are already feathered out.
The weather is warm enough that they’re able to brood on pasture instead of a heated brooder space. They’re thriving in the grass and are enjoying the sunshine, bugs, and grass.
The aquaponics system is in full swing right now and is producing a ton of produce. The basil is going wild, green onions are thriving, bell peppers are starting to mature, and the comfrey is doing great. The mint is busting at the seams and overflowing the bed. There’s plenty of nutrient courtesy of the fish so everything is nice and green!
Over the last several months, we’ve been working on a major project around the farm. We drove down to Fort Myers and picked up a 24′ trailer from an ice truck.
We removed the existing freezer unit from it since we didn’t know how old it was and I wasn’t comfortable trusting it with thousands of dollars of meat.
I split the area into two sections: a freezer section and a cooler section. I then installed a 24,000BTU window unit and a Cool Bot in the front section that will act as a cooler. Using the Cool Bot, the A/C unit is able to achieve around 34 degree temperatures.
Once the freezer equipment was installed by Ian at HVAC Comfort Solutions, LLC, we got to work filling up the freezer right away.
The cooler is fantastic to hang and age the meat and to keep it nice and firm while butchering it into smaller pieces. We’re super excited for this new addition to the farm!