Melo Farms

It's been two weeks since the first batch of chicks came and Sunday they graduated to their portable hoop shelter.

During their first two weeks - here is where we're at.

• We had 2 losses within the first 12 hours.  We count those as 'failure to thrive'.
• We had 1 loss at about 7 days .. .no explanation
• We euthanized one this weekend, due to a displaced hip.

There are days at our stand at Detroit Eastern Market when joy, hugs and deep conversations are a large part of our market experience. On a typical Spring Saturday at Eastern an estimated 30k - 40k people flow through market looking for fresh produce, a sweet treat and farm raised meat. Some who come are longtime customers navigating the market deftly, transacting with vendors they trust and rely on. Others are newbies taking in the vast market and array of choices. And a few are...

Chicks arrived a bit later than planned, but all arrived safe and sound.  

As I mentioned in the last entry, the big thing is getting the environment stable as well as warm.  Their water should be air temp or better vs right out of a tap.  Since ours comes from a well, it'a about 50 degrees and a bit 'chilly'.   Also, no matter what type of waterer we've used, a few of them always end up taking a bath, so keep an eye and if they do, just warm them up ... their 'fuzz'...

It's finally here ... warmth and therefore chicken season for all of us who raise Pastured Chickens.

This will be the third year of our First Day on Grass practice, which is based on our 'Instinctive Habitat' practices.  So, I'll take a shot at documenting our approaches and experiences.

Bypassing a brooder and going straight to grass for baby chickens was evolutionary and we've learned a number of lessons, but rather...

Ok, this is why it’s hard for me to share recipes. My cooking often lacks….we’ll call it….structure. Let’s use my latest confection, Boston Baked Beans, as an example. The ingredient list looks like this

1 bag navy beans from Hampshire farms, soaked overnight and rinsed

1 pint jar homemade ketchup from Megan

8 oz. hock meat

16 oz. bacon

Some chicken stock

Some reduced to gelatin pork stock

Water

Brown sugar

Ma...

I’m listening to Cokie Roberts read her book ‘Founding Mothers- the Women who Raised our Nation’ on cd. It’s a great listen and inspiration from a historical and a female tenacity perspective. This leads me to the topic of this blog – work, time and the perception of the inverse proportion of one to the other.

I’ve not often thought of myself as a strong woman though I’ve been described as one by many. More, I think of myself as ten...

It's been a long winter! The most upbeat people I know are actually beginning to get a bit grumpy, the new has worn out of wearing woolens and creating warm spaces.

In a darker moment last week it hit me like the ton of lake effect snow hitting my windshield why Eastern and Midwest pioneers were so willing to pull up and head to the mythical, magical Willamette Valley. The place where I've spent a great deal of my life since 1970 and living, literally at the end of the Oregon Trail with...

I hear so many cool memories from people my age who knew / raised / sloped pigs at their grandparents. I love the moments of the faraway look that recaptures and relives those feelings and have come to realize it’s less about the pigs and more about touching the tangible memory of time spent with a grandparent. I have a tad jealous love of those memories as I don’t have them and people enjoy a rapt audience as I live vicariously through these stories.

Not that ...

I'm asked on a weekly basis how can I kill the animals I care for. The query as written is not verbatim. The actual questions run the gamut infused with you heartless bastard to true disconnected disbelief. I've honed my sound bite response to 'it's not my favorite day of the week' but this does not cover the true depth of my conflicted feelings about raising animals for food.

So let's begin there, food. I had winnowed down my meat to fish and buffalo by the time I started the journey t...