Today is giving us a taste of winter being right around the corner. But as Thanksgiving approaches it's time to first pause and remind ourselves of everything we have to be thankful for. We are thankful for our God, our Family, our Friends and all of you who support our dreams with Peck-n-Coop Family Farm, LLC.
Our 2013 season has brought a few major changes here at Peck-n-Coop Family Farm, LLC. We packed up our home and 5 crazy boys and moved. We have moved into what was John's ,Grandma Barrett's home. She passed away a year ago and was such a special woman in our lives. She instilled a love of growing things in John that still thrives today. He has such fond memories of gardening, canning and spending time with his Grandma. After the boys were born we would play cards with her weekly. When we first started she would make us supper, it was always fun to see what recipes she would make. Grandma Barrett, is the reason we love pickled beets and still cringe at the thought of jello salad. Nobody can bake meat or fry potatoes quite like Great Grandma. We are so blessed that we had the opportunity to spend so much time with her and now continue her legacy with our boys in the home that she raised her family in.
This move brought us 2 miles from the barn, quite the improvement over the 12 miles that we have had for the last 5 years. It feels as though we have gained 2 hours extra each day. 2014 will hopefully bring an expansion here at our new home with a Farm Market Building, a new barn and pasture, and an adventure in aquaponics. Plans, plans, plans. If you know me decisions are not something I enjoy making, so planning and designing such large investments have been a long and difficult process.
Speaking of investments, Preston, our oldest son has taken over the egg portion of Peck-n-Coop Family Farm, LLC. It is our goal that each of the boys can find, explore, and grow their passions and talents on the farm. The boys show sheep at the Hardin County Fair and must invest any money they make from those projects into something of their choosing. Preston really enjoys the hens, so he chose them. He has used his money to buy all new pullet hens and is trying to build a regular customer base. It has been really neat to see him source out pullets, negotiate price, find customers, care for his hens and work on budgeting his money to grown his business. I traveled to MI yesterday to pick-up a new him and the new nest is being picked up today.
The fall brings the close of poultry season and the beginning of breeding season at the farm. The fall is such a welcomed relief, with the broiler season over we are finally able to catch-up on projects that need done. We spend the fall harvesting the grain, preparing the fields for the winter, cleaning up, fixing up and getting everything ready for the approaching winter. Chore time gets shorter with less animals to care for and that means time to check things off the "honey-do" list at home :)
Our 2013 season has brought a few major changes here at Peck-n-Coop Family Farm, LLC. We packed up our home and 5 crazy boys and moved. We have moved into what was John's ,Grandma Barrett's home. She passed away a year ago and was such a special woman in our lives. She instilled a love of growing things in John that still thrives today. He has such fond memories of gardening, canning and spending time with his Grandma. After the boys were born we would play cards with her weekly. When we first started she would make us supper, it was always fun to see what recipes she would make. Grandma Barrett, is the reason we love pickled beets and still cringe at the thought of jello salad. Nobody can bake meat or fry potatoes quite like Great Grandma. We are so blessed that we had the opportunity to spend so much time with her and now continue her legacy with our boys in the home that she raised her family in.
This move brought us 2 miles from the barn, quite the improvement over the 12 miles that we have had for the last 5 years. It feels as though we have gained 2 hours extra each day. 2014 will hopefully bring an expansion here at our new home with a Farm Market Building, a new barn and pasture, and an adventure in aquaponics. Plans, plans, plans. If you know me decisions are not something I enjoy making, so planning and designing such large investments have been a long and difficult process.
Speaking of investments, Preston, our oldest son has taken over the egg portion of Peck-n-Coop Family Farm, LLC. It is our goal that each of the boys can find, explore, and grow their passions and talents on the farm. The boys show sheep at the Hardin County Fair and must invest any money they make from those projects into something of their choosing. Preston really enjoys the hens, so he chose them. He has used his money to buy all new pullet hens and is trying to build a regular customer base. It has been really neat to see him source out pullets, negotiate price, find customers, care for his hens and work on budgeting his money to grown his business. I traveled to MI yesterday to pick-up a new him and the new nest is being picked up today.
The fall brings the close of poultry season and the beginning of breeding season at the farm. The fall is such a welcomed relief, with the broiler season over we are finally able to catch-up on projects that need done. We spend the fall harvesting the grain, preparing the fields for the winter, cleaning up, fixing up and getting everything ready for the approaching winter. Chore time gets shorter with less animals to care for and that means time to check things off the "honey-do" list at home :)