Yes…..We skipped the month of November and here we are in December with all types of news to talk to you about, but first let’s just say how happy we are that it’s officially December!! 🎉

Now of course that doesn’t mean that come January 1st, this pandemic is over and everything can go back to the way it was before COVID. We won’t all be tearing off our masks and be free to breathe in everyone else’s air around us, but at least this year will be over.

2020 has seen so much sadness. So many insecurities. So much craziness and so much damage that all we could do at times was pray and have faith that better times were ahead.

COVID Precautions

Now that Winter is upon us and it’s not only COVID season, but also flu season, we urge you all to pay attention to what’s happening around you. Wear your masks. Maintain your distance and if you or your loved ones become sick, stay home. Actual lives are at stake and people are losing their spouses, mothers, fathers, children……you get the point.

You guys know how much I love my Dad. I’m always talking about him and how much he does for our farm. Well do you know that when I visit with them, I seldom go in the house and I always keep my mask on. Why? Because it is that serious!

I recently shared a picture of our daughter who’s having a baby and we weren’t wearing masks for the picture only! As soon as the pictures were done, the masks were back on. Why? Because it’s that serious!

We have turned down so many invitations and said no to event after event because it’s not worth our family being sick or worse. A bit of struggle never killed anyone, but COVID has killed many. So please take care of yourselves. Use caution for you, your family, and those around you.

Our Experiment

We are planning 2021 to be our biggest year yet! At our new farm location we will soon began building our high tunnel. This is something that we’ve wanted to do for such a long time, and now we can see it within our grasp.

We feel strongly that now is the time to grow as much food as possible and to find ways to preserve it. 2020 has taught us that!

In fact since we purchased a half cow, took our pig to the butcher, and harvested both chickens and turkeys, we see that we could actually be our own food supply. So Brandon and I are conducting an experiment for the month of December….

We have decided not go to the grocery store for the entire month! Instead we are planning to eat solely from the farm! Now I’m going to be completely honest and say that we did have a shopping trip before the month started so we could ensure we had some staples that we’d be able to make meals with, but there will be no grocery runs.

I’m writing this in the late hours of December 1st, so technically it’s December 2nd now and we made it through day 1!

This morning I was up a little after 5 am planning the meals for today. I washed and chopped mushrooms and placed them in the freezer.

I also peeled, chopped, and froze bananas to use for smoothies and oatmeal. Tomorrow it will be more of the same because some things just won’t keep for 31 days.

Here is what we ate on day 1:

Every single meal included something grown on the farm. Brandon said I tried to be fancy with dinner, but I was told that pork and apples pair well together so I tried it.

It will be exciting to see if we can make this happen for us because we would love to try and continue to sustain our family by eating as much as possible from the farm.

Garden News

Yesterday we woke up to 28 degrees and many dead plants. We knew it was coming, but it was still sad to see. There were so many blooms on the eggplants. Even one we saw that had began to grow. The picture below was taken before the freeze.

One good thing is that we waited longer than usual to plant our garlic and then 2 days after we did, BOOM… Winter.

Also in the gardens we have beets, winter carrots, turnips, mustards, and of course collards. Additionally there is salad lettuce, arugula, and more.

By way of flowers, the last ones standing are marigolds. They have turned out to be the surprising winner on our farm this year.

Poultry News

The chickens are still in their Winter molt and although there are a few eggs here and there, what we’re getting can in no way sustain our family or any of yours right now. We will be soon introducing new layers into the flock as we do have quite a few hens that have come to the end of their laying cycle.

We processed most of the turkeys with the exception of 4. Brandon has yet to tell me if we will be keeping those or they will be fattening up for the next big meal in December, but if you’re interested in eating turkey this month, please let us know.

Our meat birds are small and they can’t tolerate the cold, so they are tucked away safely in the brooder pen for now.

Gifts

If you’re shopping this month no matter what the occasion is, we hope you will check out our handmade soaps, body butters, jams, jellies, and other prepared items.

You can order these and more on our shop page.

The next time we write this blog, we will look back on 2020 and then tell it to go kick rocks (preferably while wearing flip flops).

So we will see you soon. Until then……